Last week a few of us went to a presentation by Pat Murray on Group Dynamics.  Since we all work in groups it is good to know the psychology of groups.  We are a social animal.  Our behaviors, character, identity, status and place in the world all come from imprinting from our groups.  These groups could include our family, military, corporate, religious and other social organizations.  Groups are a mental configuration.  There is no individual action there is only group action.  Connection to a group is a requirement for human survival.  Many people don’t get over being dumped from a group.  Long term military people die on average 18 months after leaving the military.

Learning more about group dynamics can help organizations recruit better and lead better.  When hiring a new person to join your group the only important decision is do they fit or not.  Here are some questions you could ask during an interview to get to know that person’s groups:

•    Walk me through your resume, take as long as you want.  When the energy goes up ask more questions.  That is their group.
•    Walk me through your heroes and role models.
•    Can you give me some examples of when you have sacrificed a great deal to maintain personal integrity?
•    Can you walk me through everything you are sure of?

Pat said any statement in an interview that can’t be backed up with a concrete example is probably a lie.  That seems a bit extreme to me as people are nervous when interviewing.  Yet, know that past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior.  Getting examples from their past is a good way to know how they might fit.

The role of a leader is to maximize connection and minimize separation in the group.  The leader helps the group deal with the real issues.  Real issues come with high anxiety.  A high performing group will confront this issue.  When the group feels safe enough to speak up and deal with the real issues you have a high performing group.  If you see people go to silence during a meeting.  Or the real meeting is in the bathroom after a meeting.  Then your group needs to work on communicating more effectively.  On a basic level you need to get reality on the table and confront it.  This will help build trust, relief and energy in your group.

I believe Taylor Studios has a high performing group.  This took 18 years of getting the right team, culture, values, rules and processes built.  We used to deal with small issues in our meetings like why someone didn’t follow a rule.  Now we can deal with bigger issues like offering our clients more value than the competition.  Our team is excited and energized about the company’s future.  We have a shared fate.  When you have this type of group dynamics it is exciting to come to work everyday.

What groups do you come from?  How are the group dynamics where you work?

I have had Apple computers since the late 80s.  I drank the kool aide and have been a Mac advocate ever since.  Unfortunately, about five years ago, I moved to a PC for work.  We were using software that just plain worked better on the PC.  With angst I agreed that I needed the PC.  I’ve hated it ever since (except for the Apple sticker I put on the back).

This week I got an iPad.  I am happy.  The world is a better place.  I’ve now decided to consolidate everything and am going back to all Mac all the time.  I have my MacPro, my iPad and my iPhone.  By the end of September I’ll have transferred everything off of this PC and will be done with it!

What is it that draws me to Apple to this degree?  I’m a logical, reasonable, numbers oriented person.  My conclusion is it is beautiful.  Beauty causes an emotional attachment.  I want to use it.  I want to look at it.  I want to carry it around.  Donald Norman speaks of this in his book Emotional Design.  I like how he describes his teapots,  “These objects are more than utilitarian.   As art, they lighten up my day.   Perhaps more important, each conveys a personal meaning: each has its own story.”  He postulates, “…that aesthetically pleasing objects actually work better.   As I shall demonstrate, products and systems that make you feel good are easier to deal with and produce more harmonious results.”

If a product can make you smile and lighten up your day, it must produce better results.  I’m a results oriented person.  Happier people produce better results.  Beautiful things create a positive emotional response.  When in a positive emotional state, I make better decisions.  This is why Apples are better than any other computer out there.  Just take a look at this iPad with its beautiful wireless keyboard.  It is a beautiful design.   I’m looking forward to my iLovely future.

What things do you have because they are beautiful even if something else may be more functional?

A friend of mine is in the process of writing a book about the love of horses.  She asked me to answer the question “What do I love most about horses?”  I have thought about it for several days and have concluded it is not one thing.  I will lean on poets to help capture my emotions when I think about horses.

When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.  ~William Shakespeare, Henry V

Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride,
Friendship without envy,
Or beauty without vanity?
Here, where grace is served with muscle
And strength by gentleness confined
He serves without servility; he has fought without enmity.
There is nothing so powerful, nothing less violent.
There is nothing so quick, nothing more patient.
~Ronald Duncan, “The Horse,” 1954

Being with horses is always an emotional experience.  My love is deep.  Even looking upon them can bring tears of joy to my eyes.  I have been around horses my whole life, yet they still amaze me every day.  I often wonder why this 1,200 pound animal allows our friendship.  Why do they do the things that I ask, like get into a trailer?

I love how they feel, how they smell, how they move, how they frolic, how one is an athlete and the next is a dork, how they get in trouble and how they teach me.  I love the feel of the wind through my hair when we run.  It’s a powerful relationship and I am fortunate to have found this love.

I believe the love for horses has brought passion and success to the rest of my life.  To be with horses for a lifetime includes many sacrifices and some heartache.  It can be a challenge.  I think it has lead me to embrace other challenges with gusto and appreciation.  If overcoming that challenge brings such rewards imagine the return when you tackle your bliss elsewhere.

