jdean3 - Tales of Transformation

What a fabulous American tradition we have in Thanksgiving.  Even without the benefit of a history lesson, we continue to enjoy the annual traditions of this week as families and/or friends gather together.  Given the difficult recessionary environment we’ve experienced this year, the time we have with each other is more precious than ever and a welcomed break for all.  Even if we aren’t lucky enough to have all our loved ones at a single location, we can be thankful for our relationships and share their happiness on this day of Thanksgiving.

Normally I despise the long lines, crowds and the hustle of airports, toll roads and shopping malls.  But there is something about the week of Thanksgiving that calls me to all of it with a totally different attitude.  For some reason the week of Thanksgiving is above & beyond my normal rules of engagement and I actually enjoy the chaos of the crowds. [Note:  to be honest, so is Christmas eve—to my wife’s dismay I have always shopped this night until the stores closed. Even without buying a thing!]

At the risk of stealing some of the thunder from a post not yet ready for consumption (the end of this months post “the upside of downturns”), we have much to be thankful for if we have friends or family members to share time with and reflect on how much value we add to each others lives.  Its a perfect opportunity to reflect on our priorities, our relationships, our goals and our good fortune to be amongst loved ones.

It is also a fabulous example of showing how much we benefit individually from focusing on others.  In the midst of our hurried schedules we have all been guilty of taking each other for granted and simply letting our memories suffice for good times.  This week can change all that –  for everyone who simply takes stock in those around them.  Listen to their stories and share your own.

As I normally say at least one thing in every post that allows someone to take issue (or provide an alternative point of view), I would also like to add that I hope you avoid talking about  argumentative topics on this day/week of gathering.  We’ve got plenty of time to hash out the polarizing views of politics or religion or whatever else is the one topic that seems to tip the scale to negativity at your party (sports are still ok to take sides).  Preserve the time for creating new memories that will last for years to come.

Finally, as is our family tradition, I hope more folks have the opportunity to verbalize (at least privately) how thankful they are for those around them.

To add to the embarrassment of my immediate family members who can’t get over the fact that I am experimenting with such a public forum (even if only 28 people are my beta readers until Jan 1st), I submit the following claims of what I’m most publicly thankful for this season:

• That we are all alive and relatively healthy (flu bug made its way around this month)
• That we have the ability to travel and gather some family members together (Oklahoma, here we come)
• That all three of our kids have a TERRIFIC school year going down (grades, friendships, relative class enjoyment)
• Moriah was chosen for school mascot, Nathan’s surprising interest in futuring, Alex “nailed” his last term at RIT
• Ford stock and share are going up for the first time in MANY, MANY years

Happy Thanksgiving week.

claim token 9T6C52EA69RQ

transition [trænˈzɪʃən] n : the period of time during which something changes from one state or stage to another

transformation [ˌtrænsfəˈmeɪʃən] n : the act of transforming or the state of being transformed (to alter or be altered radically in form, function, etc.)

I’ve caught myself on multiple occasions interchanging the terms “transition” and “transformation” when describing my intention to focus on specific topics in this blog.   Indeed, they are interchangeable for most of my purposes, but it does warrant some conversation.  In some respects, I use the term “transition” to represent softer changes than those implied by the term “transformation”.  I typically use the term transformation to reflect a “complete” turnabout or metamorphosis.

I believe life is FULL of transitions worthy of discussion.  Nothing seems constant except the inevitability of one transition after another…a constant state of transformation or some degree of fluidity. We often get use to many necessary transitions as they take time unfold:

• Childhood – Adolescence – Adulthood – Parenthood
• Social – Dating – Marriage
• Injury – Treatment – Healing – Recovery
• Grade School – Middle School – High School – College – Grad School

There are also multiple transitions we face with little or no stress (in hindsight, we often forget how stressful the moment was at the time).

• Meals, Sleep, Dressing
• Spring Cleaning, Seasonal decorating/clothing
• Daylight Savings Time
• Work days, Weekends, Holiday Schedules

There are clearly, however, a number of events or phases in life that can take us by surprise or force us to pause for reflection or make plans. These transitions (or transformations) are intentional, deliberate and usually require action (decision).

It is the transition that requires a decision that most interests me, although I will likely share some examples of transitions that I don’t believe required or were the result any particular decision point.  I hope the tales of transformation are as educational for readers as they are for the participants.

There are a number of transitions/transformations that I intend to include once we get officially started.  Some are deeply personal, some are simply professional or are stories I’ve gathered over time that have proven interesting.  You can be sure I will cover, at least, the following transformations/transitions in future posts:

• The Transformation of a COMPANY (ie Ford Motor Company)
• A new job…vs a new Career…vs a new assignment
• Transitions from Employee to Supervisor
• Retirement (assuming I keep blogging that long)
• Transformation of Religion
• Empty Nesting

I’ve been fortunate to have experienced more transitions in my life than I would care to list in a single post.  To be sure, I will focus on those transformations and transitions that have something of value for others (at least, in my opinion).

Note:  The real benefit of a blog is the ability to document a transition as it unfolds.  Transformations like the one Ford Motor Company has been undergoing for the past several years and will likely continue for several more, are especially unique to witness as it progresses.  I am hoping I stay true to my intention of honestly and accurately recording how it transpires from my own point of view.

A nudge for people like me.

Social media is a good thing for your professional development, growth of your company, engagement of your peers & employees & customers, better inter-company interaction and we all simply need to get on board.

If you are anything like me, you work hard.  You put way too much time into your career (at the expense of your spouse, children, family & friends) and dismiss social media as a waist of time for folks without something better to do.  If you are over 40 but not yet enjoying retirement, chances are you lean in that direction…if you have been in the automotive industry for the past 15+ years, you are overwhelmingly guilty.

I am amazed at the number of “marketers” that don’t even have a facebook account (or myspace, twitter, linkedin, etc) and refer to blogs like they are simply publications or channels for advertising.  Most simply miss the fact that it is the clearest direct line to consumers thoughts and beliefs that exists and without participating they are losing a tremendous opportunity to do more than just improve their exposure.

Plus, they are missing a fabulous way to stay (at least) partially connected to friends with very little effort…that they would otherwise not talk with for years.  It takes a bit of effort to get started…it takes a bit of courage to get over the additional “exposure”…but the rewards are certainly worth it.

The added benefit of actually learning to use these tools to branch out and meet others is the REAL value of this media that I am just learning about.

Jump in!  Try it yourself.

Note:  Forward this note of encourage through email or “snail mail” to someone you know that hasn’t yet joined the social media circle.  They aren’t likely to find it on this blog anyway.  I’m hoping that some of my reluctant nominees that are reading these “pre-posts” will get the hint.  

This story of transitions, will document several transformations at once.  It is blurry and confusing in the midst of such upheaval, but I am hoping more clarity unfolds as the story develops.  In the meantime, I will simply write what comes to mind.

——————

I made a rather bold accusation in an earlier post that one of the terrible by-products of a massive downsizing was the loss of passion in employees.  Indeed, many lifelong loyal employees at my own Company were walked out the door (or asked to leave) in a massive restructuring that extended throughout the entire automotive industry.  The survivors of this restructuring are struggling with how to re-engage.

Even those that remain in positions of leadership feel the lack of cohesion and synergy around them.  Remnants of our old culture mixed with the birth of a new culture not yet embedded make for a confusing environment to encourage true passion in your work.

Many simply won’t re-engage.  They are aggressively pursuing other interests and it is only a matter of time before they find something that will draw their attention.

Others, however, want to stay and make Ford the best automotive company in the world.  They just don’t know what or how to mentally and EMOTIONALLY reconnect at the same level they were previously.  We shouldn’t underestimate this huge leap of faith and courage that will be required to do so.

Our HR departments are now tasked with the monumental assignment of kick starting “employee engagement”.  How much will it cost to recapture your heart?

It is not a criticism of leadership or negative commentary on the decisions that were made during a painful restructuring.  It is a simple statement of a natural human phenomena of recovery.  In a traumatic event many people enter a period of shock.  It is a self defensive reaction that takes some time and attention to resolve.

Unfortunately, the easy answer of money won’t fix the issue of lack of passion or true engagement.  Sure, we would all like to have more money…it helps compensate for a lot of other things.  But even if you gave everyone a 20% pay raise (which would be a ridiculous move for a corporation), it would be a short lived improvement in satisfaction and ultimately no impact on real engagement or passion in employees.

