A631.9.2.RB_RuggerioSteven

Could I Work With Steve Jobs?

Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs is as recognizable a figure as other historical innovators: Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, or Thomas Edison.  The polarizing element about Jobs was on one hand; he could be creative, fun, and inspiring.  On the other, he could eat employees and managers for lunch.  If they would not—or could not—see the world through his lens, he humiliated or fired them—or both.  In Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography Jobs, he detailed Steve’s return to Apple and his approach toward management.  “His management approach was ‘Focus,’” touted Isaacson.  With expletives and lawsuits, Jobs reduced costs and streamlined processes.

As a career supply chain manager, I found the story of Tim Cook, Apple’s current CEO, interesting.  Jobs hired Cook as senior vice president for worldwide operations.  Upon interviewing him, Jobs said, “I knew what I wanted, and I met Tim, and he wanted the same thing so we started to work together, and before long I trusted him to know exactly what to do” (p. 360).

Knowing what to do in Steve Jobs’ world is no easy task.  William Simon, co-author of iCon: Steve Jobs, the Greatest Second Act in the History of Business said, “Jobs demanded so much from the people who worked for him.  That was part of his greatness. But he drove people too hard. … being gentle and polite was not part of his demeanor."  After creating a Fortune 500 company at Apple, Jobs was out.  Always the underdog with a pit-bull attitude, Jobs quickly contacted some former associates and started another computer company called NeXT.  In 1985, Jobs challenge was to outdo Apple.  The vehicle for this would be the NeXT computer, which Jobs envisioned as a powerful new workstation for the education market (Gini & Green, 2013). 

Shortly after NeXT was created, Jobs held an offsite brainstorming session to cast vision, establish priorities, and set strategy for the future of NeXT.  “Planting seeds of a new corporate culture,” Jobs gathered eleven colleagues together to pave the way toward a competitive and promising future in the newly created world of personal computing.

Listening to the conversations and the expectations, knowing what I know about Steve Jobs and his creative genius, and recently receiving a detailed management assessment profile (MAP) from Next Steps Research, I pondered how I would have fit into NeXT.  Could I work with Steve Jobs?  Would my leadership attributes and personality integrate successfully at NeXt?  Would my strengths have been appreciated or would my weaknesses have caused me to be eliminated like so many others left in the wake of Steve Jobs?

My MAP identified both strengths and areas of caution.  The leadership attributes in the range expected for success were independence, risk, and multi-tasking.  While my attributes seem significantly different a profile than Steve Jobs, my characteristics could be beneficial to the initial direction of NeXT.  With a strong rating of independence, the MAP shows I would be highly self-assertive which is a must at NeXT.  The offsite video proved that NeXT employees must be forthcoming in their thoughts and opinions.  No one is getting paid to sit and listen; but rather, give insight and opinion.

My second highest attribute, risk is what small business ventures are founded upon.  Steve Jobs and the NeXT start-up employees set-out to change the PC community.  While my risk rating favors taking business risks, they are not wholly uncalculated or foolish but based on forecated opportunity and market potential.  Balancing the risk-reward tension is a critical function of new businesses.  At his NeXT offsite Jobs said, “We build from the heart so that people who want to work here come and feel that desire.”  Risk is never a wise endeavor without heart.  Jobs and his collegues were able to invest the time and money into NeXT because their hearts were in it.  They believed.

Lastly, my third strongest attribute is multi-tasking.  This attribute promotes problem identification and solution and creating new processes, services, and products.  While the MAP reflected a caution with problem solving, it did show a strength in problem identification.  This would have caused me some problems working at NeXT. Jobs wanted answers, not only problems.  Upon his return to Apple in 1996, Gini & Green (2013) said “It became routing for Jobs to convene a series of meetings in the Apple boardroom.  One by one he would call in the head of a product team and all of its key players. Enginers and managers had to show Jobs their existing products, from monitors to software, and to explain their future plans. Looking them in the eye, he asked what they would cut if they could only keep a quarter of their product line” (p. 166).

Though my MAP scored my leadership high in recognizing creative efforts, it scored me low in motivation to solve problems.  Standing before Steve Jobs—a man nearly incapable of professional empathy—it would prove disastrous to list problems without solutions.  Therefore, though I can manage many innovative tasks and creative efforts at one time, without a strong problem-solving ability, it may have cuased serious problems at NeXT. 

