What's Behind Door Number Three?

It's easy to feel a bit smug when things don't work out quite as planned and you simply shift gears to your pre-determined Plan B.

But the current uncertainty requires you to cover a bit more of the alphabet in the options you pre-plan: one backup is not going to be sufficient.

And while many are focusing only on doom and gloom, you'd be wise to be working on Plan S: success. How are you going to take advantage of the successes your efforts might yield despite the tough economy and daily pessimistic headlines? You can't afford to let a positive result escape without trying to convert it into an additional desirable outcome.

Making the Honoring More Honorable

While I think a good deal of last night’s Oscars merits substantial rethinking, having five outstanding actors individually present the acting nominees offers good inspiration for awards ceremonies at conferences.

This mix of presenters allowed us to reengage and honor the past by remembering their own outstanding performances. The stagecraft and production values introducing the presenters were classy and grand. And even if some of the teleprompter commentary about the nominees was a bit disjointed or awkwardly paced, the tribute paid seemed more heartfelt and deeply personal than in years past. The entire approach visually illustrated what an elite community the winner joins, accentuated by the five sets of open arms welcoming the winner onstage.

Far too often major awards at association conferences are generic affairs that don’t let audience members really grasp the significance of the honorees’ contributions, nor include enough panache to make the presentations memorable. Last night’s acting awards and the Kennedy Center Honors in general offer good models worth adapting for our own recognition efforts.

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What We Measure Matters

30 paces. That single metric has affected hundreds of millions of people. It's the distance that Walt Disney learned people would walk to throw away trash. Receptacles (that Disney designed and patented BTW) throughout Disney parks are typically no farther apart than 30 paces.

We need to regularly ask ourselves if we are measuring what matters—and—if what matters most can be measured. ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership's research in the 7 Measures for Success notes that being data-driven is one of the hallmarks of remarkable associations. Metrics and numbers are at the heart of methodologies like The Balanced Scorecard. But numbers without nuance can lead us astray.

The February 15 New York Times Magazine had a fascinating article about Houston Rockets player Shane Battier, "the no stats All-Star." While pretty unimpressive by all conventional basketball metrics, Battier on the court makes his team play better and other teams (and even superstars like Kobe Bryant) play worse, often much worse. Comparing the usual basketball player stats, however, would not suggest Battier's value.

And authors Margaret Wheatley and Myron Kellner-Rogers also suggest that not everything that matters is truly measurable, challenging us to thoughtfully consider our biases and examine: What are the problems in organizations for which we assume measures are the solution?

Since numbers won't always tell the full story (on a personal level, think about weight versus body mass), it is imperative that any decision made includes an answer to the question: how will we know we are being successful?

Be Our (Eco) Guest

There is some delicious irony in hotels using so much paper and placards to exhort us to be good environmental stewards. But I appreciate the opportunity to take a pass on the daily changing of towels and sheets, something that really isn't necessary.

What would be more impressive is if hotels involved us as full partners in being good environmental stewards. At check-in, invite us to become an "eco-guest" and give us a checklist of additional behaviors we can commit to during our stay. These could include: (1) turning off the heat or air conditioning when not in the room; (2) shutting off lights not being used; and (3) not running water endlessly while shaving or brushing one's teeth. Give us statistics of what would be saved for each behavior we adopt.

Engage guests in productive habits during stays that are also transferable to their home energy consumption and use (and maybe point this fact out on our final bill). While trying on individual behaviors may or may not affect our overall disposition, reframing these choices under the umbrella of eco-guest provides an appealing status that could more fully engage our attention and commitment.

And the basic concept is transferable to almost any situation: what behaviors are you hoping to get members or customers to adopt and how might they be bundled assigned status to better attract interest and commitment?

The Importance of Core Values

Jim Collins and Jerry Porras may have helped popularize the notion of core values in their seminal work, Built to Last, but they were neither the first nor have they been the last to stress their importance.

People often focus on the values aspect without sufficient attention to their modifier: core. Core values are that small set of values meant to endure and never be violated. Since they are at our core, everything else should flow from them. They are to be applied during times that are good, and perhaps more importantly, during tough times when it might be tempting to choose otherwise.

Corporate CEOs have been singing an interesting song and dance about sky-high salaries and annual bonuses the size of some city's budgets as being critical for attracting and retaining top talent. Perhaps. But America has placed executives on the same recruitment track as professional athletes: each individual's deal must be bigger than the preceding one in order to reinforce that person's worth (and ego I'd add).

This should not be a core value: we pay top dollar no matter what. Doing so create a never-ending salary nuclear arms race in which each company must outdo/outbid the other. "Bigger" becomes the core value despite the ridiculous nature of the job package being offered or the lack of ties between pay and performance.

Perhaps it is a phenomenon more unique to America since it plays itself out in other decision-making situations as well: convention centers constantly add on more space in order to match the most recent expansion of their peers, teams threaten local municipalities if they don't provide financial support for bigger arenas with more luxury boxes, etc.

But at some point, corporate board members, civic leaders, and responsible individuals need to draw the line: Not here. Not now. Not on my watch. Though everyone could be bigger, not everyone can be the biggest. And biggest doesn't mean the best.

What we are meant to be is who we say we are: our core values. And that requires the conviction to say no when all around us are saying yes. Doing so is the only sustainable strategy for success. It is a tough lesson we are yet again having to relearn.

Easy Peasy

So I get why many people are skeptical of the value of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media applications. But here are two simple examples of how valuable they can be.

Each week the design consultancy IDEO posts a big question on its Facebook page (called Big Conversations, Small Talk) and invites fans to respond. Could getting rapid insight from diverse perspectives be any simpler? Why wouldn't an association or corporation want to create ongoing conversations about things that matter? The current question: What is the one thing that would persuade you to start saving energy?

And in his weekly New York Times technology column, David Pogue took on Twitter, what some see as the most ridiculous intrusion of chatter into are already over-crowded mental desktops. While concurring that it could be an ultimate time-waster, he gave one example of its brilliance in action:

"I was serving on a grant proposal committee, and I watched as a fellow judge asked his Twitter followers if a certain project had been tried before. In 15 seconds, his followers replied with Web links to the information he needed. No e-mail message, phone call or Web site could have achieved the same effect."

New technologies are just tools and toys waiting to be played with. Only doing so can let you truly determine if they merit delight or dismissal.

Simple Gestures, Critical Impact

On his first day, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan introduced himself to his new colleagues with a simple, but immensely powerful PowerPoint slide containing only five words: You can call me Arne.

Approachability. It is perhaps one of the most underrated assets of effective leaders.

Approachable individuals (whether we genuinely like them or not) are more likely to be included in informal conversations, offered constructive feedback, be alerted to blind spots in their tactics, told unwelcome "truths" needed to make better decisions, pitched ideas that go against the norm, and much more. Seen as not approachable and your colleagues detour around you whenever possible, dramatically reducing your scope of influence and the quality and quantity of insight and advice you receive.

Our words and deeds quickly communicate our approachability. Active and empathic listening without interruption. Holding meetings in others' offices. Remembering important personal facts about coworkers. Sitting side-by-side instead of divided by the executive desk. Allowing a bit of informality where rigidity once ruled. Acknowledging a job well done with more than perfunctory rah-rah talk. Picking up the phone when an email would do. And the classic MBWA strategy, Management By Walking Around.

"Of or characteristic of people's better qualities, such as kindness or sensitivity" is how the dictionary defines human, something we need all our leaders to be.