Review of "Tipping Sacred Cows"

Tipping Sacred Cows

Jake Breeden
Copyright © 2013 Jossey-Bass, an imprint of John Wiley & Sons
getAbstract © 2013

Rating (10 is best)

Overall: 8
Applicability: 8
Innovation: 9
Style: 7

Take-Aways

• Many people go through life unaware of the reality around them.
• They believe certain conventional concepts are inviolable and never question them.
• Seven such sacred cows, which are all seemingly unassailable virtues, can damage your life if you overindulge.
• “Balance” can lead to blandness.
• “Collaboration” can undermine accountability.
• “Creativity” can waste time and ignore efficient quick fixes.
• “Excellence” can lead to burnout.
• “Fairness” can make people insist on “equitable outcomes” over equitable opportunities.
• “Passion” can become all-encompassing obsession.
• “Preparation” can produce an unrealistic self-appraisal of the value of the work you are getting ready to do.

Relevance

What You Will Learn

In this summary, you will learn: 1) Which seven sacred cows sound like virtues but could do you harm and 2) What to do about them to achieve greater balance.

Recommendation

Leadership coach Jake Breeden issues an iconoclastic warning that “balance, excellence, creativity, fairness, passion, preparation and collaboration” – all sacred cows – can damage those who milk them too faithfully. Though he flies in the face of common wisdom and long-espoused business-world values, Breeden explains more credibly than you might expect how some admirable qualities can impede your progress and blind you to your foibles. Parenthetically, Breeden disagrees with a few other sacred cows. For example, he takes on the canonicalIn Search of Excellence for its unrelenting emphasis on excellence alone. He also finds inspiration in many places, from the Four Seasons hotel to the words of author David Foster Wallace. The sans-serif type distracts a bit from the pleasant read, good flow, interesting examples and doable strategies. Breeden makes a strong, logical case, buttressed by research.getAbstract thinks his work will resonate with most readers and recommends his freethinking treatise to those who’d like to actualize their values in real functionality and to balance admirable intentions with concrete results.

Summary

Sacred Cows

Goa is a resort town in India. Its ancient name – Gomanta – means “region of cows.” Cows are considered sacred animals in India. In Goa, they wander at will through the city streets, adorned with necklaces and strings of flowers made by adoring worshippers. The incessant cow traffic creates problems for the drivers who are trying to navigate Goa’s city streets.
Similarly, in Western society, sacred cows – revered ideas that people never question – can obstruct progress and the smooth flow of ideas. Conventional business wisdom offers seven sacred cows – “balance, excellence, creativity, fairness, passion, preparedness and collaboration” – that supposedly all good citizens should bring to their work. People generally regard these ideas as cardinal virtues because they deliver real value and provide a moral compass. But sometimes, as with Goa’s cows, they can create unintended negative consequences, including wasted time, annoyance, poor performance and emotional exhaustion. India’s sacred cows are easy to spot, so people avoid them. Every evolved adult should learn to avoid these sacred cows as well:

“Bland Balance” Versus “Bold Balance”

Most people want to achieve a sound balance between their work and their personal life, but excessive balance can result in compromise, mediocrity and blandness. “Bland balance” can impede your ability to make the hard decisions that strong leadership demands. Aim for the opposite, bold balance, which enables you to make “brave choices,” by following these tips:

• “Audit for unnecessary compromise” – Adopt a new management mantra: Make a decision and move on.
• “Sprint in intervals” – Do one thing at a time. For example, engage in solitary contemplation of various management options and then focus on team innovation. Be practical in all your work activities.
• “Throw out your leftovers” – Don’t cling to half-finished, old ideas. Decide now.
• “Hold strong opinions weakly” – Be decisive, but stay ready to accept new data and change your thinking accordingly.
• “Build a portfolio of options” – Pursue both “high-risk/high-reward” and “low-risk/low-reward” management choices.
• “Start a stop-doing list” – Some activities have small payoffs, so don’t do them.
• “Embrace the paradox” – You are the best leader when your team functions well without you.

“Automatic Collaboration” Versus “Accountable Collaboration”

Too much collaboration can be a waste of time and produce negative management attitudes. For example, in an atmosphere of avid teamwork, leaders may view employees who prefer to work alone as antisocial. Managers can feel stymied when making decisions because too many people need to weigh in first. Nix “automatic collaboration”; instead use “accountable collaboration” by:

• “Auditing to eliminate automatic collaboration” – Don’t rely on the safety of numbers. They can be misleading.
• “Making teams temporary” – Be reluctant to assemble teams. Break them up when a project finishes.
• “Letting underperformers sink or swim” – Be ruthless about accountability.
• “Staying aligned with the bigger picture” – All teams must serve the larger corporate mission.
• “Owning your results” – “Do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it.”
• “Hunkering down” – Focus on your work. Ignore distractions.
• “Unplugging” – Don’t seek validation. Turn off all communication devices.

“Narcissistic Creativity” Versus “Useful Creativity”

Distinguish between useful creativity – modifying a proven idea in some practical way – and “narcissistic creativity” – demonstrating your creativity brazenly to no useful end. The more singular an idea is, the smaller the chance it has of leading to a “value-generating innovation.” To attain useful creativity:

• “Understand the source of your creativity”– Is it “pride, pressure” or “boredom”? If it’s a reaction to any of these forces, set it aside. Save your creativity, for delivering something new that your firm really needs.
• “Rechannel your creative energy” – Look for quick fixes and simple solutions.
• “Repurpose on purpose” – Adapt existing solutions.
• “Make a remix” – Picasso combined conventional portraiture and African tribal art to develop Cubism. One plus one can equal three.
• “Create analogies” – Parallels help people understand new ideas and concepts.
• “Fill out the (right) form” – Be sure you’ve selected the correct box before you try to “think outside it.”
• “Curate” – Plenty of great creative ideas already exist. Picking from those is more efficient than coming up with something new.

“Process Excellence” Versus “Outcome Excellence”

Excellence should always be your end-result goal, but not your process goal, the path you use to reach your final objective. Insisting on excellence in every step is counterproductive. People who constantly demand excellence often lose track of their overall goals. They worry unduly and exhaust themselves during the development process. This seldom leads to excellence. When it comes to process, good enough is good enough. To make sure your measured excellence counts:

• “Lower the stakes” – The higher they are, the more pressure they create. Keep your focus on the work at hand, not the pay-offs involved.
• “Ask dumb questions” – Seemingly stupid questions often lead to novel solutions. Don’t be afraid to ask.
• “Embrace the hacker mentality” – Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg says, “Hackers...just prototype something [to] see what works.”
• “Accept the mess of progress” – Progress is always messy. Stanford professor Baba Shiv explains, “If you build a polished prototype, others will see flaws. If you build a rough prototype, they will see potential.”
• “Start a meaningful journey with a meaningless map” – Any good plan needs a useful starting point, but not a rigid path.
• “Embrace OK” – Pragmatists who get things done understand that OK is OK.
• “Play around” – Have fun experimenting.

“Outcome Fairness” Versus “Process Fairness”

Neurochemistry inclines people to be fair. Parents teach kids fairness; people intuitively insist on fair treatment. But fairness in process is not fairness in outcome. Everyone should get the same opportunity to succeed, but you should never insist that everyone reach the same outcome. Some managers want everybody on their team to get the same results. This sends the wrong signal to underperformers and frustrates overachievers. To learn to target process fairness:

• Practice “projection detection” – Not every team member needs what you need.
• “Break the golden rule” – Not everyone needs to be led as you would like to be led.
• Trust your staff – Ritz-Carlton hotels tell employees exactly how to address guests. Four Seasons hotels leave it up to the employees. Guests prefer the Four Seasons.
• “Discriminate courageously” – Treat your top people differently than the also-rans.
• “Play a bigger game” – Think about your entire enterprise.
• “Check up on others” – Watch your back.
• “Check up on yourself” – If you are treated unfairly, don’t try to justify unfair or unethical behavior in return.

“Obsessive Passion” Versus “Harmonious Passion”

Aim for harmonious passion, which is dedication that drives a person to become a better professional. Avoid obsessive passion, the kind of dedication that leads to destructive emotions in the face of project delays or work setbacks. People with obsessive passion often flame out. To achieve harmony:

• “Find your shard of glass” – Does a “sharp-edged incident” lurk below the surface and negatively affect your behavior? Find it. It will explain your obsessive passion.
• “Lead from behind” – Nelson Mandela said, “Put others in front...take the front line [only] when there is danger.”
• “Stop proving yourself right” – Don’t justify yourself or your thinking to others.
• “Start proving yourself wrong” – You aren’t infallible. Be objective about yourself and what you believe. Be your most severe critic.
• “Stay healthy with the buddy system” – Rely on good friends to tell you when you need to take a break.
• “Stay out of trouble with the buddy system” – Rely on the same friends to protect you from your more troublesome urges.
• “Look outside yourself” – To keep yourself healthy, focus on others.

“Backstage Preparation” Versus “Onstage Preparation”

“Be prepared,” the Boy Scout motto, is sensible advice but it needs refining. The best preparation and the best work occur when work and preparation coalesce. Backstage preparation – when someone spends too much time getting ready for a public performance – is the least productive. Focus instead on onstage preparation, that is, “learning as you’re doing.” For solid preparation:

• “Troubleshoot your preparation style” – The more “feedback and improvisation” you include, the better. Don’t overprepare for inconsequential things.
• “Learn by doing” – Continuing education, for example, works best with an interactive component.
• “Hold (moot) court” – Simulations prepare you for real-life situations.
• “Pretotype” – IBM used a focus group to pretest voice-recognition technology before spending time and money on a prototype. “Make sure you’re building the right ‘it’ before you build ‘it’ right,” says entrepreneur Alberto Savoia.
• “Practice with intensity” – Only perfect practice makes perfect.
• “Apprentice each other” – Use “crowd-sourced learning.”

What Water?

Writer David Foster Wallace told a Kenyon College graduating class this story: “Two young fish swim along and meet an older fish swimming the other way. The older fish nods at the youngsters and says, ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ One young fish looks at the other and asks, ‘What the hell is water’?”
Wallace’s message: Understand the reality in which you live. “Unexamined beliefs” surreptitiously undermine you. Consider your core beliefs and nurture the values that define you. Your perceptions directly affect every leadership choice you make. The way you recognize and establish meaning is your most crucial leadership skill. If your view is skewed, the result will be bad decisions. Strive to see your sacred cows clearly.

About the Author

Executive leadership coach Jake Breeden is a “global faculty” member at Duke Corporate Education, which provides custom corporate education.

Quotes

• “The more you espouse virtues without questioning them, the harder it gets to see when they’ve become sacred cows.”
• “Sometimes, without realizing it, we use our most treasured values as an excuse to avoid the discomfort of actually leading.”
• “Powerful, often invisible behavioral, social and cultural forces can cause leaders to espouse the infallible importance of unexamined virtues.”
• “Some say good enough is for wimps, losers and cop-outs. But we set a trap for ourselves when we expect excellence in everything.”
• “When leaders tolerate more playful experimentation on the path to a destination defined by excellence, they increase the chances that people will stay engaged and produce truly distinguished work.”
• “Leaders must tirelessly insist on excellence when it comes to the destination, but good-enough progress when it comes to the path.”
• “Prioritizing team goals over individual goals means that when one person slacks off, someone else has to do additional work in order to prop up the low performer.”
• “There is no greater danger to productivity than the standing committee meeting – a team for the sake of a team, a meeting for the sake of a meeting.”
• “Leaders should collaborate only when they must.”
• “It is a leader’s duty to hold individuals accountable, no matter what.”
• “How you construct meaning is the single most important act of leadership that you can make.”
• “When leaders embrace beliefs without understanding and managing the potential side effects, the beliefs become sacred cows.”
• “The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best – and therefore never scrutinize or question.”