Men and women in the office

A small little filler in the BusinessWeek magazine, 29 May 2006 edition, caught my eye. It is about what different people want in the physical layout of their offices. Interesting read:

What Do Men Want? A Thermostat
By Elizabeth Woyke

To build a better work space, consult the worker bees. In a poll conducted by Knoll, a furnishings maker, and research firm DYG, 850 workers at companies with 100 or more employees were asked what surroundings made them productive. Some 45% said they work best in private offices. The rest prefer collaborative spaces (16%), their homes (18%), or other sites outside the office (22%).

Some 40% of Gen Y workers, aged 18 to 29, said they like open office plans. (Just 18% said they would choose cubicle-like stations with panels for privacy). “Young people are saying this is how we expect and want to work,” says Christine Barber, Knoll’s director of workplace research. “That’s driving a trend toward more creative, interactive work environments.”

Then there’s what might be called the thermostat factor. Women listed eight attributes as having a “high impact” on productivity, including privacy, natural light, and the option of personalizing a space. Men named just one: the ability to control the air conditioning or heat.

Original source: click here.

Diversity lessons in Canada

All around the world, it is becoming clear that a diverse work environment is a helpful environment for fostering innovation, global awareness, emotionally healthy workplaces, creativity, resilience and tolerance. Its becoming clear that diversity is an essential ingredient for sustainable competitive advantage.

That means that companies established within countries and communities that have natural diversity have a distinct advantage. Multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-faith countries have an advantage over those countries where diversity has simply been boiled down to gender and age issues. But regardless of the natural environment, every company has the ability to generate all sorts of diversity – internally and externally.

A report in The Toronto Star, 1 April 06, looks at how Canadian consultants are getting in on the act, and helping companies with this pressing issue. Read it here. The major points are summarised below.

… Continue Reading

How to Lose Friends and Inflame People

When the Secretary-General of the United Nations makes official mention of your newspaper, its either very good or very bad. For the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, its very, VERY bad.

The paper is being protected by security guards and several of its cartoonists have gone into hiding after the newspaper published a series of twelve cartoons about the prophet Muhammad (see them all here – scroll down). According to Islam it is blasphemous to make images of the prophet. In response, Muslim fundamentalists have threatened to bomb the paper’s offices and kill the cartoonists. Around the world, Danish embassies are being picketed, and as of an hour ago, at least one (in Syria) had been set on fire (see CNN report here).

… Continue Reading

‘My mom will sort you out!’ Boomer’s Kids @ Work

“How do you deal with a generation that has had their parents take care of all their problems when they face disappointment in the workplace?”

This is a question most HR Managers are asking themselves in the US and soon in SA as they increasingly have to deal with winging moms and dads. They can expect to receive calls concerning anything from a promotion that didn’t happen, or review that was ‘not a fair reflection of my son’s perfomance’. In the US where Baby Boomers are now having their 20 year olds in the world of work are treating their kids’ employers the same way they have dealt with their Kindergarten Teachers, Baseball Coaches and University Professors.

“Companies are just now waking up to the havoc that the newest generation of workers is causing in their offices.” FastCompany Article

Boomers have been known to be over protective over their children as they seek to give them the best that the world can offer. This new trend of treating employers as school teachers includes making nonstop calls until they are heard, sending nasty emails and threatning legal action. Now this behaviour is not one associated with a majority of Baby Boomers in South Africa but one cannot rule it out.

So before you carelessly fill that review, think of the candidates mom, then make your mark!

The Wisdom of Crowds

When the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off on January 28, 1986 who would have known that, out of the 4 publically listed contractors to the shuttle, the Dow Jones market singled out the party responsible prior to any investigation into the infamous O-ring that caused the explosion? This is one of the many case studies and examples that James Surowiecki lists in support of his premise in The Wisdom of Crowds (Buy it at Amazon.com or Kalahari.net):

… Continue Reading

More grandparents raising children

One of the major problems of the AIDS epidemic in Africa (and soon in Asia, Russia, China and India, too), is that it hits the middle age people most (mainly because in Africa, AIDS is sexually transmitted between heterosexuals). This has the effect of removing parents from society. Its hard to write that blandly, without feeling the impact of it in your gut – especially if you live in Africa at the moment. For example, The Starfish Foundation estimates that there will be over 2 million orphans in southern Africa alone, by the year 2010.

This is a demographic tidal wave.

But I was interested to discover that it is by no means unique to Africa, nor to AIDS affected countries. In Australia, for example, there are over 22,500 grandparent-headed families (see full report). The majority of those cases are a result of a parent’s drug or alcohol abuse, neglect, death or disability.

