The Earth Equation by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

All around us we are bombarded with messages telling us that we need to change, that the the earth is warming up. The messages are insistent and shrill but diverse, incoherent and all about our symptoms rather than the addiction we suffer: the hugely ineffective use of the resources that our one planet provides.

Clearly the earth as a system is dynamic and complex. Any attempt to describe it quantitatively and accurately is unlikely to lead to any clearer picture of useful action. What we need is a mind model, something that is powerful and evocative enough to provoke the right questions of societies, communities and organizations. Such a conceptual or mind model is the earth equation.

We are told that we are enjoying a "three planet lifestyle"- a lifestyle that consumes so many resources that we need three planets in order to cope. This tells us that what we are doing is not a sustainable state of affairs , but it is not clear what we need to do.

We have in fact only one planet. If we look at consumption as an equation, the left hand side of the equation in a resource -constrained environment is always fixed at one. The right hand side of the equation is made up of population (P), its consumption of goods and services (C) and the factor that balances the equation -the resource intensity (I).

So at our starting point we have I=P x C x I, or I=I x Ix I. As we move forward from this point , the one planet remains the same, which means that the right hand product always needs to equal one. The only way this can happen in a resourced constrained environment is if the resource intensity is never allowed to be more than I divided by PC. In round terms, on predicted growth scenarios, we will need to reduce resource intensity by a factor of between ten and 100 by the year 2050.

Genichi Taguchi inspirationally made the observation and processes without loss were of perfect quality and, conversely , that less than perfect quality created a loss to society. In terms of this article, that loss results in an increased resource intensity.

We have thought of over the last 20 years or so that we can treat losses in processes and systems as separate. We have looked at quality as a function within an organization , focused on the customer, rather than that which maximizes the value added to society that results from the creation , use and disposal of products and services. Losses in processes and systems can be environmental, social or economic and are best minimized by seeing the goal of resource intensity reduction as a journey of integrated , continual , quality improvement.

These are the drivers of virtuous circle that using an organization's stakeholders and their combined knowledge and skills, will enable process learning. This will then drive the process in the direction of sustainability. As the process becomes more sustainable , the losses are by definition minimized , reducing the need for appraisal costs and eliminating the costs and risks of internal and most importantly , external failures.

The message is clear: we have to change, but how? Our symptoms are plain for all to see but our addiction, the ineffective deployment of resources to create, use and dispose of the products and services we consume, remain untreated. Our task is simple, if not easy to accomplish, and can be reduced to key questions:
- Is our business model relevant to such future?
- Does our leadership and management enable the liberation of the creativity
required to continually reduce the resource intensity of the goods and
services we produce , consume and dispose of?

This will need the most massive effort of quality improvement the world has yet seen. The earth equation is immutable , it drives our futures whether we choose to ignore it or not, and e have no option but to enter the future, either by design or negligence.

Challenges of Effective Governance: Suggestions to the Local Government of Duenas (LGD) -My Hometown:

The National Economic Development Administration (NEDA) released their annual report dated December 5, 2010 about the life improvement of those people living in towns and cities in the province of Iloilo. Read as: " The town of Duenas has not improved the per capita income base of the people for the last three decades". Meaning the life situations of those people living in my hometown, Duenas has not improved for the last thirty years.

This article sets out deliberately provocative on how to establish effective governance in the hope of kick starting a long overdue discussion on why the Local Government of Duenas (LGD) find it so difficult to establish good governance.

Whether an initiatives sets out to counter slump agricultural productivity, lack of budget for road and bridges infrastructure or alleviate hunger and poverty effective program and project management is essential. But this too often results in "governance in name only", or "GINO". And the cost of continuing to live with GINO is much too high.

We need to be careful how to define governance. I am going to stick my neck out by claiming that it is much more advantageous to define governance as "steering" rather than "controlling." The advantage of keeping this distinction and not conflating governance with control , is that we can discuss what constitute good governance in concise terms and not become sidetracked by what constitute good control. Once you have good governance in place, good control will automatically follow.

In the book , Managing Successful Government Program states that authority and responsibility for the delivery of programs should be invested in a senior responsible leader, the mayor. This was an attempt to move away from council of committee or councilors , where it was difficult to establish accountability for decisions. Despite this government wide aspiration , attempting to establish who is accountable for major decisions is still notoriously difficult.

