Explicit versus Tacit – Content versus Process

Difficult situations like slowdown force organizations/managers to do cost-benefit analysis. Salary you are paid is a cost and what you do in the organization for that cost generates value.

Value has two components – tangible and intangible.

Tangible value (easier to visualize) is explicit knowledge of subject (e.g. knowledge of .NET programming or software testing), revenue, efficiencies, numbers etc. This is important.

Intangible value (which is also hard to visualize) is tacit knowledge, knowledge on processes, knowledge on how to deal with typical situations/clients, attitude, different ways of doing things, workarounds etc. This is hard to visualize and measure. But impact of this value is huge.

So from organization/manager’s standpoint – it is important to see value as a sum-total of tangible and intangible value that someone brings on board while rewarding or hiring.

In this regards, I loved what Seth Godin has written in his post “What are you good at?”. He writes about explicit versus tacit knowledge. Crux is that explicit knowledge on subject can be easily learnt. Tacit knowledge only comes with experience within and outside the organizations. There are no shortcuts to acquire tacit knowledge.

Seth Godin writes:

As you consider marketing yourself for your next gig, consider the difference between process and content.

Content is domain knowledge. People you know or skills you’ve developed. Playing the piano or writing copy about furniture sales. A rolodex of movers in a given industry, or your ability to compute stress ratios in your head.
Domain knowledge is important, but it’s (often) easily learnable.

Process, on the other hand, refers to the emotional intelligence skills you have about managing projects, visualizing success, persuading other people of your point of view, dealing with multiple priorities, etc. This stuff is insanely valuable and hard to learn. Unfortunately, it’s usually overlooked by headhunters and HR folks, partly because it’s hard to accredit or check off in a database.

Knowing difference between explicit and tacit aspects of one’s knowledge is very crucial from an individual standpoint.

I can easily relate contents of this post with Tom Peter’s saying “Hard is soft. Soft is Hard.” More elaboration on this in the next post.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Great Quotes: Work Wisdom From Steve Jobs

This week, Rajesh shared 11 Insights from Steve Jobs – insights ranging from design to people to work. Each insight is a gem – and hats off to Rajesh to have collected them from all over the web.

Here are a couple of gems on “doing what you like and following your heart” -

“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.”

“Almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart”

I have written earlier (with quotes) on similar subjects like following your energies, doing what you like, following your passion to make a difference. These insights from Steve are an excellent addition to my collection of great quotes on doing what you like!

Amazing how such simple quotes can make your day and leave you with a dose of inspiration.

Inspiration, afterall is like a good bath – you need it daily!

Why professional integrity is even more important now?

“How important trait is ‘professional integrity’ with respect to current turbulent times?” – Someone asked me recently in a conversation. “Extremely important, not just in turbulent times but at any given time”, I replied. Integrity and ethical work practices should be at the fulcrum of one’s professional career and growth. No two ways about it.

Paradoxically, it seems to me that professional integrity and commitment levels are at an all time low – the reason why I think so are many. 

• In India (as also elsewhere), thousands of people are fired every year for professional misconducts ranging from fudging resumes to putting up inflated expense statements! 
• Small and big corporate frauds are dominating newspaper headlines eroding investor’s wealth and trust. Most prominent recent example is that of Satyam – India’s fourth largest software services provider. Ramalinga Raju – the founder admitted that his company was falsifying accounts for years and inflating profits by $1 Billion!

This list can go on. Core of all this is lack of personal and professional integrity which not only harms one’s personal brand but also a professional standing. In a bad market when layoffs keep happening, integrity and honesty assume even more importance in building one’s personal brand.

Integrity comes from one’s upbringing, values and overall educational eco-system in which one grows. While it may be difficult to teach someone how to be integral, educational institutions can certainly monitor it. May be, something like “Integrity Index” which assumes as much importance as one’s CGPA?

In this regards, I am reminded of Sadhana Center of Management and Leadership Development. Founded and run by Prof. M. S. Pillai (who taught us some very important lessons on life at the Management Development Program), SCMLD is an exceptional institution that measures Integrity/Authenticity, Commitment and Deadline Index (ICDI) for each student. These metrics are included in a student’s professional bio-data that is prepared by the institution and given to corporates. Organizations hiring people from this educational institute can assess someone’s integrity index along with other such metrics before the offer. This means, students with high CGPA but a low ICDI may not be considered for the employment by the hiring organization. Amazing – that’s what is needed!

Management and leadership is all about having values and living by them – Isn’t it? Any educational institute that imbibes values in management education is going to make a big difference to the society.

This seems like a good time to resurrect faith (in ourselves and in corporate) by being integral and being honest in our pursuits. What say?

Also read related posts that refer Management Development Program:

• Management, Leadership and Motherhood
• On Decision Making and Elephantine way of doing it

Communication lessons from U.S. President Obama’s Inaugural Address

Inaugural address  was a great opportunity for U.S. President Obama to communicate with his countrymen and restore their faith a difficult time. He seized this opportunity brilliantly with an elevating speech.

It was one of the best speeches I have heard in a long time. It left me with some very important lessons on communication and writing and hence this post.

Lynn Gaertner-Johnston at Syntax Training blog has done a brilliant analysis of the speech and here are a few excerpts from the post:

• Number of words: 2414 (according to Microsoft Word)
• Number of words per sentence: 21.4 (Microsoft) or 21.9 (my calculator)
• Number of times “I” appears: 3
• Number of times “we” appears:  62
• Number of times “my” appears: 2
• Number of times “our” appears: 66
• The President’s speech includes not one “however,” “moreover,” or “in addition.”
  Sentences with passive verbs: 10 percent (Examples: “The capital was abandoned”; “It must be earned.”)

