WorkPuzzle

More on Grit: Sir Isaac Newton’s 22-year Epiphany

About six months ago, Dave wrote a couple of articles on the topic of “grit.”  We received a lot of feedback on this topic from our clients who are regular readers of WorkPuzzle.  It seems to be a topic that intrigues many of us.

Earlier this month, the topic also caught the attention of the Boston Globe.  Jonah Lehrer wrote a lengthy Sunday morning feature on the topic.  Over the next couple of days, I’m going to highlight a few ideas from Lehrer’s article to help us gain a better understanding of this important topic.

“It’s the single most famous story of scientific discovery:  In 1666, Isaac Newton was walking in his garden outside Cambridge, England - he was avoiding the city because of the plague - when he saw an apple fall from a tree.  The fruit fell straight to the earth, as if tugged by an invisible force.  (Subsequent versions of the story had the apple hitting Newton on the head.)  This mundane observation led Newton to devise the concept of universal gravitation, which explained everything from the falling apple to the orbit of the moon.

There is something appealing about such narratives.  They reduce the scientific process to a sudden epiphany:  There is no sweat or toil, just a new idea, produced by a genius.  Everybody knows that things fall - it took Newton to explain why.

Unfortunately, the story of the apple is almost certainly false; Voltaire probably made it up.  Even if Newton started thinking about gravity in 1666, it took him years of painstaking work before he understood it.  He filled entire vellum notebooks with his scribbles and spent weeks recording the exact movements of a pendulum.  (It made, on average, 1,512 ticks per hour.)  The discovery of gravity, in other words, wasn’t a flash of insight - it required decades of effort, which is one of the reasons Newton didn’t publish his theory until 1687, in the ‘Principia.’

Although biographers have long celebrated Newton’s intellect - he also pioneered calculus - it’s clear that his achievements aren’t solely a byproduct of his piercing intelligence.  Newton also had an astonishing ability to persist in the face of obstacles, to stick with the same stubborn mystery - why did the apple fall, but the moon remain in the sky? - until he found the answer.”

Notice the time it took Newton to figure out the scientific Law of Gravity — 22 years!  Was Newton willing to work hard?  Of course he was.  But, grit isn’t simply about a willingness to work hard.  It’s about setting a specific long-term goal and doing whatever it takes until the goal has been reached.  It’s always much easier to give up, but people with grit keep going, despite the hardships and obstacles they encounter.

If you’re a hiring manager, this is an important topic to consider when interviewing.  Ask questions that help you learn if a person has displayed a Newtonian stick-to-itiveness in their past jobs or life experiences.  These are the people who are most likely to display the same traits on your team.

If you have the responsibility for coaching those in your group, consider using Newton’s story in an upcoming coaching session.  We all need inspiration to set goals and stick to them.  When we see that the most successful people in history used this formula, it renews our resolve to follow the same path. 

Why Can't I Shake Anyone Loose Right Now? - Part 2

Yesterday, we discussed the psychological response candidates experience when the economy is unstable.  As previously mentioned, if prospective candidates are in established job situations during a recession, there is a tendency for them to pull back and act conservatively.  This explains why our real estate client is having a difficult time “shaking people loose” from his competitors while the market is in such disarray.

This will remain the reality of recruiting until the economy starts to recover.  As the recovery starts, there will be signs of life that appear in the labor market.  Lou Adler offers further insight into this topic in his recent article:

“As hiring 'green shoots' appear, those who are the most fed up with their current jobs (the least satisfied) will begin to pursue other opportunities.  As these people leave, companies will fill these empty seats, most likely with others, currently fully employed.  Soon these trickles of churn will turn into significant streams of turnover that will be measured in the national labor statistics.  This spike in turnover is an early indicator of an economic recovery.”

There are two sides to the market recovery coin:  The first side is the advantage that can be gained from the renewed energy people will feel as the recession ends. This sense of hope will result in candidates, once again, willing to consider new opportunities.  For some candidates, there is also a sense of throwing off the weight of an organization that has not met their needs beyond stability.

