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Does Schmidt’s description of the Google culture make sense to you?

I think that the information he spoke on does make sense to me. I personally like how there is always a 20% personal venture time. He mentioned that it protects against blow ups. I think what it does is, it actually makes the employees feel as though their ideas are welcome and that we are not just hiring you to do one thing, we want you ideas to flow through the organization. I think that there are real merits to his comments. Google has discussions where they welcome feedback that might be against their objectives. He said he asks for someone to speak against what he wants. That way productive things get accomplished.

Is this a reasonable way to view the work that most people are doing in your workplace?

This is not comparable or the way things are done here. Whenever there is a decisions made, it normally comes from a corporate level and then the managers are left to implement the change to the controllers. The controllers are just expected to adhere to whatever changes are made. The issue with that is that there is not two way communication throughout the entire organization. At this particular time, anything we say or come up with, basically will fall on deaf ears unless you're very, very persistent

As a leader, does it take courage to have and to implement this point of view?

 I think it does. I can't think of a lot of leaders that I've worked for in the past that actually like to have open discussions where they want you to find errors in their ideas/work. I personally feel that there are huge advantages to letting people have their own time to brainstorm and even bigger advantages to having people tell you where your shortcomings might be. how else can YOU learn?

Could this approach backfire?

Yes. I think what could actually happen is that someone down the line is going to think that because their idea was better than yours, they should be making the bigger decisions. You're actually opening the door for people to empowerment.You want there to be a line drawn as to each person's role and then let them know that you're the boss but you're not always right. Just because the boss is not right all the time does not mean they shouldn't be the boss.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

I'm not sure how i could personally implement something like this at a controller level. I think it would take some persuading from multiple mangers to better open the communication lines and accept that people at the controller level have some unique ideas that could really benefit the company. What I'll try to do is see what kind of communication lines are in place and what our actual recruiting guidelines are. That may lead me to my next step.

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Do you agree with Tom Wujec's analysis of why kindergarteners perform better on the Spaghetti Challenge than MBA students?

Interesting enough, I actually do agree with analysis. I find his comment about the kids not wanting to be the CEO to be very explanatory as to why there is little success among other participants. I have heard similar examples in the past that were more directed at how investors should actually allocate their money. I want to say that the school age kids out preformed trained investors most of the time.

 Can you think of any other reasons why kids might perform better?

I feel like the kids don't have any outside pressure to preform well on them. When he mentioned that in created a reward of $10,000 for participants, the success rate was zero. I feel as though if that were the children, they would still preform well because they just want to be successful in their work. The children don't have anyone to impress or answer to when the task is complete; whether they were successful or not. 

In your view, why do CEOs with an executive assistant perform better than a group of CEOs alone?

I think it goes back to what he said, there is someone there giving them direction. If there is a group of people who are use to being the number one in charge, I'd assume it would take awhile before you could determine who was going to lead and so on. With the assistant there, they can take control and lead the group of leaders and get them on track as soon as possible. There would be no trying to be number one.

If you were asked to facilitate a process intervention, how could you relate the video to the process intervention skills?

I think the video points out some flaws in people in a rather quick manner. You can get immediate results as to how people react to this challenge and I think you can apply that directly back to the workplace. One of the process intervention processes I like is clarifying and summarizing. Sometimes people leave a meeting and they have no idea what someone is talking about or what point they were actually trying to make. This video actually allows you to see what points are trying to be made and you can identify some things that apply to you and your business. Clarity in a matter can lead to better success then just having uncertain direction.

What can you take away from this for your immediate career?

What this video has taught me is that sometimes team building exercises can actually help you learn a lot about someone. In our job, you don't ever really have an opportunity to have a "do-over" and you always wonder what could have happened if you handled something differently. I think if we all took some time to make sure there is clarity on our part and took time to make sure we all understood what we should, that there would be better reaction times and outcomes more often. 

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I personally think that he has his work cut out for him. I say that because when you're talking about taking two successful companies and then try to get a culture that only focuses on the positives of those companies, you're being misleading and misunderstanding of the culture. What I mean is, I think that you have to be cautious moving forward. Although you always want to focus on the positives, you need to acknowledge the negatives in order to be more successful and to guide the cultural changes away from those wrongs. I think if he was to really push the punishment side of things, he could weed out the people who are not improving cultural influences and unhappiness.

