A business growth idea.
When you step back and look at the culture statements of Coca Cola Hellenic, The largest soft drink company in the world. One of them states, WE ARE A LEARNING CULTURE.
What does this mean, and how important is this for achieving organizations business objective?
To put it bluntly, from my experiences around the world, I do not think THERE IS A MORE IMPORTANT COMPONENT to achieving organizations business objective than to embrace a learning culture. And there is NO BIGGER BARRIER TO BECOMING WORLD CLASS, THAN THE ABSENCE OF A LEARNING CULTURE, and MEANING AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS DISEASE RIDDEN BY THE POLAR OPPOSITE TO A LEARNING CULTURE.
The disease is called NIH. It’s common in many companies. And absent from the World Class ones.
NIH is a simple term for a disease called, "NOT INVENTED HERE".
Not invented here is a disease that can infiltrate an organization. It is borne of pride, a pride so strong, that there is an inherent resistance to new ideas that did not come FROM THE PERSON THEMSELVES. It’s also a mix of arrogance. A person, or organization, believes that it is simply impossible that anyone can come up with a better idea than they can. Or, their ego is so fragile, that they fight against any good idea NOT coming from them, as it pains them to think, or consider, THAT SOMEONE ELSE JUST MIGHT BE BETTER THAN THEY ARE.
For these people, it is easier to deny reality, and live in a fantasy land, than to address reality. Instead of getting better, improving themselves, they shy away from the fight, and kill the new idea as "stupid" simply as this is the easy way out. It's hard work to get better. It's easier to kill things instead.
NIH can manifest itself in many ways. Here is how you can hear it expressed sometimes............
"I don't need to hear more of your idea. It's stupid and it would never work. So let's just forget it, we are not going to test it or think about it for another minute. You are wrong and I am right"
"I don't care about what they are doing in Singapore or China, I only care about Nigeria. And in Nigeria we do X and Y and Z........"
"This is how we have always done it. So I am not interested in your "new and better" way of doing things. It has worked for us in the past, and we will keep on doing it like we do now....."
"That's a nice idea. But it is not your job to help on this part of the business. It is MY JOB. So I will now throw your idea in the garbage and suggest you do your job, and I do mine, and we stay out of each other's business"
The list can go on and on. And sometimes you don't hear it expressed, but the people with NIH are THINKING THIS:
"Oh my God.....that is a good idea. But I will look bad if the idea progresses because X works for me, and I did not think of it first. So maybe big boss will think they can replace me by Y person? I am scared. So I have to kill this idea before anyone sees it......"
"It’s a bad idea. I won't even consider it. I hate all ideas that don't come from me, because I MUST be the center of attention. All my life my mommy and daddy told me I was the greatest person in the world, and I have to be the greatest all the time. The greatest always come up with the ideas; so naturally, I will kill any idea that comes from anyone else other than me. Of course my ideas are always best---my mommy told me so!"
"If I accept this idea, this means, implicitly, that I am accepting that this person is BETTER than I am. I can't handle this, even if it is truth. All my life I have made excuses. If I lost a race it was because I didn't feel good that day. Now for this, my excuse is the idea is stupid and I will kill it. Because I cannot handle the fact that someone came up with a better idea than I did".
Again, I can go on and on. I think all of us know what I am talking about here, and all of us have seen this in action. NIH is deadly.
Nothing kills a business faster. Nothing kills creativity faster. Nothing kills motivation faster. It's the worst disease an organization can have.
It's a complete failure of leadership, of a manager, to keep priorities right. Instead of doing what is right, FOR THE BUSINESS AND FOR THE PEOPLE, we end up doing what is right for someone's ego. It's terrible. We sacrifice the business growth that can help thousands, to simply massage the ego of a weak manager. It's actually worse than terrible, it is a tragedy.
It is selfishness in the worst sense of the word. An individual hurts not only the other person, but an entire organization, just so they can feel better about themselves, and manage a fragile sense of self-worth.
Strong managers admit they make mistakes. It takes courage to do this, it take nothing to cover your ass. Strong managers accept ideas from ANYONE. They realize that NOBODY IS SMARTER THAN EVERYBODY. Strong managers build up their people, and ALWAYS do what is right for the broader organization. They would never put themselves before the needs of many. And, strong managers are open minded, and seek to learn and grow EVERYDAY, from wherever the learning comes from.
The elimination of NIH, creating a real learning culture is how greatness is achieved. It is how organization will make it to world class. It's that simple.
Let me tell you a story.
