Management Styles

Alberto Gil

                After watching the video of the “NeXT” company start up I was reminded of some of the techniques which I read about throughout the last two semesters and I was a bit surprised by Steve Jobs leadership skills. Although he is a very successful business man I believe that through studying his mistakes there are some different techniques which I could have applied to give the NeXT Company a chance at survival. As mentioned in this video what we were watching was the NeXT start up team, even though this was supposed to be a team I feel like it was not treated as a team where everyone had an equal say. I do believe that just by looking at this video that Steve was definitely in charge and he seemed to drown out everyone else’s voice.

                There are many different characteristics to a “self-managed work team” (Brown 2011), I think that if the strategic components of a self-managed work team would have been implemented in the case of this start up team things could have turned out differently. One of the characteristics of a self-managed team which I believe would have made a difference is that “team members have a sense of vision”; having a vision ensures that everyone is on the same page. One issue which I saw stand out to me was the fact that everyone had their own vision of what this new computer system had to be. Some people could not agree on the price and the technology, others could not agree on a deadline; Steve’s leadership style seemed to dictate all of these decisions. It seemed like Steve was so much in control that it made me wonder why he was having these retreats and team meetings if he was not going to seriously consider what his team was trying to explain to him. Even though it is important to be objective in a team it is also important to take your team members advice seriously even if you do not agree with them.

                Looking at my results from my management assessment I saw a couple of things which I was not surprised about. It said that I have more of a tactical leadership style than anything else, the characteristics of a tactical leader consist of persuade, negotiate, troubleshoot, and appreciate (Management assessment). I found this analysis to be spot on, I do not try to run the show in a totalitarian way; instead I like to persuade with facts and also negotiate. I believe that in a team atmosphere there is no characteristic more important than someone that knows how to negotiate, if we are to be team leaders we need to know how to deal with others and find common grounds. I believe that my leadership style could have been a good fit in a group of individuals similar to this one where everyone is very knowledgeable.

                Another characteristic of “Self-managed work teams” is that “there is a strong partnership between members and management”. So even if Steve was considered to be strictly management in these meetings there should have been a stronger sense of partnership. To me it seemed like Steve was acting as a team member but in the end he would make the management decisions on his own while keeping a supervisor/ subordinate relationship. I believe that since Steve brought these people over from another company to be partners then he should have treated them as such. I think I was able to sense a bit of resentment from some of the team members; there was a sense that they felt their opinions did not make a difference.   

                I do not believe that I have all of the answers to being a good leader but based off of my past experience and studying my personal management assessment I do believe that I can be a good team leader. I have noticed that I do like to listen to others and I take into account others opinions and weight them heavily prior to making a hasty decision. Even when I am in charge and accountable for being the sole leader I listen to others opinions rather than use the power of my title. Being in charge is a great privilege but I believe that with that power comes the great responsibility of knowing when to listen to others as well. I believe that if Steve had taken into account his team members advice the outcome for NeXT could have been different.

References:

Brown, D. (2011). An experiential approach to organizational development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

Client Report Alberto Gil. (2015, May 20). Retrieved May 21, 2015.

                

Personality Test

            Self-reflection, an action which I have become accustomed to attempting every so often throughout the MSLD program. I am constantly reflecting on myself and rather or not I am a good leader or have the possibility to become a good leader. I believe that it is important for everyone to take a good look in the mirror and try to decide who you really are without lying to yourself. You have to realize if you are too compassionate, or perhaps maybe too strong willed. It is very hard to judge yourself but usually you can find the best answers by yourself to who you really are. As I went over the results of the personality test I found myself thinking that for the most part many things where accurate. I think that some parts I would not agree with but I think that for just fifty questions this personality test was pretty accurate.

            So the personality test diagnosed me as an “INTJ”, this is also known as an introverted, intuitive, thinking, judging. So what I would not agree with this personality test is that they pegged me as being a scientist or an engineer. I would not agree with that since I do not like putting puzzles together and building things because they take too long and do not hold my interest. Aside from my profession I do agree with other portions of the personality test; for example they said that I tend to be a perfectionist and this can many times be true. Many times I find myself wanting to do certain task perfectly; I do not like negative criticism so I will do whatever it takes to not have to receive negative criticism. They say that the perfectionist side of me will cause me to lose respect of authority which I might consider to be “slacking”. I can see how I might be standoffish with an authority figure but usually that will happen if I feel that they are almost too serious about their work. I am a relaxed individual and I tend to run my subordinates in the same fashion.

            I believe that this personality test might be useful to me and my leadership skills for many different reasons. I believe that to understand yourself is one of the best qualities a leader might have because sometimes you will have to go against the grains on some of your natural instincts. Knowing yourself lets you know how you will handle conflicts, communications, and different personalities which you will eventually hire for your business or to work under you. Many times we have to understand that as leaders our natural instincts are not always the best ones, in fact for some of us they can be harmful. For me I have come to understand that I do not like conflict, I do not like handing out orders and I think that this is due to the fact that I have always been a very young leader in the past. It seems that I have always been younger than those which I have been in charge of; at times I will still feel like a child giving orders. During my time in the military I had to learn to overcome those fears so that I could be the most effective leader possible. “Recognizing potential limitations”(MBTI) is what can make a leader or a business recognize what they have to get better at to improve their organization.

            Aside from knowing yourself you have to know who is working for you, understanding if you have a group of “A” type personalities can be beneficial; it might feel like you are trying to tame a cage full of lions. When you are trying to have control of a group of lions it is important to know what you are getting yourself into. If I were a leader of an organization I would recommend that every employee of mine take this personality test; I believe that knowing who you are working with is half the battle. Depending on a person’s personality you might have a better understanding of how to punish or reward them; you will also learn how to motivate certain personality types to get the most potential out of an employee.

            There is a wide range of personalities that we will encounter as leaders, some people will be easier than others to work with. Understanding the person you work with can make things much easier for a boss. Understanding who you are can also improve the situation for your organization; the work place is full of obstacles and understanding everyone in the office is half the battle. I believe that these personality test do have an important position in any business and should be taken advantage of.

Reference:

 Briggs, M. (2015, May 13). Humanetrics. Retrieved May 13, 2015, from http://www.humanmetrics.com/hr/JTypesResult.aspx

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (Eighth ed.). Prentice Hall.

The future of Organizational Development

                The OD discipline is here to stay, I can say that in a very confident manner since I now know how important OD is to any organization. With times changing as rapidly as they are it is hard to imagine how a business can survive without applying some of these tactics which we have learned about over the past several months. Rather we like to admit it or not business is changing just as fast as technology and trends do, it is truly difficult for a company to keep up with new styles of leadership, how their employees are feeling at work, and the culture and values which they have created. How can someone who is not a trained professional know how to identify and work on making the changes that matter for a business?

