But why go with my answer when we have the author of Improv Wisdom here to share insights and practices. Tom Peters, one of the top management speakers/consultants has included Patricia Madson as one of his cool friends for her thoughts and insights that can help managers!

It is my pleasure and honor to introduce Patricia Ryan Madson to you. Ms. Madson wrote one of my all time favorite books, Improv Wisdom: Don’t prepare, Just Show Up.

Patricia was on the drama faculty of Stanford University since 1977. I encourage you to read through this interview and to use the creative lens of improvisation principles articulated by Patricia to see how you can elicit, foster, and enhance employee engagement in yourself and others.

Patricia can you briefly explain the subtitle of this book (don’t prepare, just show up) it seems so counter intuitive to how most people see work and life.

You are right that the injunction, “Don’t prepare, just show up” flies in the face of conventional wisdom. And, this is precisely why it is useful. The real emphasis of the two phrases is on the “Just Show Up” part. When you think about it, preparing may actually keep us from getting things done. It is not uncommon to spend our lives “getting ready to do stuff” instead of actually taking the plunge.

The key thing, in improvisation is to START THE SHOW. GET THERE. Move your body to the place where it is happening . . . then, the action can begin. When our minds are absorbed in the act of preparing, (in planning ahead, in crossing all our “t’s”, etc) we are not available to the present moment. We are missing out on what is happening right now, right here. And, it is precisely the here and now that is our locus of power. I advise players (and this includes professionals as well as students) to substitute ATTENTION for preparation. Become an expert on THIS MOMENT.

Planning can become an end in itself. Don’t let this rob you of the power that comes from engaging in real time with all your senses. (The second and third maxims in my book give a more thorough explanation. of this advice. )

In the book you have 13 fabulous maxims ranging from say yes to enjoy the ride. Do you personally have a favorite maxim or a maxim that is most helpful to you?

Yes, I think my favorite is maxim 9: “Wake up to the gifts.” It is so easy for my mind is to see the problem, notice the flaw, ruminate on what is wrong with the situation. This maxim is a splash of cold water to remind me to realign my perspective. And, I don’t just mean “positive thinking” . . . I mean that it is important to train the mind to actually see the specific gifts that are present and around us all the time.

If you are like me , I NOTICE (and sometimes curse) the driver who rudely cuts me off in traffic. But, I can go for years without taking notice of all the courteous drivers who obey the laws, stay in their lanes, drive safely and even allow me to merge onto the freeway. When others drive safely, I BENEFIT. So, in some real way, ordinary traffic is a gift to me. When I start looking for the ways in which I benefit from the acts of others I open up a new world of privilege. It is easy to see what is wrong. It sticks out. Can you find a way to notice what is right, who is helping, who is making your path smooth? “Waking up to the gifts” is ultimately about seeing our lives (both at work and at home) from a new perspective–a realistic perspective– which is not egocentric.

There is a book with the wonderful title: Thirsty, Swimming in the

(by David K. Reynolds, an American anthropologist). I see most of us as being in this pickle. We are literally surrounded by the things we are seeking. When we “Wake up to the gifts” we are able to counter the nay-saying mind, the selfish mind, the mind that is only self-interested.

It strikes me that “employee engagement” has as a fundamental goal developing habits of mind and body that increase our awareness of others. Waking up to the gifts invites you every day to notice how much others are doing for you. Look for the specific ways that you benefit from the work of others. Further, when we see the gifts it becomes natural to say “thank you.” Saying thank you a lot is the mark of an attentive manager and employee. (or parent or spouse . . .)

It seems to me that many disengaged employees say no, not just to work but to their organization and maybe even themselves. Is there an authentic way they can begin to say yes to work and engagement?

I’m afraid that you are right in this. Just earning a paycheck may be what some of us are doing. . . rather than “making a contribution” or “doing useful work,” or “making a life”

For the disengaged I’d say: “What have you got to lose? Why not see what happens if you change your attitude instead of just thinking about changing your job? Apathy becomes its own reward. It is all too easy to look outside of ourselves and blame “the company” or “our boss”, “the economy” or even “the times we live in.”

I would suggest “stop finding fault and casting blame” and see what happens if you look at your job to see “what you are receiving from it?” Make a list of all the things you receive from your position being an employee. Include material things (paycheck, benefits, etc.) as well as other kinds of benefits–such as a having a desk and a computer– being part of a support system– having job training– etc. See how long you can make your list of “what you receive from working where you do.” Avoid any sarcasm or negative jibes.

Engagement is about connecting to what you do . . . to your purpose. I tell a story in the book about a waitress who was full of life–full of enthusiasm and pride in what she was doing in a small sandwich shop. She was alive inside her job, taking every opportunity to serve, to do her job well. Her smile will stay with me for a long time. I don’t think it would occur to her to ask that her job “be fulfilling.” Instead she GAVE MEANING to what she was doing. This was inspiring. I think many of those disengaged workers are truly, “Thirsty, swimming in the lake” . . . if they could only wake up to it.

To me, one of the strongest improv maxims is take care of each other. One way I heard it expressed in improvisation is that we are here to make the other person look good. Do you have a recommended activity to help people in the workplace take care of each other?

A great way to “take care of each other” is to acknowledge each other’s work. NOTICE what others are doing and comment on it favorably. I’ve never met a worker who gets enough appreciation. You can never say thank you enough. In addition pay attention to what others are doing, and if there is something YOU can do to support their work or fill in a gap– just do it.

Improvisers do this all the time: they see something that “needs to be done” and they just do it.

Not because it is “in their job description” but simply because it helps the work move along. It needs to be done, and I saw it. Step out of the pigeon hole of “what is my job description?” Work for the greater good of the company, for the welfare of your colleagues, and ultimately at the end of the day, I’d predict that you will find yourself “engaged.”

And, don’t worry about “burnout”. It isn’t work that burns people out . . . it is RESENTING the work you are doing. Do the job well. That the best way I know to create a fulfilling work life.

Patricia your book is loaded with try this exercises to move the reader beyond word consumption to active engagement. What are you trying these days to stay engaged with your current work focus?What a wonderful question. I am trying to be a better partner to my husband. I am attempting to listen more carefully and more honestly when he is talking about a subject that i don’t have a personal interest in. I want to support him instead of turning away to things that interest me. This is a challenge. I don’t always do it well.

Also, now that I am retired I have a lot more discretionary time. I’m pursuing a passion of mine: botanical art. I have included a picture of an apple I just did with colored pencil. And, your readers should know that even with all the “improv wisdom” in my pocket,

Drawing by Patricia Ryan Madson

I am sometimes engaged fully and sometimes I’m not. But when I find myself off the track I have some tools to get me back on course. I really appreciate the chance to chat with your readers. I want to wish everyone good fortune as they face the challenges of daily life. Aren’t we lucky to live in a world where we can help each other become happier at what we do. May you all “enjoy the ride.

*****

To learn more about Patricia Ryan Madson and Improv Wisdom visit her website www.improvwisdom.com I also encourage you to click here to read the interview she did for Tom Peter’s cool friends series.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. the sun shines not on us, but in us; the rivers flow not past, but through us. ~ John Muir

Employee engagement is:

Connection to our authentic self.

Connection to our work.

Connection to others.

Connection to family.

Connection to play.

Connection to leaders.

Connection to customers.

Connection to the organization.

Connection to peers.

Connection to meaning.

Connection to emotion.

Connection to thoughts.

Connection to energy.

Connection to now.

Connection to living.

Connection to love.

To disengage is to disconnect.

My hope for you is that employee engagement is a powerful way for you to be fully connected!

Photo Credit: handshake II by http://flickr.com/photos/ooohoooh/1350774047/

David Zinger, M.Ed.

Mike Morrison, the Dean of Toyota University, wrote a wonderful book: The Other Side of the Card: Where Your Authentic Leadership Story Begins. Click here to read a previous article on this book.

I also receive Mike’s newsletter and appreciate the leadership “wake up” calls he sends out.  I loved a recent newsletter about “all in.” Mike used the poker strategy of “all in” to look at when do we go “all in” at work.

Here is a section from that newsletter:

Very few of our activities ever reach this level of commitment - especially in our organizational lives where the game is much more about positioning, politics, and being opportunistic. …I am curious to know the things in your work life where you personally are “all in.”  By “all in” . . . I mean fully committed to a high-level action.  Not just, “I support the initiative but I’m still waiting to see if it gains more momentum across the organization.”  Or, worse yet, “I’m waiting for my boss to weigh in first.” When we are “all in” - we gain the special powers that come from making a commitment.  We are released from the anxiety of waiting and making small incremental gestures - and rewarded with a feeling of confidence for stepping forward.  We also gain access to the additional resources that come our way as others will always gravitate to action, meaning, and leadership. 

Where are you “all in”?  It’s a great question.  Ask your colleagues and team members.  It will give you a sense of what matters most.  It will also give you great insight into the culture - cautious or courageous?  As leaders, we live on the “other side of the card” - willing to take the kinds of risk that create meaningful change!

You can learn more about Mike Morrison and get additional resources at: www.theothersideofthecard.com

When you think about employee engagement, are you all in?

Photo Credit: all in … by http://flickr.com/photos/rezavaziri/778539866/

Pema Chodron has the following commentary in the book Always Maintain a Joyful Mind on awakening compassion and fearlessness:

In the morning when you wake up, you reflect on the day ahead and aspire to use it to keep a wide-open heart and mind. At the end of the day, before going to sleep, you think over what you have done. If you fulfilled your aspiration, even once, rejoice in that. If you went against your aspiration, rejoice that you are able to see what you did and are no longer living in ignorance. This way you will be inspired to go forward with increasing clarity, confidence, and compassion in the days that follow.

Can you dissolve the barriers between organizations, leadership, and employees to create employee engagement for all by opening your heart?

Photo Credit: joy by http://flickr.com/photos/tahbka/361509295/

The Globe and Mail wrote an article on Carl Wieman. Dr Wieman, an Nobel laureate, is on a mission to change the way science is taught. He wants to engage the learner. He claims that universities are doing a terrible job of teaching students and it is time to shift to student engagement in learning.

He wants professors to stop lecturing and begin to engage students through questions and group discussions and teach them to think like scientists, rather than just recite facts.

In today’s workplace are you engaging employees in their work? What Dr. Wieman is attempting to do for the science classroom, I encourage you to do for your workplace.

Don’t just stand at the front of the room teaching or preaching, foster engagement with direct and meaningful interactions with the people you work with.

And that’s the end of my lecture!

Photo Credit: ST 148 by http://flickr.com/photos/dnorman/177883003/

Here is a short snippet story from Sakyong Mipham’s Turning The Mind Into An Ally:

I have a friend who’s particularly susceptible to attacks of basic laziness. For example, one day when we were relaxing together, he decided to take a rest on the couch. He poured himself a drink, placed it on the coffee table, and then lay down on the sofa. After a few minutes of lying there, he realized he’d placed his glass on the far side of the table, out of reach. Instead of sitting up and picking up his glass, he found a clothes hanger that was wedged between the cushions and hooked the leg of the coffee table with it to drag the table closer. Predictably, the drink fell off the table. We often expend much more energy being lazy than it would take to deal with our life straightforwardly.

What is your straightforward path to employee engagement?

Photo Credit: lazy polar bear by http://flickr.com/photos/laenulfean/448547930/

The great question about leadership, about taking real steps on the pilgrim’s path, is the great question of any individual life: how to make everything more personal. How to understand life or leadership not as an abstract path involving devious strategies but more like an inhabitation, a way of life, a conversation, a captaincy; an expression of individual nature and gifts and a familiarity with the specific nature of your own desires and fears. In a conversation there is always more than one voice, and one of the voices must be our own or it is no conversation at at all (p55-56).~ David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea.

Photo Credit: Auroville 014 —– Colour Purple by http://flickr.com/photos/pandiyan/133235475/

 I strongly encourage you to read the article: Employee Engagement  from the blog,  Yearning Mice on Fire: Random Ravings From the Midnight Hours.

Here are some of Dee’s words:

Employee engagement. It is the latest and greatest corporate buzz phrase, at least for the corporation I work for. But what does it mean?

