Adults make over 35,000 decisions each day. Many of the choices you make are automatic and proceed without much conscious consideration, such as getting out of bed or the route you take to the office. Other decisions carry more weight and require additional time and thought before making a judgment. But what about making decisions at work? Do you have a decision-making method to determine the right course of action?
Most of us have never been formally coached on how to make important decisions. If you’ve had difficulty making decisions at work, or if the calls you’ve been making are resulting in undesired outcomes, there might be something wrong. Not necessarily with the decisions themselves, but with how you are making them.
What if you took a more methodical approach to decision-making? Decision-making methods do exist. In fact, the military wouldn’t be able to function without a system for making rational decisions we call the FASD method. Could implementing a similar decision-making method at work help you develop and hone your decision-making skills?
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What Is the FASD Decision-Making Method?
The FASD approach is a military decision-making method that provides a framework for making informed decisions. This method guides choice-making with a systematic approach. To use this method for making decisions at work, you first determine the possible courses of action. Next, measure each of the options against the four FASD principles:
Feasibility
Acceptability
Sustainability
Discernibility
Both the Australian and American military use a variation of these terms in their decision-making methods. Let’s cover each one.
Feasible
Is the course of action feasible? Meaning can it be done within any restrictions you may have, including physical limitations, access to resources, and so on? Consider the amount of time required, the location, and the manpower needed.
For a simple example, let’s say your company’s fax machine has broken, and you are trying to choose whether to repair it or replace it. Is one option more financially feasible than the other? Do you have the staffing capacity to spend time comparing and testing new models? What about physical space–would a new machine take up more room, and can dedicate the square footage to this piece of equipment?
If it passes the feasibility test, you can move on to the next parameter.
Acceptable
Take the time to do a risk assessment. If a given option plays out as you expect it to, what are the consequences? Define the risks and determine if they are more detrimental than doing nothing. Balance the cost of this choice, which includes the risk involved in relation to the potential gain.
Continuing with the broken fax machine example, are the consequences of replacing vs. repairing the fax machine acceptable? If you replace it, the cost will be more significant, but repairing it may only buy time until another breakdown. Which option is more acceptable to you?
Sustainable (or Suitable)
In other words, are you capable of following through with this decision and maintaining the outcome on a long-term basis? Also, take a look at suitability — does the end result effectively resolve the problem you set out to solve with this decision-making method?
Referring back to our example, will the company be able to absorb the cost of replacing the fax machine, or will it do irreparable harm to the budget? Or, if you repair it, how long will it last until it breaks down again, thus incurring another cost?
Discernible
Lastly, look at whether each course of action is discernible. If the options you have identified at the beginning are not significantly different from each other, then you aren’t really making a decision — or rather, you’ve already made the decision, and who knows if it was the right one? If this is the case, return to the beginning of the process and redefine your potential courses of action, making sure each one solves the initial problem through a distinct and differing result.
In this case, our example problem of replacing vs. repairing broken equipment might have the same outcome if all other factors, such as cost and downtime, are the same. If that’s the situation, you should consider what problem you are really trying to solve. Is your end goal to send faxes? Or is it simply that you need a secure way of sending documents to clients? Are there other ways of accomplishing that goal other than a fax machine? Can you pivot to electronic signatures via an online platform or email? Or would you benefit from in-person meetings to go over these documents? Now, instead of tying yourself to a “choice” where you ultimately up in the same place no matter which option you choose (still using a fax machine), you have three truly unique options to choose from (fax machine, electronic sending, or in-person meetings).
From there, you can take the options that have passed the FASD criteria and conduct a course of action analysis to make a better and more informed decision at work.
Why the FASD Method Is Better Than Most Decision-Making Methods
The FASD decision-making method gives decision-makers the steps to complete a thorough assessment and review before making critical calls. This approach to decision-making is better than most others for various reasons. To understand this, let’s take a quick look at some other common ways decisions are made.
Common Alternatives to the FASD Decision-Making Method
Some of the common decision-making methods used to make decisions at work today include:
Commanding: Making decisions on your own without outside input
Consulting: Considering input from a small group of peers to make a decision
Voting: A group consensus where the majority rules
Each of the above methods fails to include one crucial step that the FASD masters: setting up the game properly. To make truly informed decisions as a leader in business, you first need to develop feasible options to compare. Each option has to be able to stand on its own merit and be entirely different (not just a slight deviation from the same plan).
The FASD method ensures that you’re choosing from the right set of choices. Assessing each course of action against the four principles above provides clarity in two ways. First, it acts as screening criteria to ensure each option is thoroughly considered. This prevents proceeding with a decision that fails to meet one of the FASD principles. Second, it enhances problem-solving abilities by requiring a thorough understanding of the situation before making any rash decisions to solve the problem.
When you adopt the FASD decision-making method, you can find your true power as a leader by adopting a military-like approach to your business. Doing a thorough review of your options before you choose one removes subjectivity and impulsive conclusions from your process, thereby earning you more respect from your team.
Take Your Decision-Making Method to the Next Level
Learning the right methods for how to make decisions at work can be a daunting task. If you feel this way, you are not alone. Luckily, there is help. At The Eighth Mile Consulting, our goal is to work with good people looking to improve themselves as employers and leaders.
If you’re looking for lessons that will take your leadership to the next level, take a look at our 8-week online leadership course to see if it might help you make better decisions at work and become a better leader for your team.
Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
It takes a trailblazer to go where no path exists. It takes a leader.
In every business, it’s leaders who provide direction. Your business couldn’t reach its goals without this.
But great leaders aren’t necessarily born — they’re made. Leadership is one of those qualities that people can learn.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) recent report on working millennials, 29% of those surveyed accepted their most recent position for its personal development opportunities and advancement potential. Only 14% chose their position for the benefits package.
The bottom line? Millennials are poised to make up 75% of the workforce in just a few years. These workers want to see training opportunities offered, and employers who don’t meet this desire risk losing current (and attracting future) talent.
The question is: do you opt for traditional classroom-based or online leadership training? And how do you know if online leadership training is right for you or your organization?
Classroom-based learning has its place, but online leadership training offers multiple benefits over the classroom — for employees and employers.
Benefits of Online Leadership Training
Whether you want to help employees jumpstart a soaring career trajectory, succeed in a current role, or prepare for a future role, knowing the benefits of this kind of training can help point you to the right type of program.
At Eighth Mile Consulting, we pride ourselves on helping organizations grow by improving their people and processes. Our consulting services can help your organization handle change, build resilience, and develop the strategies that cultivate leadership.
The right online leadership training program can provide many opportunities for improvement.
Assess your Leadership Effectiveness
To improve upon anything, you need to know where your skills stand currently.
What are some of your weaknesses?
How can you strengthen those areas?
Where do your strengths lie?
How can you pull from your current skillset to improve your leadership qualities?
Becoming familiar with these answers generates awareness. It offers insights that identify improvement strategies and personal leadership styles. You and your employees can reference, pull from and build upon these skills over the course of a career.
Learn and Practice Vital Leadership Skills
Effective leaders know how to:
Define direction
Create teams
Coach coworkers
Give constructive criticism
Offer meaningful advice and feedback
Generate interpersonal relationships built on trust
The mark of a genuine leader lies in their influence on (and empowerment of) coworkers, subordinates, and bosses. Great leaders can tackle stressful situations and identify whether delegation is necessary or if it would be better to handle the task on their own.
