One day last week, someone asked me if we'd heard of an author with a new management book out. I hadn't, so I downloaded the book to read on my Kindle and replied, I'll let you know when I've read it. "Wow, you rock" came the reply. To be honest, I was a bit shocked, since I didn't think I'd done anything special. (I've started it, by the way....).

Later Mark and I had a conversation about a phone call he'd had that day. One of our previous attendees had had a problem and emailed Mark. It wasn't the kind of thing that could easily be discussed by email, so we set up a 15 minute phone call. The attendee was astounded that Mark would take the time to talk to him and promised to follow up.

Maybe, we thought, only 10% of executives would give someone who asked a genuine question the time of a reply. But we offer Mark's email address at every conference, and you know, only a tiny number of people take him up on the offer. Even less follow up - and we love the people that do. We talk about them as our friends. We look forward to going to the towns where they are. There's some people who send me an email every now and again, and I think of them as my friends - even though our friendship started as them asking me a question they thought I could help with.

If you have a question and you think someone you admire could help, ask. I'm sure you'll be surprised at the response. And don't forget to follow up. If someone asks you a question, try to help. And, if you want to be friends with someone, reach out. It won't happen if you don't.

In his book, 'Why We Make Mistakes', Joseph Hallinan describes an experiment whereby volunteers are given a logic problem involving cups of water. There is a solution, but it's relatively complicated. In a second experiment, they are given more jugs and cups of water and this time the problem can be solved in two ways: a replication of the first problem's solution and a second, far simpler, solution. The people who participated in the first experiment nearly all followed the solution they'd found previously. But 95% of a second set of volunteers who hadn't seen the first problem found the simpler solution.

Hallinan summarizes: "People in the initial experiments had become so set in their ways that they were blinded to the newer, simpler solution. But to those who came to the problem fresh, the simpler solution was obvious." That is one of the problems with the continuous improvement meme - in your company, you might make a 1% improvement each year. But a new company who is coming to the problem fresh may be able to come up with something completely new. Incremental improvements in laptops are nothing next to the ipad (depending on what you want to use the device for :-) ).

One of the ways to get out of the space you're in mentally is to explore paradigms outside of your company, industry or country. There's an article on the BBC website today about the application of the 'no-frills' airline business concept to the hotel industry. How many people in the hotel industry thought, when they got on a budget airline, how does this apply to my industry? How does it apply to yours? How does Starbucks or Apple or Amazon or Dell or Expedia apply to a legal firm or a plant manufacturer or a papermill? It's asking questions like this that allow for more than incremental improvement.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11114802

http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Make-Mistakes-Without/dp/0767928067/ref=sr_...

Manager Tools believes that the key to great management is knowing your people better than average, constantly talking about performance and asking for significant improvements in that performance. The Trinity (One on Ones, Feedback, Coaching and Delegation) are designed to operationalize those key behaviors.

In 2006 Gallup released a follow up to 'First, Break All The Rules' called 'The 12 Elements of Great Managing'. The authors summarize their list of 12 as being the workers saying "If you do these things for us, we will do what the company needs of us". No Manager Tools member will be surprised that the 12 elements directly and indirectly reflect the Trinity. For example: "I know what is expected of me at work" and "In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work".

At conferences we also talk about the need for managers to professionally care about the people who work for them. Management isn't power, or a payrise. In order to be a great manager, we've got to genuinely care about our team and want to see them grow and develop. The Gallup research bears this out too: "My supervisor... seems to care about me as a person". Lucky us, that we know this, and we know what to do every day to make it happen.

http://gmj.gallup.com/content/25390/Gallup-Publishes-LongAwaited-FollowU...

We're excited to announce our plan for conferences in 2011. The good news is, there will be even more opportunities to join us. Attendees tell us that even when they've listened to every podcast, the opportunity to ask questions, practice and meet fellow managers is priceless.

In order for us to achieve this, some of our conferences will be conducted by our friend Michael Swenson. Michael has been working with Mike and Mark for 15 years and is an accomplished presenter in his own right. He's been helping us with bigger conferences ever since we started them, and we're excited that you'll get to learn from his knowledge and experience with the Manager Tools methods.

We will hold both an Effective Manager Conference and an Effective Communications Conference at all our dates in Newark, Chicago, San Jose, LA, Washington DC and London. At all other locations there will be an Effective Manager Conference only. These dates are tentative pending our negotiations with hotels, but we hope to see you at one of our conferences in 2011. 

In our recent Career Tools cast Resume Update 2010, we recommended you use the available information to conduct a strategic job search. Whilst we realize that not everyone is in a position to relocate, temporarily or permanently, for those of us able to consider it, one website has developed a Job Search Difficulty Index which may prove useful. By comparing the Bureau of Labour Statistics information on unemployment with the available jobs, they are able to give us an understanding of how hard it is to get a new job by state and city. Of course, we need to remember that this data is for the whole of the market. There is always a shortage in certain roles and specialisms, and often a surplus in others. But when developing our job search strategy, more information is better.

Another website has surveyed 600 recruitment and HR professionals, and their results are very representative of the trends we are seeing and the guidance we've given you. This survey found 36% will spend less on job boards and 38% will spend less on third party recruiters in 2010 than in 2009. Companies are reaching out directly to the market, and that means different behaviour for job seekers. 92% of the respondents plan to recruit via social networks with 86% of that group using Linkedin. 89% of the respondents had hired at least one person from Linkedin, with another 27% having hired from Facebook. Our guidance to be on Linkedin, tidy up your Facebook page (and other social networks) and go directly to company websites all comes from these trends.