                All throughout the last several months as we learn about OD we are constantly talking about the Micro and Macro problems which are occurring on a daily basis. To understand these problems it is important for a trained practitioner to look more in depth into an organization, perhaps it is not possible for someone who is not trained to see that there are many underlying problems. One thing which an OD practitioner can do so well is that they can also understand the importance of the culture of an organization. When we talk about the “Psycho-social subsystem, we are talking about the network of social relationships and behavioral patterns of members such as norms, roles, and communications” (Brown 2011). As we have learned about OD we have come to understand that systems just like this one are essential to an organization, having a negative culture can easily hold a company down from achieving their goals.

                Through my readings I have understood that those which say that OD is a passing fad say that because it has only been around for about sixty years so some do not consider it a discipline. To that theory we can make the argument that so many things which are part of our society today would be considered just a fad that will eventually pass. If we look at items such as cell phones, and the internet we have to agree that these things will be around for quite some time and will not just pass away. These type of items make are lives and our jobs much easier and helps us be more efficient; in my opinion this is the purpose of OD. Companies that use OD have had major improvements these companies have found that their employees “find more meaning in their work, learn how to work better in teams, and make greater leaps towards accomplishing the mission and goals of an organization”( Business balls).

                I do believe that as time goes on we will in fact start to see that businesses will recognize that it is very hard to keep things functioning without OD. It is important that we understand that every business wants to succeed; not only do they want to succeed but they want to see growth and increase their profits. Most businesses will understand that they have to develop their organization if they are to succeed. Business that invest in their employees, infrastructure, and technology can witness growth; these are some of the aspects of business which OD focuses on. I believe that much like our text states that the future of OD will find practitioners “creating a vision, instilling the importance of innovation and empowering employees” (Brown 2011); OD seems to change behaviors and bring out the best in organizations.

Reference:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (Eighth ed.). Prentice Hall.

Blanchard, K. (2014, February 12). Gung Ho. Retrieved May 9, 2015, from http://www.businessballs.com/gunghokenblanchard.htm

               

The Strength of Corporate Culture

                “A strong culture is characterized by the organizations basic values being intensely held and widely shared” (Brown 2011). I read this statement from our text book and I was immediately reminded of Stanley McChrystal’s TED talk and my time which was spent in the military. I now knew why an organization such as the U.S. Military had been around for so long and successful for so many generations. From day one in the military you are sucked into the culture of this organization which you have joined, you are not only employed by the U.S. armed forces but you become one of them. A culture which is infused so deeply into your values that you are able to use these values for the rest of your life. Our text talks about how even organizations like these which have high turnover rates amongst the young remain strong because “new members can be strongly socialized into the organization” (Brown 2011).

                The type of leadership which Jim and Stanley are talking about in our weekly videos is the type of leadership which changes who you are; it becomes your second nature to go above and beyond to change the way you conduct yourself on a daily basis. Rather it be by using incentives like money or having to do less pushups, the want to succeed in these organizations runs very strong. Our text also talks about how “the more members share the basic values and the greater commitment to them, the stronger the culture” (Brown 2011). This is a very important quality for any organization to have and the reason why the U.S. Military is regarded as one of the most powerful organizations in the world; there are very few organizations which can instill pride in its members’ the way the Military does.

                I think that after Jim from Gallery Furniture read the book called “Influencer” he witnessed the power of developing his business and instilling pride and ownership in his employees. Jim cared about developing his employees and being nicer to them and his customers, Gallery Furniture knew that they were in trouble and they recognized the need for change. Jim read that there were six sources to change behavior sales; the important changes that Jim made to his organization created the culture which was needed for his furniture store to succeed.

 Jim improved sales prospecting, sales training, the incentive pay system, post data, and also recognition. In his organization Jim saw that they were losing customers, employees were not satisfied at work nor did they feel appreciated. Many of those problems were corrected just by investing time into the values of his employees, Jim made sure that his employees followed up with customers so they do not lose sales and he also made sure that when his employees did well they were recognized and rewarded for their hard work. As seen in our text through the relative strengths of corporate culture chart; an organization with strong member commitment to values and a high number of members sharing values, this can create a strong culture.

The importance of culture and values cannot be underestimated as we have studied organizations which have collapsed when these key concepts are missing. This week in our weekly class discussion we looked at “The Home Depot” and how their business was handled when newcomer CEO Bob Nardelli took over the company. At first things seem to go pretty well as he was cutting cost left and right and creating a larger flux of money for THD to invest into their stores. All seemed well except for the fact that Nardelli had cut cost by laying off some of his most experienced employees and replaced them with much cheaper labor. Nardelli had gotten rid of the backbone of his business; Nardelli had layed off those employees which were on the front line of carrying out the values which home depot had infused into their culture. After similar moves like these were made the culture of THD started to sink quickly and along with that came their profits. The hate for THD became so intense that a private contracting company created a website called “THDSUCKS” so that customers and employees had a medium to vent through. On this website customers can be seen saying things such as “"At-home installations". Yeah, like I'm going let one of those bozos within 20 feet of my house” (THDsucks.org). The values of this organization were lost and it took a lot of hard work from the next CEO who came along to put THD back on track and making profits again.

There is a lot of evidence which points at the important of creating vales that are made to be strong within an organization. We cannot underestimate the importance of creating a positive culture within our organizations and showing our employees and customers that we do care about them; I believe that this is the message which Jim and Stanley were trying to convey. Jim and Stanley during their talks made it very clear that any organization takes work to make them successful and having a great corporate culture is the way to create a great foundation for your organization.

Reference:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

HomeDepotSucks.org (n.d.) Home Depot sucks [Blog forum]. Retrieved from http://www.homedepotsucks.org/forum/ 

Leadership

If you watch this Apple commercial, you might conclude that progress is driven by only a few special people. Indeed, people who rise to the top of organizations often do so through powerful personalities, strong technical skills, and strong work ethic. Yet, we see that as people rise to the top, other leadership competencies become more important in companies that are striving for excellence. For instance, leaders need to get along with people, develop capabilities in individuals and teams, maintain connections with various stakeholders, and exhibit emotional intelligence. In short, some leaders need to unlearn some of the habits that got them to the top so they can succeed in their executive roles.