Laslty, the Next Steps Research profile defined me as a leaders who is a “highly confident, highly extraverted, tactical leader.  By blending tools and resources to accomplish goals, the ability to negotiate resources to achieve desired results, and an ability to delegate and unify people in an organization, my skills and abilities would be beneficial in standing-up a new business venture.  While I may have little technical knowledge surrounding the computer hardware and software industry, my skills could benefit a similar business with a different product line.

In the off-site video, George Crow was questioning the reliability of the software department’s promise to produce software in a certain amount of time.  Steve Jobs replied, “Well, George, I can’t change the world.  What do you want me to do?  What is the solution?”  Steve  Jobs found the solution and in the process, changed the world.  According to Isaacson (2011), Steve Jobs “revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, talet computing, and digital publishing” (p. xxi).  From his NeXT offsite to his Stanford commencement address, Steve Jobs achieved his initial dream to make a “dent in the universe.”  As a student of leadership, Steve showed me passion, innovation, drive, perfection, attention to detail, and the limitless power of the imagination.

Steve

References:

Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

Gini, A., & Green, R.M. (2013). 10 virtues of outstanding leaders. Malden, MA: John

            Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Nathan Tyler Productions. Steve Jobs Brainstorms with NeXT Team. Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loQhufxiorM&feature=youtu.be

Young, J.S., & Simon, W.L. (2005). iCon: Steve Jobs, the Greatest Second Act in the

            History of Business. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A631.8.4.RB_RuggerioSteven

Giving Leadership

Every Tuesday and Thursday night, my entire family eats dinner together.  It consists of my wife and I, my daughter and son-in-law, my twenty-year old son, and a good friend of mine.  Throughout my ERAU course curriculum, I often pose questions and provide discussion topics based upon the course curriculum.  One of our favorite discussions arose from the “train track” ethical dilemma from a previous class.  However, last week’s dinner conversation proved to top them all.  I asked each member of my family to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) 72-question personality test.  It’s been a week since we took the test and we have not stopped talking about it since.

Going into the test, no one believed it would identify each member as closely as it has.  We read the personality explanations from the Personality Type Portraits found at http://www.personalitypage.com/portraits.html.

The results were:

-       Me (Steve): ENFJ – The Givers

-       My wife (Laurie): INFJ – The Protectors

-       My daughter (Jessica): ENFP – The Inspirers

-       My son-in-law (Tyler): ENTJ – The Executive

-       My son (Aaron): ESTJ – The Guardians

-       Our friend (Chad) – ISFP – The Artists

-       His girlfriend (Amber) – ISTJ – The Duty Fulfillers

As we read the results, everyone laughed and agreed with the comments while providing commentary and examples to support the results.  After all the personality narratives were dissected and discussed, everyone agreed that the MBTI most accurate was the ENFJ assigned to me.  The test provided an uncanny accuracy that created a window into our family dynamics.

Being an ENFJ explains why I was so interested in Daniel Goleman’s research toward Emotional Intelligence (EQ).  Throughout the book, Goleman talks about how a high EQ is just as important—and in some cases, even more important—than a high IQ.  Goleman (1995) said, “People who are able to help soothe their feelings have an especially valued social commodity; they are the souls others turn to when in greatest emotional need.  We are all part of each other’s tool kit for emotional change, for better or for worse” (p. 115).

The MBTI test confirmed my desire to study EQ and my interaction with people.  Outside of Lockheed Martin, I spend most of my time working as a ministry leader at our local church.  Averaging between 20-30 hours a week meeting with people, spending time in church settings, preparing sermons, and conducting church business is all done on a volunteer basis.  Many of my Lockheed counterparts are amazed that someone would spend that many hours working and serving without pay.  What they miss is the MBTI explanation of an ENTJ.  It stated, “ENFJs are people-focused individuals.  They live in the world of people possibilities.  More so than any other type, they have excellent people skills.  They understand and care about people, and have a special talent for bringing out the best in others.  ENFJ's main interest in life is giving love, support, and a good time to other people.  They are focused on understanding, supporting, and encouraging others.  They make things happen for people, and get their best personal satisfaction from this.”  My pay and my reward for helping and encouraging people is the reward itself.  