If you ask the company it is a quotient based on what an employee says about the corporation, their strivings to do for the company, and whether the employees are staying with the company over the long-term or not. If you ask the employee, especially the ones who have been deemed “not engaged”, it is the level of abuse you are willing to put up with for the salary and benefits you receive.

Just like the abusive parent who sits at the table with the liquor and smokes while moaning that their children just don’t love them, the corporation’s board of directors spends a great deal of time wondering where it all went wrong. Surveys are done and staff meetings are called to go over the results. The presenter always says the same thing, “We just don’t know why you’re not engaged.” Anyone who tries to explain it to them is quickly shut up and shuffled out the door.

You’ve probably guessed by now that I am “not engaged” at work. It’s hard to care about the corporation when the corporation has made it clear that they don’t care about you. Programs put into place to benefit the employee are used instead to control and manipulate them. Incentives are used to create tension and discord between employees. The contract is interpreted and re-interpreted constantly until very few of us are even sure what the words mean anymore. Information in place to be used by all employees is instead withheld and/ or requests for information are instead funnelled to your manager who berates and threatens you. Pride in a job well done has been twisted to mean that we must give 150% effort in 50% of the time and for 30% of the costs.

I encourage you to read the full post by Dee and determine how you would respond to her if you were a leader in the organization she talked about.

By the way, I believe this is much more than just one person’s perspective on employee engagement - I believe that many employees feel this way.

David Zinger specializes in employee engagement.

Email David at dzinger@shaw.ca

Patricia Digh writes one of my favorite blogs, 37 days. She is much more than a blogger, Patti is a natural teacher through her informative and inspiring blog posts. Her blog began with the question: What would you be doing today if you had only 37 days left to live? This was based on personal  experience in a close relationship.

I don’t think we can look at employee engagement as being divorced from all the other facets of our life (and death). Patti wrote a post on “be thankful for brick walls” about Randy Pausch and his last lecture. Randy Pausch is dying yet he is really living!

Click here for a link to a 4 minute video on Randy.

Visit Patti’s post if you would like to find out more about Randy or you would like to be inspired by a skillful, insightful, and authentic writer.

What would you be doing today if you had only 37 days left to live?

Picture credit: Track 37 by http://flickr.com/photos/mukluk/264106290/

David Zinger can be found at www.davidzinger.com

There are a plethora of methods and approaches to fostering and enhancing employee engagement. Actions can be launched by individuals, leaders, and organizations. When all 3 are working together we move beyond simple employee engagement to workplace engagement with engagement for all!

Yet, the workplace of today is asking more and more from everyone with less and less time to stop and determine what to do and how to do it. If we are given too many things to do we may give up or avoid them simply because we are overwhelmed and there are too many things to do already. It can be a challenge simply to remember to focus on employee engagement.

I recommend a 2 x 2 x 2 design structure:

1. What are 2 actions organizations can take to enhance employee engagement?
2. What are 2 actions leaders can take to enhance employee engagement?
3. What are 2 actions individuals can take to enhance employee engagement?

When everyone is taking action and working together we move beyond employee engagement to workplace engagement with engagement for all. You also get the multiplier effect as 2 x 2 x 2 = 8. The multiplier effect from a systems perspective means: changes in one field of human activity (subsystem) sometimes act to promote changes in other fields (subsystems) and in turn act on the original subsystem itself. This becomes full workplace engagement when we are seeing actions from leaders, employees, and the organization.

In the next 3 Monday Morning Percolators I will outline the actions of each of these groups. In the interim I encourage you to think about what are the 2 most powerful actions you can perform to create high levels of engagement.

Picture Credit: 2 x 2 x 2 = fun by http://flickr.com/photos/bofh/30900799/

At Slacker Manager I recently wrote about September 1st. as New Year’s Day.  I offered 5 keys for a New Year. I wish you full engagement in the coming year…

Another fresh new year is here…

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

William Arthur Ward

Do you hear what I hear?

Who are you listening to in relationship to employee engagement? You can listen to the work of management consultants or university professors but I encourage you to go to the source. Listen to the people in your family and workplace.

Here are 4 snippets I heard this week from family and friends in regards to employee engagement. I did not ask for any of these statements they simply came up in our conversations.

