You Know What I Think? with Jody Hanks

Due to the overwhelming amount of information in a networked world, the emphasis on IT research and practice has shifted from producing information to controlling and managing it. Competitive advantage goes to the intelligent and agile organizations. Competitive advantage is goes to the intelligent and agile organizations, and only those that have mastered the arts of discovering new value propositions, nurturing customer relationships, and executing their core functions rapidly and faultlessly will survive. How quickly an organization achieves this advantage depends on its ability to assemble information quickly and then effectively act on it. Show notes available at https://whatithink.show/44

A recent tweet about President Trump's desire to exclude officers from a discussion on ground conditions in the Middle East sparks a discussion on effective feedback. What does it take for feedback to be truly effective? It's just three things. Show notes available at https://whatithink.show/43

Standards. We live in a world of standards. We apply standards to everything: accounting, the environment, quality, behavior, health, safety, employment, trade, professionalism, food, transportation, technology, and the list goes on and on. We have standards we have to meet at work, standards we have to meet at home, and standards we set for ourselves and those we apply to others. Everything has a standard because everyone has a standard they apply to everything. Show notes at https://whatithink.show/42

Substance use disorder affects ten percent of America's workforce. In this podcast, I'm not just talking about just any worker, I'm talking about physicians who suffer from addiction. Many organizations have employee assistance programs to help workers who need help with addiction. However, there's disparity in treatment options available to the average worker compared to some professionals, specifically doctors. Show notes available at https://whatithink.show/41

You know what I think about achieving goals? Everyone has a passion for something, a powerful, compelling drive to achieve a goal. If you're passionate about something, you're willing to fight for it. You don't take "no" for an answer and you won't let anything stand in your way. The fight can be a hard one or easy depending on the process you employ in realizing your passion. More in the show-notes at https://whatithink.show/40

You know what I think about business ethics? In relation to business ethics, the term ‘ordinary decency’ refers to the moral standing of an organization where honesty and fairness, a refraining from coercion and physical violence, and a respect for the law are its guiding principles. The cornerstone of this principle is honesty, and honesty is built on truth.  Check-out the show notes and leave a comment at whatithink.show/39

You know what I think about supply chain management? The ultimate goal of SCM is interenterprise integration and the goal of interenterprise integration is reducing inventory, production, and distribution costs. So, how do companies achieve these goals? See the show notes for more at https://whatithink.show/38

You know what I think about change management? There are a number of change management theories and processes “on the books” today. And each and every one are more or less just variations of Kurt Lewin's foundational three phase change process of unfreezing, transitioning, and refreezing. In this podcast, I share various techniques manager's utilize in carrying out Lewin's change model. But first, I follow-up on the interview I did earlier this year with Rhonda Crowe, the CEO of MD Coaches, a company dedicated to empowering physicians to become the best version of themselves. Rhonda and her team are getting ready to launch a new podcast designed to spotlight physician leaders reflecting on the elements that made them successful. It's hosted by Dr. Randy Cook, a well-respected general and vascular surgeon, and also a former radio personality--which is pretty cool! The podcast is called "Rx for Success" and it'll be launching on September 23! You can listen to the podcast on your favorite podcast player or you can check-out the webpage at rxforsuccesspodcast.com.  

Hypercompetition is a state of perpetual change in the rules of competition within an industry. Since these rules are in a constant state of flux, organizations can't sustain competitive advantage forcing them to vigorously and continuously compete in cost and quality, timing and know-how, strongholds and market invasion, and the deep pockets of competitors. Requiring a constant reinventing of competitive advantage, an organization achieves the greatest advantage by competing against its own areas of strength. But in a global economy, this can result in an exhausting treadmill.

You know what I think about strategy? In this episode I share some thoughts on developing business strategy. Sun Tzu taught us centuries ago that gaining a competitive advantage comes during the planning stage, not with the execution of the plan. For once the plan is put in motion, our strategy becomes apparent. I'm also very excited also introduce a new podcast I've published with a friend and former colleague from my Air Force days. It's called The Digression Podcast" and as the name suggests, it's not about business. Please check it out at https://thedigressionpodcast.com

You know what I think about motivation? Anyone can be motivated and motivating others is a skill that can be learned. Motivation is an essential ingredient for effective performance and how well employees perform will determine the organizations success or failure. In this podcast I share some employee motivation techniques and some advice on employee engagement to increase motivation.

