© 2012 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

What was so special about Burnetta? The fact that she aspired to do great things with the talents she had been given – and that she insisted that others do the same. Even when you didn’t think you could do something, if Burnetta thought you could, she pushed you until you did it. Speaking for myself, those experiences were not always pleasant: Burnetta pushed really hard when she thought you were holding back on living up to your ability. My observation is that she usually was right: you really could do it.

And that was another thing about Burnetta: it seemed she frequently did things she wasn’t “supposed” to be doing. At her funeral, one of her closest friends said, “Little black girls from the projects in Memphis weren’t supposed to earn degrees from Yale and MIT. They weren’t supposed to grow up to be the Vice President and Treasurer of a Fortune 500 company.” But that was Burnetta – following her aspirations rather than allowing others to limit them.

Because Burnetta was an intensely private person, few people knew the extent to which she devoted her time, energy, resources, and connections to helping others, particularly young women, live up to their talents. The various pieces of her life were revealed during the services and the funeral that followed her death, as family, friends, and colleagues came together to celebrate her life. The stories that people shared were like richly colored threads that, when woven together, enabled us to see the beautiful tapestry that was Burnetta’s life.

So what is Burnetta’s legacy, that which should be passed on to every person, and especially to every young person? For me, it can be summarized in three words: expectations, choices, and focus. These are the things that I believe drove Burnetta to achieve her aspirations, and to help others achieve theirs.

Expectations: Burnetta set the bar very high for herself and for others. She constantly pushed those around her to excel, even when we didn’t want to or believe we could. If Burnetta believed you could do something, she was relentless in pushing you to do it, even when it meant going far out of your comfort zone. The lessons learned, however, were priceless, as people walked away knowing they were much better than they had suspected. But Burnetta knew – and she wanted YOU to know also.

Choices: In retrospect, I think Burnetta epitomized the lesson articulated by Viktor Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning. That is, no matter how dire the circumstances in which we find ourselves, human beings ALWAYS have a choice: we get to choose how we experience any given situation. We can choose to be victims and live in a state of victimhood, or we can make healthy choices that allow us to survive and thrive. Burnetta chose to follow her aspirations, and to guide others to do the same.

Focus: Like radar locked on its target, Burnetta was relentless in pursuing her goals and the tasks in front of her. If you were in her line of sight, you were lucky – even though you often didn’t feel that way in the moment – because she would turn that focus on you. Whatever the obstacles, they didn’t stand a chance: Burnetta always found a way to get what she wanted. And in so doing, she inspired others to do the same.

One of the biggest lessons I take from Burnetta’s life is that it was at least as much about others as it was about her. Personal success and accomplishments weren’t enough for her: she had to bring others along with her. Her life is a testament to the point made in the newspaper article: while not everyone can follow Michael Jordan’s path to success, everyone is capable of following Burnetta’s.

The question is, what can YOU do to be like Burnetta? And how can you help others be like her as well?

© 2011 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

I am a “geek” for digital art and I don’t care who says what about it. It is a natural extension of my creative education, my talents and professional experience, in both photography and information systems. To be able to combine these in creative ways is a thrill of a lifetime.

By using digital photographic techniques and automated tools in new ways, I am exploring and refining new creative territory. The power of computers allows me to take risks; push the edge of current art forms, while maintaining the respect for the essence and guidelines of traditional photography and fine art.

I have dubbed the new art form “refacimento,” (pronounced ree-FATCH-i-men-toe.) The term was first used by William Safire, in On Language, NY Times Magazine, 02-15-09, and is defined as “the radical refashioning of a work of art, often by computer.”

First, I observe what is in the world and construct an original, objective photograph. Then I take the photographic image into my computer and hands, as an artist; and the subjective magic begins. Thus, by constructing a photograph, then deconstructing and reconstructing it using technology, I am enhancing the human experience of the objective scene and magnifying the natural art. The subjective enriches the objective. The camera and computer technology are my tools, much like the watercolors, or oils of the painter. See my web site for samples of my work.

But not everyone is convinced that what I do is art, because, they say, there is a machine (the computer) involved. However, if we take a look at history, we see that Claude Monet and Pierre August Renoir both used dabs and dashes to create many of their masterpieces. George Seurat came along and developed a system which reduced the dabs to dots. Paul Klee, in the 1930’s used a grid of muted colors; over which he painted a mosaic of shapes of 5 centimeters along one dimension; and then added what he called the linear elements. He likened each element of his paintings to a theme in polyphonic musical composition. Polyphony, he said, was “the simultaneity of several independent themes.” We could say that Klee actually created the first pixels, because that is what pixels allow us to do; they allow us to look, with great specificity and depth, at the reality behind the art. Then, using various computer tools, we can change that reality to suit our individual artistic expression.

But, is my effusive declaration, “Follow Your Bliss” enough to help you apply creative tools in your professional life?

I say it is. For, by nature, we are creative creatures. It is that creativity that facilitates our survival….in life, in business and in art. I took to my cutting-edge endeavor out of a desire to combine my skills and life-long interests. You can do the same.

Make two lists. The first contains those things that you have always had an interest in or wanted to do, but never got around to; the second contains those skills that you currently possess that have been your bread and butter.

Now, spend various pieces of time (it usually takes more than one) exploring how you can cross-match items between the two. Can you do the accounting for a belly-dancing society? Handle the interviewing and hiring for the rodeo? Volunteer to do marketing for a local theater company?

By combining your business skills with your avocational interests, you can pave the way for a transition to doing only the fun things, either as a vocation, or as a retirement interest. This method lets you test the waters before making a big break for something you’ve dreamed about, but perhaps may not actually like when you try it.

And you’ll discover other things that you hadn’t expected. This cross-match thinking will help you look at other situations from new perspectives and allow you to create solutions where none were occurring.

__________________________
Copyright, 2011, H. Gay Allen

To sum up, a true merit pay system works poorly in most organizations, if it exists at all. In unionized settings, including those in public sector organizations, merit pay is seldom seen. While a great concept, merit pay mostly does not live up to expectations.

One of the elements of Organizational Renaissance™ is establishing a norm of self-care. In this video we explain why self-care is critical to organizational success, and we offer five specific suggestions to help you get started in improving your own level of self-care. Let me know what you think!

© 2011 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

Why is taking care of oneself so important? The analogy I use to answer this question is one that’s familiar to anyone who travels by commercial airline. During the pre-flight instructions, passengers are told that in the event of an emergency, they must put on their own oxygen masks first before trying to assist others. While most work environments don’t qualify as “emergency” settings, the lesson is relevant here: if you are gasping for breath (literally or figuratively) and/or losing consciousness, you cannot possibly help anyone, including yourself.

With this point in mind, the workshop focused heavily on self-care as a pre-requisite to being able to lead others effectively. In fact, we identified and discussed 31 tools and practices for self-care. With a nod to the multiple 11s in today’s date (11/11/11), here are 11 of those suggestions. For those who are interested in learning more about these concepts and/or in seeing examples, there are links to some of my articles that provide more details.

1. Watch your self-talk: is it life-affirming or energy draining? The way we talk to ourselves (and others) creates our reality, which is key to being able to choose how to experience the situations in which we find ourselves. You may find examples of affirmative self-talk in my article Transformative Self-talk.

2. Paint a picture of how you want to live your life, and use it as a touchstone for making personal and professional decisions.

3. Surround yourself with people who infuse your life with positive energy.

4. Distinguish clearly and realistically between things you can control and things you can’t. Focus on the former and release the latter. An easy exercise you can use to make that distinction is described in my article Begin to Take Control of the Quality of Your Life. Suggestions about how to release people and things that no longer serve you well, or that you cannot control, are provided in my article How to Release Things You Cannot Control.

5. Focus on your strengths and talents, not on your shortcomings.

6. Make a conscious choice about how you will experience each day by identifying one perspective you intend to take. Using the statement, “Today I choose to ___,” fill in the blank with one intention such as “feel compassion for myself,” “accept myself for who I am,” “be inspired by those around me,” or “feel worthy.” You may find a long list of suggested transformative choices in my article Transformative Choices: What’s on YOUR “To Do” List?

7. Attending to all aspects of your being – physical, mental, emotional, spiritual – enables you to ensure you are addressing all the important elements that go into self-care. Just as organizations use a balanced scorecard format to ensure they are measuring all important aspects of their business, so individuals can devise a personal scorecard to keep their self-care on track. You may find an explanation and example of such a tool in my article Creating Balance in Your Personal Life: What’s in YOUR Personal Scorecard?

