If it ain't broke, you must have fixed it

Under New Management: How Leading Organizations Are Upending Business as Usual

One of the perks of running the NYDLA.org is receiving advance copies of really cool books.

I stumbled across David Burkus during our recent winter storm Jonas (Snowzilla) which gave me an excuse to get caught up on my reading (and listening) to podcasts and books. Like finding a secret room full of hidden treasures, I discovered David’s archive of podcasts.

I used the storm as ground cover to explain to my wife why I listened to dozens of podcasts in a matter of days. David’s podcast archive is like a Hall of Fame of thought leaders and brilliant minds from the world of business and leadership.

I’m all about remote work, distance learning, technology based learning systems (TBLS) and the future of work. When you visit www.DavidBurkus.com the first thing that you see is the question: How Can I Help You?  

Oh let me count the ways…...

In his new book, David explores:

• Do open-floor plans really work – or do they make employees miserable?
• Are there companies which really put their employees’ welfare first, and their clients second?  
• Are annual performance reviews really necessary?

Dr. David Burkus is a highly regarded and increasingly influential business school professor who challenges many of the long-established principles of business management. Drawing on decades of research, David has found that not only are many of our fundamental management practices wrong and misguided, but they can be downright counter-productive.

Today, the best companies around the world are breaking the old rules. At Volkswagen, email is now restricted to certain hours, so that employees can work without distraction. Netflix no longer has a standard vacation policy of 2-3 weeks, but instructs employees to take off as much time as they feel they need. At Morningstar Farms, there are no managers at all - the employees govern themselves. At Zappos, new employees are given the option to quit and get paid for it.

Under New Management reveals how companies leave behind decades-old management practices and implement new ways to enhance productivity and morale. This new book challenges the traditional and widely accepted principles of business management — and proves that they are outdated, outmoded, or simply don’t work.

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We live in the world of distance learning, TED.com and ebooks. We live in the world of global collaboration, telemedicine and “the cloud”. I just learned that for the first time, you can go to a local cinema and watch the opening session of the legendary TED Conference on the big screen.

www.tedtalksincinemas.com

After listening to my marathon of Snowzilla enabled podcasts, I connected with David via LinkedIn, and mentioned how we know many of the same people from the world of business and higher education.

Next thing you know, I am reading an advanced copy of his new book. And now, after being blown away by his newest best selling book (trust me) I am knocking out this blog before heading off to our Super Bowl party. I hope that David approves.

Don’t wait for the next Snowzilla. Go checkout www.DavidBurkus.com and make sure you read his new book once it comes out next month.

David’s websites says: How can I help you?

Leaders are Teachers.

I think his website should be updated to: How can I help you to help yourself?

Uber me baby!

I attended the National Retail Federation “BIG SHOW” earlier this month at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

NRF's 105th Annual Convention & EXPO was an amazing event. There were more than 33,500 attendees, hundreds of sessions, miles of EXPO, technologies to boggle the mind and so much more.

Retail sales workers include both those who sell retail merchandise, such as clothing, furniture, and automobiles, (called retail salespersons) and those who sell spare and replacement parts and equipment, especially car parts (called parts salespersons). Both types of retail sales workers help customers find the products they want and process customers’ payments.

Last year (2015) in Retail:

Median Pay was $10.42 per hour / $21.6780 per year

Number of Jobs (Retail Sales Workers) was 4,859,600

Job Outlook: +7% (As fast as average)

According to the NRF, employment of retail sales workers is projected to grow 7 percent from 2016 to 2024, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Many workers leave this occupation, which means there will be a large number of job openings.

Did you catch that? Many workers leave this occupation, which means there will be a large number of job openings. People don’t leave a good thing.

Hertz never saw Zipcar coming; Zipcar never saw Uber coming.

Hilton and Marriott never saw AirBNB coming.

NBC, CBS, ABC (the big three) never saw HBO, Netflix and Hulu coming.

The National Retail Federation (with 105 years of wisdom) never saw Amazon.com coming.

