I was very fortunate to be be able to attend the Lift10 Conference for the past three days.   Lift is a series of events built around a community of pioneers who get together in Europe and Asia to explore the social implications of new technologies. Each conference is a chance to turn innovation into opportunities by anticipating the major shifts ahead, and meet the people who drive them.

It was extremely eclectic in topic choices and workshops.  What was exciting for me was not to listen to subjects that were new to me but the content was very often from a completely different perspective.  I pride myself on having diverse interests and seek out a broad range of topics.  Somehow, I have missed something.  I would never have know anything about this conference, if a friend hadn’t told me about it. Jennifer has been an interpreter for them and recommended that I attend.  Funny, but Jennifer is so unconnected in the digital sense; nor does she really know what I “do for a living”.  But she knew enough about my interests to share this with me.

I mention this because I challenge you to your assumptions about where and how you gain your knowledge and perspective on things.  Are you limiting yourself without realizing it – as I was?  Twitter has the potential of tapping into a broad scope of interests but I noticed that despite a large number that I follow, I was really not paying attention to the fringes. I would be very interested in hearing your strategies on this question:

How are you learning from the fringes?

I felt that this was the most “accessible” video from the conference for those not there and who may not be as excited as I am about technology innovation.  It is the presentation by Jamais Cascio, Institute For The Future: Wired for Anticipation:

The future is a process not a destination.

The future is not something that happens to us.  The future is something we that we create; with our every choice and with every act and including the choice not to act.

This will be posted over Easter when I am off with the family on a journey to visit some German Castles and Legoland. It seems right to take a little time to pontificate on how my life has changed.  A small story of how I have chosen to remain a work in progress and reassemble the pieces of myself.  Too bad it is not as easy as Play-mobile or Lego.

When I was in my 30′s I use to say that I was in training to be eccentric.  I felt that any eccentricity before the age of 60 was merely being “flaky”.  When I was in my early 50′s I met the love of my life and ended up changing everything and “inheriting” two young stepsons.  You can not be eccentric and in healthy intimate relationships with others.    Think of individuals that you feel epitomize eccentricity and I will show you an individual who is likely living alone.  I know.  I was one of these people.  I spent most of my adult life independently without responsibilities to anyone but myself. I was number 1. Now I am number 4 and let me tell you it is sometimes a hard pill to swallow.

I don’t want to be eccentric anymore. So instead, now I am claiming to be eclectic.  Has a nice ring to it.  I think one of the great dangers of “trying” to be eclectic is that you do fall in to the traps of being eccentric and then it is a slippery slope towards either unbridled optimism or  critical cynicism.  Unfortunately, I have a tendency to lean towards the latter.

@GrantGriffiths recently wrote this wonderful piece:  Is Your Blog a Big Whiny Baby? It  made me think that I didn’t want to in any way seem self righteous or above it all.  Often I do see the world a little as-crewed.  Maybe it is dyslexic or maybe I am warped but I have such hope for the world. However, most people don’t always see this in me. I also know that my views often come across as harsh and critical.  I am seen as impatient and my family sometimes thinks that I might rain on their parade.  I like to think that I am being realistic and practical.

In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual.  It could be construed as a personality that is bizarre: conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual.  But there is another far more powerful meaning: out of center or having an axis or point of support that is not centrally placed. Off center means that being eccentric can show up in different extremes.  The word extreme is a clue. Here are some questions to help you decided your own eccentricity.

Eccentricity Quiz

1. Would you consider yourself grounded and anchored?
2. Are you so flexible that you don’t stand for anything?
3. Do you feel balanced?  (Side note – it is my balance that shows up problematic on my Wii Fitness.)
4. Do people find you unpredictable or predictable in your unpredictability?
5. Seriously, do you care what people think about you?
6. Do you like to be convoluted?
7. Do you have more ideas than you know what to do with them?
8. Do your clothes never match on the outside but your underwear and shocks do?
9. Do you like to be a “devil’s advocate” in debates?
10. Do others think you are rude but you think you are refreshingly blunt?

Scoring

Give yourself a point for each question that you answered yes except for questions 1, 3 and 5.  Give yourself  a point for question 1, 3 and 5, if you answered  no. If you have a score of 6 or more,  you may be eccentric. (By the way, these questions and the scoring is totally off the top of my head and is meant for amusement purposes only.)

I find it extremely interesting as I work with the Tilt 360 Leadership Types Model to discover my natural strengths and how the consequences of overusing them.  On the six polarities, I stand out on Solution.  This polarity is the balancing of perspective with creativity.  What does that mean in simpler terms?  When I use those character strengths well, I show up as both an Objective Leader and an Innovative Leader.  When I overdo it – I am both The Skeptic (Cynic) and The Eccentric.

