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“CEO job No. 1,  is setting, micro-nourishing — one day, one hour, one minute at a time — an effective people-truly-first, innovate-or-die, excellence-or-bust corporate culture.”  – Tom Peters

Author’s note: The Core Masterclass is a virtually delivered course — focusing on the elements that contribute to a strong work life foundation. It includes curated readings, targeted exercises and construct-specific behavioral guides. More information available here.

An organization’s ability to respond effectively in a time of crisis is paramount. Yet, this critical marker is not one that can be summoned on demand. The elements that should be present, only develop with care & time. One form of strength that may contribute to an effective response, is an organization’s level of “core stability”. Core stability, in a sense, is the foundation required to function effectively. This foundation includes vital elements such as communication channels and resource allocation systems — elements necessary to counter-balance an onslaught of challenge & change.

In times of stress, we cannot expect to draw against an internal core that has been woefully neglected. Working with organizations after the 2008 financial crisis revealed this, but only in retrospect. If core strength had not been a focus, it was lacking — and this limited an organization’s power to respond.

Sadly, this can become quickly evident.

Following this thread, I thought it appropriate to share a few articles from the The Core Masterclass reading list. (The course focuses on the elements that contribute to core stability.) If you read my work regularly, you are likely familiar with my stance on the the need for stability, for people and teams. This list explores this notion.

While the elements that contribute to organizational core stability vs. individual core stability (for example psychological safety, etc.) are somewhat different — they work together to build productive work environments.

Happy reading. Hoping you discover a useful chord.

1. A Blinding Flash of the Obvious, Theodore Kinni, Insights by Stanford Business.
2. How the Growth Outliers Do It, Rita Gunther McGrath, HBR.
3. The Best Strategic Leaders Balance Agility & Consistency, John Coleman, HBR.
4. If You Want Engaged Employees, Offer Them Stability. Marla Gottschalk, HBR.
5. To Make a Change at Work, Tell Yourself a Different Story, Monique Valcour and John McNulty, HBR.

More about The Core Philosophy™ here.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist who focuses on empowering work through the development of a strong foundation. She is a charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program. Her thoughts on work life have appeared in various outlets including the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo, Forbes, Quartz and The Huffington Post.

 

The Core File is a brief, weekly post about work & organizations. It is designed to offer food for thought for your week.To ensure you don’t miss an installment — subscribe by email on the right sidebar.

Quote of the Week“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Teddy Roosevelt.

Thought of the Week
Our fight with a silent enemy, has overtaken nearly every thought and conversation over the past weeks. The decisions made now, hold incredible weight. For many organizations, the strategies adopted during this crisis, could serve as the deciding factor regarding their future.

In meetings, our discussions have turned to “war games”, suspended work, monitoring employee well-being and evaluating how to tread water until the world makes sense again.

As a psychologist, I am concerned about so many things — including slipping toward feelings of helplessness. This can occur when our locus of control is drawn away from us, and toward the external forces that we cannot affect. Only feelings of self-efficacy can help resolve this state. Of course, most of us are not in the position to craft policy or speed the development game-changing measures. Yet, we can meet the situation where it stands — and help in our own way.

This means helping others with the tools we have at our disposal: our knowledge, training and experience.

Make a difference in any way you can. Some brief reading material below.

What to Read

• Locus of Control and Your Life, Kendra Cherry, VeryWell Mind.
• What is Self-Efficacy Theory in Psychology, Courtney Ackerman, MSc, Postive Psychology.

Strategy of the Week: Do What You Can
First of all, take a deep breath. Clear your mind. Grab a notebook. Then respond to the following prompts:

• What can I do right now, in this situation that might prove useful?
• What knowledge, training or experiences can I bring to the problem?
• What audience would benefit most?
• How can I reach my audience?

Now go.
Whether you help 1 person or 1000 — makes no difference.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist who focuses on bringing core stability to people and organizations. She is a charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program. Her thoughts on work life have appeared in various outlets including the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo, Forbes, Quartz and The Huffington Post.

 

I couldn’t think of a better time to remind ourselves of the potential link between resource constraints and innovation. The challenges facing organizations (in multiple sectors) during this crisis, are ominous. Yet, the environment still requires us to develop critical solutions that can impact how we deliver vital goods/services. Interestingly, resource shortages can spur innovation.

We are forced at look at what we do differently, when the game changes.

The paradox: Innovation can already be out there, yet we are unaware of it. There may already be solutions practiced by those on the front lines — those who are closest to the work. Yet the broader organization is unaware of these actions.

This is an important time to gather ideas and “hacks” that have already been applied (and are working). This should be a pressing priority.

