It's safest inside a ring of fire

Some truths are counter-intuitive.

My focus has been to study master craftsmen. Craftsmen are innovators, working on the fridge or trade, and focused on raising standards. I look at what they do and how they think can be applied in other areas.

Craftsmen tend to work alone. They are in community with other craftsmen, but they work day in and day out by themselves. They are in the business of playing with standards and elevating them. They do this through innovation and creativity.

There is great power in groups. We all know the kinds of things we can accomplish with strong teams. But this article focuses on the trouble we can get into when craftsmen encounter groups. And I want to point to a parallel that happens with people embracing creative problem-solving, trying to push through norms, and how organizations respond.

When groups grow, they become more coherent and pull together. They start to share an identity and see things similarly. They become powerful. These qualities can build cohesiveness on the one hand, and group-think on the other.

A challenge to both the craftsmen and the groups they interact with is that individuals outside the group are trying to work with existing standards, something the group is familiar with, and create something new.  This difference gets aggravated by the fact that innovations are experienced as happening out of sync.

The cliche "they were ahead of their time" comes to mind, but no one is ahead of their time. People invent in reaction to something (an event, a set of ideas, etc.). This is why we experience innovations as unpredictable.

We rarely recognize them as solutions or potential answers to a problem. We don't know what to do with them when we see them. They make us think differently. They change the way we understand and engage the world around us. They force us to learn something new.

The virtue of any particular innovation is hard to judge until you've tried it.

As a result, communities often fear what they can't understand. More often than we would like, we circle the wagons believe around our beliefs, shunning the new idea. We don't even want to give it a try.

History shows us that bad things can happen at least temporarily and good things are lost. They are lost often at a time when they're needed most.

It's fire season here in Seattle, so it seems like a good time to reflect on firefighting, in general, and in particular, a 1949 fire that fundamentally changed the way we approach fighting fires.

smokejumper_3.jpg

This particular fire is a cautionary story and it's an important illustration of how the issue of learning well, how we can meet challenge head-on, and predict that it's going to happen because it happens over and over and over again throughout history.

The fire-fighting crew this group was a very heroic bunch of young men between the ages of 17 to 22. They called themselves "smoke jumpers." The last of them recently passed in 2014. They were the first firemen to parachute from a plane into remote areas to fight forest fires. The smoke jumpers were a courageous, elite group held together by their group values, their mission, and the courage to do accomplish a difficult job. They dropped into a chaotic environment with the few resources they could carry.

It's most important to remember for this story is that these men knew if the fire came toward them, they could find safety on the top of a ridge. A ridge provides a natural break in the line of fire.

The innovator of the story, Dodge, was older and more experienced than the group. He could do everything the smoke jumpers could, but better. He had a great reputation and a lot of experience. He was also a reticent, quiet man. He took care of everything in the base camps. But he wasn't one of them.

The day of the fire, he was their Foreman. They didn't know him personally and it was the first time he had actually led them as a group. Left in the afternoon to meet the fire and they were on the ground fighting by five o'clock. We know because they found a watch that was melted indicating the fire confronted them 59 minutes later at 5:59. The incident happened in a very short period of time.

This is a familiar dynamic between communities and innovator.

In a crisis or pressure-filled experience, it's never time that matters,

it's the certainty with which we hold our views that seems to make a difference.

When they saw this fire the innovator saw one thing, and the group saw another. The kids saw something they could conquer they could tame. They referred to such fires as "ten o'clock fires" and laughed about them.  But Dodge saw the fire and saw something different. He saw a fire that was about to explode and get out of control. He tried to move the group down toward a river that ran through the center of the fire, where they could safely fight the fire within relative safety. They would be able to exit through the river.

But the wind was so strong grass just burst into flame between them and the river and they were trapped. He told them to run. At this point, their only option was uphill, against a fire traveling 100 yards a minute. This was a race they would not win.

At that moment, he did something that at the time that no one had ever done before. He took a pack of matches out of his pocket, turned toward the fire, and lit a ring around himself. He had invented what is now called an escape fire. It is something that every forest firefighter has been educated in today and has saved many many lives since.

The term now means....

escape fire noun, \is-’kāp\’fī(-ə)r\

  1. a swath of grassland or forest intentionally ignited in order to provide shelter from an oncoming blaze.

