【第813回】Tracy Maylett, EdD, and Matthew Wride, JD, “The Employee Experience”

　人事とは、極論すれば経営者のサポート役として、企業にとって求められる人財に関する企画を立案し遂行する役割を担う存在である、と少なくとも私は考えている。間違ってはいないと思うが、本当にそれでいいのか、という思いは常にあり、最近ではそうした思いが強くなってきた。

　なぜなら、そうした立ち位置で行われる施策は、ともすると多様な人財を十把一絡げに画一化して捉え、画一的な施策になりがちだからだ。モノカルチャーにおいては機能するかもしれないが、ダイバーシティが叫ばれる現代の組織においては、機能不全に陥りかねない。

　そうした問題意識を抱いている際に、社員側の立ち位置で施策を捉え直そうとするEmployee Experience（EX）という概念を遅まきながら知る機会があった。企業ではなく、個人の側に立って人事施策を考える上で役に立つ考え方が、本書では明快な論旨で論じられている。

There will always be a gap. Our challenge is to be aware of it, understand it, manage it, and minimize any damage. (Kindle No.1138)

　まず、私たちが組織に対して抱く期待と、現実との間には必ずギャップが存在する事実を理解しなければならない。ギャップがない状態を目指すことは非現実的であり、さらに必要なことは、一人ひとりでそのギャップの内容や程度が異なることを理解することであろう。したがって、人事として対応すべきことは、どうアラインメントを取ることを目指すことになる。

EA is the level to which employees’ expectations for their experience in the workplace line up with their perceived, actual experiences. Without EA, a transformational EX cannot be built. (Kindle No.1371)

　では、アラインメントを取る上で重要な要素は何か。著者は以下の六つの柱(Kindle No.1557)を提示している。

(1) Fairness

(2) Clarity

(3) Empathy

(4) Predictability

(5) Transparency

(6) Accountability

　六つはそれぞれに納得的なものであるが、全てを網羅しようとすることは難しい。著者の現実的な提案としては、このうちの四つをケアすることが重要(Kindle No.1587)であるという。

　ではどのようにケアすることが求められるのか。アラインメントをする対象は、社員が企業組織に対して抱く期待と現実に対する認識とのギャップである。こうしたギャップを軽減するためには、ブランド契約、取引契約、心理的契約という三つの契約をいかにメンテナンスするかにある。

Consider our easier analogy that a Contract is like an iceberg. The visible part above the water is the Brand Contract and the Transactional Contract. The mass lurking below the waterline, hidden from view, is the Psychological Contract. (Kindle No.3135)

　ブランド契約および取引契約が外部から見えやすいものであるのに対して、心理的契約は見えづらい。それを水中に隠れている氷山のようなものとして喩えられているのが絶妙だ。人事として、そうした見えづらい、また常に変化し続ける一人ひとりの社員による経験をいかにデザインするか。簡潔明快な本書が投げかける問いは、重たい。

【第728回】『人材開発研究大全』＜第２部 組織参入後の人材開発＞（中原淳編著、東京大学出版会、2017年）
【第151回】『自律する組織人』（鈴木竜太、生産性出版、2007年）
【第147回】『組織と個人 キャリアの発達と組織コミットメントの変化』（鈴木竜太、白桃書房、2002年）
【第257回】R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz, “fail fast, fail often”

【第694回】Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”【2回目】

　本書を読み直そうと思ったのは、ザッカーバーグに焦点を当てた『フェイスブック 若き天才の野望』で著者の名前を目にしたからである。ザッカーバーグのような稀代のビジネスリーダーであっても、一人でFacebookの戦略を立ててその遂行をリードできるわけではない。特に、COOとして組織を創り上げて運営する著者の存在が大きいことは言うまでもないだろう。

　読み直しての感想は、日本企業においても待ったなしのイシューとなった女性活躍やダイバーシティといったジャンルにおける稀有なケーススタディであるということである。それとともに、あらためて自分自身に惹きつけて印象的であったのは、キャリアに関する彼女の示唆である。

　現代企業において働く個人として、心から感銘を受けたのは、キャリアという概念に対する以下の表現である。

“Careers are a jungle gym, not a ladder.”

As Lori describes it, ladders are limiting - people can move up or down, on or off. Jungle gyms offer more creative exploration. (Kindle No.785)

　キャリア・ラダーという言い方をこれまで企業ではされてきた。梯子を上っていくようにキャリアを捉え、現実への適応として複線型のキャリア・ラダーを近年では用意する企業も増えてきている。それに対して、彼女は、梯子ではなくジャングル・ジムという形容がキャリアには適していると主張している。ジャングル・ジムの遊び方は人それぞれであり、ゴールをどこに置くかは自由であるし、そのプロセスにチャレンジを感じ楽しみながら行うという含意がある。これは、キャリアにアップやダウンはないという捉え方や、プロセスの中で工夫をしたり自分自身の価値観の変容を意識的に行うという動態的なキャリア理論と符合する。アナロジーとしてとても興味深い。

while I don’t believe in mapping out each step of a career, I do believe it helps to have a long-term dream or goal.

A long-term dream does not have to be realistic or even specific. It may reflect the desire to work in a particular field or to travel throughout the world. Maybe the dream is to have professional autonomy or a certain amount of free time. (Kindle No. 813)

　ジャングル・ジム型のキャリアであれば、予定調和性の高い具体的で他者から見てもわかりやすいキャリア・ゴールを持つことは困難である。それとともに、環境変化や自分自身の内的変容を所与とすれば、一つのゴールに固執することは、自分自身を縛ってしまう結果になりかねない。したがって、プロフェッショナルとしての自律性を担保したり、柔軟に活用できる時間を自身で工夫しながら設けることが必要であろう。

I also believe everyone should have an eighteen-month plan. (An omission) First and most important, I set targets for what my team can accomplish. (An omission)

Second, I try to set more personal goals for learning new skills in the next eighteen months. (Kindle No. 868)

