Research has consistently shown that high-performers – in terms of both career success and contribution to their organizations – have personal networks that are different from others. Observing people’s personal networks is one of the best ways to predict success. Building on ideas and references from an earlier post I made, here are some useful ways to understand high-performance personal networks.
CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE NETWORKS
People who are high-performers in their organizations and build successful careers have been shown to have different personal networks to their peers. Their personal networks have the following characteristics:
• Diversity. Their networks are highly diverse, across organizations, personal background, gender, hierarchy, area of expertise, and personality.
• Awareness. They are aware of who in their organization and beyond has particular talent, experience, and expertise.
• Visibility. Their own capabilities and expertise are visible in their organization and beyond. Others are aware of what they can do.
• Dynamic. They recognize that their personal networks need to and will change over time, and they make the time to create new relationships rather than simply maintaining their existing pattern of relationships.
• Investment. They continually take the time and effort to invest in their networks, both in maintaining existing relationships from their past and immediate work environment, and in building new relationships.
ENERGY IN NETWORKS
Energy is created in networks by collaborating to achieve worthwhile outcomes. When people interact with an energizer, they feel energized about possibilities and opportunities. When they interact with a de-energizer, they are more likely to feel deflated and unenthusiastic. Energizers are the real leaders in an organization, by creating positive momentum and activity.
There are six key behaviors that create energizing relationships:
• Have and communicate a compelling vision. Energizers can effectively communicate that there is something worthwhile that people can achieve together, and that it is achievable.
• Seek and acknowledge quality contributions. Energizers don’t think or say that they have the answer – they always actively seek out the best possibly contributions, and acknowledge those contributions to the group’s efforts.
• Interact constructively. Energizers focus on issues not personalities, and always look to build positively on people’s contributions.
• Make and fulfil commitments. Energizers do what they say. They recognize that if people see that others are doing their part, they will feel compelled to do theirs. However if people see that others are being slack, they will find no energy to do their allocated tasks.
• Give genuine attention to people. Energizers pay attention when people are speaking, listen to comprehend, and engage with others. They are interested in people and what makes them tick. They give time to people and their feelings, and do not treat them solely as a means to an end.
• Connect others. Energizers are alert to opportunities to introduce other people. More than trying to connect themselves, they see where people should be connected, and they make those valuable connections.
One of the great things about helping people enhance their personal networks is that it benefits both the individual and the organization. I am now consistently seeing leading organizations focus on helping their staff develop their personal networks. One of the best ways to use the characteristics of high-performance networks above is as the basis of a workshop, something which can also be done on a large scale at an offsite meeting. Done well, this builds people’s awareness of their current behaviors, and helps identify specific activities that will enhance their networks within their organization and beyond. Far better is to perform a social network analysis on the organizational group, so people have the data and comparisons to see how their networks are currently structured relative to their peers, and what they can do to enhance their own success.
A significant body of research has been done into energy in networks over the last few years. If you’re interested in delving deeper, the best starting point is What Creates Energy in Organizations, a paper by Rob Cross, Wayne Baker, and Andrew Parker that appeared in MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2003.
Interview on client relationships in the management consulting industry
By Ross DawsonMichael McLaughlin, editor of Management Consulting News, recently interviewed me about how consultants can implement knowledge-based client relationships. A couple of brief excerpts from the interview are below – go to the full interview on Management Consulting News for the rest, in which I discuss trends in the industry, managing procurement professionals, the role of brand, consulting firm marketing programs, and related issues.
McLaughlin: What is a knowledge-based client relationship?
Dawson: It struck me early on that knowledge is the real heart of the value consultants provide. I don’t mean just the knowledge of the consultant, but the way that the consultant applies it so that the client learns or is transformed as a result of the engagement.
I distinguish between black-box consulting relationships and knowledge-based ones. In a black-box relationship, the client engages the consultant to come up with solutions, processes, or implementations and, hopefully, a result is achieved for the client. But, at the end, the client is none the wiser.
In contrast, a knowledge-based relationship has a higher degree of interaction and, as a result, the client actually learns to change. Maybe your client becomes better at making decisions, or managing processes, for example.
McLaughlin: If you look out over the next few years, how do you think the profile of a successful consultant will change?
Dawson: One of the driving forces in the economy is increasing specialization. As time passes, consultants will need deeper specialization.
Clearly, that in itself is of limited value. In part, increased specialization implies that greater collaboration within a firm will be necessary to succeed with clients. But as individuals, we need both an area of deep specialization and carefully selected areas in which we have a generalist understanding.
