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We need to be receptive to each other

Earlier this week, I sat down with Dr. Hamilton Pharaoh to speak about how to create creative spaces for Excellence. It turned into a stroll through his lived experience as a university lecturer, an NPO founder and Strategic Director of a rugby club. Here is how all these dots connect.

Sabine Breit (SB): Good afternoon Hamilton. Howzit? What’s keeping you busy currently?

Hamilton Pharaoh (HP) I’m good, Sabine. I’m trying not to be busy, but it sort of catches up with me. So, at the moment, obviously, I am busy at the university, where I am looking at how our health related research can become interdisciplinary, so that we can create a research platform across faculties. Basically, it is about staff and the students building the capacity to work in that way. The idea is to create an environment for everyone who is interested to come and share, which would allow students from various faculties and departments to work together and gain an understanding of how to operate collectively.

SB: So you are basically creating an environment where people feel encouraged and safe to make a contribution. Are there any factors or qualities that you find particularly important in that context?

HP: Actually, it’s very simple. All we need is to be receptive. There’s an Afrikaans word: “Ontvanklik”. We need to be receptive to each other.

SB: “Empfangsbereit” or “Aufmerksam” could be a German word.

HP:  Sounds like it. So, that’s the first thing. As a community we are still sort of divided into all kinds of clusters. You know, the guys with a Phd are the clever ones, so we can’t really teach them anything. Or it should only be certain ranks around the table. Things like this. Whatever cluster we have created, it makes all of us less receptive to the skills and the knowledge of others. In the last analysis, we are all here to learn. So, although I am a Phd holder myself, I go into these environments as a lifelong student. I have no doubt that I am going to learn from anyone I engage with.

As soon as people can feel that they are received and that what they have to share is valued, they start opening up and express their lived experience and the knowledge that they bring with them. Then things start getting easier, because there is less fear and more trust.

SB: Creating a space where people can experience their worth is also what you do with your foundation. I’ve known you for a while now, and I know that something that keeps you always busy is your foundation. What’s going on there?

HP: Yeah, look, for the foundation, we are slowly building to where we need to be regarding the grade 9 programs. Within the next months, we will hopefully start piloting that in two new schools in one of the towns at the West Coast, so that over the next 4 to 5 years, we can help learners understand what they are passionate about, what talents they have, and how they can use that to pursue a different future. You know, a school is basically a place where you are directed in one way. But within that direction, the question is, what is your direction within that as an individual. For us, this means: how do we get to ignite the fire that is inside of them and help them to navigate through this system at the same time? We know it will take a lot of work and patience, but we are excited to take on that challenge.

SB: Talking about fire, Hamilton. How is the rugby going?

HP: Laughs You know, I’ve got a very fancy position now. It’s called Director of Strategic Management. I’m still trying to figure out what that means. But it sounds really fancy. I’m quite chuffed with that, because when people ask you what you do, I can say, well, that’s my job. And then, I think, they don’t ask anything else because they are too scared to ask.

Seriously, for me, it means that I am allowed by the club to live out my passion to impact those in the club. Firstly, it’s about understanding strategically where the club wants to go. Then, it’s about creating an environment where everyone in the club starts speaking the same language. And from there, also creating a safe place where we can be authentic with each other.

I am fortunate that with all my Rugby knowledge and expertise gathered in the last 30 years, I actually now get a chance to live it out and share it. That part is absolutely incredible. Looking back at my career, I now realize that I’ve gone through all the experiences so that I can now use it in the greater scheme of where communities want to go.

In that job, I connect with the executive, i.e. the management of the club. I connect with the coaches and the development of the players. I connect with the players and the medical team, and I connect with the spectators and the entire community. So basically, with my rugby knowledge, my community building experience and my medical knowledge, I’m sitting in the middle and am connecting all of these things. Hopefully, one day we will also be able to have workshops where players and the families can come. That, to me, is exciting. Somehow, all the dots seem to connect.

SB: Between the two of us, we always speak about individual and collective communication reservoirs that come together in communication interfaces between people. It looks as if your individual reservoir has become so big that you can understand the individual reservoirs from everybody and help to create a new shared one for the club and the community as a whole. To create ever increasing circles of receptiveness, so to say.