You want to know why CHINA is kicking the world's rear end right now, why China will pass the US very soon, that’s my prediction why China will be the world power. I'll tell you why. And it has nothing to do with 1.3 billion people. Population alone means nothing.
Mr. Jim was touring a few months ago a major factory in Shanghai, and he met the Plant Manager who spoke very little English. But what English he did know, he kept using on him.
"Mr. Jim, you have seen many plants from around the world. I want you to give me feedback, tell me what you see, and tell me what I can do BETTER to become the best plant in the world. That's what we want to be. So please, give me your global view".
He harassed Mr. Jim the whole day. Would not stop. Mr. Jim eventually promised to write him. After 3.days Jim wrote him a long note of advice. Now he sends updates on progress.
I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT PLANT WILL BE BEST IN WORLD IN 5 YEARS OR LESS. Why?
They want to learn. They want to get better. They don't have any arrogance or false pride. They don't go around pounding their chests and saying how great they are. They are open to the world, and see possibilities. They aren't ashamed to admit "The Germans do it better" and reapply. Their sole objective is to be the best, and ego has no place in the equation.
I frankly don't understand how any businessman can ever say, "I don't care about Singapore" or have any intellectual curiosity to go see the place. I mean, let's face facts. In 1965 Singapore declared independence from Malaysia, a country of 1 million people living in a SWAMP. They had a lower standard of living than most of Africa! The day after they declared independence, the New York Times wrote an editorial which said, "The country of Singapore will not SURVIVE to see the year 1966".
Well they had only a million people, and ZERO natural resources. But they had leadership and they had a learning culture. So they adopted policies and programs from the US, UK, China, you name it, they studied it and learned and adopted what works. They took the US system of forced integration to make peoples of different cultures live and work together. They took the banking system of Switzerland. The land policy of Malaysia. On and on. And what did they get?
Today, the country is the financial center of ASIA. The standard of living is HIGHER THAN THE UNITED STATES, going from third world to first world in a GENERATION. The child mortality rate is LOWEST IN THE WORLD. And Singapore is now considered the World's most livable city. It’s a success story unlike any the world has seen. In 45 years from nothing to world power. Now why wouldn't any businessperson who can put their ego aside for a minute, not want to learn and maybe reapply? Is there really NOTHING anyone can learn from this? Really, there is.
Records recently reveals that in USA about 500 businesses are established every month while 500 collapses every month too. But if every business man who reads this article from PWI follows it closely there will be improvement in there business.
1. The vision of every organization is to be world class. As I have always told people TALENT IS NOT ENOUGH. The best natural runner MAY NOT win an Olympic Gold. Talent is not what wins medals. ATTITUDE IS. Talent coupled with NIH will not result in World Class organization. THE UNDERLYING SECRET IS TO BE A TRUE LEARNING CULTURE. One that embraces learning, debate, and constantly striving to do right for the organization and people.
2. Net, the largest obstacle to business growth and achievement of business objective is NIH. It does not exist everywhere, but there is a pocket of it everywhere. We must stamp it out. Get it out of our every organization and people.
3. This starts with a long and hard look in the mirror. It starts with the senior most leaders, then the function heads, and then to each and every one in the organization. Are you guilty of any of those symptoms of NIH noted above? If so, you need to be cognizant of it, and STOP IT. Only you can do these yourselves. You must be the leaders your people you to be; Egoless, open to new ideas, Embracing changes.
4. I would ask all of us to be OPEN to new ideas. Stop killing them. Test them. Encourage our people to have them.
5. Finally, and most importantly perhaps, I want to ask each of us to become role models of a learning culture. This can take many shapes and forms. But some examples:
----Each of us, in our personal lives, TRY SOMETHING NEW EACH MONTH. Whether it is a new sport, or a new restaurant, or new food. TRY IT. Don't be so closed minded! How do you know you don't like Sushi if you never tried it? Maybe take a new language lessons?
----TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL. Don't fall into a rut of going to the 'same old place' each year. Go somewhere new. And honestly, if you can make it/afford it, go to Asia and especially Singapore or China. You will be blown away. Trust me.
----Call out NIH in the organization. Just call it out. Ask someone, if you see the wrong behavior, "Sorry, but do you have NIH?"
WE CAN DO IT. WE WILL DO IT.
Let us embrace a learning culture, NOW.
"If one wants to improve, be content to be considered foolish and daring" Epictetus, 90 AD.
