US study of diversity being valued versus considered

[ from The Pew Research Center ] Three-quarters of Americans agree it is important for workplaces to promote racial and ethnic diversity, according to a study published by the Pew Research Center today.

The response doesn’t vary too much by race, with 81% of black Americans saying it is very or somewhat important, 73% of whites, and 75% of Hispanics. Yet while it appears that most Americans support diversity, the Pew study suggests the support doesn’t actually extend to action to ensure that it increases.

Just 24% of Americans said a person’s race or ethnicity should be taken into account alongside their qualifications in hiring decisions in order to increase diversity. Nearly three-quarters said only an applicant’s qualifications should be considered in hiring—even if it meant less diversity.

On this, a racial divide emerges: 78% of white Americans believe only qualifications should count, compared to 54% of black Americans. More than two-thirds of Hispanics also said only qualifications should count.

This disconnect can be seen at Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company. It has a compensation plan for executives linked to diverse hiring, but some employees took to an internal message board to denounce it as discriminatory, Quartz found. “As long as we give more money and higher annual reviews explicitly for NOT hiring/promoting white men and Asians, this will continue to be a serious problem at the company,” one comment read.

The wider implication of the Pew study is that most Americans believe achievement in their education system and the labor market is sufficiently based on merit. That’s despite evidence to the contrary.

An analysis by the New York Times in 2017 found that black and Hispanic students were more underrepresented at top colleges and universities in the US than they were 35 years earlier, even after decades of affirmative action. The roots of the problem extend to an inequitable and segregated school system. A report by the US Department of Education in 2014 found that schools with lots of students of color tended to have less access to advanced courses (pdf) such as AP subjects, fewer experienced teachers, and limited access to resources needed to provide a high quality education.

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Christine Haskell, PHD has built her practice on credible, published research and data. In the Research Series, you’ll find highlights, shareable statistics, and links to the full source material.

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Values guide us

It is endlessly fascinating to me how people and organizations decide to live their values--and I include myself here. How we choose to express ourselves through our work matters. We make a difference in how we choose to show up, whether we like it or not.

We are guided by our values. In the classes I teach, the talks I give, and the clients I work with--to a person--most people do not know their values...and I mean really know them. I will extend that notion to organizations as well. They come up with values, but rarely incorporate them in their ongoing decision making.

IKEA remains in my #PantheonOfInterestingCompanies - a category of posts I'll add to over time - because of how they reckon with their values. The hold tension between both poles - waste and conservation - much like us individuals. And they try, hard (imo), to do the right thing. What attracts me most is their pursuit of elegant problem-solving resulting in learning that is valued and integrated into the company's culture and eventually its products.

Every year, Ikea Group and INGKA Holding (the holding company that controls the majority of Ikea’s retail stores) publishes a research report on how people live in and relate to a specific aspect of their homes. Since 2014 it’s dealt with morning routines, food and kitchens, and disagreements at home. This year, it takes on a more existential tone–dealing with loneliness, belonging, and the effects of living in cities.

Two years ago, the company asked thousands of people about where they felt “most at home.” At the time, 20% of subjects said it wasn’t the space in which they lived. Two years later, they asked again, and found the number has risen by 15% among people who live in cities. In other words, 35% of people who live in cities don’t feel at home in their house or apartment.

“Almost half of Americans (45%) go to their car to have a private moment to themselves,” the company reports in a new survey of 22,000 people in 22 countries."

There is a huge amount of research and theory going back to the early 1900s on changing definitions of home. But what’s fascinating about Ikea’s report is that Ikea, simply by being the largest furniture retailer on earth, has a role to play here. The corporation has more than 400 stores in 25 countries. It reported 936 million visits to its stores last year. One favorite faux-factoid, which, obviously, can’t be verified, claims that 1 in 10 Europeans is conceived on an Ikea bed. We are increasingly renters rather than owners, which makes inexpensive and disposable furniture a necessity. ...the idea of “home” has become less permanent and more transient than ever, and, as a result, we’ve stopped thinking of our homes as “self-expression.”

Full article here.

#ProblemSolving #creativity #sustainability #home #innovation #Values #ethics #learning

Pete Carroll's Book Recommendations

When I mentor folks, or even in my client work, I emphasize the context of decision making. Too often people look at the end result of someone's performance, or a flashy title--they see the external outcomes.It's an illusion. What matters is someone's internal processing. When people are looking outside of themselves for advice, common questions include:

• Looking for guidance on how to get to the next level? Who do you look to?

• See someone who's career or life situation looks appealing? How did they get there?

• Want to learn a skill that someone else is good at? How did they learn what they know?

It's so important to understand their influences, beliefs, and underlying values. If you are looking at a leadership figure for advice, ask what they read. It can give you a lot of insight into how they think, what motivates them, and how they define success.

The Road to Character by David Brooks--via USAToday. The book draws upon historical figures like Dorothy Day, George Marshall, Augustine, George Eliot, and President Dwight Eisenhower to show how selfless qualities sometimes considered to be old-fashioned in today’s individualistic society can lead to a greater good. The common thread in each tale is a humbling triumph. In each path, however, there first comes rock bottom.

It has affected my language in almost everything I tell them about leadership and serving each other.

Grit by Angela Duckworth.--via The Next Big Idea Club This book is a great read for anyone interested in psychology and personal development. Grit describes what creates outstanding achievements, based on science, interviews with high achievers from various fields and the personal history of success of the author, Angela Duckworth, uncovering that achievement isn’t reserved for the talented only, but for those with passion and perseverance.

In terms of being resilient, we can find ways to instill resilience by training people to believe that they have abilities that allow them to maintain hope. The reason you bounce back is because you know you have a chance and you believe.

Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Successby John Wooden. via The News Tribune When it comes down to it, success is an equal opportunity player. Anyone can create it in his or her career, family, and beyond. Based on John Wooden's own method to victory, Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success reveals that success is built block by block, where each block is a crucial principle contributing to lifelong achievement in every area of life. Each of these 32 daily readings takes an in-depth look at a single block of the pyramid, which when combined with the other blocks forms the structure of the pyramid of success. Join John Wooden and Jay Carty to discover the building blocks and key values--from confidence to faith--that have brought Coach to the pinnacle of success as a leader, a teacher, and a follower of God.

In the bottom-right corner as a foundation of his “Pyramid of Success” for leaders and coaches, Wooden wrote: “Enthusiasm: Brushes off upon those with whom you come in contact. You must truly enjoy what you are doing.”

The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey. via Sports IllustratedWith more than 800,000 copies sold since it was first published thirty years ago, this phenomenally successful guide has become a touchstone for hundreds of thousands of people. Not just for tennis players, or even just for athletes in general, this handbook works for anybody who wants to improve his or her performance in any activity, from playing music to getting ahead at work. W. Timothy Gallwey, a leading innovator in sports psychology, reveals how to

• focus your mind to overcome nervousness, self-doubt, and distractions

• find the state of “relaxed concentration” that allows you to play at your best

• build skills by smart practice, then put it all together in match play

Whether you're a beginner or a pro, Gallwey's engaging voice, clear examples, and illuminating anecdotes will give you the tools you need to succeed. "Habits are statements about the past, and the past is gone." (page 74)

The Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday--via Sports IllustratedThe book draws its inspiration from stoicism, the ancient Greek philosophy of enduring pain or adversity with perseverance and resilience. Stoics focus on the things they can control, let go of everything else, and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better, stronger, tougher. As Marcus Aurelius put it nearly 2000 years ago: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Ryan Holiday shows us how some of the most successful people in history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—have applied stoicism to overcome difficult or even impossible situations. Their embrace of these principles ultimately mattered more than their natural intelligence, talents, or luck.

My Path With Numbers, Nerves & the Future of Work

After 20+ years in tech, the last ten laying front-end process and back-end infrastructure enabling a data-driven culture at MSFT, I had a few observations that made me question the work I was doing. The more available and accurate the data became, the more dependent on data people became. The result? leaders made decisions that doubled down on investing in known quantities like Office and Windows, missing opportunities to dominate and lead in several growing areas of technology. That’s not just my opinion. Those are facts.

There was little awareness, attention or focus paid to subjective skills like having good judgment, sound evaluation skills, or what psychology refers to as “other ways of knowing.” At that time, qualitative data was never as highly regarded as qualitative data.

Cultures that claim to be data driven often let other skills go under-utilized. They become preoccupied with the lure of predictability—the holy grail of business management. They seek data for the smallest of decisions. A study from MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory claims to have identified the elusive group dynamics that characterize high-performing teams. Looking at two separate call centers, researchers found that patterns of communication explained why performance varied so widely among seemingly identical teams in that bank’s call center. The best predictors of productivity were a team’s energy and engagement outside formal meetings. Drawing on that insight, they advised the center’s manager to revise the employees’ coffee break schedule so that everyone on a team took a break at the same time. That would allow people more time to socialize with their teammates, away from their workstations. Leaders are starting to rely on spreadsheets and gadgets to give them a ‘God’s-eye view of human behavior.’

Did we really need to invest in expensive, predictive analytics to tell us that those blessed with the energy, creativity, and shared commitment far surpass other teams? Not only was this dynamic uninspiring to me, I felt we were moving in the wrong direction. That began my journey away from what felt like technology for technology’s sake, and toward questions of self-awareness, critical thinking, and ethical responsibility.

Initially, this led me to study applied behavioral science, sustainability, and leadership, and psychology at the graduate level. A common thread through all the literature, for me, was: values. Our lived values are the foundation of our decision making and ultimately dictate the kind of lives we lead, how happy we allow ourselves to be and become, and achieve.

My research taught me:

• Values, whether we are aware of them or not, guide our decisions.Our lives are punctuated by experiences, decisions, or influences. How we respond to those events directs the course of our lives, and in particular, when we find ourselves at a significant choice point, our upbringing can have an enduring influence on the work we choose and our larger career decisions. What we subconsciously learn from our parents plays an important role in how we think about and manage those career decisions.

• We are on a path toward the fullest expression of ourselves, whether we know it or not. If we are not aware, honest, or clear about our values (i.e., how we got them and what they are), it is reflected in all of our decisions–and subsequently, our work. Rather than thinking aspirationally of our values, our decisions under pressure are the most honest reflection of our values and ourselves. We are deeply shaped by values and how well we live them.

• Both people and organizations lose their way by losing touch with their core values. As individuals, we experience dead ends. Sometimes this is in the form of unfinished projects. More extreme versions of this state result in some form of midlife crisis. I prefer to call this a midlife crossroad because not all “crises” are negative–some can be incredibly fulfilling. However, the path toward closing the gap of who you thought you were and the beliefs you relied on, and who you are now and the beliefs you hold now, can be both painful and incredibly enlightening.

• Self-awareness, deliberate practice, and experimentation are the path forward. Practicing your values in a consistent way brings meaning to your work and life and enables you to be congruent. Lived andpracticed, our values guide the expression of our work.

• Most people (~70%)  are unengaged by their work, yet they are seeking more skills. Two-fifths say their senior leaders prioritize employee engagement, and just 28% said their managers are highly skilled at fostering engaged individuals and teams.

• Engagement and ability to fail are linked. Failure and the concept of failing fast have become chic to talk about again. Yet, too often, we ask people to sign up to fail at something they don’t care about. If you agree to fail at something, and I do believe an agreement is required to avoid dysfunction and abuse, you must care about something enough and know why you care about it.

• And last, that learning is truly ongoing. We learn a lot, especially when we are interested in the subject. But to retain and integrate requires ongoing practice. An example of my (almost) daily practice re-explores #NotesFromMyYogaJournal.

When I left my job in 2014 to complete my doctorate in Industrial Psychology, people thought I was crazy. I was leaving a stable job and steady paycheck, for what?

Work I care about. Work I experiment with and fail in order to learn. Work where I can take responsibility for my own learning, development, and advancement.

Today, I am working harder now than I ever have in my life–and I’ve worked hard my whole career. I’m learning in a way I was never able to do in my former career, and that is not because I left the corporation. It is because I learned how to create my own safety and take responsibility for my own learning with hyperfocus–two skills we are not taught in schools and do not learn in workplace training. Making these skills available to people has become the focus of my current work.