The time to prepare for the upcoming churn is now.  Do you have systems in place to engage people who are willing to talk about new opportunities?  As a hiring manager, are you holding yourself accountable to completing the tasks that are known to produce results?  Are you able to articulate the benefits of being part of your team during a period of recovery?

The flip side of the recovery coin is retention-- the employment churn will run both ways.  If there is penned up angst in other organizations that will soon be released, it’s foolish to believe that there is not some penned up dissatisfaction in your own organization.
  
Now is the time to address these issues as well.  Have you spent time talking with your existing team about what frustrates them in their current situation?  While you may not be able to currently dedicate a lot of resources to solve some of the problems, do your employees know that you have identified the most important issues and have a plan for resolving these issues once resources start to flow again?
 
While we all want to take advantage of Maslow’s Principle of Self-Actualization, it can also be the force that causes your existing organization to suffer.  Don’t miss the opportunity to prepare for the changes that will be here sooner than you expect.

Why Can't I Shake Anyone Loose Right Now?

A couple of weeks ago, I had dinner with a real estate executive on the East Coast.  The topic of conversation turned to the difficulty his organization is having in recruiting experienced real estate agents from his competitors.

In the past, this individual had great success recruiting his competitors’ agents.  In addition, he was able to teach his first-line managers to duplicate his accomplishments.  That is, until recently…

As the real estate market initially soured and then remained stagnant in his area, he noticed the recruiting results of his managers start to diminish.  He coached and prodded his managers with little improvement.

Eventually, out of frustration, he picked up the phone and started making recruiting calls on his own, in an effort to determine the source of the problem.  His frustration grew stronger:

“I just can’t seem to shake anyone loose right now!  The agents in our market are just not willing to make a move no matter what you offer them.”

We discussed some strategies for growing his agent base outside of traditional techniques.  All the while, his mounting frustration got me thinking.  Why would agents be less willing to move during difficult times?  Wouldn’t people seek out better opportunities when things are challenging?  Not necessarily.

Lou Adler offers some insight into this topic in a recent article he wrote:

"As part of his ‘Hierarchy of Needs,’ Maslow suggested that while people consistently strive for personal improvement, they become conservative in difficult economic times.  During these periods, trade-offs are made where people protect their assets, including their jobs, avoid any unnecessary risk, and reduce their expenses.  This is why good people, who are fully employed, are reluctant to move during economic slowdowns."

We all know what goes on in a person’s mind, has a profound effect upon his/her actions.  This sense of “hunkering down” is not easy to overcome.  In fact, it may be a waste of time to try to push against this kind of psychological perception.  There is no magic bullet.

Any results that are realized in this kind of environment will be gained through perseverance, grit, and acceptance that the conversion metrics are going to be much lower than they would be during better times.  In other words, to produce the same results you experienced in the past, it is going to take three times the effort!

Here’s the good news:  Things won’t stay this way forever.  Tomorrow, we’ll discuss what to expect when the economy begins to improve and people beginning exploring opportunities once again, and the penned up demand from the last couple of years starts to be released.  These coming changes could have a profound effect on your recruiting and the make-up of your current organization.

Recruiting With Social Networks (Grab Your Calculator!)

The last couple of days, we’ve spent some time talking about how the dynamics of Facebook are changing.  From a recruiting perspective, these changes may be difficult to leverage in your efforts to source candidates.

However, don’t throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water...  Social networks (both online and traditional networks), from a word-of-mouth perspective, can be a power component of a sourcing strategy.  More specifically, gaining access to the social networks of your existing employees multiplies your sourcing efforts.

 

EE = (1-N) X (R/P)

I want to point out an article written by Raghav Singh in the Electronic Recruiting Exchange last week.  Singh figured out a way to measure the effectiveness of a hiring manager’s social networking candidate sourcing efforts.