In your reflection blog, consider how difficult it must be for a leader to grow into a person who can lead a system-wide change effectively. Perhaps you remember leaders who attempted system wide interventions but failed because they were not capable of pulling it all together. On the other hand, you may know leaders who were able to do what you thought would be impossible. From your point of view now, what is required for a leader to be successful?

            Being a strong leader must not be easy, so much is required of you when you are in charge of guiding everyone else. You have to be fearless, intelligent or at least appear to be, and most of all you have to learn how to think outside of the box to create change. While I was watching this commercial I have to say that I was almost intimidated, as I pursue my degree in business leadership I ask myself “can I ever be as great as the people shown on this commercial?” I also ask myself if the people that we see in this commercial felt the same way as me. Maybe these people were different and it just came natural to them, these great people that led us to change in this world must have actually been the circle pegs in a square hole. I believe what separated these great leaders from everyone else is that they did not listen to the “rules” and they did things the way that they wanted to.

            After a year of work I find myself at the halfway point of my MSLD, it is an exciting time and I feel that I have grown so much through all of the different readings which I have done. Overall the one thing that I have noticed is that many successful people and organizations are the ones that are learning to do things differently. It is not the ones that will continue to run a business as they did fifty or sixty years ago but those that look for innovative ways to change the world.

            This video states that the “ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world actually do”this sends a great message to think outside of the box. In business we see people changing the structure of organizations so that things can run in a much more effective matter which will be conducive to an organization’s goals. We can take for example Renis Likert’s system 4 management style of how to run an organization. “In system four organizations believe in down, up , and sideways communication, a great deal of support between subordinates and leaders, and a larger amount of rewards and support for everyone in the organization no matter what position you hold” (Brown 2011) . I believe that it is ideas like this one that change the way we view how business is done, in the past people might have considered this a crazy way to run a business; but today because of innovators like Renis Likert we find it to be extremely productive.

            I once read a quote that said we need to “resist our tendencies to make right or true that which is merely familiar and wrong or false that which is only strange” (Matthew Taylor). This is an amazing quote and I keep it posted in my study along with other quotes so that I may never forget it. What this quote is saying is that we need to break barriers as we become leaders in life, we need to resist the want to not be different. I believe that this goes beyond business and it is a quote which we can also use in life, it is important for leaders to look outside of the box. To me this quote lets me know that I need to stop and think about why I might think that something is wrong; I have to ask myself if I believe that “something is wrong only because it is what I find familiar?” Maybe if I think about certain situations from a different perspective I can also shed a new light on problems which used to be an open and shut case.

            To answer the question of “what I think is required for a leader to be successful”; I have to say that thinking outside of the norm is what can make a leader successful. A leader in my opinion has to give everyone and everything a chance before shutting the idea down. They need to listen to every person around them without judgement or discrimination, they need to view everyone as a peer because they are only as strong as their weakest link. A true leader will know how to bring the best out of every situation by understanding that the world is not as black and white as it may seem.

References:

- Brown, Donald R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (8th ed.).    Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

- Taylor, M. (2015).

Self Managed Teams

• What do you see as some of the major benefits and drawbacks of self-managed teams?
• Would you like to work within such a team?
• What competencies would you need to develop to be an effective external manager of a self-managed work team?

If someone in the business-world told me that they feel like they are caged in when it comes to getting their ideas across because their boss never listens to them, I would recommend this person look into a self-managed team. Far too often I hear of people with great ideas not being able to say what is on their minds because they are afraid of what might happen to their promotion. Even though I have seen this most of my life I feel that nothing has ever been done about it; as a leader in the past I have always wanted to bring out others creativity but it is easier said than done. This is where the concept of self-managed teams would come into play, A self-managed team is an “autonomous group whose members decide how to handle their task” (Brown 2011).  

            Many times a SM team will be brought together for short projects or they could stay together for long term team work which can span out as long as the external mangers allow it to. This is a concept which breaks the barrier of the business world, when I think about an SM team I think about a sandlot baseball team. It seems that everyone makes decisions and at some point everyone can be the boss, this is why I think that there are so many benefits to a SM team. In a SM team there are benefits which could spark immense creativity, responsibility, and accountability. A SM team has many responsibilities which include setting work schedules, budgeting, making job assignments, developing performance goals, and hiring and selecting team members; this list of task can be modified to basically whatever the team feels that they need to do. To truly understand all of the benefits I believe that one would have to see this type of group looking from the outside in, the freedoms which a group like this has will spark ideas which might have never been mentioned before as we remove certain barriers which the typical employee might encounter.

            Now although I do see plenty of benefits I can also see where the drawbacks of a SM team would stick out like a sore thumb. The important piece to self-managed teams is that everyone in your team needs to know that it is a privilege and they need to understand that they will have more responsibilities. If there are certain members who do not want to comply with this platform things can get ugly very fast. Many times if someone is not motivated because the company is not providing them with an “incentive or advancement opportunities, companies might find trouble within these types of groups” (Brown 2011). We have to remember that working in teams does take a lot more work and employees can quickly be discouraged if it only helps the organization but does little for their career.

            As I am learning about SM teams I actually feel a bit jealous that I have not participated in one of these myself. As an ex-military member I am very accustomed to having a rank structure, this rank structure never seemed to fit my ideal job setting which is why I chose to leave the military. I do believe that I would like to be in a SM team because more than anything I sense that there would be high moral and employees would experience greater satisfaction from their job. If I were in a SM team I would be able to surround my team with people that are a good fit, I would be able to speak my mind, and I would be able to have a say when I have to work. It is as if I would be running my own business and I would be doing something which I have a real passion for. I believe that these are qualities which any employer would like to see out of their employees, a strong team translates into a strong organization.

            Organizations which have strong performances not only turn in high profits but they also attract prestigious awards which can be a great recruiting tool also. Companies with exemplary performance in the past have been known to receive awards like the “Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award”. The “Baldrige award is given to companies by Baldrige examiners which observe achievements and improvements in all seven Baldrige core values and concepts” (nist.gov). These seven concepts consist of leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement analysis, human resource focus, and business results. An organization which receives this type of award should feel very proud of all of the work which was dedicated to making their organization one of the best amongst their competitors.

            So since I believe so much in SM teams the goal would one day be to put together my own team so that my organization can also flourish. SM teams are generally put together by “external leaders”, these leaders are the ones responsible for selecting these teams and giving them task. I believe that to be a good external leader you have to be good at just stepping back and let your work speak for itself. As an external leader your work is putting the team together and knowing that they will succeed, knowing who to add to your team is an important part of your job. As an external leader you will have to be someone who can spot talent, take advantage of your resources, and believe in the power of diversity. What an external leader wants is to create an all-star team of people which you know can handle the job. Aside from all of this you need to know that micro management is not good for a SM team, once you set your team free you need to let them work unless there is an emergency and you have to step in.

