The Mission Statement Book

The Mission Statement Book: 301 Corporate Mission Statements from America's Top Companies provides information on 301 of America's top companies.

You can find (when available):
1. The Name of the Company
2. Their Mission Statement -- may include vision, mission, goals and objectives or some combination of these
3. A Description of the Corporation
4. Address
5. Industry Category
6. Number of Employees
7. Size of Revenues
8. The Source of the Information

Using this resource allows you to find competitors to benchmark against. You can select companies in the same industry with a similar number of employees and similar size revenues. Then you can determine their strategic niche by reviewing their company's strategic descriptions.

For instance, say you want to compete in the software industry. And you decide to take on Microsoft. In fact, you want to pattern yourself after Microsoft. Then you would turn to page 396 in The Mission Statement Book . (Companies are listed in alphabetical order.)

Here you would find that Microsoft's Vision statement is nearly a page long. The first line would be what we would commonly refer to as a missions statement:

"A computer on every desk and in every home."

Microsoft elaborates on this statement for three paragraphs and then follows up with a paragraph of goals. These goals are related to product development and delivery, infrastructure development, infusion and diffusion of computer technology, and hiring practices. They end with a promise of putting "Information At Your Fingertips."

While you might not be able to compete with Microsoft in size or revenues, you can have a vision that is as big as theirs.

The Mission Statement Book includes information from companies in 34 industries. Some industries have only one representative, others have information from a couple of dozen firms.

They range in size from General Motors with 710,000 employees to Forest Oil Corporation with 187 employees. These companies represent 42 states and the District of Columbia.

The Dilbert Principle

Now for something on the lighter side. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, has been making fun of organizational policies and politics for over 15 years. His cartoon strip regularly makes fun of the organizational fads we are familiar with. In this book, The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle's-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions Adams expounds on his "Dilbert Principle." The Dilbert Principle is a theory Adams suggests as a replacement for the famous Peter Principle.

The Peter Principle states, "in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle)

The Dilbert Principle states, "that the most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage: management." Thereby skipping the need to ever have worked a job they were competent at.

Whether you agree with Adam's satirical view of the corporate world or not, you will find the objects of his ridicule are based on the reality he has seen and hears about in the corporate world.

Besides being entertaining, The Dilbert Principle: A Cubicle's-Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions provides some instructional value for leaders. It helps us see the world through the eyes of those we work with. If we take the time to examine the exaggerated spin Adams puts on corporate life, we realize the absurdity of the situations he describes in this book.

However, if we back up a few steps to the less exaggerated, less obvious real life situations these scenarios are based on, we might find that we engage in the same or very similar behavior in our own organizational life. Adams claims we regularly receives e-mail from people all over the world who swear he must have intimate knowledge of their organization because of his accurate descriptions of what's going on there.

Read it.

Enjoy it.

But reflect on how this book might be describing the very situations existing in your own organization.


And as you would hope, this book is full of cartoons to compliment and illustrate the principles being discussed.

The Fifth Discipline

The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization by Peter Senge is built on systems thinking, the application of formal systems theory. Formal systems theory became popular in the biological sciences in the 1950s. The basic premise is that all things operate in a system and are never stand alone objects. In addition, all systems are composed of sub-system and are part of super-systems which operate by the rules of systems theory. Applying the assumptions and rules of formal systems theory involves systems thinking.

Along with systems thinking, Senge suggests the following disciplines or areas of the learning organization: personal mastery, mental models, building shared values, and team learning. Systems thinking is the "fifth discipline" and, thus, the name of the book.

Some gems from The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization include:

"When placed in the same system, people, however different, tend to produce similar results."

"Today's problems come from yesterday's 'solutions.'"

"Virtually all natural systems, from ecosystems to animals to organizations, have intrinsically optimal rates of growth."

"Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes."

"Reality is made up of circles but we see straight lines."

"I would suggest that the fundamental 'information problem' faced by managers is not too little information but too much information. What we most need are ways to know what it important and what is not important."

"Only mediocre people are always at their best."

"The greatest unexplored territory in the world is the space between our ears. Seriously, I am certain that learning organizations will find ways to nurture and focus the capabilities within us all that today we call 'extraordinary'."

"Leader's worth is measured by their contribution to other's mental models."

"People do not focus on the long term because they have to, but because they want to."

