Conduct a Premortem

We’ve all seen the TV docs do a postmortem to figure out why and how a victim died so the NCIS detectives can catch the bad guy.  A lot of organizations will conduct a postmortem after a big event or project has concluded to do an evaluation (though I prefer an After Action Review, since I hope no one died while implementing the project).

Research has demonstrated that “prospective hindsight” – imagining that an event has already occurred – increases the ability to correctly identify reasons for future outcomes by 30%.*  Therefore, some organizations conduct a “premortem” to identify potential problems before implementing a project.

To conduct a “premortem” ask your team to imagine:

“If this project ends up having some breakdowns, what would you guess those might be?” 

This gives people license to play a sort of brainstorm guessing game without the pressure of being labeled as a negative thinker.

A premortem is a good discipline to add to the end of your planning process to identify possible hidden problems lurking around the corner.  It also helps slow the process down just a bit in case the team (or more especially some excited leaders) are going a bit too fast.

There is no way to predict every possible problem that can occur when implementing a project, but the premortem provide a chance to avoid some challenges and allow the organization to make even more of a Mission Impact.

*Performing a Project Premortem, Gary Klein, Harvard Business Review, September, 2007.

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.

Building Your Bench

Staff turnover is a fact of life – as much as you might want to use your wishful thinking to make it go away.

Once you have accepted that fact of life – now it is time to prepare for it.  Here are some things you can do to be prepared to successfully navigate the departure of key staff:

*Identify possible successors – internally and externally.  Even if your organization is not large enough to groom successors within your organization, you can keep your eye out for people outside it.  This could include sharp people you get to know within your community who are working elsewhere as well as networking at industry conferences.

*Utilize cross-training within your organization.  In all too many organizations, only one person knows how to do certain tasks or processes.  This is a bad idea for many reasons.  If it takes a long time to replace a staff person you will be pleased that others can pitch in and take over some of those responsibilities.

*Provide professional development opportunities for staff at all levels.  This helps build more resilience within the organization and allows potential successors for top staff to develop themselves. 

It’s a bummer to lose top staff, but it is a fact of life.  And, in a lot of ways, it is a complement to the organization when they can grow and fly on to more responsibilities in other places.  The more prepared you are the better you can successfully transition to a new staff lineup and continue making an effective Mission Impact.

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.

Thanks for the Feedback (Or Not)

We know that receiving valid feedback for improvement on our performance and then acting on it is a helpful way to continue our professional development.  However, it is all easier said than done.

This is one of the helpful themes of the book Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (even when it is off base, unfair, poorly delivered, and, frankly, you’re not in the mood).  What a great, though long, title!  This really captures part of the challenge of acting on feedback.

I recommend the book and here are a couple of quick takeaways you can start using today, if you want feedback for improvement:

*Ask people (coworkers, supervisor, direct reports) “What’s just one thing I could work on to improve.  Please make it as practical as you can.”  Ask enough people that you find a theme.  Don’t try to work on everything that people suggest!  Pick just one thing.

*Sometimes people have a hard time identifying something for you to work on.  As a twist on the first suggestion, ask instead “What’s one thing you see me doing that gets in my way?”  Again, look for themes and pick just one thing to work on.

*Finally, when you start to implement a change in behavior according to the feedback, remember that change is hard and give yourself time to change.  Try small experiments with the change and do not expect to be newly perfect all of a sudden. 

We can all improve and continuous improvement is a hallmark of a great leader.  Put take it one thing at a time and build on your improvements.  And make sure to thank people for their feedback – even though, you know, it may not be delivered perfectly.

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.

Endangered Resource: Focus

The battle for Focus is on!

As if it is not enough that we already have too much to do . . . now the “devices” have entered the fray.  If it’s not your computer, then it’s your “smart” phone, or your (Dick Tracy-like) Apple watch.

You can try to focus – but then what is that text say?  Or the Linked In update, or Tweet, or FaceBook message . . . much less the more normal email.   (Good thing no one uses the phone any more or we would really be in trouble.)

Personally, my mantra as I go throughout the day is “focus” – I am constantly coaching myself.  And the other day I was in a colleague’s office where she has a little sign on her computer in caps: FOCUS.

Here are a few little things you can do:

*Turn off “pop-ups” on your computer – most email systems have a way you can do this.  While you are working on a Word document or some other project you won’t be distracted.  Also, turn off Notifications on your phone.

*On Monday, make a list of the three most important things you want to get accomplished during the week.  Print it out and put it somewhere visible in your workspace.

*At the beginning of every day, write down the most important thing to get done that day – keep it someplace visible in your work space (even a post it note).

The frenzied pace of today’s work world is challenging to us all.  We need to FOCUS as much as we can to make an optimal Mission Impact.

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.

SOAR Without SWOTs

Frequently I tell people (including the grad students I teach) that strategy can be done well in many different ways.  Certainly, I prefer the Mission Impact approach, but there are a lot of great methodologies out there that can work for organizations.

One interesting approach is S.O.A.R., which you can read more about it at this link.  S.O.A.R. stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, Results.  In this model, stakeholders are engaged to identify Strengths and Opportunities which then lead to the creation of Aspirations and desired Results.

S.O.A.R. which has its basis in Appreciative Inquiry, which is defined by the S.O.A.R. authors as “a philosophy and organizational change approach that builds on strengths and what is called the life-giving forces of the organization’s existence, its positive core.”*

While they do not include Weaknesses and Threats in their acronym, they are not left out.  The authors add: “Weaknesses and threats are not ignored. They are reframed and given the appropriate focus within the opportunities and results conversations. Ultimately it becomes a question of balance. Why not spend as much time or more on what you do well and how you can strengthen a strategic advantage? What gives you more energy to take action? What gives you confidence to set a stretch goal and achieve results?”*

S.O.A.R. leverages a 5-I Approach which asks the following questions:

Initiate: How shall we work together?

Inquire: What are our strengths and opportunities?

Imagine: What can we aspire to?

Innovate: What can we create to achieve our aspirations?

Inspire to Implement: How do we move forward to achieve our goals?

Answering these questions then provides a roadmap forward for the organization to implement its strategy.  If you like this basic description then think about ordering the book (it’s a quick read) and SOAR on to enhanced Mission Impact!

*Stavros, J.M. & G. Hinrichs. The Thin Book of SOAR, Thin Book Publishing, Bend, OR, 2009.

For more ideas on how you can lead breakthroughs in your organization, follow this blog and check out my web site at www.SheehanNonprofitConsulting.com   You will find free resources you can download, including a Breakthrough Strategy Workbook that you can download at no cost.  You can also check out my book, Mission Impact:  Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits, and buy it if you are interested.  And you can follow Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting on Facebook.