Like families, workplaces have traditions that people find important. Every organization I’ve been part of has had traditions that those in the organization find reassuring and contribute to the meaning they find from the work. While we often talk about engagement at work and strive to find the “secret sauce” that can increase engagement, we forget that our traditions can provide either incentives or disincentives to be engaged.

Way back in my theme park consultant days, a tradition we had on days for client visits to our office was to have our popcorn machine going so that the smell of fresh, buttery

Imagine your office filled with the smell of fresh popcorn!

popcorn would be present in the building when our client arrived. This was always followed by another tradition after the client left. That one was the making of caramel corn in the machine. Since it made a huge mess, that deliciousness was followed by yet another tradition, cleaning the popcorn machine! These traditions made for a great time (yes, even the cleaning!) since we all equally enjoyed and took responsibility for maintaining these traditions.  The cleaning, while not fun, was still an essential part of what we did to make working there full of engagement through tradition!

What traditions exist in your organization and do they work as an incentive or disincentive to accomplish what needs to be accomplished?

Last week was one such week for me. Between issues erupting at work that greatly tested my patience and an event involving my son, a car, and his trumpet, I was quite pleased when I left my office Friday afternoon without looking back.

Car vs. Trumpet – Part of the bad week last week.

Being reflective by nature, I spent some downtime this weekend reflecting on the events of the week to try and learn and prepare for the challenges that certainly lie ahead in the days, weeks, and months to come. The trick is to ensure that the occasional bad day (or even week) does not devolve into a constant cycle of negative events that reduce one’s passion for doing good. Thankfully, that’s where patience and building on the wisdom of others can come into play.

In the aftermath of last week, I am drawing lessons from my own reactions, which were kept well in check on the surface, so that I can channel the negative energy I was feeling into action that can create conditions for success in the organization. Using tools and ideas from a couple of my recent lunchtime reads (Kill the Company and Joy) I intend to ensure that solutions are created so that the underlying feelings that were exposed last week can be brought forth and dealt with in a constructive manner. Although one choice is certain to ignore and hope for change, that does not create conditions for growth for either myself, or for the others involved. In some ways, these challenges must be embraced and conquered so that any future bad days we are apt to experience aren’t caused by the same things as the ones last week.

What are you going to do today to shift something bad into something good?

I am thankful for great English teachers in high school (Gary Gilmer and Corrine Smith warrant special mention) and their emphasis on writing skills.  There was also a requirement in college to take what was called an “intensive writing” course as part of my degree. Regular writing with frequent feedback pushed me to be picky about my writing.

However, the drawback to that pickiness is a tendency to go too long and too complicated in my writing. Simplifying my communication has been key to ensuring that messages written to the entire organization can be easily understood by all who read them.  Twitter, with its 140 character limit, has been a great way to force concise communication.

When you write something, are you certain that what you want to convey is being clearly stated? Is there language that can be ambiguous? If so, go back and rewrite it until clarity is achieved. If that’s not possible, perhaps you can get up and see someone in person or pick-up the phone and have a chat. That certainly lessens the opportunity for misunderstanding!

Are your words clearly stating what you mean?

I know people in 2014 who feel that if someone isn’t at their desk in the office then they can’t be working.  The reality for many is that work can happen anywhere if everyone involved is willing to embrace the possibility and trust people to do the right thing.  Since I have power, a computer and an Internet connection, I am able to be just as productive (perhaps even more so without the interruptions!) as I would be sitting in my office today.

While there are certainly jobs and tasks that require people to be present, it makes sense for so many businesses and functions within businesses to embrace the possibilities that working from someplace other than the office provides.  Snowed in? Not a problem for me as the work continues!

My to-do list for the day is done without having to rely on a snowplow to clear the foot-plus of snow from my street.  That’s a good thing too, because so far today, I haven’t had one come by!