Even if you're not thinking about changing jobs this year, take action now. Part of a recruiter's job is to know the people with the right skills who currently aren't looking but who might be in six months to a year, or who might be promoted and therefore a client, or who might know someone who is looking. Recruiters (including in-house recruiters and HR departments) aren't just interested in available candidates. They're interested in the whole market in a particular skill. That means even if you aren't looking, they might still be looking at your Linkedin profile or your Facebook page. Don't think that you can have something inappropriate on them now, and tidy it up just before you start looking. It may well have already been seen and your reputation set.

http://www.manager-tools.com/2010/08/resume-update-2010-part-1

http://www.job-search-engine.com/press/Juju-Releases-Job-Search-Difficul...

http://www.job-search-engine.com/press/Juju-Releases-Job-Search-Difficul...

http://web.jobvite.com/rs/jobvite/images/Jobvite%202010%20Social%20Recru...

Rereading Getting Things Done last week, I was struck by what David Allen says about ideas. He says: "If you're waiting to have a good idea before you have any idea, you won't have many ideas". When Mark talks about brainstorming with conference groups he asks: "If you have a small pile of ideas, and a big pile of ideas, which pile of ideas is most likely to have most good ideas?" Both of them are saying the same thing: in order to have a good idea you need lots of ideas.

Mark also tells groups that a manager's role is generally to reduce: to make a decision between x and y and z, and to go forward with one. That's why brainstorming is hard. It's the opposite of what we normally do - it's increasing our scope instead of reducing it.

If you ask Google how many thoughts we have a day, it gives numbers from 12,000 to 60,000. However many we have, it's many many many more than we're conscious of. Most of them are fleeting, because our 'reducing habit' dismisses them. If you want to have more ideas, start writing down your random thoughts. Don't be instantly dismissive. Follow the rabbit for a few more thoughts and see if a good idea turns up.

Traveling to around new cities on public transport is an interesting experience for a multitude of reasons. I spent several minutes yesterday standing in front of the ticket machine in Seattle trying to understand if I wanted an ordinary return ticket or an e-purse. (The machine issued my change as 15 $1 coins which caused every shop assistant I paid later in the day to say: oh, you've been on the light rail today!).

There was no explanation as to what an e-purse was and no staff to ask, and yet the machine required me to make that decision. I'm sure the people who made the machine, the one who designed the screens, the one who designed the instructions all thought there was sufficient information for customers to make a good decision, but they were wrong.

Whenever we create instructions or directions, we need to work with the people who will need to understand them. Whether it's members of the public, or our directs when we're delegating, it's no use us being sure that the instructions make sense. It has to be clear to the people who need to enact our instructions.

In an article in August Wired magazine, Clive Thompson says that the phone call is dead. Apparently, the number of mobile phone calls we make each year is falling, since hitting a peak in 2007. Thompson says that phone calls are inefficient and deserve to die. However, the most interesting part of the article for me was this: "This generation doesn't make phone calls because everyone is in constant, lightweight contact in so many other ways: texting, chatting and social-network messaging".

It reminded me of the managers who say, I don't need to do O3's, I talk to my people all the time. The problem with that is, as Thompson says, it's a lightweight contact. It's 'how are you doing?' as we pass, with the expectation that the answer will be the socially acceptable, 'great' or 'fine'.

It isn't until we have 30 minutes of concentrated, one on one, uninterrupted time that the answer to 'how are you doing?' becomes 'I've got something to tell you', or 'Actually, I'm really struggling' or 'I have great news'. No one starts a meaningful conversation in passing. That's what O3's are for.

An article on Inc's website discusses a not-commonly-known leading indicator of economic growth. Brake pads. If you think about it, their logic, that more brake pads are sold as the economy increases is obvious: "When trucks are wearing down brake pads faster, it means the trucks are being driven more. More trucks on the road means more goods being sold.”

It got me to thinking about other not-commonly-known or less obvious leading indicators of an improving economy. Recruiters know that temporary staff are hired back first, and that permanent staff come after. Once companies start having more work to do, they need more staff, but the scars of an economic downturn remain, and they don't risk hiring permanently until they know it's going to last.

We have a wide variety of industries represented amongst our members and we'd like to you to share. What is the well-known or not so well known, leading indicator of an improving recovery in your industry? So far, we have brake pads and temporary staff. What can you add?

http://www.inc.com/lewis-schiff/the-brake-pad-economy-.html

In an article in Inc Magazine, Jerry Murrell, founder of the Five Guys burger chain, discusses potatoes: "Potatoes are like oak trees -- the slower they grow, the more solid they are. We like northern potatoes, because they grow in the daytime when it is warm, but then they stop at night when it cools down. It would be a lot easier and cheaper if we got a California or Florida potato."

I was amazed that anyone would know where the best potatoes grew for their business. But then I started thinking about other people I know who are really really good at what they do. I remembered interviewing a guy, two years out of college for a role that involved understanding the international political scene. He knew the ruling government and how stable it was for every country we wanted to discuss. I remembered an interviewee for a media role who was a former journalist, and who had a strategy, worked out over time by trial and error, for getting them most out of interviewees when she doorstepped them.

People who are really good at what they do, are obsessed with the details. Their knowledge is deep in a few subjects, often, rather than broad. They work at getting better. It may get you laughed at by your family, that you're bringing home more books on business, but that obsession will get you ahead.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20100401/jerry-murrell-five-guys-burgers-and...