We have to get back to the fundamentals of what makes people tick.  It’s about each individual and their own desire to feel wanted and connected.  Restoring their sense of value can be helped with pay raises…but their sense of feeling wanted and connected takes something else.

The obvious mandate is to provide a sense of purpose for everyone.  Restoring the health of the Company, hitting profit targets, sales targets, product & service targets are all worthy goals that every member of the team can aspire to improve and know how their contributions impact those results.  I believe this is hard work but most managers are skilled in helping employees know how their department or job impacts the goals of the organization.

The more difficult task, however is encouraging true engagement (or “passion” as I call it).  Employees can easily resign themselves to simply having a job.  They may be satisfied with their job (even rate it “completely satisfied” on internal surveys), happy with their surroundings, work-life balance and generally enjoy the relationships they have in the office.  They may even acknowledge a sense of purpose in what they do and perform their jobs competitively and typically in an acceptable manner (sometimes even much better).

To some inexperienced managers (or worse, those that don’t know the difference), they could feel their department was fully engaged.  Their employee satisfaction scores look really good….they don’t have visibly unhappy people walking around…they see people having fun at the water cooler.  They may have no reason to suspect their Company is being “shorted”.

A passionate employee is more likely to be less satisfied in this environment regardless of how they answer corporate surveys.  They see more potential for themselves, their Company, their teammates, etc..  They are often frustrated with limitations, bureaucracy or micro-management.  They are incredible assets to any Company that can harness their energy and unleash them in the right environment.

Fostering passion in employees is not a skill set that is universally developed in most corporations.  In fact, a manager that has the ability to spot passion and channel it effectively is rare.  To fully succeed in a globally competitive arena however, it is a requirement.

What would make you passionate about your job?  What would it take to make you the biggest ambassador in the history of your Company?  If they made a list of the most influential employees (in the eyes of consumers) would you be on the list or do you aspire to even be considered?  It’s a question that EVERY company needs to ask if they want sustainability.

You can’t Buy passion….you can only foster it.

At this morning’s opening of the AMA MRC conference, Sheryl Connelly, with the Global Consumer Trends and futuring for Ford Motor Company, discussed her role within Ford. Her job is to understand the world. She describes herself as the only person in the company who doesn’t concentrate on cars: instead, she looks at demographics, consumer trends and scenario planning. Ford follows a process to provide a broad view and diverse opinions. Ford tracks over 200 trends in a trend database and then rolls that up into ten major tends. She then educates the rest of the company on those trends.

Ford’s top trends:

• Aging population. The population is getting older, driven by: medical advances, active lifestyle, delayed marriage, delayed parenthood and declining fertility. What does the mean for Ford customers? Do you give up your car keys at 80 if you think you will live to be 102? This is significant in some markets (i.e., Japan) and not present in other markets (i.e., Russia).
• Changing physiology: Short and long term physical changes that accompany aging, affluence and urbanization. Important among these is the increase in obesity, especially childhood obesity:  even infant obesity is up 70% in 20 years.
• Consumer is King. Consumers have unlimited choice and options, making them more savvy and more demanding, driven by: globalization, market fragmentation, on demand, online auctions and word of mouth.
• Rising Power of Women. Women’s power growing around the globe as social, political and economic status rises. Key drivers: improved education, career opportunities, financial independence, and delayed marriage and parenthood. Women control 85% of household financial decisions.
• Ethical Consumption. Increasing concern over health, society and environment has consumers integrating ethical and religious beliefs into the purchase process. Key drivers: power of the Internet, rising trust in NGOs, butterfly effect (local scale, global impact), citizen groups and shifting accountability.
• Crisis of Confidence. Threats to financial security, health and personal safety has consumers feeling vulnerable. Examples of firms reacting to this: BofA’s Keep the Change program has brought in 2M new customers (6M accounts); Hyundai will make your car payments for three months if you lose your job (and now Ford will as well).
• Careful Consumption. The consumer “balances practicality with passion” and exercises self-discipline, thoroughness and deliberation.  Key drivers include the credit crunch and end of the era of excess.
• Safety & Security. Consumers seeking out reassurance of personal safety, security, health and wellness. Key drivers: new threats, mistrust in business and government, media, technological advances, demand for precision and perfection.
• Information Addiction. Consumers have become reliant on access to real-time information, giving them greater control, power and success. Key drivers: knowledge as status, infuentials, greater scrutiny, time poverty, just in time lifestyle.
• Information Overload. Too much information can be even more problematic than too little information. Key drivers: flogs and blogola, astroturfing (fake grassroots campaigns), Lonelygirl15, advertorials.