Receive Honest Advice From More Experienced Leaders
This is the greatest benefit of online leadership training: the exposure to others in leadership positions. Leaders in all career stages have experiences they can share, and learning from others is one of the best ways to grow. Freely debating and exchanging ideas is something that can prove invaluable compared to trying to learn how to lead all by yourself.
Who Benefits Most From Online Leadership Training?
You may think the only candidates worthy of leadership training are those who already hold some type of leadership position. Actually, a wide range of positions and career stages can find value.
Let’s take a look at four types of professionals who typically see the most benefit from online leadership training.
Entry-Level to Mid-Career Employees
These professionals might be experts in their field or company. If this person wants to eventually take on a leadership position but isn’t sure of the path to get there, leadership training is the map. Proactive development of the skills a leader needs primes these employees for lift-off when the right position opens.
Employees New to Leadership Roles
Most larger companies have an established hierarchy that determines those next in line for promotions to leadership roles. For example, specific education and relevant experience may be required for consideration.
On the other hand, smaller and more agile companies might not have such a formal hierarchy. This is ideal for employees who desire a leadership role but don’t have any experience yet. Employees suddenly thrust into leadership positions can especially benefit from leadership training to get acclimated to their new responsibilities.
New Entrepreneurs
A lot of small businesses begin as single self-employed individuals. There are no other employees to schedule, manage or otherwise consider.
The moment this entrepreneur’s business grows, hiring that first employee can change the game entirely. The entrepreneur isn’t just responsible for themselves anymore. Many people can attest that solopreneurial success doesn’t always translate to entrepreneurial success.
Honing leadership skills is a must for people whose desires lie in the entrepreneurial territory. It helps them learn the skills needed to hire and manage a high-performance team.
Entire Companies
Depending on the business or industry, some companies look outside to hire for open leadership roles. But there are several benefits of promoting someone already familiar with how the business works, such as:
Reduced costs. There’s no expense to recruit, screen, or interview candidates.
Faster acclimation. Since the employee already knows a lot about the company, there’s much less time spent on training.
Offering access to online leadership training can help the newly promoted individual learn more about management and build the skills necessary for success in their new role.
What Problems Can Online Leadership Training Solve?
Online leadership training, compared to traditional classroom-based training, can ease the strain on employees in several respects, such as:
Employees with children don’t need to seek childcare.
Employees whose families share one vehicle don’t need to coordinate transportation.
Employees can still address other responsibilities outside of work.
Unfortunately, some companies cast aside these benefits in exchange for perceived cost savings because the C-suite mistakenly believes that investing in online leadership training is cost-prohibitive. Did you know: After changing company policy and implementing online leadership training, IBM saved almost $200 million?
Partner with The Eighth Mile
At The Eighth Mile, our mission is to work with good people who are ready to improve their leadership and management skills through critical evaluation and absolute honesty. If that sounds like a challenge you are ready for, we’d love to hear from you. Our consulting and educational programs can help you design your ideal team through our 8-week online leadership course with regular virtual workshops and even one-on-one coaching sessions included with the modules. If you want to learn how to better handle changes in your organization, build greater resilience within your staff, and develop the strategies that cultivate strong leaders,connect with us to learn more.
Please lower your shield and spears, I swear I come in peace. Recently, I ran a poll where I ventured the question: “Has political correctness gone too far?” I knew I was opening a can of worms. But I had also grown weary of tip-toeing around issues that needed to be addressed, especially with regard to workplace communication. And honestly, I was curious. What is it about this topic that polarizes people so greatly?
As you might imagine, this poll generated both a lot of responses (over 2500) and a lot of comments justifying why they voted the way they did. This revealed some very interesting differences between the groups, as well as some surprising similarities. It also raised a few questions about political correctness and workplace communication.
Political Correctness: Social Evolution or Censorship?
For the purposes of this analysis, let’s look at the respondent groups separately.
The Yes Group
Those who said that political correctness has gone too far all justified their decision based on variations and combinations of the following beliefs:
Political correctness is a form of censorship. Labeling something as un-PC is just another way of censoring the truth, resulting in the deceleration of cultural evolution.
People are too quick to take things personally. People who label things as un-PC are too sensitive and can’t handle conflict.
Political correctness tramples over some people’s opinions and not others. This results in a feeling of discrimination.
The No Group
Conversely, those who don’t believe that political correctness has gone too far seem to have the following beliefs in common:
Political correctness is a natural social evolution. It is a by-product of people becoming more enlightened about the effect our behaviors have on others.
We do not fully understand our own biases and assumptions. Therefore, we do not always know the damage we are causing others.
Political correctness is only vilified by bullies or those who don’t want to be held accountable for their actions.
Political Correctness and Communication Breakdown
The differences between the two groups are clear. It’s the things they have in common that I found interesting. Both groups had assumptions, biases, and subjective viewpoints that made true communication and understanding nearly impossible.
Assumed Intent
Perhaps the most striking commonality between the groups was that they both assumed the other group harbored ill intent toward them.
The Yeses assumed that the Nos were using political correctness to suppress free speech because they were too weak or too stupid to handle “the truth.”
The Nos assumed that the Yeses were trying to misdefine the term itself as censorship so they could continue to voice every (presumably horrible) opinion they held.
In essence, both parties assumed the worst of each other.
The assertions they made about each other fed the narrative of “evilness,” which further polarized and alienated everyone involved.
Assume the worst about people and you get the worst
Ha-Joon Chang
I’m not saying there are no evil people in the world. But how likely is it that everyone in X group is evil just because they don’t agree with you on this point? Not very. In fact, I suspect that all the respondents, regardless of group, are more alike than they think. They are all looking at the information available to them and drawing conclusions that make sense as they see it.
So how did they come to such different answers?
Filtering and Context: How and Why We Believe What We Do
Our brains are geared in such a way that they are constantly trying to make sense of the complexities surrounding us. We can’t ingest every single thing, so we filter out what seems unimportant in order to focus on what is. However, because everyone filters based on different criteria, none of us are viewing the world objectively (or accurately).
What you see is filtered through your beliefs. You rarely see “reality.” You see your version of it.
-Joe Vitale
Our ability to focus is a great asset. But when the majority of our beliefs are grounded in partial truths and a singular perspective, it becomes problematic. Even a little scary. Incomplete perceptions of reality can all too easily lead to ignorance, bigotry, and hate.
However, when we delve deeper into an issue–especially the opposing viewpoint–we learn the importance of context. What might be correct in one case is wrong in another. Or something might be both right and wrong at the exact same time.
If we rely solely on the information provided by our subjective experience, we will never reach the actual truth. Only by making a conscious effort to look at every facet of a situation can we come close to truly understanding it.
Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is “the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.” Quite simply, if you look for evidence to support your opinion, you will find it–and will subsequently ignore all proof to the contrary, no matter how much of it there may be.
“I think it’s outrageous if a historian has a ‘leading thought’ because it means they will select their material according to their thesis.”
