A631.6.4.RB - Transformational Strategies

The video on transformational change by Jim “Mattress Mack” Mclngvale and Stanley McChrystal was instrumental and encouraging.

In the Gallery Furniture video, Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale faces a situation in which cultural change was required due to internal and external situations.  The changes that Jim was face was a culture of the little structure in a declining market due to external factors. After Jim read a book about the influence a leader can make,  he went to work and made changes to the way he did business. According to Brown (2011), organizational transformation can be defined as “drastic, abrupt change to total structures, managerial processes, and corporate culture. This definition is in line with what Jim decided to do, because he felt he needed to change due to the changing times. The Gallery Furniture Company had a strong culture; but after the new implementation it became a company workers love to work at and customer love to shop at. Jim implemented a training program for employees on how to improve the organization by building relationships with customers.  Jim also implemented a customer follow-up program to aid in the sales department; this simple technique increases the sales dramatically. I think Jim was a model leader and he coaches his team well. One of the ways to model desired behavior is to have a few leaders in the organization show everyone how to practice desired behaviors. (Brown, 2011).

General McChrystal talked about being a great leader. He talked about the foundation of an effective team and the importance of being a leader that listens and is compassionate. He emphasizes that leaders are allowed to fail and its shape the way the team learns. It’s about learning from the mistakes in order to improve and not make the same mistakes. McChrystal also discussed the Army Ranger creed, one of nine parts, “I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy”. I think this is a great trait and culture of the army and it’s impeding in every single soldier.

Both Jim McIngvale and General Stanley McChrystal are amazing leaders with a long resume of experience. We can all learn from their willingness to be the best leaders they can be.

REFERENCES:

Brown, D.R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (8^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

A632.6.3.RB - The High Cost of Conflict

The High Cost of Conflict

Conflict is something that each person will have to deal with sooner or later. Our text described the Conflict Resolution Cycle and Ten Principles of New Thinking that can resolve conflicts in a less costly manner (Levine, 2009). Brown (2011), points out that a chance of goal conflict is somewhat low between groups that have their own resources and perform entirely different tasks. In other words, if your task is separate the chances of conflict are extremely low. However, if there is any type of dependency, or common task and frequently pursue incompatible goals, the chances of conflict are greater (Brown, 2011). Levine (2009) explained that although the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is growing, the cost of conflict is a resource drain of huge proportion, and a source of great unhappiness and discomfort.

I can recall an instance of conflict within my workplace that costs me more than what I could have imagined. This scenario has to deal with both role conflict and role ambiguity. Role conflict exists when an individual belongs to or identifies with two or more groups whose goals or values are in conflict (Brown, 2011). Role ambiguity occurs when an individual or the members of a group are not clear about their functions, purposes, and goals within the organization (Brown, 2011). According to Levine (2009), the cost of conflict is composed of: direct cost, productivity cost, continuity cost, and emotional cost.

While being assigned to Navy Recruiting Command, I had the opportunity to work with both military and civilian personnel. In most part, interaction is naturally positive with no conflicts. One of the duties within my department is to handle all communication related to event coordination with the marketing department for approval and support. On this particular day, one of my coworkers was on official travel, attending a National Conference on behalf of the Navy. I was the only person in the office for this specific day. I got a phone call for assistance from the member at the event. The person who usually does the set-up for the booth at the career fair was not present and they were about to reach their deadline for setup. I walked over and talked to a person who was in charge of the logistics for the booth set-up. The issue was quickly resolved with no apparent complications. Approximately an hour later the individual walked into my office with a negative attitude. Apparently, he had submitted the wrong booth for the event and was trying to put the blame on my team. I quickly advise him to remain calm and that I could help find a solution to the problem. I called up the individual who was at the event and he pointed out the contract specifically stated the requirements and it was an error on his part. The conflict escalated to the point in which the person overacted and was unprofessional; he screamed and ran out of my office. After explaining the situation to his supervisor, it was advised to formally record the incident and to file a complaint.

This situation presented many obstacles to a leader. How do you handle an individual who is becoming uncontrollable? Do you push back and force the individual to calm down? Or do you just don’t do anything. This situation was both an emotional cost and productivity cost (Levine, 2009). In this situation, I decided to stay calm and made sure the individual knew that we were on the same team. I wanted to keep him calm and to channel the conflict into a more appropriate direction. According to Brown (2011), conflict is a natural social interaction, and managers should be able to recognize the types of conflicts and channel them in appropriate directions. Levine (2009) points out, this is due to our cultural conditioning.

 Levine (2009) discusses the cost of conflict and how much more one might accomplish if you could harness the resources, money, and energy expended, and using those resources to produce the outcomes you want. This conflict taught me many lessons: expect the unexpected, be prepared to deal with uncontrollable people and to keep your emotions in check in order not to make a situation worse. This conflict could have been prevented with utilization of the Cycle of Conflict of Resolution combined with the Ten Principles of New Thinking. I believe, if faced with similar situations I would use the Ten Principles of New Thinking and the knowledge being gained from this exercise to handle similar conflict in the future.

               There is a great Ted Talks video that addresses conflict negotiation. I think it helps as it relates to how we can address conflicts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xCkhV7zhuw

  

Reference:

Brown, R. D, (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th edition.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Levine, S. (2009). Getting to Resolution: Turning conflict into collaboration (2^nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Berett-Koehler. 

A632.5.5.RB - Protected Values in Decision Making

Abstract

Dan Gibert, a Harvard psychologist, presented a compelling and educational observation on why we make bad decisions. Gibert’s (2008) Ted Talks video titled “Why We Make Bad Decisions” takes a closer look at Bernoulli’s Equation. In Gibert’s perspective it is a gift to always make the correct decision. According to Gibert (2008) one of the reasons that people make bad decisions is due to errors in estimating the odds they are going to succeed. “Protected Values” are those decisions that is imbedded in ones core. It’s critical to take into consideration Gibert’s (2008) suggestion that we make subconscious or manipulated bad decisions and to analyze our protected values to make sure they are influencing our decisions in ways we would correspond with.