Having connections with others and my own family I now know what I did not before: Being cynical and eccentric is a way to escape from the world; remaining disconnected and isolated. Engaging in the world and with others I have the potential of identifying the wisdom in all of us.  I remain a work in progress having discovered late in life the futility of eccentricity.

“Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It’s unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don’t have to try.” (Peggy Noonan)

Gretchen Rubin says something similar towards the end of this wonderful interview. The Happiness Project, is a memoir of the year Gretchen Rubin spent test-driving the wisdom of the ages, the current scientific studies, and the lessons from popular culture about how to be happy–from Aristotle to Martin Seligman to Thoreau to Oprah.  Check out her blog. It is full of great hints and ideas.

Everyone wants to be accepted for who they are.  Mothers are great for that.  While they have high hopes for us, the bottom line is that mothers want us to be happy.  Mothers also quickly learn how their children are similar and how they are are different from them.  The good mothers foster and encourage those differences.  I had a mother like, that even though she worried all the time about me.

My mother tried hard to manage me . . . she figured out pretty quickly that I wasn’t at all like her, but more like her sister.  As a child, she treated me as though I had the same personality as her sister. Worse, my mother felt it was her duty to make sure I learned certain lessons.  It became evident in my teens that I was much more a female clone of my Dad.  So, she got some things wrong.  Fortunately, it wasn’t serious and I think she got most of it right.  All my life she would apologize for thinking that, before I hit my teens, I was probably going to grow up to be a “dumb blond”.  You see, she took the obvious route . . . I seemed similar to her sister and so she made some assumptions.  How many times have we heard one family member say to another? “You are so just like your ______”?  (Fill in the blank with what you heard.)  Do you agree or not?

We do this kind of stereotyping in the workplace all the time.  We look at other people and quickly try to size them up as “like us” or not.  If we think they look like us then we feel comfortable to act in our familiar patterns.  And if they aren’t like us, then we stay on our toes or best behaviour.  We look out for cues and signs.  We actively listen to what is being said and not said.   Those that are different in language, gender, religion or looks stand out immediately and, yes, we sometimes do treat them differently.  Those that are unable to make these distinctions get sent on sensitivity training.

It is passé to say that we need leaders to encourage diversity and inclusion.  The research is clear; diversity has a competitive value. Many attitudes are changing if not behaviours.   There are certain skills and knowledge that can be taught to help us avoid the cultural landmines.  We could all benefit from training on the different cultural dimensions. We need to understand our own mindsets and those of others.  I don’t believe in diversity programs or quotas but that’s another post.

A good example of issues that we need to understand can be found in Hofstede dimensions of  national culture:

• Power Distance
• Uncertainty Avoidance
• Individualism versus Collectivism
• Masculinity versus Femininity
• Long-Term Orientation
• Indulgence versus Restraint

While long term orientation has cultural significance, studies have shown that the ability of delayed gratification shows up in all cultures by the age of four.  I wrote about Marshmallow Experiment in another blog post which indicates that children who are able to wait are more likely to be successful as adults.  Discussing our own concepts and expectations around time can be very enlightening. I like to do exercises around this idea when working with teams.

Inititally, I have found that focusing on individual communication style is a good and neutral way to start the process of embracing differences.  I love to use simple models like The Platinum Rule^® and True Colors^® to bring out and validate the differences and the gifts that each one brings to the team.  This generic approach looks beyond cultural aspects and addresses the different styles in ALL of us.  It respects that while we may fall into one of four categories or types, we are all unique and combination of the styles.  It is pretty easy to create an awareness that we need these differences in order to be as productive and creative as possible.

The real challenge for leaders is how to integrate all the wonderful differences that each of us bring to the work place – regardless of our upbringings.  Leaders must create a space for everyone as well as manage the tensions that differences will bring forth. True, it is not always easy.  What happens when style or values gets in the way and leads to dissension and disagreement?  It takes courage on the part of leaders to deal directly and in a culturally appropriate way.  It means that leaders must be able to manage their own stress while allowing others to express theirs.

While it is “politically incorrect” to disregard the glaring diversity before us, it continues.  Much has been written on gender differences and still in Europe the issue of diversity is usually interpreted at the lack of women in senior positions.  Everywhere it seems OK to treat everyone who is “similar” as if they share our values.  Americans often think Canadians are just like them, but perhaps a little more polite.  We are not.  We may be seen as “respectable”, but sometimes I suspect our perceived politeness comes for a hidden sense of superiority.  As someone who lives with a French Canadian, I assure you that despite sharing a country of origin, we are totally different due to opposite cultural upbringings.  I find us blind to the vast diversity right under our noses. I include myself here.  These days, I am far more concerned about encouraging and embracing the smaller differences amongst us as human beings.