-Antony Beevor
We saw this behavior in the reaction to the poll itself. The more people stated their opinion as unequivocally right, the more entrenched in that opinion everyone else became.
Confirmation bias is like a feedback loop. Words said into a microphone come out of the speaker so loudly it is picked up by the microphone, then played out of the speaker, on and on until the cacophony is so loud that nothing else can get through. If left unchecked, it results in irreversible damage to the system and everyone listening to it.
Political Correctness and Workplace Communication
So where do we go from here? In all this polarized thinking, is a meeting of the minds still possible?
And what of workplace communication? Is there a way to have honest dialog if we are constantly worrying about offending each other?
The short answer is yes, open and honest workplace communication is possible, even in an age of political correctness. But before you can journey down that path, it’s important to understand a few distinctions first.
Understand The Difference Between Values and Beliefs
Values are guiding principles that define our identities by guiding our efforts and behaviors. Though they may shift in priority over the years, one’s values tend to remain constantly present throughout their life.
Beliefs are things that one accepts as true, often without proof. Beliefs can and often do change as we grow and our understanding of the world becomes more refined.
When it comes to forming allegiances, we often place more importance on shared beliefs rather than shared values. However, because beliefs are by definition malleable, they are bound to be challenged or even disproven over time.
The highest-performing individuals and teams make a deliberate attempt to surround themselves with people who have like values but different beliefs. This diversity fuels innovation and creativity, but it doesn’t happen overnight. It requires confronting and breaking down inaccurate beliefs in order to rebuild them into something that more accurately reflects the reality we live in.
Leading the Charge
This endeavor is not for the faint of heart. There will be a period of defensiveness, bruised egos, and uncertainty. It is in these moments when people might take offense, and others might cry that political correctness has gone too far. But if everyone in the group remembers that the goal is improved workplace communication, understanding, and growth, then what breaks occur will heal courtesy of your shared values.
Don’t Take Offense
The moment you become offended by something an employee says, the dialogue stops. When the dialogue stops, you lose your influence. After that, it’s only a matter of time before you lose that employee too. The moment we as leaders take offense, we shift the focus onto our personal feelings and ignore the actual problem.
Our egos are the trap. They want us to come out on top at all costs, even if it means dismissing others’ input or hearing only the things we agree with and ignoring the rest. It takes significant fortitude and discipline to absorb someone’s message while taking into account the context of how they arrived at that conclusion. No matter what you’re personal feelings, when it comes to workplace communication, you must listen to and respect your team’s beliefs and opinions in their entirety.
Look for the Silent Majority
As a general rule, the loudest people in the room rarely have the best understanding of the group’s true values or beliefs. Just because they speak a lot doesn’t mean they speak for everyone.
Instead of relying on these “squeaky wheels,” look around to see if there is a subgroup of individuals who are reticent to deal with the louder, more dominating participants. These individuals may believe that they are alone in their thinking when the opposite might be true.
As the leader, however, you cannot fall into that trap. As discussed above, getting to the truth of a situation is not simply accepting what is presented to you. You must find a way to communicate with everyone, ideally by creating opportunities for their opinion to be heard.
Beware of Festering Resentment
Perhaps the most important thing to recognize is that a lack of two-way communication in this process can quickly lead to resentment. This happened repeatedly with the two groups in the political correctness debate. After a period of entrenched and fruitless bickering, things devolved to the point where people simply shut down because they felt everything they said was being twisted and attacked.
If you think the damages associated with offending people are bad, wait until you see the results of drawn-out resentment. For a society as well as a business, there is nothing worse.
So: Has Political Correctness Gone Too Far?
The answer is yes, no, and it depends.
Very politically correct of me, I know. Still, the fact remains that the answer to the question “has political correctness gone too far” is case-specific to individual societies and cultures. To apply or vanquish political correctness in every arena without accounting for context is not only unhelpful but also fuels the biases that lead to polarization and breakdowns in communication.
One could argue that 84% of people responding one way is an objective indicator that something is amiss. But even if that is the case, fixing it is not as simple as labeling all political correctness as “censorship” and doing away with it altogether. To come to any consensus requires further analysis and contextualization to determine what has caused each respondent to answer the way they did. It also requires participants to let go of their assumptions, recognize their biases, check their egos at the door, and be willing to truly listen to each other.
On social media, civil discourse like that seems unlikely. But for a team of coworkers with shared values, you can hold different beliefs and still have productive workplace communication. And if a belief is confronted and proven inaccurate, it can be rebuilt from a place of mutual growth and support.
In the end, I hope that I inspired some of the 2500-odd respondents to reassess the way they communicate with others. Perhaps it challenged their preconceptions or pressure-tested their previously-held beliefs. Ideally, perhaps some would delve further combat their confirmation bias, and find a slightly different (and, I hope, more accurate) understanding of the world. And that’s a good thing. Regardless of our differing beliefs, I hope we can all agree on that.
Still unsure about how to foster open and honest workplace communication without sowing discontent or losing respect amongst team members? Our 8-week online leadership training course might be the solution. With four self-paced modules, regular interactive workshops, and individualized coaching, we will make sure you get what you need to build a stronger team.
https://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Political-Correctness.png494747David Nealhttps://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8th-mile-logo-white-ID-0e8d1f36-8698-4694-c814-e4bb5fc4fdc9-2.pngDavid Neal2022-11-02 09:59:502022-12-09 05:53:29Has Political Correctness Gone Too Far? Honesty and Respect in Workplace Communication
If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that the articles here tend to focus on leadership, group dynamics, projects, resilience, and communication. This article is different. Instead of focusing on the team dynamic, we will shift our attention to the individual–specifically, to those who feel as if life is holding their heads underwater.
Recently there has been an incredible influx of people seeking our help and assistance in the form of individual coaching. In most cases, they have been triggered by a LinkedIn post, podcast, or article that has pointed out a deficit or dissatisfaction they have. The most common complaints we receive involve at least one of the following:
A lack of direction
An inability to maintain meaningful relationships
Frustration in determining what one’s priorities consist of
A subtle but consistent straying from one’s values
Resilience refocusing
In nearly all cases, the individual believes they have exhausted their own ability to fix their problems. They are seeking an objective, external force to act as a circuit breaker for their dysfunctional thought processes. Thus, they turn to the concept of individual coaching.
But that move might be premature. In almost all instances, the person has been operating within a suite of assumptions and beliefs that are not serving them (or the people around them) well. Adjusting some of those thought processes first will lay the groundwork to make any future individual coaching even more fruitful.
Before You Begin Individual Coaching
Prior to enrolling in customized or individual coaching sessions, there are three concepts you should get comfortable with first. For some of you, these three ideas might be all you need to get yourself on the right track. For others, the structured guidance of individual coaching might still be needed.
1) Be of Service
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
– Mahatma Ghandi
You may have heard this before, but it bears repeating: Life is not all about you.
Unfortunately, we live in a society that frowns upon criticism, promotes a scarcity mentality, and accepts ‘the blame game’ and fingerpointing instead of demanding accountability. What this amounts to is disconnection on a major scale. So many people are without direction because all their energy is invested in service of themselves.
If you want direction, the easiest place to start is by finding a worthy cause. If you want to cut off the internal rehashing of your own problems, invest that precious time towards solving someone else’s. They might even return the favor one day, which could provide that outsider’s perspective you’re looking for.
