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Month November 2008

Entries 4 Total

Why total “professional transparency” doesn’t work – yet.

Nov 24, ’08 8:23 PM

“Being transparent” is a phrase most commonly discussed in interpersonal relationships. Let me share an excerpt from a book entitled “Getting Real” which describes this concept:

“Self-disclosure, synonymous with being transparent, is the ability to reveal to another person what you have done or what you are sensing, feeling, thinking, or saying to yourself at the moment. When you share your thoughts, sensations, feelings, even your judgments “in the interest of transparency,” you are less apt to get caught up in the illusion of control. […] Letting yourself be seen by others is also an important aid to seeing yourself more honestly. It is harder to fool yourself when you are going public about who you are.”

The theory behind total professional transparency is essentially to share information about one’s professional life to allow them to grow even faster.

One major goal of being professionally transparent is to allow colleagues and future colleagues access to information they wouldn’t normally have. For example, performance reviews are not shared with large audiences because of their confidential nature. If I was allowed to share this information, however, colleagues can gain a glimpse into my professional work experience, how my performance was summarized for each time period, and how my performance changes over time.

In theory, my relationship with my colleagues can improve through a common understanding of my professional history, strengths and development opportunities. In addition, future employers can benefit from having greater insight into my past experience. In either case, my professional development can increase that much more rapidly through this common understanding. This is the ultimate goal in sharing this information and being completely professionally transparent.

One major problem with being completely transparent in one’s professional life is that there is a risk that people will misinterpret what is being shared.

This, of course, is understandable and grounded in reality. Having enough context to understand another person’s professional life and experience is extremely difficult. Because of this, the reader is left to form their own opinions about what is being conveyed. Depending upon the objectivity of the reader, feedback can be interpreted as negative or positive.

Perceptions aside, companies are torn between sharing confidential information and allowing associates to be professionally transparent.

For better or worse, companies are forced to protect themselves when it comes to managing their labor pool. That being said, more and more companies are working to expand their transparency efforts by encouraging open dialogue and communication among associates and management, particularly with a goal of improving associate performance. However, they are indeed torn between providing unrestricted sharing of information and protecting their own interests.

In addition, not all companies are equipped to provide useful and grounded feedback for employees.

Each company is different, and many do not follow a formal review process. I am fortunate in that my experiences over the past several years have offered me the opportunity to be involved with such a process.

Having complete transparency in one’s professional life, therefore, may not be realistic at this stage. But, one can still employ useful constructs to become closer to this goal.

Being transparent means that one does not have to worry about presenting a front that masks their development opportunities. Masking / hiding development opportunities can work for a period of time, but they will ultimately surface. By not sharing this information in advance, time that could have been spent further improving is unfortunately wasted.

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Why values are a key component for success.

Nov 23, ’08 2:20 PM

Earlier this year, I came to a realization that I didn’t have a clear sense of where I was heading – both on a professional and perhaps personal level. After much research and thought, I realized that I did not have a solid understanding of my values, and because of this, my ability to make clear decisions about my future was limited.

While I do not recall the exact source, I found the following excerpt to be very enlightening:

“Research shows that high performance and high productivity are frequently linked to people who work in concert with their values. Some people find that the older they become the harder it is to work or to live when they are out of harmony with their values. Choosing organizations and positions in sync with your values assures both productivity and happiness. Being out of sync can result in sickness, depression, anger, and a sense of disappointment or discontentedness.”

Knowing your values makes it easier to formulate career and development choices. It also facilitates decision-making outside the workplace.

Because there are numerous values from which to choose (here’s a good starting list: http://www.gurusoftware.com/GuruNet/Personal/Topics/Values.htm), it’s important that one take considerable time to narrow down this list into a reasonable “top ten” (or five). One suggestion is that you list all available values and then continuously refine the list by removing ones you don’t feel are “core” to your being.

Once you have the list at a reasonable number, you can then ask yourself – if I could only choose one value, would this be it? By using this type of comparison scheme, you can finalize your “core” values.

If you take the time to pay attention to your values and what’s ultimately important to you, you will find that success is inevitable and you will gain greater enjoyment on the journey.

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“Designers Anonymous”

Nov 21, ’08 2:10 AM

The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) publishes a quarterly magazine entitled “Innovation”. In the Spring 2008 issue, Craig Badke and Stuart Walker contributed an article entitled “Designers Anonymous” which compares Western society’s consumerism with that of an addiction. After reading this article, I was able to uncover additional insights which I’ll share here.

