Work That Works E-Book

Geil Browning

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 242

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Use cognitive diversity to your advantage and transform your organization Work That Works is a guide to building better teams and an exceedingly positive workplace culture. Based on the tools and principles of Emergenetics, this book helps you improve communication, connection, and performance through an enlightening process of self-discovery and sharing. You'll discover the unique combination of strengths you bring to the table, and understand the power of your Thinking and Behavioral Preferences to gain greater clarity and a better understanding of your skills, habits and behavior. As people understand and share their Profiles, the real magic happens--teams can be built synergistically, and team members can collaborate more effectively by "borrowing another person's brain." Cognitive diversity is a given whenever a group of people work together toward a common goal; the critical factor is whether those differences become an obstacle or a catalyst. By bringing each person's "true self" to light, you provide a window through visible elements of diversity and shine a light on their gifts--and it's only then that those gifts can be leveraged to their utmost capacity. Dr. Geil Browning's second book outlines this process of discovery, effective communication, using thoughtful language, addressing challenges and instituting long-term behavioral change. By honoring the Preferences and Attributes of all employees, you lay the groundwork for enhanced performance and engagement. * Learn how changing your language changes your thought patterns, and eventually leads to changes in behavior * Dig into the real differences between you and your co-workers at the cognitive and behavioral levels * Discover the strengths each person brings to the table, and synergize those strengths to collaborate more effectively * Learn how to apply these same principles to social activities and family life to improve all communications and connections Work That Works provides a blueprint for the transformation, and the practical guidance you need to build a better organization.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Cover

Endorsement

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction: What Is Emergineering, and How Will It Make a Difference to You?

Principle #1: Leadership is an Inside Job

Who Are You?

How Well Do You Know Yourself?

The Behaviorial Attributes

The Thinking Attributes

Your Leadership Profile Is Perfect The Way It Is

What Do You Love?

How Do You Restore Balance To A Troubled World?

Reflection

Implementation Steps

Principle #2: Embrace The Scratchy

What Exactly Is The Scratchy?

Scratchiness For You

Scratchiness For Your Employees

Scratchiness For Your Business

How We Embrace The Scratchy In Our Office

Nikki's Story

Meet Marvin, Your Future Employee

Meet Everyone's Needs, Not Just Your Own

Avoid A Uniform Corporate Environment

A Brief History Of Office Spaces

One Company, Many Profiles

How We Emergineered Our Meetings

Structural (Green) Meetings

Social (Red) Meetings

Conceptual (Yellow) Meetings

Analytical (Blue) Meetings?

Centering

Leading The Centering Exercise

Reflection

Implementation Steps

Principle #3: Using The Language Of Grace

The Quiet Engineer

Accentuate The Positive – Really

How Negative Words Affect The Brain

Using Positive Words That Enhance Energy

Vocabulary Switches To Make Now

Use The Corporate “We”

Say “I'm Doing My Best!” Instead Of “I'm Trying!”

Explain What You Are Doing Instead Of Saying “I'm Busy!”

Communication Is Everything

The Emergenetics App

Using The “Thirds”

Addressing People With Different Profiles

The Universal Language Of Emergenetics

1. Cooperation Between Global Hemispheres

2. Success At A Fortune 500 Company

3. Cultivating The Language Of Grace

Reflection

Implementation Steps

Principle #4: Creating A Meeting Of The Minds

Demonstrating The Power Of A WEteam

We Are Wired To Collaborate

Creating A WEteam For Cognitive Collaboration

Create A Company Culture of Trust

Hire For Competence

Beware Biases

Beware Groupthink

Here's How Different Attributes Contribute To Your WEteam

The Behavioral Attributes

The Thinking Attributes

Am I Finished Yet?

Assemble Your Team Members

What Does Each Attribute Need For Psychological Safety In A Team?

Reflection

Implementation Steps

Principle #5: Using the Power of We

Who Is Your Favorite Child?

Help! I Don't have a Perfect WEteam!

Emergency Measure #1: Invite an Outsider to Join You

Emergency Measure #2: The Empty Chair

Emergency Measure #3: WEboarding

Using a Blank Template

What's the Return on Investment (ROI) in a WEapproach?

