Fall 2007

Innovation and Influence for 2007

The Dog Ate My Passport
B. Kim Barnes

I recently survived a traveler’s terrible, horrible, very bad day. It began with a phone call from the visa agency’s office; they were wondering where my passport was. My passport was missing, and it was two days before a long business trip which—due to a colleague’s illness—suddenly included Singapore. No amount of influence could get the visa agency to help me; could I get the passport agency to help? With gritted teeth, I filled out and printed all the forms, and retrieved a copy of my evaporated passport (kept in the office for safety). I went to bed that night with a heavy heart; letting a customer down is not on my list of acceptable activities.

The next morning I made my way to the passport office in San Francisco an hour before opening time. I fully expected to see a long, straggling line of forlorn fellow non-travelers wearing that “may I have a crust of bread, sir?” expression. Au contraire. There were about six people ahead of me. Next to me was a nurse who had paid her own way to Uganda to mentor nurses in a new hospital; her passport had gone missing the day before. Also among the waiting were a young Asian couple with a baby, a real estate broker whose passport had expired seven years ago; all of them had to throw themselves on the mercy of the bureaucracy.

A forbidding-looking police guard showed up at about 8:45 (15 minutes earlier than expected) and, after hearing each of our sad stories, sent us up in the elevator to the assigned window. Having as much experience with bureaucracy as the next person (well, a few years more) I expected a long wait, a number of stops, a bored, gum-chewing clerk and, in the end, a suggestion that I make an appointment and return next week. Imagine my surprise when I stopped at the first window, was given a number and told, very gracefully, to listen for it to be called.

The nurse was first in line; my expectations began to shift when she turned and gave me a “thumbs up.” I was called shortly afterward and Steve Soong, a personable young man, took me in hand. No scolding, no delays—just a friendly face and an apology for having to charge extra due to no birth certificate. While talking with Steve, I overheard the man at the next counter mention that his passport had gone through his washing machine; I suddenly thought of the rich excuses they must hear (hence the title of this article). I was told to return at 4:00 to pick up my new passport, which was waiting for me on time, complete with the extra pages Steve thoughtfully added because of my travel schedule.

I’m not sure I have ever received better customer service or more efficient delivery on a commitment. I was both surprised and delighted—which is what is supposed to happen with customer service, but almost never does.

In the spirit of our field I now have to do the “lessons learned”:

Lesson 1: Influence is no substitute for poor planning. My lack of attention and forethought is not your emergency.
Lesson 2: Your assumptions and stereotypes are often wrong; don’t bet your life on them. And never take at full value the opinion of someone with a vested interest in something failing. After all, why would we need a visa agency if the process is going to be simple?
Lesson 3: Low expectations can make you absurdly grateful for a good outcome. And recognizing when your own multi-tasking and careless inattention has gotten you into trouble makes a good outcome even sweeter, because it was undeserved!
Lesson 4: Always, always keep a copy of your passport!

All of this also caused me to reflect on the fact that simple friendliness, kindness, and empathy make the world go around. In this time of global organizations and teams, the airlines are busier than ever. Global teams can work beautifully after we have become real people to one another. Once we have shaken hands, shared a meal, shown pictures of our families, laughed together—we can become a real team. In rare instances this can happen virtually—but now when I “meet” with Jim or Tobias or Natalie or Robert or Kasia or Aviad or Ausra or others by web- and teleconference, I can picture them, know their voices, and remember enjoyable times we have had together; this makes the meetings both pleasurable and productive.

Now that social networking is becoming ubiquitous and happening in two directions—you can connect online to those you know offline—and you can meet online friends and colleagues in real life. Recently we at Barnes & Conti have begun experimenting with using Facebook as a way of keeping in touch with one another and our global partners. I hope to meet some of my Flickr (a photo-sharing site) friends in real life as I travel and many of us use LinkedIn to build and maintain our professional networks. One of our partners is planning to buy “property” and open an office on Second Life. (My avatar will come by and check it out!) I’m interested in knowing how you are using these sites and how they have changed your personal and business life. Oh, and if you have any lost passport stories to share, I do think that I have a title in search of a book, so I’d love to have them. You know, one of those books with five words to a page over a funny photo—the kind that sit next to the cash register in the book store...

Happy and safe travels to all of you. And special thanks to Steve Soong.

News flash! One of our customers just contacted us, mightily puzzled by what she found in an envelope containing a contract... I’ll leave it to you to guess what it was. Suffice it to say that there are now additional lessons learned...

In this Newsletter

Project Management and Innovation by Jeff Belding
New Edition of Exercising Influence™
Relocation Changes More Than Address: Intelligent Risk-Taking in Action by Grace Boone
What’s New at Barnes & Conti
- Barnes & Conti: One of Inc.com’s 5000 Fastest Growing Companies
Events, Trade Shows, and Happenings
Public Programs
Recipe: Shrimp with Black Olives, Tomatoes, and Feta over Pasta
Just for Fun
Featured Art (above): “The Fall of Icarus” by Pieter Bruegel. While the ancient Greeks do not mention it, we think that Icarus fell either because of trouble with a local passport or visa agency. Or perhaps his flying project did not have adequate project management...