            If I ever do have my own organization I know that this is the type of team that I would like to have in place and taking my business to the next level. I do believe that there is something special that happens when you take good employees and unleash their full potential. If people are able to implement their own ideas and have some sort of control over the situation I believe that natural leaders will be born and the results will definitely help any organization.

References:

- Brown, Donald R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (8th ed.).    Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

- Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. (2014, May 14). Retrieved April 19, 2015, from http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/award_recipients/index.cfm

    

Goals and Feedback

On page 321 of your Brown textbook, you will find a passage called Feedback and Goals Improve Performance. Review the section and also search the Hunt Library for 3-5 additional resources on how feedback and goals relate to performance. You don't have to cite all of the resources as some may not relate to your reflection. As you are completing this exercise, refer to A631.3.5.CM.

In a well-written blog, describe your understanding of the importance of feedback and goals to performance. What are your thoughts regarding Brown's contention that there are generational differences in the amount of feedback desired by employees. How much feedback do you generally give and receive? Have you found that for you personally, having specific goals and receiving targeted feedback has led to more engagement, higher performance, or any other benefits (or drawbacks)? What are the implications of your reflection?

            Goals, they are in my opinion what drives many people to keep getting better at what they do. Fortunately for many humans they are never truly satisfied with where they are in life and they continue to strive to create and reach new goals. This is an important human trait which I believe has gotten us to where we are at in today’s technologically advanced society. Of course goals are essential to the success which we have had but it would be much harder to attain goals if we did not get constructive criticism from those which we look up to or the those in-charge of us. Feedback and goals go hand in hand with each other; our society strives off of these two very important factors in the business world and also in our personal life.

            Every time I reflect on my life’s accomplishments and current status I am reminded of how important it is to have goals. For me the discussion of goals and feedback has had a very big influence in my life, ever since I graduated from High school I would find myself asking “how can I improve myself?” This is the mentality that has gotten me to the MSLD program and still to this day has me craving more. Raising a very big family at a very young age has made me push myself to do things that I would have never thought possible, if I could see the person I am today a decade ago I would not recognize the person that I am looking at.

            Making it this far did not come easy, I am reminded of an article which I read called “Using Goal Setting and Feedback to Increase Running Distance (Crawland, K.A)”. My life has not been a short race but more of a marathon which I keep pushing towards to reach the finish line. The Author of this article talked about an experiment which they used for runners to increase their running distance, the key to this experiment was to utilize the power of short term goals and feedback. The runners created short term goals and received extensive feedback which pushed them to reach goals which they thought were unattainable. I can see how this is very similar to my life because when I started my adult life I always thought that many things were unattainable.

            When I started my adult life I was eighteen years old working in a shoe store earning minimum wage, I thought that this would be enough money for now and I would slowly promote my way to the top. After six months I was promoted to assistant manager and received a fifty cents per hour raise, the first thing to come to my mind was “that is all I get after working so hard for six months?” To make matters worse I can recall a moment when I received my new title and my manager looked at me and said “if you keep up the hard work maybe one day you can be just like me”. This comment made me feel sick, at this point I knew that I needed change but I also knew that it would take time. I began to set short term goals like join the military, enroll in college, and take a couple of classes while I am on deployment. My life was finally starting to shape up; because of my short term goals and feedback from many people which mentored me and guided me I became the person I am today.

            Being mentored and accepting feedback was never an issue for me, in the military you learn to take feedback and make the most of it. In our text it states that “fifty percent of older workers do not like taking feedback (Brown, 2011)”; I made it a point to observe these behaviors and commit myself to learning everything I could from people which were much more experienced than me. Without feedback I would not have learned to stop making excuses for myself, learn accountability, and to understand that I have to keep pushing myself.  In the article called “Goals and Feedback: Partners in success (B. Deveau, 2013)” it talk’s about the two important forms of feedback. The author of this article says that “feedback has two forms the things that you are doing well and want to repeat, and what you are doing wrong and want to change (B. Deveau, 2013)”. There were certain people in my life that gave me this type of feedback; these people encouraged me to stay in school no matter how challenging it got, and they led me away from the reckless behavior which I involved myself in when I was just a young man experiencing the world for the first time overseas.

            As I am writing this paper I am quickly realizing that the moral of the story is that no one is perfect; goals pared with good feedback are what will make us as humans and future business leaders much better. In one decade I have gone from living well below the poverty line in the city limits of New York to being able to raise my family in a beautiful suburb outside of Dallas. I know that my work is not done, I have goals which I am still striving for and I am sure that there are new goals left to create. I am proud of what I have done but as I stated before many humans are never satisfied. There is always a new goal to reach so that I can continue to elevate myself far beyond anything which I would have even thought was possible. I can definitely see how goals and feedback do improve performance, it is a good lesson to learn from this week’s reading and knowledge which I can hold on to for a lifetime.

References:

-          Deveau, B. (2013). Goals and feedback:: Partners in success. National Dragster, 54(14), 28. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1409285107?accountid=272

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-          Wack, S. R., Crosland, K. A., & Miltenberger, R. G. (2014). USING GOAL SETTING AND FEEDBACK TO INCREASE WEEKLY RUNNING DISTANCE. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 47(1), 181-5. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1517530254?accountid=27203

-           Brown, Donald R. (2011, pg. 321). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (8th ed.).    Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.  

MSLD 631 MODULE 2 BLOG

1. What behaviors seemed to help your team successfully complete its task?

Motivation, organization, team-work, experience, and integrating behaviors all helped my team complete this task in as easy a way as possible. Right off of the bat team one had one of our team members decide that she wanted to take charge this week since she recognized that she would be a lot busier during the end of the term. The rest of the team followed suit by picking weeks to take the lead, this automatically gave us a start so that we all knew our roles and what we have to accomplish throughout the next nine weeks.

A large portion to us knowing that we needed to take the lead on certain weeks can be attributed to the experience that we all have thus far; this is not the first class for any of us so we are very accustomed to working in teams. Experience and team work can make any project very simple when everyone can recognize that we all need each to support each other and we all need to take the lead at some point. These types of actions all correspond with integrating behaviors which are a positive to have when working with teams. We all have a high concern for our self and for others, the integrating style is concerned with problem solving; “it uses openness, sharing of information, and the examination of differences to reach a consensus solution” (Brown, 2011).