  2. an improvised, effective solution to a crisis that cannot be solved using traditional approaches.

The fire was approaching fast. He called to his men and said to them, "Step with me into this fire."

escape-fired-defined-780.jpg

The team was running as their training had instructed them to do. Fifteen smoke jumpers ran for the ridge because that was the knowledge that they could rely on.  But Dodge took his canteen out, watered a cloth for this face, knelt in the ashes, and laid down in the ashes of the fire he had burned. The fire burned over him. Other firefighters found a lucky pile of stone. But the fire caught the rest of the men.

Dodge, the foreman, survived the fire by staying in the circle he had burned in the grass. Two more made it to the top of the ridge, only to watch ten members of their team fall to the fire. Two more died the next day in a hospital. All but one died of smoke inhalation.

This is a sad story and I don't tell it to make you feel sad. However, this urgency of communication and influencing between innovator and group is one that breaks down all the time. You only have to look back through history:

  • the first time we were told the earth is flat;

  • the first time someone said microscopic things are responsible for disease

  • the first time someone said vehicles can go underwater, through the sky, and into space

  • the first time someone said a computer could fit in our pocket

  • first time Lady Gaga said I'm going to be a rock and star Idol

Whenever groups come together, they have common beliefs and their identity is preserved by them holding on to those beliefs. Innovators need to understand that when they are calling people to come with them to a new idea
they're inviting them into an unproven fire.

No one knows if someone says "I have the greatest idea in the world" if it's going to work or if it's going to be a disaster until effort happens. I think in every group we have to ask questions and assign mechanisms that allow us to be open to ideas we haven't anticipated.

As innovators, we have to find better ways to communicate and accept new ideas while maintaining our relationships. There have to be better ways to pool ideas and share resources in times of stress.

I know that was an intense story, but I want you to think about how you go through your day and interact with others when you are a member of a community that is holding to beliefs, or an innovator approaching a problem from the outside-in.

You are both. You are going to be in communities that you're working hard to build and you're a creative innovator that has ideas that people around you will not understand. So the question that we all need to answer for ourselves, and it's a different answer for everyone, is:

what is the one thing you can do if you're a member of a community

to see what's possible when what is presented

is something you don't understand?

OR

when you take the role of innovator 

and you are telling someone what is possible, 

and sharing how you see differently or more effectively?

In the end, learning new ideas, and really being able to try them on when it counts, is the way we move forward. It's about getting over our own anxiety. Change is not the problem. I'm not entirely convinced that we even mind failure so much.

The problem for most of us is fear of deviating from a leading strategy.

Just look what it's doing to the business of healthcare, education, and poverty.

The art of complaining

Complaining means that we know what's wrong, but we:

  1. don’t realize we can change it. (We believe we're powerless.)

  2. are too lazy to change it. (We'd rather just complain.)

As a friend, I hate this. Because it’s a lot of work to make complainers realize they can change things. They always push back with all the reasons they can’t, which just reinforces the two points above.

As a colleague, I love this. Because I know I’m powerful and can change anything. Because every complaint is an opportunity. It’s fun to invent solutions to problems, turn ideas to reality, and watch my creations make the world a little better.Then afterward, on a personal note, I can say, “See? Told you it could change.”

Driving Dedication During Change: Prove You're Dedicated to People

 
IMAGE CREDIT: @davegray

IMAGE CREDIT: @davegray

 

People won’t bust their tails for just anybody. They have their reasons—good ones--when they dedicate themselves to their work. Usually the relationship has a lot to do with it.

Dedication rarely comes without reciprocity--or some mutual benefit. You have to be invested in people if you want them to invest in their work.

That’s not always as easy as it sounds. For example, in today’s world of rapid change, you can’t promise job security. You can’t protect everyone from anxiety and job stress. You can’t keep from having to make hard moves that may derail or even harm their careers. Sometimes you have to do things at the expense of the individual for the good of the organization.

Still, you can be fiercely dedicated to helping people succeed in the jobs they face. You can commit yourself to support them and provide the resources they need. You can invest in their training, education, and overall employability. You can encourage them, believe in them, and back them up in their work.

Beyond that, you can dedicate yourself to honesty, to always being trustworthy and above board in your dealings with them. Unless they have experienced you as a colleague or manager in the past, their dedication will come cautiously if at all. Make it clear that they can count on you to do what’s possible on their behalf.

