"Over the last few years I have really been interested in research on what makes people happy and fulfilled. One of the key researchers in the 'Positive Psychology' field is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced 'cheek-sent-me-high-ee'), director of the Quality of Life Research Center at Claremont Graduate University, who has written about the concept of "Flow". He coined this term to describe the mental state of operation in which you are fully immersed in what you are doing and feeling energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity.
 
I imagine we all want more of that feeling, and helping others get more of it would be a great bonus! :)
So today, when I came across a wonderful, 20-minutes-short talk (at TED) by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi overviewing his research on Flow and creativity, I immediately wanted to share it with you in the hope that it provides you with some food for thought, or maybe if you are already familiar with it, a tool to pass along to others who could benefit.
 
Please enjoy!!"
 

As the holiday season is upon us, and as we set our gaze on the shiny New Year, I wish you lots of 'Flow' moments in your life. May you have many opportunities to 'grow your talent'. Cheers! ~Halelly

As 2009 President, I am very proud of the work we've done and the tremendous efforts of the talented volunteers all around me who made it all possible. Just last week, we held our annual Volunteer Recognition dinner celebration during which we thanked all those who have volunteered in some capacity to help our chapter operate - we do it on 100% volunteer fuel!

I think 2009 has been a very successful year for Metro DC ASTD. In a tight market and a contracting economy we've managed to keep our membership steady (actually, it grew) and continued to provide quality programs to our constituents to achieve our mission of enriching their knowledge and skills and increasing their impact in their workplace. We added a lot of new virtual ways to do that via social media, webinars, and podcasts, which garnered us an award from the National ASTD. And we've continued to keep over 6,000 workplace learning and performance professionals informed about events in our area that can help them grow professionally - help their talent grow!

The Volunteer Recognition event featured a panel of experts who discussed the value of volunteering to enhancing one's career, a subject I've previously discussed here and here. One of the attendees, Andrew Welch, who volunteers with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, summarized some of their key points nicely on his blog. 

How have your volunteer experiences enriched your career this year? What new opportunities are you going to seize to grow your own talent in 2010? I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Bottom Photo credit: Ali Green

In my professional and volunteer roles I encounter many interesting people who are doing great work. One of them is Kitty Wooley, a Human Capital Strategist for the US Department of Education.

Last year Kitty launched a blog called Senior Fellows and Friends for members of a seven-year-old "evolving multisector network .... [of people] who want to participate in improving government by engaging in constructive conversation." Kitty writes, "No matter what one does for a living, it's very easy to become insulated and isolated. However, I think we'll get a better result for the public if we consciously do the opposite, stretching to connect with those who are unlike us along many dimensions."

Kitty has asked me to guest-post for the Senior Fellow and Friends blog, so I wrote about the common obstacles I see in managing performance in the public sector and some ideas about overcoming them. You can read it on her blog, here. I'd love to know what you think.

Photo by monkeyc from Flickr.comBut seriously, as readers of this blog probably know, I'm really interested in goal-setting and goal-directed behavior. I'm also keen on understanding what helps build success. So when I saw this latest post from Gretchen Rubin on her Happiness Project blog about how long it actually takes to form new habits, I was naturally intrigued.

Gretchen sheds light on an oft-quoted 'truism': Habits are NOT formed in 21 days for most of us. Recent research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology that shows that it takes an average of 66 days until we actually form a solid habit.

When I work with clients on establishing new skills and habits in the workplace to improve leadership, communication, or teamwork, I often talk to them about the challenges they'll likely face when trying to make changes take root. We can become discouraged when we try to cultivate new habits within the environment that sustained our previous habits. There will be hurdles and push-back. It won't be easy. But if we stick at it, and understand it is natural to face these obstacles, and that it can take a while until the new habit stops feeling awkward and starts feeling 'normal', we'll be more likely to succeed.

It's when we have unrealistic expectations of overnight success or short-term miracles that we get discouraged and give up on the new practices and just go back to 'business-as-usual'. And the old '21 days to form a new habit' cliché was not helping at all - it contributed to that feeling of despair and disappointment when we got to day 22 and we were still struggling. So, I hope this new research helps break through some blocks and re-energize you to practice and keep at it. What has been your experience with forming new habits? I'd love to hear about it - please use the comments below. Thanks!

