I facilitated an executive panel discussion on “Collaboration for Advanced Manufacturing & Supply Chain Success” with diverse viewpoints from transportation (Ontario airport), manufacturing (AMETEK Ameron), technology for manufacturing and logistics from the global leader in GIS (ESRI), and innovation, incubator and accelerator gurus.  It was a fascinating discussion on the value of collaboration, to innovate or not, robots or people and other controversial hot topics.

The key takeaways included the following:

• The Value of Partners – Several panelists talked about the value of choosing your partners wisely. No one person and no one company can do it alone. In fact, we often collaborate not only with “usual suspects” but also with ones we might not suspect, such as our competition. When you can find a way to collaborate with competition where you both “win”, a powerful outcome will result.
• Fail Forward – This was a powerful insight from one of the panelists. As I always say in speeches on innovation, you have to fail to be successful in innovation. Do we see our failures as ‘failing forward’? Or do we hide under a rock?
• Robots or People? – We had a bit of debate. Will robots replace jobs? Absolutely! But can they also create jobs? Fill gaps left by the retiring baby boomer? Increase the quality of manual tasks? And enable far greater capacity? Absolutely!
• Is all Innovation Good?  –  Of course not! Again, if a topic is a good one, it will stir up debate.  Wasting lots of time innovating for non-existent returns on investment isn’t a smart move. On the other hand, the pure nature of innovation will require failure. How do we navigate when to innovate and when not to innovate?
• Is all Collaboration Good? Again, absolutely NOT! Wasting time collaborating when a quick decision must be made is worse than a waste of time. On the other hand, if we can turn 1 + 1 + 1 = 33, it certainly seems worth it. Just don’t think about your standard partners only. Why not industry groups, educational institutions, and more?

Take a few minutes to think about collaboration. What have you seen work best? Actually, back up. No one should just think about collaboration. Instead, we should be thinking about our end result. Where do you want to go and what do you want to achieve? Now, think about the best use of collaboration, innovation, technology and other topics that will accelerate success.

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I was visiting my best friend’s mother who is 98 years old, and a challenging topic arose. She has to be the sharpest 98 year old (and can easily give any 20 or 30 year old a run for his/her money), and she has fabulous stories and spouts wisdom to boot! At this juncture, she brought up the 4 agreements of Toltek wisdom which turned out to be a great response. 

The Toltek agreements are as follows (which, of course, she cited off the top of her head): 1) Be impeccable with your word. 2) Don’t take anything personally. 3) Don’t make assumptions. 4) Always do your best. I thought these were brilliant in their simplicity. Don’t you? What makes the story even better is that my best friend’s late father found these in a book that he brought home from the alley. He just loved to find ‘gems’ in the alley in Balboa to give to family and friends, to fix up to give to the poor and to use/ read. 

One Tip to Implement This Week:

Growing up, my parents and especially my mom made it clear that so long as we did our best, that was great. Win or lose, it didn’t matter. I have always lived by this wisdom, and now I see that it is Toltek wisdom! Beyond this piece of advice, I have to say that a lot of my success stems from all 4 of these agreements. Thus, it is something to ponder. 

The next time you think your peer is creating extra work for you on purpose or isn’t returning your calls and ignoring you, remember the rule, “Don’t take it personally”. Most likely, it has absolutely nothing to do with you. We have all been there when we assume the worst yet I can say that 80%+ of the time I catch myself thinking these thoughts, they turn out to be only in my mind. 

We have all heard the advice to not make assumptions but do we consciously think about what assumptions we make daily? Perhaps we should start! And how about speaking with integrity? We all think this is the rule yet how often do we find colleagues we are confident speak impeccably? Not often enough! Yet I found when in my VP of Operations & Supply Chain role that it is probably the #1 ingredient in success. Once my team knew they could count on what I said, they turned a corner to high productivity and engagement. 

I think these topics relate to the skills gap. After all, how many leaders do we find with these attributes?

September 12, 2019

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I’ve been coordinating a process involving several disparate players, ranging from multiple educational institutions who are not aligned with one another, government players (with many differing goals), and business partners (with a completely different set of needs).  Although there are others, these 3 core groups are more than enough!  

Success will only come to those who find common ground with collaboration.  If collaboration was as easy as simple communication, everyone would do it.  We would probably have a lot more happy customers and more profits to share with investors, employees and for reinvestment and giving back.  What should we think about if this is the outcome we wish to create?