　長期的かつ固定的なキャリア・ゴールを持つべきでないという主張は、キャリア・ゴールを設定することに意味がないということを含意しない。そればかりか、何もゴールを設定しないことは、自分自身の拠り所や基軸を失って迷走しかねない。著者が指摘する18ヶ月という期間が最適かどうかは難しい。『アライアンス』で述べられているコミットメント期間と同じように、一つのミッションが完了する期間で成長目標を設定することと捉えれば現実的なのではないだろうか。

In my personal life, I am not someone who embraces uncertainty. (An omission) But in my professional life, I have learned to accept uncertainty and even embrace it. (Kindle No. 895)

　変化が激しく、自分自身の変容も節目ごとに行いながらキャリアをすすめる上では、偶然をいかに受け入れるかが求められる。偶然をアクシデントとして否定するのではなく、オポチュニティとして活かしていくこと。そのためには、泰然自若として構えて、自分自身の価値観とのつながりや価値観の拡がりにどのように活用するか、というマインドセットが求められているのであろう。

【第208回】Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”
【第257回】R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz, “fail fast, fail often”

【第692回】R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz, “fail fast, fail often”【2回目】

　最初に読んだ時は英語で感想を書いたようだ。しかも非常に長い。長ければ良いとは言えないが、これだけアウトプットできていたということに、我ながら驚く。二回目の今回は日本語で書いてみようと思う。日本語で書く方が、正しく理解できているかが分かりやすいので妙な緊張感はあるものだが。

By approaching things as a curious beginner, you not only put yourself in the optimum frame of mind to learn and grow, but you also open yourself to unexpected opportunities and experience. (Kindle ver No. 456)

　直近の私の転職の意志決定について恩師に報告した際、これもplanned-happenstanceだと仰られた。その時は意外な気がしたし、本当にそうなのだろうかと訝しく思ったものだった。しかし、上記の箇所を読むと、たしかにそうした側面もあったのかもしれないと思い直した。誠実さに関する問題はあれども、自分にとって予期しない機会と経験に対して自分自身を開いていたが故に生じたものだったからである。単独のアクションが機能したというわけではなく、そうした機会を生み出すためのアクションをかつて行っていたことが結実したという側面ももちろん含んでいる。

If you want to be successful, then you need to have old-fashioned stick-to-itiveness, or what Penn psychologist Angela Duckworth calls “grit.” Duckworth studies leaders in the fields of investment banking, painting, journalism, academia, medicine, and law to determine why some people accomplish significantly more than others with similar intelligence, creativity, and talent. Her research shows that leaders in most fields share one essential characteristic: grit. (Kindle ver No. 2052)

　最初に読んだ際は読み飛ばしてしまっていたが、本書でも、話題のGRITが触れられていた。たしかにGRITとキャリアとは近しい関係を有していると考えていたので、非常に納得的である。

【第22回】Luck is no accident 2nd edition（John D. Krumboltz, Impact Publishers, 2010）
【第4回】“Creative Decision Making –Using Positive Uncertainty- ”(Gelatt, H.B. and Gelatt, Carol ,Crisp Series, 2003)

【第370回】Dave Ulritch et al., “HR from the outside in”

The authors suggested a several HR competency models based on their surveys to HR professionals in many countries. The original version was made at 1987, and then the model has changed several times. It is very important for us to think about the differences of each versions. 

Then, let’s see 1987’s version as below.

Next is 1992’s one. Compared to the previous version, ‘Personal Credibility’ has been newly positioned at the center of three competencies.

Let’s move on to 1997’s one as below. Before 1997 HR only cared for human issues. On the contrary, in 1997, HR has been started to regard as a player who cares for organizational culture.

What is the difference between 1997’s version and 2002’s one? At first, there is ‘Strategic Contribution’ at the center of competency model. Secondary, ‘Culture’ and ‘Change’ are integrated into ‘HR Technology’. It seems to me that this change was based on new technology especially revolutionary proceeded information technology around 2000. Innovative information technology made HR professional use new ‘HR technology’.

2007 HR competency model has changed dramatically. It is very interesting for me that credibility has been back to the center of the model. Regarding that ‘Activist’ is connected to ‘Credible’, the authors emphasize actions.

At the latest HR competency model, the authors divided competencies into three levels. 

R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz, “fail fast, fail often”

【第355回】Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, “Being the boss”

Though a playing manager is very common in recent companies, managing is totally different from playing. When someone is promoted to a manager, it is not ensured that he or she will be able to succeed with their high performance and great experiences as a player.

Many managers think at first that managing others will be an extension of managing themselves. They assume they will be doing what they did previously, except they will exercise more control over their work and the work of others. Instead, they find they must make a great leap into a new and strange universe unlike anything they’ve encountered before. (kindle ver No. 297)

We should not do for others what we did by ourselves. It is natural that each of us is totally different, then we shouldn’t regard other people as same as we.

In fact, becoming a manager requires so much personal learning and change that it is truly a transformation, akin to the transformations required by such life events as leaving home, finishing school and beginning a career, getting married, or having a child. Like these profound inflection points, becoming an effective manager will call on you to act, think, and feel in new ways; discover new sources of satisfaction; and relinquish old, comfortable, but now outmoded roles and self-perceptions. It requires you to consider anew the questions, Who am I? What do I want? What value do I add? (kindle ver No. 309)

To become a manager, we have to change ourselves. We should change our paradigm as a player to a manager.

There are, the author suggests, three points to be a great manager.

Part I, Manager Yourself, focuses on the person-to-person relationships you form with others, especially those who work for you -- which are the basis for how you influence others. ...

Part II, Manage Your Network, is about exercising influence with integrity and for constructive purposes, given the political realities of organizational life. ...

Part III, Manager Your Team, focuses on what’s required to create a real team of those who work for you. (kindle ver No. 642)

Let’t see important implications to each points.

A healthy sense of self -- a strong but not big ego -- is the foundation for virtually all other elements of character: for valuing others and treating them with respect; for empathy; for the ability to hear criticism, learn, and change; and for emotional maturity. (kindle ver No. 1259)

One of the most important basises is ‘healthy sense of self’. To know who I am and what I am seen like is the key to become a great manager.

Let’t move on to the second point, Manage Your Network. The author suggests that there are five steps.

There are five major steps in building a productive organizational network.