The importance of the individual practitioner, whether you work solo or you’re a specialist within a larger firm, is waning. The ability to work effectively in teams will continue to be the real driver of success.
Personal networks are another factor that has been important in the past and will continue to resonate. Clients are increasingly seeking out consultants, not just for their expertise, but for the consultant’s access to the unique insights of others in their networks.
Read the full interview.
40 biggest players of Australia’s digital age
By Ross DawsonB&T has just launched Digital Media magazine, “Australia’s journal of the new media revolution”, with the cover story on their inaugural issue: “40 Biggest Players of Australia’s Digital Age”. I am named as one of the 40 biggest players in digital media in Australia, saying about why I matter (no this is not from my PR release :-)):
I’m probably an odd one out here, with most of the others on the list the more obvious CEOs of digital media companies such as News, Fairfax, Yahoo!7, and Sensis, and leaders of major advertising and online marketing companies. I’m certainly happy to be recognized for the work I’m doing here, particularly since I don’t work only in the digital space, and I focus much of my attention and energy in the US and elsewhere. However my intention is to live up to the billing, and do a lot more this year and beyond to help shift how business in Australia thinks about and taps into our marvellous digital world.
Real estate and the power of mashups
By Ross DawsonYou’ve got to love this. For those who doubt the power and value of the internet, have a look at the map below, which shows the density of single women across San Francisco, together with their earnings. For example, in Pacific Heights near Alta Plaza Park, more than a third of the residents are single women, with average incomes of over $80,000. Or if you’re looking for eligible husbands, go to Property Shark where this map was taken from, and click over to find the distribution of single men and their earning capacity across the city. There are any number of other choices available on the web site to gain insights into where you want to live in any city across the US.
Source: PropertyShark.com
The first famous locational mashup was of course Chicago Crime, which in 2005 started using Google Maps to create maps showing where crime was occurring across the city. Not surprisingly, among the first users were those selecting where to live in the city. In our Future of Media Report 2006 we showed that 47% of mashups were based on mapping, indicating the power of location in bringing together disparate data sets. Google Maps unleashed the domain, and now it has spread far beyond. Almost all real estate websites now use mapping mashups – this is something of great value available online that high street real estate agents don’t offer (though they’d better get access to something quick if they want to continue to get people coming in off the street). Zillow has quickly become one of the top property sites by providing estimated valuations, Trulia has some great heat maps of recent property sales activity, RealEstateFu shows trends in Bay Area housing prices over a number of years, and many others explore different facets of how to decide where we want to live.
The characteristics of high-performance personal networks
By Ross DawsonResearch has consistently shown that high-performers – in terms of both career success and contribution to their organizations – have personal networks that are different from others. Observing people’s personal networks is one of the best ways to predict success. Building on ideas and references from an earlier post I made, here are some useful ways to understand high-performance personal networks.
CHARACTERISTICS OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE NETWORKS
People who are high-performers in their organizations and build successful careers have been shown to have different personal networks to their peers. Their personal networks have the following characteristics:
• Diversity. Their networks are highly diverse, across organizations, personal background, gender, hierarchy, area of expertise, and personality.
• Awareness. They are aware of who in their organization and beyond has particular talent, experience, and expertise.
• Visibility. Their own capabilities and expertise are visible in their organization and beyond. Others are aware of what they can do.
• Dynamic. They recognize that their personal networks need to and will change over time, and they make the time to create new relationships rather than simply maintaining their existing pattern of relationships.
• Investment. They continually take the time and effort to invest in their networks, both in maintaining existing relationships from their past and immediate work environment, and in building new relationships.
ENERGY IN NETWORKS
Energy is created in networks by collaborating to achieve worthwhile outcomes. When people interact with an energizer, they feel energized about possibilities and opportunities. When they interact with a de-energizer, they are more likely to feel deflated and unenthusiastic. Energizers are the real leaders in an organization, by creating positive momentum and activity.
There are six key behaviors that create energizing relationships:
• Have and communicate a compelling vision. Energizers can effectively communicate that there is something worthwhile that people can achieve together, and that it is achievable.
• Seek and acknowledge quality contributions. Energizers don’t think or say that they have the answer – they always actively seek out the best possibly contributions, and acknowledge those contributions to the group’s efforts.
• Interact constructively. Energizers focus on issues not personalities, and always look to build positively on people’s contributions.
• Make and fulfil commitments. Energizers do what they say. They recognize that if people see that others are doing their part, they will feel compelled to do theirs. However if people see that others are being slack, they will find no energy to do their allocated tasks.