In the video he talks about things being easier when people trust you and are happy with you. I think he's going to have a barrier there. There are going to be people who don't trust you, who don't know enough about you or people that don't just plain like you. Although he wants a culture that is positive, its very hard to get everyone on board and to be trusting of your vision. He goes onto talk about letting employees know that you appreciate them and that they're part of the success of the organization. I find a large hurtle he'll have to overcome is getting over past cultural impacts and any negatives that people perceive of him or the future of the company. It all goes back to trust, how can people trust you when they haven't worked under you long enough?

What I think applies the most from what he was saying to my career today is, he talked about making the best use out of the systems that he knew to be already successful. He was talking about getting next generation technologies moving along and to make things more efficient and acceptable to consumers and commuters. My particular field is focused on making sure everyone has access to next generation technology and protecting the flying public. Additionally, making a safe and friendly culture where trust and happiness is first, is another exceptional task that my company has to undertake to stay relevant and up to date.

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How do you react when you hear your colleagues using some of the excuses listed in the 50 reasons not to change graphic?

Personally, its become quite annoying to me to hear colleagues complaining about situations, situations that they could change and then do nothing about. It has become pretty common in our small environment to complain about personal items or irrelevant work related items. I've now begun to offer small solutions to their issues, not as an expert but as a leader. If they have ask a question, I try to rephrase it in another perceptive. The thing that use to upset me is, they have the power to change the situation, but they use excuses off of that list to avoid fixing the problem. They'd rather complain then fix. I now say, "if you want advice, I'd like to see you use it". I feel like that's appropriate. If they want to complain, we will work toward a solution, if you're not willing to change, why are we talking?

Do you ever use any of these excuses yourself?

Yes. I wish the answer was no but it's not. I feel like the "another company/person has tried it before" applies most to me. I've been thinking of things that could actually apply to change in our organization. I feel like someone's already brought that up or their just not interested. As I've come along in grad school, I've tried to not be so afraid of trying new things. The issue is, who likes change? Am I willing to risk my job for change? All I come up with are excuses from the list.

How can you overcome the thinking that creates those responses to change efforts?

The first step to overcome that thinking would be to explore what other people think about that idea. Sometimes, the idea doesn't leave my mind. What I should be doing is running the idea by other people who might share my enthusiasm or give me a boost in the right direction. If someone isn't willing to try to change, maybe all it would take in some encouragement and trust in that person.

Do you agree with Seth Godin's concept that change is driven by tribes?

I thought about this for a little while. I actually do agree with the tribe idea. I agree with it however as it applies to social media. There are many groups (tribes) that form online and do nothing but communicate and explore with each other online. Like our conversation last week, I find people to be more timid then they once were and although they may share commonalities online, how many people are turning that into face to face time? What I'm thinking is, people are connecting more then ever but they aren't really getting all of the personal interaction they need.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

What I take away from that speech the most has to do with how people are linking up together, in new ways then the past. As a new leader, that is something that is important to understand. Additionally, it is important to understand people want to be lead, you just have to find a way o link them together in change or cause. There are some things in my workplace that we all have general issues with, maybe it is time that I try and find a common ground and then a solution to fix these issues.

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    Why did NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe address NASA employees to describe the plan to bring about proposed changes to NASA's culture?

The main reason Mr. O'Keefe wanted to come on and talk about the changes is because of the recent accident that they were dealing with. There were a lot of questions surrounding the culture of NASA and they wanted to determine where the breakdown came from and what they could do better moving on. It was important to present that data to the public and to address what their intentions were moving forward.

Was he believable? Is it important whether he appeared to be believable?

      Personally, I feel as though he was believable and that the information he presented was genuine. I feel that they actually took the appropriate time to understand the culture and where the potential break downs were coming from. What I found interesting is that he talked about how on paper, they felt like they had a good operating culture but in practice they weren’t living up to it. He said employees were afraid to come forward with safety information or go to higher levels within their department at that time and that is something they were going to address.

Why did he talk about NASA values?