1. Know your business and organization.

2. Know where your group is going.

3. Map your web.

4. Create your network.

5. Sustain your network. (kindle ver No. 1685)

One of the biggest factors to enrich your network is your boss.

Managing up is important because your boss plays a pivotal role in your success -- or your failure. You can leverage your boss’s influence in the organization on your behalf in several ways -- (kindle ver No. 1950)

Your boss is your key success factor as a manager. Then, what should we do for our bosses?

They focus on their boss’s weaknesses and can talk at length about them -- and often do with their peers. But they seldom look for strengths. That’s a shame because your boss’s strengths are what you mus leverage, and you cannot leverage what you don’t recognize or appreciate. (kindle ver No. 2039)

The author’s suggestion is very realistic. We sometimes looks only at our boss’s weak points and complain them to other colleagues, because we long for excuses when we take a mistake. But, in order to make our network stronger and more strict, we have to utilize our boss’s power.

Now, let’s move to the last point.

“Plans are nothing. Planning is everything.” (kindle ver No. 2344)

It’s a statement by Mr. Dwight Eisenhower, allied commander and later U.S. president. Through planning process, we can communicate with our employees and think deeply about our capabilities as a team.

In short, defining the future creates the context for virtually all you do as a manager. It helps you create the right relationships with your people and assess daily problems so emergencies are less likely to supplant what’t truly important. Not only will a plan help you identify who should be in your network, it will help you use your network more effectively. A plan creates a context for delegation by making clear what activities are most important and should be delegated with greater care. A plan also creates a framework for making ethical judgments by helping you weigh the conflicting needs of stakeholders -- in short, by helping define a greater good. (kindle ver No. 2349)

Planning reveals and strengthens several contexts regarding relationship and works. And in order to strengthen our team effectively, all employees have to develop themselves through helping them to do so.

It’s your job as manager to help them assess themselves accurately. If people don’t know where they’re good and where they’re not, they won’t know what to emphasize and where to get better. (kindle ver No. 3214)

Rita Gunther McGrath, “The end of competitive advantage”
R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz, “fail fast, fail often”
John C. Maxwell, “The 21 indispensable qualities of a leader”

【第335回】Rita Gunther McGrath, “The end of competitive advantage”

Stability, not change, is the state that is most dangerous in highly dynamic competitive environments. (kindle ver No. 306)

In traditional MBA courses, most of the cases are based on static environment. When we prepare and discuss such cases, we only have to analyze them from the future and static viewpoint. Such old fashioned MBA viewpoint can’t always adjust to the current dynamic competitive environments.

Then what should we do to do with these changing environments? The author suggests that we should throw away industry perspective, and put on arena perspective instead. Cited as below is the comparison between two perspectives.

Indeed, Fuji Film has been adjusting changing business environments successfully through tremendous internal changes by itself.

Yet, ultimately, it was Fuji’s approach -- investing in new advantages and pulling resources from declining ones -- that proved to be more robust in the face of change. It didn’t get it right every time, and sometimes the transitions were painful. But the company didn’t get trapped by its past. (kindle ver No. 264)

In order for company to change continuously by itself, each company, the author says, should provide and deliver trainings.

Smart companies recognize that continuous training and development is a mechanism to avoid having to fire people when competitive conditions shift, and they invest in training even as they pursue deployment. (kindle ver No. 855)

It seems strong supports to me that developing employees and delivering trainings are key factors to make company accomplish continuous change. And also, I, as a professional of learning and development, have to regard my position as a key success factor to make our company sustainable one.

Gary Hamel, “What matters now”
Walter Isaacson, “Steve Jobs” (again)
Brad Stone, “the everything store”

【第317回】Michael B. Arthur Denise M. Rousseau et al, “The Boundaryless Career”

This book has already been one of the established classics about life and career. In the introduction, Michael B. Arthur and Denise M. Rousseau explain the meaning of boundaryless career.

The boundaryless career does not characterize any single career form, but, rather, a range of possible forms that defies traditional employment assumptions. Accordingly, the term boundaryless distinguishes our concept from the previous one -- the “bounded,” or organizational, career. (kindle ver No. 78)

The old typed career was “bounded” in the organization which an employee belongs to. Of course, there were many career changes before 1990s, many employees didn’t think their career across companies. On the other hand, new career which was seen after 1990s has not been “bounded”. Whether we like it or not, we have to be faced on the boundaryless career in order to seek for our career opportunities.

It is said that the boundaryless career was born in Silicon Valley. In chapter 2, Annalee Saxenian explains it precisely. The viewpoint from individuals is cited as below.

The region’s engineers developed loyalties to each other and to advancing technology, rather than to individual firms or even industries. In the words of the cofounder of LSI Logic: “Here in Silicon Valley there’s far greater loyalty to one’s craft than to one’s company. A company is just a vehicle which allows you to work. If you’re a circuit designer it’s morst important for you to do excellent work. If you can’t in one firm, you’ll move on to another one.” (kindle ver No. 450)

It is necessary for employees to seek for their boundaryless career in Silicon Valley. And also, such boundaryless career is important for Silicon Valley to be enriched as a labor market. Then, it is beneficial for the companies to take boundaryless career policy.

The blurring of the boundaries between firms provides a regional advantage for Silicon Valley. Open labor markets allow individuals and firms to experiment and to learn by continually recombining local knowledge, skills, and technology. And the resilience of the regional economy suggests that the learning advantages of open labor markets -- when embedded in a rich fabric of social relationships -- outweigh their costs. Silicon Valley’s professional networks minimize the search and switching costs incurred by high rates of interfirm mobility. (kindle ver No. 597)

What is recommended in this new coming situation? Karl E. Weick tells us one of the assumptions in chapter 3.

Career success comes to be defined in terms of things like amount of learning accumulated; meaningfulness of continuities constructed; ability to create and manage organizing; comfort in returning to the novice role over and over; ability to explicate what had previously been known only tacitly; tolerance for fragmentary experience; skill in making sense of fragments retrospectively in ways that help others make sense of their fragments; willingness to improvise, and skill at doing so; persistence; compassion for others struggling with the uncertainties of a boundaryless life; and durable faith that actions will have made sense, even though that sense is currently not evident. People skilled in these ways are likely to find a series of challenging projects that, when strung together, simulate traditional advancement. (kindle ver No. 886)

It is also important for us to think about what Philip H. Mirvis and Douglas T. Hall suggest in chapter 14.

