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A “wake-up call” isn’t enough

June 4, 2011 by Rosa Say

It takes courage to change, and forge a new future: Have you got that courage in you?

I was not at this presentation, and can only base this on Dan Nakaso’s article written for the Star Advertiser, but I am newly encouraged knowing that Richard C. Lim is our new director of DBEDT, the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Perhaps that “T” should be dropped at the end.

Nakaso wrote: “Future of tourism called into question: The state economic director surprises business leaders with his stark outlook.”

“Lim, who has been running DBEDT for six months, outlined a gloomy economic picture for the islands and said tourism has essentially remained stagnant for the last 20 years and can no longer be relied on to move the economy into a prosperous future.”

He is absolutely right, and being kind in saying it’s only been this way for the last 20 years — try 30 or 40. The business model is broken; it’s dysfunctional, or in many cases, missing completely. Any business models which are in place for so-called Tourism Leadership are sadly irrelevant to our community challenges.

I’m a product of our hospitality industry, as is my values-based Managing with Aloha philosophy, and readily accept that writing this can be viewed as my biting the hand that fed me — but how well did that really happen? What is not mentioned in this article, is the sad fact that tourism has not improved our lot in life locally as its wage-earners either; I would much prefer to see our youth and all residents focus on industries which improve their standard of living individually too — and not just for the community infrastructure needs Lim mentions in the article recap.

Our state (and all communities for that matter) need not do for us, when we can prosper and thrive on our own because we work in more visionary industries.

Even if we blindly claim to be good at tourism, or Aloha-suited to it, it’s time we learned even more, and got good at endeavors which will serve us better, via the industries which rely on building our innovative talents with math and the sciences. Tourism has not sustained us well enough in exchange for all the resources we have put into it, especially when you count up our service-industry poor.

This part of the article absolutely floored me, especially reading who was quoted:

“Paul Brewbaker, principal of TZ Economics and chairman of the state Council on Revenues, told Lim that his ideas “provoked a lot of good thinking in this room. This is the first time I’ve heard any of this.”

Give me a break! If we assume he is speaking his truth, how has he come to hold the position he holds? Where have they been, and what on earth have they been doing in Hawai‘i economic circles if this is the first time he and others have “heard any of this?” Do they know how to read and evaluate all their charts and economic reports?

Will anything happen now that this speech has been delivered, or was it simply a way to while away some time for those in the room who are too NIMBY entitled and complacent? (stuck in the quagmire of “not in my back yard” thinking and will-not-try opposition).

Knowing all of which Lim speaks is one thing, and having the courage to do something about it is another when you have so many sacred cows grazing in your home pastures.

We can do better, I know we can. I pray we get the will to do so.

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Where Planning Ends and Projects Begin

October 8, 2009 by Rosa Say for Say “Alaka‘i”

Where PLANNING ends and PROJECTS begin is where MANAGING well follows up on the work you have already put into LEADING well.

Let’s use our October Ho‘ohana of Sweet Closure to review some relevant past postings done here, bringing everything together in the blood and guts of how you are managing right now, today. I write this blog to help you set work in motion in fresh ways: My goal is to help you, the Alaka‘i manager, create (lead) and foster (manage) highly productive workplace energies.

Reading about it is not enough: Let’s do it.

Today's Tipsheet

In our Say “Alaka‘i” Language of Intention, we say that managers will both manage and lead in the workplace, tackling those words as active verbs:

Leadership is Why and When
Management is What and How
(those links will help you review those distinctions if you’ve missed that discussion)

As you work on your October Ho‘ohana of Sweet Closure, this lead versus manage distinction is one you can apply to planning versus project work.

  • Think of ‘planning’ as setting a leadership vision which answers those why and when questions with clear decisions. It creates a job to be done, a job which is very well defined and compelling: The better your decisions, the higher the level of confidence you have throughout the workplace. In the best possible scenario there is an “‘it’ factor” to this plan: It’s attractive and highly desirable. Everyone wants to be a part of it. It’s known as mission-critical, and the important one.
  • Think of ‘project execution’ as getting that job done one logical piece (i.e. one project) at a time. However the logic does not dim the “‘it’ factor” at all: It just makes it highly achievable in the shortest possible time frame. The longer and more drawn out a project is, the greater your chances of losing momentum. Alaka‘i managers go for quick wins, and they get them to be progressive and successive, where one win follows another in perpetual motion.

What great managers do, is get their people engaged in those projects in the best possible way because those projects are the most timely and meaningful ones. As an Alaka‘i manager, you are setting well thought-out plans into motion throughout the organizational culture, (everyone has some touch point) and the sooner the better.

We should be in this shift by now!

Wrap up any planning you are doing for Sweet Closure and get into project mode! This is a short-term project and we want to get things done. If you are with me in using the holidays as our “put up your feet and enjoy the holidays” goal, it is time to reckon with GEMO (Good Enough, Move On) and get moving.

As we move on with our October Ho‘ohana for Sweet Closure, look back at the planning you have done, and be sure you have this clarity, wherein

  1. “The Plan” you design answers Why and When. It clearly states the key decisions you have made so that anyone you enroll in its objectives can refer to “The Plan” anytime they get immersed in the work itself and feel they need a landmark to refer back to that will keep them on course versus wandering down a rabbit trail. Once project work starts, “The Plan” acts as an expectation filter so projects don’t get cluttered up with irrelevant complexity. The better your plan, the lighter and more nimble your project work.
  2. “The Project” you design is about What components you have chosen, and How you get “The Plan” done: Ideas get practical. Set mile-markers, deadlines, and a final deliverable. The talk-story huddles you will have in the workplace should be dedicated to “The Project” with everything else taking a secondary place on the agenda: Use them to reach agreements on individual work versus teamwork currently in-process so that work keeps moving and does not stall. Alaka‘i managers are always on the lookout for obstacles, barriers, and excuses, and they get them out of the way.

Here are two resources you can use as checklists for “The Project” you come up with in your October Ho‘ohana of Sweet Closure:

1. If you have a copy of Managing with Aloha, review The Lōkahi Challenge for Managers which begins on page 107.

2. Here in the Talking Story Archives: Start a Wow! Project at Work. The post has been newly updated with fresh content, and so most embedded links go forward to newer articles which are recent to our current discussions. I have re-opened the comments for any questions which might come up for you.

My mana‘o [The Backstory of this posting]
Each Thursday I write a management posting for Say “Alaka‘i” at Hawai‘i’s newspaper The Honolulu Advertiser. The edition here on Talking Story is revised with internally directed links, and I can take a few more editorial liberties. Recently my posting here has been very directed and sequential: I am working on my October Ho‘ohana of Sweet Closure along with you. If you are just joining us and would like to read them in order, this article would be number 5 on this list:

  1. Is it Time for Your Alaka‘i Abundance?
  2. October’s Ho‘ohana: Sweet Closure
  3. The Ho‘ohana Story of Your Year
  4. A Copy of the Best is Still a Copy

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