Category Archives: Lessons Learned

Communication about Bad Apples

By naomisimson | Published: July 2, 2010

Bad Apples can still do damage even after they have left the organization. Cleaning up the damage and rebuilding culture will take consistent and considered effort.  My previous post 'Bad Apples' raised the question of authentic communication to the rest of the business - to ensure that culture is not impacted.

At RedBalloon being completely transparent with the team has worked for us. They expect that of the leadership team – it is one of our values. We lead by example at RedBalloon. However transparency does not mean every detail needs to shared – what it means is that all business decisions must be put in context for the whole team. We would always communicate such things in person with a company wide meeting – and the conversation is succinct and factual devoid of emotion or malice it doesn’t ever include anything that could be construed as defamatory. We also provide the forum for questions - either in public or privately.

However, RedBalloon does seek advice on tricky situations… There are people who do this all the time, so I asked Stuart King more about what he suggests business do about letting people know that 'Bad Apples' will not be tolerated – and that action will be taken… here is his response.

Q: If we just let people know that someone moved on, how do other staff know that it is because the person wasn’t working in alignment with our values and that it was our decision? Erin Atkinson

A: Research suggests that communicating internally about an employee’s conduct could create the risk of a claim of defamation. However we should be able to communicate honest, concise, factual information about why a person was terminated.

  • Employees often know more than the leadership know they know.

In my experience, unless people within an organisation are aware that a decision to act against an employee was made because of inappropriate conduct, the deterrent effect of action is lost. In effect the organisational response is not visible. Be assured that colleagues and perhaps supervisors know of unethical, unlawful or inappropriate conduct that may have occurred. They may have seen it and privately shared observations and thoughts about it with other colleagues.  Office gossip is a vehicle for information about workplace conduct issues and is common in workplaces.  Observations of others are often the least secret. This is often how a workplace culture can be undermined, the published values are considered as being not visibly nor actively supported and employees learn how things are ‘really done’ in their workplace. Yes, people do leave if they perceive inaction by an employer. What is worse however is when colleagues adopt similar behaviors with the view that nothing will be done. Action or inaction impacts directly on values and reputation.

  • Someone must stop these activities

Employees who act unethically are too often moved on from organisations in a quiet manner as it is often easier to do that. I have seen evidence of that, and toxic employees simply moved on can cause havoc in their next organisation, and so on it goes until they are stopped or exposed.  Problem being that they hurt people and organisations along the way.

  • Transparency in communication doesn’t mean every detail.

So how can an organisation be transparent in response to an employee who does not demonstrate alignment with organisational values? Confidentiality, procedural fairness, principles of natural justice and the presumption of innocence all have application in how organisations respond to inappropriate employee conduct.  The process applied in response to unsatisfactory conduct at work can be a trap for new players and always seek professional support and advice before embarking on an investigation. Providing investigative and organisational processes that are legitimate, robust and fair should sustain action which follows.  I also believe that being consistent and sharing a conversation with employees about standards of conduct, about conduct that will not be tolerated or countenanced and about the type of conduct that will bring about a firm response and may result in termination (ie: breach of employment conditions, dishonesty, equal opportunity breaches, occupational violence or bullying etc) is very important.  Don’t leave the conversation until after something has happened.

Prevention is always better than the cure. In short, there should be no surprises for employees so share the rules and back them up with action if they are breached.

Communicating within an organisation the reasons for a person’s departure should be considered and managed carefully. Particularly if another person remains in the organisation may be effected. A claim for defamation can be real, it worries people and carries a risk for organisations.  Most organisations manage that risk by saying nothing, [which is not always the best thing for the culture of the business].

Prior to making an internal communication seek supporting advice.  Communications that are made internally about the termination of an employee should be factual, concise lacking opinion or emotion.  Caution should be exercised, as an employee who is terminated may challenge their termination and is entitled to be protected from defamation prior to the factual and legal reasons for the termination are addressed and resolved.

Even if the business is small - I would always seek support and guidance - somebody to independently view the communication to ensure that it could not be considered defamatory. Also acting quickly is really important. Get people together as soon as possible. Face it before gossip does start to fester. And give people a forum to ask questions and challenge leadership.