Photo by Rob Gallop via Flickr

Daniel Goleman and his co-authors mention this "CEO Disease" in Primal Leadership: that vacuum around leaders that buffers them from key information can lead to disasters. We've seen some examples of such faulty and uninformed decisions displayed in recent stories about the financial crisis.

Leaders must ensure that the 'bad' information flows up freely and is not filtered out by various 'Yes-Men'. While it's a natural tendency to shun or rebut those who don't agree with us or give us contrary information, leaders must be extra careful to nurture their 'No-Men'. Those are people who can help leaders stay in the loop and avoid making disastrous decisions.

In my experience, most leaders are not the evil commander type. They have the intention to be open; most say they have an 'open-door policy'. Yet, many find themselves feeding their info 'bubble' unintentionally with their own actions. They say and do things that squelch openness and nay saying even if they do not consciously intend to.

Leadership expert Bret Simmons recently described two tell-tale signs you are failing to nurture your 'No-Men': First, if your people never see you say no then you are teaching by example that "no" is not an acceptable answer. Second, if people notice that every time someone says no, they don't stick around much longer, they get the message loud and clear about the consequences of doing so. Simmons offers sage advice: "Wake up. You are deep in self-deception. If no one ever comes to you with bad news, that’s bad news."

Tips for Nurturing 'No-Men':

So what should you do to avoid this CEO Disease, you ask? Here are some suggestions to get you started:

1. Raise your own self-awareness by soliciting uncensored information. Often the first step for changing behavior is awareness of the problem's nature and prevalence. A common tool that allows your staff, peers, and bosses to anonymously speak up about your strengths and limitations is a 360 degree feedback instrument.
2. Verbally and visibly create space for raising concerns. During important decision processes, insert a step where contrariness is encouraged and nurtured. Ask everyone to think of possible reasons why a course-of-action might fail or possible obstacles that might arise.
3. Ruthlessly self-monitorto avoid shooting messengers or naysayers. Practice extra self-restraint when you hear contrary information so as not to unintentionally shut out future instances of employees speaking up. Strategize ways to notice, then overcome, your natural negative response.
4. Create feedback loops for improvement because change is incremental and what gets measured gets managed. By monitoring your development and its effects (such as through a second and third round of 360 degree assessment down the road), you can apply course-corrections and praise positive progress. Another idea is to solicit one-on-one feedback from trusted collaborators who can help you stick to your goals and assess your success in achieving them.

How are you nurturing your "No-Men"? What practices do you have in place to ward off CEO Disease?

Okay, so I have a raving fan experience to share. It's a great lesson in how going the extra mile and thinking big-picture can win over customers and turn them into raving fans.Photo by Shawn Honnick via Flickr 

Yesterday morning, I decided to merge the basic human needs of 'exercise' and 'play' by going on a bike ride with my friend. We took a trail with which neither of us was familiar. It was sunny, breezy, and the blue sky made it a perfect day to enjoy putting the 'out' back in 'work out'. Glorious.

Our gorgeous trail ended smack dab in front of a little Italian cafe and specialty grocer in Bethesda, Maryland, called Cornucopia. We decided to take a coffee/snack break before trekking back home. We were greeted warmly by the owner and his associate who were seated at one of the outdoor tables. They made small talk with us and made us feel very welcome.

Inside, once we placed our order, we experienced an embarrassing realization: my friend, who didn't realize we were going to Bethesda when she left her house, didn't bring any money. I only grabbed a few bills and my Amex card. The cash I had wasn't sufficient to cover the order and they don't accept Amex. What to do?!

Ibo, the owner, was very calm. He said: "Just bring me the rest of the money later." We were pretty surprised. "Are you sure?" we asked. "Yes - you are from around here, aren't you?" "Yes." "Okay, then. Just pay me later."

He doesn't know us. We are not regulars. He has no guarantee we'll return.

But he showed us that he trusted us. And his 'big-picture' thinking exceeded our expectations and will certainly pay off.

We felt so grateful. We spent part of our meal discussing how wonderful the place was, the service, and treatment we received. And we absolutely repaid our debt (the check already left in yesterday afternoon's mail).

