Fee-for-Service through . . . Contracts

Introductory letter from an old contract

 

Fee-For-Service or Private Pay

Many mental health professionals would like to transition their private practices solely to fee-for-service, also called private pay, clients. Why? Less paperwork, higher fees, lower overhead costs, personal preference . . . there are probably many reasons.  "It's easy. Here's how to do it." to stories of "Tried to do it. It was hard or impossible." My sense is that it may vary depending upon the population and financial demographics of where you work, your years of experience, your reputation, and your entrepreneurial marketing ability . . . and other factors.

The typical "help" on-line takes those who through articles and blog posts that advise the reader on how to transition from third-party payment to private-pay practices. This certainly is helpful and may in fact be the path many will pursue. One element that, for me, is almost always missing however is . . .  private contracts. They never seem to be mentioned. Why? I know of therapists who have contracts with pediatricians, chiropractors, non-profits, schools, churches, federal programs . . . and more! Contracts provide stable, non-insurance dependent, revenue. Most of these are for "therapy services" but at times they are for leadership training, coaching, or consulting.

Here's why this bugs me . . . For over twelve years, 40% of my business income has come from two customers. Two. I have also spend more than a decade training students how to get these contracts. I mention this now because I can--both of these contracts have been replaced with other consulting work and there is no threat to revealing the amount of business it provided. (Incidentally, I terminated both contracts when it became clear that leaving them behind was best for my business. One contract lasted 12 years and the other 15 years.

Private Contracts versus Private Pay

For those of you who have the entrepreneurial spirit,  contracts can become "the business" independent of a private mental health practice entirely.  (I had a friend in college whose sole business was repairing seats for Pizza Hut . . . he travelled all over the country and made a good living! How's that for specialization?) For the less-entreprenureal, it can be a great supplemental to their clinical practice.   I have primarily done the latter, choosing to operate a limited private practice--where I saw a mix of insurance and private pay clients--and having fee-for-service contracts in addition. It's worked well for over 18 years. 

Although the private practice has been the "main gig" in the last decade,  it was the contracts that provided the most stable source of income, the lowest paperwork to dollar ratio, and that provided a cushion when changes in the insurance world (the implementation of the Affordable Care Act) which dried up all payments for several months.  

While a full discussion of the advantages and risks is beyond the scope of this blog post, here are some comparisons that have made contracting very attractive to me personally. My hope is that this comparison, as crude as it is, will get you to consider your options and make your own choices about what you want your career to be.

 Comparing the Two Models

For comparison purposes, the Fee-for-service model will assume an average of 20 sessions per client with the professional seeing 25 clients on average per week and working 48 weeks in private practice.  Contracts can vary widely depending if they are "one time meetings or workshops" or "on-going services" or somewhere in between thus the number indicated is a minimum  and the upper end of the range is undetermined.

Item                                Fee-for-service                               Contract

Clients (annually)                      60 (25 a week for 48 weeks)                    1*

Statements                                 0-720                                                          12*

Referrals (annually)                   up to 60                                                      0*

Fees                                             "health care" schedule                              "health care" or "consultant"

Environs                                      Clinical office                                               Clinical office or "off site"

Marketing                                   Sustain 60 clients                                       Sustain 0 clients*

* Or more depending upon the type of contract and work to be completed.

Now, for the Skeptics . . . 

Okay, some of you, skeptics like myself, will say, "Yes, but there is a downside to trying to get fee-for-service contracts and some inherent risks!"  True.  Again, just a reminder, a full discussion is beyond our purpose here and we will not attempt to cover all the points needed to make this decision, but here are a few of the challenges/risks just to get you thinking . . .

• If you have only two clients then losing one is a big part of your revenue. Where losing one client out of 60 is less traumatic. I've never had this happen but it is true that this kind of “event” has the potential of being very threatening.

• I may have to master new processes (depending upon the nature of the contract) to work in a new business environment.  You will.  For me, after more than 26 years as a counselor, this is exciting and part of why I do consulting.

