Week 6 – Organizational Culture ● Organizational culture: The basic pattern of shared values and assumptions governing the way employees within an organization think about and act on problems and opportunities ○ Why it matters ■ Culture drives performance ■ Culture drives employee satisfaction and retention ● Elements of organizational culture ○ Surface artifacts of organizational culture ■ Physical structures ■ Language ■ Rituals and Ceremonies ■ Stories and legend ○ Deeper elements of organizational culture ■ Shared values ■ Shared assumptions ● Organizational socialization: the process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization ○ This process takes place over time - according to research 6-12 months (in a 9-5) ● Organizational culture strength: determined by how widely and deeply employees hold the company’s dominant values and assumptions ○ An organization has a strong culture if: ■ Most employees understand and embrace the culture ■ It is institutionalized through artificact ■ It is long lasting - may originate with founders ○ Benefits ■ Social control ■ Social glue ■ Improves sense-making ● Psychological safety: members of highly successful teams and organizations all say that they feel comfortable sharing their honest ideas and taking risks ○ For companies, this is also known as having a learning orientation ● Benefits (according to edmonson) ○ Preventing errors: both mistakes and “near-misses” are reported ○ Creativity and innovation: people don’t feel compelled to “fit in” ○ Inclusion: everyone has a voice, even when they lack power ● How to create a psychologically safe environment ○ 1. Encourage open discussion - questions should effectively invite opposing viewpoints ○ 2. Suggest a bad ideas brainstorm - this takes the pressure off and allows team members to be silly and adventurous ○ 3. Ask clarifying questions (to make it okay for others to do the same) - when members use acronyms or jargon, ask them to explain (and avoid using it yourself) ○ 4. Use generative language - respond to suggestions with “let's try it!” or “building on that idea…” ● ● Course Content: “Is it safe to speak up at work?” ○ What is it like working for a team/organization with “psychological danger”? ○ According to the podcast, you might experience ■ Reluctance to acknowledge bad news or concerns ■ Fear of punishment for having dissenting opinions ■ Leaders need to give anonymous surveys to get the truth ○ How to build psychological safety ■ Acknowledge your own fallibility (and appreciate those who point it out) ■ Ask people to raise concerns (repeatedly!) ■ Show respect and earn trust by working WITH others (leading by doing so) ○ Benefits of psychological safety ■ Preventing errors – In the absence of psychological safety, people hide their mistakes to protect themselves ■ Creativity and Innovation – Creativity thrives when ideas are shared. Innovation depends on varied expertise ■ Inclusion – In a place with a sense of belonging workers feel encouraged to speak up; leaders have to create such an environment Course Content: “Psychological safety is the most important element in any successful team” ○ Authors laid out 5 statements - rank on a scale of one (strongly disagree) to seven (strongly agree) for the following: ■ If I make a mistake on my team, it is often held against me. ■ Members of my team are able to bring up problems and tough issues. ■ It is safe to take a risk on this team. ■ It is difficult to ask other members of this team for help. ■ Working with members of this team, my unique skills and talents are valued and utilized. ○ Steps to further psychological safety: ■ For individuals ● Encourage open discussion. ○ Questions should effectively invite opposing viewpoints. ● Suggest a bad ideas brainstorm ○ Takes off pressure, allows members to be silly ● Ask clarifying questions ● Use generative language ○ Respond with “let's try it” etc ■ For leaders ● Create team agreements ○ Ground rules on how to treat one another ● Ask your team how you can help ○ As leader that is your responsibility ● Balance activities with communication ○ Incorporate time to discuss feelings and needs ● Ask questions to get on a deeper level ○ Say "When you think of your childhood, what meal comes to mind and why?" rather than “What is your favorite food?” Week 7 – Decision-Making ● Decision Making: the conscious process of making choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs ● Three key steps in decision-making: ○ 1. Problem Identification ■ Challenges: ● Influence