MSP goes on to suggest that the senior responsible leader (mayor) and its council of committee (councilor) is elected by the people, and are responsible for the decisions, defining the direction of the town and ensuring alignment to the strategic direction. MSP assumes that the council of committee exists, is in agreement and is willing or able to function coherently.

To assume that the people is cohesive and coherent and that the senior responsible leader is an effective part and accountable to it, without acknowledging the challenges inherent in this or providing suggestions how they can be overcome , undermines effective governance. Unless we face up to the existence of this problematic relationship, we will continue to live with GINO(Governance in name only).

Ineffective governance encourages the leader to attempt to contain the symptoms rather than correct the causes of the problems. One example is, when reporting is poor , the leader often imposes a new report layout rather than redesigning the processes that produced the inadequate report in the first place. Symptom containment of causal correction is all around us.

Establishing effective governance is the key to unlocking the drive, courage and creativity necessary to work on causal correction and make our LGD effective and capable of delivering successful programs and projects.

Designing how effective governance should work is a challenge and successful designs rare. But it can be done. However, even when designed well , the individual and collective behavior of council of committee can still undermine its effectiveness. We now need a more mature and informed debate about the obstacles at the different level including the people , so we can abandon GINO once and for all.

The number of LGD who have actually encountered the challenge of working with people to establish effective governance is very small. Unfortunately , there are many more who without such experience often simplistically talk about how it should be done. To counter this distraction , we need to improve our understanding of the challenges faced by the individual and people , then spend time on exploring effective solutions.

I am interested in hearing from anyone of making governance work in my hometown Duenas. It's time to leave GINO behind.. at least in Duenas..

As to quote: " It is the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent . It is the one that is the most adaptable to change". Duenas surival and prosperity depend on effective actions that are creative and adaptive. Being able to adjust to the environment and to the world depends on an accurate evaluation of the changes going around us". -jolito ortizo padilla..

Your Career Questions Answered by Jolito Ortizo Padilla : From my former student in KSA

A letter from the former HRM student in KSA working in a Customer Service Department
of Zain Telecom -KSA

Thank you for reading my book "Human Resource Management in Action at
Samsung Galaxy e-book

Situation: " I carry out continuing professional development, but how can I develop myself more personally?"

Personal development has a greater scope than continuing professional development because it involves everything that you do as an individual. It is sometimes summarized as " becoming the person that you really want to be".

To effectively do this you first need to take stock of where you are personally and decide what is needed to bridge the gap to the "ideal" you. This involves an honest assessment of strengths and weaknesses , particularly in areas such as:
- Dealing with people
- Personal Ethics
- Personal competencies

As well as taking the opportunity to ask those whose judgment and honesty you trust, you can look back over your own performance in recent months. Ask how well you have worked with others in meeting these objectives , including the balance between how you are performing both at work and at home. There is no point in hiding faults or failings at this stage- this is your potential assessment after all.

The next stage obviously depends on what you discover during your self assessment, but typical areas you might choose to work on are issues such as:
- Reliability- do you over promise and under-deliver on tasks?
- Team working- do you support colleagues in their work or are you single-minded
in achieving individual objectives rather than team goals?
- Communication- how well do you pass information to others and how good are you
at picking up verbal and non-verbal communications?
- Planning - are you often surprised by events and then think that you could have
anticipated things?

Wherever you identify an area to improve , you need to consider next how to go about improving. Areas can be considered are:
- Time Management - we need periodically to establish our priorities and manage
time available to deliver the desired results.
- Assertiveness -it is often easier to say "yes" when we want to say "no", but
this additional bits of work often prevent us from doing what is important.
- Communication - we can all improve at this and spend time testing how well we
communicate in the various media we use, considering both giving and receiving.

Whatever you decide to do in order to develop yourself , there are always learning techniques or methods that can help you gain an understanding of your own competencies , help you improve your personal and professional life and grow as a person.

My Regards and Goodluck.

The New Easy Way to Adopt Innovation by Jolito Ortizo Padilla

Innovation is not a capital investment, it is an investment in your people.

Many people think that innovation is about creating a clever new gadget. The gadget is just something that enables us to do something in a new way. Successful innovation occurs when that new way is easy to adopt-people do not change their behaviors easily.