Here are some of the important lessons on communication that I could extract out of the speech:

1. Communication is all about packing a lot of meaning into a few words. Speech and sentences were not long, but very meaningful. Same applies to writing as well. Brevity is the key in all business communication. Some write for the sake of writing and some write for communicating. You get the point.
2. President Obama painted pictures with usage of words and right expression. People were hooked when he spoke because he added feelings into each and every spoken word. This is very important public speaking lesson too.
3. From a management standpoint, his speech was a progressive and inclusive one. Note that he used “We” and “Our” more than “I” and You”.  He used words like “unity of purpose”. People only relate to words when they are inclusive. He also used positive words like “hope”, “ambitions”, “confidence”, “reaffirm”,  “greatness”, “prosperity”, “freedom” etc.  Bringing out issues and pointing towards them is important but communication has to be solutions driven.  People easily relate with whatever is progressive and hopeful.
4. He did not use any junk into his speech. He was speaking with utmost clarity (of thought and words) which created the impact.

All in all, a great speech. Did you follow his inaugural address? Any thoughts you would like to share?

Great Quote: Optimism without Action

Via Aditya Kothadiya’s blog post…

“There is no difference between a pessimist who says, “Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,” and an optimist who says, “Don’t do anything. It’s going to turn out fine anyway.” Either way, nothing happens.”

Inspired by Rajesh Setty’s mini-saga’s I attempted to write one earlier. The gist of the story was that knowledge may be power, but without actions, it accomplishes nothing. Which means action is more powerful.

I think same applies to optimism. Optimism should stem from your abilities to do things and not merely from dependence on fate.

I am reminded of a post I wrote a couple of months back on effort, execution and leadership in troubled times, where I had mentioned a quote from Seth Godin. I would reproduce the quote again, because it really goes very well with the one above. Here it goes -

“And that’s the key to the paradox of effort: While luck may be more appealing than effort, you don’t get to choose luck. Effort, on the other hand, is totally available, all the time.”

Have a great weekend!

Past performance is no guarantee for future success

How long can we rely on our past experience?

I may have worked with the best company in the past. I may have managed large and complex projects in the past. I may have done significant process improvements in the past. But does that guarantee success in current role/organization/environment?

We change jobs. We change roles within a job. Business environment changes. Organizations change. In a rapid changing scenario – to what extent does past experience guarantee success?

Management as a profession is so much situational and contextual that one’s past performance is no guarantee for future success. I am reminded of note at the end of mutual fund prospectus that reads “Past performance is no guarantee for future returns”. I realize this more and more when I see super-experienced people falter.

A few years ago, I met a very senior professional who joined our organization. He had more than 15 years of experience managing large and complex assignments at one of the large IT houses. In one of the initial interactions, this is what he said to me, “You know, I have managed multi-year, high-value projects with a team size of more than 400 people. But in this new job role, my success really depends on what I do here and now – based on a changed context and situation. That is what will matter. My experience may help, but it can certainly not guide my basic thinking process in a new context.”

He gave an apt answer to my question. Experience is a great enabler – but changing contexts demand fresh thinking without which one stagnates.

Learning, unlearning and re-learning is a constant process.

Do you agree? Your comments are welcome to take this conversation forward.

Lead by example – three simple questions

Leading by example means you do first, and then preach. You lead the way. You set the examples. My personal experience suggests that team observes their manager/leader very closely and takes subtle hints from their behavior.

In the previous company I worked with, I had a manager who would walk around in the office after the normal working hours are over. He would personally meet and greet people who were working overtime. He would try to find out the reason for overtime work. In some cases, wherever possible, he would suggest alternative ways of completing the task more efficiently.

He showed me what being good at the workplace looks like. To an extent, he shaped my behavior towards my team members when I started leading people.

In this context, there is a great post at Slacker Manager blog by Phil Gerbyshak titled “You are an example: Management by Quotation” where Phil says that you should not expect the team to do anything you won’t do yourself. He concludes the post with three simple questions for managers:

• What example are you setting for your team today, and every day?
• What ways can you be a better example for your team?
• Whose example did you follow to become who you are today?

Thought provoking questions that are so important for people who lead people.

Styles of leadership and being adaptable

I am learning some very important lessons in managing people and style of leadership. Let me explain.

I have worked with different types of managers – from micro-managers to delegators to empowerers. Each one had a different style of managing people. But each individual was limited to one style of leadership. A micro-manager would micro-manage everybody in his team and a delegator would delegate everything without looking at the individual capabilities at the receiving end.

I have learnt that with each individual on team, a different leadership style is needed. Each one needs to be managed differently. Leadership styles can be collaborative, supportive or authoritative.

In this context, I read an interesting post over at Dan McCarthy’s blog “Great Leadership” which defines 10 styles of leadership.  Four important styles of leadership includes:

Directing Leaders define the roles and tasks of the ‘follower’, and supervise them closely. Decisions are made by the leader and announced, so communication is largely one-way.

Coaching Leaders still define roles and tasks, but seeks ideas and suggestions from the follower. Decisions remain the leader’s prerogative, but communication is much more two-way.

Supporting Leaders pass day-to-day decisions, such as task allocation and processes, to the follower. The leader facilitates and takes part in decisions, but control is with the follower.

Delegating Leaders are still involved in decisions and problem-solving, but control is with the follower. The follower decides when and how the leader will be involved.

Bottomline: Managers need to adapt their managing style depending on who they are managing.  One size does not fit all – and one management style does not work with all.