Being a leader as a “Giver” is beneficial because it opens the door to communicate on an intimate level with people.  We are “straightforward and honest” with a lot of “self-confidence and energy.”  In the business world, ENFJs are growing more and more popular as teams and people-focused strategies become the norm within businesses.  In his book Die Empty, Todd Henry (2013) said, “In baseball, there is a place on the bat called the ‘sweet spot,’ the best part with which to strike the ball.  It will send the ball soaring a lot farther than if you hit it even a few fractions of an inch of the mark with the same effort.  Similarly, you have a ‘sweet spot’ in your life by which you will add the most unique value through your efforts” (p. 11).  As an ENFJ leader, my sweet spot is working in a social setting serving and inspiring people to become the best possible version of themselves, whether personally or professionally.

However, as we all know, sometimes our greatest strength can be our greatest weakness.  An underdeveloped Feeling side “may have difficulty making good decisions, and may rely heavily on other people in the decision-making process.”  Recently, the Next Step Research Company evaluated my leadership and personality profile within a business setting.  One of their insights was that I was very astute at “identifying” problems but needed to continue working on the ability to “solve” problems.  Most of the population can identify problems; however, the great leaders and managers see problems AND solutions.  My previous pastor used to say, “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions.”  As an ENFJ leader, I must seek and study problems and solutions.

Operating with a “richly developed insight into what makes people tick” is a great advantage in leading teams and seeing the growth potential in people.  Giving and caring are personality traits that are globally accepted and warmly appreciated.  Building relationships toward common goals and sharing in the successes and failures of people allow the ENFJ to thrive.  Seeing people walk in their “sweet spot” and living a life that builds humanity is in essence its own reward.  In the end though, as a leader, ENFJs must remember to protect their most valuable asset: themselves.  Without self-awareness and personal care, there will be little to offer others.  Learning to say “no” and spending the time alone to recharge and relax is just as important as standing in the middle of a crowd and leading the charge.  If Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Peyton Manning, and Barack Obama have mastered the art of an ENFJ lifestyle, then there is certainly hope for me.

Steve

References:

Henry, T. (2013). Die empty. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

HumanMetrics. (2013). Jung Typology Test. Retrieved at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

Goleman, D. (1994). Emotional intelligence. New York, NY: Bantam Dell.

Personality Page. (n.d.). The Personality Type Portraits. Retrieved at http://www.personalitypage.com/portraits.html

A631.7.4.RB_RuggerioSteven

The Future of Organization Development

In 2011, Donald Brown and a collection of students, colleagues, and managers created a 450-page tome of insight, strategy, and experience designed to help managers learn about organization development (OD) and the part it plays in bringing about change in organizations.  By creating an awareness of environmental forces and empowering individuals with skills and techniques to deal with change, their eighth edition of Organization Development has become a key resource in the hands of successful leaders.

During my last class, Organization Change, I mentioned that leadership is dangerous.   In Leadership on the Line, Heifetz & Linsky (2002) said, “To lead is to live dangerously because when leadership counts, when you lead people through difficult change, you challenge what people hold dear—their daily habits, tools, loyalties, and ways of thinking—with nothing more to offer perhaps than a possibility” (p. 2).  Just like individual change, corporations change.  Leaving adaptability and strategy to chance is a thin strategy with a short shelf life.  Times are changing faster than ever and the organizations that are able to react and adapt quickly are the ones that will survive.  The most effective way to secure that survival is by understanding and implementing OD into a company’s way of life.  Leaders and managers who dismiss OD as a fad do so at their own peril. 

Brown (2011) said, “Change is coming down on us like an avalanche, and most people are utterly unprepared to cope with it. Tomorrow’s world will be different from todays, calling for new organizational approaches” (p. 3).  Brown is bringing to the forefront what many businesses would rather ignore.  With over three decades of research and experiments, Brown and his research team have identified the common, and often uncommon, threads of human interaction, technological advancements, and external forces that continually push and pull an organization throughout its lifecycle.  In short, he is making an urgent plea for organizations to seek fluidity over traditional static strategies.

During last semester, I viewed a video by the RSA titled The 21^st Century Enlightenment.  In the video, Matthew Taylor said society needs a new perspective that “requires us to see past simplistic ideas and inadequate perceptions of freedom, justice, and progress.”  The RSA are active thinkers and leaders that research and challenge people to find better ways of living.  Taylor said, “We need to reconnect a concrete understanding of who we are, who we need to be, and more importantly, who we aspire to be.”  It is no wonder that at the heart of the RSA's contemporary mission about the future prospects for the human race is the question ‘can we go on like this?’  Will the ideas and values which transformed our world in the last two centuries be sufficient to find solutions to the challenges we now face or do we need new ways of thinking?

