Is it possible that a can-do attitude that worked so well for you as an individual contributor may actually work against you as a leader?

Check out Liz Wiseman’s blog post on Harvard Business Review which outlines the pitfalls of optimism and how not acknowledging the downside can diminish a team. Find out how Nike, Inc.’s chief of global design, John Hoke, sparked a transformation in his organization once he realized the restrictive impact his and his management team’s optimism was generating.

Over the past few decades we’ve seen political revolutions sweep the globe, bringing down dictatorships in Eastern Europe, the Philippines, Libya, Egypt, and other nations.  Seeds of democracy and freedom have been sown through these movements on a scale that is unprecedented in world history.

I believe a similar revolution is taking place now within the realm of leadership and management.  Old assumptions, models, and notions about top-down leadership are giving way to a new paradigm called Multipliers, where the burden of thinking literally shifts from the leader to their people, and intelligence becomes exponentially more accessible and actionable across the enterprise.

Organizations that embrace Multipliers ideas are starting to realize the 2X effect as they effectively double their workforce capabilities with existing staff.  In too many cases, however, we still see evidence that powerful hard-core (or accidental) Diminishers stay entrenched in less productive ways of thinking, delaying or hindering the spectacular results that might otherwise be realized if the full intelligence of their people were unleashed.

Most modern democracies have a constitution as a cornerstone of government to effectively prevent any one person or group from having too much power to violate the rights of others.  What if companies had a foundation like this to govern leadership behavior within their corporate cultures?  What constitutional protections would enable Multipliers leadership to thrive and replicate within organizations?

I’ve taken a stab at this using the US Constitution as a framework (only because I have more familiarity with that document than other national constitutions).  My goal is to extract core principles of Multipliers leadership and codify it into a “Multipliers Bill of Rights”.  In doing so, I’ve attempted to preserve as much of the original language as possible.

Freedom to Think.  Management shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of intelligence; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the right of the people to have space to do their best thinking so they can find solutions to the most difficult and pressing problems.

Right to Challenge Assumptions.  A well informed workforce, being necessary to the survival of the organization in times of rapid change, retains the right to challenge prevailing assumptions, current processes, and put forth new ideas that shall not be infringed.

Conditions for Intellectual Curiosity.  No worker shall, at any time be “placed in a box” or prevented from learning in a manner that is independent of constant management oversight.

Right to Ask Questions.  The right of the people to be secure in their quest for knowledge and get others out of their comfort zone, at times asking difficult discovery or challenge questions, shall at all times be respected by management.

Provisions Concerning the Free Exchange of Native Genius.  No person shall be entitled to prima donna status, unless they are proven to be mistake-free. Furthermore, no one shall be compelled to impart knowledge or insights, without due process of inquiry; nor shall intellectual capital be taken from any individual for management use, without due credit to the originator.

Right to Debate.  In matters of critical importance, stakeholders shall enjoy the right to a rigorous and public debate, with the decision making process communicated clearly to all.  Participants must be informed of the nature and reason for the debate, be granted time to prepare, take an opening position, be confronted with contrary evidence, be willing to switch positions during the debate, and support the final decision regardless of personal views.

Right to Trial.  In cases where needs of the business exceed available resources, the right to “supersize” a person’s job shall be reserved by management, and nothing written in that individual’s job description shall limit them in terms of their ability to learn and grow into the expanded role (other than restrictions explicitly prohibited by law).

Right to Make Mistakes.  Excessive public humiliation shall not be required, nor excessive financial penalties imposed, nor career-limiting punishments inflicted for making an honest mistake (one time).

Rights Retained by the People.  The enumeration of these rights shall not deny or disparage the thinking and contributions of others.

Rights of the People Manager.  Powers not delegated specifically to managers at any level in the organization can be negotiated based on business need and the imperative to access the full capabilities of others, irrespective of title or tenure.

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Rob DeLange is the Director of Training and Consulting at The Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development center in Silicon Valley. Rob enables organizations to deeply implement the essential practices of the Multiplier, as documented in the book “Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter.”

Several years ago Alberto was a senior manager in a country operation in the European commercial division of a major pharmaceutical company. His team was involved in an important, complicated business deal and the intricacies needed to be documented. This deal fell in Alberto’s area of responsibility, so his boss Steve charged him with constructing the important letter.

