August 12, 2019

Professional Development – 2019 – Week 32

Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54585499@N04/

Dates covered: August 5-11, 2019 (week 32 of 52)

Business

The 8 Ways Companies Get Work Done, and How to Align Them (via Harvard Business Review)

  • Eight sources of labor: employees, independent contractors, gig workers, outsources, alliances with other companies, volunteers, smart automation, robotics
  • Build a relationship with gig workers and independent contractors that goes beyond a paycheck
  • Think about how your broader ecosystem of work options effect all your stakeholders
  • Redesign the work to create the optimal combinations of humans and machines, while upskilling the talent whose work is being transformed.

Digital Doesn’t Have to Be Disruptive (via Harvard Business Review)

  • Myth: Digital requires radical disruption of the value proposition. Reality: It usually means using digital tools to better serve the known customer need.
  • Myth: Digital will replace physical. Reality: It’s a “both/and.”
  • Myth: Digital involves buying start-ups. Reality: It involves protecting start-ups.
  • Myth: Digital is about technology. Reality: It’s about the customer.
  • Myth: Digital requires overhauling legacy systems. Reality: It’s more often about incremental bridging.

Career

5 Ways to Respond to Ageism in a Job Interview (via Harvard Business Review)

  1. Lead with energy instead of experience (excitement and enthusiasm instead of years of experience)
  2. Adopt a consulting mindset (conversation and engaged question to shift the power dynamic)
  3. Demonstrate humility and a non-hierarchical approach (favor collaboration over command and control)
  4. Connect with your interviewer (don’t use self-deprecating humor)
  5. Show your ability to work well with diverse groups of people
  6. Look the part
  7. Reframe any inappropriate comments or questions (e.g., “younger minds” -> “innovating thinking”)

Communication

How to Say “No” at Work Without Making Enemies (via Harvard Business Review)

  • Show your work about why you’re saying no
  • Acknowledge value tradeoffs
  • Be tentatively confident
  • Ask for permission to say no

Culture

Research: How Americans’ Biases Are Changing (or Not) Over Time (via Harvard Business Review)

The Implicit Association Test was used (instead of relying on self-reporting where people may be inclined to give “the right answer”) shows that anti-gay, anti-black, and anti-dark skin attitudes are improving. On the other side, age and weight are neutral or negative.

Emergency response

Heartsaver CPR AED re-certification — classroom training and instructor-evaluated demonstration of current best practices for emergency response techniques for CPR and AED devices.

Leadership

Nimble Leadership (via Harvard Business Review)

The authors studied PARC and W.L. Gore & Associates to how big companies can work in an environment where command and control isn’t the norm. Although too lengthy to describe in this summary, there are interesting processes at work to keep leadership fluid while giving people enough direction. There are three categories of leaders: 1) entrepreneurial — lower on the org chart that create value with new products and services, 2) enabling — ensuring entrepreneurs have the resources and information, 3) architecting — keep an eye on the game board, culture, high-level strategy, and culture.

The Soul of a Start-Up (via Harvard Business Review)

Companies must consciously think about what they need to do to keep business intent, customer connection, and employee experience at the forefront of their strategy and daily operations.

3 Traits of a Strong Professional Relationship (via Harvard Business Review)

  1. A clear purpose
  2. An understanding of the type of relationship needed
  3. A commitment to pursuing the relationship even when times get tough

Process

Will the 4-Day Workweek Take Hold in Europe? (via Harvard Business Review)

Many countries have reaped the benefits of increased productivity, fewer sick days, employee retention, and shorter commutes by implementing shorter work weeks. There are examples where this hasn’t worked… regulations of work contracts become more complicated, challenges of staff coverage, operational complexity, comparison to competition with traditional work schedules, and company culture (working less = perceived as lazy).

Leading Change in a Company That’s Historically Bad At It (via Harvard Business Review)

“…today, managing continual disruption is a skill required of most leaders. Change management is the new management, which makes doing it effectively that much more difficult.”

  • Acknowledge the pain of the past
  • Ground your plan in evidence
  • Regularly ask how your plan for change feels different from past efforts

The Phoenix Project – Part 5

Notes from this week’s book club meeting about The Phoenix Project (chapters 21-25).