Too Secure – With all of the internet security issues running around, passwords are a big issue, especially with any IT people. These passwords, used for data and file integrity and security, have ended up doing just the opposite. I bet that I have at least 100 different user id and password combinations. How can anyone (except maybe Jerry Lucas) remember 100 different combinations? You can try to use the same ones over and over, but each place has different rules. One software company says your password “must contain as least 4 letters, 2 numbers, and 2 special characters. Make your password something that you can remember.” Am I the only one that finds this to be an impossible task? Even “eat@joes” has only one special character and no numbers!! And if this wasn’t enough, as soon as you get to the point where you actually remember your password to something, you are prompted to change it! This makes me think of a new take on an old imponderable: “If God is all powerful, could He create a password that He Himself could not remember?” It’s almost that bad now.

You would think that this would enhance security. If you don’t know your own password, how will anyone else know it? But what happens is that I, and almost everyone I know, have to keep a list of user ids and passwords handy at all times. Many people put them in plain view for easy reference. Instead, why not offer a choice of either an unrememberable password or an opportunity to answer three questions to pass the security block. You don’t forget the town where you were born, or the name of your first dog, or your dad’s middle name. (Amazingly, some places prompt you to answer a predefined question so they can send you your password if you forget it!! Why not cut out the middleman?). So let’s stop making passwords something that you can’t remember and start making them something you can’t forget.

“Don’t Need to Know” (from 7/18/05) – I was thinking about the Hurricane Emily coverage that I have been getting on the internet, in print, and on TV and you know what? Too much information. It’s much more that I need to know, more than I can process, and more than I can do anything about. A lot of our life is like that and technology makes the problem worse. Email might be the worst of all. In the paper-era, if you wanted to add someone to your distribution list, you actually had to make copies, mail letters, etc. Now, with a single keystroke you can add tens or hundreds or thousands of people to your distribution. And the best part is that it’s free. But it really isn’t free. Think of the time wasted sorting through and reading email that you only have the slightest interest in (if you have any interest in it at all). In the past, there was a real problem with having too little information available. Now the problem is having too much!! You have probably heard people say, when discussing something top secret, that the information is on a “need to know” basis. That means they only share the information with the people that really “need to know” about it. Let’s turn this around and have a “Don’t Need to Know” basis. When you receive that weekly chart detailing “Candy Machine Usage Sorted by Vendor and Calorie Content,” tell the author that you would like to be put on the “Don’t Need to Know” list. Maybe institute a program at your company. If you receive an email that you didn’t need, reply with the heading DNTK which tells the person to remove you from the distribution list. While this creates yet another email, it’s an important one. It helps people cut down on the email traffic and all of the hidden costs related to it.

Potted People (from 8/03/05) – In many offices they have planters with green plants in them to make the environment more pleasant. Sometimes the plants are fake, but sometimes they are real and need to be cared for. I once saw what appeared to be a full planter, but it was really a box with individual potted plants inside. Even though the plants were watered, eventually they had to be replaced because even though their leaves were able to grow, their roots weren’t.

Aren’t our employees a little bit like these plants? Because they are “our most important asset” we try to help them grow. But are we growing their leaves or growing their roots? We often give training that results in little more that a certificate to display at their desks. Other times we will go deep and pay for college and then watch that person leave and take their degree with them. So here is the question. What can you do for your employees that will develop both their leaves and their roots? These are things that will make them more effective employees and will make them more attached to the company. If you can do this, you will have productive employees (beautiful leaves) who are loyal to your company (strong roots).

Monday Night Madness (from 10/17/05) – I was watching Monday Night Football, and I saw something that seems to be repeated at every major sporting event these days (especially basketball and football). What seems to be a routine play is met with strutting and taunting by the player who made the play. It could be just a run of the mill tackle and the player will jump up like he’s saying, “Look at me! I’m the greatest!” and walking like a peacock after making an average play. To me this seems ridiculous, but the players get a real charge out of it. If it’s that much fun, why not try this in your personal or business life? Give Junior a belly bump for taking out the trash. Complete your expense report and give a high five to everybody in the office. Finish cleaning the bathroom and do the Ty-D-Bowl dance through the house. Who knows? This might inject some fun into the monotonous routine that represents the bulk of many of our lives.

What Did You Expect? – I read today that somebody was predicting behavior based on the Bell Curve. Most people will fall into the middle (average), some will be better, some will be worse, a few will be exceptionally good, a few will be exceptionally bad. The message was that this is what you should expect from any group of people. And this becomes true if that is really what you expect. But what if you expect something different? What if you expect that most of your people will perform better than average and a number of them will be exceptional? And what if you not only expect that it will happen, but you tell those people what your expectations are? The result will be amazing. If you have very high expectations, most people will perform at a high level. The others won’t perform at a mediocre level. They will leave and go somewhere else. This is also true if you expect mediocrity. Most people will perform at an average level and the exceptional people will leave and go somewhere else. I bet that if you think about it, you can find examples where this has been true in your own experience. Try this for one performance review cycle. Don’t manage based on assumed ability, manage based on assumed results (expectations). If you try this, you many never expect mediocrity again.

Leaf Blowing – As I was walking today, I noticed someone using a leaf blower. This is an interesting maintenance tool. If you walk behind the leaf blower, everything is clean. But if you look ahead, everything is dirty because all you have done is blown the dirt somewhere else. Do you know why your yard looks so nice? It’s because you have blown all of your leaves into my yard!! I find this “leaf blowing” happening at work every day. Somebody will suggest a productivity improvement. But hidden in the details is that an activity he used to do will now be done by somebody else. He is more “productive” but somebody else is equally less productive. That's just Leaf Blowing!! Or somebody will find a way to improve his budget. Let’s say I used to pay for all of the copy supplies. Now I will charge them out to all the departments that use the copy machine. Leaf Blowing!! My expenses will be lower, but the company is no better off than before. So here is your challenge. When you see this happening at your business, shout “Leaf Blowing!” and let people know that the improvements that make a difference don’t involve merely pushing things off on somebody else.