There is a classic story of the ketchup bottle. For years we had joked about the entire contents of the bottle suddenly emptying over a plate of food as people violently shook the reluctant contents. Heinz thought it would really help its customers if the bottle had the opening at the base so that the contents were always next to the opening. It even reversed the direction of the label so people could intuitively stand the bottle on its head. Three years after its introduction , however , 70% of customers ere still standing the bottle on its base with the label upside down. We do not change our behavior easily.

Organizations in the not -for- profit sector have many opportunities to innovate. As Plato said: "Necessity is the mother of all invention". The challenge is finding new ways of doing things that are easy to the user. If you see the challenges that humanitarian agencies have in overcoming corruption and waste when they provide third-world disaster relief, if you look at the frustration and wasteful waiting time in hospitals and if you think of the pain when the vital package was "lost in the post", the need for innovation is screaming at us. The solution may come from new technology or from stepping out of the box and seeing how a problem is solved in totally different sector.

Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, saw the bar coding being used in warehouses as the solution in his traceability problem. Forward thinking hospitals are seeing the just in time techniques of manufacturing as the way to overcome their queuing problems. We are bound to ask: what manufactuting techniques might be adapted to overcome the corruption and ineffeciency in disaster relief? I got angry when hospitals require their patients to be "patient". I get excited when I speak with physicians who ,when they hear about quality management , say " We need your help." They see the need to make the life of their patients less painful in all senses of the world.

A major international airport that I recently visited has initiated an innovation strategy and appointed a general manager of innovation. The management sees just one of its opportunities to beat the competition as making navigation through the airport easier for their client. Every organization has competition- those who innovate will beat the competition.

A decade ago my mother has been treated by two hospitals in the last five years that are only ten mile apart. The first ironically has "hope" in its title and will not direct my phone call if I call after a certain period of time. The second has "heart" as part of its title and is appropriately populated dedicated team of physicians and staff who recognize that solutions come from the collective knowledge of patients , physicians , staffs, and family.

Innovative solutions will come from your collective knowledge . Innovation is not a capital investment , it is an investment in your people . Your customers or clients and your staff are a great source of knowledge. However . don't ask them what new service they require; ask them what they are having difficulty getting done.

A customer satisfaction survey is a great tool for doing this, but if you are measuring customer satisfaction you are engaged in a feel-good experience that is a waste of time. If you are measuring customer dissatisfaction you are collecting the fuel for your innovation process. Follow three steps to innovate: first, know your customers' pain: second, step out of the box to see how others solved your problem in a different context: third, implement a solution that is easy to use.

My Life in Singapore with Nikon Camera..A Life Full of Happiness.. A Peaceful Environment and Surrounded with Professional and Intelligent People.

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My Management Research2010 that Keeps in the Loop: Conflict at Work, Talent Management, Highly Innovative Products, Advertising and ROI..

I have summarized hereunder my management research for the year 2010. The concept of my research is within the loop of Human Resource Management and Marketing..

Conflict at Work:
My recent research found conflicts at work costs businesses huge sums every year. Workplace conflict is nothing new, but the impact of recession has increased incidents of conflict at work, particularly at managerial level. Job cuts and downsizing are forcing senior staff to work more closely together than normal, causing rifts and clashes.

The research concludes that conflict management should be vital component in any effective leadership programme; but companies often overlook it as a business priority , and thus managers are ill- equipped to handle conflict. Conflict can arise from misunderstanding;from personality clash;lack of cooperation within a team;or even competition between managers for resources.

The research emphasizes that the best way to nip potential conflict in the bud is before it escalates. To do this , learn to see things from the other people's perspectives. Here are some tips for conflict management:
- Think before you act
- Impact and intention are not the same thing
- Turn the situation around
- Learn and be curious about what can be done differently
- Communicate honestly
- Be emphathetic
- Stay calm

On Talent Management:
My new research explores generational differences employers use when recruiting people to sustain businesses' performance. Employers should not give people trendy generation labels (e.g. X or Y, etc): factors such as age or gender are far more important.