You know what I think about e-business strategy? According to e-commerce analytics firm, Ever Merchant, e-commerce generates almost 2 and a half million dollars every minute.. Think about that number for a second: Two and a half million dollars. Almost two million of those sales are done over the desktop, while the remaining 500 thousand dollars are generated over mobile device. Almost 1.4 million dollars is spent on credit, debit, prepaid, and store cards, and just over a million dollars are alternative payments, like e-wallets, direct debits, bank transfer, or cod. It's not surprising that Amazon soaks up almost 200 thousand dollars a minute all by itself, while eBay does 150 thousand, and Apple processes about 36 thousand dollars every minute. And let's not forget social media, which generates a ton of sales, with Facebook bringing in 11 thousand dollars a minute, and Pinterest and Twitter bringing in just under 10 thousand, each. Without a doubt, the Internet is a powerful tool to facilitate commerce, but to be truly effective, it must be in the forefront of business strategy.

You know what I think about Leadership and Management? You lead people and you manage things. This is the accepted axiom and implies that leadership and management go hand-in-hand. Management is a function and deals with supervision and exercising control, while leadership is about relationships, influence, and inspiration. In order to successfully develop and implement a corporate strategy, a leader must first be an effective manager.

You know what I think about independent publishing? Book publishing is a process that includes acquisition, copy editing, production, printing (physical or digital), marketing, and distribution. Until recently, this was accomplished by publishing companies that accept manuscripts from writers, usually through an agent, and carry out the publication process, paying the author a royalty from the book’s sales. These arrangements often come at the cost of at least some of the author's intellectual property rights. With the technology advances of the 21st century we’re seeing writers forego the time and expense of traditional publishers. These independent authors are entrepreneurs, cutting-out the middle men and going direct to consumer by carrying out the publication process on their own. And more importantly, independent authors retain their publishing rights and complete control over their book production and distribution    In this podcast, I’m pleased to share my interview with Anita Rodgers, an independent author who has published seven books both electronically and in print. Anita’s Scotti Fitzgerald and Lottie Stark mystery series have captured the imagination of a growing fanbase. In today’s episode Anita shares her thoughts on writing and what it’s like to be an indie author.    Connect with Anita:   Amazon: Anita Rodgers Author Page   Facebook: Anita Rodgers Mystery Writer   Goodreads:  Anita Rodgers   LinkedIn: @AnitaRodgers

You know what I think about drug addiction? Drug addiction is a devastating illness that wrecks lives and families, but unless the issue touches us personally we don't see it, do we? It doesn't really affect us, right? Wrong. Almost 15 million Americans suffer from addiction and 11 million of them are gainfully employed--they work for us. And we may never know it because they're afraid. Afraid of losing their jobs, their families, of being stereotyped. So they hide their addiction and keep working. And it costs American businesses billions dollars a year in lost productivity, absenteeism, workplace injuries, and turnover. In a zero tolerance world, can we have empathy and accountability for those suffering from drug addiction or are the two antithetical?

You know what I think about the hiring process? If you do a Google search for "how to hire the right people" you'll find a plethora of posts on leadership qualities and attributes, but there's not a lot of process-oriented information. There’s a lot of advice for job candidates, but if you’re a hiring authority, well, we just never really got a lot of training, did we? During the course of my career, I’ve hired hundreds of people, and for various level roles, entry-level, mid-level managers, and professionals. I’m certainly no expert, and although I didn’t always get it right, more often than not, especially at this point in my career, I do get it right. So, today, I’d like to share with you my process for hiring the right person. I’ll explain each step in the process, and provide real-life example of that step in action. Although, there’s really no way to eliminate all risk when hiring, these five steps will help you mitigate the risk.

From time-to-time, you’ll find me reminiscing about my days in the Air Force. This is one of those times. I can remember working as a young Airman in an Air Force hospital when the announcement came down that the Health Services Inspection would occur within the next month. The Health Services Inspection or HSI is a medical compliance inspection conducted jointly by the AF Inspector General and the Joint Commission. Anyway, for myself and my follow airmen, the announcement meant more work and a scramble to get programs updated to meet compliance standards. It was also the only time in my 24-year Air Force career that I had to clean baseboards. So, what does this have to do with servant leaders? Listen-in to find out...

Health care today is complicated and highly-complex with a mountain of rules and regulations that govern practically every aspect of the doctor-patient relationship. The real challenge for doctors today is that their culture—the physician culture—hasn’t really changed. Physicians are at the top of the health care hierarchy and are the ones ultimately accountable for patient outcomes, and yet they’re almost treated as commodities by health care managers.   In this podcast, I share Part 2 of my interview with Rhonda Crowe, the President and CEO of MD Coaches, a company dedicated to developing and empowering physicians to realize a greater potential and achieve greater satisfaction from their roles. In today’s episode, we move beyond the origin of MD Coaches and dig a little deeper into the challenges physicians face today and how physicians and managers can glean a better understanding of each other.   The website: MD Coaches   Social Media: Facebook :: Instagram - @mdcoaches.llc :: LinkedIn - Follow MD Coaches :: LinkedIn - Connect with Rhonda