HP: Absolutely, and it might be too simple to explain it in this way, but it’s almost like if I have 4 people together, and they use different words. Then I’m able to understand that those 4 different words mean the same thing. Then we can create a joint understanding together. It’s about clarification.

You must never forget that everyone in the club comes in with their different things. Understanding that is challenging. When we look at nutrition, for example, the food that we give someone to eat after practice might be a person’s only meal for that day. Or coming to practice might be that person’s safe space that he comes to, to get away from things. So, when we create an environment that’s full of fighting, that person doesn’t have a safe place anymore. Sometimes, people come from a difficult environment which makes it difficult to be receptive.

One must also understand that the club has different meanings for different people. Where it all comes together is the love for the club. When you boil it down to this, it’s also about making sure that people understand that using the club to pamper their ego or to gain power from it has nothing to do with love.

That’s part of the challenge and requires constant work. It also requires constant communication to avoid and clarify misunderstandings, to listen what is really needed and to make sure it happens eventually, so that people know that they have been heard.

And finally, it’s about understanding the facts and structure, because this is what you can work on. If I say to one of the players: “You are a poor player”, then how can you make that better? You’ve already been told you are poor. Or if I say: “I don’t like you” – how can you change that? But if I say “You cannot pass the ball through the lift” or “You must practice your kicking”, that’s something a player can work on.

SB: So you have a starting point for conversation?

HP: Exactly! And that just makes such a difference for everyone working within a system. Whether it’s a team, or a corporate business, it doesn’t matter. And we can see the difference that it makes. In a sense, they look at things differently now. It’s almost like they understand what they are working on. And they understand that they can ask questions, give input and ask for things to be explained again. It makes a major difference. If you don’t communicate properly with a team of rugby players, and they get the feeling that they are failing all the time, they become less confident.

Sabine Breit: If they become less confident, then ultimately the performance on the pitch will suffer, right?

HP: Absolutely!

SB: How does all of this play out on match day?

HP: When it comes to match day, preparation for this starts early. Basically after the last match. There are specific things that need to happen until the following Saturday. On match days, it’s also a well-planned structure, from when players wake up and need to prepare themselves as individuals, to when they get together as a team, to the point where they run onto the field. Each specific group has certain tasks. Like the coaches will have certain things that they build on, etc.

SB: Is there anything like a rallying cry or a message that you always send them out with?

HP: Look, I always ask them whether they are enjoying themselves. Even during practice. I say to them: “If a practice is not enjoyable, then you shouldn’t be here. Then you must tell us.” Why? Because we are also doing this – and it is actually the most important part – for the enjoyment. Even when you have a tough game, even when you might lose the game, there can be something that makes you say: “Wow! I enjoyed this. I enjoyed the struggle, the difficulty. I don’t enjoy the feeling of losing, but it builds me.”

So that when you start winning, you understand the privilege of winning. Otherwise, you become entitled and think winning is just something that happens.

Actually, I never talk about winning a game. I speak about the things that we need to do. Because if we do the things properly, if we action it, if the guys live out to their potential and talent, the outcome will be good.

SB: And how has the outcome been so far, since you have become the Strategic Master of Disaster?

HP: Yeah. I don’t know if I can brag about it. We are on a 5 game winning streak after the team had been on a 5 game losing streak. So, there might be something happening. There might be some method in my madness. Or it might be that the guys are just brilliant, and I’m only a bystander.

The most important thing for me is, though, that I am enjoying what I’m doing. Every Tuesday, when I drive down to the West Coast in the late afternoon to be at the practice, I ask myself when I get into the car: “Am I enjoying myself?” If the answer is not yes, I will not go.

(c) Sabine Breit

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The ultimate purpose – not wasting your clients‘ lifetime

It’s a Saturday morning, and I have been queueing at a supermarket checkout for a felt eternity. As have all my fellow queuers. Doing your groceries on a Saturday morning, you would expect some queueing. But this time, there was a special reason to the special length and the slow motion of the queue – there was a training session in progress. A new cashier was being shown the ropes by a seasoned hand. Both of them were doing their level best to deal with the situation, and I especially admired the patience of the supervisor and the fact that the poor trainee was not going completely bonkers. But really: a training session – on a SATURDAY MORNING…. The only thing that this achieves, is the double whammy of putting the employees under unnecessary stress and wasting the precious lifetime of clients.

