Keeping Gen X Talent Engaged

Don't Dismiss Your Gen X Talent - Sylvia Ann Hewlett - Harvard Business Review

• Develop corporate chameleons. "Once I've learned my job, I like to move on," says one X'er interviewed for the CTI report. "I need something new to keep things fresh." To prevent X'ers from feeling stalled and browning out, companies are rotating promising employees through different functions on a regular schedule. A Sibson Consulting survey (PDF) shows that more than half of Fortune 500 companies say they've begun shuffling potential leaders around to give them broad experience.
• Let them learn. "I really like my company. It's a great fit," says another X'er. "But having said that, if it's the right thing, I'd jump. I won't stop learning or growing just to have a job." That's why even in the middle of a recession, smart companies are maintaining their tuition-reimbursement programs, as well as instituting mentoring and sponsorship programs that pair Boomer managers with Gen X'ers.
• Bring them out of the shadows. Mentoring and sponsorship programs serve another purpose: They match mid-level managers with senior-level executives who can provide opportunities to enrich their career experience. Placing Xers in charge of high-visibility projects is also a way to spotlight their abilities.
• Test their wings. Many X'ers would agree with one of their cohort who declares, "I have an entrepreneurial spirit that won't shut up." With many having been brought up as latchkey kids, Gen X is highly self-reliant; today, 70% of X'ers surveyed by CTI prefer to work independently, and 34% aspire to be an entrepreneur. Why not let them test their wings with a company-sponsored venture than risk having them fly the coop?
• Promote partnerships. It's easy for X'ers to demonize Boomer managers as intransigent dinosaurs and Gen Y subordinates as self-aggrandizing upstarts. Break down the barriers through intergenerational partnerships and teams. Each cohort has its own strengths and gifts; sharing them will enhance everyone's abiliti

Keeping Gen X Talent Engaged

Don't Dismiss Your Gen X Talent - Sylvia Ann Hewlett - Harvard Business Review

• Develop corporate chameleons. "Once I've learned my job, I like to move on," says one X'er interviewed for the CTI report. "I need something new to keep things fresh." To prevent X'ers from feeling stalled and browning out, companies are rotating promising employees through different functions on a regular schedule. A Sibson Consulting survey (PDF) shows that more than half of Fortune 500 companies say they've begun shuffling potential leaders around to give them broad experience.
• Let them learn. "I really like my company. It's a great fit," says another X'er. "But having said that, if it's the right thing, I'd jump. I won't stop learning or growing just to have a job." That's why even in the middle of a recession, smart companies are maintaining their tuition-reimbursement programs, as well as instituting mentoring and sponsorship programs that pair Boomer managers with Gen X'ers.
• Bring them out of the shadows. Mentoring and sponsorship programs serve another purpose: They match mid-level managers with senior-level executives who can provide opportunities to enrich their career experience. Placing Xers in charge of high-visibility projects is also a way to spotlight their abilities.
• Test their wings. Many X'ers would agree with one of their cohort who declares, "I have an entrepreneurial spirit that won't shut up." With many having been brought up as latchkey kids, Gen X is highly self-reliant; today, 70% of X'ers surveyed by CTI prefer to work independently, and 34% aspire to be an entrepreneur. Why not let them test their wings with a company-sponsored venture than risk having them fly the coop?
• Promote partnerships. It's easy for X'ers to demonize Boomer managers as intransigent dinosaurs and Gen Y subordinates as self-aggrandizing upstarts. Break down the barriers through intergenerational partnerships and teams. Each cohort has its own strengths and gifts; sharing them will enhance everyone's abiliti

How Many Direct Reports?

Booz&Co. has a nifty tool for assessing C-level Span of Control but I find it is just as useful for leader of large complex programs and projects.  Find the tool here and also a free download of the April 2012 HBR article, How Many Direct Reports?, about this---worth thinking about as you design and adjust governance structures for large programs.

Building Effective Teams Isn't Rocket Science, But It's Just as Hard

Building Effective Teams Isn't Rocket Science, But It's Just as Hard - Douglas R. Conant - Harvard Business Review

1. Hire Highly Effective Team Members
2. Focus on Inspiring Trust.
3. Encourage Candor.
4. Be Clear About Expectations

The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs

The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs - Harvard Business Review

Walter Isaacson describes the 14 imperatives behind Jobs’s approach: focus; simplify; take responsibility end to end; when behind, leapfrog; put products before profits; don’t be a slave to focus groups; bend reality; impute; push for perfection; know both the big picture and the details; tolerate only “A” players; engage face-to-face; combine the humanities with the sciences; and “stay hungry, stay foolish.”

Help Those You Lead--The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review

If you're a manager, here are three policies worth promoting:
1. Maintain meeting discipline. Schedule meetings for 45 minutes, rather than an hour or longer, so participants can stay focused, take time afterward to reflect on what's been discussed, and recover before the next obligation. Start all meetings at a precise time, end at a precise time, and insist that all digital devices be turned off throughout the meeting.
2. Stop demanding or expecting instant responsiveness at every moment of the day. It forces your people into reactive mode, fractures their attention, and makes it difficult for them to sustain attention on their priorities. Let them turn off their email at certain times. If it's urgent, you can call them — but that won't happen very often.
3. Encourage renewal. Create at least one time during the day when you encourage your people to stop working and take a break. Offer a midafternoon class in yoga, or meditation, organize a group walk or workout, or consider creating a renewal room where people can relax, or take a nap.

New Product Development Best Practices

An Examination of New Product Development Best Practice - Kahn - 2012 - Journal of Product Innovation Management - Wiley Online Library

This recent study provides insights on NPD best practices and reinforces the importance of strategy for successful NPD---one of the reasons we spend so much time on it in the Stanford Advanced Project Management Program. Sample factors include:

Strategy

• Goals: Clearly defined, visible to the organization, clearly aligned with organization mission and strategic plan
• Projects and programs are reviewed on a regular basis
• Opportunity identification is ongoing and can redirect the strategic plan in real time

Process

• Common NPD process cuts across organizational groups, is visible, and well documented
• Go/no-go criteria are clear and predefined for each review gate
• NPD process is flexible and adaptable to meet the needs, size, and risk of individual projects

Culture

• Top management supports the NPD process
• Management rewards and recognizes internal “entrepreneurship”

Project climate

• Cross-functional teams underlie the NPD process
• Activities between functional areas are coordinated through formal and informal communication

Research

• Ongoing market research is used to anticipate/identify future customer needs and problems
• Concept, product, and market testing is consistently undertaken and expected with all NPD projects
• Customers and users are an integral part of the NPD process
• Results of testing (concept, product, and market) are formally evaluated

Metrics - Practitioners surveyed could not agree on any consistent best practices for metrics

Commercialization

• The launch team is cross-functional in nature
• A launch process exists and project postmortem meeting is held after the new product is launched
• Customer service and support are part of the launch team