Something's Gotta Give

With over $900 billion in stockpiled cash, the biggest companies in the S&P 500 have a good problem -- how to spend it.  Sure, there's the tried and true -- boost dividends, buy back their own stock, or buy other companies.  But as a USA TODAYarticle states, "the moola just keeps mounting."  (01/04/11)

That's the good news -- the bad news is for the nearly 10% of workers who are unemployed:  Roughly two thirds of companies surveyed by USA TODAY and Careerbuilder say they do not plan to change the number of permanent employees in the first quarter, 2011.  (USA TODAY 01/18/11)

So we have a jobless recovery to contemplate.  While affluent people are starting to feel less self-conscious about splurging on vanity items, many families are losing their homes, their hope, their happiness.

Maybe some of the creative thinking that goes into the development of  technology gadgets can be redirected towards getting people back to work.  Or companies can be acknowledged for hiring people who have been out of work for extended periods of time -- how about employer awards for patriotism on the job front?

I was astonished last July when my daughter got a decent job two months after graduating from college -- right in her own backyard.  I only wish more families could celebrate a similar experience.

Mixing Irreverence & Tradition

"If American consumers get any more casual, they're going to be wearing pajamas to work" -- Marshal Cohen, the chief industry analyst at NPD, a fashion research firm, weighed in on the new ads for a 150+ year old men's footwear company.  Johnston & Murphy have made upscale shoes since 1850 -- wingtips and tassled loafers sell for about $375.

Mr. Cohen compared their branding challenge to Cadillac's in the mid 90's -- how to capture the young market without alienating the establishment.   Johnston & Murphy's new campaign includes a contest about people's most uncomfortable moment, which is then linked with comfortable shoes.  This web-only campaign is a great example of 'talking' to the new wave of business people -- one shoe is called an XC4, to appeal to men's preference for  techie-sounding products with alpha-numeric names.  (NYT 12/23/10)

This 'not-your-father's wingtip' approach seems clever to me, and I won't be looking for the ad in the NYT style magazine.  Using interactive web-based ads creates an experience that shouts out to the future masters-of-the-universe. 

But they, too, need to watch their backs.  A recent survey shows high school students getting about 300 text messages a day.  One twenty-something sibling said he can't even understand his younger brother's jargon, as it is extremely abbreviated and does not conform to general language rules.  For the teenage set, email is way too much work, and social websites are adapting -- subject boxes are being cut, as they are rarely used.

It's probably going to be easier for a company to create a comfortable business-appropriate shoe than learn how to adapt to a generation that sees full sentences as so yesterday.

Break-Through Thinking

Knowing you are stuck in a rut is the first step to breaking out.  While our brains can get better at solving complex problems and creating novel solutions as we age, they often need a "nudge".  Intuitive leaps can spring from novel experiences as well as a good dose of comedy.

Dr. Kathleen Taylor, a professor at St. Mary's College of California, says adult learners should "jiggle their synapses a bit" by "bumping up against people and ideas" that can challenge our world views.  She suggests 'cracking the cognitive egg and scrambling it up a bit' to escape from our comfort zones.  That's when new information and insights can grow.

Jack Mezirow of Columbia Teachers  College adds to this school of thought -- he says adults can keep sharp when presented with a "disorienting dilemma" -- something that causes you to critically reflect on your acquired assumptions.  (Both from NYT Education Today - 01/03/10)

Today's special issue of Science Times (NYT 11/07/10) is devoted to puzzles and creative problem solving.  It references research that supports approaching problem solving in a positive state of mind.  Brains whose anterior cingulate cortex are strongly activated (!) are more prone to solving puzzles with sudden insight -- in one study, this 'resting state' of preparation in the brain was sharpened by watching a short video of a stand-up comedy routine by Robin Williams.  Other studies also show that positive moods are linked to better creative problem solving.

So letting the gloomy economy sour our outlook, or cause us to hang on to the tried-and-true, is likely to keep us stuck where we are.  That's a real threat for older brains with entrenched pathways -- 'cracking the cognitive egg' may be essential to staying vigorous in the workplace.

What Price Rudeness?

A recent study by a professor, Christine Pearson, shows that "many workers left jobs because of continuing incivility but rarely reported that as the reason." (NYT 'Shortcuts' 11/2010).  So much for exit interviews. 

An early-career guy recently told me that he did not really want to join co-workers for 'Happy Hour' - "Why do people think you want to spend more time with them when they are rude to you at work?"

Professor Pearson's research also showed that '60% of disrespectful behavior came from above, 20% from colleagues and 20% from below.'  That reinforces my longstanding belief that rudeness rolls downhill, and untimately lands on customers.

Counterintuitively, it appears that Boeing's 'team' model had a negative effect on morale; people reported losing a sense their 'contributions were respected as a source of competitive advantage -- they experienced a shift to where people and positions were expendable or interchangeable with other workers around the world.' (NYT 'Off The Shelf'11/21/10.  )  This research is from the book Turbulence:  Boeing and the State of American Workers and Managers, by four experts.  They also report that managers and employees alike had intentions to quit the company.

At a more general level, an article in the Hartford Courant, "Don't Let Hostility Replace Civility" by Rand Richards Cooper (11/21/10) urges Americans  to 'reboot' from being 'half-cocked' with rage to choosing to exercise 'small acts of diplomacy' in every day life, such as while driving.

While existing studies show that most people think it is other people who are rude, not them, these articles reinforce a trend I've observed in my 30+ years of working -- people more easily insult each other in meetings.  I feel like a Missy Manners when I am shocked to hear one woman tell another she is stupid and ugly in a planning meeting, with no apparent consequences.  I close with a quote from Professor Pearson:  "It's amazing how many (leaders) expect their employees to treat customers with respect and how few worry about how their colleagues treat each other."

Newsworthy Older Women

Cathleen P. Black just left the Hearst Corporation to lead New York City schools as chancellor.  While not an educator, her new boss describes her "as a world-class manager."  She is credited with finding advertisers for USA Today in its infancy, and helped Oprah decide to launch "O" magazine.  She's been a lot of 'firsts', even though she is the youngest of three in her family.  Recently demoted at Hearst, she surprised them by leaving for this astronomical  challenge.  She prides herself on being able to work with strong personalities -- sounds like she is one, herself -- all this, and she is 66!  (NYT 11/10/10)

Ruth M. Porat, EVP and CFO of Morgan Stanley, is touted as a survivor who reinvented herself after working through explosions in the stock market and silicon valley.  People remind her that the careers of the last two female chief financial officers on Wall Street  did not end well.  My hope is that this 52-year old woman in a man's world will demolish that legacy.                                             ( NYT 11/10/10)