You know what I think about personal growth? In the business world today, the words “mentor” and “coach” are very common, and they’re often used interchangeably. Although both are extremely valuable resources, in reality, they couldn’t be more different, there is a distinction between the two that make them as different as night and day. A mentor is an advisor, someone who is successful in his role, and readily shares his knowledge or expertise with others, but he doesn’t have to really know the mentee to be effective. Coaches, on the other hand, understand their clients intimately, they usually hold a certification, and are strong process managers. They’re prescriptive and proactive, actively participating in strategy development with their clients to achieve specific goals. Essentially, where the mentor is a generalist, the coach is a specialist.          In this podcast I’m excited to share Part One of a Two-Part interview with with just such a specialist. Rhonda Crowe is a certified coach and is the President and CEO of MD Coaches, a company dedicated to developing and empowering physicians to realize a greater potential and achieve greater satisfaction from their roles. In today’s segment we discuss Rhonda's coaching journey and the evolution of MD Coaches.   The website: MD Coaches   Social Media: Facebook :: Instagram - @mdcoaches.llc :: LinkedIn - Follow MD Coaches :: LinkedIn - Connect with Rhonda

You know what I think about project management? Historically speaking, project management was around long before it was known as "project management". Although we don’t know exactly how the pyramids of Egypt were constructed, we do know the Pharaoh had managers overseeing their construction. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that we started to explore Project Management as a formal scientific process. Since then it’s evolved into a field of study and a career path. And it’s still evolving. In this podcast, I’m pleased to share an interview with Paul Gallagher, who has applied the basic tenets of project management, namely managing resources, maintaining schedules, and coordinating different activities and tasks, into a framework for life. He calls it “The Amazing Me Project”. You can learn more about Paul and The Amazing Me Project, get a FREE copy of his book, and get involved... The Website: The Amazing Me Project Social Media: Facebook :: Twitter - @amazmeproj :: Instagram - @theamazingmeproject LinkedIn: Follow The Amazing Me Project :: LinkedIn: Connect with Paul The Amazing Me Project Facebook Group: The Accountabilibuddies Strike Back  

You know what I think about conflict? People don’t stop being people at work. And because people are people conflict is inevitable. Conflict is the natural result of human interaction that begins when one member of the organization believes his or her goals, values, needs, or attitudes are incompatible with those of other members of the organization. Conflict can arise within a member, between two members, or between groups of the organization. Traditionally, conflict was viewed as a detriment to the organization, it was something that should be resolved quickly or avoided all together, but if properly managed, conflict can drive positive change and it can raise the organization to the next level.

You know what I think about Momentum? Mark Twain once said “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” The frog in this quote represents the one thing you have on your to-do list that you have absolutely no motivation to do. The biggest frog would be the most important of two undesirable tasks. If you don't eat them right away, you're likely to put-off doing them the rest of the day, and guaranteed they'll be a distraction until you get it done and will impede your momentum. In this podcast I provide an overview and some observations of a great book by Jason and Jodi Womack, called Get Momentum: How to Start When You're Stuck

You know what I think about legacy computer systems? Legacy systems are always on the chopping block because there is a seemingly never-ending cascade of new technology designed to make business more profitable and our lives easier. Moore's Law would suggest that IT used to build systems today is superior to yesterday’s technology. However, new is not always better. Certainly, today’s IT is smaller and faster, but that doesn’t necessarily make it superior to the technology used in legacy systems. In fact, implementing new IT systems carry inherent risks that may outweigh the drawbacks of modifying or converting existing systems.

As I embark on the second season of the podcast, I wanted to take a moment to touch base with everyone and let you know what to expect in the coming year, and also to introduce a new podcast coming soon. 

You know what I think about bad language? I think it’s pretty safe to say bad language is a part of our culture and we’ve all used bad language at one point or another in our lives. Some of us may use it naturally, as a matter of conversation, while others might be more discrete and deliberate. Some are selective in the words they use, seeing some bad words as acceptable while other words are strictly taboo. We may feel guilty about using bad words, so we substitute something more benign. Still, no matter how we feel about them, bad words have power because they illicit a response in both the user and the recipient. 

Leaders who don’t focus on their customers often fail. A relationship with the individuals who might buy their products is essential, but for some reason, many miss this absolutely critical aspect of their business. The process of identifying a target market and narrowing their company's focus to appeal to it directly is key. Then they can turn their attention to their competitor's customers.

Why are people motivated to do things for you or for your organization? The truth is people are motivated by any number of things and are likely motivated by different things at different times and under different situations. Manager's who think employees are primary motivated by one thing (like money) are missing the boat, and by failing to recognize the dynamic nature of employee motivation, they may well find they have a hard time motivating anyone to do anything. In this podcast I discuss some methods for motivating employees to achieve more.

