I have loved Netflix ever since they came on to the scene and turned the DVD business on its ear.  At first glance, Netflix is one of those business ideas that is so simple and brilliant that you almost kick yourself for not thinking of it first.  

And while you might believe that the secret to Netflix’s success is it’s innovative business model – its not. The real secret according to their founder and CEO, Reed Hastings, is their culture of high performance which focuses on fostering ”Freedom and Responsibility.” 

Below is an amazing PowerPoint presentation that details the core values and beliefs that truly makes Netflix special. There is a lot an organization or HR pro can learn from Netflix and how they have created, articulated, and implemented a culture that delivers the goods. 

Over the next few blog posts, I will breakdown those key elements that make Netflix’s culture so special. Until the next post take a look at the slides and let me know if you believe Netflix is a high performance culture or just hype?

Photo Credit: HackingNetflix

We all know the old adage “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression,” but how many of us really take this advice to heart, especially when starting a new job. The first 90 days are critical to establishing your credibility in a new organization, but the stakes are even higher when you are the new boss.

Not only do you have to learn your way around a new company and adjust to a new role, but you also have to gain the respect of your new team. No small task. In my experience, you cannot underestimate the impact these early impressions can have on your career, your ability to lead your team, and make an long-term impact. Bottom line is people form judgments fast – your only defense is a good offense. So, the question becomes…do you have a game plan for making a great first impression?

Early in my career, I was lucky enough to recieve some great advice about the importance of first impressions. I had just announced my decision to leave Taco Bell, where I had been a manager of People Development and to join IBM. The word that I was leaving had gotten to Emil Brolick, who at the time was the President of Taco Bell. Two days before I was set leave the organization; I got a call from Emil’s assistant letting me know that he wanted to speak with me. When I got to his office, he said that he had enjoyed working with me and his advice to me was simple, ”make an impact - quick.” He went on to explain that he attributed much of his success to his focus on making an impact in those first few months which meant he had to get to know and “build trust with his new team – quick.”        

I took this advice to heart  and while there are multiple approaches to starting fast at a new job, I wanted to share with you advice that I gave to a friend of mine who recently landed a management role in HR at a Fortune 500 company. Since this is her first time leading a team, I recommended that she conduct one-on-one interviews with each of her staff to assess their individual strengths, how they think, and their working style. Not only does sitting down with your new team to “listen” make a great first impression, it also builds instant credibility and will give you ideas on how to make an impact fast – think low hanging fruit!

Below are the questions I suggested with my thoughts on why she should ask each question and the insights she could expect to gain from her team’s answers.  

1. What challenges are facing the organization?

• This will help you to understand how broadly your team thinks about the business and how strategic they are in terms of seeing the bigger picture. 

2. What resources could we leverage more effectively?

• This question will ensure you gather ideas for quick wins that if implemented will prove you are listening, not just going through the motions.

3. How could we improve the way the team works together?

• This will give you a view into the current team dynamics. Are there personality conflicts, were they having staff meetings before, what is not happening that they wish was, etc? 

4. What types of projects have you worked on?  Which one was your favorite?  Least favorite?  Why?

• Getting an understanding of the type of work someone likes and dislikes provides insight into each person’s specific skills, past experiences, strengths, opportunities, and preferences. All of which will help you to get the most out of your new team.

 5. Over the next year, what skills, or experiences would you like to develop?

• As a manager, part of your job is developing your people. You can’t effectively do this unless you understand how you can help design development experiences or provide coaching/mentoring that will build their capabilities. This is one question that truly shows you care about your people. It also makes you different than 90% of the bosses out there who 1) either don’t care or 2) are afraid to ask since they can’t guarantee you will get the experiences you are looking for. 

 6. How would you describe your working style? 

• Notice I didn’t say “How do you like to be managed?” In my experiences, people do not like things done to them, but they are open to working together.  Understanding how someone likes to work will help you to flex your style in a way that gets results, not resistance. 

 7. What expectations do you have of me and my role? How can I help you be successful over the next year?

• This might seem like a question that can get a manager into some trouble.  As a manager, shouldn’t it be the other way around with you communicating your expectations to your team?  Yes, but not before you assess your team’s current understanding of your role. Once you get a handle on this, you can manage, set, and if needed, correct their expectations accordingly.  

Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, there are multiple ways to make a great first impression as a new boss. What other questions, tactics, or ideas would you recommend to new managers who want to ensure they hit the ground running and make an impact - quick? 

 Photo Credit: Will Lion

Gumballs have always been a big part of my life. Not because I love to chew gum, but because my Dad was in the gumball machine business.  Being in the gumball business was more than just the way my Dad brought home the bacon, it was also his passion. Sure, my Dad could have just bought stock gumball machines from a vending company, but what fun was that. Instead, my Dad designed his own custom wooden gumball machines that truly were one of a kind. While the gumball business never became my passion, it taught me quite a lot, almost as much as my Dad did.

I will never forget the day that I got into the family business. I was 15 and a half years old and getting very close to getting my ticket to freedom – my drivers license. But, there was a catch, a big catch. I didn’t have a job and no job meant no wheels.  Like other teenagers, I had my eye on a beautiful used Toyota truck that I was willing to do almost anything to get.

That morning, my Dad, Mom, and I had just finished having breakfast when my parents proposed a very novel idea. Instead of me going out and getting an hourly job like most teenagers, they would give me eight gumball machines and my Dad would teach me how to locate and operate my own route.  The upside was I once I got the machines located I could make money without having to punch a clock. The downside – I had no idea how to sell! Let alone how to convince a business owner on letting me put a gumball machine in their store for a small percentage of the revenue! I told my Mom and Dad that I was in, as long as my Father would teach me how to be a real salesman.

Over the next few weekends, we went out early in the morning to locate my eight gumball machines and didn’t come back until late in the evening. It took over a month to find all of my gumball machines a home and at first it wasn’t easy. But every time we went out to locate the machines, I learned a little more about the business and even more about life from my Dad.

As we were driving around looking for the final home for my eighth and final gumball machine, I asked my Dad how would I ever be able to make enough money to get the Toyota truck that I so desperately wanted. He smiled at me and said, “JP, don’t worry you will make the money for the truck.” “But, how?,” I insisted. My Dad’s smile seemed even wider this time as he seemed to be pleased with my impatience. He looked at me squarely in the eyes and said, ”JP, you will earn the money for your truck like everyone in our family, one gumball at a time.”

For my Dad, “one gumball at a time” wasn’t just an empty quote to motivate an impatient teenager, it truly the way he lived his life – both professionally and personally. He was rarely in a bad mood, he woke up with a view point that today was going to better than yesterday and he was usually right. It wouldn’t be until I was 23 years old that I first began to understand the wisdom of “one gumball at a time.” It was my second semester in graduate school and I was having serious second thoughts! Did I make the right choice? Should I have gone for my MBA, not my PhD? I was for sure in what Seth Godin calls the Dip.

I remember calling my Dad to tell him that I was thinking of quitting graduate school. He let me speak first and I went on and on for about 15 minutes about how hard it was, how it didn’t feel right, etc . He listened intently and then suddenly stopped me dead in my tracks.  “JP, do you remember that conversation we had when we were locating gumball machines when you were 15 years old?” Probably being too honest and knowing exactly what he was going to say, I said, ”I think so?” He said, ”Well, let me remind you…one gumball at a time, do you remember that?” He went on to talk about why nothing worth doing in life is easy, there are no shortcuts to your accomplishing goals whether it was saving for a truck or going for your PhD.

That talk with my Dad was a turning point for me. I not only stayed in graduate school, but was lucky enough to have my Mom and Dad watch me graduate a few years later. Unfortunately, my Dad passed away shortly after that, but not before I came to understand the true meaning of  ”one gumball at a time.”

This post is dedicated to the world’s greatest Dad on what would have been his 73rd birthday – Love you, Dad!

Photo Credit: Olivander

I would like to say that I had Peter Drucker’s 100th birthday on my calendar, but I have a hard time remembering my own birthday, let alone a management guru.   However, I felt compelled to write a quick post to pay my respects to one of the most influential people of the twentieth century.  I first began reading Drucker in high school and read even more of his work in grad school (some of it by choice).  But, it wasn’t until I got into the real world that I realized the genius of his work and his influence on business today. 