It is our ongoing commitment, that will make the difference to the workplace. We never give up stay absolutely committed to having a fabulous place that you want to work in too.

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A crystal ball would be helpful

By naomisimson | Published: June 23, 2010

Hindsight versus foresight: When people ask me ‘have I got any regrets’, or ‘what would you do differently?’ I answer philosophically – we made a few mistakes – some very expensive ones, but we still had to try them – they were all part of the learning to discover what next.

Without failures, of course we would not know success either.

There is one thing that I wish I’d got right. I wish I’d backed myself more… or just had a bit more cash to throw at the problem. That is the URL I chose right at the beginning in 2001.

The business was always called RedBalloon, but we called the product RedBalloon days (the product was  a gift of a ‘day’ – ie something to DO rather than a physical gift).

We did find that the redballoon.com.au URL was already registered to another business… so we settled for redballoondays.com.au.

Now with hindsight I can see that I lacked foresight. I should have approached the business who owned the URL to see if they would ‘sell’ it way back then.

A few things happened over the years.

  1. We started doing radio advertising and those in media said we needed a shorter URL for brand recall – our existing one was not ideal.
  2. We did brand research and found that we were being confused with a charity – (I had even had people coming up to me and saying – ‘I sleep my baby on the side’ – they had confused us with Red Nose Days)
  3. We wanted to be unique – and known to be an Australian/New Zealand business – and not confused with any other organization in other geographies that may or may not have the same brand reputation as us even though they were in a similar game.
  4. We began to provide experiences in a box and other experiences that were not necessarily a ‘day’. (eg an astrology reading or olive oil tasting)

So the approach was made and about 4 years ago we purchased the URL www.redballoon.com.au

My regret is not just for the wait for 5 years to purchase it – more the regret that it has taken another 4 years to truly get the brand return on this.

It was fear that stopped me from making the tough decision.

We had been working so hard for so long on our search engine position with Google we didn’t want to change anything. So we used the www.redballoon.com.au in all communications but then redirected traffic to the main original URL.

But given that we had formally updated our branding to drop the ‘days’ it was completely out of alignment with our brand voice.

So for the past 2 months or so – we have had very many, very clever minds working on the switch. That is to migrate our primary URL to being www.redballoon.com.au and referring all the unique ‘days’ URL through.

I shared the delight with our developer team as they learned, discovered and executed a program to migrate the URL… So last Saturday as we all crossed our fingers and toes the switch took place. Now 4 days after the migration we have not seen a dip in traffic, or a reduction in Google rankings. However they tell me that we won’t know for sure for a few more months. (Fingers and toes still crossed).

Sorry team that it was such a big job – when really it is something that could have been done 9 years ago. A massive thank you to the team for cleaning up my lack of foresight.

LESSON LEARNED: If you want to create something big - play a big game, make the investment needed. Big dreams – take big decisions, and resources.

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Curious about Strengths

By naomisimson | Published: June 15, 2010

Some years ago I had my Gallup Strengths done (see previous post) since then everyone who joins RedBalloon has also completed the review… it is fun and insightful and really helps us as a leadership team to understand how to best get our people in ‘flow’. It is not a recruitment tool.. because no strength is better than another – it just gives us an added way to support our people in their development.

This is not the only strengths finder… but I was curious to know if I used a different vendor’s program would my strengths remain the same. Common sense would concur – I have not changed; but maybe the language around the strengths is different. For me it is all about relevance.

I consulted Margie Hartley from The Channel Group who has developed professional and personal programs based on the VIA Positive Leadership Signature Strengths developed by Martin Seligman and Chris Peterson

After completing the online form – my top five signature strengths were recognised. The question that Margie asked me and that particularly interested me is "how do these impact me as a leader?" How can I best use who I am at my best to support the strategy that we are up to at RedBalloon.

So I discovered:

  1. I am curious and interested in the world
  2. I am grateful
  3. I have a love of learning
  4. I have zest, enthusiasm and energy
  5. I have a capacity to love and be loved.

These impact every area of my life not just my business life (though as an entrepreneur one does often question if there is more to life than the business).

When Margie dug deeper into these I could see how they related to the business strengths that I discovered with the Gallup Strengths finder.