2. What factors inhibited decision-making or problem-solving?

When working with long distance teams there are any factors which can inhibit a team. The first concern between all of us is of course the way that we have to communicate, we do not see each other in a classroom on a daily basis. Many people would have considered this a challenge which is hard to overcome but as technology has taken communication to a new level distance teams are not much of a challenge at all.

                In an article by Natalie burg from Forbes magazine she states that “As it turns out, the answer to all of the complaints about the evolving workplace wasn’t to abandon technology for a more human way of working, but to evolve technology to make the new way of working more human”( Forbes).  With this technology which has been provided by Embry Riddle University we have made communicating with our group very easy and personal; all I have to do is log in to my account to see the latest work and message from one of my team mates. 

3. How much time was spent on decision-making and problem-solving?

Surprisingly enough for this assignment I believe that there was minimal time spent on actual decision making. The experience which our team has with working in this environment helps us recognize a task and tackle it with out to much conflict or problem solving. I would say that within the first day we all knew what we had to do and got straight to work.

4. How was information shared among team members?

Information was shared via either the post or on a customized file exchange board where we are able to post all of our latest work for others to review online. I am sure that in the future if necessary we have other platforms which are available such as email and our phones which where all shared through the team charter.

5. How did issues of authority or power affect the team?

It seems as though we have a very compromising team, I did not get a sense of anyone person having a dominating type of personality. This is important because I do not think that we will have any conflicts among our teams. I see that we are all on the same level and are for the most part people that are very easy to work with. I have heard in the past that sometimes teams will need a third party to intervene with issues that may arise in the group; I have had experience with these current team members in the past and I do not see that being an issues as we proceed ahead.  As we have read in our text third parties are used for “ensuring mutual motivation, achieving a balance in situational power, and coordination confrontation efforts” (brown, 2011); I do not see either of these problems being an issue with our team.

6. How did collaboration and competition influence the outcome?

The only type of competition that I could see apparent in my group was who could claim the lead for certain weeks as soon as possible. I do not yet know if people were just anxious to take the lead or perhaps wanting to be the first to grab the weeks which where the easiest to be in charge of. Only time will tell what the outcome will be for the certain weeks which I assigned myself to take the lead on. 

7. Did team members make process interventions?

As a team we did make some process interventions as to what we all expect from each other and some of the ground rules which will be important for the success of our team. I believe that these type of interventions right from the beginning help set a positive atmosphere and one of accountability also. I do feel the need of making process interventions and I think that for the time being we have done so appropriately.

References:

- Brown, Donald R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (8th ed.).    Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.  

-Burg, N. (2015, April 4). How Technology Has Changed Workplace Communications. Forbes.

The Eco Seagate Experiance

1. Do you see value in the Eco Seagate team development process?

Let me start by asking the questions, Can I work for Seagate technology! This is an amazing teamwork experience which is provided by the Seagate Company, not only is it a great tool to help employees but it is also a great recruiting tool. This experience has so many benefits I do not even know where to start.

When I think about all of the things that matter to a company and teamwork I think about subjects like accountability, conflict, trust, respect, and commitment. All of these different subjects truly matter when we talk about work being done by colleagues, it is essential to the success of any team yet we so often see it missing. What most impressed me about this EcoSegate experience which is done annually by this company is also the results which you see throughout this video. There is proof of positive results in every portion of this program, I saw people putting their heads together and coming up with solutions, employees helping each other out in a powerful river, and a bunch of middle aged men and women half naked chanting because of the pride which they felt for their team and newly established relationships.

There is so much value which people have to see in this whole experience, I find it hard to believe that shareholders would even critique the importance of an experience like this. It seems that the Company had a very rough start and eventually people were calling the Seagate Company “Slavegate”. For a company to have this type of nickname it is obvious to see that some major changes needed to be made. I believe that these employees which attend Eco Seagate will come back to the office as strong leaders with a lot more guts and tenacity to tackle any situation which they might be faced with. I believe that pushing employees and their leadership skills to the next level can have major benefits for any company which wants to improve productivity and profits.

2. Why would something like this be necessary in a high-performing organization?

When I think about high-performance organizations I think about high performance systems. High performance systems consist of forces in the environment, goals and values, technology and structure, culture, and the outputs produced (OD 2011, pg.41). An experience such as the ones which are produced at Eco Seagate will bring out the quality which we are looking for from our teams which go through this experience. Employees will learn to conquer forces which they might encounter in a business situations, create business strategies by achieving goals and having a whole new outlook on culture. These are important elements which need to be in place in an organization which will be considered a high-performance organization. These types of organizations are looking for the max effort from these employees and I think that an experience such as Eco Seagate can unlock that potential.

  

3. Could your organization benefit from a similar activity?

I think that my organization would not only benefit from an experience such as Eco Seagate but they would thrive on so many different levels. We all know how important teamwork is in most organization but for my organization nothing can be done without team work. I work for the railroad, this type of organization is dependent on so many different departments which have to work as one. We have operations, mechanical, maintenance, marketing, and many more departments; one cannot operate with the other. In my organization many of the things which can be improved at an event like Eco Seagate can lift my organization to the next level.

If we could improve things like accountability, know how to deal with conflict amongst each other, build trust and respect I feel that we would be a force to be reckoned with. My railroad is efficient but they are still working on improving themselves, activities such as this one are important so that our future leaders can learn how to deal with all of these different subjects. I think that many organizations need to take a look at what makes their employees tick and what goes on within each department, I think that they would definitely find room for improvement. I think that two million dollars is a small price to pay for a multi-billion dollar company if they would like to take their biggest assets which is their employees to the next level.

References:

Brown, Donald R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.   

Hiring and Rcruiting

• Does Schmidt's description of the Google Culture make sense to you?

In a way the Google culture is one of the best business culture atmosphere’s that I have heard of to this day. If you want to have a business which thrives on creativity than these are the types of norms which a business manager needs to put into place. I have noticed that there are many articles that talk about how America’s educational system is not as strong compared to many other countries, apparently our math and science scores are not where they need to be.

 Although this might be true I believe that there is something different which makes American Businesses so special; this quality which I speak of is the ability to spark creativity and promote it at the workplace. At Google they hire people that are able to work on their own and they give them that freedom which they need to exercise this creativity. The more we treat humans like robots and micro manage them the less creativity we will see among employees.

• Is this a reasonable way to view the work that most people are doing in your workplace?

I believe that at my job this behavior is encouraged to a certain degree, my line of work is a bit different because it is heavily regulated by rules and regulations to assure the safety of others. Although my work does follow strict guidelines I am also given the freedom to bend those rules as much as possible in a legal way to be creative and come up with the greatest solution. I believe that as Americans this is a trait which we are taught from a young age. Bending the rules and flirting right on the edge of our regulations is what makes American companies so creative and profitable.