OD helps managers with “new ways of thinking” and allows them to avoid many of the pitfalls that cause companies to implode.  In their book Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath (2013) said, “Much has been written in recent years about intuitive decisions, which can be surprisingly quick and accurate.  But—and this is a critical ‘but’—intuition is only accurate in domains where it has been carefully trained.”  By viewing organizational life through the lens of an OD perspective, leaders are better equipped to identify structural, technological, or behavior capabilities that may be minimizing success.  Merely leaving decisions to emotions or chance can—and more than likely will—produce ineffective and inefficient results.

            In his groundbreaking work, Good to Great, Jim Collins (2001) said, “The good-to-great companies did not focus principally on what to do to become great; they focused equally on what not to do and what to stop doing” (p. 11).   OD creates an organizational infrastructure that monitors and measures behaviors, processes, and strategies concerning an organization’s health and wellness.  Without OD, an organization bases decisions solely on profits.  Like the human body, sometimes what appears outwardly healthy can be terribly sick within.  OD acts as the intentional pursuit of health and vitality.  As Collins (2001) said, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance.  Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice” (p. 11). 

            Brown (2011) said, “Because of the rapid changes, predicting the future trends in OD is difficult, if not impossible.  Organization development has moved far beyond its historical antecedents and is continually adding new approaches and techniques as new problem areas emerge.  What is needed are comprehensive, long-term approaches that integrate the systems into long-term solutions” (p. 425).  These long-term solutions will be found as today and tomorrow’s leaders become functional experts in organizational culture, change management, data diagnosis, employee empowerment, team development, goal setting, and creating strategies that facilitate successful transformation.  Finally, John Kotter (2012) said, “Today’s trends demand more agility and change-friendly organizations; more leadership from more people, and not just top management; more strategic sophistication; and, most basically, a much greater capacity to execute bold strategic initiatives rapidly while minimizing the size and number of bumps in the road that slow you down” (p. ix).

            Over the past 19 weeks (with a one week break)—nearly five months—I’ve been reading, writing, evaluating, and studying organizational change and the importance of high-performing teams.  The material and discussions have immersed me in the latest strategic initiatives designed to improve and strengthen an organization, their employees, and their products.  Not a stone was left unturned.  But, with all research, there is always more to see and more to find.  With my new tools in hand, there is little doubt that I am better equipped, inspired, and significantly more aware of how to make an organization and a team better.  And, as an added bonus, I have personally improved as well.

 Steve 

References

Collins, J. (2001). Good to great. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2013). Decisive. New York, NY: Random House.

Heifetz, R.A., & Linsky, M. (2002). Leadership on the line. Boston, MA: Harvard

            Business School Publishing.

Kotter, J. (2012). Leading change. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Taylor, M. (2010). RSA Animate: The 21^st Century Enlightenment. Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=youtu.be

Taylor, M. (n.d.). The 21^st Century Enlightenment. Retrieved from

http://www.thersa.org/about-us/rsa-pamphlets/21st-century-enlightenment

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Culture - Strategy Mix: From Furniture to War Fighting

In Finding Allies, Building Alliances, authors Mike Leavitt and Rich McKeown (2013), state, “The ability to get things done with collaborative networks is the next generation in human productivity.” We need to be able to form and work with and through value alliances. Value alliances are “a group of participants with aligned interests in pursuing an outcome with value for each of them.”  Value alliances are not always easy. “Value alliances require that participants subordinate their egos, their agendas, their preferred styles, and their biases—not to mention their organizational agendas—in favor of a shared benefit” (p. 3).   To enhance shared benefits, leaders must create a culture ripe for success.  From the showroom to the war room and from salespeople to soldiers, success requires the right mix of strategy, culture, and collaboration.

Gini & Green (2013) said, “Work is one of the most significant contributing factors to one’s inner life and development.  Beyond mere survival, we create ourselves in our work” (p. 41).  Two leaders: one in a Houston furniture store and the other on a foreign battlefield did just that.  Jim McIngvale, otherwise known as “Mattress Mack,” is an entrepreneur with one of the largest furniture stores in Houston.  Retired General Stanley McChrystal led one of the largest U.S. forces in battle.  Both men understand change and the importance of strategy and culture. 

