www.b2billinois.
com The Weekly Business-to-Business Forum
Fear and Loathing at the
Water Cooler
Eight Ways to Counter the (Recession-Related)
Employee Underground of Anxiety, Aggression and Shame
Morrie Shechtman | B2B contributor
America may or may not be in a recession. Opinions vary. But ask
any leader and he or she will tell you that something is going on.
Employees are terrified. They’re afraid of their companies failing, of
being downsized, of losing their homes and everything they’ve
worked so long and hard to achieve. What’s more, they feel like fail-
ures. Few are hitting their targets (even after multiple downward re-
settings) and they’re constantly reminded of it in meetings. They’re
confronted with embarrassing numbers or given patronizing and
hollow pep talks.
Here’s what can you do to help
them deal with their fear and get
more productive:
First, don’t try to cajole
people out of their anxiety.
Stop using thinking
and brainstorming
Will County’s Employment Growth in Good Position Nationwide
Reinforces Recently Released Economic Update from Workforce Investment Board
Lawrence Walsh | B2B contributor
Although a difficult economy is on the minds of most Americans,
Will County continues to experience employment growth in compar-
ison to other counties in the nation. According to the U. S. Depart-
ment of Labor, out of the 329 largest counties in the United States,
Will County ranked 12th in employment growth from December
2006 to December 2007. And the County is holding its ground in
2008, even with a 3 percent rise in population in the past year.
This is encouraging news, especially when the state of the econo-
my nationwide is not at all optimistic. Although the U. S. is going
through some hard economic times, these numbers serve to remind
us that Will County is in a better position than many areas of the
country when it comes to economic growth and job opportunities.
The Workforce Investment Board (WIB) of Will County also has
news that reinforces the statistics from the Department of Labor. In
their recently prepared Will County Economic Update, the WIB pro-
vides a variety of positive trends in the county between 2006 and 2008.
With the release of the Economic Update, Pat Fera, manager of the
Will County Workforce Investment Board, says the report provides
Is Your Business Killing Creativity?
Five lessons to cultivate breakthrough innovation for explosive growth
Scott Jeffrey | B2B contributor
In today’s hyper-connected, ludicrously-fast-moving global mar-
ketplace, businesses are racing to grow big—and fast. Wall Street and
private investors alike demand double-digit growth year after year.
Many business owners and executives fail to realize growth
results because they haven’t set the right conditions. Profitability
and customer loyalty are consequences of a business’ commitment
to evolve, innovate and exceed their customers’ expectations.
Ironically, a focus on obsessive growth can often stifle innovation,
the lifeblood of a business’ growth and expansion. Conducting
“business as usual” is a surefire way to make your business obso-
lete. Innovation and growth require unbridled creativity to inno-
vate, solve problems and create a fabulous customer experience,
which in turn requires the proper inner and outer conditions to
manifest. Here are five lessons businesses must learn to unleash
creativity and innovation in the workplace.
Lesson 1: Create an atmosphere where people are
inspired to succeed rather than afraid to fail.
Failure is a necessary aspect of invention (just ask Thomas Edi-
son), but the fear of failure blocks the creative impulse. If employ-
ees are afraid of making mistakes, you can be sure that creativity
will be stifled. Many times, failure is the gateway to a breakthrough
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to talk people out of their feelings. Nobody’s going to think their way
through this floundering economy, and workers are not going to be
logically disabused of their fears or their feelings of failure.
Get real. Start openly talking about reality, from the top of the
organization down to the bottom. It’s far better to take the “It’s fear;
it’s here; get used to it” approach than to pretend you’re all on a but-
terfly hunt. This reduces anxiety and allows people to refocus on
productive work.
After you address fear, bring up the other F-word. (Failure.) Start
talking, especially with your key people, about what it means to fail.
It is crucial, in this discussion, to get on the table the feelings of hav-
ing disappointed others and of being disappointed in others.
Don’t assume all conflict is bad. Employees disagreeing, even dis-
agreeing vehemently, are not the problem. It’s when employees
argue pointlessly, over non-productive issues, and with an edge of
hysteria that they’re acting out of fear. Address the cause and the
symptom will resolve itself. Whatever you do, don’t discourage
employees from speaking their minds. Employees
who hide in their offices and avoid all con-
frontation—those are the ones that you
should worry about.
Live by the theory of abundance,
not the theory of scarcity—and teach
employees to do the
same. The theory of
scarcity holds that
there are very limited
resources out there to meet
your needs and you must therefore
accept any opportunity that comes your
way. The theory of abundance says that
there are infinite resources available to
you, and you can pick and choose
opportunities that mesh with your val-
ues and that ultimately benefit you.
