The one thing you bring to the (operating) table

Oh the Linsanity...

Over the weekend New York Knicks phenom and new starting point guard Jeremy Lin was diagnosed with a more serious knee injury than was originally thought, and with the necessary surgery and rehab it seems likely that Lin will miss the remainder of the NBA season, and this development may quite possibly derail the team's chances at a playoff run. Bibby - Sans headband

Upon learning the news, I (sort of) joked over an email to the 8 Man Rotation team that perhaps the Knicks should ask for a knee ligament donation for Lin from (backup point guard and veteran player on the last stretch of his useful career), Mike Bibby's cadaver. A bad joke I suppose, and perhaps an unfair cheap shot at Bibby, who even with his best days as an NBA player far behind him, by all accounts has been a good team player and citizen on this current Knicks team.

But the 'cadaver' joke led me to thinking about how at times it can be really easy to see contributors on a team or in an organization for what they can't do or what they can no longer do, instead of seeing (and admittedly looking harder for), what they still can bring to the table, even if it is only that one thing.

In sports it could be the late career veteran or that single-skilled expert that you might only need once in every five games, but when you need that skill, he or she can be counted on to deliver, whether it is a timely three-point shot in hoops, or in soccer to be calm enough to come off the bench and cooly and efficiently take a penalty kick.

At the office it might be that past-his-prime account rep that landed the 'Big Account' fifteen years ago and has not been doing that much since. But every year at contract renewal time the client still wants to have him in the deal and his presence and stability ends up being a big part of getting the deal done, and a nice chunk of revenue locked up.

Or it even could be one of those 'been there forever and is skating the last three years until retirement' guys that has pretty much checked out, but whenever one of the junior staff is in a jam, and wakes him up long enough to ask a question, he always knows what to do, who to talk with, and (maybe more importantly) who not to talk with.

The key that ties these kinds of scenarios together?

That the unique contribution, that 'one thing', that these types of contributors bring to the table - the donated ligament, the long-term customer relationship, or the deep understanding of organizational politics, are all really personal, really hard to replicate, are extremely important, and can't truly be captured in any kind of database or information management system.  They're 'owned' so to speak by the one person alone.

Two things to take away then. One, as a manager or leader that you'd be wise to make sure when you are cutting people loose or shipping out so-called dead weight or low performers, that you are not losing some critical 'one thing' that no one else can bring to the table. And two, if you are one of those 'one thing' kinds of contributors yourself, well you better make sure you are ready and willing to step up on those rare occasions when your number is called, and that you are still willing to do what it takes, even if it might not be easy.

Even if, possibly, it involves donating a ligament to the new hotshot on the team.

Note: Hat tip to Kris Dunn at the HR Capitalist for his help shaping up this post as he is very concerned about the playoff prospects for the Knicks.

Off Topic - Urban Beekeeping

The coolest thing I saw on the internet this week was this short film from the Made By Hand project called 'The Beekeeper', a profile of Megan Paska, a Brooklyn, NY based local farmer and beekeeper. The short (less than 6 minutes) piece is a testament to not only the increasing focus on sustainable and accessible farming practices, but also a bit of an inspiring reminder of how great it is to find and be able to do the kind of work that you love.

Give it a look and let me know what you think! (email and RSS subscribers will need to click through)

You can learn more about the Made By Hand series at their website and also follow them on Twitter.

Have a Great Weekend!

HR Happy Hour - Live from ERE Expo

The ERE Expo is a fantastic event in the corporate recruiting space, and I am really pleased to be a part of the program once again. Today and tomorrow I will be hosting the web livestream from the show in San Diego, California.  

The event itself is three days of workshops, keynotes, concurrent sessions, and great opportunities to network with industry leaders, as well as to meet with and learn more from many of the leading solution providers in the Recruiting technology and services space. This will be my third time doing the HR Happy Hour-style interviews live from the event, and it continues to be a fun and interesting program, and is a testament to ERE's commitment to make much of the conference content accessible to everyone, regardless if they are able to attend in person.

Starting today at approximately 8:00AM Pacific Time, you can tune in to the livestream directly from the link on the ERE.net home page.

Over the course of this Thursday and Friday, and ably accompanied by ERE's own Lance Haun, we will welcome a series of recruiting industry leaders, recruiting practitioners, and Expo speakers, (and more), to talk about recruiting, talent management, new technology, and beyond.  And of course this is all in addition to the live coverage of the event keynotes and featured sessions from the mainstage.

So if you are at all interested in the world of recruiting, the issues (and potential solutions), facing many of your industry peers today, and overall want to get the ERE Expo experience from the comfort of your office (or sofa), I hope you will tune in to some or all of the live cast over the next two days.

Many thanks to everyone at ERE for having the HR Happy Hour Show once again be a part of the event.

And if you are in San Diego this week make sure you come by the set and say hello!

#HRevolution 2012 - Open for Registration

A few years back a couple of enterprising HR professionals hatched a plan to stage a new kind of Human Resources event - one that was more open, and informal, and participatory, and social, and affordable than the typical and traditional conference or seminar. And from that initial small step, the HRevolution was launched. In 2009 the first HRevolution event was held in Louisville, KY and soon thereafter, the event and the community that supports it has become entrenched in the HR landscape.

I have been lucky enough to be a part of the HRevolution organizing committee since that first event in 2009, and I have seen HRevolution grow and evolve while still creating unique opportunities for HR professionals, recruiters, consultants, and vendors to come together to discuss and debate the future of HR.  