8. Look for opportunities in every situation rather than obstacles.

9. Be kind to yourself. Imagine your best friend is in your situation. What would you do to support and nurture him/her? Do those things for yourself.

10. Reward yourself on a regular basis. You may find suggestions about how to do this in my article How to Optimize Your Personal Rewards/Recognition ROI.

11. Zealously guard your time. One tool that works exceptionally well in putting things in perspective is a simple question. Ask yourself, “Am I the only person in the world who can do X?” Most the time the answer is “no.” When that’s the case, delegate X (the task) to someone else.

As a leader, you have tremendous responsibility, and often are expected to produce results even in the face of challenging situations. You will be best equipped to rise up to meet those expectations when you take care of yourself first, then teach others to do the same. I invite you to choose just one of the above self-care suggestions and incorporate it into your life. Isn’t improving the quality of your life worth that effort?

© 2011 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

I can relate to all of the above. At different times in my multi-career life, I have experienced all of those scenarios – and more. Those situations and environments are terribly draining – and usually unnecessary. But if you don’t know what to do to break out of them, they can bring you down physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. The good news is that there are practical ways to minimize those feelings of struggle in the workplace – and in life.

Recently I read an article about personal relationships that described how one couple refuses to experience the day-to-day differences and disappointments that are part of married life as struggles. Instead, they have chosen to work through the rocky times with humor or laughter instead of with resentment or negativity.

Since reducing one’s struggles in life sounded good to me, I wondered how to apply that suggestion to the workplace. Although humor and laughter certainly may reduce tension and provide some relief from one’s feelings of struggle, they may not work for everyone, or be appropriate in every situation. So here are a dozen other suggestions for actions or attitudes you can take or adopt that will help to reduce your struggles in the workplace:

1. Presume others’ good intent, even when history shows it’s not always justified

2. Approach people and ideas with a sense of curiosity instead of judgment

3. Embrace challenges as opportunities rather than view them as obstacles

4. Ask how things could work instead of looking for ways they won’t work

5. Make “imperfect success” your standard, rather than perfection

6. Check your ego at the door

7. See the “glass” as half full instead of as half empty

Which of the above approaches resonates the most with you? I challenge you to find just one that you think with work for you, and give it a try. You might just improve the quality of your life dramatically by reducing your struggles!

© 2011 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

First, generational differences are only one type of difference; the workplace is rife with others. Leaders must educate themselves about other kinds of differences as well. Second, and more important, focusing on differences, whatever their source, is unproductive at best, and destructive at worst. Here are eight reasons why this is true:

1. Differences foster an “us vs. them” mentality, dividing people rather than enabling them to collaborate and work productively.

2. Differences often encourage distrust, which cripples collaboration and productivity.

3. Differences generally are based on traits that cannot be changed – e.g., age, race, gender, ethnicity – and that usually are irrelevant to the task at hand.

4. Focusing on differences doesn’t allow people to see what they have in common or to discover what they can learn from one another.

5. Making employment-related decisions based on some of these differences is illegal in the U.S. – not to mention that doing so is a bad management practice.

6. Focusing on differences emphasizes what WON’T or DOESN’T work rather than on what DOES work.

7. When we seek differences, we find them. Too often, forward momentum then comes to a screeching halt.

8. Differences often are seen and treated as obstacles to success instead of as enablers of greater outcomes.

Would you want to work in an environment with those characteristics? What if, instead of focusing on differences, leaders kept the spotlight on what people have in common? Here are just a few of the reasons why emphasizing how we are alike makes good business sense:

1. Changing the question from “How are we different?” to “How can we be successful together?” opens the door to entirely new and actionable answers.

2. Commonalities allow people to move forward by focusing on opportunities instead of on obstacles.

3. When we seek opportunities we will find them, which means the sky becomes the limit. While we won’t always reach the stars, we will get much closer to them than if we had set our aspirations much lower.

4. Differences among people are not going away, so sticking your head in the sand won’t change things.

5. Commonalities “seasoned” with differences create immense learning opportunities and unleash creativity and innovation.

6. The emphasis is on what WILL or COULD work.

7. Emphasizing commonalities opens the door to the best of all worlds, allowing us to move forward by learning, adapting, and growing as individuals and as organizations.