Success at Wyndham Vacation Ownership

Putting It all Together: A WEteam Meeting with an Empty Chair

Reflection

Implementation Steps

Principle #6: Let Your People Live to Work, not Work to Live

Two Generations: Changing Attitudes Towards Work

The Older Generation Speaks

A Millennial Speaks

Four Generations

Do You Live to Work, or Work to Live?

How can Your Company Meet the Needs of all Generations?

How to Balance the Professional with the Personal on the Job

Coaching

Reflection

Implementation Steps

Principle #7: Love

Presence

Gratitude

Joy

Boundaries and Accountability

Love is a Verb

Reflection

Implementation Steps

Conclusion and Acknowledgments

Appendix

Glossary of Emergenetics Terms

Sources

Index

End User License Agreement

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Foreword

Begin Reading

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“I love this book! Backed up by extensive research, it gives the reader seven clear principles for a structured approach to understanding themselves and helping them to grow a high performance culture. Simply put, it will enable the reader to release new potential in their organization. Work That Works certainly works for me!”

—Kosta Christofi, Senior Learning Manager, Santander, UK

“The impact of language in the workplace is nothing short of amazing! When my team started to share the common language of Emergenetics, the entire atmosphere changed. People are showing greater consideration by being more inclusive of various personality types and more open to different perspectives and communication styles. The ability to Emergineer such positivity has served as a guiding light for all of us.”

—Sherrye L. Hutcherson, Vice President of Human Resources, Union Pacific Railroad

“Few things are as vital to leadership, success and overall fulfilment as self-awareness and the ability to communicate precisely and honestly. Work that Works exquisitely shows you how on both accounts. With its bullseye principles, this treasure of a book is a homerun for individuals and organizations that want to be a major contender in this ferociously competitive world. I'd be surprised if you don't find at least three things in this book that transform you positively. Forever.”

—Scott G. Halford, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Activate Your Brain, member of the National Speakers Hall of Fame, and Principal, Complete Intelligence, Inc.

“Business books are typically written with good research and deep cognitive efforts. They speak to the head. Work That Works, a second book from Dr Geil Browning did not just score well in this area; this book speaks to the heart, mind and soul. Brought to life with her years of experience creating and using Emergenetics throughout her life, Geil's masterpiece will allow you to emergineer a truly positive corporate culture and a changed organization.”

—Josh Teo, Entrepreneur and Co-founder, Emergenetics APAC, Singapore

“Dr. Geil Browning has been an inspiration to so many as she researched and created Emergenetics, founded ICAN (Institute for Career Advancement Needs) and has now developed Emergineering. As today's leaders grapple with the future of business, holding the interest of millennials and igniting profits, Emergineering is a key tool to understanding your team, growing your business and doing good in the communities where you employ people.”

—Susan L. Henricks, President and CEO, ICAN

“Dr. Geil Browning has been an inspiration to so many as she researched and created Emergenetics, founded ICAN (Institute for Career Advancement Needs) and has now developed Emergineering. As today's leaders grapple with the future of business, holding the interest of millennials and igniting profits, Emergineering is a key tool to understanding your team, growing your business and doing good in the communities where you employ people.”

—Susan L. Henricks, President and CEO, ICAN

“Leaders who value, and wish to nurture, their human capital will find an incredible resource in Work that Works. This book reminds us to seek out the irreplaceable contributions of the individual and prompts us to deliberately tap into the magic of diverse teams. Work that Works is practical and structured. It will become your go-to handbook for creating a company that works.”

—Marty Lassen, Principal, Complete Intelligence, LLC

“As I have been ‘embracing the scratchy’ since first bringing Emergenetics to U.S. Federal Government employees and their contractors in 2014, I found Work That Works an absolutely fabulous resource for the pragmatic application of Emergenetics and for fully developing the Power of We. Work That Works' eminent practicality made me wish I'd had all the templates and ideas when I had started! Bravo, Geil, and thank you for producing a succinct and powerful aid for us Emergineers!”

