Just 90 Days to Change the Habits of a Lifetime

Over the last 3 months I have been undergoing a bit of a lifestyle change.  I was overweight, lacking I energy and starting to lose direction.  Three months later and all that has changed.  The gym where I train – yes I really do enjoy  going to the gym now – asked my to write my story, which I duly did.  It’s a personal story, but one that I thought would make an interesting blog around motivation and engagement, as the parallels are there.  Here it is,  if you are in the position I found myself, I hope this helps you take the first step to a better place. 

Just 90 Days to Change the Habits of a Lifetime.

As someone who used to play sport to a high level, you’d think I’d know how to take care of my body.  Wrong.  30 years ago I was pretty good squash player, but pressures of work and life meant I’d stopped playing or doing any other exercise come to that.  I never ate breakfast and often skipped lunch - too busy to eat!  My one and only meal of the day was dinner and I crammed a whole days worth of eating into a single meal.  To top all that off I had a bad habit of eating the kid’s meals.  My parents drummed into me “if you don't’ clear your plate they’ll be no pudding.” Not wanting to subject my kids to the same ordeal, I would eat their leftovers.  Not so bad when its baby food, but burgers and chips is another matter!

To try and get into some sort of healthier routine I’d make the annual pilgrimage to a gym, go on diets or de-toxes and sure, I’d lose some weight, but it never lasted more than a few weeks. I wasn’t happy with my weight or body shape, but didn’t know what to do about it.  At one point, I even considered surgery.

I made one last attempt at playing squash again, but just kept getting injured.  In the end I decided I was just too old and the days of being fit and healthy were over.  I sat at home watching sport and films on TV never noticing my body slowly falling apart.

Then, one day, an email popped into my inbox offering a 12 week get fit programme.  I don’t really know what made me join up, maybe it was the £30 offer or perhaps it was the idea of doing something in a group.  Whatever it was, I’ll never be more grateful that I made the call. Life changing is a phrase that gets bandied around a lot, but over the last few weeks, my life has changed. I’ve not won the lottery, but money couldn’t have done what I’ve done for myself.

What changed my life?  It’s been a combination of things but a few stand out.

• Knowing what I wanted

At the first session we were all asked to write down our goals.  For the first time is sat down and thought about what I really wanted.  Instead of thinking about simply losing weight, I thought about how I’d look and feel with a different body shape.  In creating that image and sense of well being, something clicked and that has been a key driving force for me.  As my shape has changed over the weeks that vision has become stronger and pulls me forward.

• Discovering what healthy eating really is

I knew I wasn’t eating well, but I thought I was at least eating the right things, just at the wrong time. Turns out I was so far off the mark.  What amazed me (and still does) is not so much what you can’t have, or  eat less of; its  all the lovely things you can eat.  The nutrition guide and recipe book is a firm favourite and really helped developing my new eating habits.  It has truly been a revelation and I so love morning breakfast now.  I get up earlier, with more energy and look forward to the day

• The fitness training team

From day one and the introductory video, the team have been so supportive.  Their endless enthusiasm and commitment has transferred across to me and I don’t want to let them (or me) down.  regular communication with facts and case studies really helps my understanding and their stories are really motivating.

The weekly sessions have always been fun and nothing like my previous gym experiences.  From country walks to mud covered boot camps, the team have inspired me to push on.  The regular measure and weigh ins have also been a great source of motivation.  Regardless of the outcome, the support has been great and any change even small gets the whoop whoop.

• Personal Training sessions

To be honest I was a bit sceptical about 1:1 training, but as with pretty much everything else I was proved wrong.  The sessions with Jonny has changed my view of gym work.  Somehow he found a way of making the sessions fun.  What also helped was being able to measure the improvements.  Every small step has added up to a big change.  I’ve even started going to the gym and training on my own.  Just writing this is making me want to go.  That’s what I call a result!

A funny thing happened to me the other day.  I clutched my arm for some reason and was a bit surprised to find a lump.  It was a muscle! - I’d forgotten I had them. It showed me that what I had been doing for only a few weeks was making a noticeable difference.  People who haven’t seen me for a while feel compelled to tell me how well I look and want to know how I’ve done it. I tell then I eat more – just differently.  I’ve become a bit of a nutrition nerd and that's not a bad thing.  I’ve learnt that when you put rubbish in, you get rubbish out.  The thing you need to know is what rubbish looks like.  Fat is your friend!  Really.  Give it a go, I know it works.

Your Brand is at Risk

“The future of employer branding is in the hands of their employees and employers will “lose control ” of their employer brand”.  This is the message from Teresa Collis Head of Global Employer Marketing, Employer Branding at Siemens.  In a recent interview  Teresa sets out a future where employees will gain control of their employers brand through social media.  

