You want to be innovative these days? Start with kindness! Now there's a good idea!

Idea Champions
Mitch Ditkoff
Storytelling for the Revolution
Illustration: gapingvoid

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

Here's your comic relief for the day, especially if you are a teacher (or parent) faced with the challenge of transitioning from traditional classroom learning to online, distance learning. I tip my hat to the thousands of dedicated teachers around the world who are making a heroic effort, in a very short amount of time, to make the changes necessary to adapt to these challenging times. Here's to resiliency and adaptability! Here's to creativity and collaboration. And here's to keeping our sense of humor and good cheer all along the way!

A special shout out to the teachers and staff of Al Siraat College, in Epping, Australia, for the extraordinary effort they are making to rise to the occasion!

And big thanks to Mr. Vis for showing this video at Day #1 of Al Siraat's three-day teaching training.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:07 AM | Comments (0)

Here's something I've been noticing lately:

Business leaders and managers tend to respond to the introduction of a new idea not as an imminent solution to be nurtured, but as a new problem to deal with. Ideas, one would think, would be welcomed, especially by an organization's movers and shakers talking the talk about innovation.

But all too often a company's leaders, time-crunched and overloaded as they are, perceive the introduction of a new idea as simply "more work" for them to do, the early warning sign of too many emails to read, more meetings to attend, more requests for funding, and more conflicting opinions.

Perhaps this is why so many managers respond to the articulation of a new idea with knee jerk naysaying instead of heartfelt open-mindedness. And you wonder why innovation in your organization is so sluggish...

What can you do to reframe the way you perceive ideas being pitched to you on the job -- from "problems" to "opportunities?"

MitchDitkoff.com
Idea Champions

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 02:05 AM | Comments (1)

ILLUSTRATION gapingvoid

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:49 AM | Comments (0)

If you are a Team Leader, one of the first things you will need to do (if you haven't done so already) is let your team know the full scope of your roles and responsibilities. You may think they know, but it's very likely that they don't -- at least not at the level of specificity that a high performing team requires. And if team members don't understand what you actually DO -- and WHY you do it -- chances are good that they will resist, rebel, or reject your efforts to play your role.

1. HOW TO PROCEED: As soon as possible, meet with your team and explain the scope of your role. If you happen to be a new team leader (and your team is doubtful of your skills, leadership ability, or authority), let them know, who, specifically, in your organization, has empowered you to BE the Team Leader and that you take your responsibility very seriously.

Be sure to mention that one of your main roles is to be a helpful resource for team members -- to be there for them to help ensure that they enjoy their job, learn, grow, collaborate, and accomplish their ambitious performance goals for the year.

NOTE: Some members of your team probably perceive you as the person who is going to judge, evaluate, correct, criticize, intimidate, and hassle them. Paranoia alert! This is old school thinking. Or more like pre-school thinking. A savvy team leader will quickly dispel this bogus notion. The faster you can let your team know that the essence of your role is be of of major support to them, the better.

2. BE SPECIFIC ABOUT YOUR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: The term "Team Leader" will mean different things to different people. Unless you explain precisely what your role is (and what it's not), you will be at the mercy of your team members' wide range of concepts, assumptions, and projections. The best way to minimize this kind of background noise is to clearly and confidently describe, one by one, your Team Leader roles and responsibilities.

Towards that end, take a look at the list of your possible roles and responsibilities below. Note the ones that accurately describe your job and add whatever items may be missing.

-- Help your team articulate and fulfill its mission statement
-- Listen non-judgmentally, with the intent to understand
-- Share your expectations for the year
-- Establish and uphold standards of excellence
-- Facilitate the process of establishing team agreements
-- Work with team members to set performance goals
-- Observe and evaluate performance on-the-job
-- Give useful, humane, and timely feedback
-- Coach and mentor
-- Clarify team members' roles and responsibilities
-- Hold people accountable for results
-- Identify, clarify, and communicate team processes
-- Facilitate team meetings
-- Secure resources for the team
-- Ensure that team members create their Learning Plans for the year
-- Promote the teams' successes to Senior Leadership
-- Establish a simple, inspiring ideation process
-- Conduct performance reviews
-- Acknowledge individual and team progress
-- Address team challenges, conflicts, and breakdowns
-- Do everything possible to ensure the team's well-being

NOTE: I am not suggesting that you do ALL of the above. I am just providing you with a trigger list to quicken your process of getting your arms around what the scope of your team leadership role really is.

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Idea Champions

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)