Author Archives: Larry Janis

The art of taking feedback

 

 

 

 

 

by Lindsey Witmer Collins

 

Taking the right perspective on feedback is half the battle. Here are a few golden rules to keep in mind.

 

1. All feedback is a gift. 

As an app developer, I conduct plenty of user testing during the design phase of our products. But it’s never quite the same as your product fully being out in the wild, playing a part in your users’ lives.

Think about how often you’re asked for feedback. You go to a restaurant, then you get a text asking how the service was. You get your bike repaired, the store owner asks you to rate them on Google. You buy a new laptop, and an email hits your inbox asking how you’re liking it.

Organizations go to great lengths to get a sense of how their customers feel and what they think about the product or service. Any time you can hear straight from the source, it’s a gift—a gift that helps you ask questions that matter in the next iteration of your business.

An example: In the first iteration of Scribbly’s ordering user experience, I generated a preview of the customer’s book cover. A prospective customer sent me a note that she wasn’t sure the illustrated likeness of her niece was good enough.

This was someone I knew, and she sent me a text about it. I was grateful; some people won’t tell you stuff like this, especially if they’re your friend and want to be supportive. I sent her a preview of the full book with its other illustrations of her niece expressively moving through the jungle adventure. Seeing all of it together, she changed her mind.

What I learned is that the cover wasn’t enough. I needed to show the whole book.

This is an expensive thing to do for every prospect, but I knew then that it needed to be done. I changed the ordering process because of this, and conversion skyrocketed.

2. Maybe it’s them. Maybe it’s you. It’s probably still valuable. 

My children never knew their grandfather, my dad, who occupied such a huge place in my life and childhood. So I had the idea of creating a Scribbly book about him and his life that I could share with my kids. I wanted to tell them about how he grew up on a farm with nine siblings, a lot of sweet corn, and a legendary pickle picker; how funny he always was, and how talented, too. All of this in a vibrantly illustrated bedtime story, hardbound with sewn binding and a premium, soft-touch matte cover. I would write the story and use AI for the imagery, since that’s what Scribbly does.

One family member took great offense to the entire idea. They suggested that making something with AI bearing the image and life of someone who has passed amounted to, more or less, sacrilege.

Getting harsh feedback from someone so close to me, it stung. Still, I held it up to the light.

I like it a lot better now.

3. Don’t be precious. 

I can use honest feedback. I could’ve used more of it my whole life.

Nice people won’t always tell us the truth, so it often comes from someone…less nice. But you can’t let the messenger get in the way of the learning. There’s usually something there—something real, something useful, something you wouldn’t have seen on your own.

Over time, I’ve learned to take feedback objectively, not personally. As a young professional, that wasn’t easy. I wasn’t confident enough, so I was tender. Precious. Everything stung, because I feared it might be true. Deflecting was how I coped with how exposed I felt.

If you feel that way too, consider another way.

Ask yourself: Is there something here for me? What signal is this giving me that could help me improve?

I think about how much energy we spend defending ourselves. Arguing. Posturing. Pretending. And for what? If you think you’re perfect, you’ll never grow.

For me, I want to keep making things—and making them better. That means staying open. Staying curious. Staying humble, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Feedback isn’t always easy. But it’s how we get sharper. Smarter. Stronger.

It’s not a threat to who we are. It’s a path to who we could be.

Lindsey Witmer Collins is the founder of WLCM App Studio.

This post originally appeared at fastcompany.com

5 leadership strategies to help teams thrive amid uncertainty

 

 

 

 

by Mark C. Crowley

Uncertainty has become a defining feature of life today, a reality that challenges workplace leaders to adapt rapidly, make decisions with limited information, and foster stability amid constant and sometimes highly erratic change.

At the same time, this uncertainty directly affects employees, making it incumbent upon leaders to provide the support and direction their teams need to successfully navigate an unpredictable world with both resilience and clarity.

It goes without saying that the role of a leader has grown increasingly more complex, requiring us to instill stability, foster adaptability, and maintain focus without being overwhelmed by the relentless pace of change.

In just the past month in America, we’ve witnessed the introduction, removal, and reintroduction of tariffs, massively disrupted supply chains, a whipsawing stock market (putting everyone’s retirement savings at risk), major companies mandating a return to office work, and the emergence of artificial intelligence technologies—innovations sparking equal parts excitement and fear as they reshape industries and raise questions about job security and the future of work.

It’s a lot for all of us to deal with.

Through my own leadership experience, I’ve learned that it’s absolutely pointless to try to control chaos—and far wiser to coach teams on how to thrive in spite of it. The following are five strategies I’ve used over the course of my career that workplace leaders can adopt to help their people negotiate complexity and perform at their best—regardless of what turbulence the universe throws our way:

1.   Be a Rational Optimist

In today’s world, it’s all too easy for pessimism to seep into our consciousness and negatively shape how we interact with those we lead. Being an abject pessimist, however, is entirely at odds with effective leadership, as it curtails productivity, stifles creativity, narrows perspective, and stands in the way of meaningful progress.

Yet, while pessimism can directly undermine progress, leaning too far into optimism also carries its own risks. Effective leadership requires striking a balance—offering hope and inspiration while remaining realistic about the challenges ahead.