Mattress Mack faced the housing crisis in 2008 and later a store fire that destroyed $30 million is merchandise and an 80% drop in sales.  Mack’s furniture future was precipitously hanging by a thread.  To create a new strategy and influence a culture stooped in tradition, he introduced Influencer Training at his Gallery Furniture stores and successfully changed the culture and employee behaviors and ultimately regained momentum. 

Brown’s (2011) strategy-culture matrix describes leadership designs when the need for strategic change meets the compatibility of that change with the existing culture.  In Mattress Mack’s case, he realized Gallery Furniture was experiencing a high need for strategic change.  Brown said, “Implementing strategic changes can be done more effectively when the culture of the organization is taken into consideration” (p. 406).   By introducing the Influencer Training, he hoped to connect better with customers, improve retention rates, and reinforce the goals of Gallery Furniture.  

By pursuing a strategy of “managing around the culture,” Mack had to reinforce their value system of meeting customer’s needs.  The Influencer Training addressed the culture by learning more about customers rather than just selling a piece of furniture (prospecting).  To encourage cultural adaptability, he coached new skills (using computer technology), built an incentive-pay system, and capitalized on the motivation inherent in recognizing strong performers.  Mack successfully changed the behavior of his sales team.  The culture at Gallery Furniture slowly began to experience customer relevancy and loyalty.  Employees did not rely on traditional methods but rather, embraced new and improved models for increased performance.    

Retired General Stanley McChrystal was the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force and Commander, U.S. Forces in Afghanistan.  He led one of the largest offensive operations and one of the deadliest months of combat in the Middle East in over a decade.  Spending time in both Iraq and Afghanistan, McChrystal recognized today’s armed services are made up of men and women much different than what he faced a mere decade earlier.  The terrorist attack of September 11^th, the advent of Internet technology, and the global war on terror forced him to evolve as a leader and as a commander.

Brown’s (2011) matrix of the relative strength of a culture describes possible atmospheres when member’s commitment to values meets the number of the member’s sharing those values.  U.S. soldiers operate with the core values personified in the acronym LDRSHIP: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Personal Courage.  Soldiers operating in Afghanistan lay their lives on the line in committing to these values.  With such a high number of soldiers sharing these values it is easy to identify the U.S. Army as having a “strong culture” according to Brown’s matrix; especially since he stated, “A strong culture is characterized by the organization’s basic values being intensely held and widely shared” (p. 406). 

In the military, especially in a wartime scenario, values are much more than catchy slogans and office decor.  They provide confidence, strengthen camaraderie, and provide a singular focus throughout the ranks.  In the Ranger culture, values can mean life or death.  They proudly proclaim, “We will never leave a fallen comrade behind.”  In the Army—as is the case in all situations—leadership sets the example.

With over 30 years in the military, General McChrystal has seen his fair share of change but nothing quite as unnerving as the war against terror.  If he were to lead successfully, he—like Mattress Mack above—would be required to “manage around the culture.”  The Army was forced to adapt by recognizing what worked in Desert Storm in the early 1990s would not work in Afghanistan in 2009.   While some of the principles that anchored the Army culture—duty, honor, and courage—would never change, the way in which people lead and relate have changed dramatically.  McChrystal identified a myriad of lessons from a strong culture in changing times.

For starters, the environment has changed!  It operates at unprecedented speeds.  Moreover, the military force is dispersed all around the globe forcing leaders to lead through teleconferences and emails.  They are learning to build trust and develop relationships in the midst of combat.  Furthermore, those relationships are challenged because people have changed.  Different background, genders, and generational differences require leaders to listen and learn if they ever hope to lead. 

From jumping out of airplanes to bringing furniture into a new home, leadership takes many forms.  Brown’s matrices empower leaders with insight into the importance of members, values, and the cultural context in which they lead.  As leaders grow and pursue success, they must seek out and embrace an adaptive mindset.  Had McIngvale or McChrystal stood their ground and forced a traditional model of leadership, they would have failed miserably.  When Mattress Mack fails, profits are lost.  When McChrystal fails, lives are lost.  Either way, understanding the culture and making the necessary changes to meet the current values can prevent those losses.

Steve

  

References:

Brown, D.R. (2011). Organization development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

Education, Inc.

Leavitt, R., & McKeown, R. (2013). Finding allies, building alliances. San Francisco,

CA: Jossey-Bass.

Gini, A., & Green, R.M. (2013). 10 virtues of outstanding leaders. Malden, MA: John

Wiley & Sons, Inc.