• I will have to establish my own fee structure and negotiate with customers. Yes, since you may not be able to just "call other practices" and charge what they are charging there is a need to establish your fee structure.

• Establishing a fee-for-service private practice may be the traditional way to move away from third-party payment systems but it is not the only way and, I would argue, it may not even be the best way!

So what is it that you would really like to do?  What connections do you have that might lend themselves to developing a contract for your expertise? What needs can you meet and can you get someone to agree to pay you to help them meet that need?  It is possible!

My dream contract is to get paid to use my Taylor 614ce guitar and use it to teach life-lessons to younger people. It would be fun.  But, sadly, no one is offering. It may be a lack of talent thing. Until then, I will keep practicing and hope I miraculously get blessed with some higher-level talent, or at least skill,  before it's too late!  On second thought, maybe a more realistic goal for me would be to focus on impressing the grandchildren--but one can always hope!!

July Toast and Jam

Next month it may be Bread and Jam . . . can't take the heat.

Continuing our monthly "the single best article I have found" series "Bread and Jam." Now into our second quarter!  The idea is to share one influential article that you can read while you make toast . . . and, of course, add a little Jam.

Here's my next installment.  Enjoy!!  

Please recognize that inclusion in the monthly Toast and Jam does NOT mean I agree with the author's opinions! In fact, sometimes it is quite the opposite! I plan to include cogent articles that challenge the current thinking and that, I hope, will get you asking "better questions" yourself.

Organizations and Business:

The Family Farm: Avoiding Five Common Estate Planning Mistakes

If You Can't Say What Your Meeting Will Accomplish, You Shouldn't Have It!

The Day I Failed at Tedx

Consulting:

7 Self-Defeating Psychological Habits that Stymie Success

50 People share their One Sentence Inspirations for Success.

Churches:

The Creative Pastor has an interesting article on 7 Innovative Ideas for the 21st Century Church.

Barna Group's new study on American Morals.

And the Jam: Fun and Curious:

Video: The best way to wrap cheese.  Why? Just because you need to know!

Infographic: How Americans spend each hour of their day.

Questions?  Contact us.

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← Frodo and Traveling

When they leave . . . it's really all about you.

Image from Wikipedia

Crickets. That's kind of what it was like after leaving the organization.

Crickets. It reminded me of how media sometimes uses the sound of crickets to imply a lack of response to a stimulus--a question, a statement, anything that you would expect a verbal response..

Despite the fact that I had spent as much time working for the organization as I had raising one of my children, it didn't really bother me. In fact it was kind of expected--yet illogically it was still a surprise.. More than anything it was a curiosity. How, and why, does this happen?  How is it that organizations fail to acknowledge the significant change of a long-term employee leaving? I'll tell you my story in a minute, but first, I want to emphasize that it's not just my story. Too often I hear others tell me very similar experiences; to wit, they decide to leave an organization and as one person described the experience "it was almost like I'd died" as everyone ignores, withdraws, or simply moves on with their work lives. Worse yet, I have had people, upon giving their notice, immediately dismissed or formally monitored and escorted off the premises on their final day, despite, by all external measures, never having been a problem as an employee. Don't think the other employees don't notice. (Sadly, for some managers that may be the point--that other employees see their power.)

I personally find it strange that some leaders demonstrate a lack of appreciation, or even a resentment, about employees who leave their company. (Perhaps it comes from growing up around a family-type organization in the "fish-bowl" of a small town.) Yes, I do understand that in a competitive environment it may seem to some that it is prudent to avoid "rewarding" anything that detracts from succeeding, but still . . . . the world has gotten "smaller" and information is far more readily available. I especially don't understand it if the company appears to care about their brand. Former employees can make or break how you are perceived by the marketplace.

