“Better safe than sorry” is one of those everyday sayings we rarely question. Wear the seatbelt. Check the lock. Back up the file. Test the smoke alarm. The logic is simple: a small precaution now may prevent a much bigger problem later. So why do we so often abandon that logic when it comes to workplace misbehaviour?
The Reciprocal & Anonymous Feedback Gap
I think there is a simple problem sitting underneath a lot of workplace feedback. When receiving feedback, many of us would prefer it to be early, specific and direct from the person with the issue. But when giving difficult feedback, many of us would also prefer distance, anonymity, or a manager to deliver it for us. That creates what I call the reciprocal feedback gap:
360-Degree Feedback and the Difficult Conversation
I read a post this morning about senior leaders resisting 360-degree feedback. I presumed "360-degree feedback" means everyone gets it, let me check. "The “360” refers to getting a rounded view from people above, beside and below you in the hierarchy, rather than feedback coming only from your boss." The interesting point was not that leaders dislike this feedback. Most leaders give feedback all the time. The interesting part was what happened when the feedback process was turned back on them.
How Do You Build a GREAT Team?
We spend a lot of time talking about how to build great managers. Train them to give better feedback. Teach them how to have difficult conversations. Improve their communication skills. All useful, and right in the middle of most management consultants’ target market. But I think there is another side to the equation that gets much less attention: What does it take to be a great team member? Jim Collins wrote:. “A culture of discipline is not a principle of business; it is a principle of greatness.”
Pre-Grievance Intervention: A New Workplace Category
Organisations usually have processes for workplace grievances, bullying, harassment and misconduct. But there is a much bigger space that comes before all of those; the everyday behaviours that irritate, undermine, embarrass or disrespect someone, but may not yet justify involving a manager, HR or a formal process I think this deserves its own category:
Maybe Anger Isn’t Just an Emotion
We tend to classify anger as an emotion, alongside happiness, sadness, fear and surprise. But I think we may be conflating several different things. Consider the language. We regularly say someone is “getting angry.” Strangely, we rarely talk about someone “getting happy.” Why? Perhaps because anger, particularly in relationships, is often better understood as a process rather than simply an involuntary feeling.
What Deming Did for Production, SpatzAI Wants to Do for Difficult Workplace Conversations
TEN STEPS ON THE ROAD TO EFFICIENT (Seth Godin's Linkedin Post) "Frederick Taylor taught Henry Ford how to do mass production. Deming brought quality, systems understanding and respect for the worker. And operations research brought insight. If you have a repeated production process, the method for improving it is almost always the same, regardless of what you and your team produce:" Below is a summary of his 10 points and how the SpatzAI concept compares with them:
Start With the Experience, Then Work Backwards to AI
Steve Jobs once gave a piece of advice that feels even more relevant today: “You’ve got to start with the customer experience first and then work backwards to the technology.” That principle matters enormously in the age of AI. The temptation now is to begin with the technology. We ask: What can AI do? Where can we apply it? What market can we sell it into? Jobs’ logic runs in the opposite direction.
Fail-Prevention vs Fail-Safe
This is a short story about two very different approaches to designing the first generation of commercial jet aircraft. The British de Havilland Comet was the world’s first commercial jet airliner. Its four engines were buried inside the wing roots, close to the fuselage. It was an elegant aerodynamic solution: embedding the engines reduced drag and produced a remarkably clean aircraft.....
Communal Accountability
Most workplace systems still treat objectionable behaviour as something for leadership or HR to decide. That makes sense once a matter has become serious. But what about the moment before that? What about the small public put-down, the dismissive tone, the repeated interruption, the sarcastic remark, the patronising comment, or the unfair delivery during disagreement?