It always comes down to this: You’ve got to be caring and dedicated toward people for them to be caring and dedicated to their work. We play how we are coached.

 
 
 

The trust level typically drops during change. People grow wary. More self-protective. They interrupt unpopular events as solid evidence that the organization lacks commitment to employees.

And right or wrong, perceptions run the show.

This means you must provide generous proof to the contrary. Leave no doubt about your dedication to your people.

Commitment usually travels on a two-way street.

 
 
 

To perform well while under pressure, we need to develop habits to work more effectively. Making the right decisions, engaging with others effectively, learning to manage our own emotions takes practice.

Driving Dedication During Change: A pocket guide for becoming an effective linchpin enables you with all the tools and tactics you need to make your interactions less stressful and more effective.

Driving Dedication During Change: Match People With Work They Love

 
IMAGE CREDIT: Ian Schneider

IMAGE CREDIT: Ian Schneider

 

Dedication comes naturally when our work is compelling. If people like what they are doing, they are more in tune with their tools and good at finding problems before they arise. They get absorbed by the day's challenges and time flies. When people like their work, they find focus. You don't need to turn up the heat; their internal fire is self-igniting. 

Being compelled by our work means there's a good match between skills and interest. Therefore, the casting of employees is significant to a mission's success. Who goes where and who does what can make a world of difference in how your people apply themselves. 

If you can position people so they get to spend their days doing what they love, you ensure dedication. They'll voluntarily put in extra time, and throw their hearts into the job as well. 

Dedication feeds on work that's engaging. When we are compelled by our work, it captures the imagination toward creative solutions. Engaging work also provides energy rather than takes it away. This energy reserve is what perpetuates when the hours are long and significant challenges. There's another important benefit: people who consumed with their work invest more fully in the organization. The organization's mission becomes their mission. They give time. They give themselves--both heart and soul.  

With more of themselves involved in their work, people will be more likely to protect that investment of time, knowledge, and expertise as it pertains to furthering the mission. They also need to share t it, widely. Logic dictates that we look out for our own best interests. When we care about our work we have a personal stake in the organization, and are more committed to the success of its mission.

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People lose a degree of control over their work lives during change. Organizations get reshaped, resulting in some forced assignments and arbitrary placements of employees

Careers get compromised. Some folks settle for the jobs that are available, forsaking the sort of work they really want.

The payoff is that they get to stay employed. The problem is they feel no passion whatsoever.

More careful casting of people protects commitment. Give them assignments that stir their hearts, and they’ll work harder because they want to.

The workload always weighs less when you’ve got a job you love.

 
 
 

To perform well while under pressure, we need to develop habits to work more effectively. Making the right decisions, engaging with others effectively, learning to manage our own emotions takes practice.

Driving Dedication During Change: A pocket guide for becoming an effective linchpin enables you with all the tools and tactics you need to make your interactions less stressful and more effective.

Driving Dedication During Change: Outlaw Apathy

 
IMAGE CREDIT: Aneta Pawlik

IMAGE CREDIT: Aneta Pawlik

 

People live into our bias of them. Meaning, people have a peculiar way of confirming our beliefs about what they can and cannot do. Somehow our expectations become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You can use this unique psychology to your group's advantage and create high commitment--by giving people reputations to live up to instead of reputations to run from.

Begin by making it clear that dedication is a top priority trait expected from everyone. Using this lens immediately starts to shape the reality you live and the talent you seek.

Make sure you communicate a clear mission for the group, and everyone a clear goal in helping to achieve that mission. Be specific in explaining what dedication means in this group, what standards you want them to adhere to, and the expectations you have of them. Operational definitions for common understanding are essential to effective, constructive communication. There should be no confusion regarding what dedication looks like in the context of a particular group or organization toward its mission. People need to know precisely what you mean to perform. 

Once you've achieved clarity with the mission and goals, show that your expectations are firm. Be intolerant of apathy. Weed out the uncommitted by creating consequences mediocre performance. Save the rewards for those who try the hardest, contribute the most, and continually go the extra mile. Everyone in the group should benefit in direct proportion to their efforts and to the results they produce. 

