Amir Tabch

“May“ & “be“

One of my younger mentees, a recent college graduate, told me yesterday during our mentoring session that her boss never gives her a clear answer. My mentee's boss responds to all her questions with the single word “maybe.“ Her inquiry was regarding the meaning of “maybe“ in the business sector. This question didn't really catch me off guard, but it did get me thinking about all the words we use around the office that make us appear insecure or confuse our people. “Maybe“ is one example.

According to authors Kathy & Ross Petras, “maybe“ was written as two words — “may“ & “be“ — until the mid-19th century, indicating that it literally refers to something that might happen but might not. That’s pretty wishy-washy when a boss applies this to his or her own thoughts or proposals at work. The statement is ambiguous. Either they believe what they are discussing, or they do not.

According to Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist & tenured professor in the departments of neurobiology, psychiatry, & behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the word “maybe“ does not signify possibly in neurobiological terms. Huberman presents an illustration. You tell a child that we might have ice cream; they hear that we will have ice cream, & they anticipate it. Moreover, if you later say, “Well, we're not going to eat ice cream,“ & I said, “Maybe,“ the dopamine drop will be much more severe. Now, adults behave similarly. If we expect something to occur & it does not, we experience a significant drop in affect & emotionality. In linguistic terms, “maybe“ indicates possibly. However, in neurobiological terms, maybe this indicates the possibility of an even greater dopamine reward. Surprise is the one thing dopamine adores beyond all others.

Entrepreneurship expert Dan Sullivan, the founder of The Strategic Coach Inc. & creator of The Strategic Coach Program, designed the “yes-or-no attitude & capacity“ as opposed to the “maybe“ approach for entrepreneurs as salesmen, but it also applies to leadership. His recommendation is to cultivate the mindset & habit that always wanting a yes or a swift, clear no in any sales circumstance. You turn to the no for information that will improve your chances of getting a yes, the next time. & you fully avoid the perilous terrain of maybe. The most important thing about deciding to only accept a clear “yes“ or “no“ is that it takes courage. But with courage, your yes-or-no capability grows, & your confidence increases automatically. Even though what David says may not directly relate to the situation in which my mentee finds herself daily, it does demonstrate that a boss's lack of courage is generally validated by the “maybe“ area.

When a leader is making decisions or giving directions, it is important to convey confidence & certainty. Using the word “maybe“ (all the time) can undermine this confidence & make it difficult for others to follow or trust the leader.

#leadership

Bounce forward
 
When asked by a reporter if he was concerned about Evander Holyfield's fight plan, Mike Tyson responded, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.“ I believe this to be true in business as well. Adaptability to being punched in the face is a major measure of a company's ability to execute & survive.
 
Since the world of work is always changing, it makes sense that adaptability has become a soft skill that employers look for. 71% of the 1,500 executives from more than 90 countries surveyed by HBS in 2020 said that the most important quality of a leader is the ability to adapt. Furthermore, according to a McKinsey & Co. study from 2021, adaptable individuals were 24% more likely to be hired.
 
What does it mean to be adaptable? It means that regardless of the ecosystem you reside in or how it may change, you are able to evolve & grow to survive. Your physical & mental capabilities are molded & enhanced by your environment. Adaptability enables versatility & flexibility of both abilities & thoughts.
 
Adaptability isn’t just about surviving a change when it hits you—that’s resilience. Instead, experts say, to be truly adaptable, you need to be actively prepared for change, even advocate for it, & be consistently adding more capabilities to your repertoire so your skillset can meet emerging needs. “Resilience is about bouncing back,“ says Jacqueline Brassey, chief scientist at McKinsey & Co.’s People & Organizational Performance Practice. “Resilience is an important skill, of course, but it doesn’t move you along,“ says Brassey. In contrast, she explains, adaptability is about “bouncing forwards.“ “Adaptability means you’ve gone beyond simply enduring a challenge to thrive beyond it,“ she says. Often, being adaptable isn’t about responding to change, but being a proactive catalyst for it. An adaptable executive, for example, wouldn’t plan for what to do if their industry is disrupted; rather, they would actively evolve their company ahead of the curve, planning for change. An adaptable employee, on the other hand—a sales associate, for example—might preemptively eschew tried-and-true methods & instead experiment with new buyer-targeting technologies, learn different cold-call techniques, & develop themselves so when things shift, they’re ready. “Adaptability not only helps us avoid being overwhelmed, but it also helps us get creative & seize opportunities amidst the chaos,“ explains Brassey. As such, being adaptable allows you to stay calm in a crisis of change, meaning you’re less likely to take knee-jerk decisions. (Epstein, 2022)
 
The first step in making people more adaptable is for leaders to deal with change with grace, even though they tend to fall back on fear or easy answers. Leaders must enhance their own & their workers' well-being & modify their & their employees' relationships with change by cultivating adaptability as an evergreen skill.

#business #leadership #adaptability #management

A-F students
 
Since time immemorial, society has placed a disgustingly high shame on poor grades & a tremendous emphasis on excellent grades. Today's students have slipped into a cycle of grade-influenced attitudes. Schooling has become a demanding system in which learning is less important, passing has replaced learning, & grades have become a solitary goal.
 
According to researchers Jeffrey Schinske & Kimberly Tanner, grades were created in the 19th & 20th centuries to help organizations communicate. Schinske & Tanner note in their research that neither the development of a grading system nor its subsequent adjustments were done for student learning per se; grades have existed largely for institutions. (Marcolearning, 2018)
 
In his book, Drive, Daniel Pink argues that our current understanding of what truly motivates us is flawed. Often, we assume that the only way to motivate people to perform is through extrinsic motivation, or external rewards & punishments, as opposed to intrinsic motivation, or focusing on the desired action. If we apply Pink’s suppositions to the field of education, the objective of education should be learning; this is the desired result, not passing & getting good grades. Nonetheless, the system stigmatizes children based on their grades & mistakes.

Gerald E. Knesek, a former professor in the Management department at Eastern Michigan University who has taught for nearly four decades, constantly observed this paradigm in the classroom. The focus of students shifted from desirable behavior, & learning to the extrinsic motivator of grades (an intrinsic motivator). Students frequently refer to themselves in conversations as “A,“ “B,“ or “C“ students, & they experience a sense of shame when they receive low grades. When discussing their coursework, they utilize phrases such as “That class is an easy A,“ “It's difficult to earn a good mark in that subject,“ & “Don't take that class because it will wreck your GPA.“ When students inquire about assignments, quizzes, examinations, or absences, the inquiries are virtually invariably about points & grades. The most frequently asked question is “Can I earn additional credit to improve my grade?“ It is evident from this concentration on grades that there is no actual emphasis on learning, which is the aim of education. (Knesek, 2022)

Brian Greene, professor of physics & mathematics at Columbia University, argues that grades are garbage. Green says he cannot accept how we assess & evaluate students, with exam after exam, rather than checking if they're learning the ideas, if they can retain the information, & if they can do something with it. Students repeat on exams what they did on homework. Green says students need to be motivated by the excitement of learning. However, the educational system focuses excessively on grades, which are meaningless.
 
The desired outcome of school should be learning, not good grades.

#grades #learning #leadership #schooling

“For the strength of the pack is the wolf, & the strength of the wolf is the pack” ― Rudyard Kipling

Wolves are the epitome of collaborators; they recognize that cooperation helps the entire pack. We can all learn a thing or two from these magical creatures, especially around collaboration.

Wolves understand that the survival of the pack depends on teamwork & that the most effective way to get things done is to share the load. As you see, the existence of a wolf in the wild is far from simple. These animals undergo a daily struggle for existence as they patrol vast territories, hunt enormous & hazardous prey, endure severe conditions, & face the constant threat of illness, injury, & disease. It is conceivable for a lone wolf to successfully overcome these obstacles, but the chances of survival are boosted for wolves living in packs & operating as a team. In addition, packs function in a way that requires each member to contribute equally to the group's shared obligations. This method of cooperative living alleviates pressures not only on the pack leaders but on every family member. They recognize that success requires cooperation & that working together, rather than in isolation or competition, yields the best results. A 2017 study conducted by researchers at the Wolf Science Center at the University of Vienna illustrates this perfectly. The researchers engineered an experiment that required the wolves to pull ropes at the same time, at different ends of a tray, to get a treat. 5 of 7 wolf pairs succeeded. The experiment was replicated with dogs — only 1 out of the 8 dog pairs was successful. (Hearn, 2019)

Research across 300 organizations demonstrates that collaborative effort is often unevenly distributed. Only 3% to 5% of employees contribute 20% to 35% of value-added collaborations. (Cross, Rebele, & Grant, 2016). It turns out that when the majority of organizations seek to enhance cooperation, they approach it too narrowly: as a virtue to develop rather than a talent to teach. Therefore, they build open offices, promote collaboration as a corporate objective, & attempt to influence employees through other superficial ways that do not result in advancement. Companies that excel at collaboration, on the other hand, recognize that it requires fostering the proper mindset: general appreciation for colleagues' contributions, willingness to experiment with others' ideas, and awareness of how one's actions may affect teammates and results. Moreover, some companies have implemented initiatives to assist employees in developing these attitudes. In her research, Harvard Business School's Francesca Gino, has identified six types of training techniques used by such programs. They teach people to (1) listen, not talk; (2) practice empathy; (3) be comfortable giving and receiving feedback; (4) lead and follow; (5) speak with clarity and avoid abstractions; and (6) have win-win interactions. (Gino, 2019)

#teambuilding #business #teamwork #leadership