The practical and psychological benefits of seeing careers in terms of repeated developmental cycles could be substantial. (kindle ver No. 3725)

Clearly, it will be important to study how and when people learn to adapt to change in a career marked by several cycles. (kindle ver No. 3745)

The boundaryless career challenges people to make sense of and integrate many more stimuli and experiences into their sense of self. (kindle ver No. 3783)

Mark L. Savickas, “Career Counseling”
Luck is no accident 2nd edition（John D. Krumboltz, Impact Publishers, 2010）
“Creative Decision Making –Using Positive Uncertainty- ”(Gelatt, H.B. and Gelatt, Carol ,Crisp Series, 2003)

【第307回】Gary Hamel, “What matters now”

Based on this title, the author explains five factors which matter in current and near future surrounding business environments.

The title of Section 1 is ‘Values matter now’.

Now think about Michelangelo, Galileo, Jefferson, Gandhi, William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, and Sir Edmund Hillary. What were the ideals that inspired these individuals to acts of greatness? Was it anything on your list of commercial values? Probably not. Remarkable contributions are spawned by a passionate commitment to timeless human values, such as beauty, truth, wisdom, justice, charity, fidelity, joy, courage, and honor. (kindle ver No. 905)

It may be important for us to seek for economical value in our business. But, to win a lot of commercial value doesn’t keep on making us feel excited. From the broader and long viewpoint, seeking for our own human value motivates us strongly and deeply.

Section 2 is about innovation.

You have to start with observation because it’s the only way to illuminate the subtle nuances about how people actually get things done, or don’t get things done, and it’s these deep insights that lead to powerful new ideas. Intellectual experimentation is equally critical because there’s no way to generate real breakthroughs unless people are willing to explore a lot of options in a divergent way. Finally, rapid and inexpensive prototyping is the most efficient way to move an idea from concept to reality. By “building to think” instead of “thinking about what to build,” an organization can dramatically accelerate its pace of innovation. (kindle ver No. 1249)

Cited as above is the word said by Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO. When we think about innovation, we tend to be focused on output. But, according to Tim Brown, observation is the first and most important step to make some innovations.

Section 3 explains the importance of adaptability.

To be an adaptable company, it is needed for us to have adaptable mindset. There are four factors which the author suggests.

(1)Challenge AssumptionsTo uncover conventional beliefs, you have to challenge yourself to image how you might achieve unconventional outcomes. (kindle ver No. 2346)

(2)Invest in Genetic DiversityChange usually takes a catalyst, and the best catalyst in my experience is someone whose views and life experiences differ considerably from your own. (kindle ver No. 2365)

(3)Encourage Debate and Dialectic ThinkingThe best leaders are the ones who get the most options on the table before making a decision, and the most adaptable companies will be those that encourage folks to voice heretical viewpoints. (kindle ver No. 2365)

In section 4, passion is drawn as an important factor. To explain this factor, the author cites the case at BNZ, the Bank of New Zealand.

“The freedom to open when you want may not be the biggest thing we’ve done, but it’s the most symbolic in terms of telling people, ‘We trust you, and we’re serious about empowering you.’” (kindle ver No. 3131)

To be trusted is one of the most powerful passion and power to motivate employees.

The key message of Section 5 is ideology.

What you won’t find in either of these companies is a formal hierarchy, a trickle-down power structure, or employees who feel like serfs. What you will find is a dynamic balance of yin and yang, of freedom and discipline, of accountability and autonomy. (kindle ver No. 3460)

In order for us to adapt the changing business environment, there is no denying the essence of accountability and autonomy.

Walter Isaacson, “Steve Jobs” (again)
Brad Stone, “the everything store”
Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”

【第299回】Mark L. Savickas, “Career Counseling”

The author explains three types of career services on page No. 280 as below.

(1)Vocational Guidance: Actor, Scores, Traits, Resemblance, Matching, Object

(2)Career Education: Agent, Stages, Tasks, Readiness, Implementing, Subject

(3)Career Counseling: Author, Stories, Themes, Reflectivity, Constructing, Project

This is one of the most important summaries of analyzing career theories. As time goes by, third type is fit to our career.

The “dejobbing” or “jobless work” that has accompanied the digital revolution changes long-term jobs into short-term projects, making it increasingly difficult to comprehend careers with theories that emphasize stability rather than mobility. The new employment market in an unsettled economy calls for viewing career not as a lifetime commitment to one employer but as selling services and skills to a series of employers who need projects completed. While the form of career changes from commitment to flexibility, so too must the form of career counseling change. Career theories and techniques must evolve to better assist workers throughout the world in adapting to fluid societies and flexible organizations. (kindle ver No. 212)

As business environment and technology has changed, career theories have to be changed and adjusted to them. One of the most important points of change is about from long-term and stable to short-term and flexible.

So today, depending upon a client’s needs, practitioners may apply different career services: vocational guidance to identify occupational fit, career education to foster vocational development, or career counseling to design a work life. (kindle ver No. 289)

Based on that career theories have been changed, practitioners who consult clients who seek for their career tend to use different tools to make them to find it out.

To assist in producing identity capital, 21st-century career interventions should help individuals construct and use their life stories to make choices and take actions with integrity of character. (kindle ver No. 359)

It is important for clients to narrate their own career as a story, in order to fully understand their own career. When we narrate our life and career history, we connect each decision and event in our life and career.

In considering career construction, the theme denotes a moving perspective that imposes personal meaning on past memories, present experiences, and future aspirations. (kindle ver No. 612)

To construct our own career, we have to reflect the past, understand what we are doing now, and seek for what we want to do and to be.

