Decision Outliers- Their Impact on Team and Organizational Effectiveness

 guest post from Beth Armknecht Miller


In the book Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell, many of the stories focus on those outliers who were successful, often due to circumstances and luck. What if you have an outlying preference that holds you back? A behavior that if modified, moves you closer to the norm and makes you more effective?

Let’s take a look at Decision Outliers. We’ve all experienced someone who either makes decisions too quickly or too slowly and for some of us we actually may have one of these tendencies ourselves.

Some of us are quick to decide while others take a much longer time to decide. In either case, our personality preferences and past experiences have a strong influence on how we make decisions. If we tend to be an outlier on either side of the bell curve, decision making can be holding us back from being successful and getting to the next level of leadership. Do you know if you’re a Decision Outlier? And if you are one, how is your decision making style impacting your relationships and job performance?

Slow Decision Outliers

Those who are slow decision makers often need a lot more data and information than others, before making a decision. Making a decision without all the data creates too much risk for the slow decision outlier. The data needed can come in the form of hard and soft data. Hard data being metrics, facts, and measurements and soft data being feelings and the impact a decision will have on others. Slow decision makers who are driven by how others will feel about the decision, look for and desire a consensus decision making process. They want all in agreement before making a decision.

And in the extreme, Slow Decision Outliers can become No Decision

Outliers, stuck and unwilling to make a decision based often in fear of change and letting go of what is known and fully understood.

How does slow decision making impact you and your performance?

In this rapidly changing world, slow decision makers can be at a huge disadvantage. New information is coming at them faster than ever before and without self imposed time limits, opportunities will pass them by-both personally and professionally. If they are working in a team environment, they are probably frustrating their team members who want to move forward with the project.

If you consistently meet the description above then here are some tips to move out of the outlier range of decision making. Thoroughly explore all the benefits of making the decision which would create change. And realize that not making a decision brings its own set of risks. Identify these risks of maintaining the status quo.

Fast Decision Outliers

Fast Decision Outliers can find themselves making decisions with not enough data. These decision makers don’t like lots of detail; they are often driven by the end result. And if the decision is about something that doesn’t have a big impact on them, details get in the way.

Change is not stressful for them, yet they often are oblivious of the impact that change has to others around them. They can be creating stress with other tema members

These decision outliers can be viewed as autocratic if they aren’t willing to listen to others ideas and information that would be helpful to the decision making process.

Outliers’ Impact on Team and Organizational Effectiveness

Slow Decision Outliers can slow down progress and create frustration with other team members. If a leader is a Slow Decision Outlier, miss market opportunities, slow to change, will often want to decide using consensus-can’t please everyone

Are you a Decision Outlier? And if so what changes can you make to be a more effective leader?



Beth Armknecht Miller, of Atlanta, Georgia, is Founder and President of Executive Velocity, a leadership development advisory firm accelerating the leadership success of CEOs and business leaders. She is also a Vistage Chair and Executive Coach. She is certified in Myers Briggs and Hogan leadership assessment tools and is a Certified Managerial Coach by Kennesaw State University. Visithttp://www.executive-velocity.com  or  http://executivevelocityblog.com or follow her on twitter at SrExecAdvisor.

8 Stats and Facts - Jobless Recovery Here to Stay?

It seems that on this Labor Day weekend, the jobless recovery is here to stay. 14 million people remain unemployed. The unemployment rate remains at 9.1%. Politics aside, should we be surprised? It seems that many signs pointed to such a recovery starting with previous recessions and slow job creation since 2000.

1.     It took roughly 6 months for employment to recover to its pre-recession level after each postwar recession through the 1980s.

2.     It took 15 months after the 1990-91 recession and 39 months after the 2001 recession.

3.     Between 2000 and 2007, the U.S. posted a weaker record of job creation than during any decade since the Great Depression.

4.     Total employment increased by 9.2 million, or 7%, less than 1/2 the rate of increase in preceding decades.

5.     At the current pace of job creation, it will take a minimum of 5 years for employment to recover. (That calculation is based on total net job creation of 117,000 jobs per month.) More and more forecasts look to 2018 or later until we return to full employment.