Follow through on the clarity of the mission, relevancy of goals to the mission, and clear expectations make dedication count for something. All of a sudden, behavior starts to matter. Attitude starts to change. Individual performance begins to make a real dent in progress toward tangible results and momentum with the mission. 

This approach might seem a little hardnosed. Looking at how change (reassignments, reorganizations, new leadership, etc.) has affected people, and you might start to feel apologetic. Maybe you put these decisions into action; maybe you didn't. Maybe you think the situation is unfair. Maybe you think you aren't justified in asking for high dedication among those you work with. 

Just remember—anyone who passively tolerates mediocre work is as much involved in it as they who help to perpetuate it. Those who accept mediocre work without protest or speaking up against it is really cooperating with it. Benign neglect is not an act of kindness.

NEXT

 
 
 

It could be that under these conditions you consider commitment to be a hopeless case.

Act otherwise.

Too much respect for problems can kill our faith in possibilities. There has to be balance between analysis and action.

 
 
 

To perform well while under pressure, we need to develop habits to work more effectively. Making the right decisions, engaging with others effectively, learning to manage our own emotions takes practice.

Driving Dedication During Change: A pocket guide for becoming an effective linchpin enables you with all the tools and tactics you need to make your interactions less stressful and more effective.

Driving Dedication During Change: Give People A Stake In The Outcome

 
IMAGE CREDIT: gustavo Campos

IMAGE CREDIT: gustavo Campos

 

People invest more into their work for a lot of reasons. First, their work has to be satisfying in some way (to them). Second, the incentives to do their job and do it well need to be fair--they need to get something out of the deal. Let people share in the outcomes, and see how their enthusiasm, interest, and dedication change.

We are most passionate about results when something is as stake. When we are personally invested in a our own or someone else's success, it's because we have something to lose or gain in the process. We will try harder to influence the results. Things at stake might be our pride, ability to learn, or our rank. So how do you make the results matter to everyone? Why should people's work matter to them? Why should we not allow ourselves to get by with doing just the minimum?

Help others make a meaningful connection between effort and rewards. They'll see little logic in trying harder unless they believe more energy is likely to bring them better returns. If you want more dedication from those around you, you should make sure they have a genuine vested interest in the results.

Maybe there's money that should be shared. Bonuses, profit-sharing, or communal tips. Compensation time or paid days off or some other kind of financial incentive. For sure, there are intangibles—psychological paychecks—deserved across the group. Give people their fair share of the recognition they earned. Determine the incentives most relevant to your team or organization. You can't expect to run a marathon on crumbs. 

Figure out how to share the action across the group. Sharing implies ownership. Ownership is a core aspect of dedication.

NEXT

 
 
 

Let’s deal with employees’ hot question: “What’s in it for me?

They can see that change carries quite a price tag. What’s harder for them to find are good reasons for giving it their best shot.

Their question is legitimate. You can’t afford to ignore it, and the logic in your answer must be solid.

People don’t put out extra effort unless there is some kind of special payback.

 
 
 

To perform well while under pressure, we need to develop habits to work more effectively. Making the right decisions, engaging with others effectively, learning to manage our own emotions takes practice.

Driving Dedication During Change: A pocket guide for becoming an effective linchpin enables you with all the tools and tactics you need to make your interactions less stressful and more effective.

Driving Dedication During Change: Invest in Rapport

 
IMAGE CREDIT: Priscilla Du Preez

IMAGE CREDIT: Priscilla Du Preez

 

Cohesiveness—the “we” spirit within the group—can wield heavy influence on commitment. The stronger the ties between the people, the more those personal bonds serve as a motor powering individual effort.

Sometimes this sense of family, community, or “teamness” comes about naturally over time as people work together during the regular workday. But sharing experiences outside of the daily routine often accelerates the process. Getting together after hours—for fun, maybe even for work—allows a unique and most valuable connective tissue to develop across the group.

Some people aren’t drawn to this sort of thing, of course, particularly if they’re already putting in long hours. So don’t force it. You can’t make camaraderie a job requirement. What you can do is encourage it and create a conducive environment that helps it to happen spontaneously.

Bonding that occurs beyond the boundaries of the job creates richer relationships. The relaxed atmosphere makes it easier for people to get to know one another on a personal basis. The feelings of unity take on more depth.