But of greater interest is how I use these as a leader (she gave me insights into this):

  • CURIOSITY: I am at my best when there’s something to achieve, or a problem to solve, using a new idea, skill or piece of knowledge, which in turn inspires new interest in something related. Motivated by complexity, ambiguity, and difficulty. I’m best supported by autonomy to explore. (I’m thwarted by over confidence, anxiety, guilt, fear and concern about external measurement, validation or punishment.)
  • GRATITUDE: I am at my best when I have the opportunity to connect with and depend on others to experience, observe and savor their acts of virtue. I’m best supported when there is an opportunity to express thanks and appreciation. (I’m thwarted by time pressure and solitary, self-sufficient activities and too much emphasis on entitlement and materialism)
  • LOVE of LEARNING: I’m at my best when there is a challenge or new activity that the new knowledge can be applied to. I’m best supported in an environment when there is support from others and a positive benefit in succeeding in the challenge. (I’m thwarted when learning is spoon-fed, or when there is simply no opportunity to learn something new and use it for a positive benefit, such as repetitive work) – no wonder I always have piles of books that I am devouring.
  • ZEST: I’m at my best when physical needs are met with sufficient rest and exercise, and involved in an activity that is engaging. Is best supported by enabling autonomy in relation to the activity. (I’m thwarted by lack of sleep and exercise, and a controlling environment.)… (oh I am grumpy with lack of sleep and no exercise – too true.)
  • LOVE: I’m best when there is plentiful opportunity to connect closely with individuals, bond and be available to actively respond, care and support, and to receive the same from significant others who are sensitive to their needs. I’m best supported by freedom to spend time and focus to connect with and support people for the sake of personal rather than organizational benefit. (Is thwarted in an environment where no-one is sensitive to their personal or emotional needs) – I hope this doesn’t mean I wear my heart on my sleeve… but I do know that I love watching the team around learn grow and develop… as well as watching my children thrive as they discover new things….

Clearly it is my curiosity and love of learning that means that I am so fascinated by such a tool. Thanks Margie for introducing me to both your personal and group programs… you were playing to my strengths. If you’re 'curious' about the programs, Margie Hartley can be contacted at Channel Group on +61 2 9221 0888

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Four things to stop doing

By naomisimson | Published: May 13, 2010

The hardest thing for a CEO to know is; which of the many things we do – are the ones that really, in the long run add no value to the business? Another words 'where am I wasting my time and energy?'.

The challenge is how to identify what I should I stop doing? I cannot work it out. I think if I put enough energy and effort into everything – some of it will work. But really that is a massive opportunity cost on my time.

So when asked the question by the author of ‘What got you here Won’t get you there’ Marshall Goldsmith – I was challenged to have a deeper look at my real contribution to the growth of RedBalloon. From where I sit as a leader I cannot see. So I need to ask people around me their insights.

This week I have been asking the very confronting question: ‘How can I be a better: leader/manager/wife/mother/blogger/tweeter/speaker/daughter etc –  all the roles that I play (feel free to comment on any of these). This I believe will give me a greater insight into how I can best contribute.

Goldsmith tells us that there are four classic challenges to leadership:

  1. Wanting to win too much (at the expense of bringing people with you)
  2. Adding too much value (can damage commitment with those people around you) I remember one of my bosses years ago used to rewrite every word I wrote. In the end I stopped trying because I knew he would just do it for me anyway.
  3. Telling the world how smart we are (ho-hum, get over yourself, you didn’t do it on your own)
  4. When someone brings you something of interest – responding ‘I already knew that’

Remember the old adage ‘An achiever is all about me: A leader it’s all about them.’

The greatest gift of any leader is to listen – and to give up trying to be better than anyone else. A leader is a person who unites the group based on a shared sense of purpose.

Goldsmith poses an interesting challenge: If someone tells you something –listen without judgment and give up responding with a ‘no’, ‘but’ or ‘however’. If you do start the sentence with one of these words you are effectively ‘belittling’ the other person's contribution, because it appears as if you are trying to prove that you know more.

In addition to listening without judgment, he suggested learning as much as you can and offering as much help as you can… it will transform your leadership.

In doing this I plan to work out what I should stop doing… and do more of the things that are adding the most value.