From my 15 year old son who washes dishes for a restaurant in Winnipeg

I really like working with that guy. We have fun, we don’t take it too seriously but we get the job done.

From a health care manager talking about a management colleague

She knows so much but she is letting the management of her staff get to her and treating them in a way that is creating more conflict rather than increased engagement. I worked in that unit and I had to make some unpopular decision but I kept informing the staff, letting them know the rationale, telling them how tough this was, and at the end they were even thanking me even though I had to ask so much extra from them.

From a real estate manager

I have a new direct report. He is good but I have to keep watching how I treat him. It took me a year to find him and I don’t want to have to look for someone else.

From my fifteen year old daughter at the end of 3 weeks of volunteer work with autistic children

I have learned so much from those children. They are so interesting and do such neat things. It is funny and a challenge but I love working with them.

Get Engaged:

1. If you really want to learn about grass roots employee engagement listen to the people in your family, social circles, and workplace every day. How engaged are they? What factors influence their engagement?
2. Listen to their perspective and determine how you can apply the learning to yourself or with other people at work.

Joseph Libertia has written a fine short post on how to overcome Bad Boss syndrome with emotional intelligence. He cites the common statement that people don’t leave organizations, they leave leaders. Bad bosses are not always jerks or worse. Joseph listed some of the reasons for being a bad boss:

• Have a lot on your plate
• Are under pressure to perform
• May be in over your head
• Don’t know a better way
• Are scared
• Fight to stay in control
• Have you identity and value attached to the results you produce
• Don’t get the support you need

Joseph Liberti offers 5 solid suggestions on how to apply emotional intelligence to forge better relationships with your employees. He writes,

Solicit people’s feelings and just listen. A leader I once had as a coaching client started by simply asking, genuinely, “And how do you feel about that?” in conversations with direct reports about current issues. and improved relationships. You don’t have to fix them. Just hear them!

Go to Emotional Intelligence at Work to read Joseph’s other suggestions. While you are there, I encourage you to read more articles from his blog by clicking here.

TIME OUT!

This is the week with July 4th in the United States and Canada Day, on July 1, in Canada. Many people, especially with children, use July to start their summer holidays and students have a long “time out” from school. I hope you have or had a good time on your holiday.

This leads into the post for today - the importance of time out or disengagement to enhance engagement.

Employee engagement is not a 24/7 way of being. Our engagement levels should fluctuate during the day, during the week, and during the year. Our energy levels change, the demands of work increase and decrease, and relationships at work can also fluctuate. Our rest and recovery can fuel our performance and give us a much needed perspective on our direction.

Do you consciously disengage to foster higher levels of engagement?

Much like a time out during a basketball game where the players huddle to get ready for the next few plays we must also consciously disengage from work to strategize for more efficient and effective performance. We need to pause or come to a complete stop to determine our next step.

Get Perking:

1. Take time to savor and smell the coffee.
2. Turn your phone or blackberry off for parts of the day. Do you really need to be available 24/7?
3. Don’t bring work home with you - physically or mentally.
4. Engage in an activity that takes your mind completely off of work — from playing with children to even playing basketball.
5. After every 60 to 90 minutes of work take a few minutes to stand up, stretch, or walk around the office.

Foster more powerful employee engagement by making the effort to also consciously disengage from work. As Jon Kabat-Zinn wrote: you can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.

Have you thought about how the world and work is changing and what this means to employees, leaders and organizations who want to foster and maintain high levels of employee engagement?

I encourage you to view these 67 slides on change - shiftHappens:

[slideshare id=33834&doc=shift-happens-23665&w=425]

After viewing the slides what are you thoughts and ideas about fostering employee engagement?

Here are a few of my thoughts:

• Maybe being one in a million is not such a big thing.
• How unique are we and how much do we experience a sense of entitlement?
• How do we keep people engaged as they work in so many different jobs over their careers?
• We need to look beyond Canada and the United States to see what is going on. We need to look beyond today to know how to respond. We can look at history to notice that the landscape of work has changed. Are we open to changing approaches to employee engagement? For example, when you look at how engaged people are with text messaging are you creating a method to make use of this medium to enhance employee engagement?
• 50% of the workforce has worked for their company for less than 5 years. What does this mean for commitment and engagement?
• Are you visiting one of the largest countries —- MySpace?
• Looking at another type of engagement: 1 in 8 couples married last year in the United States met online. What are your methods to meet online with employees to foster employee and workplace engagement.