• As a leader, does it take courage to have and to implement this point of view?

Hovering just outside of the norm does take a lot of courage, as a leader we are supposed to set the example for our subordinates. Sometimes being different does not go too well with your typical business model, leaders are judged on the way that culture at their business is carried out. Many times we have to go against the grain if we are to come up with something that is truly special. Items which people consider special are usually items which no one has ever thought of before, items which make life easier by introducing new ideas.  

• Could this approach backfire?

Allowing this much freedom requires a lot of responsibility and special employees to be able to wield this type of freedom and use it for the better. Many times employees will use this new found freedom and use it to be unproductive, as Eric Schmidt said “they look for employees which can work productively on their own”. This is an important trait because Google can only allow this type of freedom to their employees to be creative if they are responsible enough to handle it. If it becomes a situation where minimal productivity is found in the work area then this type of approach to business will definitely back fire.

• What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

I think that I will take away the value of giving subordinates the freedom and space they need to create something amazing. This is something which is contrary to a prior leadership style which I experienced in the military that consisted of micromanaging and keeping a “tight leash” on those below your rank. I would definitely like to have a culture at my work place which lets people feel relaxed and ready to be a part of the company. For this to exist I need to hire the right people that want to create an amazing work culture with me, like minded individuals who believe in the fact that creativity is important for every organization to succeed.

Reference:

Schmidt, E. (2011). Eric Schmidt on Business Culture, Technology, and Social Issues.

            [Review of the online video, produced by McKinley and Company].

Build a Tower, Build a Team

I recently came across a TED video for my class this week, it was an interesting educational talk which pointed out how different target groups work when tasked to complete a challenge in a short amount of time. The task was called the “marshmallow challenge”, this is a challenge which made like-minded groups of people come up with a structure that can support a marshmallow in a matter of eighteen minutes. Tom Wujec, the creator of the challenge used this exercise to see how these different groups of people worked and why certain groups had the outcome that they did.  Tom makes a comparison to the way that kindergartners and MBA students work and to my surprise the kindergartners out-performed the MBA students: I would almost say that the kindergartners made fools of the MBA students.

 Tom makes an analysis of the situation and explains why the young kids did so much better. The result was that the kids got straight to work and had a trial and error type of strategy, this proved to be a good strategy for the kids. The MBA students had a completely different approach they almost tried “too” hard, they would first jockey for power, try to take charge and then come up with the perfect plan. This strategy seemed to fail for many reasons but the most obvious being the fact that making the perfect plan just takes too long. Tom makes a good point which I can agree with when it comes to this challenge, sometimes the perfect plan is not needed for every job in life. It is sometimes beneficial to just get the task done and try to have the group work as one, a leader is not always necessary.

                I think that another reason why the kids worked so much better is for the simple fact that they are not afraid to fail, this I can observe in my four year old son’s behavior. As adults and especially as professional’s we tend to have a fear of failing in front of others, this can cause people to over think projects. Kids just want to have fun, be creative, and are not too concerned with pride; there is definitely a lesson for adults to learn from this example.  

                There was another group of people which did well at this marshmallow project and that was the CEO’s with an executive assistant in the group. I believe that this is the case because CEO’s are good at giving direction and assistants are good at taking directions, there is no pride involved in this group. With this combination no one is jockeying for power because they already know what the roles of each person are, this creates more time to actually work at the task at hand. The lesson that I can take from this group of individuals is the fact that sometimes having an established leader or set of roles can have a huge impact on how quickly a group can accomplish the work which they are doing.  

The results of all of these different groups were very interesting and I think that any of us can take away a lot from these experiments. I think that if I were to facilitate my own process intervention workshop I know that I would have to focus on a project which can highlight the skills which are required in process intervention.  I would try to show the importance of a group which has a strong influence on task functions and also maintenance functions. In other words I would make sure that my groups know that even though it is important to work and complete the task, it is also important to make sure that we have people in the group that are carrying out maintenance functions like harmonizing to keep the group on track. This video has shown that we need a good balance in a group and also the fact that a group with too many “Chiefs” will not be successful in the long run. This is a lesson which I will carry through my career and one that I have lived by for quite some time now; balance of power in groups is essential to the success of a group.

Reference:

Wujac, T. (TEDS). (2010, FEBRUARY 10) Build a Tower, Build a Team [Online Video]

                Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_build_a_tower#t-1820

Mastering the Art of Corporate Reinvention

• Michael Bonsignore, CEO of Honeywell, states that Honeywell will not be an extension of the old Honeywell or Allied Signal. He is creating a new culture that blends the best of the merged companies of Honeywell and Allied Signal. He says that Honeywell will compensate and reward people that look for best practices from both companies in creating a new corporate culture and punish those who do not. Do you predict Honeywell will be successful?

I do believe that Honey well will be successful, I say that because it is interesting to see where this CEO’s roots lie. I think that since Michael Bonsignore comes from a background of understanding the company and how it works through over twenty years of experience, this will be the difference maker.  Mike did not just walk into the CEO position because he knows someone or is the son of a former CEO, I feel that Mike earned his position. With that being said, it is my understanding that Mike has gone through a merger before and understands what it takes to continue to change and improve an organization. With this statement he is solidifying the fact that he believes in this merger, he understands that the best of both worlds needs to be brought into the current merger. 

It seems like merging two companies is never easy, you have to bring in people who are extremely comfortable where they are at and have them understand that the business will change. Along with the business changing the culture will be drastically affected by the new merger. Mike stands behind the importance of adapting and changing the culture and feel that anyone that is not willing to adapt will be punished. Those which adapt well will be compensated, compensating strong work from good employees is essential. We can see the importance of having a strong base of employees to change the culture of a company through the example which Gordon Bethune’s Continental Airlines has provided for us. Gordon Bethune showed us that by creating an amazing new culture for his employees has helped the company go from one of the worst airliners to one of the mist successful ones in the United States.  

• What barriers do you see based on what you observed in the video?

One of the essential barriers which I see in this video is the fact that many companies like the Honeywell Company will have a hard time keeping up with modern times. It seems to me that in this video the U.S is about to go through a technological boom which will cause many companies to continue to advance and modernize their corporate culture. I believe that at this point in time companies which cannot continue to adapt everyday will begin to fall very quickly. I am not exactly sure of the year this video took place but it seems like it was shoot over a decade ago. I believe that at that time period is when business took a big change and newer technology turned the business world upside down.  

• What critical success factors should Honeywell consider as it crafts its organizational strategies around a new culture?