In the end, my Mum discovered she had two very unique children who were quite different from her.  She spent years trying to understand us; often she was unsuccessful. It didn’t stop her from trying or from loving us totally.  From her and my Dad, I learned to give them the same courtesy. I chose to respect their choices.  I worry that I am not as considerate of my own children.

As a child did you feel pigeon holed at school or at home? Perhaps nobody took the time to check their assumptions about you.  In the work place, let’s not continue to make the same mistake. Let us not think that everyone needs to learn the cultural lessons of the organization.  There may be greater diversity, creativity and talent that is being negated due to organizational pressure to adopt a culture of values that doesn’t fit for all employees. It is up to the leader in each of us to make sure those on the fringes feel that there is a place for them to show themselves and thereby want to remain.  It is up to the leader in each of us to honour each difference and encourage each difference to be expressed.  It is not just the right thing to do – it is good business.

Today on Twitter I was personally asked,

“When you first thought about being an entrepreneur, what did you consider? What was the best idea you heard?”

I had just completed a post on my Assessments Today Blog recommending Daniel Isenberg’s post on the Harvard Business Review blog: Should You Be An Entrepreneur? This is one of the best  check list I have seen on the subject.  Of the 20 items, Isenberg suggests that if you score 17, you should consider becoming an Entrepreneur.  I scored 16.  Getting rich and taking risks are not on the list.  He follows it up with some sole searching questions and some recommendations.

I don’t know if this one minute video answers the questions asked but it is the best I have to offer.  If you are in business for yourself, I would love to hear your answers and what motivated your decisions.  Please share in a comment.

I know that I tend to be a little obtuse at times, so I thought that I would create a very simple 10 point list on how to immediately (yes immediately) improve your leadership. The only trick? You must implement half of these and do them every day. (And yes, I pulled the 20% right off the top of my head but I bet I am being conservative.)

1. Smile - A smile goes a long way.  It is one, if not the only, universal body language gestures.  It invites engagement and openness. It communicates as a leader that you are approachable.
2. Say please – Whether you realize it or not, as a leader and a person of influence, you have power – formally or informally.  Don’t abuse it. We all have a choice to respond willingly or begrudgingly. Be polite and say please.
3. Use a person’s first name – The bigger your network the harder it may be to remember someone’s name.  There are lots of tricks out there but I am talking about in the moment.  When you are introduced to someone – use their name.  Use it again before you finish interacting and again when you say good-bye.  And yes, you can remember more names than you think you can.  When I am training, I make it a point to be able to recall up to 40 names during a morning session.  Yes, within 2o seconds of the training being over, the name disappears as well but the point is – it can be done.  Personally, I would rather have someone try a name than not bother at all.
4. Say thank you - Like the first 3 suggestions, this too falls into the category of showing a little courtesy.  Actually, you will notice that the following 3 points are also in this category.  Wonder what that means?
5. Show your appreciation – Where saying thank you is both polite and considerate, small jesters of appreciation go one step further. It might be that archaic written note.  Use what makes sense for you and your organizational culture. In Forbes this week, Susan Adams writes about In Praise Of Praise: Expressing appreciation can be an extremely effective way to motivate employees, yet few bosses do it.  She reports that a survey commissioned by Chester Elton, a motivation consultant, shows 75% to 80% of workers say they get little recognition from bosses. Restaurant chain Hard Rock Cafe reports worker turnover was reduced 3% when managers gave verbal recognition to workers for a minute a day.
6. Be “on time” -  Nothing shows another person that you respect them, than honouring their concept of time.  The concept of “on time” is dictated not only by personality but also culture and the nature of the event. That may mean arriving ten minutes early for a meeting or being right on time.  Sometimes, like at a party, it means showing up 20 minutes after the announced time. It also means finishing and leaving when it is time.  Don’t overstay your welcome. As a leader you will set the expectation and standard so take into consideration others on the team.
7. Apologize – We all make mistakes. Sometimes they are small and sometimes they are big ones.  Either way, saying your sorry and meaning it goes a long way to show that you are human and worthy of being a leader. Employees don’t expect you to be perfect.  (See video below.)
8. Donate – Give of your time or money to those who are not as privileged as you.  The more personally involved the better.  When was the last time you smiled at someone begging in the street and gave them some money?  Or served in the soup kitchen? You actually have to make contact.  While I have my charities, I do like to support micro loans.  For this reason I promote and loan to http://www.Kiva.org
9. Keep a gratitude log or journal – You can easily to this either first thing in the morning by writing down what you have to be grateful about or record at the end of the day those events or people that made today special.  There are online tools that you can use. Two that I have used are:
   http://positivityratio.com
   http://www.GratitudeLog.com