Although both plot and theme may be considered career, the first objective and the second subjective, career construction theory refers to the objective career as occupational plot and the subjective career as career theme. Objective outcomes such as success or failure are part of the occupational plot, whereas subjective outcomes such as satisfaction or frustration are part of the career theme. (kindle ver No. 667)

There are two points to draw about career. One is about objective career, and it is useful for us to understand occupational plot. The other one is about subjective career, and it is important for us to understand our feeling and emotion to construct our career view.

R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz, “fail fast, fail often”
“To sell is human”, Daniel H. Pink
“How will you measure your life?”, Clayton M. Christensen
Luck is no accident 2nd edition（John D. Krumboltz, Impact Publishers, 2010）
“TRANSITIONS”(William Bridges, Da Capo Press, 2004)
“Creative Decision Making –Using Positive Uncertainty- ”(Gelatt, H.B. and Gelatt, Carol ,Crisp Series, 2003)

【第297回】Walter Isaacson, “Steve Jobs” (again)

This is the second time to read through this greatest innovators’ biography. I’d like to focus on three parts, his youthful life, way of his business,  and how to manage his people.

First point is about his youthful life.

So he grew up not only with a sense of having once been abandoned, but also with a sense that he was special. In his own mind, that was more important in the formation of his personality. (kindle ver No. 481)

To be abandoned by his biological parents made him have complex feeling and talent. He regarded his abandoned youthful days not only as negative meaning but also as positive one.

By this point Jobs was no longer trying to find a guru who could impart wisdom, but instead was seeking enlightenment through ascetic experience, deprivation, and simplicity. (kindle ver No. 1050)

Though he sought for his religious guru to India, he couldn’t. But, on the other hand, his psychological journey made him get his extreme attitude to simplicity. It’s the starting point that he put emphasis on simplicity to his all products.

The Atari experience helped shape Jobs’s approach to business and design. He appreciated the user-friendliness of Atari’s insert-quarter-avoid-Klingons games. (kindle ver No. 1168)

Coming back from India, he restarted his work at Atari. His early career brought him an approach to user-friendliness. Special feeling compared to other people brought him being focused on simplicity and user-friendliness.

I’d like to move on to the second topic, way of his business.

“Did Alexander Graham Bell do any market research before he invented the telephone?” (kindle ver No. 2983)

Most top executives are trying to find out customers’ needs and to response to them in order to make new products. But Jobs doesn’t try to follow the current customer’s needs, because he totally believes that he can create customer needs. Only after Jobs shows new product, we can find out what we’ve wanted.

One of his core principles was that hardware and software should be tightly integrated. He loved to control all aspects of his life, and the only way to do that with computers was to take responsibility for the user experience from end to end. (kindle ver No. 5638)

His digital hub strategy is from his attitude to control user experience in order to make progress of user-friendliness. It is more understandable to know this innovative strategy, when we compare the case of with one of Sony.

Indeed Sony provided a clear counterexample to Apple. It had a consumer electronics division that made sleek products and a music division with beloved artists (including Bob Dylan). But because each division tried to protect its own interests, the company as a whole never got its act together to produce an end-to-end service. (kindle ver No. 6631)

At the beginning of 2000s, Sony had stronger chances to integrate their strengths to make customers’ hidden wants as same as Apple, because Sony had Walkman, highly designed lap top PC, and world wide music company. But they couldn’t, because each division sought for their own profits and fought together in side of Sony silently.

Sony worried about cannibalization. If it built a music player and service that made it easy for people to share digital songs, that might hurt sales of its  record division. One of Jobs’s business rules was to never be afraid of cannibalizing yourself. “If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else will,” he said. So even though an iPhone might cannibalize sales of an iPod, or an iPad might cannibalize sales of a laptop, that did not deter him. (kindle ver No. 6764)

Head quarter of Sony worried about cannibalization between each companies. And that’s why they couldn’t make synergies. But, did any other good companies decide cannibalizing strategy? Maybe only Apple could. This is one of the most strongest points of Jobs’s way. 

Third point is about how to manage his people.

Was Jobs’s unfiltered behavior caused by a lack of emotional sensitivity? No. Almost the opposite. He was very emotionally attuned, able to read people and know their psychological strengths and vulnerabilities. He could stun an unsuspecting victim with an emotional towel-snap, perfectly aimed. He intuitively knew when someone was faking it or truly knew something. This made him masterful at cajoling, stroking, persuading, flattering, and intimidating people. (kindle ver No. 2180)

His extremely direct saying and action are from not his lacking his sensitivity but special sensitivity. I know another great CEO also has this talent as Jobs does. It seems to me that it is one of the important talents to lead and manage employees.

“This wasn’t about processor speed or memory,” Jobs recalled. “It was about creativity.” It was directed not only at potential customers, but also at Apple’s own employees: “We at Apple had forgotten who we were. One way to remember who you are is to remember who your heroes are. That was the genesis of that campaign.” (kindle ver No. 5518)

Cited as above is about very famous ‘Think Different’ campaign, after he came back to Apple. He made emphasis not only on making impression to their customers but also on getting fire to employees. He must know that customer satisfaction follows employee satisfaction.

In order to institutionalize the lessons that he and his team were learning, Jobs started an in-house center called Apple University. He hired Joel Podolny, who was dean of the Yale School of Management, to compile a series of case studies analyzing important decisions the company had made, including the switch to the Intel microprocessor and the decision to open the Apple Stores. Top executives spent time teaching the cases to new employees, so that the Apple style of decision making would be embedded in the culture. (kindle ver No. 7612)

This is an example to show that Jobs really wanted to make Apple sustainable and great company. I hope that Apple will continue to make and launch new innovative products to us to make the world better place, as Jobs mentioned. 

Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, “The new digital age”
Brad Stone, “the everything store”
Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”

【第274回】Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, “The new digital age”

What are Google ‘guys’ thinking about their technology and future? This is why I wanted to read this book. One of the most amazing things is that they do care for not only information technology but also social issues, for example, communication, terrorism, politics, way of life, and so on.

This is not a book about gadgets, smart-phone apps or artificial intelligence, though each of these subjects will be discussed. This is a book about technology, but even more, it’s a book about humans, and how humans interact with, implement, adapt to and exploit technologies in their environment, now and in the future, throughout the world. Most of all, this is a book about the importance of a guiding human hand in the new digital age. (Kindle ver No. 239)

Their strong will and social concerns are also written about the risk of information technology as below.

