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Unleashing
of Creative
by CAROL KINSEYGOMAN
Carol KinseyGoman,
president
of
Kinsey Consulting Services,
coaches executives,
facilitates management retreats,
helps change teams develop strategies
and speaks
to
business audiences
around the wor ld.
She is the author
of nine boohs including,
This Isn't the Company
I
Joined-
How
to
Lead
in a
Business
rurned Upside Down.
from which this anic le
is
adapted.
Find more informationat
www.ckg.com.
mill
n i l
At Caterpillar's
European headquarters
in Geneva, Sw itzerland,
Gottardo Bontagnali
kept thinking about
the role played by the
central m arket square
p i a z z a
in Italian
in virtually all
European villages.
A Look at Three Real-Wo
hen thinking about factors
that distinguish top-
performing companies
from the also-rans,the
rootof their success often
can be tracedto the
human equation. How
many
of
today's com panies are able
to
tap more
than a fractionoftheir w orkforce potential? How
many are abletotake advantageoflatent talents,
ideas and contributive strengths waiting tobe
switched on? The companies that do best arethe
ones that find the meanstouse a larger fractionof
their human resources than their competitors do.
That is their edge
in
the global economy.
And they hone that edgebytaking action b
on two fundamental principles:
1 ,
Rely on human potential
as
central
to
corpo
strategy,
2 , Liberate that potential through creative
collaboration.
A company's competitiveness factor is a
combinationof the potentialof itspeople,the
quali tyof information those people possess an
wil l ingnesstoshare knowledge with othersin
organization. The leadership challenge is to lin
these components as tightly as possible. Rest
assured that thereis a lot of untapped potenti
all organizations waitingto beliberatedand
knowledge waitingtobe shared.Asproof, let's
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e Pow er
ories Ab ou t Hu m an Potentia l
w Caterp illar created an environm ent in which
ployees from m any d ifferent b ackground s and
backgrounds, they're also interact ing with people
from dif ferent communicat ion cultures. The
challenge was how to make members of this diverse
population begin to think of themselves as a team .
Employee Communicat ion Manager Gottardo
Bontagnali kept thinking about the role played by
the central market square piazza in I tal ianin
virtually all European villages. In addition to going
to the piazza for necessities of daily life, vil lagers
went there to exchange news, pick up gossip, pass
on information and socialize. It was, and stil l is in
many places, the vil lage's most efficient
communicat ion
fool .
So Bonfagnal i decided to create a piazz a at
Caterpillar's Geneva headquarters. Local artists
n i l
m il
In a d d i t io n to g o in g
t o t h e p ia z z a f o r
n e c e s s i t ie s o f d a i ly l i fe
v i ll a g e r s w e n t t h e r e
t o e x c h a n g e n e w s ,
p i c k u p g o s s ip , p a s s
o n i n f o r m a t i o n a n d
s o c i a l i z e . I t w a s , a n d
s t i l l is in m a n y p l a c e s ,
t h e v i ll a g e ' s m o s t
e f f i c i e n t c o m m u n i c a t io
t o o l . S o B o n t a g n a l i
d e c i d e d t o c r e a t e a
p i a z z a a t C a t e r p i l l a r
G e n ev a h e a d q u a r t e r s .
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LESSONS
FOR
CORPORATE
COMMUNICATORS
In their own way,
the
case studies
of
Buckm an Laboratories,
J. M,
Huber Corp.
and Caterpi l lar reflect how businesseven corporate com mun ication i tselfhas
been turned upside down. There are
a
number
of
lessons
to
be learned,
1 . The key issueistrust.
> Developing employee trust iscr i t i ca l intoday's post-E nron, post-W orldCom
envi ronment,
> Trust begins[or isre in forced} through t imely, t ransparent com mun icat ion,
> Communicators have the opportun i ty
to
become ambassadors
of
that
message. Without trust, everything else
is
just fancy footwo rk.
2 . Think "Little C," not always "B ig C."
> For every example
of the
B ig
C
(the overal l company culture), there
are
often
a
dozen examples
of the
L i t t le C incre d ib le pockets,
or
min i -cu l tures, ofcreativi ty and col labora tive sp ir i t.
>
In
any environm ent, even
a
repressive one, comm unicat ors can create
whatever kindofmin i -cu l ture they wish wi th in the i r depa rtmentsorteams,
> Often,
in
fact , creatmg a co llaborat ive c u l ture makes a communicat ion team
shineand wi l l become an example others wish
to
emu la te .
3. The roleofcom m unicat ion has expanded .
> Communicators are helpmg people interact and connect with each other.
> They have, even
in a
l i teral sense, become arc hitects . They are using the ir
expertise not onlytodesign events an d speeches inways that signalash i f t
from traditional top-down message giving
but
also
to
belp design office
envi ronments that encourage co l laborat ion.
> The traditional role
of
the communica t ion sta f f has changed from in format ion
gatekeeperstodevelopersofenvi ronments conduciveto in format ion shar ing.
>
Put
another way, th is isn ' t the communicat ion department most
of us
jo ined,
either.
If it
is
it
shouldn t he.
were brought in to paint the wallsof the top-floor
cafeteria with large village scenes, dotted with
bright yellow Cat machines,
of
course, as well
as
sights from multiple Cat locations. The
vi l lagers portrayed inthe panoramas were
actual Cat employees. With
a
l i t t le imagination,
employees could actual ly p icture themselves
in a
European market square surroundedbyfamil iar
faces and sights.