"The committed person doesn't play by the 'rules of the game.' He is responsible for the game. If the rules of the game stand in the way of achieving the vision, he will find ways to change the rules. A group of people truly committed to a common vision is an awesome force. They can accomplish the seemingly impossible."

This book includes excellent examples of models of systems. The ideas you can get from reviewing the different representations of problems model with systems thinking is worth the price of the book.

Nuts!

Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success tells the story of the creation and development of Southwest Airlines and CEO Herb Kelleher. The remarkable story of Southwest starts with a diagram on a cocktail napkin. The triangle has as it's points Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. And thus began a company trying to break into the big leagues as the lowest price, by far, competitor. But their greatest contribution for the greater good may be to open up air travel to the masses.

"What Southwest has done is create democracy in the airline business." Roy Spence, President of advertising agency GSD&M.

The airline began on June 18, 1971 with 6 roundtrips between Dallas and San Antonio and 12 between Dallas and Houston International.

Some Leadership principles and quotes gleaned from Nuts! Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success:

"The warrior mentality, the very fight to survive is truly what created our culture."

"We treated our job like it was our own business."

"Owners think differently from nonowners because ownership is a state of mind."

"A vision must be so strong that it can outweigh the egos of managers that might want to take off in a different direction."

"Fun is about attitude, so Southwest hires for attitude and trains for skill."

"We'll train you on whatever it is you have to do, but the one thing Southwest cannot change in people is inherent attitudes."

"Southwest's people go out of their way to make sure employees have access to the information they need."

"Adaptiveness is an individual's or a company's capacity to change when forces in the environment threaten the accomplishment of it's goals."

"People will automatically assume ownership for protecting the right to be engaged in work that gives them a sense of meaning and significance. Why? Because there's a tremendous amount of spiritual, emotional and psychic gratification that comes from meaningful work."

"People who are curious listen more attentively, ask more questions, and display a genuine interest in what others know."

"People learn more easily and retain information longer when the lesson is housed in a story, illustration, or metaphor."

"Kelleher and Barrett believe that culture is one of the most precious things a company has, so you must work harder at it than anything else."

"Celebrate everything."

"When you're having fun at work, it doesn't feel like work at all; it's better than tolerable, it's enjoyable."

"Leadership is getting people to want to do what you want them to do because they share your purpose, vision, and values."

By the way, the book is called "Nuts!" because Southwest was the first airline to serve only peanuts instead of full course meals in an effort to keep costs low.

Creativity & Innovation in Information Systems Organizations

J. Daniel Couger's book, Creativity & Innovation in Information Systems Organizations describes the problem solving method I have found most helpful. The Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Model was revised and enhanced by Isaksen and Treffinger to produce the model.

This model contains six basic steps:

1. Mess Finding -- identifying which group of problems you intend to address.

2. Data Finding -- collecting the facts about these problems to make sure you correctly understand and can accurately identify the problems. A "mess" indicates you are dealing with a number of interconnected problems.

3. Problem Finding -- accurately describing the problems in the mess. Once you have identified them, you can select the one or ones you want to work to solve.

4. Idea Finding -- creating alternatives and possibilities for solving each problem. This includes the traditional brainstorming activities we engage in to generate a number of possible solutions.

5. Solution Finding -- selecting the alternative which seems to be "best." Any number of methods can be used to arrive at this selection. The important thing is to select one.

6. Acceptance Finding -- determining the acceptability of the solution. Before implementing any solution, the wise problem solver checks to see how the solution will be received. Much like a politician will ask colleagues if they find a particular piece of legislature acceptable before sending it forward for a full vote. Solutions can still be tweeked prior to implementation if changes are found that increase the probability the solution will be successful.

Another suggestion I found extremely helpful, was to include divergent and convergent techniques in each step of the process. The last half of Creativity & Innovation in Information Systems Organizations presents specific divergent and convergent techniques which can be applied to each step.

The Appendix includes descriptions of 22 creativity techniques, many with which I was previously unfamiliar. Test your own creative process IQ. How many of these have you heard of?

Analogies/Metaphors
Attribute Association
Boundary Examination
Brainstorming
Brainwriting
Bug List
Crawford Blue Slip
Decomposable Matrices
Disjointed Incrementalism
Force Field Analysis
Goal/Wish
Interrogatories (5Ws/H)
Left-Right Brain Alternatives
Lotus Blossom
Manipulative Verbs
Morphological Forced Connections
Nominal Group
Peaceful Setting
Problem Reversal
Progressive Abstraction
Wildest Idea
Wishful Thinking

Creative Thinking in the Decision and Management Sciences

Decision and management sciences are usually considered to be the realm of the quantitative. Formulas and algorithms. Mathematical and logic models. So it's a bit of a rarity to find the topic of creative thinking covered in a book from experts in this discipline. James Evans is such an expert. And his book, Creative Thinking in the Decision and Management Sciences is that rarity.

