I Love you for What I am

.I recently read Your Place at the Table by Allan Cox.? It consists of a series of short essays, which discuss the concept of Authenticity. In one of these essays Allan Cox defines empowerment, as “I love you for what I am when I am with you.”

In the Stakeholder’s experience edition of this newsletter, we discussed the nature of the stakeholder’s experience. In one of our TLS Continuum Daily Tips, we posed the question are your cross-functional teams empowered to change? Empowerment is the key to successful process improvement. This follow-up edition takes that idea a step further. At this point I am not concerned with what we label it (TLS Continuum, Lean, Six Sigma) but the key to a successful process improvement effort is how empowered is the various components of the organization.

So let me repeat the question. Are your cross-functional teams empowered to change the organization? Are you entering process improvement efforts for show or are you dedicated to change the organization around to improve the processes and better meet the needs of the customer? Here is the difference.

?If you are in process improvement for show, the teams do their due diligence and when the final report gets presented to management, with the suggested changes, the report gets lost on someone’s shelf. Management says we can’t do that because that is no something we do here. The direct effect is that the members of the cross-functional team does not love you for what I am when I am with you. They feel degraded and miniscule. They begin to acquire the attitude of why bother; we are not of any importance. The result is a half-hearted effort to be part of future improvement efforts. The sense of empowerment is lost, and the organization suffers in the long run.

If you are in the cross-functional team to make a difference, we have a different scenario. As in the first scenario we have an active cross-functional team working to resolve a customer’s dissatisfaction with the delivery of your product or service. You have identified the problem and delivered your findings to the management of the organization. Management in turn takes immediate steps to implement the solutions the team has recommended. The problem is resolved, and the customer is satisfied with the delivery of your products or services.

The side effect of the process is that the members of the team feel that the organization respects their efforts. They feel that the organization appreciates their presence within the organization. They feel empowered to suggest further suggestions to problems as they might arise. They acquire the feeling that they love themselves for what they are when they are part of your organization.

There is another aspect to this discussion. You and I constantly hear the comment that our organization human capital assets are no longer engaged. Dale Carnegie Institute in a recent survey states that Among the 1,500 employees, only 29% are fully engaged and 26% are disengaged. Almost half (45%) are partially engaged. One of the downsides of today’s organizational structure is that the environment that we work in, our human capital assets are driven to show up for work to receive the paycheck. They are not engaged with the organization. But if we add the power of engagement to the equation so that we have both engagement and empowerment the organization becomes more productive. This increased productivity ultimately leads to higher return on investments.

As organizational managers, our first responsibility is to facilitate how we get our human capital assets to love our organizations based on how they feel when they are in our workplaces. Are they just a number or are they truly an integral part of the organization. Do our managers treat them as valuable assets or do they think of them as just a fly on the wall to be ignored? It is your choice whether you have engaged, empowered employees or continue just for the sake of operating.

In our organizations and society today, we need authenticity. We need to have a unique combination, which enhances our ability to expand our operations and society. We need to have this view based on the understanding that we are all in this team effort together. When one part of the equation is left out of the bond, we see the results we have seen repeatedly.

You need to make the decision whether you are going to be authentic in your improvement efforts or going to marginalize others in your organization and society because they might be different then you. To be successful in our improvement efforts we need to eliminate our pre-conceived stereotypes of individuals and societal structures to suit our pre-conceived idea of what the world is supposed to like. To achieve our goals, we need to understand that we are all a village with critical responsibilities with the success of this entity we call mankind or our business organizations.

As Shirley McClaine stated we need to see the world as the world sees us, not the way we see the world. I guess I could also state the observation of Jack Sparrow who said the problem is not the problem, the problem is out attitude about the problem. Being authentic in resolving organizational issues can go along way in finding the correct solutions to the pressing problems of the day.

An Invite: We have started a new group on LinkedIn. It is the TLS Continuum - The Human Connection. We want to start a conversation regarding how we get around the ASSUMPTION that our human capital assets understand the improvement process and how we can bring them into the game. No selling allowed, just open dialogue. Join the dialogue, invite your network to become involved. https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/13059813

?Looking for the perfect model for improving your organizational processes? Order your copy of the TLS Continuum Field Guide - How the Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma will transform your operations and Program flow to be released in February of 2024

About the author: Daniel Bloom knows HR and Change Management. He’s a speaker on transformational HR, a strategic HR consultant and trainer. Thank you for subscribing to this newsletter.

The best strategy that I ever undertook was earning my SPHR and the Six Sigma Black Belt. You can take the same path with our Road to Operational Excellence - The Human Capital Edition

For more information visit https://dbaiconsulting.com/tls-continnuum-master-seminars

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