By making a comparison with the twelve-step program found at the core of Alcoholics Anonymous (which addresses the cause of the problem, not its symptoms), the authors present a similarly structured program for both designers and consumers that encourage sustainable design and purchasing behaviors.

As it is with every addiction, people will need more of what they are getting, or something new to satisfy their desire. With fewer resources at our disposal and an ever-increasing focus on the environment and our planet, I believe that we’ll eventually reach a tipping point where consumers will come to realize that their purchasing behaviors ultimately impact the environment, and are temporarily satisfying a need that could be fulfilled through other (positive) means.

Because the vast majority of consumerism is driven by credit, credit card companies and other lenders can start moving towards a business foundation in which sustainability is an underlying goal. Today, these companies are focused primarily on providing the customer access to credit based upon their needs. This may not be enough for the long-term.

In the future, I believe it’s the lenders responsibility to provide the customer with a “model of sustainability” that can perhaps alter their spending habits for the benefit of the planet.

A similar “model” exists today in the fast-food industry. Think about how traditional fast-food establishments are making incremental changes for the health benefits of its consumers. By providing customers with clear nutritional information about each of their products, they are providing a “model of health” that was unheard of five years ago.

Due to the pervasiveness of fast-food in today’s society, companies such as McDonald’s were “required” to make necessary changes in order to adapt to growing demand for healthy eating choices. Consumer credit is just as pervasive, which is why I believe that lenders will eventually have to promote positive change.

However, this is not to suggest that consumers do not have a responsibility to fulfill.

While following a twelve-step program is a bit extreme and perhaps “prescriptive” (to use the authors’ words), I believe that eventually all consumers will need to pay close attention to what they are buying and decide whether their purchases are truly adding value to their lives at the expense of the environment.

I believe a fair number of consumers are more aware of the impact they have on the planet and are taking steps to make appropriate corrections. Replacing traditional light bulbs with CFCs, and increasing recycling efforts are good practices in themselves, but omit many other aspects of true sustainability – including the core social impact.

Today, most companies are unable to (either due to lack of knowledge, or desire) provide consumers with a true impact assessment of what it took to produce their product and deliver it to the consumer. Likewise, most consumers do not have the knowledge yet to think about these factors, nor are they necessarily ready to alter their lifestyle even if this information was presented to them.

Given this information, I believe there are numerous opportunities in the sustainability arena. Here are a select few which I think may be of interest:

  • Think more about the “twelve-step” program concept and employ its use in other areas – i.e. use it to focus on the cause of a given problem and less about the actual symptoms.
  • Employ the use of “models” that truly add value to the customer’s life in the long-term, and encourage companies to build strategies around this mindset.
  • When working with lending companies, encourage them to re-invent themselves for the long-term benefit of the planet by promoting better purchasing decisions through a “model of sustainability”.
  • Take sustainability to the next level by utilizing and implementing sustainability frameworks (e.g. Environmental Footprint, Cradle to Cradle, and LCA (Life-cycle Assessment)) in companies who may be unfamiliar with these frameworks and require expertise to integrate them into a long-term sustainability strategy.
  • Think about sustainability as a never-ending goal and remind companies that implementing small changes over time can make a significant impact over the long-term. Short-term (incremental) solutions do not have to be perfect.
  • Encourage greater transparency with customers – especially in this area. By being transparent, customers are more likely to be accepting (at least temporarily) of a company’s current flaws and are likely to remain customers over the long-term (assuming steps to correct these problems are made). From a sustainability perspective, providing information about how products are manufactured, and clearly displaying their “sustainability” label are two good examples. Treat customers as business partners.
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Design Sketching.

Nov 21, ’08 2:01 AM

When looking for new ID books online, I stumbled upon a book entitled “Design Sketching” and decided to purchase it. The book, written by Erik Olofsson and Klara Sjolen, is an incredible compilation of product and transportation design sketches created by students at the Umea Institute of Design in Sweden.

The book starts with the basics – using line weight for object emphasis and placement, perspective, etc. – and then proceeds through numerous examples highlighting key aspects of each sketch.

A simply incredible text – one I highly recommend.

http://www.designsketching.com

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