“What’s for Breakfast? Your Business’ Strategy!”

Many people mistakenly think that the hardest thing in running a business is developing and continuously adjusting the right strategy to achieve the business’ desired goals. While having a sound strategy to deal with competitive pressures and economic uncertainties is critical, it is the process of implementing strategy that can be the major obstacle to long-term organizational success.

Recently a client from the hotel business was developing a complicated workforce development strategy. As the finishing touches were being put on the plan, the team leader confirmed that “we nailed it”. At that moment, I quickly interjected a popular buzz phrase to the rest of the team - “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. I explained that this is an accurate and realistic danger because many business leaders develop their short and long-term plans in a vacuum, thinking that the strategy itself will be enough to lead the way.

It always has been, and always will be, the people who must integrate change and adapt their attitudes and behaviors to new strategic directions if those changes will firmly take hold. If you’ve ever tried to steer an organization into a new direction through pure technical or strategic means, rather than incorporating a human strategy component that accounts for the living, breathing, working culture of the organization itself, then you know what I am talking about. It can be like herding cats.

An interesting question about organizational culture is: can we really influence it, or will it simply do what it does? In my work with organizations and their leaders I have come to believe that indeed we can influence workplace culture in meaningful ways so that good strategy has the chance to flourish. The next time you formulate the perfect set of strategic goals for your business, the following ideas may help you to integrate the strategy into the culture of your organization before it gets eaten for breakfast:

Know What Culture Is - Your culture doesn’t need to be a vague or lofty concept. Workplace culture is simply the collective stories, attitudes, beliefs, rules, behaviors, jokes and experiences that are learned and shared by those inside the organization. When it is meshing, culture is a powerful force that helps people understand each other and work effectively together. When it becomes dysfunctional or goes through periods of change, it can be a powerful force that contributes to misunderstanding, conflict, poor working relationships and inefficiency.

Treat Culture Like a System - The culture of your organization is a complex system, with lots and lots of moving parts that come together to give it its unique identity. When integrating new elements to the system (e.g. strategic plans), it is critical to take a step back and look at the written and unwritten rules of the organization to know how the strategy will be understood and received. Some cultures strive to hold firmly to their history and identity, while some others are built around the notion of continuous change. Sometimes the different parts of the system do not see the world in the same way; therefore, communicating context and insight related to proposed strategic change is essential.

Listen to Voices and Give them Choices - It is important to listen to all the voices within the organization. Often there are internal influencers (they could be positive contributors or underminers) that hold sway with the pulse of the group. All voices, despite their potential opposition to a new prospective strategy, should be fully integrated into the discussion. Listening is only the first part of this process, however. Opening up a forum for dialogue and an exchange of views gives people an empowering voice and renders organizational members more likely to support (even if they don’t fully agree with) strategic changes.

Considering these ideas may provide you with a wider perspective that ultimately helps to get things done. Imagine what’s possible when strategic thinking and cultural understanding skip breakfast and just do lunch.

Breaking Barriers - Distraction from Multitasking

Multitasking has been widely recognized as an important skill to have in today’s fast paced and competitive business environment. The notion is that one can do more with less time and in the process withstand multiple interruptions and handle a wide variety of tasks in the course of a workday. New research indicates that multitasking not only results in the loss of time, but it reduces overall effectiveness and the accuracy of performance in the specific categories of tasks involved. The busyness associated with task switching reduces the valuable self-talk and mental processing time we need for effective decision-making. In fact, the overall switch-cost from one activity to the next could represent as much as 20 – 40% reduction in overall productivity.

“Making the First Move to Resolve Emotional Conflict”

Two friends, Jerry and Diane, have volunteered to plan a fundraiser for a local nonprofit organization that they both support. They’ve met several times and agreed on the tasks that each of them would do to get the job done. They scheduled a meeting for the next Monday to review their progress and go over the final plan. At the meeting, Jerry announced that unfortunately he had not finished his tasks because a family outing went longer than expected over the weekend. Diane was offended by this because she set aside her own personal plan of going to a movie with a friend to make sure she got her assignments finished. Jerry tried to explain that while the volunteer commitment is important, he also values family and did not want to compromise the precious weekend time he had with his kids. Diane felt that Jerry’s decision was selfish and her expectation for finishing the project on Monday was definitely unmet. The resentment that she felt toward Jerry grew as she considered her busy upcoming schedule and how the delay in the project would cause more hardship for her. As a result, their excitement for the upcoming event soured and caused both of them to reconsider continuing the collaboration…

In the past we’ve talked about conflict resolution in general. The focus of this column is emotional conflict – the kind of angst that Diane and Jerry experienced in what was supposed to be a friendly, positive project for a good cause. Just like Jerry and Diane, we know that every person is different and it is our differences that make conflict an inevitable part of life. However, if we shift our paradigm and choose to see everyday conflict as an opportunity for growth and positive change, we have the potential to improve relationships and avoid the negative costs of unresolved conflict.

