Why am I a success or a failure is the wrong question to ask

Why am I a success or a failure is the wrong question to askWhy am I a success or a failure is the wrong question to askThe organizational psychologist Karl Weick is one of my intellectual heroes. Karl looks at the same things as everyone else but sees something different. He is best known for his books and articles on sensemaking - especially his analysis of the collapse of sensemaking by a team of smokejumpers who fought a terrible forest fire at Mann Gulch in Montana in 1949, which killed 12 of the 15 team members. This Mann Gulch fire and the team was the subject of Norman Macleans remarkable book Young Men and Fire, which Weick used as the source material.Weick has applied his delightfully twisted thinking to dozens of other topics including theory construction, The Social Psychology of Organizing, and high-reliability organizations. It takes me a long time to read anything that Weick writes. I find myself stopping to think about one weird and wonderful observation or speculati on after another. To give you a taste, when I meet a grumpy colleague, I always think about Weicks suggestion that Generalists should be the upbeat, positive people in the profession while specialists should be their grouchy, negative counterparts. If you want to learn about his reasons, check out this post.Today, I found myself thinking about Weick after I had breakfast with a former student and now old friend, Dave Lyons. Dave has helped to abflug several companies and held various senior positions, including director of engineering at Tesla for four years after the company was founded. I was especially taken with the praise that Dave heaped on an entrepreneur that he is advising. Dave explained this entrepreneur is great to work with because he is so focused on improving his leadership and business skills and on improving his companys product - and thinks so little about whether he is a winner or loser.As I drove home, I realized that this entrepreneur was living a lesson that I first learned from Weick about success and failure. Ive blogged about it before and it inspired one of the 14 Things That I Believe about management and life. Here are Weicks words (which draw on work by Fritz Roethlisberger, a renowned early management theorist)Roethlisberger argues that people who are preoccupied with success ask the wrong question. They ask, what is the secret of success when they should be asking, what prevents me from learning here and now? To be overly preoccupied with the future is to be inattentive toward the present where learning and growth take place. To walk around asking, am I a success or a failure is a silly question in the sense that the closest you can come to answer is to say, everyone is both a success and a failure.As usual, Weick sees things another way, and teaches us something as a result It is best to travel through life with a focus on what you are learning and how to get a little wiser and better right now, rather than fretting or gloating over what youve done in the past (and seeing yourself as a winner or loser). That is how that entrepreneur thinks, why he and his product keep improving, and why Dave finds him such a delight to work with.P.S. The source for the quote is Weick, Karl E. How Projects Lose Meaning The Dynamics of Renewal. in Renewing Research Practice by R. Stablein and P. Frost (Eds.). Stanford, CA Stanford. 2004.Bob Sutton is aStanford Professorwho studies and writes about leadership, organizational change, and navigating organizational life. Follow me on Twitterwork_matters, and visit mywebsiteand posts onLinkedIn. My latest book isThe Ahole Survival Guide How To Deal With People Who Treat You Like Dirt.Before that, I publishedScaling Up Excellencewith Huggy Rao.My main focus these days is on working with Huggy Rao to develop strategies and tools that help leaders and teamschange their organizations for the better - with a particular focus onorganizational friction.Check out my Stanford FRICTION Po dcastat iTunesorSticher.This column first appeared on LinkedIn.

Talent Development of Soft Skills a New Focus for CFOs

Talent Development of Soft Skills a New Focus for CFOs Talent Development of Soft Skills a New Focus for CFOs Surprisingly, only 5 percent of survey respondents believe that finance is currently delivering game-changing value to their enterprises, says Mary Driscoll, senior research director, financial management, for APQC. There are many reasons for this gap in performance, but the primary one is an age-old albatross finance is often bogged down with transactional work and doesnt have the time to produce meaningful analysis. Whats more, many finance professionals lack the soft skills necessary to present concisely to senior operating managers and to persuade with diplomacy.Other findings from the survey include Finance organizations generally lack the tools needed to increase productivity and free employees from menial tasks more than half (58 percent) of respondents said they do notlage have the time for value-added analysis while 45 percent say that lack the technology to increa se efficiency. 64 percent of respondents ranked financial planning and analysis positions as the hardest to fill. Organizations considered strong business partners tend to have CFOs with dedication to professional development, especially in soft skills training.Over one in five respondents agree that finance is excluded from the decision-making process as it is not seen as a partner to the business. However, over 40 percent who consider themselves partners invest in soft-skills training and encourage finance employees to learn the business.By developing managerial skills not adequately addressed in a traditional accounting curriculum, CFOs can prepare the next generation of finance talent to take- and keep- their seats at the strategic planning table, says Driscoll. Soft-skills training programs aim to strengthen a finance staffers ability to communicate concisely with top executives, negotiate with managers in other domains, build effective teams, and collaborate with others in pur suit of common goals.