Last night my son and I (finally) saw the new Star Wars movie in IMAX 3D. Tickets were $20 each, plus snacks. Normally we wait to watch most hit movies at home - unless it is a movie that “requires” the IMAX 3D experience. My living room with a big screen TV is usually just fine for movie watching (at a fraction of the price). We bought our Star Wars tickets in advance, online with a smartphone. Self-service, thanks to the cloud.

Before the movie, we stopped at Red Robin (for an adult beverage). It was self-service via a new fancy restaurant kiosk. So basically, we drank beer and then gave a 20% tip to a droid.

Our local grocery stores all have self-service checkout as a option. Our local CVS and Walgreens drug stores now have “minute clinics” where you can use Telemedicine (powered by IBM Watson) to perform self-service medical exams, diagnosis and even write prescriptions - all without a “live” medical expert.

In our household we are “power users” of Amazon Prime with free 2nd day shipping. We try to buy everything that that is non-perishable (dog food, paper goods, canned goods, soap, etc.) online with convenient, automatic delivery right to our door. Our local grocery store (Kings) is not known for having low prices. Eggs, milk, bread - anything with an expiration date - we go to Kings. You would be crazy to buy batteries, cereal or tuna fish at Kings. All Hail Amazon Prime!  I just learned that the USPS shall start making Sunday deliveries for Amazon Prime, so that is now a 7 days a week service, including holidays. The world of business has invented new verbs in the past few years.  Blockbuster was “Netflixed” <verb> and went out of business. Yellow Cabs have lost business to Uber and Lyft. Formal education and training have now been “Khanned” by Khan Academy.

We shop, research, browse, buy and consume all manner of goods and services via the cloud and the IoT (Internet of Things). Once again: the NRF stated at the show: Job Outlook: +7% (As fast as average). Retail sales workers help customers find the products they want and process customers’ payments. How can job growth in retail be growing at 7% when every day we see technology popping up to do MORE business with LESS people? Why is big business so keen on automating the entire retail process? 

If the number of jobs (Retail Sales Workers) was 4,859,600 in 2015, there is NO WAY this number is going to increase at 7% with all of these self-service tools becoming more and more popular. New Jersey is one of the few states where it is “illegal” to pump your own gas. So, I guess those jobs are still safe - for now.

In the end, what are the things that humans can just do better than apps or kiosks?

Technology lacks flexibility. When we’re interacting with a person and we’re having trouble understanding something, the person can adjust to us. If we’re having a misunderstanding, they can help clarify it. Technology really can’t do either of these things. A person has the ability to delight us or disappoint us. It’s really hard for a technology to ever delight, however, because it’s standardized and is built on a set of rules. But it is possible for technologies to disappoint us.

The video below talks about how the future of retail is “bright” but not for everyone. Retail sales workers who help customers find the products they want and process customers’ payments - your future is very cloudy.

Here is an Original thought for 2016

Dear friends, colleagues, and random people in my LinkedIn network: I hope that your 2016 is off to a wonderful start.  I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of Adam Grant’s new book “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World”

Did you make your New Year’s Resolutions yet?  If not, you might want to hold up.

Adam’s new book is about how anyone can speak up and champion new ideas, leaders can fight conformity, and parents can raise children to think differently. Originals is about the choice to battle conformity, buck outdated traditions, and champion ideas and values that go against the grain. Using surprising studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports, and entertainment, Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt; how parents and teachers can nurture originality in children; and how leaders can fight groupthink to build cultures that welcome dissent.

You'll learn from...
An entrepreneur who pitches his start-ups by highlighting the reasons not to invest
A woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below
An analyst who overturned the rule of secrecy at the CIA
A billionaire financial wizard who fires employees for failing to criticize him
A TV executive who didn’t even work in comedy but saved Seinfeld from the cutting-room floor


Adam Grant is part of the NYDLA “Talent” collaborative I would greatly appreciate your support in getting his book off to a strong start.“Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World” If you’re a giver who enjoys being helpful, a matcher who thinks you owe me a favor (you don’t), or a taker, here are few ways to help:

1.       Pre-order the book.  Pre-orders make a big difference in encouraging Amazon and bookstores to notice, stock, and promote a book.  This one is available in paper, electronic, audio, and stone tablet formats: http://adamgrant.net/originals

2.       Take the quiz.  Here’s a sneak preview of what it takes to be original, in the form of a 15-question quiz: http://adamgrant.net/quiz

3.       Spread the word.  Below my signature are some quotes from the book.  You’re welcome to share them—or the quiz—via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and singing telegram.

