Is Your Team Suffering from FWTS?

Home
>
Creativity
>
Is Your Team Suffering from FWTS?

Is Your Team Suffering from FWTS?

Who do you know who is feeling stuck, under-performing, or dealing with frustration and upset?

These folks might be suffering from FLAT WORLD THINKING SYNDROME! (FWTS)

"Flat World Thinking Syndrome" is the number one issue standing between predictable performance and breakthrough performance. Allow me to illustrate...

For hundreds of years (and perhaps thousands for that matter) mankind believed the earth was flat. Their perspective on the universe held the planets and the sun revolving around the earth. Sailors were afraid to lose sight of land on sea going journeys because they knew if they went too far, they'd fall off the edge.

The fear of falling off the edge of the earth really put the dampers on exploration. The fear was the result of "FWTS." Then comes along Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who in 1612 confirms the Copernican theory using his newly designed telescope, that the earth is indeed round and the sun is actually the center of the universe.

Was Galileo's discovery readily accepted by the thinkers of his day? NOT AT ALL! In fact, he was given the choice at the Inquisition of 1632 to recant his theoryor die. He decided dying sounded like a tough option so lived until his death as an old man under house arrest.

Moral of the story: Flat World thinkers are not necessarily interested in new perspectives. They're interested in the comfort zone and being RIGHT! As a result, they stay stuck.

"Flat World Thinking Syndrome" shows up in our business lives.

The Business Flat World Perspective: There are hundreds of illustrations we can pull from the business world. Perspectives and strategies that worked in 1982 are outdated today. For example:

1. The Customer Is Always Right! (FWTS Model): Let's face it; the customer is NOT always right. Yet for years, we tell our people the customer is always right! What's the danger in this message? Your credibility! If I'm the new hire on your team, it doesn't take long for me to figure out what you're saying and what I'm experiencing are two different things. My B.S. meter goes up and your credibility goes down. Credibility goes down and then trust begins to erode. And then?well, you get the picture.

I recently reviewed a company's new employee orientation process. One of the first items out of the trainer's mouth was: "The customer is always right!" You could feel the eyeballs roll and resistance increase by the audience members. That's the FWTS method.

New approach: I believe the solution is to talk straight with the new hire and all employees. Tell them the customer isn't always right. Tell them the truth. Then coach the team on the "game" we play: to have every customer hang up the phone or walk out the door saying, "I Got WOWed!".

With the "I Got WOWed!" goal in mind, you'd coach me on the skills I need to win. You'll help me see what a "good business decision" is built upon; you'll help me gain confidence in dealing with the three to five most common customer upsets. Then you'll support me in figuring out how to help customers leave the experience saying: "WOW!".

Which leads me to...

2. Training Employees: I've heard it said, "Why spend money on training employees? They'll just leave." That's a Flat world, narrow perspective on the topic.

My thought is: You might train them and they might leave; but what if you don't train them and they STAY? Which is worse?

In fact, you can build a solid "Return on Investment" case for effectively training new hires. Here are but a few examples:

- With effective training, you set people up to win sooner in their job-and people like to win!

- Give employees life skills and they'll hang around longer if they believe they're gaining skills they can use down the road.

- You send a message that you're willing to invest in your human capital!

- Customers have a better and more consistent experience with educated, informed, trained employees!

- The rest of your team will experience fewer headaches and hassles because folks know how to succeed on their job!

How's that for a quick list!

Let's bottom-line this topic: You cut turnover as a result of the above benefits. People will stay longer where they feel valued and are set-up to win! You improve performance and productivity-and who can argue with those results?

Moral of the story: Be on the lookout for Flat World Thinking Syndrome! Challenge the sacred cows in your organization! Be willing to examine old methods in order to produce new results! Be open to new possibilities. After all, who knows enough about life to be sceptical?

And one more thing...have some fun in the process!

Mark Rosenberger, CSP helps companies transform employee performance, productivity and sanity. He is a sought after speaker, performance strategist and author of six books. Do you count on certain people to make your life work? Discover how to be caught more and dropped less, plus achieve more than you ever thought possible - download the FREE Trapeze Buddy e-book at http://www.NoSplatZone.com

In The News:

Creativity in the garden: Found objects, artworks can add whimsy, fun, beauty
Washington Post
SEATTLE — I feel like Alice in Wonderland. Sprinting past an alligator drinking a soda pop and a T-Rex playing guitar, I lean toward a family of colorful metal toadstools that come to my knee. “Aren't those great?” asks Jim Honold as he ushers me ...

and more »

Sydney Morning Herald (blog)
Can creative entrepreneurs really make money?
Sydney Morning Herald (blog)
Can creative entrepreneurs really make money? I'm talking about people like artists, sculptors, writers and others who are pursuing their creative passions. There's a widely held belief that it's very hard to make money as an artist.

and more »

Factory Design Labs Names Andrew Price to Top Creative Role
MarketWatch (press release)
DENVER, CO, May 23, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Factory Design Labs, a full-service agency delivering innovative advertising campaigns for premium lifestyle brands, today announced it has named Andrew Price Vice President, Executive Creative ...

and more »

Baltimore Sun
Creativity runs wild during Destination Imagination
WVLT
(WVLT)-- Teams from all over the world are in Knoxville for the Global Finals for Destination Imagination; a program that lets kids use their creativity to solve problems. Chuck Cadle the CEO of Destination Imagination said "It's an educational program ...
Number Of Teams Earning Spot At Global Finals Up 10% From Last Year! Data Says ...MarketWatch (press release)
Kids will get creative in Destination Imagination finalsLexington Clipper Herald
15000 Students Descend on UT KnoxvilleWMOT

all 23 news articles »

Just Jared
Kelly Clarkson: Having a boyfriend 'is ruining my creativity' for writing songs
New York Daily News
The “American Idol” winner, known for girl power anthems like “Since U Been Gone” and “Stronger,” tells People magazine that having a boyfriend is “ruining” her creativity. “It is killing me,” she told the magazine of penning songs about breakups and ...
Kelly Clarkson: My Boyfriend is Ruining My CreativityPeople Magazine
Kelly Clarkson's boyfriend Brandon Blackstock is 'killing her creativity'Daily Mail
Kelly Clarkson: Relationship Is 'Ruining My Creativity'Just Jared
TheCelebrityCafe.com -Digital Spy -earsucker
all 140 news articles »

Richard Florida Is Wrong About Creative Cities
Forbes
Moretti also points to Berlin, which he calls “one of the world's coolest cities”, and “a magnet for creative people from all over Europe”. He paints a picture of Berlin that is decidedly Floridian: “Berlin's well-established progressive attitudes, ...

Creative Commons Qatar celebrates first anniversary
Gulf Times
By Peter Townson/Staff Reporter Creative Commons Qatar has celebrated its one year anniversary, with officials outlining the successful work carried out by the community organisation and its hopes for the future. Initiative leader Brian Wesolowski ...

NigerianMuse
Singapore wants creativity not cramming
NigerianMuse
By Rebecca LimBBC News, Singapore But now they want to move beyond this – towards something that cultivates creativity and what they term as ”holistic education”. Minister for Education, Heng Swee Keat, said this is ”less about content knowledge” but ...

and more »

Maximizing certainty, minimizing creativity
Santa Ynez Valley News
I can't tell you the number of times I've read an article and come across a statement by someone working in some aspect of the music industry talking about how much they value creativity in its myriad forms, and I find myself saying it's just lip ...

OregonLive.com
My Workout: Creative movement in Nia rounds out exercise routine
OregonLive.com
"Nia has brought creativity and openness to my life. You go at your own pace. I bend in ways I never have before. I don't even get sore gardening." Nutrition: Johnson enjoys being the cook at his house and he treads the straight and narrow, food-wise.

Google News