So many of our current management and HR practices are built on the foundation of his forward looking ideas.  One of his most important ideas was the simple assertion that ”Management is about Human Beings.”  Let’s be clear – Drucker didn’t say management was about project plans, creative financing schemes, supply chains, or fancy talent management software. Drucker believed that people were the engine that powered the enterprise and the success of the organization depended on their commitment, creativity, and passion.  In other words, business success depends on having an engaged workforce and engagement is dependent upon good management. HR pros does this sound familiar?  Sure the vocabulary has changed, but not the rock solid principles that Drucker provided us on leading people and organizations. 

It has been four years since he passed, but as Businessweek said in article in 2005, his ideas still matter to business.  I would take it one step further and say that his ideas matter even more today, especially when it comes to managing people in these turbulent times.  Below are just a few of the ideas that Drucker gave to modern management…Happy Birthday, Mr. Drucker!

 – It was Drucker who introduced the idea of decentralization — in the 1940s — which became a bedrock principle for virtually every large organization in the world.

– He was the first to assert — in the 1950s — that workers should be treated as assets, not as liabilities to be eliminated.

– He originated the view of the corporation as a human community — again, in the 1950s — built on trust and respect for the worker and not just a profit-making machine, a perspective that won Drucker an almost godlike reverence among the Japanese.

– He first made clear — still the ’50s — that there is “no business without a customer,” a simple notion that ushered in a new marketing mind-set.

– He argued in the 1960s — long before others — for the importance of substance over style, for institutionalized practices over charismatic, cult leaders.

– And it was Drucker again who wrote about the contribution of knowledge workers — in the 1970s — long before anyone knew or understood how knowledge would trump raw material as the essential capital of the New Economy

Let me paint you a picture of today’s typical multitasker and you tell me if this sounds familar. Mr. Multitasker is on a conference call for an important initiative, drafting an email, reviewing a deck for their next meeting, and reading an article on the web. Let’s face it most of us do this type of multitasking on a daily basis in the name of higher and higher levels of productivity.  Heck, I bet most of you are multitasking while reading this post!

The big issue here is that we have convinced ourselves that multitasking is how you get more stuff done and prove you are top management material. But here are the facts, multitasking is not the golden brick road to high performance that many of us (myself included) believe it to be, it is actually the road to mediocrity.  But try to tell that your typical espresso-driven, blackberry carrying, conference call hopping power executive and they will probably laugh in your face as they multitask their way to their next meeting. 

Recently, the New York Times wrote a story about a Stanford University study that proves multitasking has it limitations: 

Read it and gloat. Last week, researchers at Stanford Universitypublished a study showing that the most persistent multitaskers perform badly in a variety of tasks. They don’t focus as well as non-multitaskers. They’re more distractible. They’re weaker at shifting from one task to another and at organizing information. They are, as a matter of fact, worse at multitasking than people who don’t ordinarily multitask.

You know what this means. This means that the people around you — the husband who’s tapping the computer keys during an important phone conversation with you, the S.U.V. driver with the grande latte and the cellphone, the dinner companion with the roving eye and twitching thumbs — are not only irritating, they are (let’s not be fainthearted) incompetent.

But, wait. Should it be breaking news that a single person can’t juggle knives and explain quantum physics while polishing off an artichoke?

Breaking news and a shock to the researchers themselves, as it turns out. Originally, the team of researchers, whose findings are published in the Aug. 24 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were trying to find out what unusual cognitive gifts multitaskers possessed that made them so successful at multitasking.

They’re still looking.

“Multitaskers were just lousy at everything,” said Clifford I. Nass, a professor of communication at Stanford and one of the study’s investigators. “It was a complete and total shock to me.”

Initially suspecting that multitaskers possessed some rare and enviable qualities that helped them process simultaneous channels of information, Professor Nass had been “in awe of them,” he said, acknowledging that he himself is “dreadful” at multitasking. “I was sure they had some secret ability. But it turns out that high multitaskers are suckers for irrelevancy.”

The study tested 100 college students rated high or low multitaskers. Experimenters monitored the students’ focus, memory and distractibility with a series of electronic images of different-colored shapes, letters and numbers.