from others ‘frames the situation’ ● Coping mechanisms block out negative information ● Mental models limit opportunities for new perspectives ● Faulty diagnostic skills (decisive leaders, solution-focused framing) ○ 2. Making the decision ■ Challenges: ● We are influenced by moods and emotions: they affect our vigilance, risk aversion, etc. ○ In panic mode, we tend to jump to the closest viable option ● We get paralyzed by choice: Decision makers are less likely to many any decision at all as the number of options increases (even if these options are good) ● We experience anticipatory regret: the distress felt about making a bad decision before the decision is made ○ 3. Evaluating the decision ■ Models of decision making: ● Concurring: everyone fully agrees to the decision ● Majority rules: take a vote, and then the majority wins regardless of the strength of those opposed ● Consensus: everyone is uncomfortable going forward and agrees not to block or undermine the decision even if they don’t fully agree ● How to make decisions more effectively ○ Be aware of cognitive, perceptual, and self-concept biases (and try to mitigate them) ○ Be aware of your mood and emotions ○ Cultivate psychological safety to enable everyone to speak up ○ Pause and revisit a decision later (before it’s too late!) ○ Separate the decision-making process from brainstorming ○ Create checks and balances in key roles: ■ Separate decision choosers from evaluators ■ Roles of “Critical evaluator: and “Devil’s Advocate” may help ○ Bonus tip: make important decisions earlier in the day/week – you’ll have more energy ● After Action Review (AAR) ○ Definition: a structured process for reflecting on action within the context of a task in order to create important knowledge that can be used to improve performance ○ Steps: ● ■ 1. Goal: What is the intent? ■ 2. Results: What happened? ■ 3. Lessons: Why were there differences between #1 and #2? ■ 4. Next steps: What can we do now? ○ It is not about discussion at the expense of action → It is about action! Course Content: Saving Fukushima ○ “Resilience Engineering”: an attitude of adapting oneself to the requirements of the moment ○ 4 necessary abilities: ■ 1. Learn: ability to learn from the past ■ 2. Respond: ability to respond to what is happening in the present ■ 3. Observe: observation skills to respond accurately/adequately ■ 4. Anticipate: foresight to know what will likely happen next ○ What made engineers successful ■ Cultural drive of dedication and responsibility ■ High degree of cooperation ■ Drilling those holes into buildings 5 and 6 is an example of how they harnessed their own resilience ● Anticipated that they needed to act ● Learned that drilling holes would relieve the pressure ● Responded by drilling holes with help of an outside contractor ● Monitored the situation the entire time ■ Human Element ● Dark-side is human error ● Bright side is resilience and flexibilities Week 8 – Effective Feedback ● Performance management “revolution” ○ Traditional performance reviews happen once a year and require managers to “force rank” employees ○ Now, US companies are replacing traditional annual performance reviews with continual & informal check-ins ○ Radical transparency means that even the CEO of Bridgewater can receive negative/critical emails ● Steps in giving meaningful feedback ○ 1) Set clear goals/expectations ■ What qualities and behaviors do you expect of a good teammate? ■ How will you measure performance against stated goals? ■ Remember to use SMART goals ○ 2) Evaluate performance ■ Measure teammate performance against set goals (this is why measurable goals are so important) ■ Evaluation should be based only on performance (potential and actual performance) ○ ● Traits are not objectively measurable ● Behaviors are MORE objectively measurable 3) Give and receive feedback ■ Use the Plus/Delta Model First, give plusses (+) ○ ● Next, give Deltas (-) Identify the good things people are doing Suggest changes that can improve performance Discuss how continuing these behaviors will benefit the team Discuss how changes will positively impact the team Focus on task and process contributions Focus on task and process contributions Use specific behavioral examples Use specific behavioral examples 4) Implement rewards/consequences ■ Celebrate and reward successes, high performance ■ Discuss challenges and create plan for corrective action ○ … and repeat Course Content: ‘The Secret to Giving Great Feedback” ○ 1. Start with the Micro-Yes ■ Cues the receiver