8. Commonalities are seen as enablers – of action, creativity, innovation, collaboration, and knowledge sharing.

While it’s important to learn about what makes people different so we can understand others’ perspectives, it would be a mistake to dwell on those differences. Consider what a difference it would make in the work environment if leaders emphasized what’s common across human beings – i.e., that people generally want to succeed, to be respected and feel valued, to be part of something bigger than themselves, and to enjoy what they do. Imagine what could happen in YOUR organization if people focused on what unites them rather than on what divides them. In which environment would your employees be most productive, engaged, and committed? The choice is yours. What will it be?

© 2011 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

By “political budget cutting” I mean a process in which politicians and administrators resort to ineffective resource allocation tactics such as engaging in “proportionate sharing” or choosing to retain programs and services that are popular with constituents but non-essential, instead of setting priorities and making the tough decisions that they were elected or hired to make. One reason why the proportionate sharing tactic is ineffective is that it lumps essential and non-essential services in the same basket, and subjects them to the same percentage cuts without considering the fact that providing public safety and infrastructure are the only reasons government exists, whereas things like staging parades or providing pretty hand-printed proclamations to constituents are not core government functions. If public safety is, in fact, the top priority of a city or county government, then why do those whose job it is to allocate resources treat it exactly the same as they treat services that clearly do not represent life and death matters?

I am not ignoring the fact that public safety costs represent a major component of many, if not most, local government budgets. There is no question that the levels of fire and police pensions have become unsustainable in many areas. (At the same time, let’s not forget that when pensions are negotiated through a collective bargaining process, as most are, both parties have to agree to the terms and conditions of the contract. Public sector employees are not the “bad guys” simply because they accepted the very generous pension and benefits terms their politicians offered them.) It is clear that unsustainable public sector pensions must be addressed. More immediately, however, let’s focus on how we can ensure that public safety is treated as the top priority by politicians who must cut budgets, rather than as collateral damage.

Everyone has a role to play to ensure that public safety is treated as a top priority rather than becoming collateral damage. Here are a few suggestions:

Fire departments and police departments:
- Educate the public and decision-makers about what you do, how you do it, and most importantly, the impact your actions and choices have on public safety. Things that are obvious or second nature to you because your training is in the fire service or law enforcement are not on the public’s, or too often the politicians’, radar screens. You have a moral responsibility to educate people on the likely consequences of actions that affect public safety. Don’t make them find out through experience. And don’t allow politicians to hide behind the excuse that they didn’t know what the consequences would be.

- Educate your stakeholders in ways that are personally meaningful. By that I mean, describe to them specifically what the impact on public safety will be if a given service is taken away, or delayed, or partially provided, or reduced in quality. For example, one of the proposals in Long Beach is to reduce the number of firefighters on engines from four to three. Some people seem to think that this is a reasonable to response to budget cuts in tough times. Those are also the people who have no idea how that change affects public safety. Citing dozens of studies that show why this idea has a serious negative impact on safety is not helpful in making your case. Instead, explain the likely consequences in personal terms so people can “get” it. Few people know that if they are trapped in a burning house and an engine with only three firefighters arrives on scene, federal law prohibits those first responders from entering the house until a fourth person shows up. It’s your job to tell them.

Politicians and administrators:
- Instead of focusing primarily cutting dollars, begin by deciding what level of public safety you choose to provide to the community. To do otherwise is to shirk your responsibility and put the public in jeopardy. Articulate that decision clearly to the public. Tell your law enforcement and fire service managers what you want the public safety “picture” to look like, and let them inform you what resources are required.

- If the necessary resources are not available, ask your public safety experts for options that come with clear explanations of each one’s impact on public safety. For example, how is “actionable” response time affected by each option? (By “actionable” response time I mean the amount of time it takes for officers or firefighters or medical personnel to arrive and take immediate, effective action to resolve the emergency, not merely the amount of time it takes for them to arrive on scene and wait for additional personnel and/or equipment.)

- If you SAY that public safety is your top priority, make sure your decisions and your actions match your words.

- Prioritize the services you choose to provide given the available budget. I am NOT advocating that public safety comprise 100% of the budget – far from it. Quality of life is an important issue that should be considered in the mix. The question is, where should it rank on the list of priorities relative to public safety?

