I was just reading an interview with one of Australia’s chief bankers, Cameron Clyne-the CEO of the National Australia Bank and he highlighted the need for greater speed in business today. ‘If you think about a dealer room, the flow of information is immediate and time-critical; you don’t make appointments.; he notes. He went on to say, ‘no-one asks for a three minute appointment, but there are plenty of two to three minute issues that you have to deal with’ (The Australian, 24/6/09, pg 19).
This made me think of a new way of leading and managing people.
The two minute meeting.
Why not have a relatively formal two-minute time frame where managers meet with their staff? My suggested guidelines are as follows:
- Location can be anywhere
- The leader commits to two minutes of undivided attention on the issue at hand.
- The issue, challenge or decision must be an every-day one (rather than should we invade New zealand for example).
- The decision must be able to be communicated in under one minute and the leader then has at least one minute to decide or suggest a course of action.
- No notice is required of a two minute meeting other than the words-are you free to have a two minute meeting.
- There can be no more than three people at the meeting (no crowds allowed).
The two minute meeting means that you do not have to wait around for days or weeks on something that can be decided on immediately.
Who is willing to give this a go? I am calling for vounteers to trial this new way of working.
Do something in the next two minutes–Ken
I just came back from a HR SUMMIT in Hong Kong where i was one of the speakers and i was surprised that the issue of Work-Life balance was never mentioned. From all recent research among managers (particularly women) work-life balance is one of their major goals yet among HR managers at this coference it did not seem to rate a mention. Why is this so?
Perhaps the answer lies in these difficult times that simply having and keeping your job is the first and only priority. With retrenchments and down-sizing leaders are trying to reduce their cost base so that an astute manager will not want to raise an issue when simply having a job is a bonus.
The emphasis at the conference seemed to be on the measures that leaders go do to retain their all their staff, reduce their cost base and keep retrenchments at a minimum e.g. for example one company has asked every one of their leaders to take a 5% permanent cut in remuneration, another has offered a 12 month sabbatical for any employeee without pay.
But is this enough? It reminds me of the climate change debate, many initiatives have been put on hold because of the current financial crisis but shouldn’t we expect more from our business leaders. Why can’t we expect that work hard to maintain employment that offers some form of work-life balance. If you are an employee why would you expect anything less?
So lets no let our leaders (particularly in HR) off the hook. They keep telling anyone that will listen that people are our best asset yet what they are really saying is people are our best asset when it suits us and for most leaders, today it does not suit them at all.
Ken Hudson
I have just returned from Hong Kong where i attended and presented at the HR SUMMIT which is the largest HR conference in Asia.
Some of my impressions of the event were as follows:
- Leaders are trying very hard to minimise retrenchments by finding more creative ways to reduce costs e.g. cutting back on the number of expats, offering one year sabbaticals for people without pay but have a guaranteed job when they return, having all the leadership team accept a permanent 5% pay cut etc.
- Speed Thinking can work across cultures. People in my workshops although slightly uncomfortable found that Speed Thinking is a powerful yet safe way to create new ideas, solve problems or make decisions.
- This finding confirms an earlier trip i had in Singapore where i conducted a number of Speed Thinking workshops at Nokia and Intel.
- In my entire time in Hong Kong i never heard the phrase Work/Life balance at all among any of the HR managers. Perhaps in these tough times people are just happy to keep their jobs. But should this be the case? Shouldn’t we design new ways of working that are smarter and more sustainable?
Love to hear from you.
Ken hudson
This is a note for all managers, leaders or business owners who are faced with a big decision. It is inspired by a recent article I read about Kevin Roberts who is the Global Chief Executive of the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi (Australian Financial Review 18/5/09, pg 43).
Kevin has a three day rule for his key managers:
Any manager that has a key problem must get it to him within 24 hours.
He guarantees to make a decision within 24 hours then they have 24 hours to execute the solution.
Kevin observes that this three day rule, ‘gives our people a great sense of liberation and a sense of massive speed.’
There are many things to admire about this concept. In a time-poor, speed driven world, important decisions can be made quickly. Particularly in a service business there can be no bottle necks. It is also a very effective way of having the CEO to stay involved in the pulse of the business and cut-through the many layers between the client and the CEO.
My only problem with this approach is that it is very Kevin Roberts centric. What is Kevin gets run over by a bus or moves on. I think it is better to build an organizational-wide, speed-decision capability rather than it revolving around one key individual.
What do you think?
Ken Hudson
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2. Keep it Simple
Speed and simplicity have a symbiotic relationship. In trying to go faster you often have to simplify things. In simplifying a process or activity you can go faster. Hence with meetings it is a good idea to develop a standard agenda layout and format that can be used for most meetings. In the service organisation every department and it seems every manager had their own agenda layout. This slowed down comprehension and sometimes led to confusion where people were searching for where to find information and what preparation they had to do.
Every meeting should have an agenda with the purpose and the desired outcomes clearly stated and sent out at least 24 hours before the meeting. In this way the logistics of the meeting (e.g. place, time, location, participants) are confirmed. Much like kids at school where no hats means no play—no agenda means no meeting should take place (unless in an exceptional circumstance).
