Smart vs. Healthy Organizations

Not too long ago I had the chance to re-read The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni.  I love this book.  It is simple yet powerful and provides great advice and solutions for all business leaders and organizations. 

One main point emphasized in the book that’d like to focus on today is the difference between smart and healthy organizations.  As explained in the book, a smart organization has great intelligence and expertise which is demonstrated through excellence in products, marketing, strategy, and in other ways.  They often have sophisticated systems, processes, and policies that help them to be successful and do business.  A healthy organization on the other hand is one that has minimal politics and confusion.  Team members are productive, engaged, and the moral is high because people know what is most important and understand how they contribute to the overall good of the group.  As explained in the book, great organizations are both smart and healthy! 

Unfortunately many organizations focus on only being smart.  So much so that nearly all of their efforts and resources are given to this endeavor—to be a smart organization.  With the advancement of technology, information sharing, and global competition, being smart has become easier and easier to learn, obtain, and duplicate.  Thus its value and competitive advantage has diminished.  Simply being smart isn’t good enough for a company to thrive or even in many cases survive.  A company must also be healthy. 

Healthy organizations are unique.  While it is becoming more and more common that competitors are smart it isn’t necessarily the case when it comes to becoming healthy.  Some reasons are because most can learn to be smart with some effort and time.  Additionally, business leaders are taught and are most familiar and comfortable with using data and viewing the world in hard measurable outcomes which lends itself to becoming smart.  Finally striving to become smart is natural, logical, defined, and expected for all organizations.  This is not always the case with becoming healthy. Unfortunately, the impact of organizational health is hard to quantify and sometimes even feels awkward or inane when talked openly among those in the business world.  Because it is so difficult to measure it becomes unclear how to value it and even how to obtain it so most determine not to focus on it.  Though the complete impact of health may be difficult to measure it doesn’t take away from the obvious competitive advantage an organization with low employee turnover and high morale offers. 

As an example, when we think about personal health it helps us to understand how important and valuable organizational health can be.  Assuming that each of us has been sick before in our life, I believe each of us would agree it is miserable.  When we are sick typically we have lower energy and strength to get things done.  Our ability to concentrate diminishes and our desire and motivation to do anything more than we absolutely have to is sucked right out of us.  We no longer want to or even have the ability to put forth our best effort and give it our all.  On the flip side when we are feeling healthy we are able to do more, think clearer, work harder, and we are so much happier and willing to put forth our best effort.  Those feelings that we have when we are ill are often similar to feelings many people have who work for an unhealthy organization.  Perhaps you’ve experienced this before. Thus organizations that are healthy are able to perform at much higher levels in the long-run than unhealthy ones.  Health is priceless when it comes to our personal lives and it is for organizations too.    

The Advantage points out that being healthy as an organization is much more important than being smart simply because a healthy organization is very likely to become smart whereas a smart one has no greater or lesser chance of becoming healthy.  Therefore much of an organization’s resources and efforts should focus on being healthy.

And that’s it, the “advantage” spoken of in the book is just this, having a healthy organization.  And though striving for health is relatively simple, free, and available to anyone who wants it, it is often over looked.  Being healthy or striving to become healthy should be a lifelong endeavor and will be an invaluable and extremely rewarding pursuit for any organization.  As leaders, we can help every organization we become a part to be healthier by learning and implementing even a few strategies found in The Advantage.  I can think of no greater cause for a leader or for an organization than to strive for health.

1 1/2 Stars: Would Not Recommend

Freakonomics is a somewhat interesting book with some interesting insight into why we do the things we do. From gangs in Chicago to naming your child, the author illustrates some meaningful statistics that attempt to explain why people do what they do. For me, the main message of the book is everything we do is driven by incentives. It is difficult however to decide if the author had a true purpose or main theme for the book as chapters jump around too much and do not always tie together. I also feel I did not learn anything of real value—thus I give this book 1 ½ stars out of 4 and only recommend it to those who are searching for a new book to read because they’ve read everything else on their list. (One interesting note however is I’ve found statisticians and accountants tend to really enjoy this book more than others.)

I recently finished reading Stop Paddling & Start Rocking the Boat by Lou Pritchett. The author is a retired Proctor and Gamble Executive who shares many of his business and life “lessons learned” by sharing experiences during his many years of service in the corporate world. Though some of his stories are interesting and unique, and some of his points are very true and helpful, I feel most of them are not fully developed or presented well. The book also has a heavy emphasis on life in the weighty corporate world and fails to relate to others in less corporate heavy, or non-traditional business environments. Throughout the book there is also somewhat of an egocentric undertone that turned me off a bit. In the end, though the author has some good thoughts, I would not recommend this book and give it 1 ½ stars.

