Measuring management quality

Q. How do you measure management quality?

The ability to accurately measure management quality is directly proportional to the clarity with which management objectives and goals are pre-defined.

You will typically see well defined goals and objectives in mature (not necessarily large or old) organizations. i.e. ones that have well defined processes, roles and responsibilities, performance benchmarks and competencies defined at different levels across different functions.

If you are having a hard time objectively appraising managers, I suspect that the pre-work i.e. setting of clear goals and KPIs is not yet done. The precise KPIs for management quality in "your organization" would be very specific to the org structure, goals and overall vision of "your organization". i.e. a copy-paste from anywhere else will not work.

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Improve your problem solving & analytical skills

Q. How does someone improve their problem solving & analytical skills?

There are probably an infinite number of ways that will work, let me list down a few that have worked for me.

1. Define and redefine the problem statement till you are 100% convinced that "this" is indeed the problem.
2. Focus on the problem when you are in the most relaxed state of mind (alpha state).
3. Who are you most inspired by, living or dead? How would he/she have fixed this problem?
4. Play a lot of chess.
5. Imagine the worst possible outcome and see that you solutions are not that bad after all. i.e. weed out the fear of failure first.
6. Use the 'Six Thinking Hats' approach.
7. Take on projects / jobs that push you out of your comfort zone.
8. Pick problems to resolve that you are disconnected from.
9. If you have hit a saturation point without a solution, just move on to a totally disconnected topic.
10. Watch TV shows where participants are debating over problems, try answering tricky questions as if you were in the participant's shoes.
11. Meditate.
12. Write down the problem you are trying to solve and then a list of possible solutions with paper and pen / pencil.
13. Ask someone who you think is better than you with respect to the problem (may be your boss, your colleague, a relative, college prof., etc.) for solutions. Do this even if you may have resolved the problem.
14. Take short breaks between intense work sessions.
15. If you catch yourself not having smiled for a few hours do what you can to change that, a hearty laugh at least once a day is important.

let me know if any of these were particularly helpful.

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Handling mediocre-but-(I-know-it-all) guys

Q. What is a better way to address Mediocre-but-(I-know-it-all) guys around?

Assuming you have a reasonable counter opinion or argument, here is what you could do (scripted for easy rehearsed re-production).

You say: "Really??" 
Display surprise, intrigue, anxiousness, fear or any such strong emotion in your tone and facial expression depending on the context and situation. This should disturb the mental state of supremacy being displayed by Mr. Know-it-all.

You say: "Thats' interesting"
This will ensure that you have your listener's full attention

Now state your point-of-view in a matter of fact, yet innocent and confident tone, as if seeking approval or clarity... since you are confused / concerned / alarmed / worried thanks to the piece of advice dished out by Mr.know-it-all. 

By doing this, you are not hurting his ego, and yet breaking his resistance to another perspective. Projecting a state of subtle vulnerability also invariably instills a sense of responsibility into the other person's sub-conscious. At the very least, he will re-consider his perspective in the light of what you have just shared. 

This may not drastically alter Mr.Know-it-all's cocky attitude, but he will surely be better behaved with you around.

Go on... have fun :-)

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Fitting in

Q. How do I quickly fit into a new job?

There are several ways, let me just focus on the two most important ones.

1. The "WHAT"
Ask your manager what he/she expects of you and by when. Keep that constantly in your active awareness as you go through your day at work and outside of work. You will automatically find yourself observing, learning, saying and doing things in alignment with what's being expected of you.

2. The "HOW"
Besides all active interactions with your colleagues, notice the unspoken laws and chemistry between people at the work place. Observe how people are going about their day in the office. who comes in when, who stays back late, who spends time with whom, who occupies the meeting rooms most of the time, who prefer working by themselves, who are the whiners, who smile the most, whats' on the display boards around the office, who sits where especially in team meetings, the tone of emails internally and so on. Over time, you will be able to clear out individual personality traits and start noticing patters that emerge as the underlying prevalent cultural ecosystem. 

Embrace this "How" and focus on delivering the "What" and you will "fit in" in no time. However, the real question you want to start asking is whether you really want to "fit in"?

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