One manager I worked with, and who, admittedly, was a terrific manager in most ways, actually told me that he would not ever have a "going away party" for an employee because he was "not going to celebrate them abandoning us!" Wow. Leaving a company as "abandonment." Wow. Sorry, but I just can't reduce the world to that myopic or self-centric view. In contrast, I can, even as a leader, imagine a world in which it is in that employee's best interest (for personal, financial, of family reasons among many) to leave my team. But even more importantly, to not be appreciative of the work they have done and supportive of them personally is . . . dare I say it? . . . a stupid business move. How you treat an employee who leaves reveals a lot about you as a leader.

I personally experienced this when I left a job where I had worked for over 15 years. My direct supervisor expressed appreciation for the work I had done and in fact tried to convince me to stay. But, that was it. There was no official "thanks for your service" appreciation from the organization itself.  In fact over the next six to nine months I found out that some of my colleagues in the department did not even know that I had retired. I personal email with some of the CEO's staff revealed that they also did not know that I was no longer working for the organization. Although it was a family based firm, who constantly talked about their appreciation for the employees, I did not officially hear a word from family members about the retirement despite having worked for them for more than a decade and a half. Crickets.

Don't misunderstand, I'm really not complaining.  My psychology doesn't include a high need for "inclusion" in the workplace and really didn't miss the attention of a more public event. I also was not overly surprised by what happened because before I even took the position with the organization many years earlier I had talked to a friend who had worked there before I had and he had warned me that, in his view, the organization only focused on what was good for them in the short term . . . which is one of the reasons he left and the point of this blog--but more about that later. 

One could ask the question, "What does the organization lose by not appreciating publicly a departing employee's service?"  I my case, not much.  My sphere of influence is small. I have no political or economic power that they could "fear," they certainly don't need my good opinion or approval to continue to succeed. But I think, organizations who operate this way lose far more than they are aware of in the long run. Once again, in my own case I had people warning me about the organization before I even accepted the position. Despite being generally a "company man" and trusting of leadership I was careful to not put to much trust in the organizational leadership due to the personal experiences colleagues reported to me. Even today, current employees of the firm have asked to switch our conversations over to non-organizational email servers for fear of the possibility of their correspondence becoming problematic for them.  In short, there is little trust.

Contrast this with the owner of a local IT company who employed my son. When he decided to leave his job to travel they celebrated his contributions to the company.  The owner personally emailed me, his father, to tell me how much my son had helped the organization and to reassure me that he would have a job whenever he wanted to return. When I thanked him for hiring a 19- year old self taught homeschooler, he turned it back and replied with "Thank you for raising such a son!"  As a father, he had me right there. My gratitude was sealed.

But it didn't even end there! The owner, who knew I was doing some consulting with a local company around leadership issues, even offered to give the leaders I was working with a personal tour of his operations predicated partly on my son's contribution to his business. Later, he proved to be true to his word when  my son returned to work for the company again.  In the mean time, this good will and appreciation has resulted in  almost everyone in my extended family talking amongst themselves and to others about how lucky my son, and now his cousin too, is to work for this organization and actively recommend the company to others.

You see, decisions that leaders make, especially ones "when the leaders have nothing to gain," reveal the core of what is really important to the leader.  

Do you tout your organization as a great team, call them a family, tell employees that they are the most valuable resource the organization has? When one of your team leaves then the rest of your employees are likely to evaluate how you treat them . . . you see, it really is all about you. Do you act like they are valuable? If you believe they are, then your actions should match your words. To do less will convince your employees that, to use the old adage, you only "talk the talk" but don't "walk the walk." Then, they will not entrust you with their full effort or support.

Consulting and the Cold Hard Truth

Statue of Veritas, Goddess of Truth, Wikipedia

Avoiding the Truth

How hard is it to ignore the obvious? Well, if you work in a field that causes you to work closely with people that are having problems you would know . . . it's not that hard. As an example, I remember working with a lady who was dealing with end of life issues with her 80-plus year old mother. As we talked, she repeatedly aid "if she dies" then . . . as a therapist I gently kept reminding her that it was not "if" but "when" she died . . . we have a remarkable ability to see, or not see, uncomfortable truths. As a consultant working with organizations you need to ruthlessly make yourself, and often your clients, deal with the reality of their situations . . . not the dream of how it could, or should, be . . . .