He starts by defining creativity as "the ability to discover new relationships, to look at subjects from new perspectives, and to form new combinations of ideas, products, colors, textures, words, and so on. By this definition, existing quantitative models will be of little assistance. They are great for optimizing solutions to problems, but not so great for finding creative solutions.

Besides the many excellent examples and practice exercises, Evans includes a review of some of the more academically popular decision making and problem solving techniques. In the midst of this review, I came across the concept of "mess-finding" which has revolutionized my own personal problem solving.

In this model of problem solving, the first step is NOT to identify the problem, but to identify the mess. A mess, according to Russell Ackoff, can be defined "as a system of external conditions that produces dissatisfaction." Alternatively, a mess can be conceptualized as a system of problems. Or to put it simply, a mess is a group of intertwined problems. Imagine a plate of spaghetti where each individual noodle represents a problem. They are mixed together and it's difficult to identify the individual "problems" easily.

In Creative Thinking in the Decision and Management Sciences, Evans offers suggestions for improving, not only your problem solving skills, but also your problem solving characteristics. He suggests four creative problem solving characteristics:

1. Problem sensitivity -- the ability to test assumptions. We all have preconceived assumptions which are in need of constant removal and re-formulation. Your problem sensitivity is a measure of your ability to set aside your assumption while identifying the actual problem and while working to find a solution.

2. Fluency -- the ability to produce large quantities of ideas. They don't have to all be good ideas. This requires the ability to temporarily suspend judgment on the quality of ideas in order to increase the quantity.

3. Flexibility -- the ability to apply a variety of problem solving techniques to a particular problem. The old saying is "if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail." Well if you have a preferred technique for solving problems, you tend to see every problem through that technique. If you love using analogies, then you are always trying to "fit" the current situation into whatever analogy you can think of.

4. Originality -- the ability to generate more novel ideas. Generating a large number of ideas usually means some original ideas will pop up. Tell yourself that you are creative. Then generate as many possible ideas as you can.

The Art of Problem Solving

In The Art of Problem Solving, Russell Ackoff suggests problem solving is as much art as it is science. His art of problem solving involves 6 components:

1. creativity
2. constraints
3. Objectives
4. Controllable Variables
5. Uncontrollable Variables
6. Relations

The problem itself contains most of these components. The decision maker or problem solver who possesses the creativity, and sometimes the constraints. The controllable and uncontrollable variables associated with the problem. And the possible outcomes.

This book is divided into two parts. The first part explains The Art. Ackoff includes 35 stories in the first part which he refers to as "Ackoff's Fables." Each story is intended to illustrate the author is trying to make. Each comes with it's own accompanying "moral" of the story, just like the more familiar Aesop's Fables. Unlike Aesop's Fables, Ackoff's Fables are often true stories. Because after all, truth is stranger, or at least more illustrative than fiction.

These fables are similar to the story of the factory worker who went home each night pushing a wheelbarrow full of trash. Company guards became suspicious. They thoroughly inspected the trash several times, but could find nothing of value in it. Much later it was discovered the worker had been stealing wheelbarrows. Ackoff's fables are equally enlightening.

The book is worth the price just to get access to the stories. By showing the problem solver how creativity and the removal of constraints have been applied in other situations, Ackoff provides the reader with "lenses" for viewing the problems they encounter. Or at the very least, the reader is challenged to believe there are new and exciting ways to address the problems they are dealing with.

The second part of The Art of Problem Solving: Accompanied by Ackoff's Fables discusses Applications of the principles discussed in the first part. Here Ackoff presents six real-life problems he has been involved in helping to solve. They come complete with all the "messiness" of real life which is marginalized in the fables he presents in the first half of the book.

His stories come from across several industries, including: transportation, manufacturing, government, advertising, and food and beverage.

Ackoff concludes with a chapter on monitoring the problem solution to make sure:
(1) the problem stays solved, and
(2) any new problems created by the solution are being addressed.

It seems a forgone conclusion that the solution to any existing problem will create new and exciting problems and opportunities!

