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Greetings and welcome to the
September 2002 issue of the Partnering Intelligence Newsletter, a monthly newsletter
for clients and friends of Partnership Continuum, Inc. (www.partneringintelligence.com).
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. Write to me anytime at info@partneringintelligence.com. Your feedback is important to me.
When I was a child in the late 1950s and 1960s, I used to pride myself on being able to identify the make and year of any car. Back then, car manufacturers made significant annual changes in the designs of their automobile--adding (or taking away) fins, altering the size of windows and bumpers, introducing new colors, and so on.
Lately, I've been unable to tell one car from another. They all look the same to me. This has created some unnerving moments when I'm traveling and trying to locate my rental car in parking lots!
Cars look the same today because manufacturers have come to understand what will make their products attractive to the vast majority of the buying public. Manufacturers also quickly copy any trend unveiled by a competitor.
As a result, we have cars--and other products--that look alike. We also have companies that are unable to establish a competitive edge for any significant length of time.
In an age of instant product--and service--replication, how can your company establish a competitive edge? You can create a unique marketplace advantage that no one can steal or replicate--one that resides right under your nose.
That advantage is your organization's culture, and it's the topic of this month's Partnering Intelligence Newsletter.
Last week, Glenn Tilton, United Airlines' new chief executive, informed his employees that difficult decisions must be made immediately to address the company's critical financial issues.
"There's only one way we can get this done," Tilton told his workers," and that's together.... We must have a partnership based on mutual trust and mutual respect."
Tilton's words acknowledge one of the most important components of a successful business: its internal culture. By culture, I mean the often unspoken values, beliefs, and practices that actually drive an organization, not the official printed list of organizational values that some committee may have devised and posted on a wall somewhere.
For a company's culture to work, it must be built on solid, trusting partnerships within and throughout the organization.
A Photo-Perfect Example
George Eastman, who founded the Eastman Kodak Company in the late 1800s, proved early on that a company's culture can lead to its success. One of Eastman's basic principles of business was to "treat employees in a fair, self-respecting way." He did this by providing good wages, by offering profit-sharing, and by building a corporate culture of goodwill and trust. In all these areas, he was far ahead of other managers of his era.
For more than a century, Kodak has been one of the most successful companies in America. Its success has not relied solely on products or patents, but also on the combined capabilities of the company's employees. The unique genius of Eastman was not his inventiveness or his marketing prowess (though he demonstrated those amply), but rather his understanding that his company's culture was key to its success--more important than any single individual, including himself.
A Theft-Proof Competitive Edge
Companies can no longer retain a competitive advantage through the release of a product or service alone. It's just too easy for others to quickly seize the formula and reproduce it quicker, better, and cheaper than the originator.
But the one thing your competitor can't steal is your company's culture--your employees' unique blend of creativity and abilities and their manner of interacting with each other.
That interaction is especially important. The ways in which employees interact is based on the culture of the organization. In an organization that has no trust, fear becomes rampant, killing openness and creativity. People withhold information and ideas and treat others with suspicion. Morale, a barometer of organizational culture, plummets.
Just how much collaborative teamwork and synergy do you think occurs within a culture of fear?
Now consider a trusting culture, where people feel valued and are given ownership for their contribution to the success of the business. In such an environment, people are open with each other, offer ideas freely, work collaboratively, and adapt to new situations with much less angst.
Most organizations, of course, fall somewhere between these two extremes. But to be successful and keep a competitive edge, organizations must begin, if they haven't already, to nurture a trusting culture.
The question is: How do you do that?
Start with a Strategic Framework
Your organization must have a Strategic Framework: a vision, a mission, and a set of strategic directions for the organization. It acts as the internal compass in guiding the decision-making process, not only when selecting and prioritizing strategies, but also when hiring employees. It serves as the structure upon which a company's culture is built.
Build a Partnering Culture
Once the Strategic Framework is in place, your organization must develop norms of behavior for all employees to follow. These expectations will help establish both organizational and personal boundaries and create a common language for internal communication.
This is where Partnership Continuum's Six Partnering Attributes™ can be of enormous help. These attributes--Self-Disclosure and Feedback, a Win-Win Orientation, Ability to Trust, Comfort with Change, Comfort with Interdependence, and Past/Future Orientation--are effective tools for framing a behavioral skill set that your employees will eagerly follow--a skill set based not on fear, but on trust and collaboration.
As a result, your organization will develop a powerful and exciting partnering culture--and a truly competitive edge.