2) Own Your Decisions. ALL of Them.
Life is the sum of all your choices.
– Albert Camus
Every situation demands choice, and each choice will result in a different outcome. In some cases, our choices might include a decisive action (take a new job or not, stay in a team or not, go left or right).
In other cases, though we might not have control over the action, we can still choose to reframe how we view it.
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
– Viktor Frankl
The moment we feel we are without choices is the moment we become truly powerless. But that’s the thing: no matter what the situation, we are never without a choice. You always have with you the tools that need to claim your power.
Ironically, this can be a somewhat scary proposition. It means that you are where you are because of your previous choices, and where you go depends on what choices you make from here. If you have power over every choice, whether active or reactive, then you, and you alone, bear the responsibility for their results.
3) Prepare to Sacrifice
The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.
– William Arthur Ward
If you want to effect significant change in your life, you need to be willing to invest significantly in the outcome. Whether that is time, money, energy, or vulnerability, this investment will take commitment.
Do not be lazy when it comes time to do the hard work. To make your self-improvement a priority, you will likely have to move other things down the to-do list. You might also have to endure some unpleasant things, such as:
Physically or emotionally stressful circumstances
Removing toxic people from your life
Learning new skills
Spending money on personal development (such as individual coaching)
Disappointing people if you determine certain projects are no longer in line with your priorities
Committing to late nights and early mornings
Being honest with others so that they might help you out of your rut
Whatever is needed or required for you to refocus your life, you are the one behind the wheel. Will you take the smooth, easy road, or will you venture into untraveled terrain? In other words, what comforts are you willing to give up in order to get where you want to go?
Next Steps: Individual Coaching with The Eighth Mile
The areas of service, choice, and sacrifice can and should be custom-fitted to each person’s circumstances. However, based on our experience at The Eighth Mile, adopting a mentality geared toward service and accountability is a proven step in the right direction.
If you feel you still need assistance in the form of individual coaching, please reach out to us and we will be happy to discuss your circumstances further. Other areas that often require attention include:
Letting go of resentment
Priority and goal-setting
Building rapport with others
Communicating with empathy
Leadership skills
If you want a training experience that mirrors the classroom but can still be conducted on your own schedule, then you may benefit from our 8-week online leadership training course, which includes several individual coaching sessions in addition to training modules and virtual workshops.
Whatever path you take from here, remember that no matter what the situation, you are never powerless. Whether through action or reaction, the choice is always yours to make.
https://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Tree-Road.jpg4231083David Nealhttps://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8th-mile-logo-white-ID-0e8d1f36-8698-4694-c814-e4bb5fc4fdc9-2.pngDavid Neal2022-09-28 14:31:122022-11-10 08:55:463 Things Anyone Considering Individual Coaching Should Do First
“Being the leader…..and the new guy in an established team is a tough gig. David shares what he got wrong and what went well on Episode 57 of the #podcast.
I only got through half of the questions, so we will need to catch up for round 2. One of my favourites.
https://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/David-Neal-Ben-Horton.png10881088David Nealhttps://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8th-mile-logo-white-ID-0e8d1f36-8698-4694-c814-e4bb5fc4fdc9-2.pngDavid Neal2022-04-27 12:58:142022-04-27 12:58:14David Neal / Ben Horton - 'The Eagle Standard Podcast'
“New business research led by the University of the Sunshine Coast has investigated how military veterans transition to self-employment, recommending it as a career option for other veterans.
USC researcher Dr Saskia de Klerk said that with 5,500 Australian Defence Force veterans moving into civilian life each year, the results indicated that veterans as entrepreneurs could be an untapped resource for the Australian economy.
“About 10 percent of America’s small businesses are owned by former US military and, while we don’t yet have an Australian statistic, our local sample showed the potential for individual success and positive flow-on effects,” said the International Business academic who headed the USC team collaborating with UNSW Canberra.
The research reports on the findings from interviews with 20 former ADF personnel and support organisations. These former ADF personnel started their own businesses in professions, manufacturing, training, and education services.
“While few veterans considered this an obvious career path, those who did used a combination of skills learned in the military and skills acquired through further education and experience,” Dr de Klerk said.
“Some of the difficulties faced include a lack of information or emotional support, financial adjustments, settling into civilian routines and structures, communicating skillsets, isolation or stigma.
“However, they overcame these by combining their existing technical, teamwork, personal, and management skills with new learning in marketing, sales and accounting.
“The benefits of self-employment extended to mental health, such as having the autonomy and flexibility to manage their own wellbeing and achieve that sense of satisfaction.”
Caloundra-based David Neal, who co-founded The Eighth Mile Consulting three years ago with his former Australian Army captain mate Jonathan Clark, participated in the USC study.
They provide leadership and personal development programs, keynote speaking, short courses, and services in executive coaching, leadership training, strategy development, project and change management.
Canberra-raised Mr Neal, who left the Army in 2017 after 13 years including a long tour of Afghanistan, said he also wanted to empower fellow veterans in their chosen fields through networking and showcasing their skills to the wider community.
“It was a leap of faith after leaving the Army but I’m now standing in our new office at Caloundra, with its recording facilities for training and broadcasting live, and I live down the road with my wife and three kids, and I couldn’t be happier,” he said.
“We have international and national clients in the food sector, mining, aviation and dentistry, and the Sunshine Coast’s booming economy has plenty of opportunities too.”
He said strategic use of social media was key to expanding the business, which made LinkedIn’s Top 20 Voices and won its category of the 2021 Sunshine Coast Business Awards.
Mr Neal, who completed two degrees in the military including management, said discipline and determination were important traits when founding a business with few resources.
With a staff of four and a network of specialist contractors, many also military veterans, the consultancy supports other businesses in changing their operations while minimising risks.
“Now, we employ veterans because of their strengths. They think outside the box and have a team mentality. They’ve led huge groups doing dangerous, complex work but sometimes don’t know how to communicate the potential of this in a civilian context. We help.”
The research team comprised USC’s Dr de Klerk, Professor Karen Becker, Dr Margarietha de Villiers Scheepers and UNSW Canberra’s Dr Matthew McCormack, a former Royal Australian Navy logistician of 31 years.
In their report to industry, they offered tips for future veteran entrepreneurs:
Do something you’re passionate about;
Collaborate, get a mentor, link with veteran support organisations;
Be realistic in planning and flexibility;
Outsource or use existing experience;
Go part-time first to test your idea, keep learning.”
https://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Eighth-Mile-7-News-Seven.png528956David Nealhttps://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8th-mile-logo-white-ID-0e8d1f36-8698-4694-c814-e4bb5fc4fdc9-2.pngDavid Neal2022-04-27 12:49:162022-04-27 12:51:56Eighth Mile supporting Veteran Business Research
We have all heard someone say, “I am not a pessimist; I am a realist.” It is a phrase that has many different layers to it, and it is definitely a topic worth discussing.
