{"id":55524,"date":"2018-12-13t12:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-12-13t17:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/48e130086c.nxcli.net\/?p=55524"},"modified":"2018-12-16t15:45:40","modified_gmt":"2018-12-16t20:45:40","slug":"are-you-a-box-or-a-funnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2018\/12\/13\/are-you-a-box-or-a-funnel\/","title":{"rendered":"are you a box or a funnel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"3<\/a>harmonize, don\u2019t just clash and resist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by bill reeb<\/i><\/p>\n

a college professor i know has had a difficult time harmonizing as his approach always escalated to clashing and resisting. and no, this isn\u2019t a story about michaelle in disguise, but someone else i had the pleasure of getting to know.<\/p>\n

more:\u00a0<\/b>tension impacts performance<\/a> | your perception will shape your experiences<\/a> | for cpas: the road to wisdom is paved with failure<\/a> | fear stifles you in every way<\/a> | change the way you think<\/a> | let go to get unstuck<\/a> | investing in loss<\/a> | you might be your biggest obstacle<\/a> | what to stop may be more important than what to do<\/a>
\n\"goprocpa.com\"exclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

he had a definite approach to teaching and was good at it. he believed in setting very high standards for his students and passing only those who achieved a specific level of excellence.
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\nin almost any school, this value system would be praised. the problem didn\u2019t arise from his philosophy, but from that professor\u2019s rigidity as to how to apply it. for example, to him, this high standard was best demonstrated through the completion of vast amounts of homework, no grading curve based on class results, and strict class policies. these tactics alienated a large portion of his students. the school, while supportive of maintaining high standards, also had a value system that believed the customer (the student) should be nurtured and satisfied with his or her education. so, it is easy to see the clash forming as the university would compare the professor\u2019s performance against the students\u2019 evaluations of him.<\/p>\n

the university confronted the professor and asked for a compromise in his teaching tactics. the professor, rigid in his thinking, responded something to the effect of, \u201cthe way i teach my classes is fine. if you would recruit better students, they wouldn\u2019t have such a difficult time making good grades.\u201d<\/p>\n

as you can imagine, that attitude did not go over well. but, the real problem was that no one was happy with this situation. not only was the university upset with the professor, but the professor was miserable because he was constantly choosing a path of clashing and resisting rather than harmonizing and responding. the professor lost sight of his job, which was to work for the university to achieve its goals. he also lost sight of an even more important fundamental, which is that there are an abundance of quality approaches to teaching that would still deliver the high standards he set and would also provide the more positive and nurturing environment that the students and university desired.<\/p>\n

the professor got caught up in his way being the \u201cright way,\u201d and because he couldn\u2019t let go of that, any other way had to be the \u201cwrong way.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

this reminds me of numerous coaching sessions i have had with a variety of cfos over the years. business requirements, and the work to comply with those standards, have steadily increased over the past few decades. as well, the need to reduce overhead costs in order for companies to run leaner has progressively amplified during this same period. it is no wonder the cfos, who are typically in charge of accounting, technology and sometimes operations, are under pressure to do more every day with less.<\/p>\n

the problem that arises stems from clashing and resisting instead of harmonizing and responding. for example, instead of trying to understand the needs of the executive management group and trying to find alternatives that would work, when approached with additional requirements, the cfos would often simply respond with, \u201cwe can\u2019t do that,\u201d or \u201cthat is impossible to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

the fact is … if the management team was unwilling to bend on their requirements, and<\/strong> unwilling to change the resources being allocated, and<\/strong> unwilling to change the existing outputs expected, then the cfos were likely correct in their statements given that they were probably operating lean to begin with. but i have been around those situations for a long, long time and only in very rare circumstances were the management teams this unreasonable. in the very few circumstances when i found an unreasonable management team, my advice to the cfo was run<\/strong>! but back to our topic, here is the advice i have given hundreds of times:<\/p>\n

don\u2019t be a box! become a\u00a0 funnel!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

i then followed that statement with something like this:<\/p>\n

anytime your boss asks you to add something significant to your list of duties, don\u2019t just thoughtlessly pile it into your box as if you are being asked to make another sacrifice to keep your job. take time to<\/p>\n