—Gibson Kerr, Professor of Executive Acquisition Management, Defense Systems Management College, Defense Acquisition University

“Our understanding of how human brains function effectively, means that successful future leaders and organizations need to rewire habits of where they spend their time and energy . . . every day . . . every meeting . . . every conversation. This book guides you in that quest. You will thoroughly enjoy the journey and reap the rewards. Your organization will become sustainable and transformed. Emergineer the future!”

—David Sales, Executive Director, First Ascent Group, UK

“After reading Work That Works, I formed a wholly new perspective on the importance of self-awareness. The knowledge of my preferences allowed me to renew my approach as a leader. I am empowered to Emergineer my approach in a way that will best serve those around me and the world we live in.”

—Regina Andreu, President, Latin Top Jobs, El Salvador

Geil Browning, Ph.D.

Work that Works

An Emergenetics Guide

Emergineeringa Positive Organizational Culture

Our business model includes making sure each employee is understood, valued, engaged, and as healthy and productive as possible.

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: background © Gile68/iStock.com

Cover Illustration: © Tom Fishburne

All cartoons are created by Tom Fishburne at Marketoonist, and owned by Emergenetics

Copyright © 2018 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone], or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Browning, Geil, author.

Title: Work that works : emergineering a positive organizational culture / by Geil Browning, Ph.D.

Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2017036478 (print) | ISBN 9781119387022 (cloth)

Subjects: LCSH: Leadership. | Organizational behavior. | Corporate culture.

Classification: LCC HD57.7 .B7697 2018 (print) | DDC 658.4/092–dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017036478

To Morgan, the Emergenetics staff, and Associates for pioneering Emergineering.

and

To Armistead, Tyler, and Ryan, who have been part of Emergenetics since its inception.

Foreword

In the beginning, Emergenetics started as a tool that helped people decipher how they thought and behaved. It brought scientific objectivity to a most perplexing challenge: human behavior. People have characteristics that emerge from their life experiences, as well as factors that are hardwired by their genetics. The Emergenetics system introduced a simple, but not simplistic, framework that showed people how they naturally used their mental energies and how they presented themselves to the world. The Emergenetics Profile could be used by everyone to understand not only themselves but also their colleagues.

Since that time, we have seen Emergenetics evolve into a complete, scalable driver of positive change and systemic culture. The Profile still shows individuals how to prize their talents, but we also have learned so much more about helping people flex their attributes so they can perform in a well-rounded way and meet others with different preferences where they are. In addition, we have become more sophisticated at valuing and leveraging the talents of all employees in the workplace. We found out that anything can be interpreted by using an Emergenetics Profile, from brainstorming all aspects of a new project to buying a new home.

This book is written to help guide all levels of an organization to create a positive and productive working environment. When we stopped to look at our own offices and our own corporate climate, we realized that we had instinctively used Emergenetics priorities to guide our decisions, whether we were determining what colors to paint our walls or how to infuse our work, and our workplace, with our core values. In short, we had Emergineered our own organization.

Emergineering is the process of taking goals – such as building trust, preparing for the future, spurring innovation, and energizing workplace culture – and making sure every aspect of each goal reflects Emergenetics concepts. This results in a corporate climate that values and supports the most important asset of any organization: its people.

We use Emergineering to align an organization's culture and increase efficiency and productivity while fostering a climate of positivity and collaboration. The principles in this book are the culmination of over 25 years of research, data, and experience from our work with our clients as well as from our own growth. The seven principles in this book represent the best practices of Emergenetics, putting our concepts to their highest and best use.

Most organizations exist in a continuous process of transformation. Emergineering represents a company-wide approach to providing a consistent language to help people and teams work more effectively. This customizable process can fully support the vision and strategic goals of any business. Emergineering brings objectivity to difficult and subjective topics. An unwavering goal is to provide an environment in which individuals feel appreciated, heard, and unafraid. Ultimately, when people are happy in their jobs and believe their input contributes to the greater good of the company, the corporate culture becomes a key driver of business results!

Morgan Browning

President

Emergenetics International

IntroductionWhat Is Emergineering, and How Will It Make a Difference to You?

On December 9, 2008, our largest client placed a very large order for Emergenetics training within their company. I was excited and told my staff that we might even skip the financial crisis that was facing the country.

I was wrong. Two weeks later, the client called and canceled the order. By the end of the first quarter in 2009, we had lost 40% of our business.