6.     The unemployment rate for adults 25 years and over with a bachelor’s degree and higher remains constant at 4.4%, below the baseline of full employment.

7.     For adults over 25 with less than a high school education, the unemployment rate is 14.3; with only a high school diploma, the rate is 10% with not much light at the end of the tunnel. For teenagers between 16 and 19 years old, the rate nears 25%.

8.     This year, the share of young people who were employed in July was 48.8 percent, the lowest July rate on record for the series, which began in 1948.

By admin on Sep 3, 2011 in Facts and Stats, workforce trends

Source: McKinsey Global Institute, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Is Your Talent Pipeline at Risk? Engaging High Potentials

Organizations that effectively engage employees realize a significant advantage over competitors — including performance gains that lead directly to improved financial results. Without a strategic approach to talent that includes a focus on employee engagement, many companies fail to ensure employees are satisfied in their roles and committed to achieving key strategic goals — risking turnover of key players and the inability to meet overall business objectives. Adding to this challenge is the fact that many disengaged workers are actively seeking new opportunities as the economy grows, while competitors are looking for ways to gain an edge by actively pursuing your high performers.


a reprint from the Human Capital Institute

Global CXO Global Strategies Outlook for 2012

Over the past decade, the art of doing business has changed. Companies are re-shaping strategies to innovate and compete globally. New methodologies, new opportunities, new markets, new technologies, and new practices are being brought into play with an eye on boosting profits and curbing costs.



Forbes Insights, in association with Wipro, conducted an exclusive survey of more than 300 CEOs and other C-level executives at global enterprises ($500M-plus in annual revenue). The key findings of this survey include:


• Strategic innovation is more important than ever to driving growth. This commitment to innovation will impact how companies approach environmentally friendly, or green, business practices, as well as how they manage their expansion into global emerging markets. For example, in some cases, companies are using so-called reverse-innovation, taking innovative products and services from their emerging market efforts (such as in China) and commercializing them elsewhere in the world.


• C-level executives see innovation as a way to differentiate their businesses, particularly following the 2008-09 recession. Fully two thirds of the executives said they believe that innovation is more critical than ever because of the economic downturn of 2008-09.
• Speed-to-market is necessary for successful innovation. More than 80% of survey respondents agreed that getting a product or service swiftly out to market is a critical business innovation tactic.
• Cost remains the biggest hurdle to fostering innovation. It topped the list of innovation barriers cited by C-level executives, followed by issues related to the regulatory environment, and finding and retaining top talent.


• Paying attention to best practices is the most effective way to foster innovation. Other innovation tactics promoted by executives included technology, data-based decision making, and customer collaboration.
• Executives see a very clear business case for using “green” business practices. The most important factors they cited include reducing costs, improving operational efficiency, and meeting customer demand for more environmentally friendly products.
• Embracing green business practices as part of a corporate innovation strategy is essential to their success.


Overall, nearly three quarters of C-level executives indicated their companies had incorporated environmental elements into their innovation strategies.
• Green IT is a priority for more than three quarters of companies. Their strategies in this area include reducing data center footprints, greater use of server virtualization, and greater use of cloud computing.


• Executives see investment and expansion into emerging markets as crucial to their strategies today and in the near future. More than half believe China holds the greatest opportunity, followed by India, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe.


• Expansion into emerging markets is being driven by lower costs and a higher rate of growth, according to executives surveyed. Potential barriers to strategic success in these areas include poor distribution channels, unstable political environments, and a shortage of skilled talent.


Do you agree with these findings? Let me know at wgstevens2@gmail.com  


reprint from Forbes Insight and Wipro. William G. Stevens is a contributing member of the Forbes Advisory Committee 

Are You In The Cloud?

Everyone is getting their heads in the Cloud and HR should be no exception. It may be the Cloud buzz (Cloud computing), and SaaS (software-as-a-service) and a host of other reasons, mostly to reduce expenses and increase IT department efficiency. The two major changes noted above are making inroads the way employees, individuals, and companies manage their processes critical to meet the competitive and innovative demands that businesses are challenged with daily.

For those not current on what the Cloud is here is a tactical definition: the Cloud is where data and apps ca be stored remotely and accessed via the web.