A few thoughts:

• Your employees = expertise. This mindset is fundamental. Those doing the work have intimate knowledge of the existing challenges. Moreover, employees independently solve problems on their own and may have discovered a “Jugaad“, a simple or frugal work-around or hack. Others may have already improvised solutions to a more complicated problem as a temporary fix — one that could be improved and used more widely.
• Don’t overlook less-established employees. Those newer to your organization bring a different perspective concerning the way things are done. Promote a level of psychological safety that encourages everyone to contribute. Reach out to them. Remain open. Ask them, “What do you see, that I may not see?”.
• Consider adjacent input. Those who work with you, can also help you innovate. Seek help from the functions that contribute to getting the work done. Consider adjacency, as an immediate source of potential ideas.
• Utilize your company’s intranet as a lifeline . Recast your intranet — your internal communication mechanism — as your innovation platform. If your past “war game” scenarios have revealed weaknesses in delivering vital goods or services, gather ideas immediately — before the crisis is in full force.
• Post challenges as they develop. Let your employees know about growing issues that require their attention. Post current challenges plainly to the entire organization of possible. This will be ever-evolving.

Hoping this helps. Leave your ideas below. You could help another organization serve others.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. She is a charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program. Her thoughts on work life have appeared in various outlets including the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo, Forbes, Quartz and The Huffington Post.

 

 

Have you ever considered stepping away from something you love? A task that you previously enjoyed — but in the present not as much? A team? A role? An organization?

I realize the question may seem counter-intuitive. Why would we ever consider doing that? Yet, in reality this is precisely what may need to happen.

Most of us deliver value to our clients or customers because we love our work and are committed to progress. However, loving an element of your work life is not synonymous with a vaccine against burnout. In fact, it may leave you somewhat vulnerable. (Writing always checked this box on my side. But that process no longer fed my work life core as it once had. Looking back on the impasse, I hovered near “burnout” for quite some time before deciding to scale back.)

What does burnout look like? How does it present? It’s not as if it sends a note, letting you know of its arrival — and know that crossing into that territory is often undetected. However, there are clear signs that we’ve arrived: Apathy, where there was once passion. Anxiety, where there was previously anticipation. Exhaustion. Dread.

Stepping away or slowing down may be needed.
This will serve you longer-term — helping you to re-engage more productively with your work.

What I’ve learned:

1. When to stop isn’t discussed. We are offered an abundance of advice about how to start something. How to do more. Deliver more value in less time. Be more. Yet there is not nearly enough discussion about when and how (and why) we should walk away. We conveniently forget that remaining productive over the long-haul requires balance & rest.

2. Don’t wait for a savoir. Know this: It is unlikely that someone will approach you to say, “Stop what you are doing well, you seem mentally exhausted.”  You must play the governor of your own psychological resources. Monitor feelings of hope, self-efficacy, resilience and optimism. Pay attention if one has fallen precipitously.

3. Restructure/re-imagine your work. Becoming inflexible concerning how you contribute can become an issue, when we focus on one thing. When we pigeon-hole our contribution into a single form — we can become very, very weary. We fail to explore modifications that might support our energy level.

4. We cannot ignore evolution. When people do something reasonably well — we naturally assume we should continue. We also assume that we will remain motivated indefinitely. That’s not always the case. As contributors, our needs and motivation can subtly shift.

We cannot always step away completely from important aspects of our work. Yet, we can acknowledge how we feel about them. I encourage you take a step back and take the temperature. Explore the options. Talk with someone about how you feel — and brainstorm solutions.

Is there is an aspect of your work life that you no longer enjoy, in the way you once had?

Note to syndicated news outlets: Sharing articles from this site without the express permission of the author is forbidden.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. She is a charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program. Her thoughts on work life have appeared in various outlets including the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo, Forbes, Quartz and The Huffington Post.

Quotes of the Week

“The conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work.” – Agha Hasan Abedi

“Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.” – Paul Hawken.

Thought of the Week

We measure many things regarding work life. Engagement and workplace culture come to mind. We may tire of the topics, but the problem isn’t that we measure these things. The problem is that we measure these things — and do little with the information.

Strengths fall into this category.

We practice a somewhat lazy view of strengths.

That is never our intention, yet this is often the outcome. We spend considerable time and money identifying/measuring strengths, but then we essentially ignore the information. Life gets busy. Deadlines need to be met. Yet the practice of exploring — then ignoring strengths — can bring a certain frustration.

Why did we bother? It is a questionable strategy that makes little sense. People have a inherent drive to be their best selves and do great work. If we’ve got the keys to potential success, why not use them?

Yet, we proceed to throw challenging work at individual contributors who cannot possibly excel — or we under-utilize high performers with work that cannot possibly energize them. We’ve either broken the spirit of a less established employee or de-motivated the high performer who could spend their time in a more valuable way.

The bottom line is that the work needs to be completed. But at what cost? It is important to consider the psychological resources of the team while doing so. These resources provide internal stability within your team. Resources the team will need to utilize during times of stress or challenge. Resources that provide energy.

The Strategy: Value Litmus Test

Take the time to as ask the following 2 questions:

1. Where would the skills and abilities of X, bring the most value to the team?
2. Would X, find that assignment meaningful or fulfilling?

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The Core File is a brief, weekly post about work & organizations. It is designed to offer food for thought for your work week.

To ensure you don’t miss an installment — subscribe by email on the right sidebar.

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” – Henry David Thoreau

The problem with “innovation” as a leading organizational goal isn’t only semantics. Indeed, many are weary of the mention and what that word now brings to mind. We should also consider dialing the pressure down — and redirecting the emphasis toward ideas vs. innovation. Taking the time to create language that helps innovation feel  more approachable, seems a wise idea. (Read that discussion here.)

However, there is more much more to this.

Innovation can be unachievable because the chemistry isn’t fully developed. More specifically, we ignore the psychological foundations necessary to support innovation. For example, innovation self-limits if psychological safety isn’t present. All the ingredients must be present.

You can explore this ingredient within your own team.

How does your team really feel about risk-taking? Sharing an idea before it is perfected?

These are good indicators of your team’s chances to innovate.

The Strategy: Goal + Obstacle Method.

• Know that self-efficacy is built by doing.
• Know that self-efficacy is also built by moving toward goals + solving obstacles.
  
• Yes, you should focus on your goal.
• But, also acknowledge your most pressing distraction or obstacle.
• Complete one action a day to address both.
• So — gather two opinions. Read two articles. One for each.
  
• Adjust your actions accordingly.

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The Core File is a brief, weekly post about work & organizations. It is designed to offer food for thought for your work week.

To ensure you don’t miss an installment — subscribe by email on the right sidebar.

 

 

 

Strategies that may help us move forward can be worth their weight in gold.

However rest assured, I’ll put that strategy through its paces before I apply it to my own life. I’ve often wondered about manifesting and the LOA (Law of Attraction). But, to tell the truth — not enough to take up its practice. I thought I would finally jot down my thoughts concerning why this is the case.

We should always take a closer look at the advice we are offered. You should break things down and explore how the steps might really work. Where manifesting is concerned, it starts off on the right foot — but then veers off in a worrisome direction. It is easy to understand its allure. (In a sea of self-care trends it does appear to embrace positivity.) But, while it purports to offer help when life or work become challenging — it falls woefully short in the efficacy department.

That is a serious problem.

Here are my specific concerns with the idea manifesting. You may or may not agree with my reasoning. (You can read more on the topic here.)

Problem #1. For an idea to hold water, “the proof” so to speak, “lies in the pudding.” To improve our lives I believe that “doing” — actual behavioral change — is necessary. Indeed, thoughts are the starting point of change. Yet, thoughts are never the complete story when we desire progress. We cannot simply wish for things to develop. We have to act. Without a behavioral plan of action, false hope can follow.

We must act to change our lives. Only our behaviors can truly accomplish this.

Problem #2. Let’s consider the underlying premise of manifesting. When our thoughts are unleashed into the universe, they somehow create more of the same energy. Logically, this leads me to ask questions such as: “Will my negative thoughts concerning my difficult client, bring more of the same toward me?” or “Did a new client prospect ghost me because my vibrational energy was low and broadcasted my concerns?” Essentially, this line of reasoning implies that whatever you put out there thought-wise, the universe magically (and inexplicably) slaps it back into your face. That shifts the power away from us.

Manifesting shifts power into the great unknown. It professes to offer control, but actually hands off that control to an entity outside of ourselves.

Problem #3. Let’s consider, what all of this implies about emotions that are not positive. Are we also saying that negative feelings are worthless? That they should be stomped out and ignored? I hold the firm belief that all emotions tell us something vital. That our nagging “inner-speak” is alerting us to the work that needs to be done — and this work might bring our work lives into alignment.

We can acknowledge what is wrong, yet challenge its impact upon our future.

Weighing in on the side of manifesting, I do know that hope matters. Hope leads us to try again and again, to reach for the goals that matter to us.

However, while we might fulfill the much needed “hope criterion” with manifesting, we must also take things one step further and build self-efficacy through deliberate action. That builds confidence. Which hopefully leads us to act in a way that supports our goals.

Manifest that.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. She is a charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program. Her thoughts on work life have appeared in various outlets including the Harvard Business Review, Talent Zoo, Forbes, Quartz and The Huffington Post.

 

We all engage in goal setting.

Historically, we do more of this as we approach the New Year.

I like to look at resolutions as wolf-like goals, but in sheep’s clothing. They are every bit as challenging to accomplish; perhaps even more so, because they are often vague, unstructured and have limited context. As we’ve discussed previously, goals can help or hurt us — depending on their inherent ability to energize us. As a workplace strategist, I’ve incessantly advised clients to refine or even lose goals that no longer serve them. Why? Goals can actually let us down and fail to direct our behavior in a meaningful way.

Resolutions often fall prey to this same malaise. So, I’m wondering — can we craft resolutions that are better for us?

One promising strategy, is to apply what we already know about positive psychology to the process. With roots in humanistic psychology, positive psychology theorizes that we have the power to re-frame our life experiences to help us become more positive and productive.

Goals & resolutions could stand some re-framing right now. So, let’s pull that thread & throw in something potentially useful.

Consider the following passage:

“Positive psychology is…a call for psychological science and practice to be as concerned with strength as with weakness; as interested in building the best things in life as in repairing the worst; and as concerned with making the lives of normal people fulfilling as with healing pathology,” – Christopher Peterson

We could re-cast resolutions (and goals in general) with a nod toward what has gone right and not wrong. As we look toward the future, we might recognize what has worked over the past year — taking the time to remind ourselves of what we have accomplished. To acknowledge all of the positive steps we have forged, even if the end-state has not been reached. This might provide the fuel that we need to protect energy and build resilience.

So — ask yourself: What has brought you some measure of accomplishment recently? Have you overlooked some of the good? Have you cast a shadow over the small successes?

We should take a second look and consider that sustaining energy requires that we actively acknowledge all of our effort. That we acknowledge how small steps have power and can prove instrumental. That we make progress in ways that are often subtle, yet foundational.

Step 1.

Carefully consider a previous goal or resolution — and take a second look at what you have done to achieve it. (Offer yourself credit, for your efforts). If this is something new, skip to Step 2.

• Draft a list of all of the steps already taken.
• Do not apply a value judgement as grounds for inclusion.
• Be sure your list is complete. All steps are progress. No step too small.
• Now, what was obviously successful?
• What steps may not have been entirely successful, yet had real value, after a second look? Why?
• What have you learned from detours, failures or disappointments?
• How have you managed to actively recover and continue to move forward? (This is also a success.)
• How did the acquired knowledge in general, inform your journey?

Step 2

Write down your goal/resolution. Craft behaviorally-anchored steps for the future which build upon progress noted in Step 1. Be sure to integrate what you have learned from previous highs and lows. If this is a new goal or resolution, try to improve upon any broad sweeping statements such as “be healthier” or “beaming an influencer”. Be specific. Think of yourself actively engaging in goal-directed behavior.

• What have you already done to prepare for this new endeavor? (Give your self credit for: A shift in mindset, learning from your mistakes, etc.)
• What will you actually be doing to achieve this going forward?
• What are the specific steps you will take?
• Describe these steps . Verbs should figure prominently in your plan: reading, seeking, calling, contacting, developing, etc.
• Add specificity to every single action.
• Celebrate each step as it is accomplished,

For example, if your broader resolution is “becoming an influencer” — you should note all discrete steps that may contribute to success, applying the specificity rule. For example: ” I will submit 2 pitches a week, to these 4 media outlets for potential articles/posts.”

Consider the following as positive steps, which are often overlooked & are often uncredited.

• Communication Channels. Establishing information networks to support your journey (joining a group, seeking guidance from a professional, engaging with social media).
• Strategy preparation. Engaging with books, podcasts & articles to explore strategies.
• The Deep Work. Taking steps to shift your outlook or mindset to support your journey.
• The Everyday Work. Aligning your goal/resolution with specific habits or daily rituals.

Remember that progress is often synonymous with a collection of small steps — which occur with little fanfare. (I’ve lived this. In 2010, I made a resolution to establish myself as a work life write writer. It was pain-staking, but I tried to revel in the small successes along the way.)

It may be high time — to offer those steps the glory they deserve.

Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist and a charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program. Her Core Coaching Series — helps people & organizations build a stronger work life foundation. Her thoughts on work life have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, BBC Work Life, Quartz and The Huffington Post.