Chinese Lessons in the Deep South



Last week I travelled to lovely Savannah, Georgia where I taught an Ownership Spirit seminar to the leaders of Anthem Education Group.  It was a pleasure to be there in the heart of the south (truth be told, I would have gone for the southern accents alone).  Meeting and working with the talented, dedicated educators and business leaders of Anthem Education made the training memorable and fulfilling.  I had the privilege of speaking to Anthem’s Circle of Excellence, which was made up of  leaders throughout the organization, who had excelled in their roles and were being honored for their contributions.

Anthem Education provides post-secondary education and job training and offers associate, bachelor, and master’s degrees.  Recently, along with other companies in their industry, Anthem has been under increasing pressures from economic and legislative forces resulting in new challenges to their goals and vision.  I spoke to these leaders about the critical role their own thoughts played in this process, and the vital importance of thinking and acting as an Owner when circumstances are especially challenging.

After the seminar I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Dr. Paul Bao, Vice President and Anthem’s Chief Academic Officer.  He was enthusiastic about the principles I shared during the seminar.  In speaking about some of  their current challenges, Dr. Bao mentioned that the Chinese word for “crisis” was made up of two characters, the first which means “danger” and the second which means “opportunity.”

I had heard this somewhere before, and was impressed with the insight it brought.  I also told him that I had come across something on the Internet that had debunked the idea.

He replied, “I am Chinese.  I was born in China and have taught there on the university level.  I am bilingual, fluent in both Chinese and English.  Those are the characters for ‘crisis.’”  I later received this email from him:

Dear Dr. Deaton,

It was a great pleasure meeting you today, and I enjoyed your seminar immensely and learned a lot. The dichotomy of Owner and Victim is an interesting approach and serves really well as a vehicle to convey your wonderful message. I have been trying to own my own thoughts and actions ever since I read Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits  and will try even harder after attending your seminar.

As promised,  here are the two Chinese characters for the word crisis:

  

The first character means danger and the second character means opportunity. It reflects some primitive dialecticism found in ancient Chinese culture, I suppose.

Sincerely,

Paul

Since then, I have reflected on the juxtaposition of these two ideas.  Danger and Opportunity.  They seem to be at odds with each other, a dichotomy as Dr. Bao says, and, at first, almost irreconcilable ideas within the same word.  And yet, in a concise and powerful way this character embodies the Owner/Victim choice perfectly.  In every “crisis” there are two ways of seeing ourselves:  1)  In danger — of failure, of embarrassment, of rejection, of falling flat, of losing everything or 2)  With opportunity — for success, for growth, for new ideas, for innovation, for stretching, for reaching previously unimagined destinations.

This is the very choice we face each and every day.  When we choose Victim-thinking, we see: Danger!  Fear!  Insurmountable Odds!  Failure as the Only Option!  In contrast, when we make the choice of Ownership, we see:  Opportunity!  Possibility!  A Previously Hidden Solution!  A Way to Make it Happen Anyway!  And just like in the Chinese character, these two ideas are both found in every choice we make.  They exist simultaneously in every new choice.  The determining factor then, is us.  When we see Opportunity rather than Danger, the circumstance (or crisis, if you will) hasn’t changed at all–the only thing that has changed is our perspective, Owner or Victim.

No matter what industry we work in, we all face challenges.  You, like me, probably can’t get through a day without hearing about the current economic crisis and how many ways it is hurting your organization.  (Danger!  Danger!!)  What Dr. Bao reinforced for me, once again, is that real power, real breakthroughs, real progress, all come when we remember that there simultaneously exists another choice (Opportunity!  Opportunity!!) if we will but look at our particular challenge in a different way.

I’m interested in your thoughts.

Eliminating the Gap



I spent the end of last week near the beautiful Oregon coast.  It is an amazing part of the country.  Being there again reminded me of an experience I had just a couple of weeks ago.  I was there teaching a Destination Thinking for Leaders seminar to the strong and engaged leaders of TriQuint Semiconductor.  It was very rewarding experience.

A few months before this Destination Thinking seminar, that included TriQuint’s senior staff and their direct reports (53 people in all), I worked with TriQuint’s CEO, Ralph Quinsey, to create a “destination vision.” The process began by articulating a description of what TriQuint would look like in Q4 2013.

A lot of us are familiar with vision statements and the reasons we use them.  However, in my work with companies all over the country, I point out that there is a big difference between a vision statement and a Vision. A vision statement by itself has marginal value.  Sometimes, inadvertently, it can even lead to less unity because of what I call “cargo phrases.”  A cargo phrase is a phrase that encapsulates a “boat-load” of meaning for the author but may convey a different definition to the reader.  A good example might be phrases like, “high customer satisfaction” or “improve the quality of our product.”  If team members differ in their respective definitions of the cargo phrases, everyone thinks they are on the same page, but they are not.  The net result is unintended disunity.

The crux of Destination Thinking is to stand in the future and look back.  From that place in the future we can then ask several key questions about how we got there, and what specific things had to happen in order for us to reach this new destination.  It is a powerful way to accelerate progress because it helps leaders see exactly what needs to occur in order to create the desired future state.

