Archives for February 2016

Inspirational Quotations #621

February 28, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

A friend that you have to buy won’t be worth what you pay for him, no matter what that may be.
—George D. Prentice (American Journalist)

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
—Moshe Arens

Friendship lasts but for a day, business connections forever.
—Babylonian Proverb

Some men see things as they are and say, “Why?” I dream things that never were, and say, “Why not?”
—George Bernard Shaw (Irish Playwright)

As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst blame and praise.
—The Dhammapada (Buddhist Anthology of Verses)

Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don’t have time for all that …
—George Carlin

Literature is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent o people who have none.
—Jules Renard (French Novelist)

One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again.
—Henry Ford (American Businessperson)

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life, sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American Poet)

Contrary to what most of us believe, happiness does not simply happen to us. It’s something that we make happen, and it results from doing our best. Feeling fulfilled when we live up to our potentialities is what motivates differentiation and leads to evolution.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Play the game for more than you can afford to lose… only then will you learn the game.
—Winston Churchill (British Head of State)

All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions.
—Adlai Stevenson (American Diplomat)

Any effort that has self-glorification as its final endpoint is bound to end in disaster.
—Robert M. Pirsig (American Writer)

If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.
—Albert Einstein (German-born Theoretical Physicist)

The Drunkard’s Search or the Streetlight Effect [Cognitive Bias]

February 26, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

An old parable (sometimes ascribed to Mulla Nasreddin, the 13th Century witty philosopher from today’s Turkey) tells of a drunkard searching under a street lamp for keys he has lost because the light there is better than where he thinks he lost them.

A police officer sees a drunken man intently searching the ground near a lamppost and asks him the goal of his quest. The inebriate replies that he is looking for his car keys, and the officer helps for a few minutes without success. Then he asks whether the man is certain that he dropped the keys near the lamppost.

“No,” is the reply, “I lost the keys somewhere across the street.”

“Why look here?” asks the surprised and irritated officer.

“The light is much better here,” the intoxicated man responds with aplomb.

The “drunkard’s search” or the “streetlight effect” refers to the propensity for people to look for whatever they’re searching in the easier places instead of in the places that are most likely to yield the results they’re seeking. This is a widespread observational bias that manifests itself frequently in research and investigative methods.

For instance, many Americans who lost their jobs during the two recessions of the ‘lost decade’ of the 2000s sought jobs in the same communities where their factories had closed. They were less inclined to seek long-term solutions to their joblessness and relocate to parts of America where jobs were not as scarce. They had kids in local schools, owned homes that had significantly devalued during the recession, and felt rooted in their communities. They found it more convenient to hope for a revival in their local economies and endure the recession.

Idea for Impact: Look out for observational biases. Don’t seek answers where the looking is good; rather seek answers where they’re likely to be found.

Don’t Reward A While Hoping for B

February 23, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

We do what we are rewarded for doing. We are strongly motivated by the desire to maximize the positive consequences of our actions and minimize the negative consequences. Academics identify these aspects of behavioral psychology using the monikers “expectancy theory” and “operant conditioning.”

Flawed Reward Systems

Reward systems ought to commend positive behavior and punish negative behavior. But many organizations tend to reward one type of behavior when they really call or hope for another type of behavior. For instance,

A manager who wants his sales force to create long-term customer relationships mustn’t reward salespeople for new business from new customers, but for retaining customers and expanding sales to them.
A project manager focused on work quality shouldn’t reward a team for completing a project on time.
At institutions of higher learning, especially at prestigious universities, a professor’s primary responsibilities ought to be teaching and advising students. However, the academic rewards systems assert that the primary ways to achieve promotion and tenure are through successful research and publishing. Hence, given the constraints of time, a professor is likely to dedicate more time to research at the expense of quality teaching. Alas, mediocre teaching isn’t censured.
As I described in my article on “The Duplicity of Corporate Diversity Initiatives,” managers who extol the virtues of “valuing differences” stifle individuality and actively mold their employees to conform to the workplace’s existing culture and comply with the existing ways of doing things. Compliant, acquiescent employees who look the part are promoted over exceptional, questioning employees who bring truly different perspectives to the table.

“On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B”

In 1975, Prof. Steven Kerr wrote a famous article titled, “On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B” that’s become a management classic. Over the decades, this article has been widely admired for its relevance and insight. The article (the 1975 original is here and the 1995 update is here) provides many excellent examples of situations where the reward structure subtly (or sometimes blatantly) undermines the goal. The abstract reads,

Whether dealing with monkeys, rats, or human beings, it is hardly controversial to state that most organisms seek information concerning what activities are rewarded, and then seek to do (or at least pretend to do) those things, often to the virtual exclusion of activities not rewarded. The extent to which this occurs of course will depend on the perceived attractiveness of the rewards offered, but neither operant nor expectancy theorists would quarrel with the essence of this notion.