I once worked with an organization where the outside experts had worked for a year with leadership to bring them to a "path forward."  They had created an agreement. They had endured a great deal of conflict, the loss of several of their board of advisors, had their primary leader go through an evaluation and remediation process and finally to the construction of the "agreement.". They were ready to go forward. Except they weren't. An hour of listening to them talk about the history and the creation of the agreement told me, "this leadership team is still split into two camps . . . those for, and those against, the current executive."

Risking Change

So I said it. "It doesn't seem like this leadership team is on the same page." My next thought was, "I'm so fired!" You see it's my firm belief that many people do not appreciate those who tell them hard truths. I often underestimate people in that way. To there credit, they were able to say to me, "You're right!" The hierarchy of the corporate structure and local leadership supported the conclusion and we threw out the agreement plan. Instead, we worked on a time-limited plan to see if we could get the leadership team on the same page or separate amicably for the good of the organization.

Speaking Truth . . . Anyway

I am aware it does not always end well if you risk speaking the truth.  I've had one manager who, when given the results of interviews with her employees (which were a mix of positives and negatives) exploded with "What is my manager going to think? I promised to share the results with him!" While uncomfortable, these moments allow for you to continue to guide leaders into confronting the truth . . . "Did you think you would only hear positives? Wouldn't your supervisor want you aware to the challenges to your team's success? or if you are in a coaching situation with that leader maybe it is a more personal "What makes you afraid of what your boss is going to think?"

Truth is the Only path to Change

Many experts on business have noted that leaders have to have an accurate picture of where they are and a vision of where they want to go. It is consultant's responsibility to help leaders look at all the facts of where they are in the present--without distortion or fear--and enable them to focus on how to take realistic steps toward the preferred future. In this, consultants themselves must model a willingness to confront the truth of their own involvement with the leader or organization. This includes the fact that your own view of the "truth" may not match the of the leader or organization. Do not run from this! When these views collide you very well may be at the moment of peak effectiveness to make change happen. A non-anxious presence of someone speaking truth at that moment can be transformative!

June Toast and Jam

June's Toast and Jam . . . who need butter in the summer . . . keep it light with jam.

In April I started a monthly series to provide "the single best article I have found" in the past month.  The idea is to share one influential article that you can read while you make toast . . . and, of course, add a little Jam.

Here's my third installment.  Enjoy!!  Please recognize that inclusion in the monthly Toast and Jam does NOT mean I agree with the author's opinions! In fact, sometimes it is quite the opposite! I plan to include cogent articles that challenge the current thinking and that, I hope, will get you asking "better questions" yourself.

Organizations and Business:

The future of leadership in 2016.

Getting the most from your remote workforce.

Consulting:

Top trends in I/O Psychology.

Counseling in the work place.

Churches:

Disruptive church trends in 2016.

Which of the six leadership styles defines you?

And the Jam: Fun and Curious:

Why it's okay to pull the handbrake without pushing the button.

Will a shot make the cat nicer?

Questions?  Contact us.

Why leaders need a shrink . . . yes, really!

Wikipedia

Leaders need to understand people. Some of you leaders get it. Some of you don't.  The typical external advisors to leaders come from one of three classes of professionals; lawyers, accountants, or business consultants. But if they need or want to understand people . . . lawyers and accountants . . . really?  

I'm not trying to disparage these fine professionals, in fact a few are very good with people and "people issues," but many of these professionals know this is not their area of expertise and tell me themselves that this is not what they have been trained to do, not what their interest is, or what they feel competent to do.  Those who accept that they need someone with expertise in this area refer.  The rest, well, they often help perpetuate, or escalate, the crisis that gets me, or someone like me, hired.

So how about the business consultants?  Surely, they are better.  It depends. Here, we have a much broader range of experience, education, and skills. Some are former business leaders themselves.  They may know a lot, from the "school of hard knocks," or they may know very little about people, focusing primarily or only on the business aspects of advising. Some have had a history of "people problems" themselves as a leader--which can be good or bad--coloring their views and advice.