To learn more about how the Six Partnering Attributes™ can help your organization develop a more successful internal culture, go online or call toll-free:
www.partneringintelligence.com
1-888-292-0323
Past/Future Orientation Environment: An Assessment
How do you view your own work environment--your company's culture? Is it oriented toward the past or the future? Based on your best knowledge and your personal experience, where does your organization fall on each continuum below?
To get a broader view of your corporate culture--and to learn how other people in your company perceive it--forward this newsletter to other individuals in your department or your company. Ask them to spend a few moments taking this assessment, then arrange to meet and talk about the results. Are people ready to partner, or do they need to further develop their partnering skills?
1. Win/Lose vs. Win/Win
A win/lose conflict resolution style (Past Orientation) creates losers. Losers are not happy, self-satisfied, or proud. They want to get even. A win/win conflict resolution and problem-solving style (Future Orientation) works toward achieving a mutually agreeable plan.
In terms of its conflict resolution style, is your organization closer to a Past Orientation or a Future Orientation?
 |
|
| Win/Lose |
Win/Win |
2. Individual Performance vs. Teamwork
A team spirit requires a certain amount of trust among members (Future Orientation). Without trust and openness, teams cannot perform well. With no appreciable teamwork, an organization won't achieve potential synergies, nor will it encourage creativity and innovation (Past Orientation).
How would you rate your organization's ability to support the concept of teamwork?
| |
|
| Individual Performance |
Teamwork |
3. Stagnation vs. Dynamism
Stagnation occurs when there is no infusion of new energy into the organization or relationship. In a closed organization with no partnerships (Past Orientation), change is undesirable and suppressed. Dynamism results from the infusion of new energy and ideas (Future Orientation), and it is essential if a business is to successfully change with the demands of its customers and markets.
How stagnant or dynamic is your organization's culture?
| |
|
| Stagnation |
Dynamism |
4. Alienation vs. Collaboration
Organizations that isolate themselves cannot form partnerships with others. There is a lack of trust toward people both inside and outside the organization, which results in alienation (Past Orientation). Collaboration (Future Orientation), on the other hand, involves the give and take of information and a degree of self-disclosure, which results in building trust between people.
How would you rate your organization on the alienation vs. collaboration scale?
| |
|
| Alienation |
Collaboration |
5. High Need for Control vs. Empowering Others
In order to form a partnership, we need to release some control over events. If an organization is intent in controlling every aspect of the partnership (Past Orientation), the partnership will fail. Every partnership must be mutually beneficial; therefore, both partners have to make sure they are benefiting. This does not mean domination of the partnership. Rather, it means empowering others so participants can work collaboratively toward a mutually satisfying result (Future Orientation).
How would you rate your organization on this scale?
| |
|
| High Need for Control |
Empowering Others |
6. Making Decisions Based on Past Experiences vs. Negotiating a Plan and Agreeing on Outcomes
When organizations continue to make decisions based on past experiences, they limit themselves by not being open to new possibilities (Past Orientation). Companies wanting to form partnerships need to be willing to negotiate expectations and then hold people accountable for doing what they say they'll do (Future Orientation). If you continue to hear statements such as "They'll never do that" or "That's not possible," you probably work in an organization that has a Past Orientation.
How would you rate your organization?
| |
|
| Making Decisions Based on Past Experience |
Negotiating a Plan and Agreeing on Outcomes |
Scoring
The six continuums relate to the Six Partnering Attributes™. How did you rate your organization for each attribute?
1. Win/Lose vs. Win/Win (Attribute: Win/Win Orientation)
2. Individual Performance vs. Teamwork (Attribute: Ability to Trust)
3. Stagnation vs. Dynamism (Attribute: Comfort with Change)
4. Alienation vs. Collaboration (Attribute: Self-Disclosure and Feedback)
5. High Need for Control vs. Empowering Others (Attribute: Comfort with
Interdependence)
6. Making Decisions Based on Past Experience vs. Negotiating a Plan and
Agreeing on Outcomes (Attribute: Past/Future Orientation in decision making)
A rating of less than 3 on any continuum indicates that your organization is weak in that attribute. If your ratings for all 6 add up to less than 18, your company may have a culture based on a Past Orientation. A high overall score on this assessment indicates a strong partnering culture.
"Past/Future Orientation Environment: An Assessment" is adapted from "Increasing Your Future Orientation" workbook, © 2001 Partnership Continuum Inc.
To order, go online or call toll-free:
www.partneringintelligence.com
1-888-292-0323
Our Redesigned Web Site Is Up and Running
Have you visited our newly redesigned Web site? Here are some of the new features we've created to make this site more valuable to you:
We've just finished three days of on-site Building Smart Partners™ Training with employees of the NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.
It was an exciting time for the NASA participants, Partnership Continuum senior consultant Phyl Burger, and myself. Here's some of the feedback we received about the training from NASA participants:
We can bring our Building Smart Partners™ Training to your organization.
Contact us at:
www.partneringintelligence.com
1-888-292-0323
From now through October 15, 2002:
Order 5 or more "Increasing Your Future Orientation" workbooks, save 15%!
Use "Increasing Your Future Orientation" to build a better partnering culture within your organization.
To receive your discount, call toll-free:
1-888-292-0323
In "Corporate
Culture/Organizational Culture: Understanding and Assessment," Richard
Hagberg and Julie Heifetz of the Hagberg Consulting Group explore some of the
problems associated with understanding the reality of an organization's culture.
They focus on the role of the leader in creating or maintaining this culture,
and discuss the perils of confronting the leader with an assessment of the organization
that flies in the face of his/her preconceptions--in other words, "telling
the CEO his/her baby is ugly."
Read it online:
www.hcgnet.com/html/articles/understanding-Culture.html
In "Corporate
culture: a case study," consultant Jack D. Deal tells a tale of two companies
and comments on his own realization of how important corporate culture is.
Read it online:
www.jyanet.com/cap/1998/1110ob1.htm
The Partnering
Intelligence Fieldbook: Tools and Techniques for Building Strong Alliances for
Your Business, which I wrote with Sandra Naiman, has just been published.
Featuring more than 100 assessments, surveys, checklists, and partnering techniques,
this is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to improve his or her partnering
skills.
Check our Web site for details:
www.partneringintelligence.com
There's still space
available if you'd like to participate in our Fall 2002 Building Smart Partners™
Training Seminar, to be held October 2-4 at the beautiful Minneapolis
campus of the University of St. Thomas. Contact us for more information.
To reserve your space at the October training, call toll-free:
1-888-292-0323
I'll be presenting
a talk on "The Anatomy of Trust" at the Barnes and Noble bookstore,
801 Nicollet Ave., Minneapolis, MN, on Tuesday, September 17 at 12:30
p.m. If you're in the area, come and learn the latest about how to understand
and diagnose trust issues within yourself and with those around you.
I'll be making the
keynote speech and leading workshops on "Building Trust" and "Creating
Win/Win Scenarios" at the JointSolutions Partner Summit Fall 2002, which
will be held October 16-17 at the Monterey Plaza Hotel in Monterey, CA.
To learn more, contact Joan Staffen at Joint Solutions:
831-338-5030 x 206
www.JointSolutions.com
On Thursday, October
24, I'll give a keynote speech on "Creating Value with Partners"
to the Paper Stock Industry, a division of the Institute of Scrap Recycling
Industry (ISRI), on Amelia Island, FL.
To learn more about the ISRI:
www.isri.org
If you'd like to meet with me while I'm in the southeastern United States,
call toll-free:
1-888-292-0323
From November
21-22, I'll be presenting a workshop on Nonprofit/For-Profit partnerships
at the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management at Robert Morris University in
Pittsburgh, PA.
To register for this event, contact the Bayer Center:
412-227-6814
bcnm@rum.edu
In January 2003,
I'll be partnering with Marcus Evans, a worldwide executive training and event
planning organization, to bring our world-class Partner Relationship Management
training to Southeast Asia. I'll be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 6-7,
and in Jakarta, Indonesia, January 9-10.
For more information, go to:
www.marcusevans.com/offices/Kualaframe/Kualaset.htm
If you'd like to meet with me while I'm in Southeast Asia, call toll-free:
1-888-292-0323
Also in January, I'll
be giving the keynote speech at the WEMCO Annual Meeting, sponsored by the American
Welders Society. The meeting will be held on January 16-17 at the Hilton
La Jolla Torrey Pines Hotel in La Jolla, CA.
To learn more about the American Welders Society:
www.aws.org
"What we do during our working hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are."--George Eastman
"If a man has wealth, he has to make a choice, because there is the money heaping up. He can keep it together in a bunch, and then leave it for others to administer after he is dead. Or he can get it into action and have fun, while he is still alive. I prefer getting into action and adapting it to human needs, and making the plan work."-- George Eastman
Visit www.partneringintelligence.com for more information on our training and consulting services, products, and publications.
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www.partneringintelligence.com