• Give genuine attention to people. Energizers pay attention when people are speaking, listen to comprehend, and engage with others. They are interested in people and what makes them tick. They give time to people and their feelings, and do not treat them solely as a means to an end.
• Connect others. Energizers are alert to opportunities to introduce other people. More than trying to connect themselves, they see where people should be connected, and they make those valuable connections.
One of the great things about helping people enhance their personal networks is that it benefits both the individual and the organization. I am now consistently seeing leading organizations focus on helping their staff develop their personal networks. One of the best ways to use the characteristics of high-performance networks above is as the basis of a workshop, something which can also be done on a large scale at an offsite meeting. Done well, this builds people’s awareness of their current behaviors, and helps identify specific activities that will enhance their networks within their organization and beyond. Far better is to perform a social network analysis on the organizational group, so people have the data and comparisons to see how their networks are currently structured relative to their peers, and what they can do to enhance their own success.
A significant body of research has been done into energy in networks over the last few years. If you’re interested in delving deeper, the best starting point is What Creates Energy in Organizations, a paper by Rob Cross, Wayne Baker, and Andrew Parker that appeared in MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2003.
Insights from network analysis of the Australian media industry landscape
By Ross DawsonNetwork analysis provides powerful insights into how social groups, organizations, industries, and economies are structure. More pointedly, it also can help identify the leverage points that will enhance strategic positioning and improve outcomes. Over the last few years of my work in the network space, I have focused primarily on social networks and organizational network analysis, however I have also spent time on applying network analysis to industries, and in particular strategic positioning within industry landscapes.
I first came across Laurie Lock Lee in the mid 1990s when he was working at BHP, and one of the first people worldwide to apply social network analysis to enhancing organizational performance. We’ve shared much thinking over the years, and on occasion worked together. Laurie has fairly recently left his role at CSC, and set up a consultancy, Optimice, together with some talented colleagues. Check out the interesting resources on Optimice’s web. Last year Laurie did the fascinating media industry network analysis that we included in our Future of Media Report 2006. Laurie has followed up on that work by writing a great paper, New Ways to Explore Australian Media Ownership Opportunities and Threats. In it Laurie explores how network analysis can be applied to understanding the media ownership landscape in Australia.
Laurie uses the data on media ownership maintained by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, and without any special industry knowledge, begins to pull out some very interesting insights. The first chart below shows the network of media ownership, from which it is clear that there are two quite distinct networks. The central tightly-connected cluster is comprised of a few television stations, related radio stations, and a diverse array of owners. Outside this central group there are a string of highly centralized clusters, such as the Macquarie group on the top left, that are connected by one or two common properties or owners. Two owners – Southern Cross Broadcasting and Tri-com Radio’s stake in Consolidating Broadcasting (WA) are responsible for linking the upper and lower parts of the industry network.
Australian TV and Radio Media Ownership Networks
Source: Laurie Lock Lee, Optimice
Read more →
Interview on connecting spaces and our interstitial world
By Ross DawsonMaria O’Donovan is a very interesting commentator who is currently doing a Masters in ICT and learning at Aarlborg University in Denmark. She recently interviewed me for her Enabling Spaces blog, and has transcribed our wide-ranging conversation. Things that I discuss in the interview include:
• Media as an interstitial phenomenon
• Lead consumers and the diffusion of innovations
• The diversity and passion of online conversations
• The different implications of blogs and social media tools
• The long tail, scale free networks, and how those that have get more
• Success through creating value for the entire community
• Identity and the aggregation of reputation
Dreaming of new business models for content – may the best one win!
By Ross DawsonLast night I had a fascinating dream. In some off-street parlour people were being offered a fantastic immersive experience. They could step into a world that would be tailored to them in every way, catering to their interests and tastes, creating what for them would be the most entertaining experience imaginable. And it was entirely free! However the producers inserted advertisements into the experience, which you could choose to skip for a payment. What actually happened was that people were so entranced by the experience that they continually skipped the ads, distraught by the idea of being taken away from their entertainment. As such you regularly had people racking up bills of over a million dollars. I, as many others, was sure I had the fortitude and self-discipline to be able to handle the ads and time away from my entertainment, so I could experience this wonderful entertainment for free. Yet I was aware many who thought they could do it ended up paying fortunes to skip the ads. I entered the immersive experience, and found that I could direct my character how I wanted, interacting in an amazing world. I recall thinking that the personalization of the entertainment left something to be desired, and that it needed more development, but it was certainly a fabulous experience. By the time the ads arrived the dream had taken another turn into the fantastic, so I wasn’t able to test my resolve.