I’m sure you can guess what 1001 Ways to Reward Employees by Bob Nelson is all about, and the book did truly provide what its title promised Though being reminded of the many ways to recognize staff members, the book did not provide the inspiring, creative, homerun, sure-fire ideas I was hoping for. Also, it did not provide the research, proof, and evidences of what really works that I was thinking I’d find. Many of the ideas listed in the book are common and well known, while many others are off the wall and unique. Another drawback is many very similar ideas are repeated over and over again throughout the book, making the content repetitive and at times a little boring. The lessons I was reminded of are that rewarding employees really does depend on each individual and there are no sure answers. So, if you are stuck without any idea on how to reward your employees, this is the book for you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t highly recommend reading this book. I give it only a 1 ½ star rating out of 4.

2 Stars: Somewhat Recommend

Now Discover Your Strengths is a follow-up to First Break all the Rules, and it builds on the ideas of how to engage your employees at work and capitalize on their talent. The book provides an interesting insight into talents and strengths and provides an actual assessment tool that allows you to determine your own strengths. The book also lists and discusses many different “strength” categories. Though the self-assessment test was very interesting, I found the overall content to not be nearly as valuable as First Break all the Rules nor quite as entertaining. I would recommend the book to those who are interested in learning more about their own strengths and others, but I give the book 2 out of 4 stars, as I had much higher expectations for the book.

In Search of Excellence, Lesson From America's Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr. was insightful and provided some very good points that I believe if practiced, can help each business, organization, or person find excellence in life. A Bias for Action, Staying Close to the Customer, and Productivity through People are a few of the useful points made throughout the book that excellent companies seemed to possess while others did not. In fact, based on the research from the authors they identified 8 specific things that set excellent companies apart from others and I believe most if not all of them are very valid and true. I did find however the book to be drawn out, poorly written in spots, and somewhat uninteresting because of the repetitive nature of some of the material. I also believe the book’s content was not organized well for maximum learning and clarity so though many of the points and stories I enjoyed, I only can give it 2 stars.

The Tipping Point is an interesting book about how little things can cause something to become an epidemic in our society. From crime in New York City, to drugs in Baltimore, this book explores what really happens that cause normal events to “tip” and change so dramatically, seemingly overnight. Overall, the book is interesting, but it lacks a true message or core teaching other than little things can make a huge difference. Discovering what these little things are is the hard part. Though the content is very interesting at times, I give this book a 2 star rating out of 4.

It's Your Ship is a leadership book written by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff and is based on his experiences in the navy with a focus on his leadership practices as the captain of the USS Benfold. The Captain shares many interesting experiences including some about his time spent in the Persian Gulf during Desert Storm and applies them to leadership and business. Some of his main points include simplicity, empowerment, and praise as effective leadership skills and tools. I did find the book to be somewhat simplistic without a lot of new insights or depth to the ideas being shared however many of the stories were interesting. Thus I give the book 2 stars.

Through stories of his experiences as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, Pat Riley teaches us some of life’s most important lessons on how to be successful--regardless of our position in life in his book The Winner Within. Three of the most important lessons for me highlighted in the book are the importance of teamwork, resiliency and belief. Pat Riley’s experiences as a basketball coach are perfect for elaborating on these important lessons. Although it is a good read, there are some things I did not enjoy about the book. For me, I felt the book was not written extremely well, and many of the stories are now outdated or are somewhat irrelevant to the points he was trying to make. Overall, I give the book 2 stars.
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I had high expectations, but I was very disappointed by How to Become an Employer of Choice by authors Herman and Gioia. I was hoping for innovative, creative, and proven solutions based on experience, testing, extensive research, and results, but I did not find that in this book. What I found was a very basic overview of how to create a good organizational culture based on simple ideas and common thoughts. Along with these were unique ideas from specific companies, however most often they were not very practical or applicable across business lines. The overall message of the importance and positive impact of creating a great organizational culture is good, and I did appreciate the end of the book that focused on measurement, application, and success, however, in the end I can only somewhat recommend this book with a weak 2 stars.

