Results tagged “shift” from stevenfeinberg.com
Happy Independence Day -
It's 1776 and the colonists are pondering the concept.
What a brave group of people to shift from subjects to citizens as Thomas Jefferson penned in the Declaration of Independence.
America was born out of a fundamental shift from monarchy to democracy.
The Founders and their family, friends and colonial colleagues were all part of a great shift.
While not accepted without a war for our independence, the mothers and fathers of our Independence
moved us from disadvantage to advantage. They prepared a platform for all future movements toward
freedom of thought and action.
We thank them and all who contributed to and continue to support the fundamental shift.
The real fireworks was in the consciousness of the leaders who took a stand in the face of the forces against progress and humanity's good will.
As we continue our journey, more and different shifts retain and expand our freedom of, by and for consciousness
This is real growth.
It's 2010 and America is appreciating the great shift
Shifting is America's birthright.
During President Obama's State of the Union (SOTU), I suggest you pay attention with a different lens. Evaluate his message through the vantage point of an Advantage-Maker. This is not a political partisan rating but an independent view of the state of his advantage-making. Rate President Obama's Shift IQ.
Advantage-Makers are strategic shifters. They interact with the world differently. In the face of constraints they consistently create superior outcomes. Their task is to shift the odds in our favor. This capacity to strategically shift is the hallmark of Advantage-Makers and advantage-making. To deal with constraints advantage-makers have high Shift IQ's (SQ).
Advantage-Makers are strategic shifters. They interact with the world differently. In the face of constraints they consistently create superior outcomes. Their task is to shift the odds in our favor. This capacity to strategically shift is the hallmark of Advantage-Makers and advantage-making. To deal with constraints advantage-makers have high Shift IQ's (SQ).
This ability to shift is what amounts to a secret or hidden code of advantage-making, and is made from 5 dimensions. These dimensions are the levers to shift the odds in our favor.
Shift IQ (SQ)
As you listen to the Presidents speech, start with the constraints: the hand he was dealt with the Great Recession and the International crisis and Wars. Rate him along these five dimensions:
1) Shifting Questions - does he accept the givens or question the givens? Does he see what others don't see? Shifting options provide us with options often overlooked rather than just following the known procedures. Does Obama illustrate what we tend to miss or overlook and suggest practical solutions? Does he frame the argument differently from the same old same old to make us feel once again, Yes We Can and Yes We Will?
2) Shifting Time - does he establish the right time frame for urgency and patience? Shifting time create possibilities where most people only repeat what they've done in the past. Does he make the case how past decisions have limited our options? Does he ask us for patience on ridding ourselves of the old systems that have failed us while he urges us to take specific action now to make a better today and tomorrow? Does he show us how to make the most of the forces at play? There is no time like to present to create the future.
3) Shifting Interaction - does he change the game we are playing. Both over the past year and his interactions with the Republicans. Is he demonstrating his ability to rapidly adapt to the political and economic forces at play? Shifting interactions changes the game. Does Obama shift from an attempt at a bipartisan approach to one that demonstrates there is a new game in town that will make a difference in the midst of the worst recession America has ever experienced? Does some of what he suggests question convention, proposing a different game, that is neither right or left? Does he stand tall and demonstrate command presence in the face of his enemies?
4) Shifting Perception - Does he influence us that we are going in the right direction with the proper course corrections that are involved in any change effort? Shifting perception influences outcomes. Does he admit mistakes and learn from it and engage us to learn? How do we feel about ourselves, our futures in the presence of our chosen President after his first year in office? Does he inspire our behavior to achieve the agenda for America's recovery?
5) Shifting Structure - Structure shapes behavior. Is the President establishing a winning game, is he positioning us to win? Have we fallen prey to a failing structure in Congress and what does the President have to say about it? Does he make the hard decision? Has the President set the stage for a structural solution that will gain momentum and move us forward? Do you hear how we will advance rather than go back to old ways that haven't and don't work?
We need Advantage-Makers in the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives to shift the economic and political playing field. It is their job to get it right. We looked to them, with our input as a democracy to do the right thing.
Listen for the Shift IQ of our President in his State of the Union and rate
On a scale of 1-----10 how effective at shifting the question
On a scale of 1-----10 how effective at shifting time
On a scale of 1-----10 how effective at shifting interactions
On a scale of 1-----10 how effective at shifting perceptions
On a scale of 1-----10 how effective at shifting structures
Advantage-makers use the 5 strategic shifts as levers to achieve higher results. Difficulties become easier, complex things become simpler, things that seem too slow get done quicker, and we can enjoy the fruits of our labor - we have more fun doing it.
The state of Obama's ability to shift America
The State of the Union will be revealed. The state of Obama's ability to shift America will also be on the line. In past blogs I have indicated that Obama is an Advantage-Maker. From my studies we can see that Advantage-makers are not perfect. They make mistakes, but they learn faster, use failure as feedback to course correct, make new connections, and get more out of the information and experiences they engage in. We want America and our President to succeed. We will be at a great disadvantage if he and we don't create superior outcomes in the face of the constraints we face. Just as I believe we are stronger today than we were one year ago, it will take President Obama's advantage-making skills and together we will make our nation better and stronger.
Obama's speech was not soaring rhetoric, rather it had a more profound, game changing message.
He said, "What cynics fail to understand is the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. It's not whether government is too big or too small, it's whether it works."
These are not just word tricks crafted to distract us, these reveal a fundamental observation and core message that encourages and requires all of us to shift to 'higher order functioning', instead of more of the same.
You will see Obama's decisions based upon this higher order functioning in the weeks, months and years to come. The tendency in times of stress is to go back to basics. While some of this is necessary, a defensive posture is not a strategic approach that will actually get us our next edge. Back to basics is not making a fundamental shift.
Translating higher order functioning for kitchen table issues is what matters.
This will not be left wing nor right wing, nor moderates for that matter. Higher order functioning is moving from horses to cars, from typewriters to word processors to computers. We will see the shift to green/alternative energy investments as an example.
Higher order functioning means employing the social psychology of influence, transforming a typical 3% response rate to become 33%, Higher order functioning means employing the psychology of shifting, that turned an airline from $84 million dollar in the red to $30 million dollar in the black by managing interactions. Higher order functioning requires thinking in dimensions that finds real leverage in small actions and decisions, for example, shifting the typical 3 year bank integration to only 9 months. Urgency overruled bureaucracy.
Our country's Declaration of Independence is itself is a form calling for higher order functioning. The U.S. experiment began with a new world, with a new philosophy of governing. We must again shift the game to higher order functioning, we must shift or the existing house of cards will collapse.
While the language of responsibility and accountability makes a difference on a practical level, in itself it doesn't achieve higher order functioning. It is the thought process that leaders must cultivate to change the game and provide us with the new responsibilities and accountabilities.
Creating this higher order of functioning is the first order of business.
Not all leaders are Advantage-Makers. Leaders with the penetrating insight and sound judgment of an Advantage-Maker are able to turn situations to their best possible advantage, create superior outcomes in the face of constraints, and guard against the designs of their competitors.
Are you ready to take your Advantage-Making ability to the next level?
Many managers wait too long or in this recession play duck and cover. And worse, they repeat what they know instead of shifting. This is a surprising and unfortunate conclusion about failing companies and failing executives. In times of disruption, they rely upon the same strategy they used to succeed in the past.
In my book, The Advantage-Makers, I point out that Advantage-Makers are originators. Their impulse is original. To originate requires a shift. In a practical sense, new products and services aren't introduced every day, but your capacity for fresh thinking exists every day.
Advantage-Making is not as much creativity, as it is Shifting
Will you engage in strategic shifts when you encounter challenges? In essence, the code of the Advantage-Makers is based upon shifts ---- more specifically shifting time, interactions, perceptions and structures. Therefore, at your core, have you deliberately cultivated the capacity to shift?
Advantage-Making is a Craft
This is not a once-you-read-it-now-you're-done type of talent. Professional actors think of acting as a craft. Excelling in their craft requires learning specific distinctions to get into character. Musicians work on scales to keep their skills honed. Similarly, advantage-making is a craft that improves with practice.
Do the most with the hand dealt to you
While working with George Prince, CEO, of Synectics, we engaged in a research project to understand how to 'manage innovation with others.' One of the profound insights we discovered was each winning innovator had a p private question that drove their success. In George's case, his hidden question was, "Am I making this 'situation' what it could be?"
This questions orients and reveals an internal drive - an ambitious curiosity. George's strong intent and his way of operating had two tendencies. He would shift to different vantage points to view the issues - close up, helicopter view, people view, tech view etc, and he would imagine what those situations could be. In other words, he was generating a world of possibility. George's ongoing sensibilities was to make these possibilities practical, workable realities. Increasing the chances of spotting an opportunity begins with you exercising the craft.
Contrast George's approach with a CEO who made money on a single business proposition that he implemented. It worked---until the market changed and he couldn't change with it. A difference exists between those who are guided by an Advantage-Making question and those who have a one-time win. The CEO stopped looking for vantage points; his personal question was something like, "Is this working?" Similar to a thermostat, he wasn't thinking or considering anything that could be done.
So consider which approach will win more often
"How am I making this 'situation' what it could be?"
vs.
"Is this working?"
Furthermore, if your internal question is, "How will they use this against me?" it will narrow your focus, and make Advantage-Making more difficult for you. Each of us has a question, find out yours, it's determining your level of success. You may be repeating the same old strategy without knowing it.
Don't wait. Use the Advantage-Making question today (there are others, but try this one now). You have to do more with less. You can cut, and should, where you are not getting value. But across the board cutting is a 'duck and cover' strategy. The real problem with duck and cover is eventually you've ducked and covered so much you missed the fact that you are now the cut back.
Ask the wrong question, you'll get an answer, but the recession could turn into a personal depression.
If you absolutely had to make get more revenue, not just cut expenses, would you duck and cover?
The first step to your success in this recession is a question away.
Your future is on the line, ask the right questions.