that feedback is about to be given (a pacing tool) ■ Creates buy-in by giving the receiver autonomy ■ Example: “Do you have 5 minutes to talk about what happened in our last meeting?” ○ 2. Give a clear data point ■ Say what you saw/heard, and cut out “blur” words ■ Provide clear examples of behaviors you are addressing ■ Example: “You said you would have your section of our presentation completed by the meeting, but you didn’t have it ready in time.” ■ Example: “You came to the meeting with a lot of ideas for how to make our presentation more creative.” ○ 3. Show Impact ■ Explain/describe how the data point effected you ■ Example: “Because we didn’t have your section, the team had to spend time working onit instead of using the time in the meeting to put everything together, which means we are not as far along in the presentation as we wanted to be.” ■ Example: “Bringing your ideas made the meeting more productive and fun.” ○ 4. End with a question ■ Creates commitment to actions ■ Makes it a conversation vs. a monologue ■ Example: “How do you think we can avoid this for our next deliverable? ■ Example: “Is there a way I can support you next time?” ● Course Content: “Thanks for the feedback” ○ When improving feedback, two avenues to think about: ■ Setting up and executing around performance management systems ■ Helping people improve their feedback-giving skills → most important variable in determining the value of a performance conversation ○ A skillful receiver of feedback can achieve 3 important benefits: ■ 1. Take charge of your life-long learning ■ 2. Improve your relationships ■ 3. Reduce stress and anxiety ○ Why we reject feedback: ■ Truth triggers: recognizes that it’s natural to become upset, angry, frustrated, defeated, etc. ■ Relationship triggers: become aware of your “triggers” ■ Identity triggers: evaluate the feedback and its value ○ When to say no to feedback ■ Is the feedback about your character, or just your behavior? ■ Is the feedback unrelenting? ■ When do you change, is there always just one more demand? ■ Is the feedback served up as a ‘warning’ or a ‘threat’? Week 9 – Conflict Management ● What is conflict? ○ The process in which one party perceives that its interest are being opposed or negatively affected by another party ● Sources of Conflict ○ Incompatible goals ■ one party’s goals perceives to interfere with other’s goals ○ Differentiation ■ Different values/beliefs ○ Task Interdependence ■ Conflict increases with interdependence ■ Higher risk that parties interfere with each other ○ Scarce resources ■ Motivates competition for the resource ○ Ambiguous rules ■ Creates uncertainty, threatens goals ■ Without rules, people rely on politics ○ Communication problems ■ Increases stereotyping ■ Reduces motivation to communicate ■ Escalates conflict when arrogant ● Is conflict good or bad in organizations? Negative ● Positive Lower performance Better decision making Higher stress, dissatisfaction, and turnover Growth and change (individual & organization) Reduced information sharing Innovation and creativity Increased organizational politics Stronger team dynamics Wasted resources Clarified values and purpose Weaker team dynamics Improved relationship skills Understanding conflict-handling styles: the thomas kilmann model ○ The thomas-kilmann conflict handling mode instrument (TKI) results tell you what your preferred styles are ○ Why? Understanding your preferences helps you understand your behavioral tendencies in conflict and allows you to dial them up or combat them ○ It measures two domensions ■ Assertiveness (satisfy yourself) ■ Cooperativeness (stisfy others) ○ All styles have benefits and drawbacks: choosing one should depend on the situation ○ ○ Avoiding ■ Best when: ● conflict is emotionally-charged (relationship conflict) ● conflict resolution is higher than benefits ■ Drawbacks: ● doesn’t resolve conflict, causes frustration Competing/Forcing ■ ● Best when: ● accompanied by a deep conviction about the position ● Quick resolution required ● The other party would take advantage of cooperation ■ Drawbacks: ● Can result in relationship conflict ● Can disempower the other party ○ Accomodating/Yielding: ■ Best when: ● Other party has more power ● Issue is much less important to you than other party ● The value or logic of your position is imperfect ■ Drawbacks: ● Increases other’s expectations of “winning” ● Imperfect solution ○ Compromising ■ Best when: ● Parties have equal power ● Quick solution is required ● Parties lack trust or openness ■ Drawbacks: ● Sub-optimal solution where mutual gains are possible ● Dissatisfaction with outcome in the long term (both parties) ○ Collaborating/Problem Solving ■ Best when: ● Interest are not perfectly opposing ● Parties have trust and openness ● Issues are complex ■ Drawbacks: ● Time-consuming ● Information sharing increases other’s power ○ In general: In conflict, analyze the situation, then act ■ Weight the relationship against your desired outcomes ■ Select the best approach for the situation The Balance of Team Conflict ● ● ● How to diffuse team conflict: other ideas ○ Talk privately with the parties involved ○ Give both parties a chance to have their voice heard ○ Emphasize superordinate/common goals ○ Align values and beliefs where possible ○ Encourage perspective-taking ○ If necessary, create temporary (or permanent distance) between parties ○ Carefully structure task and roles ○ Clarify rules and procedures (and norms) ○ Check in with each other! Note: each of these strategies involves actively addressing the conflict Course Content: How to Preempt Team Conflict ○ 1. LOOK – Spotting the differences ■ Help team members reflect on how they intend to come across and how they actually do ■ Goal: avoid negative preconceptions and develop more productive relationships ○ 2. ACT – Misjudging behavior ■ Set expectations on how colleagues should help one another, member engagement, levels of assertiveness ■ Goal: prevent selective aid-giving to peers and establish team norms around all these behaviors to avoid unnecessary antagonism ○ 3. SPEAK – Dividing by language ■ Different native language, different senses of humor, interruptions, etc. can cause misunderstandings and conflict ■ Goal: Clear discussion on how much candor is appropriate to establish clear guidelines about speaking up and pushing back on others ○ 4. THINK – Occupying different mindsets ■ Different approaches to problem-solving and decision-making ■ Rotate leadership in a team to match the different mindsets to the needs of the team ■ Goal: Members learn to understand the value of different approaches ○ ● 5. FEEL – Charting Emotions ■ Early discussions on the risks of venting but also the danger of bottling things up ■ The tendency to signial irritation or discontent indirectly (e.g. sarcasm) can be just as destructive as intimation or emotional outbursts ■ Goal: address the causes of disengagement directly through open inquiry and debate and come up with ways to disagree productively Benefits of anticipating conflict before it becomes too destructive: ○ Greater participation ○ Improved creativity ○ Smarter decision-making Week 10 – Power and Office Politics ● Definition of Power: the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others. ○ Power is the ability of an actor A to change the behavior of an actor B ● Sources of Power ○ 1. Individual differences → personal power ■ Expert Power: capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that they value ■ Referent power: capacity to influence others through identification with and respect for the power holder ● People are drawn to and influenced by those whom they like ● Personal characteristics and behaviors drive whether people like/identify with you or not ○ 2. Connections ■ Relational power (Network/Alliances) ● Derived from our connections (networks, alliances) with others ● Networks are pipes through which information and resources can flow AND networks are prisms that signal things to others ○ 3. Context/environment → positional power ■ Legitimate power: the agreement that people in specific positions can request behaviors from others ● When used, the person being influenced often feels obligated to obey the person in authority ○ The influencer also often feels they have a right to use this authority ■ Reward Power ● Control rewards valued by others, remove negative sanctions ● Rewards can include extrinsic or intrinsic rewards ● Relationship rewards → e.g. between parent & child, boss & employee, teammates ■ Coercive Power ● Opposite of reward power ● Based on the ability to cause fear and/or apple punishment ● Influencing others – any behavior that attempt to alter another person’s attitudes or behavior ● ● ● ● ○ Applies one or more power bases ○ Essential activity in organizations to coordinate, lead, and engage with others The Power Paradox ○ Power is given to us by others, rather than grabbed ○ Power is maintained through a focus on others ○ What are ways to do this? ■ Balance between: ● 1) the gratification of your own