Alberto carefully drafted the letter capturing critical information and details. He worked diligently and then presented the letter to his boss. However, knowing how critical the deal was, his boss had also drafted a version of the letter himself. When Steve pulled out his own letter and put it on the table next to the letter Alberto had written, Albert felt deflated.

The boss looked at the two letters, one that he had written personally and the other that he not only hadn’t written but that he hadn’t even read yet. He took a quick glance at his letter and another glance at Alberto’s. He reached for the letter that he had written. He crumbled it, and threw it into the rubbish bin. He then grabbed Alberto’s letter and signed it. Alberto’s disappointment was replaced with the confidence that comes from knowing his capability was trusted in full.

In between the crumpled letter and our seminar that evening Alberto became the country manager and then an executive on the global commercial team. Now with years of experience, Alberto sat with the rest of the executive team contemplating the subtle ways they might, with the very best of intentions, be accidentally diminishing the people who work for them. They considered how they might be stepping in, rescuing, “writing the letter themselves” and ultimately preventing people from assuming full ownership of their work.

Sometimes we need to let go and sign someone else’s letter.

What are you doing for other people that they can do for themselves? Is there something you need to crumple up?

Crumple it. Toss it. Then sign someone else’s letter.

Thanks Liz for taking time from your busy schedule to answer these questions.

Q: In the “Instill Ownership and Accountability” section of Multipliers, you recommend letting people remain accountable for their actions and experience consequences. This is a message I experience difficulty in applying since typical management training says that managers should protect their staff. Under what situation, if any, do you believe managers should attempt to protect their staff from the consequences of their actions?

A: This question is at the heart of the art of good management.  It is certainly naive to suggest that managers should just let their people fail and experience the sting of real learning.  But, I find that in working with management teams on this question, they find that there is far more room for experimentation that they initially thought.  Here’s a quick mental exercise:   Take out two pieces of paper.  On one, make a list of everywhere it is OK to let someone live out a mistake or fail. On the other, make a list of where it isn’t OK and you need to intervene.  Focus on the criteria.  Challenge yourself by making the second list no more than half as long as the first list.  My guess is that two things will happen:

1. You will see that there is a lot more room to experiment that you might feel and

2. You will develop a short set of criteria that you can use to recognize when you need to step in.

Typically this criteria is something like, “when it is business ending, life ending, or career ending (for them or you!).”  Often the criteria for when it is OK to let failure happen sounds like this: “when the opportunity for learning is bigger than the cost to the business.”

Doing this exercise as a management team can be a powerful way to shape the culture and the environment for learning and performance.

The art of management comes in finding this right balance.  When is the mistake too costly and might seriously jeopardize the business or the person?  I like to think of this as finding the right size wave — one where someone will learn from their mistake and not be swept out to sea!  Check out my new Right Size Wave video for the full story.

Q: In the Debate Decisions section of Multipliers, you discuss the successful techniques that multipliers (acting as Debate Makers) take to engage their team. In certain situations there may not be adequate time to engage the team in the usual manner. How should a good Debate Maker handle a ‘crunch time’ situation when there is with limited or no time for debate?

A: I love this question because Debate can be easily used for crunch situations.  Here are two suggestions.

1.  Stop and prep for two minutes.  We find that the best debates are not spontaneous, but rather delayed when people can take time to prepare and to formulate an opening position.  When I am pressed for time, I like to ask the group to stop and do a silent, two-minute prep before we proceed with the live debate and decisions.  In these two minutes, I ask people to pause and outline a) their position on the issue and b) evidence to support this position.  The key is to do it silently, so people are forced to think and to formulate their own thoughts before being influenced by others.

There is now mounting evidence that suggests that we do our best collective work (such as brainstorming) when we first do rigorous individual thinking.  This allows us to bring our best thinking into a discussion and debate.

There aren’t too many crunch decisions when you can’t stop for two minutes to prep!

2.  Debate like a 3rd grader.  There is a fun method called “shared inquiry” that is taught by the Junior Great Books foundation that is a fast form of debate.  The leader has three roles. 1) Ask the question, 2) Ask for evidence and 3) Ask everyone.  This simple technique actually creates significant rigor because everyone learns to cite data and evidence to support their opinions.  And, because everyone gets asked, all points of view get surfaced.

Q: What was the most surprising finding that you discovered as part of writing Multipliers?