I am really pleased to share the announcement of the details of the 2012 event, so here goes:

HRevolution Chicago (aka #HRevolution #5)
October 7, 2012
McCormick Place
8:00 am- 4:30 pm
Click here to register

HRevolution will for the second year partner with The HR Technology Conference in a ground-breaking event in both content, format, and delivery of ideas that are key to the practice of human resources.

We believe and continue to work hard to ensure that HRevolution is not your typical conference.  Our main purpose is to grow your professional and personal network, and expand your ideas around the practice of Human Resources. You will network with 200 of the brightest and most innovative leaders in the industry. 

Other highlights of the HRevolution event include:

• Fully participatory sessions
• Opportunity for participants to bring work issues to debate, discuss, and find solutions
• Workable and practical ideas you can take home to your organization
• Increased reach-  since HRevolution is fully integrated with social platforms, you will be reaching hundreds of thousands of professionals

All past Hrevolution events have sold out, so be sure to register today!  Early bird pricing for the first 25 registrants will be $150.  General registration is $200.  Where else can you have access to top industry professionals for that low price?  Nowhere!  And thanks to our generous sponsors who help defer your costs, you can get both value and quality at HRevolution 2012!

But wait! There's more!

Special HR Technology Conference Discount

HRevolution is excited to be co-locating again with the world-famous HR Technology Conference & Expo – this time Oct. 8 – 10, 2012 in the self-contained West Wing of McCormick Place, Chicago.

HR Technology is one of the must-attend HR events of the year, and continues to grow in relevance and importance. Learn how technology can help you with every aspect of HR including managing your workforce, recruiting and attracting quality employees, identifying and developing your top performers, and much more.

Best of all, after you register for HRevolution you get a whopping $600.00 discount off the HR Technology® on-site rate. Look for the savings promo code at the bottom of your HRevolution confirmation email.

So I hope you will take a look at all HRevolution has to offer. If you have attended one of the previous events, then I don't have to convince you of the event's value. And if you are new to HRevolution drop me a line and a can tell you more. Better yet head over to Twitter and ask 'What is this #HRevolution I keep hearing about?' I am pretty confident you will get a dozen testimonials from past attendees within a few hours.

March Madness and the problem of peaking too soon

Taking a bit of a risk running back-to-back sports posts this week, but I need to make sure that Tim Sackett doesn't surpass me in next year's 8 Man Rotation E-book, but after watching some more (not all that much, admittedly), of the NCAA Men's College Basketball tournament, ('March Madness'), I wanted to weigh in with a short observation and perhaps note some parallels to work, specifically what can happen when projects drag out too long.Bill Russell - 1956

Here's the observation - March Madness is the only major sports-related championship tournament (or playoff or process) that actually gets less interesting and compelling as it progresses. At the start of the 68 team tourney, fans and casual observers around the country are excited and energized, eagerly filling out tournament brackets where we pick winners of games played by teams we have never seen play, and often never even heard of. These bracket challenges, even when just for bragging rights amongst friends and co-workers, give us more of a stake and rooting interest in the action. The tournament's first full round is usually highlighted by a few startling upsets, adding to the overall sense of excitement and hype. And since many of these early games are played on weekdays during 'normal' working hours in most of the USA, (something that almost never happens in major US sports any longer), for many fans taking an extended lunch, or sneaking some looks at the online live stream from the office add to the fun. Lots of games, some underdogs, (not that many) winning, and for at least the first day or two, a chance to maybe even win some cash if your bracket seems to be holding up well.

But once the tournament progresses and the teams are whittled down from 64 to 32 to 16, the excitement generally trails off. Most 'Cinderella'-type early upset winners lose in their next game, (not always but pretty often), our bracket selections begin to start unravelling as it is revealed that picking winners in college games is not in our core competencies, and the several day break in the middle of the tournament tends to take the air out of the entire spectacle.  And as the rounds progress knocking the field down to 8 and then the Final Four, traditional powers of the sport usually re-emerge, and fans are subjected to what seems like hours of platitudes from network announcers about the remarkable leadership skills displayed by middle-aged million-dollar head coaches.  By the very end, many fans are left to ask questions like, 'This thing isn't over yet?', and 'Do we really need another Rick Pitino book?'

March Madness is great, spectacular even for about two days and then it slowly loses steam, energy, and becomes far less compelling as it meanders to its finish. Sure, the actual championship game sometimes provides a bit of a spark, but often becomes immediately forgettable once the last strains of 'One Shining Moment' fade away. And if you don't get the reference, that is ok, 97% of the rest of the public is right there with you. Only the most ardent fans could tell you who won the championship just one year ago, and I challenge anyone reading this post to name the title winners from 2010 or 2009 without looking it up.

So that's my observation about March Madness. Starts great, loses momentum, drags on too long, then lifts a bit at the end, and finally most of us are really glad its over.

Seems to have quite a few elements in common with many of the projects that work on all the time. Lots of fanfare at the beginning, maybe a lavish kick-off meeting and some rousing speeches, then quickly morphing into a kind of long slog with many fewer people remaining engaged, then hopefully, a success at the end, (a shipment, a 'go-live', a completed contract), almost immediately folllowed by an Outlook invitation for a 'lessons learned' or 'post-mortem' meeting.

People love March Madness. And most of us love new projects and the excitement of that bit of the unknown inherent in both.

The trick is to make that excitement sustainable past the opening night.