3. Collectively design some meeting rules and stick to these
One of the best things we did with the team from the service company is that they collectively designed a set of new meeting rules. These are the ‘rules of the game’ that everyone was expected to follow. Because they were created by the team they had a better chance of being followed and reflected the unique culture of that department and organisation. For example, some of the rules they agreed to were:-start every meeting on time (no ifs or buts), no meetings between 12.00pm and 1.30pm and no mobile phones in the meeting or any other electronic devices.
These rules also created peer pressure that made it easier for the person who called the meeting to enforce.
4. Speed Think your way through a few agenda items
In a normal meeting every agenda item is allocated roughly even time. But with a speed meeting you should divide the agenda into those everyday items and the more strategic ones. You can then speed-think the everyday items which will enable you to obtain a result quicker and the meeting will create momentum and energy. It will also free up more time for the more difficult items.
Another effective practice is that after you have made a decision, have two minutes of gut-feel time where anyone at the meeting can voice their intuition. People are now given permission to express what their emotional minds are telling them e.g. ‘I know the numbers don’t add up but my intuition is telling me that there is still a good opportunity here.’ We know that our intuition works ahead of our rational mind and informs all our decisions. A formal ‘gut feel’ time respects and validates this process.
5. Make every meeting also a learning experience
Every meeting should both have a purpose an outcome and ideally be a learning experience. It is a chance for the younger less experienced to learn from the leaders of an organisation and for the leaders themselves to role-model what they expect from others. Meetings reflect the culture of a business. If the culture is open and diverse you would expect the meeting to be conducted in a similar way. If on the other hand, the leadership team adopts an autocratic style this will become very evident in every meeting.
At the service business where we are trying to help some of their team break out of a few sloppy meeting habits we have suggested that the last few minutes of every meeting be allocated to a quick discussion on what worked in the meeting, what did not work and what did we learn and could do better next time. By thinking about meetings as learning opportunities ensures that whatever you decide, no meeting is ever a waste of time.
Running faster, better meetings is an important management and leadership skill that needs to be developed. I believe that every organisation should develop their own way of conducting meetings that reflects it culture, values and priorities and that this should be taught to all aspiring leaders of the future. It will make the business more efficient and productive and the time spent in meetings more enjoyable.
Dr Ken Hudson
Hint: If you cannot answer this question quickly then perhaps you do. You might be one of the estimated 20% of adults who consider themselves as chronic procrastinators. This continual delaying of decision-making can sometimes lead to detrimental impacts in our business and personal lives. But let’s face it–we all procrastinate at one time or another in our lives. But why do we do it?
Here are some common reasons:
- We seek perfection e.g. we need every bit of information before making a decision
– We would rather dream than do anything
– We constantly worry about the results of our decision (hence it is better not to make a decision at all)
– Sometimes we just need a deadline or crisis to make a decision – We are just do not care either way about the decision or the decision options are virtually the same
– Because we need to micro-manage every decision we end up not making a decision at all (as we have too many to make).
Perhaps in some cases it might be for a very good reason, you might be waiting for some new information but most of us would benefit from becoming a more confident decision maker.
Here are 4 ways to break-out of the procrastination cycle
1. Use the 80:20 rule — decide what are the 20% of decisions that impact on the 80% of your life (e.g. what meetings should I attend this week, how many hours will I work today). Now make a quick decision on these only. By focusing on the few important decisions you won’t feel overwhelmed and you will make better decisions.
2. List nine pros and then nine cons of any decision. Do both in two minutes then make a final decision?
3. Similar to the above process but in this case list the nine rational elements of a decision (e.g. in considering a new job–a rational consideration might be the pay level) and the nine emotional factors (e.g. what if i fail?) then make a decision. Remember to do these quickly so you do not filter.
4. Escape thinking about any decision as being right or wrong. You will never know in advance and you can tie yourself up in knots. It is better to think about it as does this decision keep things moving or will it improve my learning or does this move the business along? By thinking along this dimension then you will be more able to actually make a decision and sleep better afterwards.
Keep deciding!
Dr Ken Hudson.
Business people are taught that they are in the business of satisfying consumer needs and wants at some form of profit. It makes perfect sense therefore to look at the customer first. But the biggest barrier or limitation on growth is not the market-place but our own mindset. It is our (and our teams) prevailing assumptions, beliefs, conventions and experiences that limit what we see in the market. Take for example the case of a garbage bag brand that I worked with; the management team believed that their product competed in a ‘low interest—low involvement’ category. But if you break free of this mindset (e.g. garbage bags are interesting) then you can suddenly see the marketplace with fresh eyes. This style of thinking led to the development of scented garbage bags which have taken the category by storm. You first have to research your mind rather than the customer’s one to unlock new opportunities.
2. Think competitor imagination then analysis
Classic competitive analysis has become rigid, reactive and static. This has led to a form of incremental copying in most categories. Why? Because at the end of most marketing plans is some form of competitive analysis. This typically consists of a report on what the competitor has done, how much they have spent etc. But this is ancient history. This type of analysis does not anticipate what the competitor might do. It does not tell you how they might react to a move of yours for example. A much better way to handle this situation is to actually become the competitor. Divide a lager group into smaller ones than allocate each group a competitive brand. Then ask the group to imagine what the competitor will do in the next 12 months. Be specific, what new products will they launch and what will their new advertising campaign look like? This form of competitive imagination is far more insightful and dynamic.
