Today we start the review of a book called Thirteeners. This book is written by Daniel Prosser.  The book is about why only thirteen percent of the companies execute their strategies. The author states that the key to this success is the real nature of human interaction and the key to success which is connectedness. He says that when the workplace environment is such that every team member supports the vision, then breakthrough results happen. Everything is a function of the types of conversation that you engage in and the conversations that create every dimension of your life are the conversations that let your business succeed. The author also provides some examples of such conversations
The conversations in which you say how : the author provides an example of two snow boarders who declared well in advance of a competition that they will win the monetary prize and they did. If you change the way you are looking at business, the business will change.
Such conversations happen when there is connectedness in the workplace.
He quotes a psychiatrist as saying that connectedness is the feeling of being part of something that is bigger than oneself. But its really the authors jargon for the force that urges us to ally, to affiliate, to enter into mutual relationships, to take strength and to grow through co-operative behavior.
There are a multitude of hidden, disconnecting conversations that are detrimental to our performance and only a handful that take strength to grow through co-operative behavior The author lists ten conversations that will help you tremendously. These 10 conversations are for and not about their topics. These topics are Contribution, Acknowledgement and appreciation, alignment, accountability, communication, relatedness, responsibility, Integrity, possibility and Fun, Rewards, Gratitude.
The author introduces us to the seeds of the conversations as memes. A meme is a unit of transmission of cultural ideas, symbols or practice. It facilitates the spread of such things from person to person through writing, speech, gestures, rituals and so on. Some people look at it as a culture's genes.In a workplace, the genetic code determines the success and failure of the organization. Sometimes there are limiting memes Such a conversation that becomes a viral meme is called an Execution Virus.
#codingexercise
int getDuplicate(int[] numbers) // max val less than length
{
for(int i =0; i < numbers.length; i++)
{
if (A[Math.Abs(A[i])] > 0 )
{
   A[Math.Abs(A[i])]=-A[Math.Abs(A[i])];
}
else
  return A[i];
}
}

Continuing with the book review above:

The author provides few different examples of converstations that obstruct. These include “It’s not our strategy”, “They treat us like shit”, “We’ve always done it this way”, “It’s the same old story” etc. He says this is further exaberated when the manager feels he or she is above the employees. This kind of disconnected company is termed ‘looking glass’ for two reasons. – the leader would see the company problems if they looked in the mirror and the employees reflect the thinking and behavior of their leaders.

To isolate such execution virus and to apply the vaccine of truth, the author says you have to take initiatives to find the memes. Though a negative meme cannot be removed, it can be replaced with a  positive meme through the following four step process.

-       tell the truth about your past – good and bad

-       identify the limiting and negative viral conversation

-       declare a positive future

-       adopt a system to keep the positive meme  active and replicating throughout your organization

In order to effect such a positive meme, you have to act as a leader.  You can do so by not providing all the answers but by leading the inquiry into the solutions.

The author urges us to take risks and step out of our comfort zone. He says business strategies fall into two categories.

The rower strategy  - this is where you are fighting alone to row upstream and avoid the turbulent downstream

The grower strategy – is about inventing something from nothing.  This strategy investigates all available possibilities at most times.

He says try not to get stuck in rower strategy and instead use the grower strategy.

The author also mentions that chaos is actually a great transformer so long as we are ready to tolerate the disequilibrium that comes with it.  The biggest mistake that organizations make is to quickly make sense of the situation and jump to judgements and only to regret it when the crisis has tided. Instead if we allow creativity and innovation to take over in such space.