So what does this mean for employers?  If you want to recruit and retain the best people, you have to invest in your current workforce.  The levels of engagement with your vision, values and priorities will be reflected in your employer brand. In effect your current employees will be letting everyone know if you are a worthwhile company to work for, or do business with. 

Social media is an incoming wave that can’t be held back. Disciplining people are the actions of King Canute - it’s never going to work in the longer term and it may be causing your business irreparable harm. Rather than trying to tighten your grip through social internet policies and restrictions, engage with the people who use it.   The future of your business lies with Generation Facebook.  Social media is an intrinsic part of their lives. 

more than 4 years ago, author Gary Hamil (Wall Street Journal Management 2.0)  concluded that an organisation’s environment has to reflect the social context of the web.  It’s this alignment between an individual’s personal brand (see last weeks blog) and the organisational culture that produces increased engagement. What are you and your organisation doing to build alignment?  - It is a joint responsibility.  Don’t risk drowning in the onrushing storm, the only course of action is to set sail full steam ahead to its heart.

The Poppy Fields Effect

In the world of pop music, the ability to sing has never been overly important.  Those of you who remember a band called The Alarm of 68 Guns fame, may also remember another famous episode in their career.  

In 2004 almost 20 years after their most famous hit and finding it increasingly difficult to get the attention of record executives, The Alarm decided to play the industry at their own game.  Lead Singer Mike Peters created a fictitious group called the Poppy Fields and had them lip sync a song written and played by The Alarm.  A promotional package, including video launched Poppy Fields into the public eye and the single 45 RPM entered the charts at number 24.  

Live on BBC Radio 1’s Chart Show, Mike Peters exposed the hoax and the reasons for doing it.  In a later interview he was quoted as saying  “"We wanted to make sure we are judged purely on the strength of the music, and not by our old hairstyles."  In 2013 those events were turned into a film called Vinyl.

Image in the pop industry is everything.  Talent counts much less and that is a crying shame. There are so many people who are cast off because they don’t fit a stereotype, regardless of their ability.  And there’s another side to consider.  For every person that is ignored, sidelined, or discarded, there are 10 others who don’t even try, demoralised by what they see, read and hear.

In 1969 I was in a school choir, but having to leave as the family was moving house.  I still remember the choirmaster making me promise that I would never give up singing.  But of course I did and in the intervening years I came to believe that I couldn’t sing anyway.  But today that changes.  I’ve booked some singing lessons and I’m going to fulfil the promise I made over 40 years ago.  I have no aspirations for public singing and that’s fine.  What I do feel sad for are all those people who have a real talent but through stereotyping and discrimination crush someone who could light up the world.

Whether in the world of pop or on the shop floor, there are talented people wanting and waiting to prove it, but don’t get the chance.  There are just as many who have proved it over time but are starting to tread water as their spark is being snuffed out.  It’s not necessarily a deliberate act on anyone’s part, its an unintended consequence of a culture that’s evolved, almost unnoticed. 

Last week on The Voice a guy called Myles Evans wowed the judges who all turned for him.  They were surprised to learn that his audition was the first time he had sung in public.  It was only his sister’s encouragement that got him to go.  I wonder if we all took the time to recognise and encourage the talent that exists in our colleagues and team members, our world would be a better place?

Engage the Neural Net

Do you make a list for everything?  Or perhaps you prefer doing things on the fly. Do you know someone who lives their life through lists?  By nature I’m not much f a list-maker, unless I’m under pressure, in whig a list hops clear my head.  What is it though that makes us list-makers?  

Last week it's was widely reported that male and female brains are wired up differently.  According to the research by the University of Pennsylvania, neural circuitry in women make them more adept at at multi tasking; while men are better at perception. Naturally, this reinforces all the old stereotypes about men being from Mars and women from Venus.   At the same time, it also backs up the research undertaken by Roger Sperry on the left and right hemispheres of the brain performing different types of functions - left logical, right creative. His work won him a Nobel prize in 1981.

Apart from the aforementioned reinforcement of gender stereotyping, there is a hint of the so what? about the research. But that would be a mistake.  There’s a very powerful message behind this story, are goes far beyond to list or not to list.

Most people are familiar with the left/right brain split.  What is less well known is the principle of the triune brain - 3 distinct stages of the brains evolution. The reptilian brain governs automatic functions such as breathing.  The limbic system controls emotions, the flight or fight syndrome held over from man kinds earliest days.  More recently the new cortex has developed and controls logical, rational thinking, the higher level thinking that sets us apart in the world.

If you take those 2 sets of research and combine them (left right brain with the limbic system and neo cortex), you get 4 quadrants, each with their own distinctive pattern of thinking. A part of why people behave differently and are good at different things is because their brains are wired up differently.  Understanding the power behind these differences and harnessing them brings out the best in people.  It also offers an opportunity to reduce conflict and increase collaboration.