“Like prospectors during the gold rush, recruiters everywhere are flocking to social networks in search of hires.  But like the experience of many during the gold rush, getting results is not easy.  Reaping the benefits of social networking requires engaging with those networks.  There’s plenty being written about how to do so, but to know if what you’re doing is working, consider the following metric:

EE = (1-N) X (R/P)

Where:
EE = Effectiveness of Engagement, expressed as a percentage

Engagement, in this context, means getting ready access to employees’ networks, regardless of the mechanism for doing so.  Virtually 100% of employees have social networks and connect to them using different means (networking sites are not the only way to do so), but only a certain proportion of employees may be willing to give an employer access, by either making the contacts available or agreeing to forward job postings to them.

N = The proportion (%) of employee networks that an employer or recruiter has engaged with.
R = The average number of qualified referrals received per month per employee
P = The average number of postings accepted by employees to their networks per month

So if an employer is engaged with 10% (N) of employees’ social networks, and on average each employee accepts 3 (P) postings per month, and produces 2 (R) qualified referrals:

EE = (1-10%) X (2/3) = 60%

If the same results are achieved by engaging with 50% of employee networks, EE = 33%

Engagement is more effective the larger the number of qualified referrals received for the same proportion of employee networks an employer is engaged with.  However, this is not a bottomless pit.  Research shows that beyond a certain threshold of postings, the volume of qualified referrals starts to flatten out and even reduce.”

Before you gloss over this and nod off like you did in math class, take a minute to plug some of the numbers from your own organization into this formula.  It’s not as hard as it looks.

Try tracking the effectiveness of your engagement (the EE %) over a few months and see what happens.  If the resulting percentage is consistently low, then you are missing a major pool of the most qualified candidates available. 

It should cause you to ask yourself some questions:  Do your existing employees not trust you enough to give you referrals?  Are the job opportunities you’re pitching compelling enough that people would naturally want to share them with others in their network?  Are you afraid to ask your existing employees for their help?

Metrics help illuminate problems and find solutions that are not otherwise obvious.  Get your calculator out and give this a try!

Facebook Is Going Gray - Part 2

As the demographics of Facebook skew towards an older crowd, will the catalyst that allows businesses to better engage the Facebook masses change?  There are some people who think so.

Jefferson Graham wrote an article in USA Today last week that highlights two ways that businesses are now engaging customers via Facebook.

1.  Fan Pages - Fan pages are free Facebook sites that allow a Facebook user to “follow” a company.  Originally, these pages were created for celebrities (ex. You can identify yourself as a fan of Shaquille O'Neal), but companies soon joined suit and created their own fan pages. 

Some small businesses have had success with these pages.  Graham highlights a nightclub in Hermosa Beach, CA that has a “fan base” of 650 Facebook users.  The nightclub sends its fans frequent information regarding specials, discounts, and events.

However, while there are more than 100,000 small business fan pages on Facebook, not many companies are successful at using this method to promote business, (although the article does highlight several exceptions).  The common thread for success with this strategy is consistently offering something of value to the end user.  If you expect people to engage with your business out of goodwill or to gain a sense of community, you’ll be disappointed.  It’s like feeding a stray cat...If you continue to feed it, it’ll stick around. 

2.  Targeted Advertising - This is where it gets interesting.  Graham reports:

“Advertisers can now choose pay-per-click ads similar to Google's auction-based ad program, bidding on words and paying when someone clicks on their ad, or traditional ads based on 'impressions,' or the number of times an ad is presented.”

That’s not too exciting in and of itself, but think about the information Facebook has about its users—much more than Google could produce in a random internet search.  

“Marketers increasingly are gravitating to Facebook because they can advertise to a targeted audience, says Emily Riley, an analyst at Forrester Research.  She says marketers can pick and choose consumers based on public information they share on their Facebook profiles, such as the city they live in, the college they attended, their group affiliations and their fan pages.

‘You can literally find a book lover in New York who is a fan of Stephen King,’ says Riley. ‘That is gold for a local book seller.  Brides tell their friends they're engaged, and wedding vendors can run ads specifically targeted to them.’”