Project Management and Innovation
by Jeff Belding (excerpt)

...Over the years I discovered that successful teams had ways of working together that were fairly consistent. Communication and education were the key elements of these successful teams. These teams had the ability to articulate to the greater project world—management, customers, and other stakeholders—the project end-result, the value of the project to the organization, and the success criteria for the project. These teams were also good at “learning their way” through the project. Education was a two-way process; they knew what they needed to learn from others and knew how to help others learn. They had to be open to trying new things—all the while evaluating the results to see if they were nearing their end goal or if their course was needing correction. The actual tools they used for keeping track of tasks and charting progress were not nearly as critical to the team’s success. More often than not a simple spreadsheet was the main tool. The thought processes and the learning the team and its members did was much more critical to the team’s success.

Five Elements of Successful Project Teams

In my work, I’m always hearing that teams never have enough time; they want something that will take less of their time to learn and to use. The length of my workshops is now 1-2 days at the very most. The template that I have been using is a simple, one-page spreadsheet that consists of space for the five elements essential to communicate and educate all parties about the project. The five elements are:

Project End Result—The “what” of the project, why it’s important to the organization and the success criteria.
Critical Success Factors—The make-or-break issues that need to be resolved for the project to succeed. This includes management of risks that could be damaging to the project.
Project Scope—The interdependency of resources, time, and features of the project. This is the tool most project leaders use to understand the impact of changes on the project.
Key Relationships—The level of support and required actions from all the team and greater team members to get the deliverables of the project accomplished.
Schedule—The planning and articulation of the deliverables and milestones of the project. (This is where most inexperienced project leaders leap before understanding the above items!)

When these elements are carried out well, project teams will be successful. In fact all formal project management processes include some form of these elements, whether or not they call them out specifically. Understanding and being able to use the above elements has given most project leaders the tools they need to manage projects—from the simplest to the most complex.

BUT! Is this Enough?

With today’s intense competition, numerous development efforts, and hectic pace, the above process moves very quickly. But—does this process really create an environment that fosters innovation? Are team members’ talents being used as effectively as possible? Are team members able to spend time creating more and better results for their projects? How can we manage projects in a way that leads to real innovation?

Innovation, according to Barnes & Conti’s new Managing Innovation™ program, is defined as: “Optimizing the potential benefits embedded in an idea that is new to you.” This program gives teams the tools they need to think through and create innovations. The Managing Innovation workshop presents an “innovation journey” framework of five distinct phases. When I participated in the program, it dawned on me that this indeed was an amazing way to manage projects...

Read the entire article

Jeff Belding is Principal of JP Associates, Inc. (JPA). Jeff specializes in project leadership training and consulting to project and management teams. Skilled in the management of cross-functional teams, Jeff draws upon his extensive experience to design and deliver client-specific project management/leadership training and consulting programs. JPA’s clients are managers and team leaders who want to get a project team in-sync and moving together to achieve results in a predictable manner.

Visit JP Associates website

In the above article, the author references the five phases of the Managing Innovation process. Each phase is represented by an avatar of innovation. To find out more about the Managing Innovation process, take our quiz to find which avatar most represents you.

New Edition of Exercising Influence

Exercising Influence™, the world’s most widely used influence skills program, is undergoing some very exciting updates. In line with our mission to provide the skills and processes for moving ideas into action, Barnes & Conti regularly updates and revises our programs to keep up with changing times and our customers’ needs. On January 1, 2008, we plan to release a significantly changed version of our Exercising Influence™ program.

Here’s an early look at some of the features and updates:

Streamlined Course Materials: At the request of clients and participants, the workbook will be reduced to only the materials needed for the program. The rich supplemental reading materials and helpful tools will be moved to a flash-drive. Participants will receive a workbook for use during the class session, along with a copy of the Exercising Influence™ book, wheel and wallet card, and a flash-drive containing supplemental material, case studies, exercises, and current research to enhance their learning experience.
More Real-Life Application Practice: In addition to our existing skill practice scenarios, we have added new activities, including a baseline activity that will allow participants to see changes in their influence strength. This exercise will ask participants to document an upcoming influence opportunity and note how they would address the situation before learning any influence skills. At the end of the course, they revisit their situation and revise their influence plan, taking advantage of what they have learned. We have also added some new material focused on “influence issues”—the topics we hope to influence others about.
Online Post-Program Support Site: We have partnered with CogBooks, an on-line learning company based in Scotland, to create a web-based post-training support site for skills practice, continuous development, and reinforcement. This dynamic and innovative system uses an interactive map to track the understanding of skills and key concepts. The “CogBook” includes interactive exercises, articles, downloadable tools, audios (and soon, videos), and other useful performance support material. CogBooks will be available to most clients beginning on November 1, 2007.

Barnes & Conti is committed to adding value to the learning experience and to using the best methods for reinforcing the skills and concepts learned during live course sessions and used every day on the job. For more information about any of these changes, please contact Carter Serrett or Lauren Powers.

Relocation Changes More Than Address:
Intelligent Risk-Taking In Action
Grace Boone, Barnes & Conti Marketing Manager

“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”—Anaïs Nin

Last August I sold all my furniture, packed up the rest of my belongings, and drove cross-country to move from Washington, DC to Oakland, CA. I knew exactly 13 people in the Bay Area—my 12 co-workers and my new roommate. When I arrived, I replaced my furniture and set about the adventure of starting my new life here.

What I’ve consistently heard over the last year is surprise over my willingness to make such a move. Most are even more surprised to learn that I had not planned to move when I did. I often wonder if I wasn’t crazy for embarking on a huge life event with little preplanning.

Soon after my move I took the Barnes & Conti Intelligent Risk-Taking program (what I would have given for this knowledge last summer, particularly the planning wheel!). In retrospect, I realize that I actually followed, to some degree, the Fast Track model of the Intelligent Risk-Taking (IRT) process, though I’ll admit, I think much of the Assess step (weighing costs and benefits) was skipped. In celebration of the one-year anniversary of my move, I’ve taken time to review the IRT process, and I can clearly see the successes and learning opportunities from my moving process...

Read the entire article on the Barnes & Conti blog

What’s New at Barnes & Conti?

Barnes & Conti: One of Inc.com's 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America

On August 23, Inc. announced that Barnes & Conti Associates was placed on their first-ever list of the 5000 fastest-growing privately-held companies in the country. According to Inc. 5000’s company profile, the reason for Barnes & Conti’s rapid growth is because our courses to improve skills in influence, debate, leadership, and persuasion are “a way to retain good employees.” According the Inc. 5000, the list offers “the most comprehensive look ever at the entrepreneurial engine driving the U.S. Economy.”

View the Barnes & Conti profile

The Inc. 5000

The Email Box

It’s always nice to get feedback from our programs, and especially nice when the review is like the following:

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Exercising Influence class offered by Barnes & Conti. I'm so grateful that you steered me toward that particular course. The instructor was OUTSTANDING! I think you would agree that a strong instructor is crucial to the successful outcome of a seminar and Rebecca Hendricks was exceptional. I learned so much and certainly got more than my money's worth. I would highly recommend both the course and the instructor to other interested NPR staff.

Regards,
Patricia Cervini

Events, Trade Shows, and Happenings

IQPC Corporate University Week
November 2-5, 2007
Disney Contemporary Resort
Orlando, FL

Upcoming Public Programs

Managing Innovation

December 8-9, Pleasant Hill, CA

Exercising Influence

October 13-14, Pleasant Hill, CA
November 5-6, San Francisco, CA
November 20-21, Grenoble, France

Strategic Thinking

October 27, Pleasant Hill, CA

Constructive Negotiation

November 10-11, Pleasant Hill, CA

For more information, please contact Grace Boone at gboone AT barnesconti.com

To register for one of our public programs, click here
or go to: www.barnesconti.com/ppsched.php

Featured Recipe:

Shrimp with Black Olives, Tomatoes, and Feta over Pasta
Lauren Powers, Barnes & Conti Eastern Regional Director

After a long day at work, it is always a challenge to find a quick but satisfying dinner. Time seems especially tight during the fall season when routines are getting back underway and schedules are not quite figured out just yet.

This recipe, our family favorite, takes no more than 20-30 minutes total prep and is comprised of ingredients we always seem to have ready to go in the house. Enjoy with a nice crusty bread!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of olive oil
1-1/2 pounds of large or jumbo shrimp (we keep frozen, uncooked and cleaned bags of shrimp in the freezer ready to go… just thaw and remove tails)
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley or substitute dried parsley (use less if dried)
1/2 tsp. dried crushed red pepper (or to taste
1 large container grape tomatoes, halved, or 2-3 large chopped tomatoes
1/2-1 cup pitted Kalamata olives chopped
4 cloves of minced garlic
Crumbled feta cheese

Method:

Heat olive oil and saute shrimp till just about done. Remove shrimp.
Saute fresh garlic, fresh parley and olives.
Add tomatoes and saute until soft for a few minutes.
Add shrimp to the pan and saute for one more minute.

Serve over angel hair or thin spaghetti pasta (We like Barilla Plus muliple grain pastas)
Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese over top to liking

Serves four.

Just for Fun

Successful Influence?

I was at home with my son the other night and there was a story on TV about a man in a vegetative state being kept alive by the machines and totally brain dead.

I told my son, “I never want to be like that, If I am ever dependent on a machine and a bottle to keep me alive, just pull the plug.”

At that he got up, unplugged my laptop and threw out my beer.