-- by Marvin K. O. - PWI Reporter South East Nigeria - south.east.nigeria@peoplewebinternational.com
When you step back and look at the culture statements of Coca Cola Hellenic, The largest soft drink company in the world. One of them states, WE ARE A LEARNING CULTURE.
What does this mean, and how important is this for achieving organizations business objective?
To put it bluntly, from my experiences around the world, I do not think THERE IS A MORE IMPORTANT COMPONENT to achieving organizations business objective than to embrace a learning culture. And there is NO BIGGER BARRIER TO BECOMING WORLD CLASS, THAN THE ABSENCE OF A LEARNING CULTURE, and MEANING AN ORGANIZATION THAT IS DISEASE RIDDEN BY THE POLAR OPPOSITE TO A LEARNING CULTURE.
The disease is called NIH. It’s common in many companies. And absent from the World Class ones.
NIH is a simple term for a disease called, "NOT INVENTED HERE".
Not invented here is a disease that can infiltrate an organization. It is borne of pride, a pride so strong, that there is an inherent resistance to new ideas that did not come FROM THE PERSON THEMSELVES. It’s also a mix of arrogance. A person, or organization, believes that it is simply impossible that anyone can come up with a better idea than they can. Or, their ego is so fragile, that they fight against any good idea NOT coming from them, as it pains them to think, or consider, THAT SOMEONE ELSE JUST MIGHT BE BETTER THAN THEY ARE.
For these people, it is easier to deny reality, and live in a fantasy land, than to address reality. Instead of getting better, improving themselves, they shy away from the fight, and kill the new idea as "stupid" simply as this is the easy way out. It's hard work to get better. It's easier to kill things instead.
NIH can manifest itself in many ways. Here is how you can hear it expressed sometimes............
"I don't need to hear more of your idea. It's stupid and it would never work. So let's just forget it, we are not going to test it or think about it for another minute. You are wrong and I am right"
"I don't care about what they are doing in Singapore or China, I only care about Nigeria. And in Nigeria we do X and Y and Z........"
"This is how we have always done it. So I am not interested in your "new and better" way of doing things. It has worked for us in the past, and we will keep on doing it like we do now....."
"That's a nice idea. But it is not your job to help on this part of the business. It is MY JOB. So I will now throw your idea in the garbage and suggest you do your job, and I do mine, and we stay out of each other's business"
The list can go on and on. And sometimes you don't hear it expressed, but the people with NIH are THINKING THIS:
"Oh my God.....that is a good idea. But I will look bad if the idea progresses because X works for me, and I did not think of it first. So maybe big boss will think they can replace me by Y person? I am scared. So I have to kill this idea before anyone sees it......"
"It’s a bad idea. I won't even consider it. I hate all ideas that don't come from me, because I MUST be the center of attention. All my life my mommy and daddy told me I was the greatest person in the world, and I have to be the greatest all the time. The greatest always come up with the ideas; so naturally, I will kill any idea that comes from anyone else other than me. Of course my ideas are always best---my mommy told me so!"
"If I accept this idea, this means, implicitly, that I am accepting that this person is BETTER than I am. I can't handle this, even if it is truth. All my life I have made excuses. If I lost a race it was because I didn't feel good that day. Now for this, my excuse is the idea is stupid and I will kill it. Because I cannot handle the fact that someone came up with a better idea than I did".
Again, I can go on and on. I think all of us know what I am talking about here, and all of us have seen this in action. NIH is deadly.
Nothing kills a business faster. Nothing kills creativity faster. Nothing kills motivation faster. It's the worst disease an organization can have.
It's a complete failure of leadership, of a manager, to keep priorities right. Instead of doing what is right, FOR THE BUSINESS AND FOR THE PEOPLE, we end up doing what is right for someone's ego. It's terrible. We sacrifice the business growth that can help thousands, to simply massage the ego of a weak manager. It's actually worse than terrible, it is a tragedy.
It is selfishness in the worst sense of the word. An individual hurts not only the other person, but an entire organization, just so they can feel better about themselves, and manage a fragile sense of self-worth.
Strong managers admit they make mistakes. It takes courage to do this, it take nothing to cover your ass. Strong managers accept ideas from ANYONE. They realize that NOBODY IS SMARTER THAN EVERYBODY. Strong managers build up their people, and ALWAYS do what is right for the broader organization. They would never put themselves before the needs of many. And, strong managers are open minded, and seek to learn and grow EVERYDAY, from wherever the learning comes from.
The elimination of NIH, creating a real learning culture is how greatness is achieved. It is how organization will make it to world class. It's that simple.
Let me tell you a story.