But some generational differences carry weight. The research highlights that organizations should:
- Offer more inclusive approaches to flexible working- younger generations are
less likely than older generations to consider flexible working:
- Women and older people have an interest in flexible working as an alternative
to retirement.
- Give clear commitment to diversity: younger generations are more likely
to actively seek work for employers who attach importance to diversity , and
maybe be put off working for those that don't; and
- Enable the development of communication skills; younger generations to be familiar
and comfortable with using new information and communication technology.

The business case for diversity is well made: but employers must develop good practice to attract a diverse workforce. Focusing on people as individuals and delivering fairness for everyone is vitally important to become an employer of choice and thus attract the best talent. This research shows the labelling people is not the best way forward; employers need to stay alert to employee evolving expectations.

On Highly Innovative Products:
My recent research reveals some unexpected results'

Several categories of new technological products are tested on consumers; four field studies revealed:
- Novelty may create advertising buzz, but when it comes to parting with
money, consumers prefer the familiar over the really new- especially if the
new product requires a behavior change.
- People were twice as likely to state intention to buy familiar as to buy really
new products , regardless of any cost difference. But the likelihood that those
buyers will follow through on their stated intention to buy increases for the
familiar but decreases for really new products.

People are actually reluctant to purchase things that are very new and which require a change in their familiar lifestyle habits . This could explain the failure of marketing for innovative products. My research shows that companies planning to market products should try to minimize the extent to which these products as "really new". They also need to consider the effects of "preannouncing" really new product. The results show that there is a decreasing likelihood that buyers will follow through on purchase intentions of this type of product; the buzz may fail to generate any lasting impact on real purchases.


On Advertising and ROI
My research revealed that many marketers believe that customer relationship management (CRM) delivers the best return on investment (ROI). Conversely , the research also showed that marketers believe advertising delivers the worst ROI.

Significant numbers of people in marketing think the best ROI is delivered by CRM activities. This is particularly true among those working in financial services, other services firms, and those in the technology and telecoms sectors.

Public relations rated second highest in delivering good ROI. Advertising , excluding online, is most widely seen as delivering the least value for money, and thus the worst ROI. Those working for technology and telecom companies also rated advertising poor value. Sponsorship was also considered as delivering poor ROI. Altogether, it seems that businesses should concentrate on CRM to win and retain customers in these difficult times, rather than pour scarce resources into advertising type activities which give poor return.

Learn to Radiate Energy by Jolito Ortizo Padilla - an excerpts from my book " Emotional Intelligence-Putting Things in Proper Perspectives"

"Rather than focusing on the past, the challenge is to be receptive to change and open new ways of working"

"Turn to colleagues you trust- and who you trust-and ask them for advice and insight into your tasks"

"Do not be afraid to leave a job where cooperation is limited in order to move to a new company where cooperation flourishes"

In times of recession and job uncertainty , it is essential that everyone prove their worth to their employer. Whether we like it or not, it is survival of the brightest. Team members that can match earning potential with creativity, and who also work well in a team, are those who will survive job cuts.

Recessions leads to an overriding focus on a company's finance function. Budgets are inevitably cut in the more creative areas such as innovation, research and development, and marketing. However, this does not mean we should spend our time counting costs, this renewed focus on operations leaves the door open for the adoption of new innovation practice and the learning of new habits and skills. These pressures and fissures within the organization-while difficult at time-can , over time , yield fresh ideas, engaging experiments and interesting adaptations.

Rather than focusing on the past and asking what we did wrong or could have done differently, the challenge is to be receptive to change and open new ways of working. This will require us to question fundamental assumptions about the way we work and how businesses are run. We have the opportunity to change hoW we Work -for the better. For organizations, this means fostering teamwork and knowledge sharing. For the individual, this means broadening our knowledge and skill base, and unlocking new ways of cooperating With colleagues , and within our networks.

Work is how we increasingly define ourselves as people; it's what we spend the majority of our lives engaged in. Each one of us deserves to live a fulfilling work life. To do this, we need to work on creating a great environment for ourselves , and for our colleagues. In this ever-changing world, we must stay ahead and be the first port of call for new opportunities. we can do this by radiating positive energy that fosters a great working experience , that excites and ignites others through our own inspiration, and delivers superior value thorugh our work.

Too often we think to be invaluable means being first into the office and last out, working on our days off and taking on every task asked of us. That just isn't the case anymore. Thanks to technology and cheap outsourced labor, there is always someone who will do the task faster, quicker and cheaper.