Protected Values in Decision Making

Hoch & Kunreuther, (2001) define “Protected Values” as those that resist tradeoffs with other values, particularly economic values. My three protected values are: non-modified organic foods, the pro-life perspective, and Universal Health Care. I choose these protected values because these are topics I feel strongly about and will not tradeoff for other values and beliefs. Dan Gilbert suggests in his video “Why We Make Bad Decisions” how we as humans rationalize information and in turn make a decision off of what we know. The issue is that is human nature to still make bad decisions even after we know what we do and it is because we find it hard to estimate values and odds on certain issues.

Protected Values

My first protected value is giving my family non-modified organic foods. A genetically engineered (GE) animal is one that contains additional or altered genetic material (e.g., recombinant DNA (rDNA)) through use of modern biotechnology tools that’s intended to give the animal a new trait or characteristic. I feel that cloning or reengineering of animals was an example of playing God and this goes against my beliefs. Some of the cons of this values include: animals can be engineered so their tissues, organs, and cells can be transplanted into humans, animals can be engineered to reproduce much faster, and animals can be engineered to require less food, grow quicker, and leave behind less waste. These are all seemingly beneficial, yet because of my belief that genetically modifying the animal causes repercussions we are not yet fully aware of, these benefits go unsupported. The pro’s of this value is: It is unethical, some animals die in experiments while other are born deformed or huge and some consumers are complaining that the animal drug rules do not regulate genetically modified animals properly. There are other studies that show how GMO’s from plants can have hazardous effects on health, so it is presumed that genetically modified animal meat will have the same effect. Before researching this topic I would not waiver on this value and would stick to my mindset. The more researched I did; however, the more my opinion started to change. I realize the benefits of a genetically engineered animal and how it could help the fight for hunger in the world. This excise helped me see this value through different perspective and see the importance of the decision we make when it comes to genetically engineer animals. While my value in this area has not fully shifted, I am not as set as I once was.

My second protected value is a pro-life perspective. First and foremost I must say I’m pro-life and will not change in this value. However, during this exercise I was able to look at the pros and cons of the belief of abortion. We will start of with the pros: Abortion is a safe medical procedure; medical emergencies compel a woman to resort to this action, there is a possibility that her own life might be at risk if she delivers the child. Also, some of the rape victims are minors, and they wouldn’t be mentally or physically prepared to take care of the newborn baby. The cons to abortion are: It carries the risk of not being able to become pregnant ever again in life; It involves participating in the act of taking a human life; It can potentially lead to serious health complications, and in some cases the worst case scenario can be death. I’m strongly against abortion and ever faced with making this decision I would always advise saving the life with the same conviction of saving a small child or middle aged person’s life.

The third protected value is having Universal Health Care. Health care is something that being in the military I don’t have to worry about. My family is taken care of no matter where we are and no matter the price for the procedure. Having this type of plan is something that is dear to my heart and I believe it to be of a benefit for the Nation. Some of the pros of this value are: It gives people that can’t afford health care the services they need, and citizens can get free treatments for basic conditions without the fear of not being able to afford them. The cons of this belief are: Universal health care eliminates the free market for health care where prices may be lower and those with higher incomes may complain that their money is going to pay for the health care of other citizens when it should be going to pay for their own health care. Currently there are many tradeoffs to this belief, for example, Obama Care. I don’t think we are quite there yet but one can see how having more options in the health industry can persuade my decision to one that is more achievable.

In conclusion, the Wharton text suggests, “by accepting that protected values are not always as protected as people think, one can probe more thoroughly to determine how these values might be traded off” (Hoch, Kunreuther, & Gunther, 2001, p. 257). I’ve learned a lot from this exercise and have acknowledged that reasonable people make bad decisions (Gibert, 2008). Knowing when to compromise, when to research, and when to set boundaries is what influences my future decision-making.

Reference:

Hoch, S. J., & Kunreuther, H. C. (2005). Wharton on making decisions. (1st edition.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Why we make bad decisions. (2005, July 1). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_researches_happiness

A631.5.4.RB - Leading System Wide Change

         Apple did a commercial a few years back for their campaign called “Think Different.” This commercial displayed images of some of the most important and inspirational leaders the 20^th century. I often think how difficult it is to lead change in a global capacity. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” Leading change is not an easy task; it takes dedication and a strong leader to change the mentality of others. The purpose of change is to increase the organization’s effectiveness or even to ensure its survival (Brow, 2011). According to Brown (2011) changing an organization involves modifying its existing systems, structure, and culture to some different standard or level of performance.

          In my opinion leaders are not born but are rather made. Don’t get me wrong, there are some individual that have leading come naturally, but they still need to go through some sort of developing phase. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric said, “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” In my experience becoming a leader has been a journey. I knew from a very young age that in order to be a leader I must first to learn from being a follower. Through my journey I saw great leaders and then I saw some bad ones. 

           The qualities that I saw from effective leaders were: leaders are confident in what they do; they are effective at communicating; leaders are humble and have integrity; and leaders are not afraid to make mistakes. I’ve taken these qualities and made them into my own. I have my share of failures and success but one lesson that I’ve learned is to never give up. Never give up on your family, your organization or your values. You might have had failed projects or been fired from a job, but one thing nobody can take from you is your dreams and values. Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” Great leaders come from all parts of the world with all different techniques, but they all have a drive within them to achieve greatness and have the courage to step up and make it happen.

REFERENCES:

Brown, D. R. (2011). An Experiential Approach to Organization Development (8^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall