Trafficking In Trust

It has been an interesting week, being in both Washington and New York. One of the highlights was spending a good deal of enjoyable time talking with Karen Stephenson and Patricia Shafer, both authors in "Enlightened Power: How Women are Transforming the Practice of Leadership" (Linda Coughlin - Editor).

High on our list of discussion points was trust in its various guises. I pick out this item from businessknowhow as it raises an interesting "gender" point which I am still digesting ....

"Trafficking In Trust: The Art and Science of Human Knowledge Networks" by Karen Stephenson

She had been mentored by the very best. It was all because the CEO had had an epiphany. He had looked around his company and seen that he was wheeling and dealing mostly with men - where were the women in the equation? Why weren't they involved? And then he realized that he was the sole party responsible for both the absence and silence of women. In a quiet promise to himself, he decided to change the context and shift the equation. And he did - she was now CEO. But the appointment alone was not enough to garner the impact he sought. Oh sure, he saw the press rally 'round her - both praising and picking. But that's not the kind of recognition he was expecting for his new successor. Instead, what he saw was that the male managers within the enterprise didn't trust the new female CEO - perhaps because they had difficulty trusting any woman. Quite frankly, he had not spent much time in nurturing those relationships to get past that ol' familiar "gender issue." He also saw that women managers did not trust the new woman CEO either! Did she sell out? What did she do that they had not done or would not do? Surely her promotion was not the result of mere meritocracy! If time is appropriately spent in building collegial relationships in the leadership network, gender issues can become irrelevant. But when leaders don't do their homework and fail to establish their networks, then other factors, like gender, take center stage. In the final analysis, merit matters, but only when networks are nurtured."

Read more at ....

In the conversation, it seemed to me that there are a couple of corollaries. First, we "make judgements" (about people and situations) as a precursor to "having trust". It may be interesting to analyse the components of those judgements as networks of thoughts, experiences and learning. A kind of "meta network", or, to steal a phrase from Chris Argyris and others, a kind of "double loop network", where a judgement network is needed to allow a trusted network to build.

And, second, whilst I do agree with Karen that the gender issue remains difficult, the same mechanism is at work in, for example, dealing with organizations that have employees of many cultures and geographic backgrounds. I know from my own experience that without forming good communication links and working networks in such organizations then the "local" culture can raise its head as an issue. Respect for the diversity of others plays a critical role here.

Primary Education in Cambodia

On a windy Saturday, I have been working on a presentation due to be given on change from a personal perspective, and I have chosen to talk about primary school education programs my family helped start in Cambodia (yatesweb.com/Cambodia).

The Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975. In 3 ½ years, an estimated 1.8 million people died – 200,000 or more killed directly, and 1.6 million died of starvation. If you were a teacher, doctor, professional or lawyer, or if you wore glasses, or could speak a foreign language, or were educated ... you were classified as an enemy ... you were arrested, tortured, then killed.

The Vietnamese stopped the killing in 1979, but were ostracised by the UN for geo-political reasons as much as anything else. So the Khmer Rouge were instead seen as the official representatives of Cambodia working from their northern hideouts. After the Vietnamese left, in the early 1990's the UN arranged elections, although the Khmer Rouge refused to take part. The country remained divided.

In April 1998, Pol Pot died just north of Anlong Veng from an apparent heart attack … and his body was burned. Today, there is a tourist shrine marking his grave. But until that time very few children had even 1st grade schooling in these remote areas under Khmer Rouge control. Schooling only really became possible from 1999.

So why am I writing this, now? I do not want to be particularly reminded of the horrors, although it is always a salutory thought that genocide recurs so often. But it is uplifting to review once more the successes of education programs in the last 4 or 5 years in these remote parts of Cambodia.

People want education, and kids want to go to school. Enrolment went from 39% to 89% between 1999 and 2002 in these "reconciliation areas", and is now hovering around 95%. Grade 6 is now almost routine.

Would that we in the West were so avid on the subject. I guess you don't miss what you already have?

Europe as I see It

So, I was happy to fly to Helsinki today - Finland joined the EU in 1995.

Often the Europeans are abused as "bureaucrats" and worse. Here is what happened. I presented my well-worn British passport to the immigration guy - he smiled, checked it all visually (no computer run, no fingerprints, no questions) and welcomed me to Finland.

There are 25 EU Countries, with different languages and cultures, different economies and different individual aspirations. But they have substituted war with rules. I do not particularly like debates about 48 hour working weeks, but I would much rather discuss that than declaring war on one of my neighbours.

After many centuries of war, Europe is at peace.

Thank you, the guy at immigration, for pointing this out by not trying to.

Zen in Europe.

World, learn something.

On the other hand, I checked in at British Airways, with my Club Card. The young lady was great - sense of humour, good seat and so.

But then I went to the Club Lounge - "please show me your card, sir" - "but you have the number printed on my ticket from the check-in" - "please show me your card, sir" - "but why?" - "please show me your card, sir - I am just doing my job" - "well, I hope you loose it".

Customer service? Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

thoughtless acts - jane fulton suri

To quote the opening of this fascinating book:

"thoughtless acts are all those intuitive ways we adapt, exploit, and react to things in our environment; things we do without really thinking.some actions, such as grabbing onto something for balance, are universal and instinctive.

others, such as warming hands on a hot mug or stroking velvet, draw on experiences so deeply embodied that they are almost unconscious. still more, such as hanging a jacket to claim a chair, have become spontaneous through habit or social learning. observing such everyday interaction reveals subtle details about how we relate to the designed and natural world. this is key information and inspiration design, and a good starting point for any creative initiative.

the pictures here [in Jane's book] are glimpses of this kind of interaction. they show a range of examples form the physical and functional, such as carrying things comfortably and being efficient, to the social and cultural where we have influenced one another to use space and objects in particular ways".

.... it is well worth wandering through this fascinating book of the "obvious" seen though a "non obvious lens" (my words, not Jane's).

Do you recall the stories of the Zen monk, the warrior and the teacup?

Corporate blogs

This is an old article (2004) but I thought it interesting ..... from John Cass, PR Communications

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"Customer Engagement vs. Blogging

Using the word "blogging" or "blog" can get you into hot water, well really a lack of understanding. I've been thinking about the value of blogging for the last few months. I've really been attempting to understand what the value of blogging is to a company.

I think I've demonstrated to myself there is some value from blogging. The biggest benefit is customer engagement, but can you go to the bank with more customer engagement? I think you can.

It's up to Internet marketers to build the next form of website. We have to use our imagination to combine the lessons learnt from blogging to build websites that really engage customers. How can you start from scratch? Imagine if you don't have any of the existing models for web design how would you build a website today that really engaged customers?

You might build some of the following into your site:

* The leading site for content on your industry.
* Allow your customers to ask questions and respond to content.
* Update frequently.
* Let them keep in touch through RSS or e-mail.

The reason for the scolding water from the use of the word "blog" comes from the perception that blogs are run by teenagers, or out of work journalists. The focus is on who is blogging, rather than how and why blogs are successful. I personally don't care who runs a website or a "blog". My interest from a PR & Marketing perspective is to understand how blogs and other new forms of website are enabling companies to communicate their message clearly, efficiently and to a broader audience.

I will say that companies such as Microsoft and Macromedia are using blogs and hybrid blog-websites as a way to communicate with their audience in different ways. Such websites are speeding the flow of communications, partly because the perception of the source of information is different from a normal corporate website. It's a subtle difference but by including a human in the process of promoting corporate information instead of a dry website, it does appear to change an audience's perception. (This is from discussions with corporate bloggers and website managers.)

We actually may be seeing nothing new. Newspapers for many generations have understood the value of presenting news through columnists. Maybe by allowing people to reveal themselves on a website with a real voice for corporations is the 21st century equivalent of a columnist for newspapers?"

Henry V

I am putting together a workshop for later this week on "Change", and of course an important element is leadership. My mind wandered, and I recalled Kenneth Branagh's spirited version of Shakespeare's Henry V's "St Crispin's Day" speech, just before the battle of Agincourt.

Professor Bainbridge prints it in full ... here is the beginning .....

"This day is called the feast of Crispian:He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,And rouse him at the name of Crispian."

Now, I am not in favour of glorifying war in the least. But I am continually amazed at Shakespeare's ability to capture the human condition so succinctly - and in particular his ability to capture those old fashioned traits of loyalty and honour.

Has anyone ever done this as well since then?

What helps to develop trust?

I was intrigued to note that the results of the April poll on LeaderValues ("What helps to develop trust?") showed communication as way out in front. Interestingly the March poll also showed the critical importance of "common values".