The bottom line is . . . most leaders are "flying by the seat of their pants" when it comes to managing people and most of their advisors are too! The steadying hand of someone who understands and knows how to navigate the shoals of human systems is, unfortunately, the "exception not the rule" in business circles.

"But wait a minute!" you say. "How about organizational/industrial psychologists?" Once again, in my experience, this group of professionals vary widely in their ability to understand and intervene in human systems. "Wait . . . what? But they are people-people!"  True, and yes, many of them have a good understanding of people. A smaller number also understand human systems well. (I want to be clear that there are many competent professionals in this group.) However some, once again, are focused on the business objectives and not really the people. Others are more comfortable with a distant detached engagement performing the quantitative analysis of humans . . . numbers about people not engaging with the people themselves.

The bottom line is, there is no one single professional group in which a leader can find a "sure thing" if they are looking for help with their human business system. You often have to assess each individual's background, skill set, interest, education etc. Not an easy thing to do. If it is a large firm then you may have to make sure to vet each consultant assigned to work with the organization.

Finding the right consultant to help with people issues then is often a search to find the specific consultant with the skills and expertise you need. Do they have training in human systems work? Do they have deep experience in working in complex, and often emotionally charged, human systems?  Do they have real world business experience?  

A friend and a very successful business man told me how a former long-term employee will no longer speak to him, and how that employee's family members avoid him as well.  He cannot even tell me what happened or what caused the problems. Prior to her leaving his firm, his consulting experts warned him that there was a problem. They recommended the leader do something to "fix it". . . then, having done their duty to warn him, left him to figure out what to do without providing the leader with any tools to remedy the people problem. The fixes, probably ineffective because he as a leader was already part of the system that caused the problem only got worse. Unfortunately this is all too common.

Leaders often do not recognize, or know how to respond, to early signs of withdrawal, defensiveness, or repressed anger in employees or work teams and, left un-checked, are caught "off guard" when a situation "suddenly" becomes acutely corrosive or explosive.  When it breaks down completely or erupts into conflict they don't know how to act or what will help resolve the issues.

So yes, leaders need someone who really understands people and groups of people in their corner; and no, it doesn't have to really be a "shrink."  Competent experienced counselors, of all stripes, can be very effective and helpful. 

A senior executive once asked me, "Do you know what the hardest thing I've ever done as a leader is?" Fire someone." He went on to tell me about the burden of having to take an action he did not want to take, the worry about that employee's future and the effect on their family's well being. In my experience executives bear the burden of these decisions and often experience the fear and weight of the effects of their decisions on others. 

Most, in my experience, of truly do care about their employees.  Most agonize over hiring decisions if there is some risk in being able to sustain the position. They worry about a lack of sales or changes in the market and fear the pain that occurs if market forces force down-sizing. They express hopes for expanded opportunities or higher compensation for their valued employees. They are concerned about the impact of team conflict.

Most are also happy to expend resources to improve their employee's situation . . . if they believe the expenditure will really help. However most are ill=prepared to know what to do to help their employees . . . especially if the situation has become problematic.  Often they cannot fix the situation because they cannot step outside of their role as "boss" and employees react differently to their efforts to implement change. 

Leaders need someone who will help them find the path to effectively create a healthy and productive system and to help them "stay the course" to making their leadership both effective and "people-friendly."  They need savvy "people-people," experts who can help them navigate their course. Experts who are willing to take their skills "beyond the couch" out of health care and into the market place to support and help these groups of people. The employees are, after all, the means to their success and, as they themselves tell us, their greatest asset.

We need more "mental health type"s who are willing to step up, exceed their "health care" mind-set, and help these leaders.

Management by fear!