There are many that would argue that the world is a terrible and chaotic place characterised by suffering, confusion, and destruction. In many ways they are right. It is not hard to find mediums depicting the destruction and degradation of our societies. If one were actively looking it would take them less than 10 seconds and would probably be as easy as turning on the news. These people often self-characterised as ‘realists’ would reasonably argue that there is no point in burying one’s head in the sand, and that we should deal in facts, however uncomfortable that might be.
On the other side of the coin there exists a group of people, often called ‘optimists’ who seemingly do not care about the impending doom approaching them, and it would appear to external observers that they are living in blissful ignorance. These people are often characterised as blasé and Laissez-Faire. Some look at these people and become frustrated at their lack of involvement or seriousness in the situations around them. They can even come across as non-committal or immature. What adds salt to a realist’s wounds is that these people often live up to 12-15 percent longer than our aforementioned group.
Friction occurs between these two groups because they are often speaking a different language. Conversations become disjointed as both parties are approaching the detail from different existential viewpoints. Add to the mix people’s ego and pride and we have the perfect concoction for an impassable roadblock.
Like most things in life, finding commonality requires a genuine willingness to listen and learn. It must also be nested alongside an admission that every interaction is an opportunity for growth.
You will find what you are looking for (“confirmation bias”)
Earlier we identified that it would not be difficult to find examples of the world in disrepair if someone were actively looking, and this is true. But what if we chose to actively look for the positive things as well? What if we accepted that the world is one of a balancing act between good and bad things simultaneously?
It is not difficult to find evil things. It is much harder to find positive and admirable things. But, does it have to be? Or is that a choice we make? Is it actually harder, or do we make it harder by releasing ourselves of our ownership of how we react to what happens around us that affects us?
“Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.” – Wikipedia
We are all guilty of confirmation bias and it takes a significant amount of discipline and self-awareness to consider that our brains are often seeking to validate our already existing belief structures. This is not good when you are seeking to find commonality with others.
We must enter every discussion with an understanding that we likely have something to learn.
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Re-framing and empathy
We find commonality with others when we genuinely seek to learn their perspective. What we often find is that both parties are simultaneously right and wrong at the same time, and the distinguishing feature was context and perspective. For example, challenging questions to an optimist:
What challenges do you think you might encounter which could slow your progress toward your goals?
Have you encountered other challenges in the past that you had to overcome, and how did you do it?
Do you have a set of tools in your tool kit to deal with those challenges, to help you overcome them?
Who could you partner with to help you overcome your challenges?
Challenging questions to a realist:
Do you know anyone else who has had this or a similar problem and has overcome it?
Do you know if this has ever been done before?
What do you think is different between the example that was successful, and your situation which you believe cannot be?
Do you believe it is worth it for you to try to overcome this challenge?
It takes a level of discipline to pull yourself out of your own narrative and forcibly see the world through another lens. Your perceptions of other groups run a risky prospect of categorising everything they say as silly, irrelevant, or wrong.
One question we might all ask ourselves: Which is more likely?
Option 1: That they are completely wrong, and I am completely right.
OR
Option 2: We are both partially right and have different pieces of information drawn from different contexts and experiences.
If you are brave enough, you might ask the next question: Am I trying to be right or correct?
Nobody wins a binary argument
The wiser someone gets the more they realise that the world is a complex place. Problems are almost invariably multi-layered and faceted. The temptation is to assume that there is a right answer to every problem, wherein reality it can sometimes be the choice between two or more terrible options. Quite simply we must on occasion, pick the lesser of two evils.
There is a movie starring Harrison Ford from 1994 called “Clear & Present Danger”, in which Harrison Ford plays Jack Ryan (based on Tom Clancy’s series of books.) Jack Ryan is at earlier points in his career quite the do-gooder (and mostly stays that throughout), and in this book, and as reflected in the movie, comes up against Deputy Director CIA Ritter, who is quite the opposite. It’s very much a black-and-white set of characters, and when they finally clash, you have this great scene that details good vs. bad, positive vs. negative, black vs. white, or yin vs. yang…and it’s this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKsDjpKr2Mk
Ritter explains simply, “Grey. The world is grey, Jack.”
Moving Forward
It is incredibly easy in the short-term to discard people’s opinions by categorising them as a type (pessimist vs optimist), but it rarely bares fruit in the long-term. Moreover, it speaks to an unwillingness to learn new things due to the risks it might have on our existing belief structures.
What is incredibly important to note is that everyone is winging their way through life. In doing so we are all choosing the schema that we think will best support us at that time. What this means in practical terms is that some people are most likely protecting themselves by choosing to frame the world through a ‘realistic’ (or pessimistic) lens, whilst others are trying to find the positives in a world that can otherwise be quite confusing, depressing, and chaotic.
The moment we realise that our choices lead us through problem-solving and onto solutions, then we also realise that there is a choice to learn something from everyone. In doing so, we might end up one step closer to a more refined and balanced opinion.
The moment inevitably comes in our lives when we realize that we have it within our control to choose, if not the problems we face, then at least the tools we make to deal with them. It is then, at those times, that we truly start growing into our most refined and balanced selves. Particularly, when we use the right tools, make robust and informed choices, and begin directing our own path through the chaos of life.
https://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Blog-Posts.png5001100David Nealhttps://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8th-mile-logo-white-ID-0e8d1f36-8698-4694-c814-e4bb5fc4fdc9-2.pngDavid Neal2022-02-04 09:12:502023-02-08 09:27:14'I am not a pessimist; I am a realist'
So today I woke up angry, frustrated and pissed off. Sue me, I’m human.
The trigger was due to the accumulative effects of numerous issues which arose the day before. It was just one of those days that progressively got worse and worse until the point where it was nearly laughable.
The day involved everything from technology blow ups, being let down unexpectedly by others, losing important leads, communication blunders, losing the rugby, to not sleeping through the night. It was one thing after the next. No sooner had I put down the phone did it call with another problem. We have all been there. Just one of those days…
So, I woke up this morning with a unique idea. I would walk people through the way I was going to re-frame and get back on the horse. This would document how I forcibly slap myself off of the victim bandwagon and get on with life. This is as transparent and honest as I can be about something that is happening real-time.
Step 1 – What Do I know?
Whenever someone gets ‘spooled up’ like I did the day prior, it is usually following a number of assumptions or assertions that have been placed into the narrative.
1. In my instance it is very easy to assume that the ‘attack’ on me from multiple fronts is due to a higher and more insidious attempt to break me.
2. That the people who let me down did so in order to deliberately annoy and frustrate me.
3. That the leads we lost were a complete and utter waste of time.
4. That the technology mishaps were entirely preventable
5. That the rugby game we lost was the universe’s way of putting the ‘cherry on the cake.’
When you say it out loud one immediately starts to realise that it is a massive list of thoughts generated by self-rationalisation.
A narrative that directly places me in the cross hairs of a victim mindset.
Instead let’s look now at what I know to be true:
1. I had a crappy day with a whole bunch of unrelated but equally frustrating events.
2. The day prior was quite good and if I choose I could average it out and come out on top. Or better yet I could reinforce the fact that what happened one day is very unlikely to have full effect on the next.
3. It is very unlikely that the interpersonal disappointments were malicious in any way. More likely it was how I chose to interpret them.
With that detailed, let’s move onto the next step…
If you are interested in learning more about the distinction between facts and assumptions, read this article I wrote previously.
Step 2 – Who do I choose to be?
My personal values are below. Let’s see how I can use my values in order to make better choices. In doing so I need to be 100% honest with myself and leave my ego and pride at the door. I need to ask myself some challenging questions.
Service
1. Whilst I am wallowing in self-pity and anger, am I providing service to others? No
2. Would the mindset I am currently demonstrating align with my reputation of service to others? No
3. Are there better ways I can demonstrate service to others? Yes
4. Will what I experienced recently redirect who I provide service to in the future? Partly Yes
Initiative
1. Is there a more productive way of using my time in order to provide service to others? Yes
2. Am I currently being forward leaning or reactive? Reactive
3. Can I make a deliberate choice right now in order to demonstrate initiative of thought and activity? Yes
Accountability
1. Did I have a part to play in the proceedings that happened the day prior? Yes
2. Could I have responded in different ways that would be more resourceful? Yes
3. Is this an opportunity for self-learning? Yes
4. Are we now more informed about the realities with the people, technology and markets? Yes
5. Will this allow me to adjust my style and approach in the future? Yes
Integrity
1. Did you demonstrate integrity in the way you responded to stimuli? Yes, but I could have done better.
2. Do you have a choice to demonstrate integrity moving forward? Yes
3. Did we learn about other people’s integrity throughout the process? Yes
4. Will this help in allowing me to better allocate our time to people with like-minded values? Yes
These questions, and others like them are the result of personal discipline to stop oneself getting worked up. It has taken me many years to realise my limits and personality flaws to the point where I can ask myself questions like this in order to snap myself back into the person I would like to be remembered as. In this way our values can become powerful circuit breakers.
Step 3 – Contextualise and re-frame
Moving forward I have to make some choices. The first is a choice as to whether I will whine like a little child and play the victim, or whether I choose to act like a mature adult that accepts their part to play in the events, learns from it and makes better choices in the future.
The second is whether I contextualise what I am experiencing with the real world.
1. Is anyone dead or dying? No.
2. In ten years time will I remember or care about the shit day? No.
3. Have I personally dealt with worse? Hell yes!
Then get off your high horse and get back down to reality where you belong….
My decisions and choices moving forward:
1. Today I will act in a way that acquits my values positively
2. I will make more informed choices about the people I invest time in, the technologies we use, and the markets we service.
3. Today I’ll re-frame with a chosen phrase of ‘shit happens’. Sometimes you have crappy days. Get over it.
4. I’m going to start looking for opportunities and gaps and regain my hunt for ‘good people.’
Step 4 – Get on with it
It is time to execute on the promises, and implement the lessons learnt.
No excuses. Get it done!
Getting these things done is what we will define as success and winning.
Conclusion
I hope by walking people through this internal discussion and dialogue they can see some opportunities for their own personal growth. Either that or you now think I am a loony madman.
I trust that the importance of personal choice and accountability rings through and this resonates with the people who are currently ‘spooling up’.
I am confident that there is at least one person out there who might gain value from this article.
In closing I would like to quote Viktor Frankl:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
If you would like to read some of our other publications and be informed of future releases. Please visit our website blog.
If you would like a discussion about personal and professional development opportunities. Reach out and we can have a chat.
Author: David Neal – Director – The Eighth Mile Consulting
https://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Big-Cat.jpg9051216David Nealhttps://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8th-mile-logo-white-ID-0e8d1f36-8698-4694-c814-e4bb5fc4fdc9-2.pngDavid Neal2021-02-05 08:34:052021-02-05 10:37:29Victor Not Victim - A Personal Walkthrough
I recently posted a number of content pieces that explained ‘The Principles Of War’, a set of broad and overarching guidelines that acted as a filtering system for the operational and strategic efforts we conducted within the Military. In response to these posts many asked me to collate the information in a central source so that they might apply more reasonably to their businesses and teams.
There is no point in providing a set of principles, guidelines or considerations unless we build a context behind them that establishes relevance. This is my shot at doing that for the Principles of War in a corporate context.
The Principles of War are a set of guiding principles that act as considerations for military planning and strategy. It has become apparent that there is some utility in using them in the corporate environment. In this article, we look at the analysis and interpretation of the principles with that concept in mind.
Simply put, the principles exist to help frame ‘how’ to think and not ‘what’ to think. This means that we are free to explore whatever is needed to solve the problem. However, we must be careful to balance our priorities and resources to enable the best possible outcome.
These are the principles in order but not in importance. Each plan or initiative will see a different prioritisation of each of these principles in order to achieve a different effects or outcome.
The selection and maintenance of the aim
Concentration of force
Cooperation
Economy of effort
Security
Offensive action
Surprise
Flexibility
Sustainment
Maintenance of morale
The situation will see each principle being utilised differently and should be weighted depending on the circumstances, what needs to be achieved and the priorities set out by the planner. As an example, when developing a concept for client focused service (aim) we may need to bring in another organisation to cover an identified need (cooperation) which we could only build ourselves at a much higher cost (economy of effort). This joint venture may necessitate an exchange of restricted information (security) to ensure the team is established, trust is built, and we can be demonstrating our ability to adjust to our client’s needs (flexibility/aim).
For this scenario, the client focused service has primacy. It may look something like this.
Note – ‘the doctrine’ comments are excerpts from Land Warfare Doctrine 1 – The Fundamentals of Land Power 2014 – The Principles of War
THE SELECTION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE AIM
The doctrine – Once the aim has been decided, all effort must continually be directed towards its attainment so long as this is possible, and every plan or action must be tested by its bearing on the aim.
“ Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future ” – Walt Disney
In broad terms, it means to keep the object/ end in mind at every level of the operation. The creation of the aim (end state/ outcome) takes time, energy, and some serious thought. This is true for military and corporate action.
When selecting and maintaining the aim:
Ensure it aligns with your values
Communicate it simply and effectively to those involved
Reinforce the aim at all levels
Resist the urge to ad hoc stray from the aim
Maintain open lines of communication with key stakeholders
Test any changes against its impact on the overall aim
Bring subject matter experts in for objectivity
Know where you are heading before you start. It allows you and your team to align to a common outcome and make decisions as well as maintain momentum in your absence. From CEO to a jobseeker, selecting and maintaining your aim provides the purpose to make sound decisions.
CONCENTRATION OF FORCE
The doctrine – Concentration of force is the ability to apply decisive military force at the right place, at the right time and in such a way as to achieve a decisive result.
“ The talent of the strategist is to identify the decisive point and to concentrate everything on it, removing forces from secondary fronts and ignoring lesser objectives. ” – Carl von Clausewitz
To be successful we need to be able to concentrate our capabilities, at the appropriate time and place, to achieve success. This means knowing what we have, what it can do and where it is going to have the most impact. Then doing it. This principle is about be deliberate and even more so, decisive.
In a corporate context this would mean:
Having the funding to support a new project or capitalise on an opportunity
Aligning staff, capital and messaging at a key point to achieve and outcome
Defining areas that are irrelevant for expenditure
Having a surge capability to reinforce success
Knowing the strategy and communicating key locations and times for action
Making decisions within the time to be effective
Building alignment, momentum and energy to decisive points in the plan
We cannot spend everything on anything. Prioritise those actions that will have the highest impact and align to the strategy. Then build up the required resources, staff and capital to seize an opportunity. This is a deliberate and defined process.
COOPERATION
The doctrine – Cooperation within joint combined arms interagency teams, allies and coalition partners is vital for success. Only in this way can the resources and energies of each be harnessed so as to achieve success.
” It is the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) that those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. ” – Charles Darwin
Vital to success is the ability to bring together multiple agencies to achieve an overall effect. What this means in a practical sense is to build teams that cover each other’s gaps. We cannot know or be great at everything, so we join forces with others to create something better than our own individual capability.
What cooperation looks like:
Admitting that you are not strong in an area
Aligning with a team that is
Leaving your ego at the door and being prepared to be led depending on the priority
Acknowledging a greater purpose
Sharing information freely and in a timely fashion
Synchronising the efforts in space, time, and priority to create the best impact
Putting the team needs first
Protecting each other and representing them in areas where they don’t represent themselves
Combining efforts takes a great deal of trust, authenticity, and respect. It may be for a short period or an enduring strategic partnership. The vulnerabilities of your joined team must be protected at all costs.
ECONOMY OF EFFORT
The doctrine – Economy of effort is the prudent allocation and application of resources to achieve the desired results.
“ The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency. ” – Bill Gates
Economy of effort. This principle deals with ‘playing smart’ and making the full use of available resources. It is in this space that we create a balance in priorities and what we can realistically achieve and sustain. Appropriate allocation must be nested with the strategy as they are finite. Priority allocation must go to the main effort that and supporting efforts will be created to enable it.
In a corporate setting this might look like:
Priority resourcing to finding new opportunities
Supporting effort in retaining and consolidated current projects
Reserve resources segregated for identified contingencies
A changing environment requires adaptability and if the main effort/ supporting efforts evolve then the priority of resourcing will change. At all times maintaining your economy of effort must be nested with the other principles like sustainment. Appropriate allocation of effort can mean the difference between success and failure.
SECURITY
The doctrine – Security is concerned with measures taken by a command to protect itself from espionage, sabotage, subversion, observation, or surprise. It is of basic concern during any campaign or operation. Security is required to operate effectively with minimal interference from the enemy.
“ Protection and security are only valuable if they do not cramp life excessively. ” – Carl Jung
To be able to continue to operate and/ or obtain opportunities we must first ensure that our own capabilities are as secure as required by the strategy. Now in times of need, sacrificing security for speed may be that strategy but it must be a planned, deliberate, and precise decision. Offensive strategies can also be a method of security as we stay mobile, maintain momentum and aren’t targetable.
In a corporate context, this could mean:
Securing your information, strategies and plans from your competitors
Ensuring you have consolidated resources to mitigate uncertainties
Future proof your employee relevance by developing them
Maintain quick and deliberate decision-making cycles to stay ahead of the competition
Securing financial viability by maintaining cashflow
Diversifying to create redundancy to secure operational viability
Mitigating priority risks to reduce critical events
Security of our businesses in physical, financial, strategic, operational and resource-based decisions is important to enable us to operate effectively with minimal disturbance. This principle allows us to analyse risk and mitigate it before crisis occurs.
OFFENSIVE ACTION
The doctrine – Military forces take offensive action to gain and retain the initiative. This has often taken the form of building momentum and fueling it to snowball the opposition. In most circumstances, such action is essential to the achievement of victory.
“ A little deed done very well is better than a mighty plan kept on paper, undone. Wishes don’t change the world; it’s actions that do this business! ” – Israelmore Ayivor
We need an offensive action (read, a bias for action in this case) to either regain or maintain initiative, or in a corporate context; maintain your competitive advantage, be first to market, launch on a project or create and seize opportunities. This action must be deliberate and decisive and must be driven towards achieving the established aim.
To effectively implement offensive actions, we should:
Empower people who have a bias for action (as long the strategy supports it)
Consolidate and make use of adequate resources
Ensure the action is sustainable to the end
Be linked to other key stakeholders to support
Use an element of surprise
Make effective use of available resources
Be deliberate and decisive
Be oriented towards the overarching aim or strategy
Be balanced with security of our own capabilities
In a military context this may necessitate combat however, it can also be the use of information actions and achieving influence as well. Overall, it is important to understand the importance of having a bias for action as it creates momentum, speed in decision making and advantage over your competitors. This bias will ultimately allow you to create opportunities not just be reactive to them.
SURPRISE
The doctrine – Surprise can produce results out of all proportion to the effort expended and is closely related to security.
“ In conflict, straightforward actions generally lead to engagement, surprising actions generally lead to victory ” – Sun Tzu
In a military term this might require deception or simply being able to disperse and concentrate rapidly, concealing your activity, appearing weak when you are strong etc. The idea is to be where you are unexpected or where you are expected at a time when you are not, in forces that weren’t planned for. In a corporate context, this may mean the release of a new strategy, software, market entry, product release in a time and manner that is not expected so that your competitors can’t mimic or get the inside track.
To achieve successful surprise:
Be where you are not expected to be
Appear vulnerable when you are in fact strong
Appear strong when you are weak
Approach markets from different methods
Create strong allies who enable you to scale and disperse rapidly
Know your environment in detail
Understand the importance of timing
Have a strategy and a plan
Show the minimum amount of activity in an area people are expecting so that they don’t know what your actual aim is. It is called a feint.
Be adaptable and ready to respond to your changing environment
This list is ultimately endless but, in a nutshell, utilising surprise not only keeps you and your team excited about new plans, it also enables you to capitalise on opportunities before others know you are even looking at them.
FLEXIBILITY
The doctrine – Flexibility is the capacity to adapt plans to take account of unforeseen circumstances to ensure success in the face of friction, unexpected resistance, or setbacks, or to capitalise on unexpected opportunities.
“ It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. ” – Charles Darwin
This is your ability to adapt to an ever-changing environment (your AQ). I would also include your resilience to setbacks, ability to deal with friction, chaos and complexity and to make decisions in uncertainty. The aim of flexibility is to maintain dynamic decision making across multiple lines of operation and still be synchronised.
To build flexibility:
Identify and communicate the overall aim
Understand your environment
Build a redundancy or reserve of resources
Empower decision making at the lowest level
Simplify communication
Provide realistic and relevant boundaries
Create an environment of innovation
Absorb risk, friction and anxiety for your team
Giving your team and organisation the confidence and capability to accept risk and seize opportunities is a deliberate process. As leaders we have a responsibility to create the environment and set the conditions for success. Build and train your teams to be able to understand intent and feel confident to take risks knowing that you have their backs. Ultimately, gaps and opportunities will be found by them. If they feel confident and capable, you will be able to pivot early and often.
SUSTAINMENT
The doctrine – Sustainment refers to the support arrangements necessary to implement strategies and operational plans.
“ You won’t find it difficult to prove that battles, campaigns, and even wars have been won or lost primarily because of logistics ” – General Dwight. D. Eisenhower
The new executive with the grand ideas will often forget about the sustainability of a project or strategy. Logistics and sustainability don’t just happen and can underpin an entire campaign.