1. Look for the win-win-win – If someone wins and someone else loses, it isn’t a successful collaboration.  If you think hard enough, there is always a way to turn a situation into more of a win-win-win with some shared give-and-take.
2. Think about positioning – if your idea is presented in isolation, it has a much greater chance at failing than if it is presented in light of the bigger picture. Why is it important?  How can each person play a role?  Does each person know how he/she fits in and provides value?
3. Value diversity – Each time I think “I don’t want to be on this person’s team because he/she is annoying or won’t add value”, I find that I am completely wrong (luckily these are just thoughts; not actions).  The best ideas come from the most unlikely places, and interesting suggestions that can lead to “big” ideas typically come from someone who is quite opposite and thinking about the situation from a different perspective.
4. Recognize progress of the team –  Who doesn’t want to be recognized with a pat on the back as progress is made!  The key with collaboration is not to say positive things about collaboration and then reward individual performance.  Instead, reward team progress, even if that progress is simply gaining an understanding of how much they do not agree with each other but are willing to listen.  
5. Consensus isn’t needed – as much as collaboration can achieve dramatically better results than each superhero individual thinking on his/her own, consensus is overrated.  Set the expectations upfront of how collaboration works.  Feedback and input is expected.  Discussion and debate participation is mandatory.  But consensus isn’t required for every decision.  Otherwise, you might get there eventually but your competition will be LONG gone.  More importantly, determine how to collaborate and make decisions upfront.

The importance of collaboration comes up more frequently than almost any other topic.  Since executives are collaborating with customers, suppliers, trusted advisors, other supply chain partners, and even competitors, there is just no room for poor collaborators.  If you’ll notice, many disruptors collaborate with strange partners.  Perhaps this core skill is a key ingredient to success….  Or, think of it another way, how will anything get done without it?

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Have you thought about the role of conflict and collaboration in the supply chain?  When thinking of supply chain from creation to customer, there are many links and connections.  In the current supply chain model, there are connections between and among suppliers, transportation partners, manufacturers, outside processors, distributors, customers, end consumers, and much more.  

Within any of these connection points, there are another set of links and connections between new product development/ R&D, sales, operations, finance, HR/ staffing, and any more.  Given the sheer number of variations of connections, it becomes a critical link in achieving success.  

Therefore, the concepts of conflict and collaboration take on an elevated level of importance.  In the modern supply chain, even competitors collaborate.  At a recent Harvey Mudd executive roundtable, we had a discussion on competition.  After stimulating the discussion, it turned out that almost everyone had an example of collaborating with the competition in order to thrive in today’s Amazonian, customer-focused marketplace.  

Thus, the question becomes should we encourage conflict or collaboration?  We say “both”.  To keep a healthy debate and focus on evaluating options including those we are likely to dismiss, we must encourage conflict and a difference of opinions.  Our most successful clients put different people from different functions, geographies and backgrounds together to stimulate healthy conflict and new ideas.  For example, in one client, a non-technical person from the office asked the key question that prompted the idea for a technical solution to improve the performance of the key operation that held up orders to customers. 

On the other hand, learning the art of collaboration is bedrock to sustainable success.  For example, in order to find a win-win with a competitor, it requires innovative and collaborative thinking.  Are you deliberately putting you and your team into the position to collaborate with those who might not have the same view?  So long as you set up guidelines and an overarching high-level objective, they’ll find a way to collaborate to new heights.

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Last week, my Aunt Marge passed away, one month shy of her 96th birthday. My dad, brother and I went to surprise her for her 90th birthday (see them below). She was sooo very excited to see my dad. She had a gift for conversation and could make mundane topics seem pretty compelling. I remember visiting my aunt and uncle over the years, and my mom was typically deep in conversation with my aunt about all sorts of family members and whatever else was going on. Since I was the only girl, I could sit and participate with them sometimes too, and it was engaging conversation. There are some people with a gift for making everything seem quite intriguing, and that was my aunt. Who wouldn’t benefit from having that skill?

One tip to implement this week:

So, it can be a challenge to develop the gift of conversation overnight; however, you can make progress. I remember when I first started consulting….. I would definitely NOT profess to be any any sort of expert; some might argue I was pretty weak in this aspect. After all, I was focused on achieving results for my clients and didn’t have any idea how to participate in “small talk”. I should have asked my aunt for advice!

I tried a few networking groups because I knew it was a good idea but I didn’t know how to start a conversation. I distinctly remember one event where I stood around the food line because at least it was a way to not stand around on your own at a “networking event”. Fast-forward several years later and I lead all sorts of groups, am well-known throughout the area, and connect people everyday (and love it). I would have never have suspected that not only would I be able to connect people outside of my specific area of expertise but that I also would enjoy it!

No matter your skill in conversation, you can improve. Start by focusing on the other person. That alone can go a long way. Be interested. Look for ways to provide value. Find people like my aunt and pay attention to what they do and say – and how they do it. Try their techniques in your own way. Ask for feedback. And last but not least, start telling yourself that you are improving and good at conversation. I distinctly remember that I used to think I wasn’t a good networker until one day when I read or heard advice to stop that. I started saying I was good at networking, and it came true. You’ll believe what you tell yourself! I am no ‘Aunt Marge’ but I have my own style.

