Issue No. 561 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting recommends a new book with a 100-day plan for "blending" the expertise of nonprofits, for-profits, and governments to solve big problems. Uncle Sam still needs you! And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), click here for over 550 book reviews, and click here for my review of two fascinating books on Carlos Ghosn, the infamous CEO of Nissan and Renault.
Attn: U.S. Readers! Happy Memorial Day Weekend! And...a reminder that Uncle Sam still needs you! Read Bridgebuilders and then order this coffee mug to remind you to stop whining and start leaping over silos to solve our country's deepest problems.
Stop Whining and Start Leaping Over Silos!
OLD SCHOOL: Listen to the news or read about the latest government debacles, disasters, and poorly-planned programs—AND THEN WHINE!
NEW SCHOOL: Stop whining and start “leaping over the silos that too often handcuff leaders in solving society’s biggest problems.”
Wake Up Call! Your company and your favorite nonprofit can help your government manage our overwhelming problems. The key is in the title of this new Harvard Business Review Press book (May 23, 2023) from William D. Eggers and Donald F. Kettl:
If you serve with a nonprofit organization...as a volunteer, board member, or staff member—someone on your team MUST read this book!
If you’re an owner or a team member at a for-profit company...you may be surprised to learn that “bridgebuilding” is the new currency for helping our local, state, regional, and national governments to solve big problems. (And oh, my—we do have problems.)
CONFESSION. Before I cracked open this book, I looked at 10 other books on the shelf in my “Library of Candidates.” Why read a book on government—when government often makes the problem worse? (Ronald Reagan: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help.")
But then, the graphic on page two (“The Vending-Machine Model” of government) sucked me in! LOL! By page 17, “The Bridgebuilder Imperative” sold me. Wow! This is an important book—and I can make a difference. I know hundreds of nonprofit and for-profit leaders and board members who MUST read this book!
IN FACT…I’m such a fan of this book, I ordered a copy of Bridgebuilders for my favorite government servant, John Moorlach, who served as a county official and state senator in California. Who's on your short list that should read this book?
Peter Drucker would have loved this book! In Chapter 6, “Focus on Outcomes,” the authors discuss the challenges of what Drucker would label “inside results” versus “outside results.” The subtitle: “Internal Procedures Can’t Dominate the Search for Multisectoral Success.” As is true of all 10 chapters in Bridgebuilders, the authors conclude each chapter with “Ten Ways Bridgebuilders Can…[chapter title].” Brilliant and practical summaries!
Chapter 6 includes this: “Don’t conflate inputs and outputs for outcomes.” They add, “To be sure, output measures matter and should be tracked, but to truly improve the well-being of families and communities, the focus should be on outcomes.” (Amen! For more on outcomes, read my chapter, “The Results Bucket.”)
This reminded me of the book, The Gatekeepers, and the disciplined focus of Erskine Bowles who served as President Bill Clinton’s second chief of staff. Bowles “carried around a card with the president’s top priorities written on it—and rebelled when Clinton tried to go off script. ‘One day the president came out of his office and he had another one of his great ideas,’ he recalls. ‘And believe me, they were unbelievably great ideas. And I turned to him and said, ‘Mr. President, you have got to go right back into that Oval Office, right now!
“‘You’ve got to look at this list of things that you and I agreed you wanted to get done. Not that I wanted to get done, but you wanted to get done. If you will stay focused on those three or four things, I can set up the organization and the structure and the focus to make ‘em real. But you can’t do a thousand things.’”
WHAT GOVERNMENT/SOCIETAL ISSUES DO YOU WHINE ABOUT? Homelessness? Crime? Civility? Immigration? Gas stoves? Political arrogance? Climate? (I could go on…)
HERE’S A THOUGHT. Read the book and then share it with your favorite nonprofit leader, your favorite politician or government employee, your pastor or priest, or anyone who whines too much! When absurd government programs are suggested—don’t whine—jump in and “leap over the silos.”
HUH? And speaking of absurd—assuming the reporter got the facts right—read this May 20, 2023, report about NYC’s plan to put “kiosks in stores that connect ‘would-be thieves’ to social service.” (You gotta be kidding me! See the note above about the vending-machine model of government. Prophetic!!!)
The authors, with significant academic and in-the-trenches credentials, cover the problems and solutions—with dozens of fascinating examples—of innovative bridgebuilding initiatives, plus numerous failures (and why programs failed). Example: when members of the 9/11 Commission asked, “Why didn’t the world’s best intelligence agency see this coming?”—they landed on two key failures: 1) the intelligence community was plagued by a “failure of imagination,” and 2) a failure to connect the dots. “On paper, government had become blended. In practice, its approach to understanding these intelligence changes had not.”
More examples:
• After a week of disorganized chaos after Katrina, a collaborative leader brought 2,000 responders together at a Dillard’s department store warehouse—and launched the recovery effort with a simple set of core values. (See Chapter 1, “Knock Down Barriers.”)
