Is My Ship Sinking?

“This too will pass”.   I’ve heard this phrase uttered often and recently by aerospace and defense (A&D) leaders.  Decisions and actions (or inaction) echo the same sentiment.  Months ago, the concern over sequestration was muted and nearly imperceptible.  Now, with just two weeks left, it appears that some may be taking the whole thing seriously.  Yet sequestration is just one factor A&D executives should be concerned with.  The more significant issue is the fundamental shift underway in the entire market.  Have you missed it?  Is your company prepared for rough seas?  Will you survive or sink?  Is your company on a path to slowly rust away before disappearing?

It’s understandable that seasoned A&D professionals look at the current defense budget with a jaundiced glance.  Having survived previous downsizing periods, they reason that the tide will once again turn.  For a substantial number of mid-upper tier management, the last major contraction followed the fall of the Berlin wall.  At that time, the expected “peace dividend” motivated a period of industry consolidation.  Those that survived felt vindicated when defense spending turned around after 9/11.  Many believe that a new conflict or some other security crisis will reverse the downward trend just like it had previously. 

The downward trend in defense will continue and reach a new, lower ‘norm’.

Why do I believe this contraction is different than others?  What should A&D leaders do if in fact, this turns out to be the case?  Not since World War II, has the Nation’s debt been such a significant concern.  Coupled with a deep recession and prolonged recovery, the Country cannot outrun its debt with growth or taxes.  The economic conditions are exacerbated by a global economy that remains in a funk.  What this means for A&D companies is that the ‘safe harbor’ of international sales used to cushion reduced US budgets won’t materialize.  While these two factors alone could be overcome with time, another factor signals a change in the underlying structure of the A&D industry itself.

That structural change consists of a complex array of issues that will forever transform the way the Defense Department buys.  The signs have been evident for years and sadly companies chose to consider them anomalies instead of sea-state changes.  For example, R&D spending used to be a given in most development efforts.  The Government now has placed more pressure on companies to make their own investments and bring working product to the market instead of relying on RDT&E. The push for more fixed price contracting, the emergence of lowest price, technically acceptable (LPTA) practices, and a myriad of other shifts have all signaled that Government intends on being a much more disciplined and assertive buyer.  Troubled programs were often terminated and later resurrected with a new name.  Can you name a program that has been restarted lately?

Another shift has been the extended time from RFP to award.  What was once a reasonably predictable timetable has now become unreliable.  Acquisitions within the US are beginning to look more like international sales with cycle times measured in years not months.  Then there are the protracted budget battles that have driven yearly continuing resolutions (CR).  Each year Congress and the Executive branch fail to meet their budgetary obligations on time.  The increased use of CR delays contract awards and impinges on release of funds for ongoing work.  The pattern of annual threats over Government shutdowns is also having a significant effect. 

Large companies often floated the Government during these times by continuing work without timely payment.  Those days however may be rapidly disappearing.  Shareholders will be more reluctant to “loan” money to the Government when there is so much uncertainty.  Smaller companies who have always had a challenge staying in operation during these disruptions will find no safe harbor.  So if there is a Government shutdown or protracted CR, will defense production continue or will companies refuse to work?

There are far fewer systems where Government investment is warranted.  Increased reliance on cyber and other forms of warfare make the traditional RDT&E process increasingly irrelevant.  The new ‘norm’ capitalizes on the pace and advances of commercial technologies that enable them to field new capability without substantial modifications.  When service members utilize their own mobile technology in the field adapting and creating solutions on-the-fly, it raises questions as to the true value of an elaborate acquisition system.  A recent WSJ article highlighted how the F-35 software process is ill-equipped to meet the rapid pace of change.  It used to be that A&D led the technology charge, now they are trying to catch a speeding bullet train that left the station years ago.

A&D leaders have important decisions they should be preparing for or have already made.  First, can the company remain profitable and viable as an A&D enterprise?  If so, in what ways will the company be able to grow in spite of a prolonged contraction in defense spending?  If not, what markets or opportunities have the highest probability of supporting a successful transition?  What products, technologies, and skills are transferable to these new markets?  Which ones should be eliminated?  And these are just the start.  Instead of relishing the success of the past, responsible leaders should be gazing into the future and preparing for the emergence of an entirely new industry.  And the visionaries in that bunch will actually be out front creating it.

Duane Grove is founder of Connect2Action, a strategy execution specialist at the intersection of employee engagement and executive leadership, igniting innovation as a lever to accelerate your growth.  Follow Duane on Twitter @connect2action and connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.  Learn more by visiting www.connect2action.com.

The Water Cooler is Empty - Revisited

Companies continue to not “get it” when it comes to social media.  Most view social media as a direct threat, forgetting its origins in the “water cooler” talk that fomented effective organizational communication.  Social media is our new water cooler, with a twist.

Before the advent of social media, employees used hallway talk to air issues, complaints, and opinions.  This talk allowed for frank discussion about management’s shortcomings, creating an authentic organizational communication foundation.  While much of this talk was hidden, occasionally management would get a whiff, but not enough to understand it.  The water cooler whispers were the communication currency of those not plugged into management.  And management was perplexed by that rumor, partially because pinning down its source was nigh impossible.  The “employee channel” was a closely guarded, subscription-only service that management was not qualified to receive.

Enter social media.  Initially used largely for people to connect with friends and stay in touch, it quickly evolved into an outlet of frustrations, opinions, and observations regarding the work organization, a consequence of our inability to easily separate our lives into “personal” and “work” compartments.  While hallway talk continues, this new outlet offers another voice.  This trend will accelerate as younger workers fill company desks.  These employees live in a social media world and social media is their method of communication.