Management by Fear

It happens more often than most managers think. After all, we are not talking about unskilled or uneducated people. Most of us intuitively know, or have learned through experience, that to make decision "based on our fears" leads to poor outcomes. So, it is rare that you will find any leader who acknowledges that at the present moment they are managing out of fear. If they realized it they would probably do something different. But, in truth, if you listen careful to leaders, it is often done anyway.  Often it inflicts some of the "best and brightest"--those who truly care about the affects their decisions will have on the the people in their organization. Often they are trapped by the fear or attempting to avoid the fear.

What do I mean by "trapped?"  I mean that these leaders begin to make decisions based on what they are afraid will happen if they make a different, or wrong, choice.  I have experienced it at all levels and across industries.  It happened in the case of one executive who wouldn't leave meetings when they talked about his position because "nothing good ever comes from it." It was there in the meeting with a group of senior managers who admitted that the new manufacturing emphasis on "getting out the most product" had, in fact, driven up the waste costs when minor problems were not fixed and the entire machine was scrapped . . . but they had not communicated or addressed the problem with the owners.  

It has been present in many senior leadership teams or individuals whose rational for not doing something different has been "it might make things worse." while admitting that things were already trending toward "worse" in most cases. While fear has it's place (After all it helps us run very fast if we encounter a threat) it can move quickly from being a useful "friend" . . . to being a powerful enemy. It may have started as a warning us about approaching danger.  But it may have become a road block, stopping us from removing the thorn that is the source of our pain or frustration.

Fear and Acting

I came home one night years ago and when I entered the house I heard what I can only describe as a "wailing."  I followed the sound to my 10 year old son's bedroom.  There sat my wife holding my son who had a toothpick protruding from his heel. My son had driven it deep enough that my wife could not extract it.  She told me that she had called her father and he was on his way over and there they sat waiting for help.

Help had arrived. I told my son that I would remove the toothpick. "No!," he pleaded. "I can just walk on my toes!" he argued.  "I don't mind it," he retorted to my firm insistence that it must be removed.  Fear.  Pure fear. But I, of course, persisted. Sadly, it took not only my strength but a pair of pliers to remedy the situation. But, as you might suspect, things improved greatly with the plank removed.

Moving toward Fear

We've all done it. Let our fears stop us. Taking away our best tools . . . reason, risk-taking, learning by doing, asking for feedback or advice. We've all kicked ourselves later for not facing it sooner. How can a leader protect themselves from managing by fear? Part of the answer is in having good "collegial checks" to your management decisions.  This can be a spouse, a board, a mentor or friend, and yes, it can be a "hired gun"--a consultant or coach-- whose primary concern is to help you keep on track. It's also helpful to plan for the time, and participate in events that encourage you, to do a little self-reflection about what is motivating your decisions.

What situations is your organization avoiding? What will happen if you continue to avoid dealing with them? Will you be "kicking yourself" for not acting in spite of the fear?

The best articles of the month on management, consulting, churches, and some fun/curious items can be found on out Toast & Jam posts.  Check out one here!

One Tool to Rule Them All . . . My favorite tool by far!

Wikipedia

"One Tool to Rule Them All, One Tool to find them, one Tool to bring them all and in the darkness bind them."   Someone other than J.R.R. Tolkien

My precioussssss . . .

Ever find something that captivated you like nothing else? Something you could not get off your mind? Something you constantly return to over and over again to find new facets of it's nature and utility?  No, it's not time for a trip to Mt. Doom to rid Middle-Earth of the dangerous ring. It's only an awe-inspiring app called Trello.

Trello is by far my favorite tool. I use it for almost everything I do as an entrepreneur and consultant. Among other things too numerous to mention, I use Trello to: track my business operations, market my business, store and deliver products and services, communicate and provide value to customers, create "tool carts" of resources to be used again and again with new customers . . . and I just keep finding new ways to use this tool.

The best thing about Trello is that it is so flexible and so intuitive.  You can learn to use it in minutes and you can still be finding new ways to use it after more than a year. Oh, another nice feature is it is free for the basic app--which will be all that most users need.

I am so excited about Trello that I have trained my HSC consultants on using it, provided a free web-training, and tout it's use to my customers.  Finally, because others continue to ask, I decided to record a video of my basic training so it can be shared by more people.