According to The US Census 2000, there were 2,350,477 grandparents in the USA responsible for raising one or more of their grandchildren (from GrandsPlace), accounting for 6% (or 4.5 million) of all US children. The literature on this phenomenon suggests that there are probably many more children in informal care arrangements residing with their grandparents than the data can capture, and the number is growing rapidly (see more info at National Center for Grandparents raising Grandchildren or Grandparenting.org). In the US, between 1990 and 2000, the number of children under 18 increased by 14.3%; within that same decade, the number of US children in grandparent-headed households increased by 30%. The data also indicates that grandparent-headed households are twice as likely to live in poverty as other American families.

This is a frightening social phenomenon.

Taking a step back … diversity

“According to the philosopher Ly Tin Wheedle, chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being sought. It always defeats order, because it is better organized.� (Interesting Times – Terry Pratchett)

… Continue Reading

Diversity: So how should we do this?

Written by Jean Cooper and Graeme Codrington.

The previous e-zine had a great article by Barrie Bramley and Dr. Graeme Codrington, entitled: Loving and leading diversity. In this article they explain the business benefits of deeply embracing diversity in the workplace. They also touched on how NOT to do diversity.

However, if the way to approach the opportunities diversity opens to our organisations is NOT to force people into a room where we expect them to talk to each other and like each other, how then should it be done? In a longitudinal study (over 12 years) by the University of Pretoria, they came up with an interesting framework for making diversity work. I call it the “3 spaces-framework”, based on the research of Prof Hannes De Beer (2002).

… Continue Reading

Social Network Analysis

Check out this website for the International Network for Social Network Analysis

Remind me: How do rules help?

With a few exceptions, rules and regulations only serve to:

1. Divert attention from a company’s objectives,
2. Provide a false sense of securty for executives,
3. Create work for bean counters, and
4. Teach men to stone dinosaurs and start fires with sticks.

Courtesy Ricardo Semler, Maverick.

Is it cos I’s black?

I wrote yesterday about some of my random musings about the chaos in New Orleans. One of my points was that this shows how the media might be treating African-American (I am from South Africa, where “black” is an acceptable term) victims of the hurricane. Well, if you need proof that this is happening, and the blatant and inherent racism of the media, check out the photographs and the captions provided:
… Continue Reading

Watching a Master

I have played the trumpet since I was 11, and even spent two years doing it professionally, including a year as lead trumpeter of the National Serviceman’s Orchestra of the South African Air Force (whilst conscripted in the late 1980s). I love the instrument, and still play to this day. When I was just out of the Air Force (at the “height” of my trumpet playing ability), I attended a concert by Phil Driscoll, one of the greatest trumpeters in the world. In fact, he is a genius musician, with a gravelly voice like Miles Davis, legendary trumpet and picolo trumpet ability, plays piano, bass and a few other instruments as well. Just oozes music. When he played the trumpet, it looked and felt like it was just an extension of his body. He was one with the instrument, and I was left dazed and in awe.

At that point, I had two choices. Part of me wanted to go home, sell my trumpet and never play again. The other part wanted to go home and practice for 10 hours straight. And do the same the next day, and the days after that. Being in the presence of a master is always humbling and inspiring like that.

To a lesser extent, I continue to try and learn from the masters – even those masters that infuriate me. For this reason, I often flick the satellite TV across to channel 77, which in South Africa is the “God channel” (TBN – trinity broadcasting network), which carries the televangelists, 700 Club, and many other similar evangelical Christian preachers doing what they do. Most often, these preachers infuriate me. Their shallow interpretations of the Christian message and their clear right wing politics and ethics often incense me. Yet, these are some of the world’s greatest communicators. Man, can these guys work a crowd!! I stand in awe of their abilities.
… Continue Reading

Leading and Loving Diversity

Written by Barrie Bramley and Graeme Codrington.

There is no doubt that Diversity is playing itself out as a critical factor in business today. In some countries, especially those with histories of institutionalised oppression (like South Africa, or the USA) it is being legislated. This includes quotas around women, disabled, minority races, and issues like affirmative action and Black Economic Empowerment. Many people in these countries make the mistake of seeing diversity as primarily a ‘local and political’ issue. However, it is more accurately seen as a global issue facing countries, organisation and people around the world. There are at least three key reasons for this.

… Continue Reading

Wikipedias as cultural references

Wikipedia is an open source, free-to-use online encyclopedia built by people like us for people like us. In order to cater for cultures across the globe, Wikipedia offers it’s content in hundreds of different languages. Problem is, content is not simply translated from language to language, but instead each language enters its own interpretations as encyclopedia entries. It gets interesting when cultures differ on certain historical “facts”…

… Continue Reading

Conflict Transformation

I know I am referring a lot to Inc magazine today, but its good stuff…

The last page had a short piece on conflict in the workplace, and a consultant that goes beyond conflict “management” and “resolution” to conflict transformation. Read the full article here.

