| Extraordinary Accomplishment - Wow!
Bill is a friend. We are food and wine enthusiasts – in both production and consumption. I thought I knew Bill: unassuming, smart, Berkeley grad, Physics PhD., former University professor, specialty in optics.
We spent a Saturday morning together a few weeks ago hauling grape skins to the community garden compost pile after pressing this year's Viognier. I got nosey. I knew Bill had recently been in Australia on business. I wanted specifics.
Bill was in Australia installing a new microscope complete with his patented innovations. He installed it in a medical research facility. This is a very sophisticated piece of technology - quite different from what was on the tables in university microbiology lab some years back. It magnifies but also reflects specific color bands unique to scientific application at the cellular level. You can also have one for $1.2mm.
Results? Bill returns to the US after a successful installation. Within a few weeks he gets a very excited call from his customer, a research scientist, "I just saw the HIV virus penetrate a pore in a cell nucleus."
I think Bill's accomplishment is extraordinary. The future scientific discovery that it enables will also be extraordinary. Congratulations Bill!
Here is a fascinating 5-minute animation of the HIV virus doing what it does at the cellular level... and a real video of cellular Pac-Man or rather Neutrophil Phagocytosis – in 29 seconds the reason we are not always sick from the many harmful bacteria that invade our bodies.
The SHOWWX is pocket-sized and simple: a plug-n-play projector for portable media players, mobile phones, PDAs and notebooks. With it, you can share a big screen experience with friends, family or business associates. Projected images range in size from 12" to 150". The technology delivers large, colorful, bright, and vivid images (photos, sales presentations, Power Point, etc.) that are always in focus, regardless of projection distance. This is the first laser-based, pocket-sized projector offering infinite, automatic focusing.
Microvision is a client of ours and over the course of the past two years, we have had the honor of getting to know many of the leaders who have made this innovation a reality. Good, smart people, who are committed to doing great work. The commitment, the blood, sweat and tears, the unique teams and relationships that have emerged have been driven by vision and a relentless desire to succeed. Congratulations to the Microvision team! Check out the Microvision Blog. The October 14the post has a video of Paul Hoffman from Fast Company taking a quick look at the SHOWWX.
David Hanson's robot faces look and act like yours: they recognize and respond to emotion and make expressions of their own. Here, an "emotional" live demo of the Einstein robot offers a 5 minute peek at a future where robots truly mimic humans.
Extraordinary accomplishments. The results of focused, driven people assimilating resources and doing their best to make something happen to create change. Change that benefits customers, change that improves results for the business and in some cases profound changes that improve the world and the lives of many people.
In too many cases however, such accomplishment is more difficult than need be. The very people who create the expectation for extraordinary accomplishment, sometimes unwittingly create or maintain the barriers that make it more difficult.
In over seventeen years in business, we have seen a bunch of extraordinary accomplishments. In some cases as players, some as outside resources and some as observers. Here's the short list of factors we've seen persistently over the years that make it feel like you're driving with the brakes on when trying to achieve an extraordinary accomplishment.
1. Information doesn't flow.
It is just simply too difficult and time consuming for a leader to get essential, timely, accurate information from an SME (subject matter expert) in another department. Information is persistently needed, but doesn't flow in an accurate and timely way. What helps? Be sure your team chartering process builds the right cross-functional team at the outset. Identify all influencers and build the communication channels and relationships early so they are functional in the many crunch times. If there is an individual who is a persistent barrier to info flow, confront them to resolve and get creative to gain cooperation. Escalate the effort as necessary. Teams focused on extraordinary accomplishment need a Senior Exec sponsor who can, when necessary, be called on to break communication log jams.
2. Decision paralysis.
Chain of command and egos get in the way of good decisions being made quickly at the correct level. This is frequently a trust and control issue. Accountability and authority don't match up. What helps? If you are a senior leader and expect a subordinate leader to make it happen, then get clear on the expected outcome, agree on the principles and parameters and the unique and infrequent situations when you must be involved in a decision. Then, get out of the way and let this smart competent leader you hired make it happen. Don't micromanage and that includes not second guessing his/her decisions. Remember a primary role of a leader is to grow other leaders.
3. Unanticipated derailers.
Contingencies are not anticipated and when something goes south or an assumption proves inaccurate, the team loses excessive time and momentum. What helps? Make it a habit to challenge assumptions and build some contingency for the ones that are softest. Build a flexible team with the ability to move quickly as circumstances change.
4. Competing confusing priorities.
The assignments are made. There is a team of good people. The extraordinary accomplishment that is supposed to be the outcome is a primary accountability for one person and at varying points on the priority list of other team members. Cross-functional teams are the essential norm in most cases. Overload is also the norm in most organizations. "Just do it," "Make it happen," are fine and good, and that's what high performing leaders do. What helps? If you are the executive sponsor, you may need to get real and change/clarify priorities. You may need to run interference with your exec level peers to ensure the right energy and involvement from across the organization.
5. Ambiguity causes the chicken without a head syndrome.
To progress on an extraordinary accomplishment, significant decisions have to be made with the best available data. Frequently, that data is not as much as you would like. Some leaders are good at gut level decisions; some freak out without a wealth of adequate data. What helps? Be deliberate and realistic about what decisions absolutely require more data and which don't. Where is the risk too high to make a decision on gut feel (i.e. big health & safety issues) and when will you take your best shot and move on?
6. Calculated optimism v calculated pessimism.
There are always self-appointed soap box criers of doom. The folks that focus on all the reasons why we are going to fail. The problem here is that they are sometimes people with significant skill needed for success. These folks like to describe what failure will look like in preparation for being able to say, "I told you so." What helps? Recognize that they may require more finesse than a simple trip to the woodshed because their engagement and contribution is essential. Calculated optimism and the overwhelming viral passion of the top dog is the power that keeps the dream alive. Keep energy and passion visible, active and profound and celebrate incremental successes.
You're a leader, the one in charge, the place where the buck stops. Here are a few questions for a look in the mirror.
Lagniappe - A little something extra and $100 from Route 2 to a worthy charity
This is the second month in a row that I have not gotten extraordinary service anywhere. What's up? We are happy to make a donation to a charity of your choice in exchange for your story of extraordinary service you have experienced. Here's how it works. Send us the story. Include the name of the person who delivered the service and the charity that you would like to receive the donation. We will send both the service provider and their boss acknowledgement of the outstanding service and the contribution. |