You want to know why CHINA is kicking the world's rear end right now, why China will pass the US very soon, that’s my prediction why China will be the world power. I'll tell you why. And it has nothing to do with 1.3 billion people. Population alone means nothing.
Mr. Jim was touring a few months ago a major factory in Shanghai, and he met the Plant Manager who spoke very little English. But what English he did know, he kept using on him.
"Mr. Jim, you have seen many plants from around the world. I want you to give me feedback, tell me what you see, and tell me what I can do BETTER to become the best plant in the world. That's what we want to be. So please, give me your global view".
He harassed Mr. Jim the whole day. Would not stop. Mr. Jim eventually promised to write him. After 3.days Jim wrote him a long note of advice. Now he sends updates on progress.
I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT PLANT WILL BE BEST IN WORLD IN 5 YEARS OR LESS. Why?
They want to learn. They want to get better. They don't have any arrogance or false pride. They don't go around pounding their chests and saying how great they are. They are open to the world, and see possibilities. They aren't ashamed to admit "The Germans do it better" and reapply. Their sole objective is to be the best, and ego has no place in the equation.
I frankly don't understand how any businessman can ever say, "I don't care about Singapore" or have any intellectual curiosity to go see the place. I mean, let's face facts. In 1965 Singapore declared independence from Malaysia, a country of 1 million people living in a SWAMP. They had a lower standard of living than most of Africa! The day after they declared independence, the New York Times wrote an editorial which said, "The country of Singapore will not SURVIVE to see the year 1966".
Well they had only a million people, and ZERO natural resources. But they had leadership and they had a learning culture. So they adopted policies and programs from the US, UK, China, you name it, they studied it and learned and adopted what works. They took the US system of forced integration to make peoples of different cultures live and work together. They took the banking system of Switzerland. The land policy of Malaysia. On and on. And what did they get?
Today, the country is the financial center of ASIA. The standard of living is HIGHER THAN THE UNITED STATES, going from third world to first world in a GENERATION. The child mortality rate is LOWEST IN THE WORLD. And Singapore is now considered the World's most livable city. It’s a success story unlike any the world has seen. In 45 years from nothing to world power. Now why wouldn't any businessperson who can put their ego aside for a minute, not want to learn and maybe reapply? Is there really NOTHING anyone can learn from this? Really, there is.
Records recently reveals that in USA about 500 businesses are established every month while 500 collapses every month too. But if every business man who reads this article from PWI follows it closely there will be improvement in there business.
1. The vision of every organization is to be world class. As I have always told people TALENT IS NOT ENOUGH. The best natural runner MAY NOT win an Olympic Gold. Talent is not what wins medals. ATTITUDE IS. Talent coupled with NIH will not result in World Class organization. THE UNDERLYING SECRET IS TO BE A TRUE LEARNING CULTURE. One that embraces learning, debate, and constantly striving to do right for the organization and people.
2. Net, the largest obstacle to business growth and achievement of business objective is NIH. It does not exist everywhere, but there is a pocket of it everywhere. We must stamp it out. Get it out of our every organization and people.
3. This starts with a long and hard look in the mirror. It starts with the senior most leaders, then the function heads, and then to each and every one in the organization. Are you guilty of any of those symptoms of NIH noted above? If so, you need to be cognizant of it, and STOP IT. Only you can do these yourselves. You must be the leaders your people you to be; Egoless, open to new ideas, Embracing changes.
4. I would ask all of us to be OPEN to new ideas. Stop killing them. Test them. Encourage our people to have them.
5. Finally, and most importantly perhaps, I want to ask each of us to become role models of a learning culture. This can take many shapes and forms. But some examples:
----Each of us, in our personal lives, TRY SOMETHING NEW EACH MONTH. Whether it is a new sport, or a new restaurant, or new food. TRY IT. Don't be so closed minded! How do you know you don't like Sushi if you never tried it? Maybe take a new language lessons?
----TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL. Don't fall into a rut of going to the 'same old place' each year. Go somewhere new. And honestly, if you can make it/afford it, go to Asia and especially Singapore or China. You will be blown away. Trust me.
----Call out NIH in the organization. Just call it out. Ask someone, if you see the wrong behavior, "Sorry, but do you have NIH?"
WE CAN DO IT. WE WILL DO IT.
Let us embrace a learning culture, NOW.
"If one wants to improve, be content to be considered foolish and daring" Epictetus, 90 AD.
-- by Marvin K. O. - PWI Reporter South East Nigeria - south.east.nigeria@peoplewebinternational.com
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