So what’s next? No one can predict the future. “I want the organization to never be surprised in our brightest dreams or our darkest nightmares.” Ford relies heavily on scenario planning to make sure that it is contemplating the actions required by these major trends.

Attempting a post from a video on Youtube.  The limitation of Flickr was 90 seconds only .  We’ll give this a trial.

OK.  This is a bit humorous, to say the least.  In the last 24 hours I have given a handful of my friends at work, facebook and Linkedin (which I’m new to using this summer) a chance to preview this “work in process” site and the response has been quite interesting.  It seems that while there a few friends who immediately jumped in with comments (THANK YOU!), the vast majority have sent me emails or called.

The general consensus (after getting over the shock of seeing what I’m doing) is supportive and it seems there are a number of “suggested topics” people are proposing.  So here is your chance.

Log in anonymously if you feel more comfortable, and list your suggested topic.  Then we can see if people agree with your suggestion or not over time (the little voting thumbs up or down next to each comment).

I’m not promising I’ll tackle the topics…but it can, at least, be a great test of the comment section of this blog site.  I want to make sure all the functionality is working as designed before the Jan 1st launch.

Remember, I’m open to criticism and thought provoking advice to make the site worth doing.  I’ve learned a lot so far, but to have staying power this will need to gain more of an interactive flavor.

So….what do you want?

PS:  Next post 10/24

Arguably one of the best boss’ I’ve ever had, taught me one of the most important lessons I’ve learned professionally.  It was during an incredibly stressful period of time and he was losing a political battle being waged like nothing he had ever experienced.  If you were with or have heard of  “the Old Ford culture”  you know that what is often described as a culture of “sharp elbows” is a polite way to say one might mistake an ear biting Mike Tyson for Shirley Temple.  It was ugly to watch.

I recall seeing how low he was and how it impacted his outlook on just about everything.  It was troubling.  He was a beaten man and was visibly demoralized.

The fact of the matter was, he wasn’t in the “loop” any longer.  He was slowly and methodically being pushed out.  He was being ridiculed  and he knew it.  Of course, it was all in the name of performance.  Usually the beauty and fallacy of a myriad of performance metrics (half positive and half negative) is there are enough to paint any story you want…whenever you want.  And his managers were painting a pretty negative picture.

He orchestrated his own exit from the situation.

I met him a few months later and we discussed those last few weeks he was my boss.  His words stick with me now and are as applicable today as they were for him then.  He said “Don’t let ANYONE tell you what your value is.  That’s your job.”

It is awfully easy to let a personal spat, a performance review, a downsizing, down-grading, job reshuffling or even a negative verbal comment to make you feel like garbage.  Others (without the skill to properly lend constructive criticism or perhaps even the talent to know the value of one priority metric over another), may treat you like your value is less than you believe.  Some might even mistakenly draw conclusions based on others evaluations of your value, but that does NOT establish your true value!

March to your own drum.  Don’t let someone else set your value.  Hear their words, watch their actions, accept their decisions, apply their suggestions….but don’t let it sway your opinion of the value you hold.  They are fallible and have every right to be wrong.

We too often let others define our own success.  I love the multitude of ranks in the military, the boy scouts and most corporate structures.  It helps us have targets to shoot for and ladders to climb (metaphorically).  But it is simply a stupid stripe to your 5 year old!

One of the best stories I tell about my daughter was when she was about 10 years old.  I had just been promoted back to Detroit from Colorado.  It was a big promotion and I was thrilled and excited to tell the family.  We’ve moved 8 times, so it wasn’t like the thrill of moving did much for them.  So after giving the good news…my daughter sat quietly for a few seconds and then said

“I don’t get it.  Why do we have to move back to Detroit?!  You are gone all the time anyway….why don’t you just keep coming back here when you come home?”