      He talked about the passion and the drive that NASA has and I think he had to do that so there doesn’t seem to be any negligence or shortcomings on their part. The accident itself basically formed the basis for why he discussed what he did. I think he wants the viewer to understand their intent and their motivation in being safe and productive.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

What I think pertains the most to our organization is the concept of not letting anything stop with you. What I mean is, if you have some information that has safety implications, you should be able to present that information without fear or repercussions. Recently, the FAA has moved to that sort of program. The problem with the program is that when you actually report something, they can pinpoint who was working where and they’ll always know who to talk to. People don’t want to risk their career over something they might deem small. That small thing however could grow into something larger. I will try to apply this process of keeping information flowing here at our facility. Maybe we can determine where the information stops.

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Marcia Blenko argues that decision effectiveness correlates positively with employee engagement and organizational performance. How do you think that employee engagement relates to decision effectiveness?

Personally, I find that the more an employee is engaged in the decision making process or in the involvement of important issues, the more productivity you gain from them. There is nothing more rewarding then being allowed to partake in a decision making process, sometimes that you're not qualified to offer input on. If management is willing to let people engage in these processes, I feel like they will get the maximum amount of effort from them.

What are some impediments to good decision making?

The first thing that comes to mind is fear. If there are a lot of repercussions for decision making efforts that come up short, you're not going to get the risk-reward output from employees. It is important to take risks and o encourage staff to go out on a limb, Sometimes the best ideas can come from someone who isn't even involved in a process at all. It is a good idea to encourage idea sharing and open door policies at all levels. Second, I feel like having trust, or at least sharing your trust of employees is important. They need to know that no matter what they do, you'll support them, good and bad.



Blenko suggests that there are four elements of good decisions: quality, speed, yield, and effort. In your opinion, is there anything missing from this list?

Although all of those are great and she details them as most effective, I feel like we could add risk to that mix. What I mean is, how much are we thinking outside the box? Is this something that is going to really push us into something new? On some scale, we should be able to determine how risky the project or deal might be. That might persuade people one way or another on whether to peruse that option.


What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?


I feel like implementing this exercise I can try and apply my company's decision effectiveness at a corporate level. If I can find viable information or perhaps some shortcomings, I could share that with my management team and see if anything I come up with is viable to solving the issues.

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Is the Culture Committee at Southwest effective in establishing cultural norms?

My response to that question is no. The reason I say that is because although their actions and motivations are good, they seem like they only preform these actions here and there. Basing from what I saw in the video, the group was formed at LAX that day to do something that they don't normally do. A cultural norm would revolve around daily operations and more employees at Southwest would know about these sort of events and would have more knowledge. It seemed like the video was made to raise awareness about the event, it hasn't become a norm yet.

From what you can tell, what is the purpose of the culture committee at Southwest?

I think their main purpose is to provide employees with knowledge that Southwest is trying to show that they care about their employees. The committee seems as though they are there to help the crews when they can, boost moral, and raise awareness about the culture in Southwest. It seems like they're in the early stages of this, at least that actual program we saw in the video. I was surprised to see that most of the crews hadn't experienced anything like that before, although some said they had heard of it. I would have thought that the committee was bigger and did things like this more often, not just in cases like this where they film it to get exposure. I hope that they do that nationally, more often.

What would you see as a viable mission for a culture committee in your place of work?

At the current time, there is an increased awareness on fatigue and safety in our organization (and nationally). What would be viable is that a committee could actually spend a small amount of time at each facility a get a better grasp of what factors are contributing to those issues. It would be beneficial for our organization and us as employees is there could be a way to fix schedules, rotations, and work loads. There is such a contrast between one facility to the next, that the committee should spend some time fitting individual needs to each facility.

What can you take away from this exercise to immediately use in your career?

I've learned that employees want to know that their company is actually making an effort to address issues within the organization. Sometimes, we hear about programs but we never see them in action or they never end up being relevant to us personally. I now see that just by showing some initiative, we can really have an immediate impact on the daily operations. Short term, I'll try to make sure that we can all see the benefits of the current schedule or rotation we are in my highlighting its advantages. Not being in a management role yet, I have limited access to change in our current facility.

Reference

Southwest Airlines "A Day in the Life of Culture Committee" (2008, May 31). Retrieved February 1, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7P0T9IbYKU&feature=player_embedded