This trend will certainly affect how technology companies form, grow and navigate in what will certainly be a tumultuous period. Certain subsections of the technology industry that receive particularly negative  attention will have trouble recruiting engineers or attracting users to and monetizing their products, despite the fact that such atrophying will not solve the problem (and will only hurt the community of users in the end, by denying them the full benefits of innovation). Thick skin will be a necessary for technology companies in the coming years of the digital age, because they will find themselves beset by public concerns over privacy, security and user protections. It simply won’t be possible to avoid these discussions, nor will companies be able to avoid taking a position on the issues. (Kindle ver No. 1153)

Then, what is the most biggest impact to our lives through a big change by technologies?

For citizens, coming online means coming into possession of multiple identities in the physical and virtual worlds. (Kindle ver No. 175)

Especially online technology is going to make us have two worlds, physical one and virtual one. Living in these two worlds at once, we’re faced on having two different identities.

For those who are already connected, living in both the physical and the virtual worlds has become part of who we are and what we do. As we grow accustomed to this change, we also learn that the two worlds are not mutually exclusive, and what happens in one has consequences in the other. (Kindle ver No. 1420)

According to authors, though we tend to have two different identities in both virtual and physical world, they are influencing each other. Two worlds are not separated, but connected. Based on the estimated near future, what should we change to adjust to two parallel worlds? Authors suggest there are four implicating points.

First, it’s clear that technology alone is no panacea for the world’s ills, yet smart uses of technology can make a world of differences. (Kindle ver No. 4391)

Because most of us have fair chance to use technologies, technology itself causes us same benefit. If we want to make us different and competitive to others, we have to become smart users of technologies.

Second, the virtual world will not overtake or overhaul the existing world order, but it will complicate almost every behavior. (Kindle ver No. 4391)

If the virtual world becomes progressed more and more, there will be the physical world for our lives. On the other hand, we have to be prepared for the future world which will be more integrated for two different worlds.

Third, states will have to practice two foreign policies and two domestic policies -- one for the virtual world and one for the physical world -- and these policies may appear contradictory. (Kindle ver No. 4391)

Though this message is sent for the government and politicians, we, as a citizen, have to care for the upcoming two different rules, because we will have to live in both worlds each of which will have own rule.

Finally, with the spread of connectivity and mobile phones around the world, citizens will have more power than at any other time in history, but it will come with costs, particularly to both privacy and security. (Kindle ver No. 4405)

We should consider about pros and cons about having information technologies. Then, it will be needed for us not only to enlarge possibilities and chances of using them, but also lessen risks and weakness of it.

R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz, “fail fast, fail often”
Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”
Brad Stone, “the everything store”
“Steve Jobs”, Walter Isaacson, Simon & Schuster, 2011

【第257回】R. Babineaux and J. Krumboltz, “fail fast, fail often”

To tell the truth, I was not interested in the presentation by Dr. Krumboltz,  when I attended at Keio Mita campus in 2001. At that time, I was a university student of bachelor course, that is to say, I hadn’t had any business experience and started my business career yet. It has passed more than twelve years since then. The more I have experienced my career and life, the deeper I understand what planned happenstance theory is. This latest his book is also very amazing, then I’m NOW totally interested in his masterpieces.

The “not yet” view is not only wrong, it presents a surefire way to block you from the beneficial effects of happenstance. When you focus on the shortcomings in your life, drag your feet, and belabor your bad habits and neuroses, you see nothing but your own misery. You become blind to opportunities and don’t take actions that lead to change. (Kindle ver No. 77)

We sometimes tend to be focused on shortcomings in our lives. According to authors, such “not yet” view narrows our viewpoint. Then, it becomes difficult for us to find a chance, even when there are some positive possibilities in front of us.

How to avoid using “not yet” view? According to authors, there are several hints when we consider about our motivation factors.

... just thinking for a few minutes about writing for external rewards reduced the creative performance of people who loved to write. These results provide a telling example of how sacrificing personal joy for external rewards can produce a significant drop in the inventiveness of one’s work. (Kindle ver No. 129)

When we try to see positive issues, we had better not seek for external rewards. Because external rewards lessen our internal motivation to do something, however we liked it before. Though utilizing external rewards is useful to motivate someone at a short term, it will be bad for people to maintain their high internal motivation.

... to sustain motivation and performance, it is important to structure each day to include progress at work that is enjoyable and meaningful. It is not the size of the progress that is important but the frequency. (Kindle ver No. 214)

If we want to care for our important internal motivation, we try to use not the size but the frequency. Then we have to think about how to increase the number of making a little progress. And it is also important for us to feel a little progress by ourselves, in order not to be bored with our efforts.

In order to be care for our internal motivation, authors tell us several points to do new things relating to our attitudes.

By approaching things as a curious beginner, you not only put yourself in the optimum frame of mind to learn and grow, but you also open yourself to unexpected opportunities and experiences. (Kindle ver No. 456)

We have several own experiences. Though each experience is a treasure for us to live, it sometimes prevents us from learning new important things and taking unknown actions. It is important for us to be open our mind, to be flexible to be changed, and to prepare chances which will occur to us suddenly.

Dweck comments, “Emphasizing effort gives a child a variable that they can control. They come to see themselves as in control of their success. Emphasizing natural intelligence takes it out of the child’s control, and it provides no good recipe for responding to a failure.” (Kindle ver No. 476)

It is, of course, better for us to have a good intelligence by nature. Utilizing such talents will enable us to make our life happier and more meaningful. But based on a result of psychological test, make attention to have excellent natural intelligence to a child decreases internal motivation of them. On the other hand, when a child is made attention to their making effort, they feel that they can control to be successful. We had better be focused on an effort not on a natural intelligence, especially when we say something positive comments to younger children.

It is important for us not only to care for our attitude, but also to care for our action.