Once the initial description was defined, I posed a series of questions to Ralph, to open up the cargo phrases so that his intent was clear and specific.  As we worked together, the cargo phrases were clarified and a lofty, achievable destination—one that could actually be visualized—started to emerge.

About half-way into this process, Ralph sent the newly emerging vision to his direct reports to get their feedback and insights.  Their suggests were woven and blended into the description.  By the time the final draft was ready, the entire Senior Staff had its fingerprints on it, and there was a solid unity and buy-in.

The end result:  TriQuint’s 2013 Destination Vision — a detailed, narrative description of exactly where TriQuint will be in three years.

But, what about the gap between the then and now?

At Quma Learning, we have developed a highly successful model for closing those elusive gaps.  The Destination Thinking Model works on personal gaps, team gaps, and company gaps.  During the seminar, I led TriQuint’s leaders in an exercise so they could experience the power of the model.  After selecting a specific problem they had been wrestling with in some aspect of their lives, personal to professional, each leader applied the model to their problem. They were amazed and impressed by the insights they received!  And they were ready and eager to use it to close the gap between TriQuint’s 2013 Destination Vision and TriQuint’s immediate reality.

By the end of that day, they knew what their company would look like in three years coupled with a very good idea of what had to happen on a company level, on a team level, and on an individual level in order to bring that vision into working reality.

And I have no doubt that they will do it.

My confidence in this team stems from previous experience.  Back in 2005, I was invited to present a seminar on destination thinking at an earlier vintage of TriQuint’s current Leadership Forum.  The focus then was on the creation of a rather lofty five-year vision for 2010 — a significant stretch from the then current state.  At last month’s meeting, TriQuint was celebrating the full realization of that very goal!  Laughingly, I told them I didn’t want to take all of the credit, and then in genuine acknowledgment of them, I offered my sincerest congratulations.

At the end of the day, TriQuint held an awards banquet and celebrated the accomplishments of their team, and they also presented me with an award: “Best Story-Teller Award.”

It was a humorous and kind gesture to symbolize the synergy we had felt that day. But in every way, I am also very honored to be TriQuint’s “best storyteller.”  Especially because their current success and future accomplishments are not fiction.  They are the true story of a group of people dedicated to their vision, to each other, and to turning their Destination Thinking into a reality.

I am interested in your thoughts.

Owner/Victim Thinking at the Tip of the Iceberg



Later this month, I will be teaching the Ownership Spirit seminar at Dixie Applied Technical College in St. George, Utah.  When I saw this upcoming speaking engagement on my calendar, it reminded me of a letter I recently received from a leader there.  I found it humorous and profound, and hope that it will help you navigate your own teams through your own “deep waters.”

The email came from Kelle Stephens, Vice President of Instruction.  She writes:

Yesterday we had faculty “bookclub.”  We reviewed the first section of Ownership Spirit.  One of the faculty, Dave Seely, told a great story.  He remembers being a kid and watching Titanic with his parents….not the Celine Dion music extravaganza one…the old black and white.  His mom had been a choir director his entire life…so when the part came on where the ship was sinking and the choir director assembled the sorry victims and led them in hymns, he remembered her dabbing her eyes and remarking about how perfect it was….to go down singing the hymns.  Then he recalled his father saying: “Bullshit!  They oughta be finding something to float on!”  Perfect illustration of the difference between Victims and Owners! 

My staff is loving the book.  They are pulling spouses, adult kids, and friends into the reading.  I think it is going to make a long term difference in my ability to move this group forward. 

It has been a long time since I have seen the 1953 version of this movie.  But, I found a copy of those final, ending scenes that Dave Seely referenced and rewatched it.

As I did so, I was struck by a few thoughts.  First, that we can find great examples of Owner and Victim thinking all around us.  This is the difference that defines the human experience.  The story of Owner vs. Victim is, in fact, the context from which all other stories are told.  It is universal.  And even in circumstances that seem bleak and unalterable, we still have the power of that most fundamental choice, even if it is only in attitude.

Second, like Dave’s mom, I’ll have to admit I was quite touched by the doomed, singing passengers.  There is something quite appealing about their martyrdom, and they clearly get our sympathy--the stoic captain, the “brave” father, the sober boy.  I was tempted to see them as admirable, facing their imminent doom with such stiff upper lips.  This should be a red flag to each of us.  Do we engage in Victim thinking, just so that we can get the sympathies and concerns of others?  Rather than looking for solutions, do we simply resign ourselves to our “inevitable” fate?  Would we rather be pitied than be found working to solve the problem?  Are we just “making the best of a bad situation” or are we actually making a bad situation better?

The final thing which struck me about Dave’s comment was the phrase, “he remembers being a kid.”  This experience in Dave’s living room happened a long time ago, decades even.  And yet, it was such a powerful, pivotal moment, that he remembers it to this day.  The teaching moment that his father created has stayed and impacted Dave for years.  It was a good reminder to me again, of how powerful our words are to those around us.  When we are in a position of leadership, we better be thinking like an Owner because those who are following us, working with us, learning from us, and being raised by us, really are watching and listening.  

I’m interested in your thoughts.

By the way, the upcoming seminar at DXATC on Wednesday, October 27th is open to the public.  Please call 800-622-6463 or email us here if you are interested in attending.