The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument HBDI) is a psychometric tool that creates a visual metaphor of the brains map, revealing the preferences for thinking and behaving.  

One high profile example of the power of taking a whole brained approach is Coca Cola and how they applied the principles and tools behind the HBDI to the 2012 Olympic Torch Relay in the UK.   

My own team understands the power of the HBDI and we regularly use it within our own business.  Building our own team profile has enabled us to work together more effectively and given us a powerful approach to managing projects, communication and problem solving.

We have also built those principles into our ExtraMILE process, helping to align individual strengths and preferences with team and organisational goals.  It’s amazing what the brain can do and understanding more about how it drives behaviour, makes a real difference to performance outcomes and job satisfaction.

Where is Your Engagement?

Studies regularly report the benefits of engagement to the organisation  Direct benefits such as increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and turnover are often quoted; as well as indirect and still important benefits such as employer brand, volunteering and being more proactive with personal development. All of the above is very valuable in an increasingly competitive business world, but I get the sense that organisational leaders believe that engagement is something you do to to people - run a survey, roll out initiatives.

 For some reason decorating comes to mind.  Running a survey can be a bit like preparing the wall for the first coat of paint.  Once the wall is prepared its time for the first initiative (sorry coat) - but not before we've applied some masking tape, don't want to paint another area by mistake.  Then it's time for the roller and your chosen hue. But who asked the wall if it wanted to be painted - and in that colour?

In the first of a series of three videos on HRZone, Professor Yannis Georgellis from Kingston Business School explores employee engagement and in the interview makes 2 particularly interesting points. First he explores the locus of engagement.  Individuals are not necessarily engaged with their day to day work.  It could be the people they work with, or even something outside of work altogether. It could even be a unique combination that changes over time. And every individual could have their own unique combination. So a one size fits all approach is never going to work.

 We all know you can't make someone love you and equally you can't make someone engage with your organisation. What you can do is learn and understand what that person cares most about most, recognise them and act on as many as possible.  If you’re not interested in the same things, there’s
a problem.  At work it’s the same, build as many of those ingredients into the (work) environment as possible. Some of those things may be hr policies like flexible working and flexible reward packages.  Other actions that can be taken bring me nicely to Professor Georgellis’ second point.

At the end of the interview the professor touches on matching talents with what individuals care about.That simple statement is for me a cornerstone of engagement.  Using my talents to deliver on something I care about is deeply satisfying and naturally I do the best job possible.

I watched a film last night called Ip Man - about a Win Chun Master who refused to teach so he could devote more time to himself and his art. Eventually he realised he cared more the plight of his family and his compatriots.  Channelling his talent for martial arts through his need to fight for what he cared most about changed the Japanese occupation of China.  It also enabled the emergence of Bruce Lee, probably the worlds best known matial Artist. Ip Man was his Mentor.

Matching talents to interests isn’t necessarily straightforward. Not everyone immediately recognises their strengths and motives, yet alone finding a way to align them with organisational needs.  This is one reason for us developing the ExtraMILE process.  Through clearly defined stages the process uncovers the power within the individual and develops or strengthens the organisational processes to align and utilise that power to exceed expectations.  Oscar winning Director Robert Altman put it well when he said - “The role of the director is to create a space where actors can become more than they ever dreamed of being”

If you’d like to know more about the ExtraMILE process, leave a comment or use the contact form on the Emenex website.

Trainer, Train Thyself

I've recently completed re-designing our Company website, which launched on 1st September.  No big deal you might think, but until I took on the project around 2 months ago, I knew pretty much nothing about web design, HTML or any other programming code. I'm pleased with the results and I hope you are too. If you're reading this, you're on the emenex.co.uk website.

So, what did I learn from this experience and does it have wider application/implications for  learning and development?

Technology is revolutionising the value chain

The Emenex website is powered by Wordpress, which virtually eliminates the need for knowledge of a programming language - as long as you can work out out how to use plug ins and widgets.  These little applets drop into Wordpress' content management system  (see, I'm a technical wizard already!) and enables you to almost endlessly customise any one of thousands of templates, many of which are free.  

However, the seemingly never ending choice, raises other issues.  If you can do almost anything, then why not do it? 

One example I recently came across is managing creative talent.  A manufacturer who needs creative talent, has recently been going though a re-structure.  As part of that process, it has considered sharing creative resources with its US parent.  This will mean that instead of creating new designs, it will simply adapt existing ones.  That reduces costs and simplifies processes, but what will happen to the creative people in the UK? Technology has simplified their role, but at the same time taken away a key ingredient for job satisfaction.  Creativity is this Company's competitive edge.  Lose the creative element and the UK division risks losing its competitive edge.