Employees were encouragedtouse the piazza
K o s k i n i e m i e x p e r i e n c e d t h e p o w e r o f t r u s t :
I f k n o w le d g e s h a r i n g is h u i l t o n t r u s t ,
t h e n t o m e t h i s m o m e n t o v e r a n y o t h e r
d e m o n s t ra t e d t h a t B o h B u c k m a n
r e a l l y t r u s t e d t h e a s s o c i a t e s o f B u c k m a n L a b o r a t o r ie s
to t a k e t h e c o m p a n y f o r w a r d .
for informal meetings and discuss ions. Let's
discuss itover a cupofcoffee inthe piazza h
become part
of
Caterpillar's culture
in
Geneva
And because so many people use the piazzafo
regular exchanges,it'sbecome an importan t
means
of
sharing information on an impromp tu
basis as
wel l .
But the most impressive result
i
how workplace design helped build workforce
camaraderie ^nd
a
comm on sense
of
purpose.
W H O ISTHAT GUY T T H E B A C KOFT H E R O
H ow B o b B u c k m a n re in fo rc e da k n o w l ed g e - sh a
cu lture based on trust. Buckman Laboratoriesh
been
in
the specialty chem ical business since
1 9 4 5 Under the leadership
of
Robert
H.
(Bob
Buckman,
it also has becomeaworld-class,
knowledge-sharing organization. Buckman wou
tell you that converting a command-and-contro
organization intoanetworked one was not w ith
its challenges and setbacks.
St i l l ,by
1 9 9 4 ,
Buckman Labs had jumped into full-bore
knowledge sharing: new software and connecti
had been installed, mostof the associates wer
equipped with laptops and online forums were
and running. To honor and reward the top
150
people who had done the best jobofsharing
knowledge,a Fourth Wave Me eting was held
Scottsdale, Ariz,, USA. The meeting was three d
of fun, celebration and workspecifically, critic
discussions about business trends and strategie
was also the setting for a remarkable story.
Throughout the conference,aman wearing
shorts,
a
T-shirt and sanda ls sat
at
the back
o
room,
chronicl ing the meeting onhis laptop an
posting live messages on the forumforthe res
the company
to
read. His name was Mark
Koskiniemi. About midway through the meetin
one ofthe organizers approached Koskiniem ia
asked him
to
stop sending out
his
notes,
Koskiniemi refused, saying he didn't feel that
appropriate. When the organizer suggested that
request came from the top, Koskiniemi counter
by saying he'd appreciate hearing
it
personally.
A few mmutes later,
a
break was c alled ,
an
Koskiniemi found himself face-to-face with
B
Buckman,
Hereishow K oskiniem i reca lls the
conversation:
Koskiniemi: Hello,
sir,
Buckman:
Mark,I understand that you have
been posting notes from the meeting on
the
forum.
I
have
to
say that
I
have
not
read th em
are you sure that issuchagood idea?
Koskiniemi: Do you trus t me?
Buckman broke into abig smile, nodded
slightly, and nothing further was said about
Koskiniemi's continued reporting
of
the events
Two results emerged from Koskiniemi's
report ing.
First, he sent more than50messag
related
to
the reports com ing from the m eetin
sharing knowledge with others
in
real time.
Second,
Koskiniemi (now the headof Buckma
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d the power of tru st: If knowledge
ECOMING A LEARNING ORGANIZATION
w After Ac tion Reviews d rive know ledge-sharing
innovation at the J. M. Hu b er Corp . 2 May
00 3 at the J. M. Huber Corp, headquarters in
He rem arked : I selected this team because
plan,
using AARs to implement a cr i t ical ly
AARs? What are they? And why are they so
The After Action Review was developed by the
Army during the 1 970 s to help American
What tiappened?
Why did it happen?
Central to the process at Huber is a
In just a few years, Huber transformed i tself
culture . In 2 00 2 , Huber employees conducted
than 2 ,00 0 AARsagamst a goal of 1 ,000
C o m p a n i e s c a n ' t d e v a l u e w o r k e r s
a n d e x p e c t to c o m e o u t a h e a d .
G i ve p e o p l e l e s s , a n d t h e y g i v e le s s h a c k .
T r e a t th e m l ik e u n d e r l i n g s , a n d th e y b e h a v e l i k e u n d e r lin g s .
O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , o f fe r t h e m m o r e , a n d t h e y r e p a y
t h e c o m p a n y ' s i n v e s t m e n t w i t h i n t e r e s t .
than 90 percent of the action items they
com mitted to in their 2 00 2 AARsgreater than
the stated target. Now more than half of all AARs
focus on the company's critical success factors,
aligning learning with areas of strategic
importance to the company.
THE MORAL OF THE STORIES
Three different stories, three different locations
and three very different companies. But all lead to
one cr i t ical conclusion.
Success in today's global economy boils down
to the single, universally recognized objective of
getting more for lesswith one exception: human
resources. Human labor is not a disposable
commodity. It is a unique creative resource for the
future of the organization. Companies can't devalue
workers and expect to come out ahead. Give people
less, and they give less back. Treat them like
underlings, and they behave like underlings.
On the other hand, offer them more, and they
repay the company's investment with interest.
We're not talking about money now. We're talking
about l iberat ing untapped potential , about
energizing employees and engaging their
commitment and enthus iasm.
Give people a chance to grow and they will
blossom. Entrust them with greater authority and
they will take on greater responsibility. Educate
them to understand the changing business
dynamics and they will make excellent business
decisions. Encourage them to collaborate and they
will amaze you with their inventiveness. Treat
them like full partners in the organization and
they wi l l part ic ipate hke owners.
Companies that make human potential the
corporate strategy will be ready for the new
business age,Q i l
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