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What crossing the road teaches our children.

By naomisimson | Published: April 29, 2010

I was in the city last week with some of my colleagues and as we sat in the RedBalloon mini (Ruby) at the lights we watched a mother try to cross the road against the lights… a truck whipped around the corner… and it was inches from calamity. After the truck passed she did it again… this time successfully crossing the road.

What lesson did she just teach her 4 year old! (More than 200 pedestrians are hit by vehicles in Sydney city every year.)

So let’s fast forward this child’s life – she is now a teenager and she has no respect for any authority. She does not listen to her teachers and she definitely doesn’t listen to her parents. In fact worse she treats them with utter disdain.

In the moment that this mother ran across the road against the red light – she taught her daughter to break the rules and not listen to authority. She said ‘our personal needs are more important than the rules of society’.

My blood boils when I hear parents whinge about their unresponsive rude teenagers… like it is all the kids fault. We need to take a good hard look at ourselves and say ‘how am I responsible for our kids disdain for authority?’

My father used to say tongue in cheek ‘Do as I say not as I do.’ I thought it was a rubbish then, and I still do. We all need role models and people to look up to – especially our kids.

I was fascinated that when I was sharing in the TEDx presentation about my daughter and the great first gift she gave me when she was a baby… then I began to share that she is now 14. The audience laughed anticipating that I would say some cliché about ‘teenagers’ in fact what I shared was the sheer joy of being a parent of an articulate, talented, funny, amazing young person. I could not help but let my emotion spill into my words.

People are a reflection of what we think of them, and how we are with them.  Please watch the example you set for young ones… (whether they are your children – or other people’s) they will be teenagers and young adults soon enough. I’m not saying I have it handled – I have as many challenges as any parent. But I will never, ever speak poorly of my children or deride them – because it is up to me to teach them values and live by them.

And I wait for the green man – even when my kids are not around not there.

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Why?

By naomisimson | Published: April 23, 2010

We often giggle at RedBalloon that all of us (including me) are generation 'why' - rather than 'y'. When I started this business (what seems like a lifetime ago) - I too wanted to work in an environment that I loved to come to every day. I wanted to dedicate my talents to something that I believed in. Something that would make the world a better place.

Discovering and understanding the RedBalloon purpose has driven me and inspired the team, suppliers and other stakeholders including our clients. We know why we do what we do everyday, which means when we further the 'cause',  we go home everyday feeling like a winner having achieved something that is made a contribution to something bigger than ourselves.

Having read Jim Collins books years ago it was quite evident that 'great companies' are driven by a purpose and united by our shared values. So I was delighted to discover a whole book dedicated just to PURPOSE.

Nikos Mourkogiannis wrote his book Purpose back in 2006. I've heard this small book has had a massive impact on organisations of all sizes by aligning people to a shared sense of purpose to drive change and focus throughout 'broken' organisations.

His book simply demonstrates:

  • Successful companies have a clear sense of purpose - and everyone knows what it is.
  • Individuals who have a personal purpose have 'strong characters' and are resilient
  • That purpose is a greater motivator over the long term than a charismatic leader
  • Purpose is not ethics, values or governance
  • It creates a form of energy
  • Organisations with a single minded purpose, which is clearly articulated over and over again will mean that its employees find meaning in their work and as a result are far more engaged.

Fundamentally, purpose will drive business success by:

  1. Driving achievement
  2. Revealing human dynamics
  3. Motivate people

When we sat down to talk about why we do what we do at RedBalloon - we discovered our purpose by listening to our customers and understanding the impact that we were having. It came from the stories from the team and what made them feel great about working for RedBalloon. Each person at RedBalloon tends to make the purpose their own. For some it is about employee engagement, others on reducing clutter, for others they just want to 'give people a good time'. Changing gifting in Australia and NZ forever means different things for our people - but everyone is aligned to the one purpose.

It is interesting to read that there are different types of purpose... for many organisations it can take a lot of soul searching to discover what really drives them. I was speaking to a banker today and we chatted about purpose... and I asked her if her purpose was to support Australian businesses grow and develop because they have funding for expansion. I suggested that her work is making Australia a better place, a more robust economy - creating employment. You might think that I am overly airy fairy... but if we keep asking the question 'why' do we do what we do... it is not usually about money... money is just a means to an end.