October 14, 2017

© Lisa Anderson

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March 13, 2017

Earlier this week, I participated in a manufacturers’ roundtable and tour at Combustion Associates as an APICS Inland Empire chapter event.  It was an enlightening conversation and tour since the products and services are quite unique and the power of collaboration shined through at every point in the process.  See a few of APICS-IE Board member colleagues pictured below.  (Tony, we missed you for the photo!)

Not only did Kusum Kavia (EVP of Combustion Associates) make sure it was an interesting event, she invited a wide variety of colleagues from international resources to government officials to local manufacturers to participate with our APICS-IE members.  They showed a clip of former President Obama talking about Kusum, and it spoke to her amazing power of collaboration and partnership.  Are you thinking about what partnerships can do for you?

One tip to implement this week:
Collaborating can be one of the simplest of goals and one of the hardest at the same time.  Somehow, collaboration seems quite simple yet is rarely achieved to a significant degree.  Just as Kusum has shown with her participation and support of countless collaboration partners, we should pursue the power of collaboration.

Start with your top collaboration partners.  Who is important to your success?  Who should you be appreciating?  Think about all of your collaboration partners and pick your top few.  Next get in touch.  Don’t send an email.  Pick up the phone and ask to get together.  Start your new approach to collaboration by meeting in person.  Listen to what your collaboration partner wants to achieve, and think about how you can help him/her.  For now, just focus in on how you can add value to your top few collaboration partners.  This alone will go a LONG way.

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Cross-functional collaboration can make or break success. No matter how well a particular department or team performs, it is largely useless if done in isolation. Just like a car won’t go if you press the accelerator and the engine isn’t connected properly, a company won’t achieve results if the units and people aren’t connected properly. Here are a few questions to ponder:

1. On a cross-functional project with two department teams, can one team/department be viewed as successful if the other one isn’t?
2. Do your teams attempt to talk in the other team’s preferred style or in their own?
3. Do the teams understand the objective and why cross-functional collaboration is required?
4. Are team members rewarded for individual success or for cross-functional success?
5. Are there opportunities provided to learn collaboration and communication skills?

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Although working cross-functionally is a basic tenet in every organization we’ve ever seen, it remains elusive to many. Certainly the topic arises frequently no matter what product or service is offered as coordination is required to conduct business.

For example, we are working with a company to prepare for go-live, and the most challenging aspect lately has been to get every functional area to work in concert with each other within the order fulfillment process. Unfortunately, it requires more than simple coordination, although that alone would be a start in many organizations. In our case, as errors arise (which is a common occurrence as you work through go-live complications and education), the level of coordination must increase. In order to problem-solve across several functions, the level of coordination and communication must increase. As soon as we all get in the same room, the system miraculously starts working again. Obviously, no company has every employee sitting in the same room; therefore, cross-functional coordination is vital to success.

Simple communication and coordination techniques can go a long way. Listen. Ask clarifying questions. Overcommunicate. Typically, varying communication methods can be helpful. Not everyone absorbs the same way and so using different mediums can be helpful. Repeat back and confirm. Be open to suggestions. Think about the most effective communication for the other person; not for you. Start with these simple techniques and you’ll build a base. Then, advanced techniques will be required to go further. For example, aligning goals might be needed to achieve success.

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June 29, 2016

After meeting with my international advisory board in the beginning of June in Sydney, I took the opportunity to tour Australia and New Zealand. One of our favorite spots was Milford Sound, New Zealand. It is undoubtedly one of the most majestic, beautiful places I’ve ever seen. Since it is impossible to do it justice, I’ve included one of the best pictures of a boat ride through the fjords. Can you imagine how I could have communicated this beauty through words alone?

The same is true in business.  One simple graph or hand drawing on a white board or flip chart will communicate more than a 1000 words.  I cannot tell you how many executive meetings I’ve satin where a simple chart would have ended an hour-long discussion.  And, more importantly, a simple visual will help communicate effectively so that you get the business, get the money (from the Board, CEO, etc.), get the resources etc.  In my experience, the wasted hours and days (and even months) that go into these requests could be dramatically shortened with a powerful yet simple process visual.

One tip to implement this week:
So, what can we do this week to make progress on this topic?  Think about something you’d like to communicate that you think will have a significant impact on your company’s success.  Start with something in your functional area.  For example, one of my clients is focused on whether they start production orders (work orders) on-time.  If you start them on-time, it is likely you’ll complete them on-time.  So, in their case, we needed to communicate how well we performed with on-time starts yesterday – and preferably the trend for the week and month.  Talking about lots of detailed orders is important to improving the metric but wasn’t nearly as impactful as a simple trend graph with an accompanying pie chart of reasons for late starts.

Don’t worry about your artist and graphics skills.  Start by thinking about what to communicate.  Come up with one picture, graph, or chart that would help communicate it.  That is sufficient for this week; however, since speed is the name of the game, once you have decided what will be meaningful, start by drawing it on a piece of paper or ask your team for help.  Don’t get bogged down in graphics or Power Points.  I’ve seen hand-drawn pictures be sufficient for multi-million dollar ideas.

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