Are Your Lights On?

Are Your Lights On? by Donald Gause and Gerald Weinberg is a about problem finding. Making sure you identify the correct problem BEFORE you attempt to solve it.

Many consider problem finding to be a more critical skill than problem solving. Throughout the formative education years; primary, secondary and post-secondary school, we are taught how to solve problems using previously taught methodologies. The assumption is that we will be able to correctly identify the problem type and apply the correct methods. In mathematics, this can be relatively easy. For example, when you see 56 + 72 your training tells you how to proceed to find an answer of 128. When you see (3 + 4) * (1 + 5), again, your training tells you how to proceed to find an answer of 42.

What we were not trained to do is ask "Is 56 + 72 the correct problem to solve?" or "Why is (3 + 4) * (1 + 5) a correct representation of the problem at hand?"

Gause and Weinberg attempt to expand our thinking by asking us to examine the problems we encounter and how we frame them.

Are Your Lights On?: How to Figure Out What the Problem Really Is is a series of stories used to illustrate the points the authors are trying to make.

The title of the book was derived from the solution to a problem discussed in the book. The story goes like this. A brand new auto tunnel is opened in Switzerland. A warning sign is posted at the beginning to the tunnel. The sign instructs: "WARNING: TUNNEL AHEAD PLEASE TURN YOUR HEADLIGHTS ON." So far, all is well.

About 1/4 mile past the end of the tunnel is the world's most scenic rest stop. Hundreds of tourist stop to enjoy the view each day. And every day 10 or more of the 100s return to their cars to find a dead battery. They left their car lights on and the battery is dead. What to do?

The first question we have to ask is "Whose problem is it?" Possible problem owners are listed as:
the drivers
the passengers (if any)
the chief engineer of the tunnel
the police
the mayor of the nearest town
the automobile clubs
none of the above
all of the above

The engineers of the tunnel felt it was their duty to try to remedy the situation. They crafted several well meaning messages to post at the end of the tunnel:

IF IT IS DAYLIGHT, AND IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE ON,
TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS.

IF IT IS DARK, AND IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE OFF,
TURN YOUR LIGHTS ON.

IF IT IS DAYLIGHT, AND IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE OFF,
LEAVE YOUR LIGHTS OFF.

IF IT IS DARK, AND IF YOUR LIGHTS ARE ON,
LEAVE YOUR LIGHTS ON.

To get to a final solution, the engineers shifted problem ownership to drivers. With that in mind, a simple question prompt was posted at the end of the tunnel:

ARE YOUR LIGHTS ON?

The 20 stories in this book are intended to illustrate and highlight six questions about problem finding:

1. What is a problem?
2. What is the problem?
3. What is the problem really?
4. Whose problem is it?
5. Where does the problem come from?
6. Do we really want to solve the problem?

Chasing Daylight and Perfect Moments

Title: Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life
Author: Eugene O'Kelly with Andrew Postman and Corinne O'Kelly
Publisher: McGraw-Hill: New York
ISBN: 978-0-07-149993-4

Gene O'Kelly was elected chairman and CEO of KPMG(US) in 2002. A leadership role he was performing in May 2005 when he was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer and given three months to live.

Chasing Daylight: How My Forthcoming Death Transformed My Life is the story of how he adjusted his life so that he could die well. An account of how he maximized the last 100 days of his life, despite debilitating brain cancer. Or maybe better put, because of it.

An accountant by training, he rose through the ranks to become chairman and CEO. Then quit abruptly upon diagnosis of brain cancer. He describes the diagnosis as a gift. It gave him the opportunity to radically alter his life. And while 100 days is a short time frame, at least it's a time frame. Some people get none

Suggestions I took away from reading this book:

(p.14) 1. Consider taking the time to plan my final weeks and months on earth. And to do it now.

(p.52) 2. Live fearlessly. Clarity of mission, commitment, and execution.

(p. 62) 3. Focus on quality and depth when you don't have a lot of time left (quantity).

(p.73) 4. Live completely in the moment -- don't think about the future or reflect on the past -- live in the moment, completely absorbed.

(p. 99) 5. Define what a good good-bye looks like for me.

(p. 110) 6. Attempt to turn lifes ocassions into Perfect Moments.

(p. 111) 7. Be open to Perfect Moments when they occur without my efforts.

(p. 132) 8. Realize that enough Perfect Moments strung together make a Perfect Day.

Overall, a profoundly emotional book for me.