Mourkogiannis suggested that there were four types of purpose:

  1. Discovery - Never been done before (new products/services)
  2. Excellence - Aiming higher than people know is possible - reaching goals
  3. Altruism - Helping people in need - the world will be a happier and better place
  4. Heroism - Leading the way - destined for greatness

Great leadership inspires people to unite for the collective good of all. Leaders must clearly define the purpose - otherwise how do they know where they are going?

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What I wish I knew… about well being

By naomisimson | Published: April 22, 2010

I wrote earlier this week about the findings the New Economic Forum gives us on developing our own well being - and five steps to getting people to 'flourish':

  1. Connected
  2. Be Active
  3. Take Notice
  4. Keep Learning
  5. Give

Interesting that I read Marty Wilson blog with interest as he describes the importance of creating 'space' for the most important person in your life (your partner).. also how we so often take the person closest to us for granted. But if we follow the five simple steps of flourishing with our partner... well wouldn't we then flourish together?

Marty mentioned RedBalloon in his blog (excerpt below).... how delightful to give me an insight into the impact of what we do... now that has helped me flourish today. (Marty gave me a gift  and I learned something new..perfect)

".....For my 40th birthday my brother and two sisters gave my wife and I a Red Balloon voucher for wonderful weekend away in the Hunter Valley. Even more importantly, Mum and Dad offered to chip in with a “babysitting coupon” so we could go without our two boys aged 3 and 6. A few weeks ago, I finally organised the time off and we had a wonderful two days away. I am now 42 years old.

As we planned for the break we realised this would be our first  in over five years. We talked about all the other things we’d squeezed into that same period of time. We’d moved back to Australia, found a house, I’d gone back into advertising, got a book deal, had a second child, changed jobs, finished my first book, had it be a bestseller, ran screaming from advertising, started comedy and corporate speaking again, had our first child start school, had both kids in hospital, finished my second book. How could we not sneak in a lousy weekend holiday? We really, really really needed a break!

I think the key lesson for us was that there was never going to be a free weekend that just “miraculously appeared” and made it easy to get away. We just locked it into the calendar, and worked liked dogs before and after.

Just like it used to be

When you do get away, it’s amazing how quickly you slot back into the way you used to be. By the time we’d driven the three hours from Sydney to the Valley, we were starting to feel like “Allie and Marty” and not “Mum and Dad”. We have some friends who talk about how things used to be “BC” (Before Children) and we could see what they mean. We were slower, calmer, gentler.

We pulled up at our accommodation for the weekend, a gorgeous, secluded little place called Wilderness Lodge has only has four suites, and – just what we wanted – is a couple of kilometres away from the main touristy area. It’s also in the middle of an expansive Olive grove, and incredibly peaceful. We spent the afternoon doing nothing much.  (stop it! get your mind out of the gutter) We had a huge spa bath in the afternoon – just because we could - and as we lay back Allie said “Isn’t it luxurious to lay back in a bath without a toy shark sticking into your bum cheek?” I said “It’s brilliant to be able to do a wee without a three year old coming in asking something like “Are pterodactyls herbivores or carnivores?”

As we talked through the afternoon, we noticed that a typical conversation went like this:

“Isn’t the scenery here lovely? You really could be in Europe with the hills covered in vines and the olive trees. Remember that trip to Italy we had when we live in England? I miss that.“

Instead of this:

Isn’t the scenery here lovely? (Connor take your fingers out of your brother’s nose) You really could be in Europe (Elliot, beans are not lightsabers) with the hills covered in vines and the olive trees. (Finish your lunch or no ice cream) Remember that trip to Italy? (Boys, stop it.) we had when we live in England, (Right no ice cream for anyone) I miss that.

The next day, we went for a huge three hour walk and it was the best time of our weekend away because we walked, we looked at the stunning vineyards properly not from a car at 100km/h and (drum roll please) we talked. We spoke, to each other and no one else, for almost four whole hours. We hadn’t done that in five long years, except for those sporadic dinners when you’re so happy to be outside the four walls of your house together you end up ordering that second (sometimes third) bottle of wine and not remember exactly what you talked about anyway. It felt so natural, so easy, so just-like-it-used-to-be “BC”. It reaffirmed our commitment to each other and reminded us both why we got hitched in the first place.