The big finding of Multipliers is that Multipliers get twice the capability (or intelligence) from the people that work for them compared with Diminishers.  What is even more surprising is that as we continue to study this, we find that in hierarchical cultures (often found in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America) this 2X effect is actually 3X and more.

My favorite surprise finding is that Multipliers tend to have a strong sense of humor.  Or, perhaps expressed another way, Diminishers lack a sense of humor.  I’m particularly fond of this one because I was, among other things, voted “class clown” of my high-school graduating class, and I’ve been trying to years to convince my mother that this didn’t bring shame to our family. 

Q: Is there a story or finding from your research that was not included in Multipliers that may be of interest to readers?

Over the last two years, readers have shared hundreds, maybe thousands, of stories of the amazing Multipliers they worked with.  But, my favorite stories are about the new generation of Multipliers — people who read the book and decide to lead more like a Multiplier themselves.  All over the world are everyday managers, teachers and parents who take small steps and have amazing impact on the people they lead.  One of my favorites was an AV technician at Nike, Inc who was in the AV booth during my presentation there and was inspired by this idea of The Extreme Question Challenge that I used one night at home while getting my kids to bed.  He decided to give it a try that night at home with his five young children.  He said it changed the way he and his wife operate as parents and has changed their home.  He is an everyday Multiplier that inspires me.

Q: How can readers learn more about your work and the Multipliers book?

They can learn more by visiting the following web sites: www.multipliersbook.com or www.thewisemangroup.com

Q: What is the last you book you read or are currently reading?

Great by Choice by the incomparable Jim Collins. Unleash genius in everyone!

http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/48440/multipliers-how-the-best-leaders-make-everyone-smarter

Pete the Pointer.  Let me tell you about Pete the carefree pedigree Brittany pointer bird dog that lives on a beautiful ranch in Sulphur Springs, Texas.  Pete loves to hunt and point game birds for his owner, Darrell Stringer.  As a pointer, he finds game birds on the ground and goes rigid, pointing in the direction of the covey of birds.  When the hunter catches up, the birds are flushed into the air.  Hunting guides from across the country have offered Darrell thousands of dollars and begged to buy Pete.  Why?

Not only does Pete hunt for Darrell, he hunts for everyone in the hunting party.  He hunts and points by instinct.  In a hunting outing with 5 other dogs, Pete pointed 85% of the birds.  When he went Woodcock hunting in Louisiana along with three professional guide dogs and their trainer, the three professionally trained dogs found and pointed one Woodcock and Pete found 11.  Why?  Because Pete was not over trained.  He was merely trained to follow his instincts rather than obey numerous detailed commands. Darrell saw that Pete had a natural instinct for finding birds, so he simply allowed him to do it.  He didn’t try to re-teach him what he already knew how to do, he just focused Pete’s efforts by training him to stay in close.  And Darrell never punished Pete for making mistakes. .  He just let him follow his natural instincts.  In fact, Darrrell has a hard time getting Pete not to hunt.  Once Pete and Darrell became separated for over an hour on a hunting trip in Montana.  When Darrrell found him, Pete was still locked onto his target, pointing a rooster pheasant.  Pete is free to follow his natural instincts and gives Darrell and others his maximum.

Diminished Dogs? While Pete refuses to not hunt, these other dogs will hunt only when told to do so.  These dogs have been trained to respond to their trainer’s voices out of fear of punishment.  They were over trained and are now afraid to make mistakes.  These well meaning owners, having stripped them of some of their natural instincts, just may have diminished their dogs!  And, as a result, what do they get from them?  The minimum.

The Texas saying, “That dog don’t hunt” is a reference to people who just don’t get it.  I admit I have said it a time or two over my career.  But could we sometimes be guilty of training the natural intelligence out of our people?

Multiplier Practice. Instead of over training or attempting to homogenize our staff, focus on finding the unique, native genius in each person and allow them to follow their natural instinct to be smart.  Your job? Focus them on the right targets.

Liz

From Stringer Ranch

Sulphur Springs, Texas

Why? It seems most of us aren’t asking people to do the hard stuff.

The Reluctant Challenger. We might think our people are already juggling complex demands or we might sense they are overworked. But, most staff will actually claim that, despite being busy, they are really underutilized. They desperately want more challenge in their job. When we play the “nice boss,” we hold back for fear of breaking people who appear on edge. But what appears like an edge might actually be a learning plateau. Multipliers give people a reason to climb off this plateau.