Looking at it from another perspective, how is Wordpress changing the web design industry? If I can create a website, knowing little or nothing about web design, then so can anyone else.  Web design used to be all about technical know how - the black art of coding,  php, C++, Java, Python. Facebook might need all of these (and they use all of them), but for the majority, it's just not necessary anymore.

Wordpress and other platforms brings Technology to the masses and shifts  the value we place on technical expertise. Speaking to a friend of mine, Chris Lee  www.bigcheesedc.com describes how his business has come full circle from being a design and branding agency who moved into the web design space.  With the advent of content management systems, he has moved back to his roots developing creative content. Nowadays his clients take day to day control and management of their websites and Chris provides the expertise around branding and identity  Although its been a difficult transition, Chris says it has been a positive experience. 

What this highlights for me is the importance of recognising where and how you add value to your clients. In a dynamic business environment, your expertise can quickly become redundant, regardless of how often you update your technical skills.  The ability to recognise how client needs are shifting is equally, if not more important, and to move your offer and value proposition to keep pace with shifting expectations.

Which brings me to the second point around my website development experience.

Build the website backwards

Because of the myriad of options available to the novice website builder, I started by thinking about what the finished website would look like, what it would or would not do and the messages we wanted to convey.  

In my work with organisations supporting them in managing change, a constant indicator of the likely success of any strategy was whether the senior management had a powerful vision of the future and how well that was communicated in their organisation.  In the same way, the success of  the website's development was largely due to the discussion around the vision and purpose of the website. It took some time for the clarity and understanding to emerge between all the stakeholders, but it was time well spent, minimising the time spent on implementation, Pareto's 80/20 rule comes to mind.

Another benefit was that because i knew what we wanted, the technology just became a matter of how.  I didn't need to spend lot of time researching all possible options, I just needed to find a plugin to add video, or a plugin to encode text and formatting. Technology became a means to an end, rather than the focus.  

This also reminds me of our work on the ExtraMILE model of employee engagement and development.  The model describes the key drivers for employee engagement.  We spent a lot of time trying to find the technology to automate a questionnaire for an individual and organisational survey based on the model.  

What we originally lacked was the vision of how the model could be used within organisations. We focused on the technology, not the value to the wider market. However, as we shared the model with some long standing clients, it became clear that the model was more far reaching than we originally realised. This has given rise to new opportunities for us and added value for our clients, whether or not they already have embedded an engagement or talent management strategy. The technology has taken a back seat as we focus on the value.

Aligning talents and passions

Right through the website development experience, I was constantly challenged to bring the website to fruition.  This suited my career orientation of challenge and sat perfectly with my interest in technology. Being able to deliver something for the organisation that was new, interesting and challenging made for the perfect assignment.  One of my favourite youtube videos is the RSA’s take on Dan Pinks’ Drive.  It’s on the front page of our website and puts some evidence and research behind my experience with our webiste.

Imagine if you could better align your own talents and passions with your organisation’s needs, how would that work for you?

The Dark Side

This week is the 40th Anniversary of the release of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. It’s one of my favourite albums of all time. As I listened to it again this week, it struck me that I don’t listen to albums much any more.  More often than not it’s a play list on my iPod or 8tracks on the web.  

And that is a shame, because although I get to hear lots of music I like, I miss out on the experience of the complete album, carefully crafted, with tracks thoughtfully chosen to create the whole experience and capture a mood, idea or moment.

Dark Side is an album that makes this point.  One of the stand out characteristics is its connectedness, not just to the listener, but also in the way every track is connected.  The LP (that’s long player for the digital generation) was conceived as two pieces of music, one per side.  Although a couple of tracks were released as singles, e.g. Time, it's when the album is taken as a whole that everything comes together.

New technology brings many benefits and the advent of portable digital music has certainly brought many, but it as have the potential to destroy - that’s why its called disruptive technology.  It’s been happening for centuries - remember the Luddites?, but is there a point at which we lose more than we gain from the impact of technology?

I made a connection between my Dark Side experience and a book I’m currently reading. In Arc 1.x, a New Scientist collection of articles, Samuel Arbesman proposes that in the near future only computers will be able to make new discoveries. He suggests that in the relentless pursuit of advancement, the world has become so complex that we are reaching the point of being unable to understand the world we live in.  He quotes Don Swanson, who described this complexity as “undiscovered public knowledge”.

What this says to me is that as we create new ways of doing things, introducing new technology to become more efficient, faster, smaller we are in danger of losing the connection with the world and the people around us.  Danny Hills in Scientific American calls it the transition from enlightenment to entanglement - a point at which we no longer understand the systems of our own making.  We are at the point where we can do almost anything. Whether we should do it, is now a more important question. Are we still able to understand the consequences of our intention?