The payoff? Tightly knit groups make members want to try harder. We’re more committed to those we care for. We’ll pitch in to help them out. We’ll go further out of our way to make sure we measure up in their eyes. Call it peer pressure, group pride, or inspiration that comes from knowing your associates are cheering for you. Label it however you want, the force if formidable enough to drive personal commitment through the roof. You’ll see people push themselves to their absolute limits rather than let down their colleagues.

That cohesiveness is worth something. You can’t buy that kind of behavior. It’s born of feelings deep inside the human being, stirrings that develop out of purely personal ties. It’s commitment with a capital C.

NEXT

 
 
 

Devotion to the job drops when working relationships get disturbed.

Personnel shakeups cause people to pull back psychologically. The social ties that connect employees carry a weaker emotional current, particularly if people end up working with others they hard know.

You should take time—make time—to rebuild relationships.

Commitment runs at a far higher voltage when people know and care for their coworkers.

 
 
 

To perform well while under pressure, we need to develop habits to work more effectively. Making the right decisions, engaging with others effectively, learning to manage our own emotions takes practice.

Driving Dedication During Change: A pocket guide for becoming an effective linchpin enables you with all the tools and tactics you need to make your interactions less stressful and more effective.

Driving Dedication During Change: Membership Matters

 
IMAGE CREDIT: June O

IMAGE CREDIT: June O

 

We are members in a lot of different ways--families, companies, gyms, softball teams, circles of friends, hobby clubs, unions, charitable organizations, and local religious congregations. Membership in social groups can boost our sense of identity because people take pride in and derive meaning from group memberships that are important to them.

There are some groups with a high barrier to entry. Where the harder we have to fight for something, the more precious it becomes. Somehow, in sacrificing, we prove to ourselves that what we're after is valuable. For example, golf clubs create a high barrier to entry by requiring high annual dues. Navy seal training creates a high barrier to entry by requiring mental and physical toughness.

Sacrifice is linked to membership. Making it through rigorous selection standards and working to prove their worthiness, people convince themselves that being a part of the group matters.

Some organizations abuse these ideas, dangling carrots off a long stick with no intention of making good on promises. They create a set of initiation rites building commitment to the group by making acceptance hard to come by--continually frustrating the process through underhanded practices.

When joining a group, the criterion should be clear. Joining any group can be something special--an achievement and a privilege--if the people entering and the people managing it don't lose themselves in the process.

Belonging (in any group) is when you feel safe and valued for embracing what makes you unique. It's natural to experience self-doubt at work. Converting that energy into further worry leaves people feeling more alienated and alone. Turning that worry into constructive work brings us back into feeling included. With effective membership, it’s incredibly important for people to be inspired by one another, to look one another in the eye and see goodness rather than merely an obstacle to our own agenda.

Initiating people into groups comes down to welcoming, mentoring, and sustaining progress toward challenging goals—always. It takes effort, energy and mental discipline. Moving from "me-ness" to "we-ness" comes from having shared everyday struggles, requiring us to be vulnerable with one another. This identification with the group feeds dedication.

Having a sense of belonging doesn't mean work will be easy—it means the normal ups and downs of your job won't cause you quite so much stress. Encourage people to share their experiences (good and bad) to help everyone realize that emotional ups and downs are part of the job and that you can go through painful periods but still belong.

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People get shuffled. Repositioned. Assigned to different bosses and new work groups.

 Many employees end up in jobs they didn’t apply for, and don’t really know that they want. Unsure about whether they even care to be part of the new scheme of things, they keep their dedication on hold

Force the issue.

Be welcoming, mentor everyone, and sustain progress, and dedication comes naturally.

 
 
 

To perform well while under pressure, we need to develop habits to work more effectively. Making the right decisions, engaging with others effectively, learning to manage our own emotions takes practice.

Driving Dedication During Change: A pocket guide for becoming an effective linchpin enables you with all the tools and tactics you need to make your interactions less stressful and more effective.

Driving Dedication During Change: Connect Through a Relevant Mission

Depending on the level of resilience in the organization and the individual, change can leave people shaken, with a wounded sense of self-worth. Reinforce your efforts by providing reasonable goals. Let these accomplishments restore their faith in themselves. Keep people from just going through the motions. Employees who don’t believe in themselves or in what they are doing deliver little of their potential and hold back the team.

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