To both earn and manage the kind of responsibility technology like artificial intelligence will put upon us, we need to start training our minds to reduce the inner chatter. We need to find our Craft, manage feelings v why we continue to develop a feel for our work and engage in the kinds of bold experiments that will solve the problems of tomorrow. We need to learn to contemplate, comprehend, and respond more and react less. We need to not only solve problems, but we also need to find them.

The future of work depends on the state of the human mind, specifically our awareness, ability to reason and contend with values, ethics, and great paradoxes.

Christine Haskell, PhD is a writer and consultant helping leaders increase their attachment to their work to lead with greater effectiveness.

UPDATE: this post has been updated to reflect the latest engagement trends, which still hold at 70% un-engaged.

Mental Models: Commitment & Consistency

WE DESIRE TO ACT IN A MANNER CONSISTENT WITH OUR STATED BELIEFS AND PRIOR ACTIONS.

How might this apply to great teams and cultures?

When we are incented to and challenged to speak and act outside their normal belief boundaries, preferably in a public way. This encourages them to change their beliefs and to be consistent with their actions. This is how Brainwashing works.

We think of brainwashing as negative but it is actually a pretty neutral concept. It happens all the time. Think of the values and mission you adopted when you joined your last company. Each day you were asked to do some small thing that you agreed with (or not) and over time, it became your truth.

When our actions differ from our beliefs or values, we need to explain this gap to ourselves. We crave routine, so we do not generally want to change our beliefs or values. Our first move is to seek external reasons for the difference. For example, sometimes people can have a hard time letting go of strong cultures even once they've moved on in their career--expecting every other organization to adopt those same strong beliefs and ways of doing things.

Change has to be incremental or the actions people are asked to take will seem too overwhelming. When people aren't taking personal responsibility for their own actions, they claim that they were forced to act as they did. They blame authority (watch out, this might be you!). This is why it is so important to "get everyone on board", make values work an ongoing part of your business management, and make the change a daily/ongoing practice.

How might this apply to your business?

People have a general desire to be (and appear) consistent in their behavior. Ask someone to state a position, declare their intentions, or show a small gesture of support. Why? Generally, people will act in a manner consistent with these small requests, even it later asked to make a much larger (but consistent) commitment. Be careful: done poorly, these will be viewed as compliance tactics.

Consider

How did you react the last time new management came in with different ideas?

See Also

Story, Reputation, Status, Sequencing, Trigger, Social Proof, Positive Mimicry

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In the whirl of our day-to-day interactions, it’s all too easy to forget the nuances that distinguish great teams, great cultures, and great products/services.

Mental Model Flash Cards bring together insights from psychology into an easy reference and brainstorming tool. Each card describes one insight into human behavior and suggests ways to apply this to your teams as well as the design of your products and services.

Story Bias: Founder Myths

Description

Stories are often told the people who started the company.These may include stories from before they founded the company, including formative tales from their childhood or former employers.

They may give an indication of the values of the founders and what they found important. They may also effectively model ways of behaving and thinking that others should follow.

Example

The man who built one of the largest restaurant franchises in the world is not named McDonald. Ray Kroc, who transformed a small burger joint into a global fast-food giant, is already a household name for many Big Mac fans, but The Founder tells the story behind the origins of McDonald’s and how Kroc rewrote history to call himself the founder of the company. Or, rather, it tells one version of the story.  Complete story here.

Similarities with Starbucks? Starbucks was founded in 1971 by three friends who met at the University of San Francisco, and the first location, in Seattle, only sold whole roasted coffee beans, not brewed coffee.  The company grew in popularity over the next several years, introducing brewed coffee and espresso, and by the time former employee Howard Schultz bought it in 1987 there were six locations.

Discussion

Founders have a unique position something akin to the parent who 'gives life' to a child. They thus stand in the parent or grandparent position and command particular respect. Understanding the personality of founders helps to understand the culture of the present company, much of which may still reflect the founding values and style.

Founders often help the process of understanding them by writing autobiographies, from which particular stories may be spread longer-term through the company.