But this small gesture and 'risky' investment will pay off repeatedly in the long-term, as well. First, I can guarantee that we'll both return and spend more money there. What's more, the investment will enjoy a multiplier effect since we'll both tell our friends and family (and the world, as in this blog post) about our experience. Ibo gained so much by taking a 'risk' that would have him lose very little if it didn't work.

Are you and your co-workers or staff thinking about the 'big-picture' to build customer loyalty? Are you exceeding your customers' (or co-workers') expectations to build trust and long-term credibility?

A common problem: intent doesn't always lead to a match. This gesture carries a positive meaning in some cultures while a rude or vulgar one in several other cultures...This subject is near and dear to my heart; during my undergraduate and graduate studies I focused on Communication and took some courses solely devoted to non-verbal communication. I have continued to research and study communication over the ensuing years. There is a lot of substance and solid research behind the recommendations often provided for effective non-verbal communication. But most business publications and training courses continue to focus on providing overly-simplistic 'steps' and 'rules' to follow that don't equip communicators with
an understanding of the underlying
phenomena that create both
communication successes and blunders. 

All communication is highly contextual: the message sender's meaning can be interpreted by the message receiver in many ways. Achieving agreement between the meaning INTENDED and the meaning ACHIEVED is dependent on the words chosen along with the communication environment and circumstances.

In fact, research in Intercultural Communication tells us that meaning is totally contextual and culture-specific. Giving straight-forward, step-by-step instructions for how to be more or less [defensive, assertive, influential, etc.] is a very tricky minefield. Why? Because how to do it best depends on the context - there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. Using such simple 'guidelines' can lead to many potential misunderstandings and mistakes. 

Yet, Nick Morgan reaches this conclusion in his blog post about this subject:

In controlling your own behavior, to appear more confident, or open, or in charge, again, it is a fool’s game to try to manage a specific bit of body language. Instead, work on your intent. Then your body language will take care of itself.

Well - that's true, but it only goes as far as your Emotional Intelligence (EQ) skills will take you. If you've honed these EQ skills of self awareness, self management, social awareness and relationship management, you'll have a much better chance of matching your INTENT to your IMPACT. And, unfortunately, many people lack or have not fully developed their EQ skills, which probably feeds the continued thirst for 'steps to better non-verbal communication'.

So it seems to me that the 'formula' for successful communication is more likely something like this:

During a communication interaction, a close match between the intended meaning and the achieved impact is when there is a high level of Emotional Intelligence on the part of both sender and receiver.

What do you think? What has your experience told you about non-verbal communication and emotional intelligence skills?

[edited on 7/9/09 2:00 pm by halelly]

Benefits of Employee Development - for Employees AND the Organization

The Apollo Awards celebrate these businesses' recognition of the importance of employee development programs not just in terms of creating a competitive advantage but also in growing employee retention. Employee development programs create strong managers. They provide meaningful projects for employees that further their marketable skills and work satisfaction. And a focus on employee development is a succession planning tool through the promotional opportunities it builds.

Nominating Organizations Employee Development Trends

Here are some employee development trends noted within the nominated organizations:

• 53% have a formal succession plan
• 95% have a documented career path
• 66% document specific competencies for each position within the career path
• 81% use employee survey results as a formal feedback mechanism, along with peer evaluations and 360(o) reviews
• 9 out of 10 prepare supervisors through coaching and OJT training
• 89% align employee goals to company's strategic goals

• Over 90% offer instructor-led, peer-to-peer, and web-based training to employees 

Winners' Tools and Tricks

Winners spanned in organizational size across four size categories: 'Emerging' (very small), 'Small', 'Mid-Size', and Large. Here are just some highlights of the winning companies' employee development ideas:

• Emerging company winner, Arc Aspicio LLC, built a core development program called Homeland Security Mission Training which combines self-study, interviews, research, formal training, Capitol Hill hearings, and thought leadership which form the basis for employees' annual professional development plans.
• Small company winner, Métier, Ltd., offers a comprehensive new hire process including a two-week 'Boot Camp' that helps new employees understand the industry, company culture, and elements for success at the firm. They've also created a Knowledge Management Department that manages training and other knowledge identification and distribution processes throughout the organization.
• Mid-Size winner, Beers + Cutler, offers a competency-based curriculum delivered primarily by internal subject matter experts as well as programs such as Career Pathways, coaching, mentoring and stretch assignments. Their performance management program includes semi-annual reviews, project reviews, upward feedback to leaders from staff, individual development plans (IDPs) and monthly meetings between an employee and his or her supervisor to discuss goals.
• Large winner, Edelman (Washington, DC office), offer Edelman University, comprehensive in-house learning and development programs including weekly industry trends classes, an annual Leadership Academy program for top employees (facilitated by the firm's executives), and separate Bootcamp programs for employees and for managers. Edelman also offers a 24-7 learning opportunity online via an interactive intranet site.
• Two special awards -- Phoebus and Hercules -- were also given to deserving companies for specialized approaches and programs.

Congratulations to all the finalists and the winners for championing employee learning and development! I look forward to our chapter's involvement in next year's Apollo Awards.

The article describes a school of thought called Behavioral Economics, which blends ideas from Social Psychology with those from Economics to explain why humans do what they do. It was pioneered by two fellow Israeli-Americans, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky.

To quote this article, Behavioral Economics has as its basic premise the idea that "the human animal is hard-wired to make errors when it comes to decision-making, and therefore people need a little "nudge" to make decisions that are in their own best interests." The piece goes on to describe how President Obama is shaping his economic policies with this 'human flaw' in mind - he's going to help us help ourselves, since we can't make decisions that are in our own best interests.

Now, I'm not going to get into politics here. But I do take issue with this philosophical premise that humans are basically no better than animals in that we cannot control our actions with rational thoughts.

Do we make irrational choices sometimes? Yes. Is that proof that we're flawed and need a leader's 'help' to decide for us because we are unable to make good decisions? No! It's only proof that if we don't use all the tools at our disposal, or use these faculties in a faulty way, we'll make mistakes and experience their natural consequences from which we'll learn lessons for the next time.

That's the beauty of the human race: we are capable of learning, of growing, of using our reason to make decisions that are shaped by our observations of reality and guided by our values and principles. That is how we have evolved. That is how we have achieved remarkable progress. Humans act rationally using their logic and decision making faculties in their own self-interest to survive and thrive. It's what separates us from animals.

Here's the problem: The more we are told we are unable to (or prevented from acting freely to) make good decisions about our own lives, the more we become conditioned to ignore or renounce our rational decision making capacity. The less we use this capacity, the rustier it will get and we will relinquish the opportunities to hone this skill and learn from our mistakes. And then, we fulfill the prophecy: we move toward becoming a useless, flawed race in need of a big 'nanny' to take care of us and 'nudge' us to make the right decisions.

Unfortunately, these psychologists and behavioral economists are using circuitous reasoning to 'prove' their point: they cite the detrimental effects of thousands of years of societal suppression of reason and rational decision making on human capacity to use these skills as evidence that humans do not possess these skills. Not so! Not only is this attrition of rational thinking as a result of oppression and so-called 'nudges' by leaders (society, government, religion, etc. - take your pick) not proof of our inability to do it right, moreover, 'fixing' it by adding MORE of the same will only make things worse, not better.

In addition, another big hole in this faulty premise of Behavioral Economics is that somehow the leader IS capable of making the 'right' decision and then 'nudge' the followers into the correct behavior. If humans are so flawed and irrational, then isn't it silly to put any one 'flawed' human in charge of any other 'flawed' human? That's akin to the blind leading the blind, no?!

It's when leaders choose our values for us and coerce us to act against our own best judgment and values that we become confused and disoriented and are more likely to make mistakes. And it's when leaders don't give us the opportunity to choose the right action and to learn from our mistakes that they remove the 'human element' from us and are left with a mere lever-pulling obedient 'animal', devoid of creativity, devoid of critical thinking, devoid of achieving greatness.

What we need to do, then, is seek out and remove contradictions that can get in the way of rational behavior. The role of the leader is to clarify values and vision, set clear goals and expectations that are aligned to those values, and guide followers to make good choices toward achieving those goals.

No, we don't need your 'nudges'. We need your leadership and support.