Here’s where companies miss the boat: we’ve seen companies and organizations scour employee social media accounts to learn what those employees are saying about the company, and then use that information to discipline the employee should they step out of bounds.  Water cooler discussions have been happening since the advent of teams.  The difference now is that there is a record of the conversation with attribution, where in the past, employees had plausible deniability.   Companies should welcome social media chatter instead of squelching it by punishing the perpetrators.  Social media is a direct means of pinpointing issues -- without which these issues will remain hidden, only to surface later with higher consequences and more dire remedies.

Social media is an opportunity for enlightened organizations to understand employee communication.  Finally companies have a window into water cooler talk!   Knowing the chatter allows management to understand and preempt potential issues.  Social raises the volume on the hallway whispers while eliminating guesswork.  Bad managers and organizational decisions have deep negative consequences to organizational success, but complaints about those managers and decisions surface too late in the world of hallway talk.  Social media accelerates the problem identification.

Instead of companies using social media monitoring to control employees, they should view it as an essential part of a healthy organization.  Savvy companies will go so far as to sponsor such a resource internally, giving employees an anonymous outlet to let off steam. 

Social media is not going away.  Ignore it at your peril.  The sooner social media is embraced as a positive, creative, and supportive resource, the sooner it will benefit your company. 

Duane Grove is the founder of Connect2Action, a strategy execution specialist at the intersection of employee engagement and executive leadership, igniting innovation as a lever to accelerate your growth.  Follow Duane on Twitter @connect2action and connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.  Learn more by visiting www.connect2action.com.

Multi-Tasking is a Farce!

Everyone is trying to multi-task in the fast-paced world we live in.  But is there really such a thing as multi-tasking?  There isn’t!  What we pawn off as multi-tasking is rapidly changing bursts of focus.  The human brain is really not capable of multi-tasking.  Let me explain.

Take for example what happens when someone is walking and chewing bubble gum at the same time.  In our brains specialized areas responsible for these coordination skills are working in parallel.  These functions are happening automatically – in other words, we don’t have to ‘think’ about it.  If instead we focused on chewing, we would find it increasingly difficult to walk.  Tasks that require focus can only be processed one step at a time.  When we “multi-task” we are simply shifting the focus gears faster, but we aren’t doing two or more things at once.

Consider the work of a potter.  Their focus on the clay in front of them is critical.  Every detail must be attended to if the piece is to become what they intended.  Now imagine in the middle of spinning the wheel, the artist looks up to speak to someone.  What do you think happens to their piece?  Chances are, it starts to fall apart.  A loss of focus surely results in a mess.  How is other work we do different?  It isn't.

I don’t like the analogy, but think about how computers perform multi-tasking.  What happens is that a task is divided into segments that are then distributed to multiple processors before returning results and recompiling them.  Each processor is executing a stack of instructions in serial order.  It appears to the observer that the computer is doing more than one thing at a time, but in reality each processor is operating independently doing one task at a time.

Now be honest (and we’ve all done this).  You’re at your desk working on a document when the phone rings.  You interrupt the work to answer the phone and put it on speaker to keep your hands free.  As the person is talking, you keep typing away – ah you are multi-tasking!  However, halfway through the conversation, you lose your train of thought.  The person on the other end suddenly gets your attention with a “have you even heard what I’ve been saying?” to wit you ask them to repeat it.  Your focus had shifted from the person to the document and you missed the conversation.  This happens because the part of the brain that helps us maintain focus can only do one thing at a time.  You may be able to shorten the bursts of focus and chunk them up trading back and forth between tasks, but you’re still only doing one thing at a time.

In companies and organizations, multi-tasking is seen as a positive attribute.  But what would you say to someone who said their greatest strength was an ability to rapidly shift focus from one topic to the next without ever completing a task or maintaining quality?  That is in fact what “multi-tasking” usually results in.  When you interrupt your focus it’s very easy to lose your train of thought.  When you return to the task you stopped (even for a moment), you often have to back up a few steps and regain your focus – and that’s if you’re lucky enough to remember where you left off.  What companies mistake as productivity (multi-tasking) comes at the price of lost clarity and momentum. 

Zen masters had it right all along.  They teach to be singularly focused and mindful in everything you do.  They encourage us to focus on a task and complete it before moving on.  If you can’t complete something, then leave it in a state of rest where it is easier to pick up where you left off.  When we pile so much on our plate that our minds are bouncing around like a Ping-Pong match, we find ourselves falling further behind.  Speeding things up won’t make the process work any better.  Multi-tasking is a productivity killer!

Try being more mindful in how you approach things.  Take the necessary time to do it well and enjoy the peace that comes from knowing you have removed one more thing from your plate.  This doesn’t mean slowing down, but it does mean retaining focus.  If your phone rings next time and you can’t afford to stop what you’re doing, let it ring.  If you choose to pick it up, explain to the other person you need to complete something and call them back.  Being singularly focused is how our brains work.  If you’re looking for productivity, choose to focus. 

Duane Grove is founder of Connect2Action, a strategy execution specialist at the intersection of employee engagement and executive leadership, igniting innovation as a lever to accelerate your growth.  Follow Duane on Twitter @connect2action and connect with him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+.  Learn more by visiting www.connect2action.com.

You can follow his blogs at:  mindfulperspectives.blogspot.com and connect2action.blogspot.com