Now that you have focused on shiftHappens, how are you going to apply it to employee engagement?

As things keep shifting we need good questions much more than ready made answers.

We become distinct by avoiding creating distinctions:

The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both. ~ James A Michener

Pursue your vision of excellence.

Photo Credit: le Parkour by http://www.flickr.com/photos/baston/34678884/

Benjamin Zander is a master of engagement. His passion for music and to bring out the best is very inspirational. Read the following statement he makes as he coaches a student:

We are about contribution, that’s what our job is … everyone was clear you contributed passion to the people in this room. Did you do it better than the next violinist, or did he do better than a pianist? I don’t care, because in contribution, there is no better!

Now: Watch a 6 minute video clip of Ben at work.

Can you change your view of employee engagement and performance management into passionate contribution? There is no better.

Picture credit: rosita by http://flickr.com/photos/schaaflicht/346073/

Do you see relaxation as the opposite of work and effort? Perhaps you believe relaxation is something you do after work? I believe we perform at our best when we relax into work or performance. Our thinking can prohibit engagement or prolong emlpoyee disengagement.

Here is a short paragraph from J. J. Gibbs, Dancing With Your Books: The Zen Way of Studying:

Relaxed Mind, Alert Mind. Relaxation does not mean that the mind goes to sleep. It means to let go to allow the mind to devote its full power to the task at hand. Emptying the mind or letting go is liberation from disquieting thoughts and feelings so our mind’s light can shine directly and exclusively on the present moment, the task at hand. The remaining mid is relaxed by alert. It is taut and ready; poised to deal with whatever present circumstances demand.

The next time you find yourself struggling to stay engaged with your work, take a deep breath, inspire yourself, and relax into your effort.

Picture Credit: Fillmore Snow (11) by http://flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/47910013/

Employee Engagement: Monday Morning Percolator #13

A key principle from Made to Stick is to make your ideas sticky with a concrete approach. When you pour out abstractions or general ideas go the next step by transforming them into statements that are particular and individual.

The benefit of making employee engagement concrete is in helping employees understand and remember the key idea and to help them coordinate their efforts.

For example, spell out exactly what behaviors would demonstrate high levels of engagement. If you want employees to increase their discretionary effort let them know what that means. Some employees might believe it merely means more hours of work while others believe it means they decide what to do and when to do it.

Another example of concreteness is to provide specific examples of people who are demonstrating high levels of employee engagement. Or communicate specific engagement goals. For example when the 727 passenger plane was being designed it would have been easy to have set a goal of “build the best passenger plane in the world.” Instead, Boeing set a very concrete design goal:

The 727 must seat 131 passengers, fly nonstop from Miami to New York City, and land on runway 4-22 at La Guardia.

Get Perking:

1. Transform any generalities or abstract notions of employee engagement into concrete with specific statements that make them memorable and airborne. For example, change we encourage more discretionary effort to ”2 4 Tuesdays at 2.” This means we expect you to use 2 hours every Tuesday between 2 and 4 o’clock to work on projects that you determine will make a contribution to the organization, your department, and yourself! Write a concrete, specific, and vivid statement that articulates employee engagement for yourself or your workplace.

Photo Credit: Virginia G – I need more concrete: http://flickr.com/photos/vgasull/427979542/ 

Photo Credit: Sunny Runway - From Flickr Creative Commons – by http://flickr.com/photos/bpuppy/188786729/

zen perspectives on employee engagement

The greatest analgesic, soporific, stimulant, tranquilizer, narcotic and, to some extent, even antibiotic - in short, the closest thing to a genuine panacea - known to medical science is work.

Thomas Szasz

Well, well, well. If you work well you may be well at work. Instead of a vicious cycle of disengagement work may create a vivacious cycle of engagement.

Photo Credit: Good Luck and Happiness by http://www.flickr.com/photos/hobo_pd/339564960/