Pic by . . . me.  Hobbiton near Matamata, New Zealand

While Trello itself has really good resources to train you on it's use (and I would recommend using them) they often are very broadly applied--there simply are so many ways to use Trello that it would be impossible to target the training to a specialized interest. Thus you often have to search out applications that help you apply Trello's usefulness to your business needs.

In training consultants, I demonstrate the basic structure of Trello, introduce them to the common features they need to understand, and then show them the many ways we have put this to use working as a consulting firm. We think it will open up new ideas for how consultants can increase your efficiency and make the work easier. If you check it out, just don't get too obsessed with it, you don't want to end up like Frodo.

Available eBooks:

Private Practice through Contracting: Decreasing dependence on insurance.

Engaging Your Team: A framework for managing difficult people.

Family Legacy: Protecting family in family business.

What Motivates Employees?

A consultant described an experience where a company wanted to reward their top saleswomen. They decided to give her a trip to Europe.  She quit. 

May Toast and Jam

May's Toast and Jam . . . looking forward to fresh strawberry freezer jam!

In April I started a monthly series to provide "the single best article I have found" in the past month.  The idea is to share one influential article that you can read while you make toast . . . and, of course, add a little Jam. It's fun to find and share other's work that is insightful (or challenging) and that, I hope, will help you as well.  Please recognize that inclusion in the monthly Toast and Jam does NOT mean I agree with the author's opinions! In fact, sometimes it is quite the opposite! I plan to include cogent articles that challenge the current thinking and that, I hope, will get you asking "better questions" yourself.

So here is MAY's Toast and Jam . . .

Organizations and Business:

An interesting summary on supervising millinneals called "Kids these days" by Sergeant Darren Neal of the Arkansas State Police.

Should companies start offering voluntary benefits? (Entrepreneur)

Consulting:

Personnel Today focuses on the benefits of workplace counseling.

People Analytics?  How businesses are starting to try and measure the importance of their human assets.

Churches:

The debate about "seeker-sensitive churches" goes on . . . here is a little different "take."

Like small churches or not?  Either way, the reasons may be the same!

And the Jam: Fun and Curious:

Here's what your 2015 income taxes are buying.

I love hash browns, and grits, and sweet tea . . . it's my southern heritage.  Making crispy hash browns in just 3 minutes!

Questions?  Contact us!

Available eBooks:

Private Practice through Contracting: Decreasing dependence on insurance.

Engaging Your Team: A framework for managing difficult people.

Family Legacy: Protecting family in family business.

A Team . . . of Teams: How's that work?

Who, in most organizations, is the one person who really understands what it means to operate as a "team of teams?"  Who is responsible for the health of the teams and the organization?  I know who I expect it to be . . . the senior leader of the organization.  The Executive Director, President CEO, Owner . . . they are the visionaries that we often expect to have the magic touch to make an organization function dynamically and smoothly.

If you are fortunate enough to have someone who really excels at this, having a vision of how the organization can operate, the next challenge is how well are they able to communicate that vision to others.  Often I have worked with leaders who, I think, have a clear vision. But often, as I interview their staff, I find problems that interfere with the communication and operations of carrying out that vision.

Understood or not, the "team of teams' construct is one of the new fashions in leadership and organizational design circles. (In fact, this has been identified as a trend for 2016. Here's a good and recent article on this trend from Deloitte University Press) 

When a team of teams, or one might call it a human system of subsystems, works . . . it is a thing of beauty--like an professional orchestra--the violin section and percussion-- playing with effortless harmony and beauty. Employees are engaged (see our infographic on engagementi), they give of their discretionary time and effort to help the organization succeed, everyone pulls together and conflict is minimal. But when it doesn't work, the resulting discordant din of struggle rises and falls, filling the air with a tension that leaves it's audience, those working in the organization, contemplating the closest and most acceptable escape route.

Notice the "Skull and Crossbones" flag? First time I've seen that one!

