22 February 2012

Michelle read Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change by Timothy D. Wilson. This self-described non-self-help book reminded her that life is all about stories, and that it might be time for many of us to start telling some new ones.

In the spirit of transparency: Tim Wilson is one of my all-time favorite professors at UVA. I happened to be one of the very few first year students able to get into his Social Psychology class, and I still remember every bit of it. There’s something to be said about a professor who manages to persuade 500 college students to come to class every day.

So on to the book… Redirect is written with all of the wit and wisdom that kept us engaged everyday, with plenty of practical advice for applying Wilson’s theories. The book covers seemingly disparate topics from personal happiness to parenting to reducing prejudice to preventing teen pregnancies, but all come back to a central theme: stories. Our experience of the world is shaped by interpretations (aka stories). But sometimes these stories become so distorted or destructive that they keep us from living balanced, healthy lives. And herein lies the need for redirection—tactics designed to change people’s stories from the self-effacing or self-destructive to the self-enhancing. 

The specific tactics Wilson describes all fall in the category of story-editing—a set of techniques designed to reshape people’s narratives about themselves and the world in a way that results in lasting behavioral change. The bright-eyed college student in me (often accused of being an idealistic optimist) was inspired by his discussion of story-editing tactics applied to larger societal issues. Meanwhile, my media studies brain is constantly thinking about the ‘frames’ through which we view the world, and I found myself nodding incessantly as I read the scientific evidence behind the importance of the stories we tell ourselves (or that are told to us) about the events that shape and influence us.

Self-perception theory is another important theme explained in the book, specifically through the do good, be good principle. Whereas conventional wisdom would say that good people volunteer, Wilson says that it’s often the other way around. If we do something good without being forced, we must be good people, and since we are good people, we must continue to do good things. For example, doing something good, like volunteering, makes us come up with a personal story that explains why we did good. Wilson posits that as long as we can attribute this good behavior to our own character and not to some mandate, then this has the ability to change behavior for the long-term. So simple.

As I read, I couldn’t help but think about Rachel’s Happiness workshop. One of Wilson’s main points is that we have far more control over what we think and feel than we previously thought – something that Rachel never forgets to mention. Happiness is often all about the story we tell ourselves about ourselves and the experiences we have, and these core narratives shape how we understand who we are.

Redirect is about changing long-standing negative personal narratives as well as our rapid-fire reactions to events. An example that hit home with me was Wilson’s experiment regarding changing the ways in which first year students interpreted their less-than-stellar grades during their first semester. Students who participated in a 30-minute session during which they viewed survey results and narrative videos about grade improvements were more likely to achieve improved grades than those who didn’t. Rather than signaling a failure of their personal intelligence, or showing that they weren’t smart enough to make it in college, Wilson provided students with an alternate explanation that helped them to rewrite their stories, demonstrating the positive effects of self-enhancing versus self-defeating stories.

As a UVA fourth year, I sadly don’t have much time for reading outside of classes, but I’m so happy that I found the time to read Redirect. It has reminded me to actively think about the way I think about events in my life, no matter how large or how small. For example: it’s not terrifying that I’m about to enter the real world in a few short months, it’s incredibly exciting!

Do you have anything you’d like to change about the stories you tell yourself? Or perhaps any do good, be good advice? We’d love to hear it!

28 November 2011

As a long-time fan of Kermit and his friends, Rachel appreciated nearly everything about the recent theatrical release of The Muppets. In between the singing and dancing and having fun, these fuzzy creatures give us something to think about.

It's been a long time since I've been to a movie and people were (literally) dancing in the aisles. Granted, most of the movie dancers on Saturday were under the age of four, but even the adults in the audience seemed to be having fun. All nostalgia and warm fuzzy feelings aside, The Muppets is a terrific movie full of heart-warming moments and some of the lessons for living that you might expect, like:

• Family is what you make it
• It takes all types to put on a show
• A little imagination can save the day
• Don't forget your 10-year anniversary

In the midst of many thoughts that would feel at home embroidered on pillows and cross-stitch samplers was one lesson that I wasn't expecting. It comes early in the story, just after the newly-introduced Muppet character Walter has overheard bad guy Tex Richman say some dastardly things. As Walter shares his insights with his human brother Gary and Gary's girlfriend Mary (just try saying that five times fast), he pauses and says something akin to, "I'm not sure. Maybe that's just how I heard it in my head."

As we at Allison Partners say when talking about effective communication, what is said and what we hear are often very different things. All of us listen through the lenses of our beliefs and we're predisposed to hear things that affirm our conclusions and overlook things that would contradict our already-formed opinions. At the same time, we're unreasonably confident in the accuracy of our listening and interpretation and, without pausing to clarify, conflict ensues. If we could adopt just a glimmer of Walter's awareness that sometimes there's a gap between the words and our interpretation, there's a chance that many of our most difficult conversations would be a little—or a lot—easier.

In this case, Walter's recollections proved correct…at least according to how this movie viewer heard things. And that's a good thing, because otherwise we would have had a really short movie, without any dramatic tension to inspire the singing and dancing and having fun that entertained me for another 90 minutes. It's all just another example of the important lessons taught by Muppets. Which ones have stuck with you?

* If you saw Walter in the headline and thought, "Yay! Rachel's writing about Walter Isaacson's biopic of Steve Jobs," then never fear. It will be featured on What We're Reading Now in the coming weeks. Stay tuned. 

8 November 2011

Allison read Built to Win: Inside Stories and Leadership Strategies from Baseball's Winningest GM and was happy to learn that the former General Manager of the Atlanta Braves, John Schuerholz, believes one of the secrets to his success was establishing clear, mutually understood expectations with every member of the organization. (It’s nice when one of your heroes affirms a closely held belief.)

I enjoy watching all kinds of sporting events, but baseball is definitely my favorite. I love the Atlanta Braves, University of Virginia Cavaliers, and any little league teams my friends Jackson and Stuart are on. Now that the 2011 season has come to an end, I find myself at the beginning of my annual countdown until February when pitchers and catchers report to spring training and I decided the Schuerholz book might help me wait for baseball to return.

If you’re a baseball fan, you’ll definitely appreciate Schuerholz’ candor and humor as he tells behind the scenes stories and lessons learned during the time he lead the team from worst to first in 1991 and then ushered in a historic era of 14 consecutive division titles. His writing style has a bit of a meandering quality to it, but that’s what I expect from a sports yarn. You won’t necessarily find any brand new leadership suggestions and I don’t think this is the first or even fifth book to pick up if you’re trying to learn how to be a leader, but you will get many tangible examples of why certain practices seems to be common among the best leaders. Schuerholz gives compelling, down-to-earth reasons for establishing expectations, setting short and long term goals, listening carefully, building up the self-esteem of individuals and organizations, giving constructive feedback, encouraging participation, recruiting for fit, trying to stay calm when the stakes are high, being a servant leader, admitting his mistakes, sticking to his convictions and more. Of all these practices, I think Schuerholz does the best job of explaining why it’s essential to have mutually agreed upon expectations.

Whether it’s through our Effective Communication Skills course or in one-on-one settings, we help many of our clients figure out how to deliver difficult feedback in a constructive manner. More often than not we find that when people are disappointed in someone else they very often bear some of the responsibility for the situation because they haven’t been clear about what they expected in the first place. Employees, colleagues, friends and family members can’t read our minds so it’s incredibly important to say what we mean. (If you struggle with finding specific, descriptive language to explain what you want from someone, I think this resource will be helpful.) Long before you need to give anyone difficult feedback you probably need to back up and reestablish expectations.

my view from my last visit to the "Home of the Braves"

The Atlanta Braves are known for having a healthy, productive team environment and the tone in the clubhouse is often described as even-keeled and supportive. Schuerholz believes one of the ways they created this culture was by having all sorts of specific requirements of players in terms of appearance (neat uniforms, no jewelry, conservatively trimmed facial hair, clean helmets, etc.). While they depend on the individual productivity of their players, they have found that by minimizing some of the things that star athletes do to draw attention themselves they are able to foster more of a team environment. In addition, they require community service, participation in fan events, and support of fellow team members no matter how you’re playing. It took a lot more than these rules to have a historic 14-year run, but I think they are a good example of how the entire Braves organization communicates and upholds clear expectations. There have been many players over the years that people thought would never adjust to the Atlanta way and yet by being clear upfront and helping them make an informed choice about whether or not to join the Braves, Schuerholz was able to integrate a wide variety of personalities into his championship teams.

What hopes and expectations do you have for people in your life that you haven’t explained? If you can’t figure out how to describe them, give me a call and I’ll help you learn how to say what you mean so that you can set yourself and others up for championship success too.

30 October 2011

Rachel nodded and applauded her way through reading How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals by Dick Grote. At long last, managers have a practical guide to making the most of one of the most significant (and much-maligned) supervisory responsibilities of the year. 

I don't know anybody — employee or supervisor — who really looks forward to performance review season. It seems to invite so much angst and contention that there's even a fairly vocal contingent of management theorists advocating to abolish the time-honored practice of performance reviews entirely. To me, that's a lot like throwing the baby out with the bath water and adjusting to the lowest common denominator; it's essentially saying, "Since managing effectively all year long is hard enough and most supervisors don't do effective reviews anyway, let's just get rid of the appraisal process." 

However, writing and conducting reviews is among the very long list of responsiblities that most organizations assume newly promoted supervisors will magically learn how to do through osmosis. If appraisals are going to live up to their promise, many more managers and supervisors need to be equipped to navigate the ins and outs of a good review successfully. So I'm extending a heartfelt thanks to Dick Grote and Harvard Business Review Press for one of the best instruction manuals I've seen in years. With practical advice (that's very consistent with what you'd hear from any member of the Allison Partners team), helpful examples, and even a few sample scripts for particularly tricky situations, this guide refutes almost all of the excuses we often hear about why review processes don't work.

First and foremost, How to Be Good at Performance Appraisals does a terrific job of reminding all of us just what a review is: a summary of a manager's informed opinion about an employee's performance. Even in today's sometimes litigious environment, organizations rely on managers to use sound judgment and manage performance accordingly. Released from the misconception that an appraisal should be empirically defensible, managers are able to reframe their responsibility to use reviews as an actual management tool. So, inspired by Grote, four more things to remember about performance reviews. 

One. Begin with the job, not the person. One way to be objective about one's opinions is to ground assessments in consideration about a role and its requirements before starting to evaluate an employee's performance. If I've said it once, I've said it a dozen times: it all starts with a good job description. Don't have one? Get with your human resources colleagues and write one.

Two. Be wise and SMART. Just because a goal is SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) doesn't mean that it's useful and appropriate. Make sure that in addition to using the SMART checklist on your employees' goals, you also take a step back to make sure that they're wise, too.

Three. A '3' is not a 'C.' With 5-point rating scales dominating the landscape, many employees and supervisors contribute to a phenomenon of grade inflation by equating the midpoint "meets expectations" rating with a ho-hum "C" on a high school report card. Not so! Grote suggests thinking about the midpoint like par in golf . . . it might be what's expected, but you should still be pretty proud when you achieve it.

Four. Avoid the compliment sandwich. You know, it's that conversation where you put a thin slice of suggestions for improvement bologna in between two thick, soft, squishy slices of compliment bread. Instead, focus your conversation on the compliments for your strong performers and on the necessary improvements for the others, and increase the chances that your employees fill up on the most important message.

What do you wish people would remember about performance appraisals? Add your comment to join the conversation.

16 October 2011

Rachel added to her cookbook shelf with three recent releases. In between the recipes from Ferran Adria, Michael Ruhlman and Todd English, she noticed some trends from restaurant kitchens that go way beyond food. (I guess you can nourish mind and body at the same time after all.)

It's one of my favorite times of year. Fall is here, football is in full swing, school is in session for learners of all ages. And a bumper crop of new cookbooks is on bookstore shelves in preparation for the holiday giving season. I added several titles to my wish list, but my cookbook shelf was aching to make room for a few right away. After much deliberation,  The Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adria, Ruhlman's Twenty by Michael Ruhlman and Cooking in Everyday English: The ABCs of Great Flavor at Home by Todd English were added to my kitchen library.

Usually I do my cookbook reading with no ulterior motive—the promise of good food is reason enough for me—but a few lessons were illustrated so powerfully that I couldn't help but think about their application outside the kitchen, too. So, without further ado, three leadership lessons from these master chefs.

One. Adria's isn't the first cookbook to celebrate the traditional restaurant family meal, but his is perhaps the best glimpse I've seen into the practice. Each night before service at restaurants the world over, the team working that night sits down to share a meal. It's an all-hands-on-deck affair that's both practical (restaurant service is hard work, and you'd be hard pressed to work the line or bus the tables without a decent meal) and personal (it's hard to share food around communal tables without at least a little bonding). For at least 30 minutes every night, the team is together. Connected. On the same page. How does your team connect?

Two. Adria and Ruhlman's are both sophisticated cookbooks, but flip the pages of either and you'll find step-by-step photographs illustrating every step of every recipe. If you ask me, it's about time. Kid's cookbooks have benefitted from pictures for decades, but it's a practice that's pretty rare among chef's books. But when it comes to really teaching—to describing what to expect and what to look for and what to do—a picture works wonders. So often, I find that cookbook authors and leaders alike worry that they'll sound too controlling if they take their time to set the clearest possible expectations, but every time I talk with someone who's less comfortable in the kitchen, there's little that's more reassuring than clear, step-by-step directions. Where might you want to paint a clearer picture of your expectations (photos optional)?

Three. Ruhlman and English are among a growing group of chefs and cookbook authors who are writing at length about none other than salt. (Believe it or not, it's perhaps the most important and significant ingredient in your kitchen.) Once used as currency, salt is necessary for good health (in reasonable doses) and both heightens and blends flavors. It's the fundamental additive for bringing things together. At Allison Partners, we believe in another 'magic ingredient' that's often overlooked to keep everything running smoothly—the 15-minute meeting—but I've also seen other organizations with their own keys to bringing out the best in people. What's yours?

That's it for the leadership lessons. (Oh, yeah . . . the food looks pretty good, too. Time to spend some time cooking!)

10 October 2011

Rachel read Atul Gawande's article, Personal Best, from the October 3rd issue of The New Yorker for a fresh explanation of the power of coaching to hone professional skills. Bonus feature: she got a glimpse of some leading-edge work happening right here at home.

I'm not the most frequent reader of The New Yorker, but I do like perusing the cartoons and every once in a while, I'll hear about an article that sends me in search of an issue. Last week brought one such occasion, when Albemarle County Public Schools Superintendent Pam Moran mentioned that the teacher coaching program was included in a recent feature. That was enough to have me intrigued.

When I actually got my hands on the article, something good got even better. Author Atul Gawande is a surgeon specializing in endocrine surgeries, and it seems that one day after hitting a few balls on the tennis court, he got to wondering why professional athletes and singers have coaches. The existence of coaches for professionals runs counter to traditional notions of pedagogy that suggest that students are taught how to learn until they no longer need instruction. If that's the case, Gawande wondered, how is it that some of our most revered, talented people find it worthwhile to have a coach?

In talking with folks like Itzhak Perlman and the like, Gawande found that much of it comes down to outside eyes and ears — having a trusted sounding board to notice the things that are unseen and unheard (or mis-seen and mis-heard) from one's own perspective. And it makes sense; I like to think that musicians, athletes, surgeons and the like are devoting most of their active brain cells to what they're actually doing in the moment rather than to honing their self-awareness and observation. But how can that work in the real world?

That's where our local schools come in. Gawande was introduced to University of Kansas researcher Jim Knight, who advocates for coaching as a mechanism to support school teachers and who accompanied Gawande on a visit to a classroom at Walton Middle School. He observed classroom coaching in action, and heard Knight explain some of what makes for effective coaching. "Good coaches . . . speak with credibility, make a personal connection, and focus little on themselves." Perhaps more significantly, Gawande saw enough of an impact that he decided to find a coach for himself.

It takes courage and resilience to invite a coach to observe your work. Sometimes you'll mess up — and a coach will bear witness to that even as he helps you learn from it. But, as Gawande found, when you're really good at what you do and still want to make progress and hone your craft, a coach might be just the ticket. Athletes, musicians, teachers, surgeons, professionals of all sorts — what will you work on today?

As a footnote, reading this article made me even more grateful than usual for the leadership of our schools and the dedication of our community's teachers and school employees. Finding new ways to address the challenges of learning despite the constraints of budgets, the demands of standardized tests, and the diverse needs of students is a daunting task. How great to see ACPS leading the way!

2 October 2011

In her review of all (or most) things happiness-related, Rachel read The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain by Tali Sharot. Turns out a rosy outlook serves us well in more ways than one.

I've been rightfully accused of being optimistic in nature. You might even call me a bit of a Pollyanna. So it probably comes as no surprise that I was hooked by the title of Sharot's recent book and the possibility that there might be some method to my glass-is-half-full ways. 

The optimism bias is this: as humans, we're wired to see the bright side. As Sharot writes, "By definition, optimists are people who hold positive expectations of the future: They expect to do well in life, have good relationships and be productive, happy, and healthy." And a little dose of healthy optimism is a key ingredient to the perseverance that helps us make good decisions, plan ahead and wake up each morning ready to face the day.

The optimism bias relies on some quirks of human existence to survive. Unlike most animals, our minds move through time, and most all of us imagine a future that is rosier than actual experience would suggest. Our memories recapture emotion but are startlingly misleading about the facts. And we're predisposed to hope, even - and especially - when times are tough.

Now, if you're looking for a book to help you strengthen your optimism muscle, you should turn your attention somewhere else. (My suggestion at the moment would be The Happiness Project.) But if you're simply curious about things like the origins of hope, Sharot gives us interesting anecdotes and an accessible summary of recent research on the subject. I found my interest waning at times, but was reassured to learn that I'm likely among the 80% of humanity that is healthily optimistic. It seems that approximately 5% of us are optimistic to a fault and unable to react to the data that would deter them from foolish choices, and about 15% are pessimists.

From a Darwinian perspective, there are reasons for our optimism bias - not the least of which is a longer life expectancy. (It seems that pessimists tend to engage in more risk-taking behavior because they often feel they have less to lose. Riskier behavior leads to earlier death. Go figure.) From a human perspective, I'm glad to count myself among the postive-outlook crowd. If nothing else, life seems more fun with a rosier hue.

How does your outlook - positive or pessimistic - shape your view of things? Chime in with your comments.

Allison enjoyed her annual Barrett Boyz summer weekend and remembered a good lesson from Gordon Lawrence’s People Types & Tiger Stripes.

Recently I had a weekend of fun with my friends Emperor Xbox age 12, Cousin Bling age 11, and Professor Lego age 9. We have a Barrett Boyz weekend every summer where I get them all to myself and their parents get to have a weekend away. This year our fun included opening night of Captain America, a little league tournament for Cousin Bling (his team won), Zombie Prom at Live Arts, and lots of time in the pool including diving for $25.81 in change (a great way to improve swimming skills).

As part of all this fun, Professor Lego coached me through a Lego construction project, and I’m pleased to report that I assembled The Burrow from Harry Potter in a record (for me) three hours and 15 minutes. I didn’t play with Legos much as a kid so I’m a bit behind. I don’t much like thousands of little details / pieces of things or following tons of directions so it’s a stretch for me. Enjoy this five minute video and you'll see that the Professor had his work cut out for him! All that got me thinking about preferences and learning and growth, and the things we help our clients with every day.

While there are lots of personality assessments out there and we’re happy to use the ones our clients bring to us, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is the one we use the most at Allison Partners. (You might even have read one of my previous posts where I wrote about Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type and you can visit the Center for Application of Psychological Type if you want to learn more.) In a nutshell, MBTI helps people see similarities and differences in the ways people get energy, take in information, make decisions and live their lives. It’s all based on the notion that if we identity our preferences, we can better take care of ourselves and also flex our preferences to communicate more effectively with others.

So back to my Lego story. When it comes to taking in information, I prefer what MBTI calls Intuition because I enjoy thinking about the big picture, possibilities, the future, meanings and associations. On the other hand, people who prefer Sensing enjoy data, detail, facts, reality and step-by-step ways of doing things—all stuff that often makes me feel tired. Working on my Lego skills helps me to practice doing some of these things Sensing people prefer. Trust me… this is actually important. My dislike of details often gets me into trouble, and so when I can find fun ways to develop, it’s a good thing.

And finally, this brings me to a great book for exploring all these concepts. In 2009, the 30^th anniversary edition of Gordon Lawrence’s People Types & Tiger Stripes was published and there’s a reason people have been referring to this resource for so many years. Gordon does a great job of explaining the MBTI, helping you figure out how to apply the insights and also giving you tips for development. So if you’re wondering what your “Lego project” should be, pick up a copy of this book. If you’d like to take the MBTI, we’d be happy to do that with you at Allison Partners or you can take it through CAPT. Enjoy getting to know yourself, figuring out how to have more energy, becoming a more effective communicator and learning what it takes to stretch in an area that’s less comfortable. You’ll be glad you did and you might even end up with some beautiful Lego art on your dining room table!

Allison read and listened to some of her favorite poems that always help her to reboot her brain and find the path back to a little more balance.

If you’ve been keeping up with some of my blog posts in 2011, then you know I often think about the topic of balance (1 January, 14 May, 23 May, and 8 June). I’m always trying to maintain balance for myself, encourage a culture at Allison Partners where everyone feels that balance is within reach, and support clients as they seek to find balance in their own lives. I even teach a course called Choosing Balance and Leadership so the topic is almost always on my mind at some level. Like clockwork, my own life gives me a chance to practice what I preach from time to time and it’s been one of those summers. We’re growing at Allison Partners, I’ve been asked to support some new volunteer efforts, I’m trying to do more in the social media world, I’m supporting a few friends who are struggling with some serious illnesses, and I have many fun things I want to do this summer. You get the picture… these are all important things to me and ways I want to spend my time, but it’s harder than usual to strike a balance. I bet you’ve been here before and might even be here right now.

One of the tricky things about balance is that it usually means something different for every individual and organization and it’s a definition that often changes. What constitutes balance during one phase of life can be very different from another phase. So it’s really not about finding the perfect balance and then maintaining that status quo indefinitely. It’s more about figuring out what really matters to you and making sure your choices support those values. Then I find most people need to figure out what tools help them to maintain daily balance and what special tools they need when things get out of whack (because sometimes they will).

In my experience, one of the first things to happen when you feel out of balance is that the self-talk can get pretty nutty. It might sound something like these things I’ve heard from people over the years: "I hate email. I wish no one would ever call or write again." "My children will never eat a healthy meal at our table." "My wife and I haven’t been on a date in a year. I’m not sure I could pick her out of a crowd." "I might as well eat whatever I want because I can’t ever lose these 10 pounds anyway." "I work so hard, but I never get caught up and no one seems to care. What’s the point of even trying? I’ll never win." Your inner dialogue is probably slightly different but you get my drift. Things can get pretty ugly in your head and while sometimes that’s the motivation your brain needs to change, I often find it ends up making things worse and leading to some pretty unpleasant paralysis.

So what’s a person to do? Well, your reboot buttons are probably different than mine. More often than not, I need to go to the gym, write in my journal, brainstorm with somebody I trust, sit with my dog and just go to bed. I also need to do something to change the story in my head while I’m trying to make new choices and recreate my balance. I do this with all sorts of deep breathing, relaxation, meditation and even self-hypnosis tools, but sometimes those fail me and I turn to my back up plan… poetry.

Long before I was a consultant or got an MBA, I was an English major. I still look at the world through that lens every day and I don't think poetry and business are mutually exclusive. I was especially gratified when I learned about David Whyte’s book, The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul of Corporate America. It still makes our reading list of our seven all-time favorite books. Poems make me happy for many reasons, but over the years I’ve collected a few that both scratch my literature itch and happen to be about balance. So here’s what I read or listen to when I need to press the reset button:

• On the Pulse of the Morning by Maya Angelou on YouTube
• Polgreen, Sight Reading by Rita Dove, read by Boyd Tinsley with musical accompaniment on YouTube
• The Journey by Mary Oliver
• The Swan by Rilke, read by David Whyte on YouTube
• Faith by David Whyte
• What to Remember When Waking by David Whyte

What do you do to reboot when times are tough? Are there any poems that help and inspire you? Maybe we can get a nice set of answers to these questions started here. I hope so.

Rachel started incorporating the practical advice from Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie into the ways she helps clients and colleagues find the designer in all of us. (It's nice to have a resource that pulls so much good thinking into one place.)

For years, when I've worked with people to help demystify creativity and innovation and demonstrate their vital roles in work and life, I've largely worked from a cobbled-together playbook of life lessons learned, book excerpts, and random tools pulled from a variety of sources. I like to think that when I've pulled it all together with a healthy dose of my own special sauce, I've helped a fair number of people experience the power of ideas and embrace some new ways of thinking about problem solving in their organizations. All that said, I'm excited that my job might be getting easier now that I have Designing for Growth in my arsenal.

There has been a veritable onslaught of strategy and business 'design' literature published in the past few years. Most of it is interesting but falls into one of two traps: either it's too theoretical to put into action, or it's directed to a choir of the design-familiar and leaves everyone else behind. Liedtka and Ogilvie break the mold with their new book, providing a framework and a tool kit to help almost anyone with interest and motivation explore the power of design thinking.

It starts with a relatively simple illustration. Most of the time, most of the world sees the design process as something like this:

It's messy and unpredictable and nonlinear and twisted and terribly inefficient. In many organizations, that's why design is often considered a black box so impenetrable that it's outsourced to marketers, product developers, and, well, designers. Liedtka and Ogilvie take the mess and unbundle it all into something like this:

It's still a little more convoluted than a straight line, but this starts to look more like a process that individuals and organizations can learn and replicate. When you look at it, the framework isn't all that different than a more 'traditional' approach: we study what is to make sure we understand the problems to solve and opportunities to explore, we ask what if? to generate possibilities and develop concepts, we determine what wows to kick the tires and challenge our assumptions, and we look for what works to manage risk and increase the potential for value creation.

While the steps are somewhat familiar, the recommended approaches in each phase sound reasonable but are more challenging for most people to put into practice. (Try explaining to a typical business planner that you're going to generate new business offerings based on research you conduct with a dozen or so customers, and you'll see what I mean.) Lucky for all of us, Designing for Growth provides concrete tools and step-by-step instructions and plenty of real-life examples for each step of the journey so that there's sufficient structure to help the reader navigate the discomfort of trying something new. Meanwhile, the structure is clear enough that it provides a sturdy architecture from which to hang all those tidbits and other tools I've been collecting for the past many years.

I've been fortunate enough to collaborate with Liedtka and help explore new ways to bring this material into the MBA and Executive Education classrooms at Darden. She's fond of saying that she's not a designer, and that if she and the rest of the Darden faculty can make good use of the Designing for Growth tools then anyone can. Having been in her classroom as both student and colleague, I'd say she's more of a designer than she'd like to admit, though perhaps not in a traditional sense. Because for me — and as illustrated throughout Designing for Growth — being a designer isn't about being artistic or clever or even all that creative. Being a designer is about approaching a complex problem with curiosity and empathy and patience and then having the discipline to explore many possible answers before selecting a path forward. Sounds like the business school case method to me . . . and if it works for helping so many of us learn about business, maybe it will help all of us actually do business better.