Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 24 of 58

Singaporean Chinese Beauty, thanks to plan B!

January 31st, 2010

Learning Moment: Singapore

Today, we strolled the streets of Singapore; though Little India, up Orchard Road, and down back alleys. Tonight, while I reviewed the photos I took, I (re)learned two lessons:

1. Always check your settings.
   Always. Check. Your settings.
   I was using my SLR camera in manual mode the other night and never changed it back to aperture priority. As a result, all 150 photos I took with that camera today were either under or over exposed.
2. Have a plan B.
   Redundant systems are our friend.
   Today, I was carrying my pocket camera. For no apparent reason, I took 250 photos with my pocket camera. I never do that when I'm carrying my SLR. Well, almost never. Because I did take those pictures, I captured the Singaporean beauty above, during a promotion for the upcoming Chingay parade.

It was an important - but relatively painless lesson.

And that, my friends, is the best kind of lesson.

Training is a place where we can experience important, but painless lessons.

My job as a facilitator is to make sure that:

A) The lessons are painless, and

B) You realize how important they are.

When I do that - you learn, I learn, and life is good for both of us.

Continuing the Mentoring Conversations Model

As I've mentioned previously, Randy Emelo, CEO/President of Triple Creek Associates, and I have been writing a series about Mentoring Conversations.

This new model suggests the conversations that are necessary to guide anyone from orientation to decision making on an issue. Randy and I wanted to provide a tool that could be both diagnostic and prescriptive.

The fifth issue of our six part series introduces the partial confidence.

Take a look at the series. When you finish our series, I recommend that you read Randy's back catalog of newsletters.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 23 of 58

January 30th, 2010

Learning Moment: Fisherman's Cove, India

Tonight, we fly from India back to Singapore.

It's been a great stay here - training went well, we ate great food, and I'm bringing back some nice photos.

Since I won't have time to post an image from today, I'll present this image from last night.

We ate at a seaside barbecue, under a full moon, with a nice breeze coming up from the ocean.

Behind us, Cognizant was holding a dinner parter for some employees. Dancers were brought in to entertain, so I quietly slipped over for some pictures of the dancers.

This shot captures a brilliant smile: the kind of smile that I grew accustomed to during the past few weeks. Smiles like this might be India's greatest treasure.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 22 of 58

Everybody Loves Ganesha

January 29th, 2010

Learning Moment: Chennai, India

I don't buy a lot of souvenirs. I have enough 'stuff' and less than enough room.

Also, airlines are making it extremely difficult to transport your toothbrush, let along a war mask.

Still, I do like to collect the occasional memento. For example, a couple of days ago, I bought these two Ganesha statues at Dakshinachitra (for US$6 each). This got me wondering what my purchase criteria is. After some thought, I decided that the souvenirs I buy have to meet at least some of these criteria:

• They are 'of the place I bought them' or will remind me of that place.
  I don't buy India crafts in the US or Balinese crafts in Japan. I want art that represents at least one component of the culture (if not more). The Ganesha represent a Hindu god. They also show India musical instruments.
• They have elements of both 'art' and 'craft'.
  This is totally subjective, of course. First, I want my piece to have some element of spirit; to represent an artists view of something. I'm not big into literal representations (I have my own camera, thank you). I want to feel like I'm looking at a part of the world through the artists eyes. Second, it should be well made. There should be a level of skill required to create it. These statues are artistic interpretations of Ganesha that convey a sense of grace and humor that I find appealing. They are also very solid, with an interesting 'wire' technique.
• They must represent something I like.
  Typically, this means music or dance. But it could include favorite animals, architecture or more. I like both elephants and music, so these Ganesha satisfy the criteria.
• It helps if they are usable.
  Furniture, lamps, musical instruments, and kitchen ware are great examples. If you can use a souvenir, it pulls double duty. These Ganesha serve no function, unfortunately.
• Finally, cost and size are always a factor.
  For obvious reasons... The Ganesha are four inches tall, so they work perfectly.

Do you buy souvenirs?
What are your souvenir criteria?

SMART as Hell at ISPI 2010

Do you believe goals are important?

Or do you find them to be overrated?

Do you believe that the SMART goal framework is useful?

Or do you find SMART goals to be frustrating and counterproductive?

Interestingly, a lot of people I meet say 'yes' to all four questions.

For the past 18 months, I've been researching SMART goals. I've created a tool for assessing SMART goals and have identified the qualities of a strong SMART goal. After reviewing more than 600 goals, I have discovered some interesting points:

1. Most business gurus and researchers agree that goals are important.
2. Most use the SMART framework.
3. Most, however, don't agree on what the SMART framework means.
4. Out of 600 goals I've assessed from business, government, and education sectors, less than 10% meet the SMART criteria.
5. Better tools are needed to successfully implement SMART goals.

In April, I'll be presenting my findings and recommendations at the International Society for Performance Improvement's (ISPI) Conference in San Francisco.

Who: Glenn Hughes

What: How smart is SMART? Writing and quantifying SMART goals.

Where: San Francisco, California

When: April 22, 10:30 am to 12:00 noon

More Info: www.ispi.org/ac2010

Many excellent presenters, including my friend Ed Muzio, will be presenting this year.

If you're interested in SMART goals or any other aspect of performance improvement, I recommend you join us in San Franciso.

I hope to see you there!

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 21 of 58

January 28th, 2010

Learning Moment: Fisherman's Cove, India

I woke up at 6:30 this morning to watch the sun rise over the Bay of Bengal at Kovalam Beach.

In America, we have this romantic notion of 'riding off into the sunset', but that seems strange to me. Isn't more romantic to ride off into a sunrise?

Sunrises are the proverbial 'dawn of a new day', full of possibility and hope. Don't get me wrong, I love sunsets, but they lead to what... darkness?

That's why when I ride off... I'm riding off into a sunrise...

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 20 of 58

Geetha, Jaishree, and Uthra

January 27th, 2010

Learning Moment: Chennai, India

Today was a relatively quiet day.

It was cloudy during my commute into work; the first cloudy day we've seen. I continued reading "You Must Be Joking, Mr. Feynman" during the ride. Just as we reached the office, rain began to fall. Everyone seemed surprised, as the rainy season isn't due to start for another month. It was a short rainfall. The rest of the day was pleasant.

Our second day of the "Managing at KT" workshop was engaging. The group asks many interesting questions. We spent a fair amount of time on SMART goals. Most people don't realize the power of well-written goals, but these folks understood. It's rewarding to see them create strong goals.

Members of our stellar Human Resources team - Geetha, Jaishree, and Uthra - stopped in to make sure all was going well, so I took the opportunity to pose them for a picture.