You know what I think about sales? Sales is very stressful for some people, but it can be a lot of fun if you let it. I'm an introvert by nature and probably the last person you'd expect to enjoy pitching ideas to total strangers. Sales is fun--and interesting--because it’s like a game. In this podcast, I discuss a couple of techniques to increase your sales effectiveness and make the game more fun and and a lot more interesting.

You know what I think about scarcity? It's the conflict that arises because there are limited resources to satisfy unlimited wants and drives decisions of everyone on the planet. Scarcity is the cause of all economic activity, and is the basis of universal economic laws, such as supply and demand, diminishing returns, competition and cooperation, and comparative advantage, and is also the source of the concept of universal human rights. But are human rights truly universal? Perhaps there's another measure.

You know what I think about entrepreneurs? Objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand said considered them the 'motor of the world' working within existing markets to bring them into equilibrium or creating new markets and disequilibrium. They're the creators, innovators, and disrupters that move markets and society by changing the status quo. In this podcast I discuss the two sides of entrepreneurship. Where does your impact lie?

You know what I think about supply and demand? This podcast was inspired by my brother who had to take an unexpected trip and was forced to purchase an airline ticket the day before the needed flight. So, he was lamenting the high price of the ticket, and after some good-natured ribbing about his studying Political Science in college instead of Economics, we discussed what he considered price gouging was really nothing more than simple supply and demand. 

You know what I think about managing teams? Humans are highly complex and don't come in predictable behavioral packages. The simple truth is people are different and how the team leader manages those differences is the key to the team’s success or failure in meeting its objectives. A working understanding of the individual team member's personality is key to an effective team and will help the team leader guide them in meeting goals. The ability to match work profiles with personality will also help satisfy the needs of the team members. In this podcast, I discuss using a personal profile system to get more out of your workcenter teams.

You know what I think about business and social justice? In this podcast I discuss a business' role in society and where it's responsibilities lie. What obligation does a business have to contribute to the common good? Listen in for the next few minutes and I'll tell you what I think. 

You know what I think about writing? It can be very frustrating, especially when you're trying to craft an email to an important client and you find yourself stuck on an awkward passage, are just too wordy, or your efforts produce nothing more than a jumbled mess. Even the best writers struggle with messaging from time-to-time. In this podcast, I share six tips to help you be a better writer and convey your message with clarity and personality. 

You now what I think about productivity? In this podcast, I talk productivity with Steve Schoenly, the owner and founder of Schoenly Consulting. In addition to providing audit and compliance services within heavily-regulated industries, Steve's firm helps companies increase productivity by improving process efficiency. In my first podcast interview, Steve shares his thoughts on personal productivity and discusses some of the tools and techniques he uses to help him get things done.  Here's a list of the multi-platform tools and techniques Steve talks about in the podcast:   Todoist: A smart task manager Smartsheet: Simple project management Google Drive: Cloud storage and file backup Google Docs: A web-based software office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program) within Google Drive  Google Calendar: Time management and scheduling calendar Blinkist: Summaries of non-fiction books for the busy executive The Pomodoro Technique: A time-management method "Getting Things Done" by David Allen: A time-management method

You know what I think about time? There are so many demands on your time each and every day. And each and every day you have 1,440 minutes to meet those demands. Since time is not a renewable resource, you need to make the most of the time you have. In this podcast, I share five techniques to help you master your time.

You know what I think about priorities? Effective leaders overcome the overwhelming stream of information bombarding them daily by approaching tasks with a singular purpose achieved through focused thinking.

You know what I think about contribution? It's a key focus area for organizational leaders, but not in the way you might think. The leader’s most significant contribution is often to recognize the contributions of others. Recognizing employee contribution is a significant motivator and increases productivity. It is essential to the team executing well.

You know what I think about celebrity advertising? Although there's much debate over its power to influence the consumer, marketing agencies would likely see more return on their investment if they simply crafted a more effective message. Take those 'Old Spice' ads for instance...

You know what I think about network relationships? E-commerce is built on a networked landscape. Businesses that can amplify relationships with consumers to the point where they become prosumers will gain a winning edge.

You know what I think about government intervention in business activities? Too often the government interferes in conflicts involving property rights, when if left alone to their own devices, the parties themselves would negotiate a better solution. 

You know what I think about money? In this podcast, I discuss the hang-ups salespeople have in dealing with the subject of money during the sales process. If you think of yourself as a vendor, then that's exactly what you are.

You know what I think about sales? In this podcast I discuss the negativity surrounding sales and the sales process. Why would we hold an unfavorable view of salespeople when in reality, we are all salespeople?

You know what I think about time management? In this podcast, I discuss the daily process I use to gain control of my time and priortize the tasks that fill my plate to ensure the most important things get done.