2 1/2 Stars: Recommend

The Innovator's Solution by Clayton M. Christensen is an intelligent book about seeing and overcoming the risks associated with new ventures and lines of business. Often companies fail in this regard which can lead to the total elimination of an established, successful company. From competing against non-consumption and resource allocation, to selecting the right people for the job and developing strategies, the book takes a good look at how new ventures are often handled or rather mishandled in current organizations and how to learn how to handle them well. The book does become very repetitive and is written with an academic approach and gets a little boring at times however the concepts and ideas are thought-provoking and helpful for business professional facing such decisions. Overall I give the book a 2 ½ start rating.

I hate it when people complain (though I’m sure I do my fair share) so I thought I’d enjoy the bookThe No Complaining Rule by Jon Gordon. Though the substance of the book was not as full and complete as I had hoped, there were a few concepts which I enjoyed including the main idea of the book which is the choice is our whether we complain or not and that complaining brings negative energy to us as individuals as well as those we interact with. If we can avoid complaining and bring positive energy instead, it will have a dramatic impact on our results. Though I was hoping for more, the book was a pretty good quick read. I give it 2 ½ stars.

What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith is an interesting book about how changing even little behaviors or habits can make all the difference in becoming an even more successful person. The whole premise of Goldsmith’s book is based on the importance of obtaining feedback. The book also identifies 21 typical behavioral flaws of successful people giving readers an opportunity to self-assess and evaluate themselves. The book also provides different ideas and strategies on how and from whom to seek feedback, how to become more successful than you already are, how to change destructive flaws that are identified, and how to successfully help others notice the changes you are making enabling you to be a better leader. The book is written specifically to those who have already been successful in life and who are seeking to be even better and after much thought, I believe it merits a very strong 2 ½ star rating.

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The business philosophy of this book’s title,Employees First, Customers Second written by Vineet Nayar, I’ve seen yield great results and the author proves it through his story as CEO of HCL Technologies. In this book he shares his story and how this philosophy lead to great success in his organization. Though the book was different than I had anticipated, I loved many of the ideas found in it including the role of management. This book also offers other ideas on how to put employees first such as increasing transparency, focusing on the need for constant change, looking in the mirror, and improving communication. The book wasn’t as compelling as I had hoped and lacked some depth but I think the author was very sincere and showed once again how being emphatic about a few simple things can make a dramatic impact on an organization that eventually leads to great results. In the end I think every organization should espouse this philosophy and this book can provide some insights and an example of how to get there so I give it 2 ½ stars.

Start-Up Nation by Dan Senor and Saul Singer is a book written about Israel’s incredible economic growth and how it has survived and thrived despite the many seemingly obstacles such as size, lack of natural resources, and surrounding enemies. The book shares true examples of some of Israel’s top entrepreneurs and businesses to make certain points on why and how Israel has succeeded. Through these stories we learn some of the strategies, ideas, and concepts used to help spark Israel’s economy—things that I believe can be applied in our individual lives to help us reach our own success. The book is interesting yet not super entertaining but definitely does add some value to the careful reader. I give it 2 ½ stars.

Have you ever felt at home or at work that you are at war against the very people who you thought were supposed to be on your side?! This issue of “internal fighting” is at the heart of the book Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars by Patrick Lencioni. Too often organizations are greatly hindered or even sometimes destroyed by people who seem at times to be unwilling to work together. This book offers clear ideas and a specific method on how to help combat and eliminate this epidemic. This book is a good read for anyone in a leadership position as the author believes leaders are most often at fault and thus have the greatest opportunity to eliminate this problem in their respective organizations. Though helpful, I did feel this books ideas were not quite up to Lencioni’s normal high standards and lacked some “meat” to it. Though good, for this reason I give it only 2 ½ stars.

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Built to Last by Jim Collins is a good business book that includes a study of many companies who have had success over a very long period of time. In the book, the author talks about the similarities between the companies he studied and shares what he believes to be the common themes among them that have helped them achieve lasting success. From persevering the core to unleashing the power of the ‘AND’ the book contains many insightful and interesting concepts to help both businesses and individuals be successful. In the end however, though parts of the book are very, very good and insightful, I believe the book in its entirety pales in comparison to Jim Collins more famous book Good to Great. Thus, even though I found parts of the book to be excellent, overall I give it 2 ½ stars.