Many people have fallen into the habit of doubting their curiosity and taking themselves out of pursing their passions. They fall prey to the illusion that trying something requires a commitment and long-term plan. But the truth is that life is so complex, the world so dynamic, and people so richly multifaceted, that it is often impossible to predict even the broadest outlines of how events will unfold. The one thing you can be sure of is that you will have a more fascinating and fulfilling life if you explore what intrigues you. Of coure, time is limited. You can’t try everything, but you can experiment with some new possibilities. (Kindle ver No. 617)

When we start to something, we tend to think that we have to finish it completely or continue very long time. It will make us feel guilty or commitment to do it, then we’ll hesitate to do something new to us. But we will be able to change our decisions in order for us to adjust to our changing environment. To start something is only an experiment to test our own will and adjust to current environment. If it doesn’t to fit us and environment, we can change it, because we have a free hand.

Here’s the rub: People are multifaceted and have interests that are continually changing. What challenges and excites you one year may be different in the next -- it may even change from day to day. So the idea that you can be described by characteristics that are stable over time is pretty silly. (Kindle ver No. 759)

Our identity is composed of not one character but several characters. Though it feels to be stable from the viewpoint of long-term, it is moving dynamic from that of short-term. And, short-term dynamic challenges are making our identity flexible and rich. Based on a dynamic approach to our identity, we had better seek for our own hidden interests an talents to be developed by our daily casual challenges.

When we want to be focused on dynamic approach, we understand that making a precise plan beforehand is not reasonable.

Dorsey’s phenomenal success came about because he avoided detailed planning. In fact, instead of “deciding” upon a particular career and committing himself to it, he was open to trying many different things over the years -- programming, botanical illustration, fashion design, message therapy. Not all of the career possibilities worked out, but he quickly transitioned to the next thing he wanted to try. Of course, not all of us will be as financially successful as Jack Dorsey. But everyone can follow their curiosity and pursue what they enjoy. Ultimately, success comes from building a life that is right for you, not from meeting the expectations of others. (Kindle ver No. 1020)

Jack Dorsey, as you know, is one of the founders of Twitter. Through showing his career history, authors suggest the importance of dynamic approach to our career. I think they also indicates that integrating our own experiences and interests to current job and career is important, because many experiences themselves don’t have any meanings to our career.

Authors named their dynamic career “The Lean Approach to Careers”, and show six important tips as below.

1. Make the smallest viable action plan -- just enough to take the next positive action.2. Be good at taking small steps that allow you to try and learn about many things.3. Perform experiments to confirm or disprove your assumptions about occupations that you are curious about.4. Be prepared to change course; expect to make many small adjustments, as well as some big ones.5. Avoid big investments in education, training, and preparation until you have learned as much as possible.6. Keep your plans informal.(Kindle ver No. 1029)

From the viewpoint of “The Lean Approach to Careers”, we have to rethink  about our view of making decisions.

When faced with a tough decision -- e.g., whatever you should accept a job, move to a new city, or commit to a long-term project -- find an easy exploratory step you can take that will allow you to gather more information and broaden your perspective. Then ask yourself, “Am I willing to take this step to find out more?” (Kindle ver No. 1706)

At first, we should make big and complex decision into small and simple ones. It is tough for us to answer former problem, but it will be easier for us to answer latter one. Based on theories of internal motivation, when we make some small steps answering small questions, our motivation is getting higher and higher. Then such small steps will be a big change from the viewpoint of long-term.

When you find yourself in a confusing situation with many possible choices to consider, sometimes the best thing to do is to find a key step you can take that will simplify things and move them forward. (Kindle ver No. 1790)

To simplify big problems and to make first step quickly is the most important things to make new actions.

It is important for us to make actions by ourselves, but also to make us motivated by the power of community.

We use the word “community” rather than the word “networking” because we want to suggest a different way to think about personal relationships. Traditional business networking, with its focus on seeking people who can provide resources that you need -- sales leads, business referrals, professional introductions -- can feel cold and artificial. People recognize when you are interacting with them as a means to get something and will rightfully be wary of you. In contrast, when your goal is to build a community, you commune with others; you converse intimately in order to share the fullness of your humanity -- mutual joy, enthusiasm, curiosity, values, feeling, whimsy, and aspirations. (Kindle ver No. 2180) 

I totally agree this suggestion by authors. From a cold “network” there are less rich conversations and interactions, but from a warm “community” there are them. Adding this implication, we can make our life and career be diverse and meaningful from the interactions in our communities.

Brad Stone, “the everything store”
Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”
“Steve Jobs”, Walter Isaacson, Simon & Schuster, 2011
Luck is no accident 2nd edition（John D. Krumboltz, Impact Publishers, 2010）
“Creative Decision Making –Using Positive Uncertainty- ”(Gelatt, H.B. and Gelatt, Carol ,Crisp Series, 2003)

【第256回】Brad Stone, “the everything store”

Amazon.com is one of the biggest successful start up companies in two decades. Almost all of the successful companies have their own history and legend. Why did Bezos found Amazon? 

He has vast ambitions -- not only for Amazon, but to push the boundaries of science and remake the media. (Kindle ver No. 101)

It’s amazing for me that he wants not only to make progress of his business in Amazon, but also to contribute to technology and media. Based on this viewpoint, it seems to me that he is focused on making our world better than now.

It was the combination of EC2 and S3 -- strage and computer, two primitives linked together -- that transformed both AWS and the technology world. Startups no longer needed to spend their venture capital on buying servers and hiring specialized engineers to run them. Infrastructure costs were variable instead of fixed, and they could grow in direct proportion to revenues. It freed companies to experiment, to change their business models with a minimum of pain, and to keep up with the rapidly growing audiences of erupting social networks like Facebook and Twitter. (Kindle ver No. 3344)

Technologies which Amazon made contributed to innovative ventures, Facebook and Twitter. While Amazon offers what customers want in the daily lives, it offers the chance which young venture companies do their new business easily.

Bezos said. “When I read that letter, I thought, we don’t make money when we sell things. We make money when we help customers make purchase decisions.” (Kindle ver No. 532)

Bezos’s focusing point is not selling something, but helping customers to buy something. His strong will to support customer’s decision to buy goods gave birth of customer review system and keeps on enlarging and innovating this system.