desires ● 2) focus on other people ○ The seductions of power induce us to lose the very skills that enabled us to gain power in the first place ○ When we undermine our own power, we can cause others to feel threatened and devalued ○ Powerlessness ■ Amplifies one’s sensitivity to threat ■ Hyperactivates stress response and cortisol ■ Damages the brain Organizational politics are present in every workplace ○ Politics is the use of power to: ■ 1) achieve a goal ■ 2) excerpt influence, or ■ 3) gain more power Course Content: “Why avoiding office politics could hurt you more than you know” ○ Key takeaway: developing skills to be positively politically savvy can significantly help your career ○ 4 skills to develop: ■ 1) social astuteness: become a good observer of relationships around you ■ 2) interpersonal influence: determine who gets things done in your organization ■ 3) networking ability: build stronger relationships with influential people ■ 4) sincerity: connect with warmth and build trust ○ Erin Burt: “Every workplace has an intricate system of power, and you can – and should – work it ethically to your best advantage” Course Content: How we Gain and Lose Influence ○ Power is given to us by others ■ We gain power by acting in ways that improve the lives of other people in our social networks – power is granted to us by others ■ The pursuit of a good reputation is central to social life – one’s reputation marks one’s capacity for power and provides a check against potential abuse ○ What to do with power ■ Handling the power paradox means a balance between gratification of one’s own desires and a focus on other people ● I.e. via the 4 social practices: empathizing, giving, expressing gratitude and telling stories ○ Abuses of power ■ Power is not just the capacity to influence others, it is also a sense of mind ● ■ The feeling of having power is a rush of expectancy, confidence, agency and purpose Heart of the power paradox: the seductions of power induce us to lose the very skills that enables us to gain power in the first place ● When we feel powerful, we can easily rationalize unethical decisions, e.g. rudeness, sexual affairs, arrogance Week 11 – Leading People and Organizations ● Emotional intelligence (EI) is considered an important leadership competency ○ Definition: a set of abilities to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate oneself and others ○ Key components of EQ: ■ Ability to read others ■ Ability to respond to other’s emotions ● 5 components of emotional intelligence at work ○ 1) self-awareness ■ Ability ro recognize & fully understand your moods, emotions, and drives, and their effect on others ○ 2) self-regulation ■ Ability to control & redirect disruptive impulses and moods, and to suspend judgment ○ 3) motivation ■ The desire to work for reasons beyond money & status, expression of passion, and optimism ○ 4) empathy ■ Understanding & sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts and situations of others ○ 5) social skill ■ Managing relationships & building networks, an ability to find common ground and build rapport ● DANVA: diagnostic analysis of nonverbal accuracy ○ Developed by professors at emory university (Nowicki & Duke) ○ Research based on the DANVA tells us: ■ Expressing and reading emotions are related ■ Women tend to be more skilled than men at reading emotions ■ Most skills improve with age ■ Personality affects skill ■ Skills affect relationship success ■ Family environment affects skill ● How leaders behave: Goleman’s 6 Leadership Styles ○ 1) Commanding (coercive) – demands immediate compliance ■ Best when: in a crisis/emergency, with problem employees ■ Climate impact: negative ■ E.g. “Do it because I say so” ■ Characteristics ○ ○ ○ ● Gives directive ● Doesn’t ask for input ● Constantly monitors ● Emphasizes consequences of errors ● Gives (negative) corrective feedback 2) Pacesetting – expect excellence and self-direction ■ Best when: quick results needed from competent, motivated team ■ Destroys climate and low morale – workers feel overwhelmed by demands for excellence ■ Work becomes a matter of second-guessing what the leader wants ■ Climate impact: negative ■ E.g. “Do it my way” ■ Characteristics ● Exemplifies high performance ● Shows others how to do things ● Obsessive about doings things faster/better ● Little sympathy for underperformers 3) Authoritative – mobilize people toward a vision ■ Best when: times of change, new vision is needed ■ Climate impact: positive ■ Maximizes commitment to organizational