“In the workplace, our primary impulse is to turn down the tension thermostat. We paper over real and meaningful disputes in an anxious rush to create consensus—even if that consensus is largely artificial. Simply put, we are uncomfortable with conflict… It’s nice to pretend that we work in a no-conflict zone. But that’s a myth—an unhealthy, even disastrous, one. Unresolved conflict stirs up anxiety, fear, and frustration. Elaborate defense mechanisms arise, which hamper an organization’s ability to operate effectively.”

A lot of conflict is suppressed because we don’t feel confident enough in our relationships to actually test them with a good fight. I don’t think any team can be called a team until they’ve recovered from a good fight. Working through conflict to the excellence on the other side is always helpful. I like the idea of “conflict transformation”, and I think that TomorrowToday.biz could play well in this space.

See a secret… Share a secret.

For yet another fascinating example of how the blogging medium is manifesting itself, check out PostSecret. To quote the site, PostSecret is an ongoing community project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.

It’s almost an online confessional. Just artier. And it seems that the originator of the blog simply can’t keep up with the demand. He has become, perhaps unwittingly, a true blog god.

It’s not for everyone, but I think it’s great.

Flight of the Creative Class

I read a book review this morning in Wired (click here for Wired Web site) on “Flight of the Creative Class” by Richard Florida (buy it at Amazon.com or Kalahari.net). It got a so-so review, and I haven’t read the book (has anyone else?). But I did like the 3 concepts/engines he seems to have built his book around.

The book is about the creative capital that the US is losing at an alarming rate, and the risk to it’s ‘Global Edge’. Florida suggests that the engines of economic growth are technology, talent and tolerance.

These 3 drivers got my attention. Mostly because one of them is the bell we’re ringing within TomorrowToday.biz, the other I am completely committed to, and the third because we’re wrestling in a country struggling to work out how to do it.

I may just go out and get the book.

Nuf Sed

Can ‘diversity’ survive this for much longer?

More blasts today in London. I was on a plane while it was happening. I was reading a Newsweek article on the 4 bombers from last week. As I read I wondered about their families and how life for them would be here on out? Not only being the parents of these 4, but being different in England. The article I was reading addressed difference in London praising it for how diverse it had become. Even possibly suggesting there was no more diverse city on the planet.

And as I drove home and heard of todays bombings, I wondered how long diversity could hold out against this? One of the problems with difference is that we seem to be programmed to be suspicious of people who are different from us. We’re un-easy, not-comfortable, on-edge. The British national culture seems to be one of not being scared off by these bombings. Get up and get out there to show them that they can’t disrupt what is British.

And as I drove I continued to wonder how long before the the great diverse London became disrupted? How long before people stopped looking beyond difference and began to use difference as an excuse to marginalise, hate, separate, judge, etc.

My hopes and prayers are with those in London as they continue to live for difference.

A Positive Approach in the midst of UK Racial Tension

Here is an interesting article from BusinessWeek that puts a new sense of urgency on The Connection Economy principle:

Arming Britain’s Muslim Youth With A Future
By Stanley Reed in London

The news that the deadly bombings of three subway trains and a bus in London on July 7 were likely the work of four British Muslims is a nightmare for the Muslim community. They’re putting British Muslims under examination as never before, as Britons of all kinds try to figure out how anyone could commit such acts.

… Continue Reading

Diversity as Enemy of Efficiency

I’m working on one of our teams to put together a programme that comes from a concept we’ve been working on. It started in the innovation space, and then gradually drifted accross to the diversity space because of our interest in that area. We then decided to work on it to see if we could develop the thought. We’ve come some distance, and have become stuck-ish.

Essentially it’s the following:

*Dominant business paradigm loves efficiency.
*Efficiency loves homogeneity.
*Dominant business paradigm loves homogeneity.

ENTER DIVERSITY (all over the planet)

*Diversity hampers efficiency.
*Diversity challenges dominant business paradigm.
*Dominant business paradigm develops and runs programmes to turn diversity into homogeneity.

And guess what it doesn’t work. So here’s what we say….
… Continue Reading

The goal of diversity is not harmony

Travel the world. It doesn’t matter where you go. People are Diverse. Dictionary.com defines diversity as, ‚A point or respect in which things differ.‛ Simple really. So why are we so stuck with it? Why when you mention diversity, or one of it’s many derivatives (diversity management, embracing diversity, etc), is the response akin to talking about abortion or the death sentence in a room full of right wing conservatives?

Diversity as such is not difficult. Diversity emerges from any point in which we differ. Any point really. I differ with people on a daily basis. My day just wouldn’t be my day if there was no differing. In fact the world wouldn’t be the world if there was no differing. Like and dislikes. Skills and knowledge. Sickness and health. These differences lead people to different responses, which leads to the development of different products. Air conditioning, motor cars, space travel, TV, brick homes, mobile phones, supermarkets, malls, cricket, soccer, Pink Floyd, and the list goes on and on. I’m prepared to bet my colleague’s January wages that differing is responsible for all of that and much, much more.

… Continue Reading