This type of targeting is remarkable (and a little scary), but must be applied correctly if it is going to benefit a given business.  The types of products and services that are easily promotable in Facebook are those which are transactional in nature.  More specifically...the things that you can buy over the internet after viewing an advertisement.

This is where the demographic changes will have the largest impact.  Older users are able to buy a much wider range of products and services, and they have more money to spend.  Also, they feel less awkward about buying things within the framework of a social network.  After all, they did not get involved in Facebook for the same reasons younger people got involved.  Therefore, they will not feel the same level of annoyance when someone tries to market to them.

Where does this leave the hiring manager or recruiter who is trying to leverage the power of Facebook in their business?  With regard to soliciting candidates, it would be difficult to apply either of the two previously mentioned methods of engaging Facebook users... However, social networks are a natural support to traditional word-of-mouth marketing.  This will continue.  But, unfortunately, marketing on a large scale basis to candidates via this channel will probably remain uncomfortable and expensive.

Facebook Is Going Gray

Over the last couple of years, there has been a large number of marketers, business owners, and even recruiting professionals, who have been trying to figure out how to leverage social networks to their advantage. 

It’s been an awkward exercise.  Business professionals are attempting to take a tool that was created (and became wildly popular) for a specific purpose, and manipulate it in a way that will produce a result that is much more self-serving.  The participants in these social networks sense this, and often turn a deaf ear to these sorts of efforts.

However, change may be on the horizon... Not because the young people in these social networks have suddenly become tolerant of marketing messages, but because the make-up of the networks is changing.  Take a look at what the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week:

“Long a hangout for college students, the social-networking giant has morphed into a virtual parlor for the middle-aged, according to a new study.

People 35 to 54 are now the biggest age group on the Web site, accounting for 28.2 percent of all U.S. users as of July, according to iStrategyLabs, an online marketing firm.  Following close behind are 24- to 34-year-olds, who represent 25.2 percent of users.

The 18-to-24 age group accounted for 25.1 percent of users, down from 40.8 percent in January, the study found.  Those 17 and under made up 9.8 percent of the Web site's users, down from 13.5 percent.”

The shift in populations using these networks is remarkable.  Notice the research documents this change has happened “since January.”  On the surface, it would appear that there has been a major exodus of young people from the network, but this is not the case.

“The findings reflect a major evolution at Facebook, which until January was dominated by young adults, some of whom famously festoon their profiles with photos of beer bashes and belly buttons.  Although their numbers continue to grow on the service, younger users have been overtaken by their seniors, who are joining at a faster rate.

Since January, the number of new users between ages 35 to 54 grew 190 percent, to 20.2 million, according to the study.  New users 55 and older grew 590 percent, to 5.9 million.”

Tomorrow, I’ll share some more regarding how businesses are already using this shift to their advantage... It doesn’t take long for people to innovate on these types of changes.  In the meantime, don’t be afraid to invite your parents to be your friend on Facebook - It may not be long until they’re showing you how this social networking thing is done!

The Best Laid Plans - Part 2

Hopefully, you’ve had some time to consider yesterday’s questions about the differential that sometime develops between the plans we make and the actual results that we achieve.  Picking up from where we left off yesterday... In her work, would it be better for my wife to lower her expectations to ensure she meets her objectives, or continue to set expectations that are high, with the knowledge that she may fall short?  Under which set of circumstances would she be farther ahead in the end?

Dave Mashburn and I spent some time on a plane yesterday traveling to the midwest for business meetings and had some time to discuss the topic.  Fortunately, there is quite a bit of research on the topic of expectations, so there are some principles that can be applied to this question.

Mikaly Csikszentmihaly, the researcher who discovered and writes extensively on the topic of psychological flow, has documented that humans experience a higher sense of engagement in their work when they push themselves to reach goals that are not easily attained.  Putting together a plan that can be quickly accomplished with 100% certainty will only produce boredom—psychological flow is not achieved in this state.

On the other hand, setting objectives that are so far above a person’s ability to achieve them, creates a sense of anxiety and despair.  We’ve all been put into “no-win” situations that quickly frustrate our sense of well-being and ability to achieve.  Without a way to work ourselves out of a situation, the only choice is to give up and succumb to "failure."
 