Marty is and author and speaker - he is writing a series on 'What I Wish I Knew...' His new book is in stores now. Ahh it makes us feel great to be alive! Thanks Marty.

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How to flourish!

By naomisimson | Published: April 20, 2010

Flourish is such a delightful word… it makes me think of growth, vibrancy, and excitement; such a positive word.

During the research for my recent TEDx presentation – I listened to the headmaster of my daughters school speak of the work by the New Economic Forum…  and of course when I heard him say that one of the ways to improve our own well being is to be a gift giver – I wanted to know more.

I discovered for a person to flourish there needs to be positive emotions, a sense of meaning and purpose as well as engagement in what they do. But the person also needs to possess some innate strengths such as resilience, vitality, and self esteem.

I like the idea though that we can all impact our own well being simply by taking a look at these five elements:

Connect
Make positive connections with the people around you. That is everyone – not just the obvious family and friend – but what about the bus driver or the shop assistant. It is worth investing time in all connections – making them richer and more meaningful. We are social beings and the more social we are the more we flourish.

Be active
For me it is currently yoga… there are many ways of being busy and active – and if I am active it always makes me feel great. Starting my day with some activity means I know I have a better chance of having a fantastic day. It is not hard to do something, even if it is a walk at lunch time… (my dog - of DextersWorld fame - tells me he is a great excuse to be active and increase my well being)

Take notice
I remember one of my mentors once said you have two ears and one mouth use them in that proportion. To truly listen, be present, notice what is around you and to be curious will improve your well being. How often do you eat a meal that you don’t really taste, or catch yourself not listening to your mother on the phone when you called her! This is about being aware of all the sensations… sight, sound, touch, and smell.

Keep learning
I love to read, attend seminars and have always been curious. I was never a particularly good student however. But NEF are talking about all sorts of learning – from cooking to mechanics. It is basically about discovering something you have no idea about. To get out of your comfort zone and push yourself…

Give
When we talk about giving it does not necessarily mean a physical gift.  It could be about just giving someone your time, your listening, or your appreciation. To volunteer or help a complete stranger will make you feel great and develop your own well being.

“Research by New Economic Forum shows that building reciprocity and mutual exchange – through giving and receiving – is the simplest and most fundamental way of building trust between people and creating positive social relationships and resilient communities.”

I for one think that we should have a national agenda to improve the nations well being and to flourish.. (perhaps giving a gift is a good place to start.)

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Breakthrough companies are fixated with Growth.

By naomisimson | Published: April 11, 2010

I’m just back from a holiday break with the family. It was great to rest and rejuvenate… to take in a few experiences too. Jet Ski Ocean Adventure (I’d never been on a jet ski before – the kids loved it) Also had fantastic fun at the Surfing Lesson On Noosa Beach

Oops I digress, holidays will do that to you. In addition to lots of family time I also read… some really great books.  I finished Switch – by Dan and Chip Heath. (Thanks Verne Harnish for the recommendation) about how to effect change with limited resources. I had a good look at two Kikki.K books – Dreams 101 and Goals I have much that I could share from all of these (and probably will in future blogs).

RedBalloon has now grown to a significant size and I often hear that the founder can ultimately get in the way of growth. Reading helps me learn from others experience. I was fascinated by the book “The Breakthrough Company” by Keith Mc Farland. He of course has his own language to refer to the different influence original founders have on the business, eg sovereign, which sometimes I find distracting, however I got some fascinating insights.

It does take something for a founder of a business to realise that there are people much better resourced to take the business to the next level. By nature, to be an entrepreneur we have to have a certain ego, and unbelievable belief in our ability. A person who starts a business will often think that; 'with enough hard work, determination and a bit of luck you can make anything happen.' The reality is that most founders have never run major corporations and it takes different talents.