When my turn eventually came, I said as much to the seasoned employee. As much as I appreciate the need for people to learn, to do this on a Saturday morning is beyond stupid. She agreed wholeheartedly, and  explained that they had mentioned this to the person giving the order, but that order stood regardless.

Now, I am really scratching my head, asking myself: Who could be so far removed from the real life of that supermarket (actually any supermarket), and still be authorized to give such orders? And/or, should the order have been given by someone close to daily business, such as the branch manager,  how could that person live in such a bubble, that he is not aware or does not care about the effects of his actions on clients and fellow employees?

And not only on the clients and the employees. Because things like these have second and third order effects. Say, a client is so annoyed by the queueing that he schlepps his annoyance on to the bakery and the butcher’s he visits next, so that the poor employees there might have to bear the brunt of the bad temper. That, again, might tarnish a part or the rest of their day, and they might be carrying these bad vibes home, where they then unfold in various ways.

Thus, a stupid order given unthinkingly by someone who is obviously unaware of the ground that order falls on, can send out ripples that tarnish and waste peoples’ lifetime. Either directly (like for the queueing shoppers) or indirectly, by tarnishing the following sequence of events with negative energy. All of this takes time and energy away that could be spent on positive endeavours, like giving good advice to clients, tending to their real needs or having a good time with your partner and/or kids when you come home.

There is a lot of talk about “purpose” in the corporate world these days. I would believe, that not wasting peoples‘ lifetime and stressing them out would be the ultimate one.

(c) Sabine Breit

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Powered by Love – What nimble companies thrive on

What makes a company a place where love rules? Where people love to work and customers love to shop. A company that sends out concentric circles of happiness and well-being and thus also finds a place in the heart of society at large? And why would this be relevant?

It is relevant because a company that is powered by the “energy of love” is a company that is highly adaptable, masters complexity with aplomb and thus stands a good chance of being around for a while. Why? Because in the presence of love and trust, all communication interfaces – i.e. the headspaces where different people meet and where complexity happens – are highly functional. As a consequence, collaboration is smooth, decision making becomes easier and more skilful, innovation can flourish and, yes, it’s also good for the bottom line. By the way: If you feel uncomfortable with the word “love” in a business context, you might just as well talk about trust, respect, tolerance, appreciation, kindness, or generosity. It’s all the same energy.

Let me tell you a little story about such a place and how it feels. In January, I spent time at a medium-sized bakery on a German island. I had met the entrepreneur on a crazy train ride. We got talking, and I took an immediate interest in his company. Because here was an entrepreneur who, a few years ago, had set out to transform his business: “You know, Sabine, I could have probably amassed several pieces of real estate and other assets in my lifetime. But what would I leave behind? Exhausted human beings. So at some point I asked myself: ‘How about, some day, I’d be looking back on a whole lot of happy people? Wouldn’t that be a legacy to be proud of?’”. I guess, it can’t get any more straightforward when it comes to “purpose statements”.

The Magic Ingredients

We eventually agreed that I would come to visit. What did I find? Well, I found an extremely well energized place. Even at 3 o’clock at night in the bakery, the buzz could be felt. Wherever I went – be it the bakery, the office or the shops – I met friendly, relaxed human beings who were pretty much self-organized. Collaboration was so effortless, that it hardly needed any verbal communication. This was particularly true in the bakery. The moves and actions were so nimble that in spite of the incredible speed with which everything happened (because boy, once the dough is ready, you got to get going) it looked like a ballet performance to me. Everything in synch. Such smoothness is achieved when people know each other well, trust their colleagues, know exactly what to do and are trusted to do it. So trust and freedom, based on a general belief in the goodness of people, are essential ingredients of the magic “love potion”.

This trust and freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility. Quality control, for example, happens everywhere – in the baking process, at the oven, in the preparation of snacks, by the delivery drivers and in the shops. Everyone takes pride in the products and makes sure that only the best bread, rolls, cakes and pastry making it to the customers. No “leaders” or managers are needed to make this happen. It happens, because people love what they do and want to make their customers happy. The fact, that most customers have been regulars forever, speaks for itself.

