Productive Thinking and Fossil Ideas

Have you ever wondered why we do what we do in life, both professionally and personally? Do you have patterns and habits you are so stuck in that you don't even know they are patterns and habits-- you simply think it is how things are done?

A new book by Tim Hurson titled 'Better Thinking (your company's future depends on it ... and so does yours)' has just been published and the Innovation Network did a sort of review. I was impressed and want to share it with you.

Hurson looks at productive thinking and how we do or do not utilize the concept. So much of how we do things in our organizations is by automatic pilot, that we can be like lemmings going off a cliff. And why? Because we are not questioning why things are done as they are, what new ideas are available, or asking for the real reasons things are done in the way they are done.

We are reactive and passive. Why not take the time to ponder, to wonder, to question?

The following is a short piece from Chapter 3 of Tim's book. This is well worth the read.

Excerpt from Chapter 3

"If you work in a large organization (unless it's Google, Apple, or the like), all your common meeting rooms are probably mini-boardrooms with tables surrounded by chairs. Why? Are you planning to have dinner? Come to think of it, why are all boardrooms modeled after private dining rooms? Why is the top row of your telephone keypad labeled 1 2 3,whereas the top row of your calculator is 7 8 9? Because both the telephone company and the calculator company say, "That's the way we do things around here."

There is plenty more where that came from. When we use lessons learned, reflective learning, and the other KM interventions in our tool kits, we begin to break through some of the 'fossil ideas' that keep us from innovating and challenging the way things are. We haven't the luxury of being stuck any longer. Why would we choose to be?

Have we forgotten how to listen?

I just received my e-copy of the InnovationNetwork newsletter. In it is an excerpt from the book "How To Talk To Customers" by Diane Berenbaum and Tom Larkin, Senior Vice Presidents of Communico Ltd., a customer service training and consulting company. http://www.howtotalktocustomers.com

The subject is 'listening' and as always, the lessons can apply in our personal as well as professional lives. Listening-- seems we take for granted that we all know how to do that. We have ears, we hear people talk-- or we can understand what they are saying via other means. But do we really? Have we lost the ability in our fast paced, overloaded, ultra productive lives to really stand in their shoes and hear them from where they are?

The piece of managing knowledge we seem to forget to address is the receptor's ability to hear and listen as well as our ability to build a common language and understanding. We are continually looking at how to get people to share knowledge, how to judge what needs to be shared, how to store and catalog and utilize but we rarely focus on what is needed to listen. We must hear people from where they stand to get the context of what they are trying to share. We must take a breath and put ourselves in their shoes before we judge their words. From what vantage point and background of experience are they sharing? We simply forget to consider that.

I am continually reminded in all of this that the best place for me is to stand in curiosity. As my colleague Paula Love states, this is the place to hear from a new perspective.

I recommend reviewing the Innovation Network newsletter and the book referenced above. Brought to you by the InnovationNetwork
http://thinksmart.com

Let me give you a brief rundown-- The rest of this blog entry contains an excerpt. I may not agree with the descriptions of the levels, but I do agree with the basic points the authors raise. Well worth the read. Enjoy.

There are really four levels of listening:

1. Level One -- Here, the dialogue itself is largely transactional
- focused on the task..
2. Level Two -- Rapport building characterizes this level of
listening. You ask more questions to gain a greater sense of the
other person's meaning.
3. Level Three -- The dialogue is characterized by a sense of
warmth and perception. The focus at this level is on empathy.
4. Level Four -- This is the deepest level. Your attention is often
intuitive and you remain largely silent.

Much of our communication--particularly in a business setting--
occurs at levels one and two. It's largely an empirical process,
dominated by an exchange of facts and figures. That's not to say
it's "bad" -- just, perhaps, not as effective as the level of
listening that we would like to establish.

By contrast, Level Four focuses on letting the other person talk and
typically only occurs in close relationships where there is trust
and mutual respect.

Level Three listening is attentive, nonjudgmental, and genuinely
recognizes the other person's feelings and perspective ... it's in a
word, empathic. This is the level you want to achieve in your
interactions with customers.

HOW TO LISTEN AT LEVEL THREE

However desirable, listening at Level Three is often difficult. We
may be preoccupied with other concerns, distracted by what's
happening around us or simply eager to address the problem.

If you have a tendency to listen at Level One or Two (listening for
facts and details), then you will not "hear" what the customer is
really saying. You need to listen to his words and tone in a
different way ... in a way that goes beyond the facts. Level Three
is about listening for and acknowledging their feelings and the
significance of the issue. Then and only then are you really
connecting with the customer, and thereby, building or restoring the
relationship.

So, what do you do when you listen at Level Three? First, listen
for the big picture and be careful to not get bogged down in the
words and details that are coming at you. Provide a space for the
customer to share what's on his mind, without interruption.

To be truly empathic, choose a non-judgmental attitude. Watch your
tendencies to make assumptions, judge what you are hearing or
project how you would think or feel in that situation. Just
recognize how the person is feeling and accept what she shares.

New Ideas for Managing Knowledge

As I mentioned in the last blog, contacts made on airplanes are fascinating. Jeff Carter, co-founder of webapplica is one such person. Our conversation ranged from politics (can be a bit dicey in a confined space, but this was simply fun) to the workplace of the future. Jeff's company is a global, virtual organization in which loyalty is built via instant messaging and email. He himself says there are few phone conversations, most everything is done using quick, fast communications. The company is a success. His employees are located in a number of countries and continents.

http://webapplica.com

From our conversation I took away actionable, refreshing ideas.

• I will work to develop processes to utilize the technology held in our own PCs-- quick videos and audios to allow us to share learning almost as quickly as it happens. (almost as quickly, and getting better all the time).
• I will do more of with that technology myself.
• To make this quick knowledge sharing real for companies, I will also ensure they work with their legal depts to create just in time training on what can and can not be shared and why (the why here is such an important piece of the learning).
• The question of storing and cataloging can now be addressed as well.
• VoIP is a maturing, powerful tool to be leveraged now.
• Searchable video is real and timely and ready to be utilized. I remember when video was an expensive nice to have, but no one took the time to watch it. Now, podcasts and Youtube make video a need to have for the new generation of learners.

I was reminded once again that for any question there are a myriad of answers and ideas. The processes I use work, they are tried and tested, and now there are technologies which make them come alive for another generation. That is true for all of us and all of what we do. We can refresh and renew to create forward moving, creative processes to sustain the success we've all worked hard to achieve. Not bad for a one hour plan ride!

World Changing KM

So much of the work I do is to help people capture and reuse the knowledge from the past-- ideas, process nuances, alternatives, thought processes, decisions...all made previously and yet to be re-used and learned from. I am adamant that this work not keep the organizations mired in the past but instead inform the future.

I found today a blog/site/organization which epitomizes what I am trying to do-- and does it for a very important purpose. Worldchanging.com is all about Eco-consumerism, and not in a stodgy, hold 'em back kind of way. Instead the information is innovative, insightful and invigorating-- all terms we should all strive for when managing and reusing knowledge.

Take a look at the site, and as you learn about changing the world by changing what we buy, consider how we can also change the world by sharing what we know. We can do it, and it will take discipline, creativity and collaboration. The payback is worth every moment of effort.
http://worldchanging.com/