Eyal Ophir, the study’s lead investigator and a researcher at Stanford’s Communication Between Humans and Interactive Media Lab, said: “We kept looking for multitaskers’ advantages in this study. But we kept finding only disadvantages. We thought multitaskers were very much in control of information. It turns out, they were just getting it all confused.”

The study’s results were so strong and unexpected that the researchers are planning a series of follow-up experiments. “It keeps me up late at night,” Professor Nass said. “I worry about both the short-term and long-term effects of multitasking. We’re going to be testing the heck out of high and low multitaskers.”

To the rest of the world, though, the people who trudge through life excited and unnerved by an occasional cellphone call while walking or watching the sun set (isn’t that multitasking?), the study’s findings aren’t quite so shocking. A constant state of stress, deluges of ever-changing information, the frenzied, nanosecond-fast hustle and bustle — this is bad for you? It’s surprising and it’s news that it’s bad for you? Before they lie down to take a well-deserved and uninterrupted nap, the trudgers of the world would like to say, “We told you so!”

Still, their sad sense of inferiority to the flash and dash of multitaskers lingers and may even interfere with a good sleep.

“The core of the problem,” Professor Nass said, is that the multitaskers “think they’re great at what they do; and they’ve convinced everybody else they’re good at it, too.”

Yes, they have. Take, for example, Robert Leleux, a New York writer and gentle soul who still struggles with a rotary phone.

“My entire life, I’ve been so thoroughly cowed by multitaskers,” said Mr. Leleux, author of “The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy.” “I find it impossible to believe they’re not superior to me. This study is like catnip! It validates my entire life.”

As a child, Mr. Leleux recalls, his unitasking took a culinary turn. When eating, he could concentrate only on one food at a time.

“Usually mashed potatoes first, and then maybe a vegetable,” he said. “It drove my mother crazy. She kept threatening to send me to etiquette school if I didn’t straighten out. I was scared to death till I turned 18 and realized going to etiquette school wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

Today, Mr. Leleux finds himself in a mixed marriage with a fast-moving, multitasking husband whose professional life, Mr. Leleux said, resembles “His Girl Friday.”

“Michael can answer e-mails, talk on the phone, approve designs concepts and copy and artwork — all at the same time,” he said. “As a person who can only eat mashed potatoes at one time, it’s incredibly depressing there are people capable of working on 14 different things at a time.”

Even with scientific validation at his fingertips, Mr. Leleux frets that the Stanford study may have been done “by a bitter unitasker like me who wants to validate his own existence.”

“Look at the tortoise and the hare. Even though the tortoise actually ends up winning the race, who would you rather be? A wrinkly, fat old tortoise or a lithe, quick-witted hare? I think the answer is clear.”

So, if we are actually hurting our performance by multitasking than what are we to do? How do we answer all 140 emails we get a day, sit through 7 hours of meetings, launch that new initiative, and of course get our “day jobs” done?  While I could say the simple answer is for you to go retro and “monotask” your way to greatness that probably isn’t going to fly in our 24/7 world. 

In my opinion, there are only two ways to overcome our addiction to multitasking and no this does not involve a 12-step program, although that is not a bad idea.  First, you must begin to practice the art of being in the moment. Does that mean you have to go cold turkey and can’t peak at your blackberry during a meeting? No, but it does mean that you have to focus and give your full attention to the people, activity or task at hand. Do this before moving on to the next task on your to do list and you will start to get more things done, not less. 

Second, getting stuff done is not as important as getting important stuff done. To take your performance to the next level you have to get clear on your priorities and those activities that will actually make a difference to your company and career. How often do you sit down for even five or ten minutes and plan out what you must accomplish the upcoming week, month or even the year?  Sucessful executives are laser focused on those initiatives, tasks, and people that will move them closer to accomplishing those critical priorities that will make them and their company look like rockstars.

So, the next time you find an executive or co-worker who claims that multitasking is the secret to their success, stop, and gently remind them that getting stuff done is not as important as getting important stuff done. There is a difference.

Let’s say your HR career is on track, but you really want to kick it into high gear. Which of the following options will get you to the top of the corporate ladder the fastest?