4.       Meet Adam on tour. Adam will be speaking and signing books in Chicago, LA, London, NYC, Philly, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington DC: www.adamgrant.net/events

If you made it this far, I’m grateful. And to prove it, all paid members of the NYDLA.org for 2016 will get a FREE copy of BOTH of Adam’s books in electronic format (Give and Take & Originals). Really. It’s on me (because I read his FIRST book). Just click here and place Adam Grant in your subject line. DONE.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2016.

Cheers,
Thomas Capone
Executive Director
Tom@NYDLA.org 

·         In search of excellence and in fear of failure, most of us opt to fit in rather than stand out. #Originals: www.adamgrant.net/originals

·         Being original doesn't require being first. It just means being different and better. #Originals: www.adamgrant.net/originals

·         Enemies make better allies than frenemies. #Originals: www.adamgrant.net/originals

·         Dissenting opinions are useful even when they're wrong. #Originals: www.adamgrant.net/originals

·         Great leaders don't just bring original ideas into the world. They unleash originality in others. #Originals: www.adamgrant.net/originals



We need more walls!

For the last two years, a team of NYDLA.org contractors, Harvard.edu faculty and global collaboration experts have been working to create an incredible new space: HBX Live, a virtual classroom that connects students from anywhere in the world to a Harvard School of Business professor in Boston for a dynamic and engaging HBS-style discussion.

How does it work?  Participants from around the globe can log in and join real-time, case-based sessions with HBS faculty, who teach from the HBX Live studio on the Boston campus of public broadcaster, WGBH.  In the studio, high resolution monitors are arrayed to mimic the tiers of an HBS classroom. Sessions are expertly “produced” using still and roaming cameras—so realistically that we have had participants break out in a sweat as they experience a professor moving toward them. 
You can see this AMAZING technology in action in this 3 minute video:

And then, it hit me.

After Paris. After the San Bernardino shooting. After all of the talk of BUILDING MORE WALLS - building walls to keep people out, building walls to keep us safe. YES! We DO need more walls!

HD Video Walls.

Why can’t this same amazing technology be used to BREAK DOWN barriers? Why not use this amazing global collaboration technology to meet our neighbors? Truly meet them - deeply get to know our GLOBAL neighbors, no matter where they might live, no matter where they were born.

Strangers have been coming together for years, living on college campuses. Sharing dorm rooms. Joining fraternities, playing on sports teams. Sharing meals in cafeterias. Lifelong friendships have been formed. Strangers from around the world, people from the most diverse cultures, all becoming friends and colleagues. We have done it for years. It can be done.

It is so easy to hate people you never met. It is easy to be afraid of cultures we have never experienced.

Technology like the amazing video wall at Harvard Business School was built for a reason: it works. It allows people from around the world to work together and collaborate as a unified team. If this amazing technology works for the world of business - why would it not work for the world of…..well just THE WORLD?

I agree that we need more walls.  We need walls that unify. Walls that bring us together, not walls that keep us apart. Did you see the video from the International Space Station this week? We all share a single home, we all share this one tiny, fragile planet.

We need more walls. We need lots and lots of walls. We need enough walls so that we can allow ALL of the children to get to know each other. Let them learn together, let them play together. Let them form friendships. Hatred is learned, we are not born to hate. We are taught to hate.  Well, then we need to un-teach it. Classmates, emphasis on the two combined words: Class and Mates.

It will not happen overnight, but it will happen. It must happen. We are smarter than this, right? We are smart enough to make a video like the one below, and we cannot address this issue? How many HD Video walls can we build and deploy around the world, for the cost of just one trip to space?

 We all share one planet. Why not share one global classroom?