Deliberate planning of time and resources for both offensive and defensive strategies should be a priority if you want an enduring impact. The sustainability or logistical elements of are also those things that are easily targetable by a competitor who can bring more support to the game.
To be sustainable we must:
Accurately plan the requirements of our missions
Have a redundancy
Identify the needs and requirements of our teams
Be prepared to do more with less (should not be the ‘go to’ move)
Be creative and use initiative
Allocate resources to those areas with the greatest impact
Prioritise resources (especially time and energy)
Have a strategy and a plan
Sustainability of our initiatives is the life blood of enduring impact. In change management, fatigue and obstruction are the result. In projects, loss of capability occurs or a failure to meet scope.
Be clinical and decisive in your application of resources.
MAINTENANCE OF MORALE
The doctrine – Morale is an essential element of combat power. High morale engenders courage, energy, cohesion, endurance, steadfastness, determination and a bold, offensive spirit.
“ An army’s effectiveness depends on its size, training, experience, and morale, and morale is worth more than any of the other factors combined. ” – Napoleon Bonaparte
For those that know and understand the power of good morale, it is understood that this can be the power that turns the tide and make the unachievable…achievable.
Teams with high morale based on being highly trained, determined people with a shared value set, cohesion and trust will outperform even the best ‘qualified’ teams (on paper) with low morale. This is the secret force multiplier that changes the game.
Morale is built on:
Trust
Shared experience
Open communication
Success (short/long term) and performance
Influential leadership (at all levels)
A shared purpose and identity
Commitment and conviction to succeed
A genuine and authentic care for each other and the team
Culture and a feeling of belonging
A willingness to put the team above yourself
If you have worked in a team with high morale, you will understand the power and addictive nature of it. You feel indestructible and associate the impossible as the possible. However, it takes work and commitment to being a part of something bigger than yourself.
SUMMARY
The principles of war have been developed over the years as a set of factors and considerations for successful planning and implementation of strategy.
Depending on the environment, the adversary, experience, available time and any other amount of identifiable conditions will determine what weight is applied to each principle. We cannot achieve every principle perfectly every time. Sometimes we may have to sacrifice one to achieve another as a priority of circumstance. That means that careful consideration and analysis must be applied to each strategy and plan. The consideration itself will lead to a better plan than had it not been done at all.
Ultimately, having a set of principles that can help aid in planning and decision making helps you to create better outcomes. The principles of war are one such set.
https://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/The-principles-of-war-1.jpeg302536Jonathan Clarkhttps://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8th-mile-logo-white-ID-0e8d1f36-8698-4694-c814-e4bb5fc4fdc9-2.pngJonathan Clark2020-10-28 14:43:522020-10-28 17:03:40The Principles of War - A Corporate Translation
One of the most distinctive memories from my early days within the Army was one of my respected Sergeants suddenly and abruptly correcting one of my trainee peers.
My mate had mentioned the unmentionable…
We were discussing what we should do if we encounter an enemy that was larger or more dangerous than we had originally predicted, and someone mentioned the word ‘retreat’. The response from my sergeant was immediate, ‘Australians DO NOT retreat!’. He went on to explain that we might withdraw in the interest of finding a terrain that was more conducive and favourable for us, but we do not retreat.
This is a statement that has stuck with me since that time. It speaks of the importance of always moving forward and regaining the initiative. Of remaining focused and deliberate in everything we do. It accepts that at times we might have to take a step back, but this should only be done to regain our footing in which to be able to take more steps moving forward. Over the years this phrase has spread its utility into most aspects of my life such as:
But here is the catch, it is predisposed on an assumption that we know what direction we should be heading. What point is there moving forward if it is entirely the wrong direction?
This is why having a strategy is so incredibly important. A strategy is a framework which sanity tests our decisions in short time, in order to allow us to stay focused on heading in the right cardinal direction. I have seen so many people get this wrong at their detriment.
We need to ask ourselves does our strategy (personal or professional):
Detail what we are seeking to achieve (Mission)?
Explain what it looks like when we achieve it (Vision)?
Include a sequence of how we might actually transit there (Goals, pillars, objectives, measures of success)?
Contain an acknowledgement of what we are willing to invest (or give up) in order to achieve it (resource allocations)?
It is an area that is too often paid lip service, but it is this defining feature that separates good teams from the absolute best.
A strategy allows a team to make quicker decisions, allocate precious resources towards those efforts with the highest impact and effect, as well ignore those shiny distractions which enticingly seduce people off of the centre line of their success.
Stopping the rot
‘Moving forward’ all the time is extremely difficult. It requires consistency, dedication and focus. Traits that can be increasingly hard to come by these days.
Our world is full of ever-increasing distractions and information that act as ‘white noise’ to our concentration. This white noise can incrementally increase for some people to the point where it becomes debilitating to their decision-making abilities. Some teams can become so confused by the pressures associated with these distractions that they reactively overcompensate by creating more and more high priorities. Leaders become withdrawn as the idea of moving forward appears less and less tenable.
For these teams, a ‘circuit breaker’ is required. Something that can stop the spiralling confusion and provide some level of clarity. This often requires a combination of the following:
Strong leaders & managers with clear roles and responsibilities. Kotter once described the distinction between Leadership and Management, explaining that leaders coordinate ‘change’ and managers coordinate ‘complexity’. I particularly like this description as it is a simple reference for teams to make in order to refocus and distribute their team’s efforts. It is a common observation that the teams that are drowning have not clearly identified the distinction in roles and responsibilities between key roles. Everyone is trying to do everything, and no one is doing it well.
Objectivity. Sometimes people are so saturated in their problems that they cannot see the overall context. They are literally living minute by minute and the idea of popping their head about the parapet in order to refocus their direction is unimaginable. This is where objectivity is so key. A third set of eyes, from someone who is not so absorbed in the problem, can be invaluable in asking the right questions and assisting in resetting the focus.
Horsepower. Some teams are under-resourced and under-supported – plain and simple. These teams have often been heading in the right direction but just do not have the horsepower or workforce to get their project over the line. They have been doing ‘more with less’ for so long that they have reached culmination, and they just need reinforcement. Jonathan Clark once said to me, ‘sometimes you don’t need more people standing around the hole telling you how to dig better, you just need them to jump in and help dig’.
Prioritisation. It is common to see teams that have a massive list of ‘what to do’ they have forgotten to detail what they ‘do not need to do’. The list of what is not required is often more important than what need to do. It stops people being lured down the enticing trip falls we eluded to earlier…
Some of the readers might resonate with some of these observations. If you have, I would love to hear your comments, case studies, and ideas.
The Eighth Mile Consulting team has founded a reputation for helping teams navigate through this confusion. There is an amazing feeling of elation as a team steps over the line of success when things months prior looked dire and unachievable.
For those slugging their way through problems at this very time, remember:
We don’t retreat, we withdraw to more favourable conditions
We ensure the actions we are doing are working to an overarching strategy or design.
https://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/british-library-8US1_1QMHi0-unsplash-scaled.jpg25601984David Nealhttps://learning.eighthmile.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/8th-mile-logo-white-ID-0e8d1f36-8698-4694-c814-e4bb5fc4fdc9-2.pngDavid Neal2020-08-03 20:05:212020-08-07 14:05:57We Do Not Retreat
