Don’t Automatically Take the Easy Way

In today’s era of Uber, Waze, Amazon and Netflix, it’s tempting to seek out the easiest, most convenient solution to any need or challenge we have in our work and personal lives. Even fitness apps and wearables—from FitBit to stay-at-home group spinning rides—are taking some of the work out of workouts.

But the easier way isn’t always the better way according to astronauts, Mark and Scott Kelly. The 52 year-old twins, who have logged a combined 576 days in outer space, delivered a rousing keynote speech at the American Society of Association Executives annual conference I attended last week in Salt Lake City. Yes, there’s an association for association professionals—33,000 members strong.

Many of you are financial professionals. If you’re not working with trade associations in your area—you’re missing a huge opportunity. More on that in a future post. Meanwhile, many of the lessons the Kelly brothers learned from the NASA training program are transferable to your practice.

As President John F. Kennedy famously said during the Kelly’s formative childhood years in the late 1960s: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.” By going into space, the Kellys said they were able to accomplish something really hard. But in order to be as successful, they had to set goals, plan, test the status quo and take risks along the way – all skills that you can relate to.

ASAE President, John Graham, told me during an exclusive interview that the two biggest takeaways he got from the Kelly brothers’ keynote were: a) just because you are not good at something initially, doesn’t mean you can’t get good at it and improve and b) you should simply focus on what you can control.

Control what you can control

Scott put this mantra into action when his sister-in-law and Mark’s wife (Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords) was shot in the head by a protestor in 2011. Scott was up on the International Space Station at the time. While he couldn’t be with his family during the tragedy, he was able to complete his mission and take care of his crew. In a time when there are a million distractions during each day, the Kellys said focusing on what you can control is key to accomplishing your goal.

Be a leader, not a dictator

We all know about the importance of teamwork, but Mark said that as a commander on the space shuttle, he made sure to select team members who would not be afraid to question his decisions. Let’s face it. Many of you with your own firm have decent-size egos. Surrounding ourselves with “yes” people, will not make your organization better. “Recognize the strengths and weaknesses of your team,” he added, “and know when to be a coach and when to be a dictator.”

Sweat the details

Those of you with accounting backgrounds are often chastised for this trait but the Kelly’s said NASA’s philosophy is to worry about everything. It’s all about protecting its astronauts from any possibility and you should take the same approach with clients. As Mark explained, the level of risk flying a space shuttle mission is high – about the same as storming the beach at Normandy on D-Day – and NASA takes that risk seriously. With your practice, you’re the captain, so it’s your job to look at every minor detail or decision and consider the consequences to your staff and members.

Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not good enough

Many of you had to overcome plenty just to get through school. We know many of you struggled through well-paying, but unsatisfying corporate jobs before setting out on your own and it wasn’t just a string of successes without a few stumble along the ways. There were numerous times when the Kellys, and even their classmates and trainers, wondered if the space program was really right for them.

But they pushed on, inspired in part by their mother, a New Jersey secretary and waitress, who failed a grueling physical fitness test numerous times before becoming one of the state’s first female police officers. Long story short, the Kelly brothers made it through the space training program and left a pretty significant dent in the universe. Keep banging away and have a great weekend.

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TAGS: NASA, Mark & Scott Kelly, astronauts, perseverance

You Have This Window of Opportunity Called a Crisis. Better Move Fast

Do you have the right people around you now? Chances are you don’t.

“When you have that window of opportunity called a crisis, move as quickly as you can, get as much done as you can. There’s a momentum for change that’s very compelling,” Anne Mulcahy, Xerox Chairwoman and CEO told the New York Times Sunday.

Rupert Murdoch, head of another global behemoth that still considers itself nimble, seems to agree: “The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow.”

“Adaptability and flexibility. We have to change all the time,” continues Mulcahy. “The people who really do the best are those who actually sense it, enjoy it almost, the lack of definition around their roles and what they can contribute.”

Sounds great, Anne. That’s the entrepreneurial spirit that Xerox and many other great American companies were built upon. But, how do you train HR departments and company recruiters – traditionally the champions of internal process -- to find good people who relish “the lack of definition around their roles and contribution?” Anyone? Anyone at all?

That’s right. Most can’t do it because they have to fill “slots” and “silos” that were budgeted under the company’s legacy business model. They want people who can “fit in” to the pre-existing “culture.” That’s HR speak for: Stay in your box. Don’t look outside your box or else you’ll have a pink slip in your box.
Says Mulcahy: “We’ve learned a lot about identifying failure quickly. As much as it’s sometimes hard to make choices about where you invest, it’s equally hard to make choices about where you don’t invest and what you eliminate.”

Not all failures are equal, cautions William Davidow, of venture capital firm, Mohr Davidow Ventures.

A company (or project) might fail because its timing was bad or because the entrepreneur was a poor manager. Davidow says that despite a recent Harvard Business School survey to the contrary he expects a higher follow-on success rate for failed entrepreneurs than first-timers, and a serial entrepreneur will find it easier than a first-timer to get in the door to meet him. “I would want to know why the least deal failed and what the person learned from it.”

The same thinking should be applied to managers and top brass of media, information and technology companies. To find the leaders who are going to lead you out of this financial (and decision-making) deep freeze we’re in, you’ve got to seek out those who’ve made a few stumbles along the way….It’s more about what they learned than how well they could (or couldn’t) cover up those mistakes and re-assign blame.

Mulcahy is a rarity among Fortune 500 CEOs who has run a human resource department. She acknowledges that most HR departments don’t get useful and honest feedback from employees and they tend to get hung up on fairness above all else.

“Not everybody is created equal,” she says, “and it’s equally important for companies to identify high potentials, accelerate their development and pay them more. I think companies tend to get confused with processes they think are fairest and that is not what companies need.”

Amen to that.