Performing some self-reflection on this, I know that I love new things and that connecting with people is important (for those who are familiar with StandOut by Marcus Buckingham, I am a Pioneer/Connector) for me to be at my best.  Being able to do so while seeing what is possible with the continued evolution of technology and human resources is a great thing.

In the 2 weeks since the show, the emphasis on technology has lessened while the people around the technology have grown in importance.  Some of the vendors have reached out and connected with me personally, noting specifics of our conversation and my interest (even if it was minor!) in the products and services they offer.  Others have sent me a standard e-mail and made no real effort to connect with me.  Really, it’s quite easy to find me and I am happy to speak with someone if they have a real reason to connect.  The best technology will not help if the people associated with it are also not the best.

People must touch technology for it to be effective

This lesson is of course not limited to technology companies.  No matter how great the product or service offered by a company is, the bottom line still comes down to the people in the company.  For that reason, it will always be easier to convince me that an organization’s people are a better investment than the newest technology.  If technology can help me maximize the human capital, then a great partnership is possible.

As I sit listening to these stories, the family history (both known and unknown) is fun and funny. Inevitably during our gatherings, something comes out that wasn’t previously known! Usually this results in hilarious times and lots of laughs. Getting to share memories is priceless and is important to perpetuate how we see ourselves and even can provide insight into how we view the world.

These lessons do not just apply to families but to organizations as well. Part of knowing the business is understanding the background of the decisions that have led to the current situation. Do not rely solely on what is happening in the present, but take a moment to grasp the bigger picture of the situation. One of the things that happens in poorly managed organizations when a project fails or a situation turns out poorly is a turn to blame and a focus on the bad result. To learn from this, it is important to look at the history of decision making that brought us to the current time. Bad results frequently are not the result on one bad choice or decision, but of a poor system or a series of mistakes.

Learning from mistakes first requires a willingness to admit something is wrong. It then takes the ability to step back and look at the entire process. History is important and learning from it is essential to making future decisions the most informed and best possible choices.

As a collector of quotes, one that has been running through my mind as we chat is one from Gail Sheehy:

“Growth demands a temporary surrender of security”

To do or not to do…

As we continue our conversation and evaluate the balance of potential growth versus the certainty of present security, there are factors that are both known and unknown that we label as risks.  Although the known factors weigh heavily enough, how does one know the proper weight to give to the unknown factors that may come into play?  My own instinct is that everything happens for a reason and that the unknown variables will fall where they are meant to fall.  On the other side of the coin, the burden of evaluating the unknown can be paralyzing if you allow it to be.

So, where do the greater risks come into play?  In the things we do or in the things we do not do?

Business and HR pros like Ann Rhoades highlight the conference.

Last week was the 18^th conference.  This year’s version was held at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis (any of you who watched the Super Bowl last February have seen it as it was featured prominently with a giant Lombardi trophy on its blue glass exterior) and brought in another record attendance of nearly 1300 attendees along with another 200 plus exhibitors and about 50 speakers.  Early reviews are extremely positive!

Before being involved in the conference planning, I attended the conference for 5 years.  Even in that capacity, the conference was an annual highlight for me.  The gathering of so many HR oriented pros brings me an energy that can sustain my enthusiasm for quite a while.  One element of HR Indiana that I really cherish is the level of business content brought to the conference.  While avoiding talking about furniture (that whole “seat and table” business) so much of the content brings high level thought to not only those who know they need it, but to those who do not know and can begin to realize that the world of HR is a larger one than they previously believed.

Although SHRM has given up the formal tag line, their “serve the professional and advance the profession” mantra is one that makes sense to me.  Striking the needed balance between sessions for entry level HR folks or those who just happen to have some HR duties in their job (much as I started) to having C-suite level speakers bring their perspectives so that all of us can gain some insight into their views is a little tricky.  All of it does good while ensuring a broad base of knowledge can be obtained no matter the level you find yourself in.

No matter if you are new to HR or a seasoned veteran like me, the need to advance our own knowledge should never be one that stops.  Learn, share, and grow!