Nevertheless, numerous examples exist of reward systems that are fouled up in that the types of behavior rewarded are those which the rewarder is trying to discourage, while the behavior desired is not being rewarded at all.

Idea for Impact: “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is”

If you see behavior in your organization that doesn’t seem right or doesn’t make sense, ask what the underlying reward system is encouraging. Chances are that the offending behavior makes sense to the individual doing it because of inefficiencies in your reward system.

Take stock of your reward systems. Effective systems should induce employees to pursue organizational goals by appealing to employees’ conviction (or intrinsic motivations) that they will personally benefit by doing so. To inspire employees, translate levers of extrinsic motivation at your disposal to intrinsic motivation as I elaborated in my previous article.

Idea for Impact: Make sure that you understand and clearly communicate expectations, and reward what you really want your employees to achieve. Don’t encourage a particular behavior while promoting an undesirable one through your rewards and praises.

Inspirational Quotations #620

February 21, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The gent who wakes up and finds himself a success hasn’t been asleep.
—Wilson Mizner (American Playwright)

History consists of a series of accumulated imaginative inventions.
—Voltaire (French Philosopher)

Successful people make money. It’s not that people who make money become successful, but that successful people attract money. They bring success to what they do.
—Wayne Dyer (American Motivational Writer)

Think twice before you speak to a friend in need.
—Ambrose Bierce (American Editor)

When we are out of sympathy with the young, then I think our work in this world is over.
—George MacDonald (Scottish Christian Author)

There is nothing that fear and hope does not permit men to do.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (French Moralist)

Faith must be enforced by reason. When faith becomes blind it dies.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (Indian Hindu Political leader)

Only in solitude do we find ourselves; and in finding ourselves, we find in ourselves all our brothers in solitude.
—Miguel de Unamuno (Spanish Essayist)

Those in possession of absolute power can not only prophesy and make their prophecies come true, but they can also lie and make their lies come true.
—Eric Hoffer (American Philosopher)

Heaven lies about us in our infancy! Shades of the prison-house begin to close upon the growing boy.
—William Wordsworth (English Poet)

Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big.
—Theodore Roosevelt (American Head of State)

It is ridiculous for any man to criticize the works of another who has not distinguished himself by his own performance.
—Joseph Addison (English Essayist)

Don’t Assume Conversations with Human Resources Will Remain Confidential

February 19, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi 2 Comments

Human Resources (HR) can be a great resource to help you secure a promotion, be a better manager, and even deal with an employee grievance/claim.

However, if you’re having a serious problem with a manager or a colleague, don’t pour your heart out to your HR person and ask that no action be taken. You cannot count on the confidentiality of your discussions. While your HR person intends to help you, he also has an obligation as well to helping your manager and your colleague deal with you.

Similarly, do not discuss any career-transition plans (switching to another job within your company, resigning, job hunting, or retiring) with HR. HR is obligated to keep your manager informed about any prospective issue concerning staffing or anything that might affect organizational goals.

Human Resources and Confidentiality

HR has no lawful obligation to maintain confidentiality in anything you discuss. You may expect your HR person to remain confidential to the greatest possible extent. However, remember that the HR person’s primary loyalties and responsibilities concern the organization’s business needs. He is duty-bound to investigate employee complaints and involve other levels of management, especially in case of possible discrimination or harassment concerns.

Expect your HR person to pass on any information that’s in the organization’s best interest, even after promising confidentiality. HR should never mislead employees about the level of confidentiality they can expect. Such HR people aren’t behaving ethically and, over time, tend to lose employees’ and managers’ trust.

Go to HR for guidance on solving people problems or for help with organizational policies and procedures. See a reliable friend or a trusted peer to confide problems and challenges. Do not share anything with HR that you wouldn’t share with your manager.

Idea for Impact: HR is obligated to act on serious issues they learn about, whether or not you want them to. Therefore, never assume that conversations with HR will remain wholly confidential. Be discriminating in what you disclose to HR.

What’s Behind Your Desire to Job-Hunt and Jump Ship?

February 16, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The primary motivations for seeking a new job are a more enjoyable job, better compensation, and opportunities for career progression. Talent management firm Caliper’s analysis of exit interviews from 180 companies confirmed that the principal reason employees quit their jobs is a lack of personal fulfillment and the feeling of not being well matched to their jobs. 40% of exit interviews complained about poor advancement potential, insufficient recognition, and not being challenged on the job. Just 26% mentioned wages and 11% mentioned workplace conflict.