When it comes to emotional conflict, the core friction emerges when people differ in their expectations of each other. Or, put another way, emotional conflict occurs whenever our expectations are left unmet. Emotional conflict occurs in the workplace, at home and in social settings because we often don’t live up to the expectations we have for each other (incidentally, we usually don’t express what our expectations are, but that is the subject of another column). When our expectations aren’t met by the world, disappointment is often the first emotion we experience. Among other things, the challenge with emotional conflict is that it can spawn other disruptive emotional reactions like fear, anxiety and guilt. Something that disappoints us can even lead to a feeling of injustice or victimization and in turn, secondary emotions like anger and resentment.

As positive feelings that help connect us to others are replaced by pessimism, resentment and anger, the cumulative effects of emotional conflict can erode happiness, productivity and satisfaction in relationships. For this reason, emotional conflict is very important to resolve. Many conflicts of this nature unfortunately are not resolved because the 1^st step must be taken by the individual whose expectation was unmet. This is counterintuitive in a way. Back to our story, Diane may be thinking that Jerry needs to step forward and apologize for his selfish actions to make the situation right. Or, should Diane be the one to recognize that Jerry wasn’t irresponsible and did not intentionally try to offend or cause an inconvenience for her? Is there a path for Diane and Jerry to get back in synch and work through the differences that threaten their project?

Here are a few ideas that could work for them and maybe work for you if you find yourself in an emotional conflict:

1. Tune in and understand the emotion you are feeling

2. Take ownership for your own unmet expectations and tell the person how you feel without blaming them (anger/resentment are secondary emotions, so acknowledge these feelings and let them go)

3. Clearly state your expectation and make a positive request that it be met

As both people exchange ideas about solutions to move forward, the chances for success grow. Imagine what’s possible when we see emotional conflict as a chance to build up our relationships.

“Keep Your Composure When The Pressure is On”

In sports, an indispensable key to success is the ability to maintain composure and execute your objectives in the face of intense pressure. I can still hear the surly words of my college lacrosse coach as I’m being surrounded by three aggressive defenders: “Sostrin, composure! You dictate where you’re going, not the other way around!”

This lesson from sports is quite applicable to our experiences in the workplace – particularly in today’s age of rapid change, shrinking resources and increasing demands. Rather than being reactive and letting the onslaught of challenging circumstances dictate our course, we can keep our composure and remain focused on our goals and objectives.

Challenges to our composure are everywhere. Anytime we experience a disagreement or conflict, a clash of personality, external pressures like tight timelines and tight budgets, or anytime someone else makes us the object of their unhappiness, the pressure is on. I would argue that composure is one of the most underrated traits of successful managers and employees and that if we cultivate it intentionally we can improve our success.

When we lose our composure, our attitudes and behaviors recede into a realm of reactionary, often personality driven behaviors. Rather than assertively working toward a solution, our flustered and disjointed actions can inflame the situation and ultimately take more energy than just dealing with the problem directly. Our composure can unravel in the moment when our knee-jerk reactions and self-talk turn negative. Thoughts such as “This hassle is the last thing I need right now…I don’t deserve this aggravation…and I shouldn’t have to be dealing with this right now” are personal reactions that distract from the challenge at hand and may do more to psych us out of proactive action than the issue itself.

If you need it, go ahead and give yourself a minute to sulk and feel like things aren’t fair. But once that minute of indulgence has passed, breathe deep and let it go, accepting the situation as it is for what it is. While some people seem to effortlessly exude cool, calm and collected attitudes, others need to work a little harder on it. Either way, consistently maintaining our composure is something we can all do. The following tips will help you step up when it’s crunch time crunch:

- Give yourself a minute to vent and collect yourself;

- Assess the situation objectively and don’t let your own or someone else’s personal reaction cloud things;

- Gather all relevant information to understand the issue;

- Look at the deeper root cause of the problem and don’t get distracted by emotional interpretations of it; and

- Lead by example and take simple, focused action on what can be influenced.

You can tell you are composed when you breathe easily, remain centered and acknowledge the pressure and challenge of the moment without adding to it with your own angst. Keeping your composure is not only a key for your own individual success, but by example it can also inspire confidence in others. Imagine what’s possible when we rise to the occasion and keep our composure when the pressure is on.