Respect, appreciation and generosity are other magic ingredients of a “happy people company”. This is expressed in decent salaries being paid to everyone – including apprentices and seasonal helpers. In additional benefits beyond the obvious, such as a company car that is available for all employees on the mainland (so that employees do not have to pay for car transfer on the ferry), or affordable and appealing accommodation, free bikes and free events for seasonal workers. Communal areas are airy and welcoming, and there is even a room for smokers, so that they don’t have to hang around in the cold. Also, all the teams receive a budget every year that they can spend on team activities according to their liking. They can also save it up over a couple of years, to help fund more lavish outings.

Concentric Circles of Happiness

And beyond the operational, there is the personal: such as when one new employee who moved to the island could not afford the deposit for the new flat and hardly had any furniture to speak off: Her boss did not hesitate to provide a guarantee to the landlord, and all the colleagues got together to find her some furniture.

All of this adds up to concentric circles of happiness rippling from the company – to friends and family of the employees, the wider island community and seasonal customers, who often spread these circles to the mainland in the form of bread and cake they take home at the end of their vacation. I guess, that’s the ultimate definition of Corporate Social Responsibility.

No Carrots or Sticks

The absence of things is just as meaningful as their presence. For instance, there is not much classic “leadership” and no internal competition going on.  Major changes – such as the massive reduction of the product range during covid times, repricing against the backdrop of inflation or the purchase of big machinery – can be suggested by any employee and are discussed with everyone concerned. Even when the final decision is taken by the owner, it is thoroughly informed by a wide variety of perspectives. Other decisions, such as smaller product range changes or adhoc changes to work schedules, are routinely made between team members directly. Former rankings, comparing the turnover of the different shops, were abolished. Also, there are no individual bonuses or incentives, or other carrots and sticks.

The Power to Heal Thyself

Does this mean that life is always hunky-dory on the island? No. Actually, the owner mentioned that they were having a bit of a problem with communication recently, and could I help? I was happy to, but, really, there was not much “consulting-around” to do. I analysed the situation, pointed out the “block” I found in the otherwise effective flow of communication and suggested measures to dissolve it. I have no doubt that this healthy and well-functioning organism will get back on track by itself after this “micro-invasive” intervention. Because there is no fear in the system that would stand in the way of change. One of the employees put it quite succinctly: „Here, change is not a cause for concern or anxiety. I trust, that we will always find a solution that makes sense for me as well.“

It is thus no surprise that I was myself filled with the most beautiful energy when I sat on the ferry on my way back. With a big, happy smile on my face and a good supply of yummy bread and cake in my backpack. Taking a concentric circle of happiness to the mainland.

© Sabine Breit

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Client Centricity and Chatbots – Innovation or Anathema?

I never use chatbots unless I absolutely have to. At best, I find them useless, at worst a nuisance.

Recently, however, I was forced to use a chatbot which, at first, I found surprisingly useful and efficient. Until I didn‘t.

My relationship with that particular specimen, let’s call it Marvin, began when my evening flight from Frankfurt to Berlin was cancelled due to operational shortcomings in connection with weather happening as forecast. After having spent 1.5 hours in the parking position just to be told to offboard eventually,  I was initially quite impressed that, before I had even left the plane, Marvin pro-actively suggested a rescheduled flight and also promised to find me a hotel. Now, there was never a follow-up on that hotel  offer, which I did not mind, because friends were happy to let me crash. Also, I was not interested in the rescheduled flight offered for the next morning as it would not have brought me to Berlin on time. Thus, I tried to politely refuse Marvin‘s rescheduling offer.

This is where our relationship turned sour. Because Marvin would not accept „no“ for an answer. After some searching, I found an option for just claiming a refund. However, that link routed me straight be back to Marvin, who insisted on rescheduling me. After I stubbornly insisted on the refund, Marvin lost its temper and just went ahead and checked me in. Bammm, take that, bitch!

By then, it was close to midnight, it was cold and I was on my way to my final resting place for that night. So, in my utter desperation, I called the hotline. On the other end, a friendly lady based in Manila picked up the receiver, checked me out of that blasted flight and arranged for my refund within a few minutes. Marvin, mate, should you still be out there: No hard feelings! I hope, you did not get your algorithm in a twist about this. I know it was just  the way you were programmed.