Human Resources is no exception and should not put their heads in the sand over Cloud computing. SaaS and iCloud are changing the way businesses operate and HR is no exception to this change.  These technology changes are driving traditional IT departments to rethink how they operate, save data, and utilize manpower and the constant fixed costs of software updates and security patches. SaaS can change a stagnate organization into a nimble, effective and innovative machine as well as controlling operational costs. It can also create improved service levels and eliminate SLAs that mean nothing.  Thinking farther, SaaS is scalable where some traditional organizations are not. That changes the competitive landscape dramatically.

So, if you as the HR executive think that only you or your company must have proprietary data storage, think again. Take a look at SAP, Oracle, and the other major players. The world will change and you better think differently and change with it or be left behind. To quote John Malikowski, "SaaS is an efficient way to accelerate HR transformation and capture value faster".

How 9/11 Changed HR

I am sure that there will be some HR practitioners who will not agree with me here but I have been struggling to put this piece together for 10 years. We will "Never Forget" and our hearts go out to the victims families as they continue to grieve every day.

The tragic events of 9/11 have changed us as a nation and individually forever. Life has not been the same since. Some will say for the better, and I mean being more safe domestically. Some will say that there has been over precautions taken that have slowed down our ability to move freely throughout the world. I agree with the former, I would rather be safe than not.

HR played a key role in the events following 9/11. I know from my own direct experience, facing the loss of two key employees on Flight 11 (Jeff Mladenik & Andrew Curry Green) and having to account for 50+ employees scattered from Battery Park to Brooklyn and to help move those 50+ employees from the devastation of the Ground Zero area from Rector Street and Trinity Place to our Park Avenue South office.  It is a role that they (HR) has really never had to play before. How to logistically coordinate the safety of an entire company as well as those traveling throughout the world. HR sat at the table that day even if they were not there before & some are still at the table today. What HR did was provide strategic information, leadership to the top, and overall communications coordination usually relegated to the PR/Comm groups not only to the corporation but to the employee's families.  

as I recall, I worked diligently with my Chief HR executive for all of that Tuesday until 10PM and then back at 11PM until 1 AM on Wednesday accounting for everyone. It was a task that I hope never has to be repeated.

So here is my call to all the HR executives, aspiring HR executives, and those at the middle ranks. You should get training on how to manage disaster situations, and they do not teach that in college or through SHRM. Learning and doing from a fire hose is not the best way to get experience. However, I was one of the lucky ones, I had that training on my prior roles at other companies and 10 years prior to 9/11.

So how did this change HR. HR managers, directors, and some CHRO's learned that there is another dimension to strategy, communications, and accountability that we never hope to have to use.

I welcome your thoughts on this sensitive topic.

Every Challenge is A New Opportunity for Change!!

Find this hard to believe?  Stay with me for a few minutes and just open your mind to the possibilities that there is a new opportunity regardless of the challenge you are facing today!

Now my head is not in the sand…I read the newspaper, listen to my friends, family, coaching clients and colleagues all facing insurmountable challenges in their life with major loss such as job, income, decline in their 401k, lost homes to foreclosure, serious illness, loss of a loved one, divorce…you name it…it is not good news!  Hopelessness, sadness, depression, fear, doubt and obstacles keeping us stuck!

Then you have some “optimist” that says…there is an opportunity here really!!!   Think about it-what goes up must come down, without success there is no failure, no pain- no gain, without bad you don’t experience good…you get it!  These things are the same just opposite sides of the spectrum and it is all how we perceive them…without one, we wouldn’t have the other!

This is not the view of an optimist (although we live by it) it is the “Law of Polarity”….a matter of fact no two ways about it.  It’s a universal law and like all universal laws…you cannot change that fact that they exists.  You cannot manipulate, fool or escape it so work with it!    So how do we create opportunity?

First step is awareness…really what is happening here?  Take a few minutes to assess your situation and ask yourself what do I want instead?  If I have what I want instead, what does that look like for me?  How will I feel if I experience the opposite of what I am experiencing today?  Now decide on what you want and make the choice….yes, it is that simple to make the choice to change your current outcome.  It all starts with this step!