Option #1: “Hit the books” and get your MBA, Masters, or PhD

Option #2: “Learn the business” in a line role and take a brief hitatus from HR

Option #3: “Pack your bags” and accept that big title and international assignment in China

 If you are like most type A career climbers, you probably grabbed your passport, your traveling lawn gnome, and were headed out the door faster than you could say CHRO.  Fortunately for you, the Academy of Management has just saved you a bundle in moving boxes and packing tape by dispelling one of the greatest myths in corporate America; namely that international assignments are a one-way ticked to the C-suite. 

In studying 1001 executives from US and Europe, they found that a little something called facetime still matters even in the age of the internet.  

Executives assigned to work abroad can lose out because they are unplugged from the valuable social networks at corporate headquarters—what Hamori and Koyuncu call “the out-of-sight, out-of-mind” effect. This is consistent with previous studies that found that nearly half of repatriated executives left their company within two years of returning to their home country, largely because of concerns about career advancement.”

With Hamori and Koyuncu popping our expat bubble and dashing our hopes for a corner office, let’s take a deeper look at why an international assignment can still be a smart career move: 

1. Personal & Professional Growth – When you accept an international assignment you are guaranteed to learn more about yourself than you might have imagined or even bargained for.  Growth is all about getting past and breaking free from your comfort zone. When you move to a new country, are immersed in a different culture, and accept the responsibly of a larger role,  you have no choice but to grow both personally and professionally.
2. Leadership Skills- There are very few experiences that will transform your leadership ability like an international assignment.  You have to adapt to a unfamiliar environment, build relationships quickly, establish credibility, and manage a new team all while delivering exceptional results. While the words, ”trial by fire,” come to mind so does the enormous opportunity to come out of the experience a stronger leader.
3. Broader Experience – It should go without saying that you don’t take an international role to get more experience doing the same work you could have done at home. Sure, you might have some overlap in your current duties, but while you are overseas you need to be thinking 24/7 about expanding your HR toolkit.
4. Big Picture Thinking – We all like to think we see the big picture, but it isn’t until you have seen the world from an international perspective that you truly start to understand what the word “global” really means.   
5. Credibility – Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Once you have international experience on your resume it is yours for life. Being able to share in meetings how you overcame a similar challenge during your two year stint in Hong Kong is not only good for your career, it will also get people’s attention.

Personally, I was fortunate enough to get a 4-month project working and living in London and while I totally understand that some people like Kris Dunn, The HR Capitalist would rather stay close to the mothership, it was one of the best experiences in my life.

Photo Credit: Saitor

Once in a great while someone gives you a piece of advice that just sticks with you for the rest of your life. For me that advice came from my great Grandpa Paul, who at 106 years young had seen and done it all. I remember our conversation like it was yesterday,  my finance (now wife) and I had arrived at his house to have lunch and share the good news of our recent engagement.

Over lunch the talk quickly turned to our big wedding plans. This was to be the best, most lavish, hip, over-the-top wedding that anyone had ever been to. We wanted to pull out all the stops and ensure that our special day had top of the line everything from the flowers to the food. We were so excited that my finance and I probably talked for 10 minutes straight without taking a breath. As we were going on and on, I saw my Grandpa Paul’s facial expressions change.  He was a very patient man but it was becoming obvious that he was quickly losing his patience with us.

As we gave our jaws some much needed rest, my Grandpa Paul sat back on his chair and slowly lite up a cigar. We both could sense that he was about to say something important.  I finally broke the silence and asked, “Grandpa Paul, you look disappointed, what is on your mind?”  He looked at both of us and said, “I am not disappointed, but you guys have it all wrong.” I quickly responded, “What do you mean all wrong?”  Grandpa Paul looked at both of us squarely in the eyes and said, “You two are planning for the wedding, not the marriage.”

It is not just young couples that make the “Planning for the Wedding,” mistake as many organizations and executives fail to plan for life after their own big day. Time and time again, I have seen executives make this shortsighted mistake and plan their initiatives like they are planning for a wedding, not a marriage. In doing so, these executives fail to think through how their initiative will be implemented, intergrated, and sustained over time.  Many organizations and executives could learn a thing of two from my Grandpa Paul. When it comes to “Planning for the Marriage” the most important day in is not the first, not the last, but everyday in between.

Photo Credit: Dixie Chic