4 Thoughts When Your Co-worker Gets a Promotion - The Muse

4 Thoughts When Your Co-worker Gets a Promotion - The Muse4 Thoughts When Your Co-worker Gets a PromotionMeet Jamie. Jamie really loves her job. The work is rewarding, the perks cant be beat, and she shares tight bonds with her team members- particularly with Kate, a colleague who Jamie has worked closely with for the past year and a half.Then one day, seemingly totally out of the blue, a company-wide email goes out announcing a well-deserved promotion for Kate. Jamie is happy for her, of course. But, she also cant help but to trace her way up the company org chart in her head and realize that- gasp- Kate now ranks above her. Kate was once her peer and equal, and now shes technically her superior.Cue the horror movie soundtrack and the cheesy screams.Sound familiar? If you work in an office for long enough, occasionally things like promotions and departmental moves will push some of your team members one step higher than you on that proverbial ladder. And, as strange as it might be, that seemingly subtle change in dynamics can stir up a lot of irrational feelings and emotions- like the four Ive pulled together right here. 1. It Shouldve Been MeYou werent at all interested in that open role that your colleague just landed. Sure, it mightve been a step up in terms of responsibilities, but you knew you werent qualified and you had zero desire to handle half of the tasks associated with that position- so you didnt even bother tossing your hat into the ring.But, lets face it- that really doesnt matter. When its announced that one of your co-workers scored that position, those feelings of jealousy still find a way to sit like a rock in the bottom of your stomach anyway. Rest assured, this reaction is natural- especially if you did in fact put yourself up for that promotion as well. When a colleague of yours takes a step forward, it almost always feels like a step back for you. But, in those moments when you find yourself turning green with envy, remind yourself of th e fact that someone elses success doesnt equate to your failure. This wasnt the right opportunity for you. Your time will come. 2. Im Going NowhereWhen your co-worker- the one who was always on a level playing field with you and made you feel that much better about where you were in your own career- grabs the next rung of that ladder, its usually mora than enough to plant seeds of self-doubt in your own mind.This is it, you tell yourself. Its all over. This is as far as I go here. Youre suddenly convinced that one job was the only way up within your organization- there will never be another opportunity for you to advance now that your team member just scored what you believe to be the very last promotion on the face of the planet. When you feel like youre being left in your colleagues dust, this is a tempting thought. But, take a breath and remind yourself that- while this specific opportunity is off the table- obviously this means that your company believes in promoting from within . If anything, thats great news for you. 3. That Friendships OverPreviously, you two shared an awesome work friendship. Youd eat lunch together and catch up on what was happening in your lives outside of the office. When something crazy happened, that particular colleague was always the one you wanted to run and tell. And at company happy hours, youd always find yourselves sharing an appetizer at the same table. But, now that he or she technically ranks above you in the company hierarchy, youre convinced that your friendship has come to a screeching halt. No more jokes or friendly conversations- now you need to be strictly business.Heres the truth That relationships bound to shift a little bit. Thats to be expected. However, it doesnt mean that now you need to change your entire demeanor and be perfectly buttoned up all of the time. In reality, that would only seem strange to a co-worker who obviously knows you better than that. In short, you can absolutely still be friendly with th at person who is now your superior- provided you remain professional and respectful. But, honestly, thats the way you shouldve been acting already. 4. My Job Just Got a Whole Lot EasierAfter your brain has worked through all of those inevitably terrible things that are sure to happen now, your eyes might just open to a potential perk of this new situation Maybe now you dont need to work quite as hard.Now that you share a close bond with somebody in leadership, its easy to think that you have an ace in your pocket. If you want to cut out early on a Friday or shirk a particular responsibility that youve always dreaded, you can lean on that loyal co-worker to pull for you. After all, he knows what its like to be in your shoes. Are you ready for the bad news? While I hate to be the one to crush your dreams, this couldnt be further from the truth. Just because one of your own has moved up doesnt give you permission to kick your feet up and start to slack off. If anything, it should serve as your motivation to work even harder.Of course, youre happy when your colleagues earn a promotion. However, youre only human- the fact that someone who was previously your peer is now your superior can dredge up plenty of irrational and unexpected feelings.First, take comfort in the fact that you arent the only one who deals with a strange mix of emotions when something like this happens.And, after that? The best thing you can do is to focus on continuing to be a reliable employee who produces strong work. In the end, that can never come back to bite you.