They would make the free-shipping offer permanent, but only for customers who were willing to wait a few extra days for their order. Just like the airlines, Amazon would, in effect, divide its customers into two groups: those whose needs were time sensitive, and everyone else. (Kindle ver No. 1956)

Though Bezos seeks for better customer experience, his decision about shipping is very reasonable and clear. To divide customer’s preference types into two makes both groups satisfy their needs. And this system also makes adding large revenues for Amazon.

Being an unstore meant, in Bezos’s view, that Amazon was not bound by the traditional rules of retail. It had limitless shelf space and personalized itself for every customer. It allowed negative reviews in addition to positive ones, and it placed used products directly next to new ones so that customers could make informed choices. In Bezos’s eyes, Amazon offered both everyday low prices and great customer service. It was Walmart and Nordstrom’s. (Kindle ver No. 2738)

Bezos called Amazon an ‘unstore’. It is totally different from real stores. It can offer not only low price but also amazing customer service. Because Amazon is based on internet, Bezos can seek for special customer satisfaction which is far beyond that of real shop.

Bezos ultimately concluded that if Amazon was to continue to thrive as a bookseller in a new digital age, it must own the e-book business in the same way that Apple controlled the music business. (Kindle ver No. 3481)

As Apple did launch iPhone to kill iPod, Amazon launched Kindle to kill their real book industry. Both of their strategies are based on innovator’s dilemma.

Bezos dismissed those objections and insisted that to succeed in books as Apple had in music, Amazon needed to control the entire customer experience, combining sleek hardware with an easy-to-use digital bookstore. (Kindle ver No. 3500)

Amazon’s cannibalism is for customers’ better experience. And it is based on rigid hardware technology.That’s why Bezos could such innovations.

Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”
“Steve Jobs”, Walter Isaacson, Simon & Schuster, 2011

【第223回】John C. Maxwell, “The 21 indispensable qualities of a leader”

This book seems to me a casual essay, but brings us some important implications in our business and private life. In this book, there are especially two impressive chapters for me.

Firstly, I’m going to write about chapter 2, “Charisma : the first impression can seal the deal”. 

Most of us regard charisma as an innate talent which can’t be attained in our lives. But, the author doesn’t have such attitude to it.

Charisma, plainly stated, is the ability to draw people to you. And like other character traits, it can be developed. (No. 191by Kindle ver.)

According to him we can obtain charismatic character even after our birth. Then, how to do it?

If you appreciate others, encourage them, and help them reach their potential, they will love you for it. (No. 206 by Kindle ver.)

It is important for us not to be concentrated on ourself, but to make attention for other people carefully and to believe their potential strongly. Such warm and continuing attitude to others will cause charismatic relationship between them and you. So, charisma is not a trait which some person has, but a relationship between some person and you.

Secondly, let’s talk about chapter 8, “Focus : the sharper it is, the sharper you are”.

As most of us understand, it is important for us not to allocate our resources into every factors equally, but to prioritize intentionally. Cited from the author’s comments, there are three strategies about how to allocate our resources.

1) Focus 70 Percent on Strengths (No. 698 by Kindle ver.)

We sometimes tend to be focused on our weak points, because we’re  always given negative feedbacks when we mistake something caused by weakness. Whenever we’re given them, we have to be faced on our weakness. But, cited with the comment by Peter Drucker, the author suggests that we should focus on our strengths. In order to accomplish something, we have to focus on our strengths, just because it will be reasonable and effectively to use them.

2) Focus 25 Percent on New Things (No. 698 by Kindle ver.)

Though it is important to focus on our strengths, they will be changed in order for us to adjust to our environments and to meet expectations from surrounding people. As the author says, “Growth equals change. If you want to get better, you have to keep changing and improving.” (No. 698 by Kindle ver.)

3) Focus 5 Percent on Areas of Weakness (No. 713 by Kindle ver.)

We ONLY allocate 5 percent on our weakness. The most important strategy to care about our weaknesses is to minimize the negative impact brought by them. Then, if we can delegate our tasks which are related to our own weak points, we should optimize our resource as one team.

Edgar H. Schein, “Humble Inquiry”
Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”
“Source”, Joseph Jaworski

【第217回】Edgar H. Schein, “Humble Inquiry”

What is ‘Humble Inquiry’? What is the difference between usual hearing and  ‘Humble Inquiry’. Dr. Schein defines it as below.

Humble Inquiry is the fine art of drawing someone out, of asking questions  to which you do not already know the answer, of building a relationship based on curiosity and interest in the other person. (No.93)

According to him, having attitude of Humble Inquiry is very important in any situations including business and private life, because work and life become more and more complex today. Doing Humble Inquiry brings us many advantages in these situation.

Ultimately the purpose of Humble Inquiry is to build relationships that lead to trust which, in turn, leads to better communication and collaboration. (No.337)

It is important for us to use Humble Inquiry to build good relationship and  trustfulness. Then, good relationship and trustfulness bring us better communication and collaboration.

These cases also illustrate that Humble Inquiry is not a checklist to follow or a set of prewritten questions -- it is behavior that comes out of respect, genuine curiosity, and the desire to improve the quality of the conversation by stimulating greater openness and the sharing of task-relevant information. (No.548)

Humble Inquiry is not a checklist but a behavior which comes from their own mind. When we do something based on some checklist, we tend to be just focused on actions without any consideration and reflection. It’s not the attitude of Humble Inquiry. If we are based on it, we take care of other person’s mind and ourselves.

The skills of Asking in general and Humble Inquiry in particular will be needed in three broad domains: 1) in your personal life, to enable you to deal with increasing cultural diversity in all aspects of work and social life; 2) in organizations, to identify needs for collaboration among interdependent work units and to facilitate such collaboration; and 3) in your role as leader or manager, to create the relationships and the climate that will promote the open communication needed for safe and effective task performance. (No. 1253)

In order to develop our attitude of Humble Inquiry, these lists above seem to be useful. These are not checklist to be focused on outer actions, but  guideline to be focused on inner feeling and mind.

Sheryl Sandberg, “LEAN IN”
“To sell is human”, Daniel H. Pink
“How will you measure your life?”, Clayton M. Christensen
“Makers” by Chris Anderson