3. Think opportunity spaces then markets
One of the key concepts in marketing is the definition of a market. Typically however, a market has been defined in terms of a product rather than a how a customer might define their range of choices. For example, a few years ago I worked with one of the major breakfast brands. Their definition of the market in which they competed was ‘all breakfast cereals.’ Using this market definition meant that their brand could only grow if it took share from another cereal brand—a kind of zero-sum game. But what of baked beans, muffins, toast or people who do not eat breakfast? A better view was to consider the customer’s opportunity space ‘we compete in the space when customers wake up in the morning until lunch time’. This more expansive definition meant that they also competed against McDonalds for example. This new type of thinking led to the early development of breakfast bars and breakfast on the go type formulas.
4. Think a compelling offer for one consumer then a target consumer
The next point follows the proceeding one. I often work with managers and they confidently can tell me everything about their target consumer. They say to me, on average, our target consumers buy this amount of product per year and are aged between 18-35 etc. My problem with this is that it leads to an average offer for an average consumer which leads to average results. I believe a more productive course of action is to design what I call a ‘Godfather Offer’ to a one specified consumer. This thinking tool taken from the academy award winning movie is to make a consumer an offer which is too good to refuse. If you can design such an offer for one consumer you can do it for another, then another and so on.
In a recession more than ever, it is a battle of ideas. It requires new thinking, new concepts and a new language if you are to out-imagine your competitor. It is the size of your imagination rather than the size of your budget that will dictate your future success.
Remember when time management courses were all the rage?
It seemed to make perfect sense. There were courses on managing staff, managing projects, managing budgets so the idea of a course on managing time was the next logical step. You apply the same rational approach that you do to every other business activity. You plan, control, prioritise, review etc. But is this the way that we should be thinking about time?
Have we entered a new era where so much (e.g. work, growth, sales, information etc) is expected from so few resources (e.g. time, people, dollars) that trying to become better at managing time will not be enough?
Can you really manage time in the first place?
Don’t we need to think differently about time? As Einstein said we need new thinking to solve new problems.
My aim with Speed Thinking is to help everyone create more time for themselves by becoming more efficient and productive with everyday problems, ideas and solutions. By doing so you actually feel better and you often do better work. It also means that you can free up more time to invest in other activities that have meaning to you.
The thrust of Speed Thinking is that everyday problems can be resolved by paradoxically not over-thinking these. By keeping it simple and by thinking quicker. All you need is two minutes and the courage not to filter your responses.
It is not about managing time but creating more of it for you to spend it how you wish to.
So start thinking quickly right now!
Ken Hudson
According to the latest Boston Consulting Group Survey on Innovation:
http://www.bcg.com/impact_expertise/publications/files/BCG_Innovation_2009_Apr_2009.pdf
The two biggest barriers to innovation identified by leaders around the world are:
1. A risk-adverse culture and
2. Lengthy Development Times
Yet as they note, one of the least popular metrics remains time to market (used in 19% of organizations). If the old saying, what gets measured gets done, then speed to market will be an ongoing obstacle for most organizations in the future.
This seems strange to me. Most leaders are aware that the market-place is changing rapidly and consumers have an increasing expectation of speed of service yet speed to market is not on their radar. Also most leaders know that staying ahead of your competition is a sure way to grow revenues so why the reluctance.
Perhaps the penny has not dropped yet. Speed is a major differentiator in the market-place today. Speed is an organizational wide capability. And speed can be improved upon with the right training, tools and culture but it requires a letting go of the old slow and steady as she goes.
Organizations today have to be built around speed. Speed wins every time.
The leader that can think faster than his/her competition will dominate. Long live Speed Thinking.
Ken Hudson
What is the most unproductive part of your day? For many business people it is the time they spend in meetings. It makes sense therefore to try and improve the productivity of your meetings and minimize the time you spend in them.
Here is one suggestion that we are trialling with an organisation at the moment. Reduce your meeting times from one hour to 45 minutes. It is simple but it seems to work.
The one hour time frame is the usual default length of every meeting. And for convenience most meetings are called on the hour. This means that if you have back-to-back meetings you are always running from one meeting to another. If the previous meeting runs over then you often get caught arriving late to the next meeting.
The solution? Introduce the 45 minute meeting (maximum time). You spend 25% less time in meetings and it allows you 15 minutes to prepare for the next meeting, physically walk and find the next room, go to the bathroom, make a cup of coffee and catch up on emails. There is also a buffer in case the previous meeting runs late.
We have found that the 45 meeting works well when someone keeps a track of the time and highlights every 15 minutes (e.g. one third of the time has elapsed–are you one third through the agenda?). Additionally the meeting seems to flow more easily and what used to take 60 minutes or more can be done in 45 minutes by thinking and working faster.
Let me know how it goes.
Dr Ken Hudson
Founder and Chief Starter
The Speed Thinking Zone