The public:
- Lean about what public safety providers do to keep us safe, what changes are being proposed, and how those changes will impact the safety of our communities.

- Consider the big picture. Times are tough, and government isn’t able to afford all the “nice to have” services it has provided in the past. Decide where public safety should be on the list of priorities.

- Ask questions – of public safety officials and of politicians and administrators. Engage in constructive dialogue with others in the community.

- Let’s not forget that politicians are in office because a majority of those who voted cast ballots for them. It’s up to us to speak up and tell them what level of public safety we want and are willing to pay for.

- Become active advocates for what we believe, and back up our beliefs by voting for politicians whose actions match their words. If they are acting out of personal interest rather than out of the community’s interest, it’s up to us to hold them accountable and vote them out of office. Otherwise we are enabling their “me first” behaviors.

The bottom line is that public safety is everyone’s business. We all have a stake in ensuring that our communities are safe, and each one of us has a role to play. When any one party abdicates its role, especially in times of extraordinarily tight budgets, public safety is in danger of going from top priority to collateral damage. It’s up to all of us.

What will YOU do?

© 2011 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

More than a dozen years ago a friend introduced me to a relatively new concept called appreciative inquiry. It has changed my life dramatically, as well as the lives of individuals and organizations who have adopted this framework. And it is a critical component of organizational success.

Very simply, appreciative inquiry (AI) is a framework for viewing the world. Instead of seeing the proverbial glass as half empty, AI practitioners perceive it as half full. Rather than focusing on fixing or solving “the problem” in a given situation, we begin by identifying what we did well or right, and we build on those successes. The fact is that human beings gravitate toward people and things that give us life and energize us, and we move away from people and things that suck the energy out of us. Using a storytelling process with carefully chosen questions, AI enables us to identify our strengths and past successes, which collectively provide a strong foundation for the future. We look at what we have done WELL, and we use those elements as building blocks to co-create our desired future. AI has been used successfully all over the world by individuals, small and large organizations, societies, international organizations, and the military. Personally I have used an appreciative approach to help clients develop strategy, identify goals, re-direct the behavior of dysfunctional teams, resolve conflicts, and create positive work environments.

Without having experienced or observed an appreciative process or culture, it’s impossible to fully grasp its tremendous power to unleash an infectious creativity and energy among those who experience it. Let me give you a quick example. In 2009, I was asked to help a non-profit organization develop a business strategy. The recession was just becoming evident, and the Executive Director and Board members were worried that they would not be able to obtain the resources necessary to sustain their work during the difficult days that were sure to come. When they arrived for the strategy session, the question they wanted to focus on was, “How can we keep the lights on and the doors open?” That was the WRONG question. Instead, we re-framed the question to be, “How can we build a world free from domestic abuse, and empower families to create that world for themselves?” During the session, I had the participants interview each other using questions that specifically addressed their past successes and their dreams for the organization. By identifying the common themes and using them as the basis for creating a common “big picture” for the organization, we developed a strategy that literally was breakthrough – and a far cry from merely keeping the lights on! During our follow-up session in 2011 to fine-tune that strategy, the Board was able to report remarkable progress in realizing the organization’s dream.

The point is that when leaders create an appreciate environment in which they and their employees can be creative and expansive, the sky literally is the limit. Why? Because we find the things that we seek. If we look for positive, life-affirming elements in the organization, we will find them. By the same token, asking negative questions will lead us to unproductive, energy draining answers. The fact is that the questions we ask determine the direction in which people look for answers. We get to choose which questions to ask, and as a result, the direction in which our organizations will go.

It’s not necessary to undertake a major change initiative to realize the transformative power of appreciative inquiry. To the contrary: you can create an appreciate workplace in short order simply by asking purposeful, positive questions every day – and teaching others to do the same. If you’d like some examples, my article Transformative Questions for the Workplace lists twenty general appreciative questions. Given that the failure to create an appreciative environment shortchanges all organizational stakeholders, isn’t it worth investing a few minutes of your time to discover how you can accelerate your organization’s success by adopting an appreciative view of the world?

If you would like to learn more about this transformative framework, I invite you to request a free copy of my Special Report on Appreciative Inquiry. Then let us know how you can use this remarkable technique to accelerate your organization’s success!

© 2011 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved