The Cranky Middle Manager Show #311 Serial Innovators Claudio Feser
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #285 Bingsop’s Fables Stanley Bing
Posted on 28. May, 2011 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel welcomes back business humor legend Stanley Bing. In addition to talking about humor in the workplace and why corporate conspiracies are just a theory,we’ll talk about why humor is like porn, the first business satirist and potentially lifesaving advice for smart alecks everywhere.
Meanwhile check out these upcoming webinar workshops. PDUs are available for PMI Members
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams June 24th
Web Presentation Basics June 27 and 29
Show Notes:
0:00 Welcome back Stanley Bing to the show. In his honor we dedicate the show to Hori the Scribe, the first business satirist and author of the Papyrus Anastasi. A long and proud tradition we try to uphold.
4:25 The quote of the week is from George Bernard Shaw. If you’re going to tell people the truth,make them laugh or they’ll kill you.
5:30 Welcome Stanley Bing back to the show along with his alter-alter-ego Bingsop. His latest book is “Bingsop’s Fables: Little Morals For Big Business”. We look at the original Aesop and discuss if being funny in the workplace has its hazards. He talks about the day he was “outed” as Stanley Bing at work and whether it worked for him or against him.
10:34 Can you do good work and still be willing to make fun of corporate society? Does Stanley love or hate what’s known collectively as “Corporate America”? Turns out the answer is yes. Here’s the important lesson: people are crazy whether at work or not.
13:36 Stanley and I share something of our backgrounds, so entering corporate America was a bit of a shock. Does he believe in corporate conspiracy theories? Nope, it requires excellence of execution that just ain’t there.
16:13 Many of his morals are obvious but no less amusing. Remember to always invite the finance guy to dinner as they tend to approve their own expense accounts. There’s also a reason some people make it to the top and others don’t and it’s Darwinian at best. Crazy, mean people are destined for greatness as well as ignominy.
21:00 Is Stanley Bing basically an optimist or a pessimist about human beings? It’s a bit of both. That being said, don’t discount paranoia as a world view. We discuss the difference between skepticism and cynicism. We discuss our mutual disrespect for Ayn Rand and the civilizing effect of society.
24:00 Here’s a discussion we’ve never had on this show: how the TV show Mad Men does or doesn’t reflect the real world. Alcohol and workplace affairs sounds like a pretty good day at work to him. Here’s another question: does booze in the workplace get a bad rap?
Check out StanleyBing.com
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #284 Conflict 101 with Susan Shearouse
Posted on 20. May, 2011 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Are the weasels making you crazy? Is their fighting amongst themselves as bad as when they fight with you? Today we’re talking conflict and how to cope. Susan Shearouse will join us to talk about “Conflict 101: A Manager’s Guide to Resolving Problems So Everyone Can Get Back to Work”. Also we talk cutting babies in half and wise words from someone who knew a little something about fathering babies. Just another eclectic show from the Cranky Middle Manager.
Meanwhile check out these upcoming webinar workshops. PDUs are available for PMI Members
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams June 24th
Web Presentation Basics June 27 and 29
And let me know if you will be at ASTD2011 May 23 and 24 in Orlando, FL. I’d love to meet you there!
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we are talking conflict, so we dedicate this show to King Solomon. Not only did he know a thing or two about resolving disputes, he was a badass negotiator at budget time.
3:45 The quote of the week is from Benjamin Franklin, who knew a thing or two, despite the goofy hair. There’s always a reason for conflict….how good it is, well that’s an open question.
4:25 Welcome Susan Shearouse of Frameworksforagreement.com to the show. The book was inspired by her work with so many managers who were great technically, and no one told them about the people part. Sound like any audiences we know? Conflict doesn’t always have to be negative, but that’s often our first thought.
7:44 Eliminating the problem doesn’t always solve the conflict. she introduces the idea of the “Satisfaction Triangle”. It has 3 sides: Engagement, Explanation and Expectation clarity.
14:00 It’s all fine and good to say “listen with respect”, but what does that behavior actually look like? A big part is to be curious and appear curious to the other person. Ask lots of questions. Also think about how that person came to be there. He or she must be good at SOMETHING, right?
16:35 We’ve all heard the phrase, “forgive and forget”. Can you really do either? Depends on how you define it. Lily Tomlin offers some guidance here. Think about forgiveness as “refocusing”.
19:48 Apologies are something we’re universally bad at. Has anyone ever taught you the components of an apology? That’s what we’re here for.
22:49 Soft skills are hard to process map. It’s easy to say “don’t bear a grudge”, but how do you act if you’re not carrying a grudge? Sometimes you have to have an “after action” review.
25:25 Conflict is inevitable, it’s how you handle it that matters.
Susan’s resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #283 Better Under Pressure Justin Menkes
Posted on 12. May, 2011 by Wayne in General, Podcast
Today Wayne Turmel talks to author Justin Menkes about what makes some leaders function well under pressure and others crack like a Chicago sidewalk. We talk about his new book “Better Under Pressure- How Great Leaders Bring Out the Best in Themselves and Others”. We also talk Trojan Kings, snarky philosophers and running great virtual meetings.
Are you looking to help your team run better Virtual Meetings? Want to plan, present and get results from online get-togethers? Check out our newest training program “Leading Effective Virtual Meetings” from GreatWebMeetings.com.
Meanwhile check out these upcoming webinar workshops. PDUs are available for PMI Members
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams May 27th
Web Presentation Basics June 27 and 29
And let me know if you will be at ASTD2011 May 23 and 24 in Orlando, FL. I’d love to meet you there!
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we’re talking pressure, and how to handle it like a champ. You think you have pressure in your job? Try being Priam, the King of Troy. That, my friends, is pressure.
4:20 The quote of the week is from Bertrand Russell. Idiots aren’t better at their work than you are. They just think they are and don’t stress about it. Take comfort from that if you can or will.
5:00 Welcome Justin Menkes to the show. He does great research into how CEOs think and today we’re talking about why some leaders crack under pressure while others don’t. What do CEOs wish we knew about their job that we might not? Turns out that they aren’t as numb to what’s going on around them as we like to think. I’m not sure that’s a comfort.
7:55 There are 3 catalysts for leadership: realistic optimism, subservience to purpose and finding order out of chaos. How is Realistic Optimism different from just wearing rose-colored glasses? It’s being optimistic while being perfectly aware of how bad things are.
9:00 Realistic optimism is the only real way to get buy-in and discretionary effort from your people. And there’s a case study. Be careful what you ask for, people.
11:52 Subservience to purpose is critical because how else do you know what’s really important or how to model the values of the organization? You have to have a “sense of agency”. How is that different from a sense of urgency? It’s all about the feeling of being in control of the situation. Are you in charge of circumstances or are you its victim?
16:15 The third catalyst is the ability to find order in chaos. The world ain’t getting simpler,which may be the greatest understatement anyone has used on this show. There’s a good story about Proctor and Gamble’s CEO and soap bubbles. Take a listen.
19:00 Do CEOs always want to be leaders or is there an AHA moment? Turns out that most of them morphed into leaders, it wasn’t necessarily an aspiration. That doesn’t mean they don’t fall prey to power once they have it. We talk the “dangers of grandiosity”.
22:00 What we don’t know about CEOs are the number of sacrifices that they make to achieve that level.
Resources
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #282 Dealing with Constant Change, Andy Stefanovich
Posted on 03. May, 2011 by Wayne in General, Podcast
A wise man once said, “the only constant is change”. Might be true, but why does it suck? Today Wayne Turmel talks to Andy Stefanovich about his new book, “Look at More” about new approaches to the age-old problem of change. We also look at someone who could help most of Chicago’s problems, but not the Cubs. He was only human, after all.
Don’t forget our world-class webinar workshops. Discounts available for Cranky Listeners.
How to Create and Manage Remote Teams May 27
Web Presentation Basics May 16 and 18
Are you a PMI Certified PMP looking for PDUs? Check this out.
Download our new white paper, 3 Reasons Virtual Teams Fail, and how to see it coming….
Show Notes:
0:00 Welcome to the show, gang. Today we’re taking a look at change. Personally, I like it for a number of dysfunctional reasons….most people don’t. One guy who understood change, Daniel Burnham who helped rebuild Chicago. He also understood that sometimes you gotta burn something to the ground to make the change happen.
3:30 Are you or someone from your organization going to the ASTD2011 Show in Orlando in May? I’ll be there May 23 and 24, speaking on the 24th about my book, 10 Steps to Successful Virtual Presentations, then hanging with Kevin Eikenberry the rest of the day in his booth.
5:24 the quote of the week is from Washington Irving, who understood that sometimes change feels good only to take bruises someplace new. Yeah, it’s setting the bar pretty low, but what are you gonna do?
6:00 Welcome Andy Stefanovich to the show. The book is “Look at More”. What’s the individual manager’s role in innovation? Isn’t that someone else’s problem? Basically, we’re responsible for doing stuff and that makes us important.
7:43 Corporate America is decidedly unprepared to deal with failure, which kills innovation. It’s hard to take a leap if you have to be responsible for quarterly earnings. How do you make sure that it’s controlled chaos? There are 5 Ms…
- Mood
- Mindset
- Mechanisms
- Measurement
- Momentum
10:26 I hate acronyms, and there’s few worse than “LAMSTAIH” but it really means just Look at more stuff, Think about it harder.
12:30 Everything starts with the mood of the organization. Is there a climate and attitude that encourages creativity or is it all about maintaining order and reducing mistakes?
14:20 Mindset is basically the way individuals process information in your organization. What’s your risk tolerance? How much passion do you have for what you’re doing? Those two things will drive your mindset.What’s your tolerance for the grey?w
17:10 Mechanisms are important but how do you not put processes in place like Six Sigma that actually kill innovation. Without action, though, there is no real change.
20:00 How do you stop measurement from killing ideas? Measurement is almost always the way to drive change. Are you measuring the right things?
23:00 If there is only one thing to take away, it’s to appreciate the idea that inspiration is the fuel that drives change and it comes from CONSCIOUSLY looking at things with discipline.
Visit his blog and website at www.prophet.com
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