I feel that Honeywell should consider the fact that the business world is a rapid changing place in which companies that get complacent can be left behind. A business that does not continually change can fail no matter how big the business is, just because Honeywell is considered a colossus does not mean that they are immune to failure. I believe that Mike realizes that times are changing at a very quick rate, he mentions in the video how no CEO should be in place for more than ten years. I do feel that Mike was being honest when he said that he feels like his time as a CEO is starting to become short. He knows that he will be the first person to recognize when his time is over, it is hard to keep up with modern times and keeping a modern culture is essential to the success of any business.   

• What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

As a leader I always thought that when I get along with my employees or subordinates it creates a great atmosphere, as Gordon said in the video “it is easier to motivate people when they like you”. I never believed in ruling with an iron fist, I actually think that it causes much more tension and rebellious behavior will not be too far away. The culture that Gordon created at continental is the type of organization which I would like to create and emulate, I hope that as a future manager I will be able to create a happy culture. My ideal organization or department would consist of happy employees who feel like they are part of the business, I want people to feel like they gain something when the company does well. I understand that there will be obstacles when creating this type of culture but as we can see with the example set by Gordon that it is definitely possible.  

Reference:

Films for the Humanities and Sciences (FFHS). (2012). Mastering the Art of Corporate   Reinvention. Available from 

http://digital.films.com/play/GWEU7L 

The Tribes We Lead

Change, how easy is it to create change? It is not very easy at all, it takes a lot of mental strength and conditioning. There are many times in life where people are faced with an opportunity to change but not many people would jump on board. Creating change takes a special person to be able to not fear the consequences, take a stand, and create change. At work I am surrounded by many people who do not spark a change they merely follow what the majority of the people are doing. It is easy to follow or to be a “sheep walker” as Seth Godin calls it, but as I stated earlier it takes a special person to break free of what the norms are.

At work I will hear my fellow co-workers say different things like “it is too hard to create change, it’s impossible, it will not work, there is too much change, and this is not our problem”.  These are the people that until they reflect on who they want to be will never be able to create a change which might better their life or the life of others. I do not find myself commenting much when people say things of this matter, I just simply understand that many people are content in life as long as their immediate needs are satisfied.

I on the other hand am not content with where my life is at yet, this notion seems to drive my wife crazy. She sees that I have completed my bachelor’s degree and I have a well-paying job so she does not see why I am not satisfied. She does not understand why I am working on my Graduate degree and committing myself to this type of sacrifice. At times I will myself tell myself the same excuses which I hear around me and for a second I will believe it. Sometimes I have to force myself to snap out of the want to just conform to my surroundings, I have to fight the urge to follow and remind myself of the vision which I have. Another way for me to overcome the thoughts of conforming is to think back to where I started in my life and know that I can never go back to that point. There is no way that I would ever want to take steps back in life and I would feel like I have let down my family if this was the case. Knowing that I have to continue to better myself every day is what keeps me going strong and pushes me to continue to change myself for the better.

I feel like I have been working on myself for quite some time, I know that I am almost at the point where I close another chapter of my life and take a leap of faith towards the next portion of my vision. I know that I have to take this leap soon but I have not known exactly how I will do it, Seth Godin’s TED’s talk has given me an idea. In his talk Seth discusses how change is driven by tribes, I think that he makes many valid points. A tribe will connect people and ideas, it is up to me to start my own tribe; I need to find like-minded individuals who are also ready to make a change in the world.

It is difficult to make a movement on my own but with strength in numbers many things can be accomplished. I might have many ideas but with a tribe we can find the one thing that matters the most to us and create a movement. Rather it be trying to find a way to make more money or to change an injustice in the world which we have an issue with; having a group of people that will back you up is essential.

 At the end of the TED’s talk Seth tells us how to create change, he said that we have to “challenge everything, change the culture, and then commit. Once I have completed school and I am ready for that next step, I will make sure that I distance myself from those who say change is impossible, force myself to chase my vision, and surround myself with a tribe that believes in me and our goals. These are definitely key ideas which I can take from this exercise to better myself and push myself to someone who I do not yet know or recognize yet.      

Reference:

Godin, Seth (TED). (2009, February) The Tribes we Lead [Ted Talks]

            Retrieved from: http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead#t-797175 

NASA Cultural Changes

Recently NASA has gone through a very traumatic situation which it is hard for any agency to cope with, on February 1^st 2003 space shuttle Columbia and the seven crew members were lost. Before that happened NASA had almost a magical presence and its reputation was flawless. No one could have ever seen something like this happening, everything was running so smooth and then before anyone working for NASA knew what hit them this accident occurred. NASA jumped into action after a short grieving period, they began to assess how something like this could happen and what they could do to prevent this from ever happening again.

Sean O’Keefe the leader of NASA needed to address his employees at of all of the proposed changes which would eventually be implemented. A diagnosis of NASA was done and there was a very obvious need for a change in the way they did work and the way their leadership handled the issues at hand. After carefully studying many of the surveys which were conducted the leadership at NASA was able to recognize certain problems with the culture that had been at NASA for a long time.

The results were that this study made it obvious that the general consensus is that employees do not have enough professional respect for one another. This was one of the major problems at NASA, behavior like this can have huge implications on an organization like NASA. If employees do not have enough respect for each other and their professional opinions, it might be harder for someone to come forward with a safety issue in fear of getting disrespected or mocked. Among some other big issues is that there is very little upward communication and perceived organization support, these issues also go along with my theory of employees being scared to speak their minds. I think that Mr. O’Keefe recognizes that this is an important issue and this is why he choose to speak publicly about it rather than just pass the new agenda on to his leadership.

I think Mr. O’Keefe was very believable in his address to the employees of NASA, he was very sincere about wanting to bring a change to the culture of NASA and recognized that in part this incident was also his fault. They always say that the first step to recovery is to admit you have a problem, in this video Sean O’Keefe does just that. He tells the world that the leadership at NASA including himself had failed, he talked about an email which he received that day and said that it was suggested to him for leadership to just get out of their office and go interact with all of the employees. I think that since Mr. O’Keefe reflects on himself and his leadership at NASA so that they can improve; these statements make him sound very believable. He recognizes that no one is perfect including himself, this brings out a very human characteristic in him and it shows that he does want to change NASA’s culture for the better.

Mr. O’Keefe talks about NASA’s values because an organizations looking to improve needs to take into consideration their ethical, value, and goal considerations if they are to improve. By taking this into consideration Mr. O’Keefe can “understand the old culture, encourage change in employees, involve employees, and lead with a vision” (OD, pg. 70). Sean O’ Keefe recognizes that large-scale change takes time and this why I do feel that they are on the correct path.

There are many lessons to be learned from this whole ordeal, I know that I will definitely take a page out of Mr. O’Keefe’s book when I look to becoming a better leader. I see that it is imperative to not make anyone feel as though their opinion does not matter for this person could save a tragedy from happening. If we do not let our employees be free and respect each other’s professional opinions a lot of important information can be lost. It is important that every voice in an organization be heard and that every voice have a channel for them to be heard. I think that this incident at NASA could have been avoided had the culture been different. I will remember this exercise and use it to propel myself to ensure that my work place culture has a much more open atmosphere; I will also make it a point to “live in the new culture”(OD, pg. 70) and not regress back to the old way of doing things.     

Reference:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (Eighth ed.). Prentice Hall.

C-SPAN (NASA). (2004). NASA Cultural Changes [Video]. Available from http://www.c-span.org/video/?181348-1/nasa-cultural-changes

Decide and Deliver

• Marcia Blenko argues that decision effectiveness correlates positively with employee engagement and organizational performance. How do you think that employee engagement relates to decision effectiveness?

This is an interesting concept and I think that I completely agree, I feel that this is why it is so important to focus on the employer to employee relationship. Employee engagement is what can make or break a company, I think we have to realize that an employee is a direct representation of management and the company itself. If the employee is not engaged in the well-being and growth of an organization it will show in the organizational performance; a company’s employees are on the front line and generally the first point of contact between a customer and an organization. If the employee is fully engaged and enthusiastic about the decisions being made for change in a company then the quality of their devotion will show in how effective a company’s progress is.

• What are some impediments to good decision making?

Some of the impediments which were mentioned by Marcia Blenko from Bain and Company were not having the right information, leadership behavior, and perhaps not having the right talent. Leadership behavior is essential when it comes to making all of the right decisions, without a strong and confident leader that makes good decisions it is hard for a company to excel. Certain leaders just might not have the right experience or open minded enough to take an organization to the next level; this is where not having the right talent can come into factor. A mixture of these impediments to good decision making can have a negative effect on an organization and it is up to management to seek the right people for the job.  

• Blenko suggests that there are four elements of good decisions: quality, speed, yield, and effort. In your opinion, is there anything missing from this list?

Experience, I think that having someone with a background that is filled with experience is essential when we think about what are key elements to good decision making. At the age of thirty I know that I am no longer the same person that I was a decade ago, I have learned so much and gained so much leadership experience. Without this experience I do not think that I can make the same decisions that I am able to make today, with age and different challenges I feel that so much has changed. I think that if a company is serious about good decision making they need to find someone that has been through a good amount of difficult situations, rather they have succeeded or failed I think that all experiences can be good.

• What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

I can take away a better understanding of what goes into good decision making and what an organization might be looking for in a leader. I think that this exercise offers a good insight into what companies are looking for when they hire a leader. I also think that this exercise has helped me think about what does make a good leader and good decision making. Among those elements I do believe that quality and effort have to be at the top of that list. I have always been a firm believer that hard work and dedication can transform an organization or a person and help them reach the next level of success.  

Questions:

How can you measure how many good decisions an organization has made over the course of a year?

Is there a way to test someone’s leadership skills prior to hiring them?

If you were to bring in an organization to help you make better decisions how quickly would those results show? Is it worth the investment?

Culture Commitee

• Is the Culture Committee at Southwest effective in establishing cultural norms?

 Cultural norms, these are behaviors that are carried out by employees on a daily basis because they are used to doing things a certain way and this is what is acceptable. To establish cultural norms we first have to “understand corporate culture; corporate culture is a system of shared values and beliefs that interact with an organization’s people, structure, and systems to produce behavioral norms (OD pg.64)”. I think that the culture committee for southwest airlines understands the culture of a flight attendant and they understand how hard it can sometimes be to finish a long flight and then have to clean the airplane with perhaps an empty stomach. The life a flight attendant can be a thankless job, I think that the culture committee understands that and makes it a point to change the culture from being an underappreciated employee to someone that feels valued.

In many organizations there are a lot of employees that feel like they are just another number, when people from management show them that they are also important, that gesture can go a long way. Employee’s that feel appreciated in an organizations culture can prove to be an important step in creating a better company environment.

• From what you can tell, what is the purpose of the culture committee at Southwest?

The purpose of the culture committee is to improve employee morale, having strong and positive moral at work can have a lasting effect on any business. In my studies of business I have always been made aware of the fact that it is your employees which have the most contact with your customers. If your employees hate their jobs and are very negative at work than this will have a direct effect on a company’s revenue. If you have happy employees which enjoy their jobs than I believe that you will see sales improve as that positive attitude will be transferred through the employee to the customer.

• What would you see as a viable mission for a culture committee in your place of work (or your last place of work if you are not currently working)?

My job at the railroad as management causes me to have a nice and comfortable atmosphere where we occasionally get fed lunch on the companies dime, I have a heated or air-conditioned office, and I have a break room where I can access all different sorts of food and complimentary coffee. My biggest concern are the people who are out there in the field moving our trains in -30 degree temperatures, they work in the heat, rain, sleet or snow. These people are the employees which I could see needing a visit from some sort of culture committee. The culture amongst these employees is very negative and they always feel as if the company is doing them wrong. I believe that there should be a mission to reach out to our field employees much more often.

I think that it would be nice to create a more positive environment amongst field workers and change that corporate culture. The company needs to show that they care about their most valuable employees which are doing the grunt work. It might be as simple as a fresh box of donuts and coffee at the terminal, or perhaps a bigger bonus at the end of the year. I do believe that there is a lot that can be done to improve our company culture on the railroad.

• What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

From this exercise I will take with me the compassion which is put on display by southwest airlines. In this video they are letting the employees kick their feet up and relax for just a second while on the job, this is an important message which is being put on display. As managers we do not want to have an impression or a corporate culture of being known as slave drivers or ruling the company with an iron fist. It is important that we show compassion for those which are below us and understand that we were once in their shoes also. Most people which are at the top of an establishment for the most part must remember what it was like to be the person that is working out in the cold or extreme heat. We cannot forget our humble beginnings and the hard work that was put in to climb the ladder of success.

I will try to be as understanding as possible with my crews which are out on the field working their hardest to make my organization the best. When I do climb higher in management I will make it a point to show my employees that I have been in their shoes and I know how they feel. This will be an outlook which I will try my hardest to stay true to as I climb to higher positions in my company.  

Question:

Why would a manager not try to bring company morale to a higher level?

Reference

·         Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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