Our research has shown that the majority of people spend less than 20 % of their working lives feeling energised, engaged and innovative. To stay ahead , you have to work with energy , more enthusiasm and most important of all, more innovation. It is this combination that will bring you long term success in this technology -enabled world.

The best way to protect yourself from cheaper competition in the job market is to provide the human characteristics that are invaluable to an organization: a creative mindset, inspiration and teamwork. Following years of research ,what I discovered is that people who are energized have mastered three distinct areas of their life:
- They have built deeply trusting and cooperative relationships with others
(a cooperative mindset)
- They have extended their networks beyond the obvious to encompass the unsual
(jumping across worlds);and
- They are on an inner quest that ignites their own energy and that of others
(igniting latent energy)

Supporting people in organization to create fulfilling work and innovative performance has been my overriding mission for 20 years. Together we have been able to provide tools for companies to develop supporting teams that buzz with energy and work together to create value for the bottom line. However, we cannot guarantee that a company will provide this fertile working atmosphere for us. We have to learn how to motivate ourselves , our colleagues , and our business community to build the environment we need to radiate. By enhancing our working patterns and our relationships with others , we can go some way toward creating a favorable working environment, whether in a bricks and mortar office or in cyberspace.

The under -30's generation has discovered the power of e-based social networks and how purposeful relationships can be created with limited , if any, face to face interaction. Even more traditional companies have proved that home working (when done properly) can be more productive than office work -again proving that cooperative relationships and a creative environment are key to allowing indviduals to radiate.

There are a number of ways that you can bring innovation and flair to your working life. Turn to colleagues you trust- and who trust you-and ask them for advice and insight into your tasks. The power of networking was proved by Barack Obama's election campaign, which used social networking tools to build grass roots activism and fundraising. As well as helping you build a cooperative mindset, online networking tools are the easiest way to facilitate the jumping across boundaries that I refer to, and to consult people outside your normal networks and with different mindsets.

When you reach out to your wider network , you will come across people whose experiences and views differ significantly from your own. Opening yourself up to these new ideas will dramatically increase your ability to "Radiate" and to innovate in your work. The further you "jump across worlds" to communicate with people from vastly different profiles, the fresher your perceptions will be.

How do you implement this principle on a daily basis? People who are good at jumping across worlds place a high value on their network , and know precisely what their network is doing for them.They make sure that when innovation is important , they have access to people who are different and can bring fresh perspectives and insights.

When you become a well versed in cooperation and jumping across worlds, you create what I call latent energy; you have generated within yourself and in your immediate community and the potential to become really energized. But in order to maximize the potential within you (and by association, your organization) , you need to able to ignite the latent energy, to create real innovation.

Three actions support the principle of igniting latent enrgy. First, ask questions that sparks energy, to engross and interest others', as well as your own , curiosity. Second, create visions that compel . These are visions of the future that you and your colleagues can buy into, that encourage others to imagine the future, and to become excited about being involved in that future. Third, cooperate with others to craft meaningful and exciting work.

These relationships improve the working environment for all concerned, and support the principle of cooperation. Once you have developed habits and skills of cooperation , you need to become adept at listening to others and engaging in good conversations with others. Finally , you need to be proactive in ensuring that where and with whom you work is conducive to you being able to radiate. Do not be afraid to leave a job where cooperation is limited in order to move to a new company where cooperation flourishes.

The ability to radiate has never been more important than it is today. A strong foundation to your network will become essential, since you will depend on them more and will not have the benefit of face to face interaction. Cost cutting measures and a freeze on travel budgets are likely to lead to the emergence of flexible virtual teams, which cannot possibly function efficiently if they do not consist of individuals that radiate.

A CONVERSATION MATRIX
Analytical Rationality

Disciplined Debate
Creative Dialogue

Judgment Compromise
Inspiration sensemaking

Dehydrated Talk
Intimate Exchange

Ritual Fulfillment
Subjugation
Trust Building
Empathy

EMOTIONAL AUTHENTICITY


The Conversation Matrix was conceptualized when I was in the Middle East,where continuous quality improvements, creativity and innovations during the staff meeting were not being carried out due to nonsense talking by some of the staff members.