For the preceding 16 years we had been helping organizations by using self-development seminars in which employees learned about their thinking and behavioral preferences. We helped them recognize how their individual attributes affected their lives, their work, and their team.

The name of our company, Emergenetics, comes from the fact that we are all the product of characteristics that emerge from our life experiences as well as attributes that are the result of our genetics. We successfully and scientifically determine each employee's unique attributes by scoring their answers to an Emergenetics survey. We also provide them with a personal color-coded Emergenetics Profile, which not only illustrates their preferences at a glance, but also compares their results to a global population (see the www.emergenetics.com for more information about the Emergenetics Profile or to review our Technical Report. You can also refer to my first book, EMERGENETICS: Tap Into the New Science of Success). Once individuals better understand themselves and share their Profiles with others, wonderful things happen.

After years of assessing hundreds of thousands of people, we proved that when organizations hire competent people, put the right Emergenetics teams together, and provide an Emergenetics culture, this results in increased innovation and productivity. Our seminars were met with great success. However, the financial crisis forced us to ask ourselves, “Is this only ‘nice to know’ information? How does Emergenetics make a difference when financial times get tough?”

As I was brainstorming with my team about where to go with the new economic reality, one person said, “Well, what do we do here in our office?”

It Worked for Us, It Works for Our Clients, and It Will Work for You

By the end of 2009, our business rebounded and we lost only 20% from 2008. We think that happened because companies got rid of their fat and decided to invest in training for their remaining leaders.

And we could help them. For the past seven years, we have made the Inc. 5000 list. In 2014, we were named one of Colorado's fastest-growing companies. We also continue to grow internationally because what works in Denver, Colorado, or New York City also works in Singapore or London or Cairo or Paris. I spend the majority of my time every year flying from our offices in Denver to destinations all over the world, speaking to prospective clients, visiting our Emergenetics offices in Ireland and Singapore, and visiting our representatives in the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. I have come to realize that languages and customs differ, but what makes people tick is the same all over the world. And the fact that people are people is great for growing our business.

The flip side is that in the United States employers and employees have the same issues.

Fewer than one-third of employees love their jobs. They are referred to as

actively engaged

. The number has not improved for the last 15 years.

One study found that 82% of workers do not trust their boss to tell the truth.

Approximately 50% of workers just tolerate their jobs.

Around 17% actively hate their jobs and will go out of their way to disrupt the work that is being done.

A full 91% of workers said they switched jobs purposely to get away from their previous management.

These statistics show that many companies need to do things a lot better. To begin with, they need to understand the danger and cost of unhappy employees. Our business model at Emergenetics is to make sure each employee is understood, valued, engaged, and as healthy and productive as possible. How could we make companies recognize the value of Emergenetics in all their operations and decisions? How could we help them change their corporate cultures to fix rampant dissatisfaction?

What Makes Emergenetics Unusual?

Our approach is inclusive, diverse, and collaborative.

We develop our employees based on their Emergenetics Profiles, encouraging them to work through their strengths to succeed.

We make sure every presentation appeals to all types of individuals.

We make sure every meeting is based on cognitive diversity.

Collaboration and working in teams are part of our corporate culture.

We value our colleagues and their unique gifts – not

even though

they are different from us but

because

they are different from us.

Our company is a place where other people want to come to work because we do not emphasize conformity.

We are dedicated to the professional progress of our employees.

We promote engagement, loyalty, and enthusiasm.

We place a priority on employee well-being.

We maintain a global outlook.

We shape the future instead of simply running into it.

We embrace change, and accept that anticipating and managing change is part of work that works.

We have our own nonjudgmental language –

the Language of Gr

ace – that everyone uses to ensure a positive working environment.

We hire new people on the basis of our own Emergenetics Selection Profile (ESP), which evaluates who is most likely to succeed in an available position.

When onboarding new employees, everyone shares their individual Emergenetics Profiles – both the new and current employees – to be transparent about how we think and behave.

We acknowledge the ways in which we might improve.

Our response to changing market conditions is creative, innovative, and agile.

We recognize how all these components help the bottom line.