When I woke I thought immediately of the extraordinary book Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. In the book, a film titled Infinite Jest is so entrancing that anyone who sees it watches it in continual loop until they die in ecstasy. Some saw off their fingers in order to see it again. It is difficult for content creators today to make content as compelling as Infinite Jest. But perhaps they should be aspiring to do so.
Read more →
Web 2.0 in the enterprise is far more than just talk
By Ross DawsonTwo pieces of research just out show that the implementation of Web 2.0 in the enterprise is far more than just heady talk – there is already solid investment, and the intention of doing more with these technologies. In via Read/Write Web, Forrester has released the results of a survey of 119 CIOs on their use of Web 2.0 technologies. The headline results are that CIOs want to deal with the big boys. As IBM, Microsoft, Sun, BEA and their ilk release full suites of Web 2.0 tools, the CIOs are getting comfortable and buying. I wrote earlier in the year about how IBM’s releases of social media for the enterprise was driving acceptance in the corporate world. It seems this is indeed a key driver of uptake.
Source: Forrester
Separately, Nick Carr writes that McKinsey & Co is releasing the results of a similar survey tomorrow, so presumably this is pre-release info. In this case 2,800 exeuctives around the world responded about their current and planned investment in Web 2.0 tools. While the figures are “only” a third or so of companies, this certainly contrasts with the same few examples of Enterprise 2.0 being trotted out time and again at conferences. There are many, many companies implementing these technologies while being very guarded in talking about it externally. While I haven’t seen the full Forrester data, apparently this contrasted with the McKinsey results in showing wikis and RSS as being more popular than social networking and blogs.
While the two surveys are revealing different aspects of the situation, the unescapable conclusion is that there is a lot more happening in this space than is apparent to those reading the press and seeking specific examples. Many large corporates are implementing Web 2.0 tools, and this is a rapidly accelerating trend.
Chapter 6: Implementing key client programs
By Ross DawsonI recently pointed to the launch of the second edition of Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships, including the free download of Chapter 1 of the book. Following on from this, the other free chapter from the book is
Chapter 6 – Enhancing Client Relationship Capabilities: Implementing Key Client Programs.
Over the last decade most major organizations have implemented key client programs or strategic account initiatives in various forms. Technology and institutional financial services organizations got there a little earlier in the piece, while most large professional services firms have developed solid initiatives just in the course of this decade.The fundamental issue is how organizations continually enhance their capabilities at client relationships. Whatever their organizational abilities at client relationships, they must develop these further over time. Increasingly the field of play that distinguishes competitors, particularly in professional services, are the firm-wide capabilities in engaging in collaborative, knowledge-based relationships. In this chapter I look in detail at the five domains that organizations must address to enhance their client relationship capabilities, as illustrated in the diagram below.
However the most vital issues are in the realities of how key client programs are successfully established and implemented. The majority of these initiatives experience limited success. The chapter goes into detail on launching programs, selecting key clients, segmentation, remuneration, developing client strategies, establishing client action plans, and more of the nitty-gritty of making key client programs work. Have a read.
Keynote speech on the future of investment
By Ross DawsonI’ve just found out that there’s a video stream of a keynote speech I did last year on the future of investment at the Brillient PortfolioConstruction conference. At the time I wrote about one of the key frames I used for the presentation, focusing on population growth and economic growth in the period from 1600 to 2050. We are at a key inflection point in human history, when population growth is slowing after an extraordinary acceleration in the second half of the 20th century. The vital question now is whether economic growth can be maintained as population growth slows.
Another interesting perspective I highlighed in my talk was how recent price stability is an aggregate phenomenon. There is in fact strong deflation in many sectors, such as clothing and durable goods. A massive drive to commoditisation and extreme price pressures in many sectors of the economy is being facilated by global sourcing, automation, and supply chain efficiency. At the same time there is strong inflation in sectors where supply is driven by local labor, or reflects aspirational consumption. Where people are spending discretionary income to improve their quality of life, prices will continue to rise.
Some of the other issues I touch on in the keynote are:
• Drivers of commoditization
• Pervasive connectivity
• Media everywhere
• The modular economy
• The quest to spend
• Greater consumer expectations
• Augmented humanity
I then cover some of the specific implications for portfolio managers. I’ve been interviewed before on the issue of why we will need new investment vehicles as economy activity becomes more modular and shifts away from listed companies. Another significant issue is that as industry boundaries blur, portfolio managers are finding it harder to identify discrete investments that represent industry sectors or underlying trends. Click here to watch the video of the complete keynote.