Do a “recession review” of employ-
ee skill sets. Focus on the skills of
information on Will County’s population changes, employment
changes, unemployment rates and wages.
“The update shows that, although we’ve seen some downturns in
the state and national economy, here in Will County we are still grow-
ing in both employment and wages,” Fera said, adding that the report
offers information that is critical to their monitoring of the County’s
economy. “We also can compare the statistics to state and national
information, which not only helps us prepare for any changes that
occur, but provides assistance to our residents dealing with the
changes.”
According to the update, industry job growth in Will County rose
by 13,265 jobs between 2006 and 2008, for an overall 6 percent
increase. The largest increase of jobs came from trade, transportation
and utilities with 3,362 new jobs, while the highest increase percent-
age-wise was in the financial activities, education, healthcare servic-
es and government industry sectors—all posting about an 8 percent
increase. There was only one industry sector that showed any decline
in employment during this period, the agriculture, natural resources
and the mining sector—losing 53 jobs.
While looking at employment changes in the occupations, profes-
idea. Instead of sweeping failure under the rug, realize its value.
Lesson 2: Track performance by innovative contribu-
tion rather than time on the clock.
Why should we track how many hours employees spend at their
desks, when what we’re really interested in is their success at inno-
vating, making customers happy and growing the business? We are
interested in outcomes, not time clocks—in results, not efficiency.
One can be efficiently busy yet ineffective at achieving results.
Lesson 3: Focus on allowing instead of doing.
Give your employees space to wander, play and create—even on
non-work-related activities. Google engineers, for example, spend 20
percent of their time working on whatever they want. Google trusts
their talented employees to build useful and innovative things—
some of which will become new projects in their Google Labs.
Lesson 4: Create an environment that lifts your
employees’ spirits rather than drains their energy.
Conditions in the workplace should support positive, creative
thinking. Most office space feels dead and lifeless. If you don’t create
an environment where people enjoy working, how can you expect
them to perform at their best? Check out high-rated companies from
Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” and model
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Send us your articles, news, press releases, event photos,
questions and comments:
E-mail Andrew Wheeler at awheeler@b2billinois.com
Editor: Andrew Wheeler
815-929-5416 awheeler@b2billinois.com
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your key leaders and ask them (and yourself) the following ques-
tion: Of the skills that have made you successful thus far, which fit
the current economic climate and which do not?
Help employees to find their familiars. Simply put, a familiar is
a feeling state we return to again and again. It is an emotional pat-
tern that holds tremendous power over our choices, our relation-
ships and our careers. You can help your employees tremendously
by learning about familiars and encouraging your employees to
identify and subsequently diminish their own.
Morrie Shechtman is a change management con-
sultant, and author of Fifth Wave Leadership: The
Internal Frontier. Facts on Demand Press, 2003,
ISBN: 1-889150-38-X, $19.95
sional and related occupations rose by 2,980 jobs, service occupa-
tions were up by 2,865 jobs and sales and related occupations saw a
2,267 increase.
As was the case at the state and national level, unemployment in
Will County grew, going from 3.8 percent in May of 2006 to 6.4 percent
in May 2008. The construction industry received the biggest hit. In
2007, 21,199 individuals held County construction jobs, and by Octo-
ber of that year 5,146 were deemed unemployed. On a more positive
note, average monthly wages continued to increase between 2004 and
2007, rising from $3,133 to $3,482 in that same time period.
Additional information regarding the Workforce Investment
Board’s Will County Economic Update is available by going to
www.willcountyworkforceboard.com.
Larry Walsh is the Will County Executive.
their successful environments. For more inspiration, check out the
“About Us” pages of your favorite, innovative companies’ Web sites.
Lesson 5: Foster creative collaboration rather than
“just getting it done.”
Innovative companies understand that optimal business growth is
directly connected to harmonious teams. If you’re focusing on poli-
cies, mechanics or systems of business instead of your people and
the customers you serve, you’re bypassing the heart and soul of
your business. Without positive emotion and heartfelt connection,
the power of creativity is stifled. Providing a safe forum for employ-
ees to share their “crazy ideas” in an open and supportive environ-
ment can pave the way to extraordinary innovations.
Scott Jeffrey, strategic coach and author of the newly
released Creativity Revealed, shows readers how to
tap into the source of creativity and harness it for
greater personal and professional success. Scott is a
managing partner at Nonbox Consulting, a creative
problem-solving think tank that works with clients to
tackle difficult business decisions with out-of-the-box
ingenuity and psychological insights. For more information visit:
www.scottjeffrey.com or email scott@scottjeffrey.com.
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