There is a balance that must be attained between these two options in order for my wife to consistently experience psychological flow in her work.  The best position for optimal accomplishment is right at the edge of anxiety.  Crossing over this mark by setting goals that are unattainable, would put her in a constant state of anxiety.  (As if having six kids around the house wasn't enough to do this!)  Consistently operating below the edge of anxiety would trap her in a state of boredom or complacency.  In addition to accomplishing much less, this level of effort will not lead to a sense of fulfillment.

Don't worry, you don't need to take up home schooling to apply these principles to your life!  In your work, attempt to set goals that force you to operate at the edge of anxiety.  These goals will stretch your abilities and cause you to make the greatest contribution possible.   

The Best Laid Plans

If you are a consistent WorkPuzzle reader, you know how passionate we feel about developing a plan, working that plan, and then measuring the results.  This simple formula is the basis for success and effectiveness in many realms of life and business.  Last weekend, my wife gave me some additional insight into this principle that is worth sharing.

About ten years ago, my wife and I made the decision to home school our children.  At the time, we committed to try home schooling my oldest son for a year, and see how it went.  Each year, we re-evaluated this decision in an attempt to determine if it was the best educational option for our children.  Maybe we became delusional along the way, but my oldest son is now a junior in high school, and my wife is home schooling five of our six kids!

One of the reasons that she has been successful at home schooling is because she develops a plan each semester and then does her best to follow the plan in her daily activities.  To help in this process, she takes a few days each summer and a few days each winter to develop her plan for the upcoming semester.

Last weekend, she locked herself in a hotel room for three days to develop her plan for this fall’s semester.  During these planning sessions, it is my job to watch our kids and make sure she has uninterrupted time to put her plan together.  No deaths or major injuries over the weekend, so I accomplished my part of the mission!

As we debriefed from the weekend’s activities on Sunday evening, my wife expressed a frustration that surprised me.  I always thought the difficult part of her job was conceptualizing the academic plans for a set of children at diverse ages and developmental levels.  Or, I thought perhaps her biggest frustration might be trying to figure out a daily schedule that allows her one-on-one time with each child to teach lessons.  I was wrong on both accounts.

The most frustrating part of her job is coming to terms with the differential that naturally develops between the plan that she puts together each year, and the actual results that she accomplishes.  I’m not trying to suggest that she does a poor job of executing her daily activities.  She is one of the most tenacious people I’ve ever met, and she does a wonderful job at following through.  However, she sets very high expectations and therefore does not always meet all the objectives in her plan.  This is, by far, her largest frustration.

As we talked through this issue, we wondered which was more effective: 

(1) Developing a plan with high expectations and then falling short during the execution phase of the plan. 

or...

(2) Developing a more reasonable plan and ensuring that every objective and task associated with the plan is accomplished. 

Which frame of reference would put her further ahead in the end?  Also, which philosophy is better for maintaining the long-term motivation required to be successful over time?

We’ll discuss this more tomorrow.  But, in the meantime, try to answer these questions for yourself.  As you put your plans together and attempt to execute successfully, are you falling short of your goals or consistently meeting/exceeding them?

Trusting Your Gut

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been relaying some of the lessons learned from the aftermath of the financial crisis last fall, as reported in a series of articles published in Harvard Business Review this month.  When a plane crashes, people want to know what went wrong... The same is true with the economy. 

One of the primary causes of the financial crisis was an over-confidence in financial models that did not prove reliable.  Surprisingly, these models were built on data and rational thought. 

For example, if no more than 2% of the population has ever defaulted on their mortgage in any given year for the past 30 years, it is rational to conclude that no more than 2% will default in the years to come as well, right?  However, this pattern did not hold true...the models were wrong.  The HBR article puts it this way:

“Data, computing power, and mathematical models have been transforming many realms of management from art to science.  But, the crisis exposed the limitations of certain tools.  In particular, the world saw the folly of the reliance by banks, insurance companies, and others on financial models that assume economic rationality, linearity, equilibrium, and bell-curve distributions.  As the recession unfolded, it became clear that the models had badly failed.”