Examine Your Motivations Before Job-Hunting

Many people who jump ship in frustration run into the same problems that were an obstacle with their previous employers. So, if you’re considering a change and seeking a new job because you’re not moving forward at your current job, first get honest feedback about how you’re perceived by your managers: what do they think your strengths are, where you need to develop, and what’s holding you back? Without such feedback on your career challenges, you may run into the same problems at your new employer.

You’ll find it easier to tackle career progression frustrations at your current employer in a familiar environment rather than at a new company where you’ll be under pressure to learn the ropes, form new relationships, produce results quickly, and work with superiors who may be less forgiving. Indeed, many people who change jobs fail or flame out at their new employers and don’t meet their job-change objectives after two years. Their premature departures and undue job-hopping reflects negatively on their career progress.

When You Must Seek a New Job

By all means, explore the job market in pursuit of career advancement if,

you’ve been passed over many times and haven’t been told how you need to develop to move ahead, or
you’ve been locked into your current job because of a long-tenured manager and can’t find another position within the same employer.

Be discreet about whom you tell that you’re looking for another job. When you find a new job, inform your boss immediately, give as much notice as required, and offer to help transition your duties to a replacement. Don’t use your new job offer to try to negotiate a counteroffer from your employer.

Inspirational Quotations #619

February 14, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

People do not deserve to have good writings; they are so pleased with the bad.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Philosopher)

When you pray for anyone you tend to modify your personal attitude toward him.
—Norman Vincent Peale (American Clergyman, Self-Help Author)

Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else.
—Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

Men are happy to be laughed at for their humor, but not for their folly.
—Jonathan Swift (Irish Satirist)

Decisiveness is a characteristic of high-performing men and women. Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.
—Brian Tracy (American Author)

Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.
—Oliver Goldsmith (Irish Author)

Habits are soon assumed; but when we endeavor to strip them off, it is being flayed alive.
—William Cowper (English Anglican Poet)

Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever.
—Horace Mann (American Educator)

Riches do not delight us so much with their possession, as torment us with their loss.
—Dick Gregory

I saw that we’re all doing the best we can. This is how a lifetime of humility begins.
—Byron Katie (American Speaker)

The more you are motivated by love, the more fearless and free your actions will be.
—Katherine Mansfield (New Zealand-born British Author)

Do you know what a man is? Are not birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood, learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality, and such like, the spice and salt that season a man?
—William Shakespeare (British Playwright)

Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy // Book Summary of ‘The Millionaire Next Door’

February 12, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

The Millionaire Next Door summarizes anthropological research from the ’90s on the attributes of unassuming wealthy Americans. The authors, marketing professors Thomas Stanley and William Danko, offer unique insights into millionaires’ lifestyles and their buying habits. They explain that, in contrast to today’s earn-and-consume culture, the many ordinary folks who accumulate wealth live modestly and prize frugality.

When first published in 1996, The Millionaire Next Door generated widespread enthusiasm for its core message: that anybody could become rich by living below their means, efficiently allocating funds in ways that build wealth, and ignoring conspicuous consumption. Consequently, the book sold millions of copies and stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for three years.

A bulk of The Millionaire Next Door focuses on rejecting the stereotypical view of the wealthy; the authors write, “Most people have it all wrong about wealth in America. Wealth is not the same as income. If you make a good income each year and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier. You are just living high. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend.”

The authors discuss the fancy trappings of wealth and the high cost of maintaining social status. They explain that wealthy individuals prioritize financial independence over a high social status. Further, they did not receive sizable financial support from parents, and raise their own children to be economically self-sufficient adults.

The Millionaire Next Door is a definitive example of books that present simple concepts by reiterating them ad nauseam with an overabundance of statistics, tables, charts, and anecdotes to attain a respectable book length. For instance, a tedious 31-page chapter discusses how the wealthy purchase cars and includes statistics for average price-per-pound of popular cars.

Recommendation: Skim. The Millionaire Next Door defends the timeless values of thrift, disciplined spending, and prudent accumulation of wealth. However, the book overemphasizes penny-pinching and the merits of hoarding money. The book feels dated (it was first published in 1996) and engages the reader in crude generalizations and oversimplifications.

Lessons from Dwight Eisenhower: Authentic Leaders Demonstrate Accountability

February 9, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

In a previous article about how you can control just your efforts and not the outcomes of those efforts, I detailed Dwight Eisenhower’s weather-induced dilemma on the eve of the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.

The Success of the Normandy Invasion Was Not Entirely in Eisenhower’s Control

Despite a year of intense planning and preparation under Eisenhower’s leadership, the Allied invasion’s success ultimately depended on the weather across the English Channel. Their landings hinged on suitable weather—something entirely beyond their control.