   Those of you who love the “techie” stuff, there are even smart phone apps. I was lucky to get a couple of iPhone apps  while they were free but check them out for yourself at iTunes:  Gratitude Journal, Gratitude Rock – Journal, My Thoughts+, Be Happy, Live Happy Now and more.  (You can even get music free from K-Love Positive and Encouraging)

10. Treat Yourself - How can you value others if you don’t value yourself? Each week find a way to show yourself that you care about you.  Get a massage or a manicure. Take a walk in the woods or on the beach. Listen to some classical music. Have a hot bath with candles and wine. Read. Go to a concert; sport activity; restaurant; whatever works for you. Make sure it is something that you find special and still value as such.

Hey, you may even end up being a better human being or parent or partner. Don’t worry about perfection; instead, work on your character.

Scot Herrick, of Cube Rules, writes Why you should strive for excellence at work, not perfection Here’s my take on it in this short video talking about leaders being their best (see tips above) instead of being right.

Sometimes I think there is a tendency to equate innovator skills with entrepreneurial skills with leadership skills.  While some of the qualities may overlap, I do believe that they are distinct “roles”.  That said, just as everyone from parent to CEO can benefit from using and applying sound coaching skills, both entrepreneurs and those in leadership roles can benefit from applying certain innovative skills.

A major new study involving some 3,500 executives has highlighted the key skills that innovative and creative entrepreneurs need to develop. These simple, but not easy skills are the fundamentals.  The good news is that these skills can be developed through habits and practice.  Read the article (download the PDF version too) and listen to the video interview from Insead here: The innovator’s DNA

The 5 core skills to develop your eclectic innovating are:

1. Associating
2. Observing
3. Experimenting
4. Questioning
5. Networking

Their study demonstrates that five “discovery skills” distinguish the most creative executives: Associating helps them discover new directions by making connections among seemingly unrelated questions, problems, or ideas. Questioning allows innovators to break out of the status quo and consider new ideas. Through observing, innovators carefully and consistently look out for small behavioral details – in the activities of customers, suppliers, and other companies – to gain insights about new ways of doing things. In experimenting, they relentlessly try on new experiences and explore the world. And through networking with diverse individuals from an array of backgrounds, they gain radically different perspectives.

In upcoming posts, I will be looking more closely at these five talents and discuss how and why they are so important to change and to our own way of dealing with the world.

Eclectic thinkers like their counter parts eclectic philosophers and deep thinkers are bright and inquisitive.  While they tend to be introspective it doesn’t appear to be a necessity.  Why is being an eclectic thinker and important skill for leadership (or at least having access to one)?  Eclectic thinkers are the “mavens” who not only have valuable information at their fingertips, they possess the ability to filter through today’s noise and create meaning from that data.  While eclectic thinkers may have an agenda and strive to influence the thinking of others, it is not about right or wrong.  The ultimate objective is to stretch our thinking to consider broader possibilities.

The 5 core skills to develop your eclectic thinking are:

1. Stay ahead of the curve (continually evolve and reinvent yourself)
2. Honor your core expertise (listen to your own heart)
3. Read veraciously (particularly the classics)
4. Investigate all sources (challenge everything especially yourself)
5. Establish context and meaning  (to begin the process of dialogue and not debate)

Example - Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Rosabeth Moss Kanter would  not have been my first choice to use as an Eclectic Thinker – Charles Handy and Margaret Wheatley come to mind more readily.  However, Kanter has popped up on my radar screen twice in the last couple of weeks.  She wrote an excellent blog post for the Harvard Business Review entitled:  Tiger Woods and the Coming Decline of Celebrity Endorsements.  What is interesting about this post is that it is not about Tiger Woods or marketing ploys but about the values dimension that a corporation has decided to represent.  Kanter goes through a number of organizations and shows how consistency in their values is now a public necessity.

I have always enjoyed reading the work of Rosabeth Moss Kanter  I first knew of her when around 1982 I read Men and Women of the Corporation (1977).   With over 18 books to her credit she constantly reinvents herself in order to stay ahead of the curve while (I believe) being consistent in her views.  By her own admission, she researches extensively and I can only assume she is a constant reader.  She remains true to her core  as indicated by the tags on the HBR blog: Innovation, CSR and Leadership.  Through her work and writings she has opened up the discussion on these topics.

Oh, the other Kanter piece that came across my desk is this two minute video of Kanter discussing what it takes to be a vanguard company.