Some of my take-aways from the Breakthrough Company book:

  1. Breakthrough companies are not about ‘one’ person. They are about superior systems and processes and getting the best out of available resources.
  2. There are many traps to successful growth – eg ‘the emperor with new clothes’ – ie surrounding yourself with ‘yes’ people, not taking risks, trying to make all the key decisions and not listening to those around you.
  3. To grow you need a solid foundation and structure. It builds sustainability. There is no turning everyone on a dime anymore – no change for change sake. You simply cannot think small if you want to be a massive business – you cannot be the neck of the bottle.
  4. The bigger the business becomes, Breakthrough companies make bigger bets, they simply play a bigger game.

I reflect on the notion of ‘Grow or Die’ – Breakthrough companies are obsessed with growth – because the result for the customer and the employee is better. Growth creates new opportunities, new products, new careers.

Interesting that McFarland tells us ‘Don’t look for extraordinary people – build a place where ordinary people can do extra ordinary things’… I love this idea. I’m not extraordinary (very average marks at school)– but I did want to work in an organization that I loved to go to every day – I wanted to do something that I was passionate about. If you love what you do then you can do amazing things.  (At RedBalloon we have done much with working with our teams innate strengths).

McFarland also says; ‘how the team feel about their workplace is a significant factor to success…‘ hence the RedBalloon ongoing commitment to engagement – and our mantra ‘Employees are the New Customer.’

Creating the environment where everyone can be heard and is encouraged to question business processes, and assumptions builds robustness and drives continued innovation.

Let’s have a reality check here - there is no Eutopia in business, we are never ‘finished’, there is always more to be done. Crises happen in all businesses… Breakthrough businesses are no different. Crises are common – but Breakthrough business see crises as something to be embraced – an opportunity to address issues that will ultimately make them stronger and more robust. It is about finding a solution, innovating – not a blame game.

There is an online test you can do to see where your oranization fits in being a ‘Breakthrough’ company. Interesting to see if my results are different to the other RedBalloon leaders and team members. Is my perception not in alignment with reality? That is why I count on the leaders around me (and the team directly) to keep telling me how they say it.

Thanks team.

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Good Old Fashioned Giggle

By naomisimson | Published: March 11, 2010

I often have a good giggle with audiences, when I'm presenting, about what it was like working ‘last century’. The funny thing is that in just a decade, many of the practices seem completely archaic.. how did we cope? We had telephones that you would dial, and then wait after each number you dialed for the rotary piece to return to base. The sound was distinctive.. dddd, dddd, dddd (very hard to replicate in writing). No speed dial, voice recognition, click to dial, automatic dial or any of the other things that now means that we are connected instantaneously. What patience we had (but it was all we had, we knew no difference, that was the pace of business then.)

red phone

When I commenced working for Ansett Airlines, I requested a PC, my boss was curious to know why I needed such a thing (I had worked for IBM in New York – so thought that a PC was a standard business tool of the time). I wanted a PC so I could be self-sufficient typing up the ‘fabulous’ marketing plans, I was going to write. My manager advised me that Ansett had a word processing department – all I had to do, was pick up the phone dial a certain extension, dictate what I wanted, I would then have the typed document returned to my desk in the next day or two, I would make corrections, it would then go back and forth for a few days before it was finally finished and you could send it. It took about 4-5 days to produce a piece of correspondence (even an internal memo). Younger audience members laugh thinking, they can answer an email in seconds, any where anytime on hand held devices.

So it does beg the question what will the world look like in just another 10 years. And how do we ensure we have the right talents and skills to go along with it. I have teenage children and I know that the jobs they are likely to have, have not been invented yet.

Back last century when I was in the final term of my university degree… my father said that he would like me to do a secretarial course… 'just in case things don’t work out in my marketing career. You could always get a job as a secretary’ he said. So I dutifully went off in the term break from Uni to learn to touch type.

Whether my father's reasoning was sound (something to fall back on) or not, learning to touch type at 90 words a minute has been one of my greatest productivity tools over the last 25 years. (so thanks Dad)

So really the more exposure we have to more things, the better equipped we will be to exploit new technologies and ideas. (Can you believe in the year 2000 I said to myself I was too old to learn about the internet… ) we need to keep our minds wide open, and learn as much as we can along the way. The new technologies that we are embracing are not the destination, but are part of the journey... and I for one don't want to miss out on any of the ride.

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