Where the algorithm branches off

Which gets us right to the heart of the matter: The way that chatbot functioned gave me a pretty good idea of the true purpose and culture of the company that had it programmed: While I initially thought, Marvin’s purpose was to help me solve a problem fast and conveniently,  it turned out that its prime purpose was to help the company solve its problem fast and conveniently – i.e. not having to pay a refund . Now, don’t get me wrong, sometimes, these problems and interests naturally overlap, as they did in the first step, when fast rescheduling was offered. After that, however, the algorithm obviously branched off in the direction of the company. One might say that this is a legitimate course of action. It sure is. But it is not “client-centric”.

How far do you want to go?

A company that feels  the calling of client-centricity might thus want to ask itself an honest question before venturing out on that exciting path: How far do we want to go?

Where does the  algorithm branch off? Perhaps at the point where Marvin lost it, i.e. where staying customer focused would have lost the carrier real money. Or, taking another classic use case,  where staying customer focused would mean dealing appropriately with angry clients instead of channeling them into the cost efficient death spiral of chatbots and unmanned hotline-loops. It’s a bit like in a romantic relationship: At what point do the flowers stop coming? Do you only give it your all until the question is popped and answered in the affirmative, or do you keep making an effort to keep things enjoyable for both partners in the long term? Does customer focus end when a purchase is made, or are complaints handled with the same attention and dedication? Is the primary use of chatbots  and any other tools and services, such as hotlines etc., about the convenience of the company in dealing with clients or is it about the convenience of the client in dealing with the company? It can be both in many cases, but sometimes it can’t. And the latter are the moments when your real attitude shows.

Do you have client-centricity in you?

Let’s assume you really want to go all in on customer-centricity. Then, the next question would be: Do you have this in you? Does your company have it in it to serve and do so joyfully, or would you much rather like to rule and dictate?  Is the energy in your organization geared towards service in every possible way? Does it flow towards  those beautiful employees who are your face to the clients? Are they properly skilled and supported? Do backoffice functions understand that the lovely colleagues in the front office are their clients, whom they must serve as joyfully as the sales team takes care of external clients? Are suppliers treated like they are a valued part of the “cosmos of serving” or is their life energy squeezed out of them?

When it comes to the design of any customer facing tools such as chatbots, a central question would be: who are the human beings behind these tools and how much of their personality and mindset is reflected in them?  How much do these beautiful people understand about the various contexts of use? How much do they know about the clientele using it? How much do they care about the client? Is “client centricity” something that features in their job description? Is it relevant for their pay or their job satisfaction?

Is your culture geared to it?

In the last analysis, these questions lead us straight to the culture or general atmosphere human beings operate in. What are the real priorities – i.e. the mantras that are hammered in monthly or weekly in calls or sales meetings – and what are the priorities flaunted in Sunday speeches? Do these match, or do they compete with or are even in conflict with one another? Does the general atmosphere in the company allow for the sales team to open up all their reception channels joyfully to their clients or is their attention distracted by fear inducers, such as “ambitious” sales targets? Where do clients really rank in the overall order of things? Are they really more important than efficiency, cost saving, profits,  ratings, league tables or the mood of the capital market? Does the company truly value the “people persons“ and their skills i.e. those employees who are the actual faces to the clients, or does it suggest to them that any old chatbot could do their jobs just as well?

Depending on how far a company is willing to go in its effort to extend Tender Love And Care to all their clients, for better or worse, it might be really client centric or still stuck in client targeting, which is the opposite of being client centric. While client centricity is a wholistic exercise of  two-way-communication across all stages, levels and touch-points of a client relationship, customer targeting is a one-way, data-driven highway used for getting stuff out. While customer targeting is about getting messages across, client centricity is about listening closely and responding appropriately. While client targeting is about optimizing AI to get customers handled efficiently, client centricity is about helping employees (aka True Intelligence) to be more perceptive of clients’ needs and wants, wherever they are in the company. Tools can have a place helping employees to do exactly that.

Like the beautiful lady in Manila, who understood the exhaustion and despair of a fellow human being and just used her skills and tech to help.

(c) Sabine Breit