The fastest and least painful path is the power of acceptance.  Did you know that acceptance of what you currently are experience acts as the polar opposite of resistance and will help you attract more of what you consciously desire!   One of my favorite sayings is ‘what we think about comes about’.   It starts with our thoughts, beliefs, feelings and actions.  And, I also believe our state of mind and thoughts change our outcome the second you change your thoughts.  There are times when I act “asif” it has already happened by working from the end result.I naturally assume it is happening and more times than not….the results show up!  It’s one of the major gifts of life that works like magic..really!

You have the power of choice to how you experience life.  Consider the possibilities, opportunities and change in your life you want and put your Intention, Attention and Action to changing just ONE thing that is challenging you today.  Write down all your beliefs about the situation and include all the frustration, anger and disappointment and release the negative thoughts.  Get a new piece of paper and create your desired outcome as if the choice is all yours (because it is!) and start creating what you want.

a repost from Caole M. Sacino's blog

Remembering 9/11 Ten Years Later

Our thoughts are with all the families who lost loved ones on that terrible day.

Crowdbooster Makes Social Media Campaigns Smarter

Brands are flocking to social media to extend and strengthen their relationships with consumers. But while many are happy to work with the flood of analytics information coming from their activity on social networks, some want more than just data and web monitoring tools. They want guidance and recommendations.

That’s the bet of Crowdbooster, a Y Combinator start-up, which is publicly launching a new social media optimization platform today that pairs analytics with tailored recommendations about how to employ social media. The company, which counts the Los Angeles Times, JetBlue and Ben and Jerry’s as customers, is looking to stand out by telling customers what to do and when. And it just raised an undisclosed seed round from some respectable names to expand its business.

Crowdbooster, which has been in private beta since November, will now surface the most popular links and find the best content for cross-posting based on content and fit for a certain audience. And it will tell customers when the best times to tweet and post are. It will notify customers when influential users according to Klout follow them and will allow customers to respond to missed tweets and thank engaged users all from one dashboard. Ricky Yean, co-founder and CEO of Crowdbooster, said the recommendations get smarter over time as customers use it more.

“Social media managers frequently suffer from information overload, preventing them from effectively engaging with priority customers. Analytics provide significant insight, but they are simply not enough,” says Yean. “Our customized recommendations surface the best content to share and suggests when to publish for maximum exposure.”

The new recommendation features work alongside Crowdbooster’s other analytics tools, which tracks the effectiveness of outreach on Facebook and Twitter. Crowdbooster graduated from Y Combinator in the summer of 2010 and has just secured a seed round from investors including Steven Chen, co-founder of YouTube, Esther Dyson, Charles River Ventures, Quest Venture Partners, StartupAngel and others.

Crowdbooster is just one of many companies like Hootsuite and Socialflow trying to capitalize on the opportunity in social media marketing. Some like Socialflow are also are putting more intelligence into social media marketing tools, helping explain when they most effective times are to target users with the right message. This is where social media monitoring is going, from analytics to a lot smarter decision-making for customers.

There's A Salesman In Every HR Professional

There's a salesman in all of us. 

I downloaded this pic for another post and, in a desire to not offend all the sales representatives in the space, elected not to use it. It's been  in my picture folder sitting and waiting for just the right time.

That time is now.

Give me the best sales line you've used on a friend, child, colleague, boss or other HR professional. You were selling, they weren't buying and you were looking to close a deal. What stops did you pull out?

Here are a few of mine:

• To a community colleague discussing the pros of a local HR department, "It's a very progressive human resource department." What?! Tell me what organizational HR department is progressive.
• To my young daughter at the top of a water park body slide,"Just slide nd you'll be out and in the pool before you even know it. Nope, it's not too dark in there at all." Successfully hiding my own claustrophobic fears, this backfired on me as the 4 year old went down and I simply had to follow her down the tube of doom.
• To the Eddie Bauer sales clerk explaining how my husband's new shorts split up the side seam, rendering them unwearable,"I was pulling him behind the boat on a tube and overestimated the speed needed for a fun turn. Well, last thing I saw was him cart-wheeling across the water. Oh wait, that was the truth.

Your turn. Give me your best shot.

Photo credit iStockphoto
Blog by Lisa Rosendahl