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The Seven Miracles That Saved America by Chris and Ted Stewart is a book about our great nation and how it has been preserved by divine providence to stand as the example of liberty and freedom to all the world. The book specifically talks about 7 miracles that allowed our nation to succeed and prosper when it looked as if our democracy was doomed for failure. The end of the book contains perhaps the most important message which is one of hope, faith and optimism for the future of our nation. This book helps us remember why we should all be truly grateful to be Americans! I believe this book had a lot of potential that wasn’t fully maximized by the authors but regardless it is a good book. I give it 2 ½ stars.

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Journey to the Emerald City by Roger Connors and Tom Smith is an interesting book about organizational culture. The premise of the book is based on the fact that organizational culture is a result of experiences that people have that determines their beliefs about the organization. These beliefs typically translate into actions which in turn produce results. Thus, to truly change culture in an organization, one must start with changing beliefs through experiences. The book offers strategies for helping us understand beliefs and experiences and how we can shape them along with some “accelerators” to culture change such as feedback and alignment. I did think the Wizard of Oz correlation was very poor and some points were not fully developed and others were repeated again and again. In the end, the main message of the book is that as leaders, we must manage our organizational cultures or it will manage us. Overall I thought the book was worth reading and would recommend it to those interested in the material--2 ½ stars.

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The Power of Adversity by Al Weatherhead is an inspirational and motivating book that challenges us to not only overcome our adversity but also to tap into its unique capacity to make us better people. Through many personal stories, the author provides many strategies to effectively handle adversity such as thinking positively, putting others first, and having the right attitude. I found nearly all of the information and stories in the book to be meaningful and helpful to those struggling with adversity. It is a good book and my only complaint is I feel it could have been improved with better organization and structure to it. Overall though, I would recommend the book and give it 2 ½ stars.

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Blink is a fascinating book about our unconscious behaviors, “mind-readings”, and quick judgments we constantly make as human beings each day. Through many interesting studies, the author tries to help readers learn when to trust their instincts and when to slow down and make a more deliberate decision. Though the content is very interesting, the information is not extremely uplifting nor the message profound—thus I give Blink a 2 1/2 star rating out of 4, but would encourage others to read it.

Road Rules by Andrew J. Sherman uses the analogy of how simply driving on the road can teach us life’s most important lessons. Some of these lessons include sharing the road, being guided by our navigational system, and being an all weather driver. Often, the analogy is quite clever, helpful and creative, but at other times it feels like a bit of a stretch. I wish the author could have expounded upon some points more effectively as well to enhance the analogy of the road and life. Some chapters in the book are outstanding and I really enjoyed them such as 9 & 10 but a few others were just ok. Because of this lack of consistency throughout the book, I’ve decided to give it 2 ½ stars.

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The Culprit and the Cure was a good change of pace for me, and it is an interesting book about fitness and health. The main message is that eating right and exercising regularly will save lives and save America. Though not as dramatic as it may sound, the book gives valuable insight into eating and exercising right, and it will give you motivation to live a healthier life style. Though not extremely entertaining, I would recommend the book to any who are interested in health and exercise and give it a 2 ½ star rating out of 4.

What Your Clients Won’t Tell You and Your Managers Don’t Know is a short book about client retention. The book encourages attitude and action in retaining clients, and it reminds us that retaining clients is much easier than seeking new ones. Communication and mutual trust are very important in the client/contractor relationship, and it is emphasized throughout the book. Though most of its content is not extremely unique or revolutionary, this book is a nice little refresher on smart strategies for retaining clients. I give the book 2 ½ stars out of 4.

Though Moving Forward by Dave Pelzer is not one of my favorite books, reading it can certainly add value to anyone’s life. The two most important reminders from this book are that we must believe in ourselves and that when we do, we can overcome and accomplish anything! The author also challenges readers to be leaders by staying true to their values and beliefs despite what others might think, say, or do. I did think parts of the book could have been improved and perhaps presented in a more effective manner, but overall, the book has a positive and motivating message--thus I give it 2 ½ out of 4 stars.

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Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman is an interesting book that explores the need and importance of interaction as social beings. In this book, the author explains how we are all connected and how we influence and impact each other more strongly than we may realize. The book also places emphasis on nurturing and kind relationships, and it discusses how we often treat others as objects rather than people. The book also offers insights and tips for business owners, families, parents, educators, and the government on how acting with social intelligence can result in better and more successful outcomes. Though some of the topics are a little unsettling and at times the book is a little slow, the book definitely adds valuable insights into life and is worth reading. I give this book 2 ½ stars.