Maybe I'm in the minority when I think that most organizations have only a superficial understanding of their human systems.  I know that most are aware of the impact of their human "element."  I hear senior manager's concerns about the impact of the business on their employees. But most see these elements in a simple "cause and effect" lens that leads, often, to assessing blame and limiting the options to address the problem.

Trained at the height of the systemic age of human sciences (I even had a course on cybernetics of cybernetics or the science of systems of systems!) theorists and researchers found that the "easiest way out leads back in" when you are talking about a system (mechanical or human). In other words, a simple approach to a systemic problem invariably does not change the system itself and thus the problem will persist. (When I was young people talked about putting saw dust in a transmission to "fix" a problem. It did not stop the transmission from failing!)

I often wonder, when I am beginning work with a new organization,  just how well prepared are the managers to understand the systemic dynamics of the people they are responsible for overseeing?  Often senior managers are tasked with casting a vision and creating policies and procedures (or culture) to avoid (or if necessary to "fix") any problems.  

But where do leaders develop their vision for leading a team of teams? My experience tells me their training will not have addressed it in depth and most of their practical models come from the success stories and personal contacts the leader or manager is exposed to in their professional contacts--or from the latest article or book on leadership.  Others recognize a need for a support system to guide them and adopt the trend of hiring an organizational behavioral consultant or executive coach.

Thus leaders chase the elusive "right mix" that will unleash the potential of their human systems and drive the success they envision. Yet, often it is largely the context itself--the industry, economy, or point-in-time--external factors, of those organizations, that determines if the team approach is working well or not. (Can you create another Pixar when one already exists?) 

Others may founder, not because of a lack of understanding their own organizational system, but because of the context in which their organization exists.  Leaders and organizations who enjoy a rich medium of growing markets, fat profit margins, and new research and development opportunities often have teams and a team of teams that are robust and "healthy" in their functions. Many of those same organizations however "get exposed" when adversity hits--with leaders "bailing," employee morale sinking, and public opinion declining. A system in a growth mode needs different things than one in a maintenance or declining industry.

Leaders need to understand the external context and then focus on the needs of their unique system; maximizing the contribution of the system through removing barriers, providing support, or challenging them to live up to the best vision of themselves and the organization. This often yields better results.

So, who is tasked with creating a "team of teams" in your organization?  Do you have a clear vision?  Is the communication of that vision being adopted by others?  Do you constantly have to encourage others to act inline with the organizations values?  Are teams really focused on what is best for the whole organization? If this is the model you are interested in trying to create or if it is one you have adopted but with limited success, then ask yourself, "Within our context, who has the experience, knowledge, vision and time to help us focus on operating as a true "team . . . of teams?" 

Available eBooks:

Private Practice through Contracting: Decreasing dependence on insurance.

Engaging Your Team: A framework for managing difficult people.

Family Legacy: Protecting family in family business.

"Five for Five" or "Old Dog Rebellion!"

Here is some of what I'm working on . . . soooooo slowly!

Okay, I'm an old dog.  I remember the 60's . . . although barely. Now I'm part of the group disparaged by that oft-repeated adage, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Fortunately, I come from stock that didn't listen to such dour predictions. Both my mother and my father were still engaged and working into their 80's. So, to carry on that tradition . . . I thought it would be fun to share "5 new things I've learned in the past 5 years" and to hear what others have learned in the past few years as well.

In the past five years I have learned . . . 

1. to read music (and improve my fingerstyle guitar playing)

2. to drive on the left side of the road (thank you New Zealand!)

3. the proper way to make face-frames for cabinets

4. to use apps, like Trello, to deliver consulting services

5. what Kombucha is and how to spell it

There's my list. Obviously not all of these things happened in one-year's time so things like "reading music" could still be on my list next year but I'm hoping to add five new items for 2017.

Come on, the rest of you "old dogs," what did you learn in the past five years?

Available eBooks:

Private Practice through Contracting: Decreasing dependence on insurance.

Engaging Your Team: A framework for managing difficult people.

Family Legacy: Protecting family in family business.