• Another memorable graphic is on page 212 in Chapter 10, “Make the Exceptional Routine.” The drawing, “Conducting the Orchestra” spotlights the perfect metaphor for effective bridgebuilding. The authors note six bullet-point features of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s “public-private collaboration across multiple sectors” during his three terms, 2002-2013, including: “Engage the private sector not simply as funders but as real allies.”
• NASA: “OpenStack software, emergency foil blankets, cordless drills—NASA keeps catalyzing innovation. Spin-off technologies that began at NASA include memory foam, the computer mouse, and many cell phone cameras. NASA intentionally encourages commercial innovation, welcoming it from all comers.” (Three cheers for JFK’s BHAG!)
4 WAYS TO JUMP INTO THIS IMPORTANT BOOK:
[ ] OPTION #1. Read the 100 bullet points (10 per chapter)—and then jump into the chapter that grabs your interest.
[ ] OPTION #2. Read the eight-page conclusion, “The Urgency of Bridgebuilding,” outlining the holistic approach to addressing the fundamental challenges of modern government: Urgency, Complexity, Mismatch, Blending, Data, and Trust.
[ ] OPTION #3. Read the appendix, “A 100-Day Plan for Bridgebuilding in Your New Government Job.” (Just four pages, this should be posterized and posted on every government office wall—including the White House and your city council chamber!)
[ ] OPTION #4. Listen to the book at Libro (8 hours, 38 minutes).
BRILLIANT! In addition to the gems above, the authors deliver a final section, “How to Teach This,” with recommended takeaways, readings, case studies, and discussion questions for each of the 10 chapters. (Why don’t all authors leverage this format?) Plus, the 29 pages of notes are a footnote feast—tempting articles and more, including how the StrengthsFinder assessment is impacting government, plus a Forbes article on “America’s Top Givers 2022: The 25 Most Philanthropic Billionaires.”
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Bridgebuilders: How Government Can Transcend Boundaries to Solve Big Problems, by William D. Eggers and Donald F. Kettl. Listen on Libro (8 hours, 38 minutes). And thanks to Harvard Business Review Press for sending me a review copy.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) The authors of Bridgebuilders credit the chief of staff of the Coast Guard, Admiral Thad Allen, with creative collaboration in the Katrina recovery effort. One key: “learning to solve the right problems.” (Government rarely does this well on their own.) Should you focus on the problem or the solution? For more read Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs, by Uri Levine.
2) The next time you drive by a homeless encampment, ask yourself: Why haven't the brightest minds on the planet solved this problem yet? Could we "solve problems before they happen," per Dan Heath? (Read this.) What about human trafficking? Could we do more to "blend" government solutions with nonprofit and for-profit intiatives. What's the church's role? (Read this.) OK...now your thoughts. What's on our 100-day plan to attack a societal issue?
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books - Part 5: The Mount Rushmore of Leadership Legends
Book #32 of 100: The New One Minute Manager
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #32 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
The New One Minute Manager
by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, M.D.
Books #22 through #40 spotlight 19 books I named to “The Mount Rushmore of Leadership Legends” group—featuring Patrick Lencioni, Jim Collins, Ken Blanchard, and Peter Drucker. Part 5 features five books by Blanchard, including this update of the original “all-time #1 bestseller on managing your work and life."
• Order from Amazon: The New One Minute Manager
• Listen on Libro (1 hour, 27 minutes)
• Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson)
On goals, Blanchard asks why unmotivated team members suddenly become motivated after working hours when they, for example, go bowling and hit a strike? But why isn’t the same person motivated at work?
“Because he doesn’t know where the pins are.” The young team member adds, “I get it. How long would he want to bowl if there were no pins?”
The authors add, “It’s the same with watching football. How many people in this country would sit in front of their TVs on a Sunday afternoon or Monday night and watch two teams run up and down the field if there were no goals to shoot at or any way to score?”
The secret? Feedback! Or as Blanchard and Johnson preach, “Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions.”
Hopefully, you’re a big fan of weekly staff meetings, but would you be gutsy enough to announce this policy? At the author’s company, Leverage, they “also have a rule that anyone is allowed to respectfully leave a meeting if they don’t feel the need to be there or are not adding value to the conversation.” Read more in Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work, by Nick Sonnenberg. And for more book reviews, visit the Pails in Comparison Blog.
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Stars, Hearts, Money Trees, and Stop Signs!
“Focus on Outcomes” is one of 10 building blocks in the book, Bridgebuilders (see above). For more on outcomes—and creating a results-focused culture—read Lesson 23 in Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom (Second Edition), by Dan Busby and John Pearson, “Focus on Mission Impact and Sustainability. The ‘dual bottom line’ equips boards to address dead horses and sacred cows (or goats).” Click here to read about the four-quadrant impact matrix: Stars, Hearts, Money Trees, and Stop Signs.
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PEARPOD | TELLING YOUR STORY. Is your nonprofit (or for-profit) positioned as a “bridgebuilder?” Do your marketing and communication tools articulate “Lone Ranger Arrogance” or is it clear—from the get-go—that you are experts in partnerships and bridgebuilding? Need an outsider looking in? Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social).
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