In his book Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes, New York Times bestselling author Morgan Housel makes this exact point by urging leaders to be “rational optimists.” He emphasizes that our role as leaders is to imbue a deep belief in people that difficult challenges can indeed be overcome, while also being very honest about the strong likelihood that they’ll face setbacks, surprises, and disappointments along the way. (more…)

Building a real culture of learning will move your company forward

 

 

 

 

by Jay Titus

 

For years, business leaders have preached the power of learning and development. But let’s be clear: A company that has a well-funded learning program is not necessarily one that has a true culture of learning. The distinction is critical.

A culture of learning is not simply a corporate training catalog brimming with thousands of courses that, to be frank, not many may use. It’s not a set of PowerPoint presentations or TED Talks shared over email or posted to Yammer. And it’s certainly not just a “perk” touted in job postings.

A culture of learning is something deeper, more foundational. It is an ongoing, systemic approach to workforce development that sees skill gaps not as liabilities but as opportunities.

Many companies still view employee learning as a box to check, a series of training modules or upskilling initiatives aimed at fixing perceived deficiencies. But in organizations with a true culture of learning, continuous improvement is embedded into the very fabric of how work gets done.

A Deloitte study found that high-performance organizations with continuous learning cultures are 92% more likely to innovate, 37% more productive and 46% more likely to be first to market with new products. The key? A partnership between employer and employee that is based on trust, transparency and shared goals. (more…)

5 Ways CEOs Can Assess and Reset Their Company Culture

 

 

 

 

Story by Sam Reese

For CEOs, the work to build and sustain a strong company culture is never done. Even the best cultures can be challenged in an uncertain business landscape. But there’s no question that culture is the difference maker in all winning teams.

Great CEOs regularly assess their company culture to identify what’s working and what isn’t, and make adjustments. Below are the five steps top leaders take when “spring cleaning” their company culture:

1. Recognize the need for a cultural overhaul

The first step is understanding when culture needs a reset. We’ve all recognized the signs of a company culture in distress. Goals aren’t met. There is a lack of trust between teams. People point fingers and blame others for performance challenges. There’s low accountability and poor communication. Decision-making takes too long and is tied up in bureaucracy. People are frozen by a fear of making mistakes or are afraid to ask for help when they need it. Silos develop. The most harmful sign is when turnover rates are high, and leaders notice their best performers are leaving.

At the leadership level, CEOs may take shortcuts to hit KPIs or focus on putting out fires instead of strategy. It is only when great leaders recognize these indicators as signs that their culture may need a fresh sweep that they can then take steps to rejuvenate it.

2. Set the tone from the top

Once leaders identify their company’s problem areas, the best leaders spring into action by setting the tone for change. Legendary Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz once said he never knew who his best players were until his team lost. That’s something I’ve experienced in the business world as well. True competitors step forward in challenging times. Amid the toughest challenges, winners find a way. Fostering that winning culture means that the team knows they are in the battle together, they will pick each other up when they fail and they’ll face the next challenge as a stronger team. Teams thrive when they overcome challenges together.

3. Stay connected to the mission and vision

Great leaders ensure everyone on the team knows what success looks like. Transparency about expectations — and how each employee affects the outcomes — keeps the team engaged and motivated. Open communication about results and progress helps the team stay tightly connected. When the executive team clearly articulates how their initiatives drive the company’s results, it sets a tone that encourages consistency between individual actions and overall company goals.

(more…)

How to deal with workplace frustration more effectively

 

 

 

 

 

by Art Markman

 

Frustration is a common emotion. It’s a close cousin to anger, because both deal with your reaction to an obstacle that is preventing you from achieving your goals. Where they differ is that anger is (usually) directed outward at an external obstacle. The energy and rage that anger generates may be useful for trying to influence that external obstacle physically.

Frustration is often directed at an internal or systemic obstacle that you can’t do much about. You may be frustrated because you don’t have the capability or time to do something, or may feel like some aspect of your company (or society) prevents you from accomplishing a goal.

But frustration is often unproductive, because it gets you energized around something you can’t really fix. You may actually think less clearly if you get too energized and that might make it harder to move forward. Here are a few things you can do to handle frustration effectively, especially when it comes up in the workplace:

Take a step back

Research going back almost 120 years shows that there is a sweet spot for the amount of mental energy you need to operate effectively. When you have a low level of energy, you don’t think effectively, because you’re simply not engaged with the situation. As you get more energized, you get more effective in your thinking up to a point. However, additional energy will actually create too much arousal. At that point, you have a hard time staying focused.

A little frustration can be helpful, because it may actually get you to pay attention to something that might otherwise escape your notice. However, when a situation creates more extreme frustration, you’re going to have trouble addressing it effectively.

You need to develop strategies to dissipate that energy. Ideally, you would take a little time to disengage from the situation. Some physical activity can help. Taking a brisk walk or doing a workout can leave you calmer afterward. Techniques for calming yourself can also be valuable. Deep breathing exercises, yoga, and mindfulness meditations are options. Some of these techniques (particularly deep breathing) are also helpful when you can’t completely disengage with the situation. (more…)