Passion, Productivity, and Profits Increase with Human Interaction

Emergineering cannot be accomplished with memos from the corporate office. It even requires a deeper commitment than putting all your leaders in a room for one day of Emergenetics training. That's a good start, but it will take sustained commitment to create a new corporate culture.

If you resist some of these concepts, try to get out of your comfort zone – what we call feeling scratchy – long enough to give this guide your earnest effort. If you positively can't relate to any of these principles, pass this book on to someone else because you're not ready to grasp the way business is going to be in the future.

On the other hand, if you're curious about successfully Emergineering your team, department, or company, I encourage you to keep reading! As a CEO, manager, or direct report, you're in the best position to Emergineer your company into the future. This book is written for those exceptional leaders who will pass these principles on to their direct reports, who will pass them on to their direct reports, and so on, until every employee understands their new corporate culture in which everything is done with transparency, with intention, and without judgment for the benefit of all.

If you've been wondering about the best way to adapt your leadership to the future, hold the interest of millennials, and ignite profits, there's a new leadership coach in town: WORK THAT WORKS!

Principle #1Leadership is an Inside JobKnow Yourself

Thousands of articles and research papers have been written about leadership. This, the first principle, deals with you as a leader: your values, the ways in which you think and behave, and how these affect your actions and your communication with your employees.

Let's start with three universal questions:

Who are you?

What do you love?

How can you restore balance to a troubled world?

After you are able to answer these questions, you are ready to start reflecting on how to be a leader.

Who Are You?

We live in a world that is more transparent than ever. The Internet has afforded everyone unprecedented access to information that permits unlimited discoveries.

People are using this information for everything from checking out a rash to creating political movements. Using this window into the world, sophisticated users can research the most advanced studies and esoteric information, while even basic users have learned to research the goods and services they need before they pay up or sign up. Before going out to eat, they will check a restaurant's online reputation. If the reviews are bad, they will look in another direction. If the reviews are good, they will proceed with their research and find the menu.

Think of a large purchase you have made recently. I'm willing to bet that some of you obtained a variety of information about what you were buying ahead of time, that you located some options about where to buy it, and that you determined how much you could reasonably expect to pay based on a comparison of prices in your area or even nationally.

It's no surprise that prospective job candidates are doing the same thing. It's easier than ever to find out what's behind the curtain of a place to work. All manner of information is readily available online. Who runs the company and what are their backgrounds? Has the company been involved in any litigation? How does it treat its employees? How well are they compensated? What are the working conditions like? What benefits, such as healthcare, are available? Does the company support continuing education? Does it reach for a higher calling?

Similarly, it's every bit as easy to discover how different individuals lead. Bernie Madoff was able to con people out of billions of dollars because his investors thought they knew him. They did not check out his financials before they invested. If they had, it would have been easy for them to spot the very large, very red flags. Through the window of the Internet, the danger signs were hiding in plain sight.

Transparency is a key pillar of leadership. Today, leaders are in the public eye, and someone who takes the time to look will be able to find out a great deal about you. Have you considered what they will discover? Are you aware of how you portray yourself at the office? Do people feel that they really know who you are and what you stand for? Is your authenticity apparent in your leadership style?

Reasonable people don't expect leaders to be heroes. They would simply like to know that they can count on the leaders, that the leaders have their interests at heart and are taking care of the greater whole. They would like to be able to expect that when the sun rises in the morning, they will have a place to go to work. Ideally, this place of work promotes such virtues as honesty, accountability, respect, collaboration, trust, and concern for the future.

Since 1982, and together with two colleagues – Carol Hunter and Tim Rouse – I facilitated a repeating 12-day leadership development program that was presented over 9 months. It was sponsored by the Institute for Career Advancement Needs (ICAN). Initially, the stated goal was coaching leadership development for high potential executives. Ultimately, we figured out that we were helping them, and us, figure out who we are from the inside out.

Back then, companies had very little interest in engaging in these sorts of development opportunities. We would walk into an executive's office to pitch the idea, and many times we were greeted with blank stares, or responses like, “Who cares about other people's feelings? How does this help anybody do their job?” Some companies did buy into this idea, and a few were forced to do so through government regulations, so we were able to begin making a difference.