A reluctant challenger can kick start this cycle by first challenging him or herself to be a better leader.

Challenging Self. Kevin Lawrence, high-growth business coach and Multiplier advocate, was leading a workshop with management team. Kevin introduced the five Multiplier disciplines and asked them to consider where they might be operating as Accidental Diminishers. John, the CEO, was intrigued and stopped the conversation. He asked his team for feedback with two simple questions:

1. Where do you see me as a Diminisher?
2. How could I be more of a Multiplier?

The ensuing discussion was equally powerful on both questions.

Challenging Us. Several of his team members suggested that he needed to challenge them a lot more than he was doing. One member of the management team said, “You are an excellent leader and very, very positive, and we like that. What you could do is to push and challenge us harder, as well as telling us how great we are.” The feedback was enlightening to the CEO. His simple questions ignited a crucial conversation that allowed the whole team to raise their game.

Multiplier Practice. Become a challenger by inviting someone to do something hard. Try one of these questions:

1. What is the next challenge you are ready to take on?
2. What is the hardest thing this team is capable of doing?
3. What should I be asking you to do that would provide you challenge and growth?

Remember, be shameless about it. Your people will thank you for a reason to reach further.

One such leader is Dave Havelek, VP of Investor Relations for Salesforce.com. Dave is smart and driven, often working from 7AM-Midnight—and beyond. He is also a self-declared “super-stressed, super-opinionated” leader.

In his last meeting with his team before leaving for a five-day offsite, he ran out of time. He got through the first four items, but number five was critical: How to organize the team for an upcoming, crazy, eight week crunch. He dreaded the thought of staying up to 2:30AM to put the roles and responsibilities together.

Up against these constraints, he offered an off the cuff remark, “Okay, while I’m away next week why don’t you all just figure out what this should look like.”

The effect was instant. There was a sudden surge of energy in the room. People immediately started talking about how to make this happen.

Dave paused when he told me the story and said, “I think I spend a lot of my time as an Accidental Diminisher but in this case I think I was an Accidental Multiplier!”

What a thought! By admitting his own constraints Dave actually ended up removing constraints from his team.

In the past I have thought of leading like a Multiplier as being harder than leading like a Diminisher. But what if exactly the opposite is true? After all, if you lead like a Diminisher the burden for thinking rests entirely with you. As a Multiplier that burden can be shifted to others.

To take advantage of Dave’s insight, identify an area where you suspect you are a bottleneck for your people: a place where you are in charge but you consistently struggle to get things done in normal work hours. Then work with your team in shifting the whole responsibility to them. You might well liberate your team in a way that also liberates you.

But, our work to get the Multipliers message out into the world continues to be fueled and accelerated by the contributions of friends, colleagues, readers, and influential thought leaders who have generously amplified the message. As tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S., allow me to pause and express gratitude for those who are carrying the message forward.

The Little Book that Could. Last week when I met with Hollis Heimbouch, our publisher extraordinaire, she told me how pleased the team at Harper Business is with Multipliers. She and her team refer to it as “the little book that could” attributing its success to a good idea coupled with phenomenal grass roots support from readers.

It has been deeply rewarding to watch how the readers are multiplying the strength of the message and giving momentum to this book.

Collective Genius in Action. The momentum began by getting initial attention for the book for which we have Mark and Puja at Fortier PR and their magic to thank. But many business books gain initial attention and then fade away. Fortunately, we had the team of geniuses at ntropic who gave us a brilliant book trailer that far exceeded anything we could have produced (or funded) on our own and enabled people to share the message with others. And, Amy and her team at Larsen and the team at HotCoco built a website that allowed people to further explore the ideas and connect with us and other members of a growing community.

Each of these professional teams gave the book its start, but the acceleration came as a result of hundreds, even thousands of people sharing the ideas. Daily, we receive email from readers who have been personally impacted by the ideas. But most don’t just stop there. They blog and tweet; they buy a round of books for their management team; they advocate inside their organizations with the aspiration of creating a Multiplier organization. These champions have built the momentum.

The Little Book that Did. So, to our colleagues, friends, and readers, thank you for sharing this journey with us and for sharing these ideas with others. If the “little book that could” becomes “the little book that did,” we have many, many people to thank. It is certainly our hope that this little yellow book helps put an end to diminishing leadership and inspires a generation of leaders to engage all the intelligence we have in addressing our greatest challenges.

With much thanks,

Liz