Eisenhower tentatively planned to send his troops across the English Channel on 5-June. On 4-June, however, the troops predicted cloudy skies, rain, and heavy seas that threatened the invasion. Although the following day’s weather was not necessarily ideal, it was comparatively more suitable than the 5-June, so Eisenhower postponed the invasion by a day. If he did not invade on 6-June, the tides would not favor an invasion for another two weeks, which would possibly give the Germans enough time to get wind of the Allies’ plan.

Early in the morning of 5-June, Eisenhower gathered his advisers’ and military officers’ opinions on whether to launch the attack despite the less-than-suitable weather. He sat quietly in deep contemplation. One of his advisers later recalled, “I never realized before, the loneliness and isolation of a commander at a time when such a momentous decision has to be taken, with full knowledge that failure or success rests on his judgment alone.”

After five minutes, Eisenhower gazed at his advisers and said, “Well, we’ll go!”

With those words, Eisenhower launched the D-Day invasion of Europe on 6-June. After issuing those marching orders, events passed from Eisenhower’s control. He then realized that the invasion’s success was no longer in his hands. Its outcome depended on 160,000 allied troops, thousands of commanders, and hundreds of lieutenants. Eisenhower had done everything in his power to coordinate their efforts and create conditions conducive to the mission’s success. After issuing his orders, all he could do was let those conditions come to fruition on their own terms. After all his efforts, he could not control the outcomes—he let go of the outcomes.

An Authentic Leader in Action: Eisenhower’s Character, Responsibility, & Accountability

That evening, on his way to visit American and British paratroopers (pictured above) who were headed into battle that night, Eisenhower told his driver, “I hope to God I’m right.”

Just before he went to bed at night, Eisenhower scribbled a note and tucked it into his wallet. He thought he would use this letter if the invasion went wrong. (Eisenhower mistakenly dated the note July 5 instead of June 5.)

Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based upon the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.

Dwight Eisenhower's note to use if the Normandy Invasion went wrong, 5-June-1945

Observe that Eisenhower crossed out “This particular operation” and wrote “My decision to attack.” This demonstrates Eisenhower’s assertive and responsible leadership in action. He wrote, “any blame or fault … is mine alone” and underscored the phrase “mine alone.” He did not use passive language or try to camouflage failure with phrases like, “as fate would have had it,” “unaccommodating weather,” “forecast not met,” “mistakes were made,” or “we tried really hard, but ….”

Eisenhower was an authentic leader in action—a leader who was ready and willing to accept unshrinking responsibility for his actions and their results.

Eisenhower won his wager with the weather. The invasion of Normandy was successful and proved to be a turning point in World War II. Eisenhower never used the note he had prepared on the eve of the attack. It is now on display at Dwight D. Eisenhower Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas.

Authentic Leaders Demonstrate Accountability

As exemplified by Dwight Eisenhower’s leadership as the Supreme Allied Commander during World War II, authentic leaders recognize the accountability that comes with their roles. They accept absolute responsibility for the expected outcomes—both good and bad—no matter what the situation is. They don’t blame unfavorable circumstances, the external environment, employees, superiors, customers, or anybody else.

Inspirational Quotations #618

February 7, 2016 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

I have used these weeks to revalue values. Do you understand this expression?. When you come right down to it, the alchemist is the most praiseworthy of men: I mean the one who changes something negligible or contemptible into something of value, even gold. He alone enriches, the others merely exchange. My task is quite singular this time: I have asked myself what mankind has always hated, feared, and despised the most.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (German Philosopher, Scholar)

To know that which before us lies in daily life, is the prime wisdom; what is more is fume, or emptiness, or fond impertinence, and renders us, in things that most concern, unpracticed and unprepared.
—John Milton (English Poet)

Some desire is necessary to keep life in motion; he whose real wants are supplied, must admit those of fancy.
—Samuel Johnson (British Essayist)

At the center of our agency is our freedom to form a healthy attitude toward whatever circumstances we are placed in.
—Neal A. Maxwell (American Mormon Religious Leader)

If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself.
—Charles M. Schulz (American Cartoonist)

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself, and apply myself to them, if they will not apply themselves to me.
—Michel de Montaigne (French Philosopher)

Answered prayers cover the field of providential history as flowers cover western prairies.
—Theodore L. Cuyler (American Presbyterian Clergyman)

I put all my genius into my life; I put only my talent into my works.
—Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet)

We are all exceptional cases. Each man insists on being innocent, even if it means accusing the whole human race, and heaven.
—Albert Camus (Algerian-born French Philosopher)

Archives for February 2016

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Flawed Reward Systems

“On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B”

Idea for Impact: “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is”

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Human Resources and Confidentiality

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Examine Your Motivations Before Job-Hunting

When You Must Seek a New Job

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The Success of the Normandy Invasion Was Not Entirely in Eisenhower’s Control

An Authentic Leader in Action: Eisenhower’s Character, Responsibility, & Accountability

Authentic Leaders Demonstrate Accountability

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