So, is it time to pitch the idea of using data to solve problems and manage more effectively?  Probably not.  It makes sense to utilize data when making a decision, but realize an over-reliance on information alone, may lead you astray.

This balance reminds me of the equilibrium that Captain Kirk and Spock discovered in the legendary Star Trek series.  While Spock’s cold, hard facts were important, the Vulcan logic alone was not sufficient to arrive at the right decision.  Additionally, Kirk would consult his gut-level intuition before pulling the trigger.  The combination was effective.

If you’re a hiring manager, you need to find this balance as well.  It is important that a person “look good on paper,” but that is never the whole story.  Without  verifiable competencies, work history, and education, it is foolish to move someone forward in the hiring process.  From a data perspective, it is also important to verify additional sources of information, such as assessment data, via factual questions during an interview.

Once you have supporting data, trust your gut to make the right decision.  Your intuition can tell you things that the data will never tell you.  When you “feel” a red flag, listen to your instinct and pull back.  When the data looks good and your gut is confirming the data, make the decision with confidence.

In the financial world, it should have “felt” wrong to close a mortgage for someone with no income and no assets (this is a called a NINA loan), but that is exactly what many financial institutions did because they trusted their financial models.  Hopefully, you won’t make the same mistake with your candidates.

Tapping the Passion of a New Hire

Many believe that there is a major shift happening in the business landscape.  There are significant, long-term forces that are shaping the way businesses are able to produce returns.  As the recession lingers on, there is a growing consensus that “business as usual” may never return.

Does that mean that the recession will last forever?  Of course not.  But it does mean that the way businesses bounced back after a recession in the past will not likely repeat itself.  More specifically, the previous employment options enjoyed by many may be gone for good.

Last week, I alerted you to a series of articles (1, 2) that Harvard Business Review recently published on leadership in the workforce following the September 2008 financial crisis and ensuing recession.  In an article titled, The Big Shift, the authors make the point that traditional business measurements no longer capture the challenges and opportunities for companies.  This is occuring due to fundamental shifts in how businesses contribute to the economy. 

This is all pretty heady stuff, and some of it is quite interesting.  I’m not sure anyone can fully understand or predict what is going to happen, but it is fascinating to pour through all the ideas and theories.

What does all of this have to do with you?  If you’re a recruiter or hiring manager, you’re going to see the effects of this shift in your candidates, new hires, and existing employees.  Individuals may not have a full understanding of what is happening, but they can sense changes in the air, and that will impact their behavior.

As individuals attempt to process these changes, one of the early symptoms to look for is passion.  There are two important trends in this area worth noting:

1.  Talented workers are passionate about control:

“Self-employed people are more than twice as likely to be passionate about their work as those who work for firms, according to a survey we conducted.  This suggests a potential red flag for institutional leaders—companies appear to have difficulty holding on to passionate workers.”

If you’re not able to offer candidates at least some level of autonomy in their new position, you’re at a disadvantage.  It is difficult for people to concentrate on the grand vision of the company when the ground is shifting under their feet.  Giving them something small and contained that they can control may be much more appealing. 

2.  Talented workers are passionate about working with other high-quality people:

“The initial findings from our research indicate a correlation between the rapidly growing use of social media and the increasing knowledge that flows between organizations.  Worker passion also appears to be an important amplifier:  When people are engaged in their work and pushing the performance envelope, they seek ways to connect with others who share their passion and who can help them get better faster.”

The principle here is pretty simple:  If you want to tap the passion of a talented new hire, put them around the highest quality people possible.  Shielding your existing best performers from involvement with newly hired employees is a mistake.  You’ll not only fail to engage the passion of the new employee, but you’ll miss an opportunity to rekindle the passion of your top performers.

Making an effort to tap the passion of your candidates and employees will always produce a return, regardless of which direction the business landscape shifts...