She didn’t mean to bring a tear to her father…but she has that affect. If only had I listened closer.

The fact of the matter was, she could care less about my rank or job.  She only cared about what was important!

Difficult times have silver linings.  Look around.  Enjoy what really matters!  You are the ONLY one who can establish your value.

It has been a few weeks since I first started to fill this blog with various “pre-posts” to learn WordPress and various features as well as test my ability and desire to publish these tidbits on a regular basis.  During that time, my wife and kids (and a few friends) have asked repeatedly, “Why are you doing this?”   It seems I have surprised those who know me most with a sudden change of direction.

It’s a fair question. After all, I’ve made a fairly strong argument over the years that my privacy is paramount and my ability to keep my personal life separate from my professional life has been a huge part of my defined personality. Now I am posting some of my most personal (and professional) experiences on a public forum for anyone to read. And it deserves explanation.

This is a “foreign” activity for me.  In the past couple of months I’ve joined myspace, facebook, linkedin, visualcv, twitter and created this blog.  I’ve quickly jumped head first into a new world of social media that I’ve simply avoided for years.  While I knew all of these technologies existed, it wasn’t until I witnessed the explosive growth of the Fiesta Movement that I decided to join the “conversation” in a more direct way. I am learning a great deal, and I am energized by the revelation that I can match whatever quality of communication I desire.  It has been interesting to be so involved.

My own Transformation

The fact of the matter is, however, this act is simply the first of several steps I will argue are part of any real rebound.  If you have read any of the earlier postings you know one of the prevalent themes on this blog is about “transitions”.  Regardless of whether we are talking about personal, professional or company transformations, the process is the same.  After a vision is established (or change requirement identified) action must occur.

The FIRST step of any transformation requires initiative  — ie taking matters into your own hands. Pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps is an old metaphor that I don’t entirely understand but use to describe having the courage to take the initiative to fix your own problem.

If something needs to change…change it.  If your not happy with your life…fix it.  Don’t wait for someone else to show you the way.  Letting things unfold around you lends itself to being a victim of circumstances, and that is rarely pleasant unless you live a lucky life.

While I’m not quite good enough to clearly envision what I want–

I most definitely know that the status-quo is unacceptable.

The fact that I was injured in an accident in 2005 that forced me sidelined from my career track for 4 years in an industry that simultaneously experienced a historic worldwide restructuring, has left me to ponder my options. I feel a bit like the storybook Rip Van Winkle who awakens to find the world has passed him by.  Professionally, my support network is gone and the prospects for returning to a commensurate level (pre-accident) position within U.S. operations seems bleak.  There doesn’t seem to be anything I can aspire to in our present structure.  My loyalty to Ford Motor Company for standing by me during my accident is strong, but the majority of my school buddies and recent departures from the Company advocate a different career. I’ve learned I can’t assume everything will turn out alright.

It seems I need to broaden my skill set and find alternative ways to contribute to this Company or another, regardless of what I do.  While it wouldn’t take much to be paralyzed by the complexity of the situation, I began to look for something to sink my teeth in.  Clearly, I have much to learn.

My physical injuries taught me a great deal about taking control of my own health care (ie let me out of this hospital…no more meds…get rid of this crutch…I need physical therapy every day…I’ve got to get back to work).  My propensity for spreading the virtues of demonstrating “initiative” (one of the defining characteristics of anyone successful) force me to practice what I preach by taking matters into my own hands.

So now I am taking the first step in taking control of my own destiny.  I am learning something new along the way (social media) and it feels a bit awkward (narcissistic) and vulnerable…but in some ways it is exhilarating to be stepping “up to the plate”.  The act of demonstrating the initiative to take the first step is the start of every turnaround.  Sure, a vision of where you are going is required….but due diligence requires action!

I will likely follow up with a separate posting on the art of “futuring” (envisioning future scenarios and actions to achieve a desirable outcome) as it applies to this transition story.  However, there are no guarantees as this process has risks and the potential for failure and setbacks.  I’ll likely document those too.

This is the start of a simple story about a transformation and survival.  Am I making a mistake?