goals ■ Standards for successes are clear – single criterion is whether or not performance furthers the vision ■ Can undermine egalitarian spirit of effective teams ■ E.g. “come with me” ■ Characteristics: ● Communicates a vision ● Sells the vision ● Solicits perspectives on the vision ● Makes sure others align themselves with the vision ● Uses positive/negative methods to motivate 4) Affiliative – create emotional bonds and harmony ■ Best when: team rifts occur, stressful times, teams need motivation ■ Climate impact: positive ■ Flexibility rises – people have the freedom to do their job in the way they think is most effective ■ High sense of recognition and reward ■ When people need clear direction, this style leaves them rudderless ■ E.g. “People first, task second” ■ Characteristics: ● Places more emphasis on individuals ● Shared emotional challenges (appropriately) ● Rewards personal characteristics/behaviors ● Cares for others ○ ● 5) Democratic – build consensus through participation ■ Best when: need buy in, or input from employees is valuable ■ Leader builds trust, respect and commitment ■ Drives up flexibility and responsibility ■ Approach can leave people feeling confused and leaderless, can even escalate conflict ■ Climate impact: positive ■ E.g. “let’s decide together” ■ Characteristics: ● Values consensus ● Invites others to make decisions about work ● Rewards adequate performance ● Avoids negative feedback/punishment ○ 6) Coaching – develop people for the future ■ Best when: employees need improvement or development ■ Climate impact: positive ■ Helps employees identify their own strengths and weaknesses and establish long-term development goals ■ Does not work when employees are resistant to learning or changing their ways ■ E.g. “let me help you improve” ■ Characteristics ● Helps others identify strengths/weaknesses ● Provides support, challenge, and feedback ● Focuses on long-term development ● Helps employees develop strategies for improvement ○ Takeaway: ■ The different styles of leadership in goleman’s article leverage emotional intelligence competencies in different ways ■ Able leaders can switch between different leadership styles when the situation requires it ● Style doesnt have to be directly linked to personality (though some will feel more comfortable than others) What great leaders do – “the leadership challenge” ○ 1) Model the way ■ Setting an example ■ Achieving small wins ○ 2) inspire a shared vision ■ Envisioning the future ■ Enlisting others ○ 3) challenge the process ■ Searching fro challenging opportunities ■ Experimenting & taking risks ○ 4) enable others to act ■ Fostering collaboration ● ● ■ Strengthening others ○ 5) encourage the heart ■ Recognize individual contributions ■ Celebrating team accomplishments Course Content: The Brilliant Success of Shackelton’s Failure ○ Shackelton created routine, including not only duty rosters that rotated every week, but also forced socialization. ○ When Endurance is getting crushed by ice, he very carefully orchestrates who will be with whom in the tents trying to put the most important influencers of morale together and the doubters in his tent ○ The lesson is, and it's vital for our time, is that leaders, particularly when things are volatile, have to show up in service to the mission ■ So the fact that Shackleton appeared confident, focused the men's thoughts and vision on what was ahead, that is, we've got to get home now, that's our job and we will ○ “Calculated empathy” ■ When one man would start to flag and Shackleton would notice his energy declining, he would order up hot milk for all the men around him, including that man without ever identifying who the person he was worried about was. ○ Shackelton not only felt responsible for his men but also for the initiating event that caused the crisis ■ what the leader does in this case, he focuses or she focuses not so much on what is the most comfortable for me, she or he focuses on what is best for the team ■ Similar to the way in which climate change should be communicated Course Content: “Leadership that gets results” ○ Six key factors that influence an organization's working environment ■ 1. flexibility - how free employees feel to innovate unencumbered by red tape ■ 2. their sense of responsibility to the organization ■ 3. the level of standards that people set ■ 4. the sense of accuracy about performance feedback and aptness of rewards ■ 5. the clarity people have about mission and values ■ 6. the level of commitment to a common purpose