My advice is to find your bliss and follow it with gusto.  Life is good.  Grab it by the saddle horn!

What is your bliss?

Taylor Studios has an awesome team.  Some of the reasons we function well as a team follow:

• We check our egos at the door.
• We have high integrity and trust each other.
• Everyone wants to produce a high quality product.
• We set goals and objectives.
• Each of us keeps an open mind and accepts criticism and input.
• We are respectful in our communication, yet encourage debate.
• We treat our teammates as trusted advisers.
• We hold each other accountable.

Today, I got an email from Matt Wiley, one of our Graphic Designers.  He was concerned that some of my tweets were not appropriate.  I had posted some silly ones that were probably more appropriate for personal tweeting versus company tweeting.  I often get in a hurry and tweet just to tweet instead of watching the quality of the tweet.  I appreciated his input and made changes.

We are pursuing a very large project.  This week, several of us presented to this potential client.  At the presentation, it was obvious we work well as a team.  After the client asked a question, one of us would start the answer then another would pop in and finish the thought.  It flowed smoothly and we conveyed that we have fun, are passionate about what we do and have an effective team.  I was telling Joe Taylor, the company co-founder, about the opportunity.  He said, “Well if you really want it, why don’t you make them an offer they can’t refuse?”  This morning I threw a brainstorm with Sam, Drew and Kara and we came up with a great idea to present to the client.

Our shop is very busy right now.  We are working overtime and people are on the road.  There are many upcoming installs.  The few weeks before an install can be stressful for project managers.  There always seems to be more details to figure out, more questions and more to dos.  When something goes slightly wrong it is easy to jump on the project manager and say, “Why didn’t you take care of this?”  For example, this week a subcontractor delivered a Great Blue Heron model that was not made to our specifications.  This meant Marc, our Model Shop Lead, had to spend a day fixing the model even though something else had already been scheduled for that day.  Jason noticed that everyone was asking why don’t we hold our subs, clients, vendors, etc. more accountable.  Jason knew this was not the time to add more stress to their plate.  As we often say, he reminded them to offer solutions instead of complaints and criticism.  With that perspective in mind, the team got down to business and came up with solutions.  We’ll look at what we could have done better at the lessons learned meeting we’ll have after the installs are done.

These examples from this week illustrate what good teamwork looks like.   My team rocks!

Tell us about a time when you saw good teamwork.

We recently bid a project along with 20 other firms.  Within a couple days, we received the bid tabulation sheet.  The bids ranged in price from $150,000 to $675,000.  Our bid was in the middle.  This was a fabrication-only project so each firm was provided the same drawings.  How could the bid amounts vary so greatly?  Some of the things I thought of were:

• Lower quality product
• Less service
• No warranty
• Lower labor costs
• More efficient
• Plan to change order for everything along the way
• Do not plan to follow the specifications they bid
• Materials are less expensive
• Different fabrication method

I decided to do some follow-up on jobs we had lost because of a substantial price difference (over $100,000).  I sent some of my staff on the road to look at our competitor’s work (see Jason’s recent post).  Some of the clients they visited were our past clients, so these clients were able to compare their experience working with us and their experience working with the firm that underbid us.  When the clients began talking about their most recent experience, they made statements that included:

• They did not meet their dates
• They did not involve us in the process (e.g. weekly phone calls, approvals, website posts of progress, etc.)
• They gave us samples of what they were going to produce and did not produce it
• They asked for their money without providing the deliverable
• They were on the phone during our meetings
• We asked them to redo it several times
• It isn’t what we wanted

At one of the sites we visited we noticed the other exhibit firm used a different fabrication method than we do.  In the coming weeks, we will analyze whether that is a more efficient method.  At this point, we do know it does not offer the opportunity for the client to critique the work along the way and the natural elements were not the quality we produce - from the species of trees to the undulations in the groundform to the transitions into the mural.

We talked to another client about the design process and whether they got the same level of detail in the design deliverables.  We were told our deliverables differed significantly.  We have seen the lack of detail in other designs.  Many lack even the simplest of measurements or the quantity of graphic panels.

As a company that has a foundation of being frugal and efficient, it can be frustrating to lose work to a substantially lower-priced firm.  We have a core value of high integrity and back up our commitments.  This means we will not buy the job and change order it later to make up the difference.  We will make it according to the samples provided, etc.

We will continue to conduct research and will attempt to show the marketplace the differences in deliverables.  When bids come back ranging drastically in price, there is no way the bids can be apples to apples.  If the project is awarded to a company simply because they offer the lowest price, one must ask how that firm can provide the same product and service as the other firms.

If you have chosen to work with a firm based on the low price of their bid, how was your experience?  Are you happy with the finished product?

I had my weekly meeting with our controller, Jane, this morning.  One of the things we talked about is organizing our pay policy.  We have a procedure and a strategy and now we need to organize it all together and make an official process.  Some of what we did to create a pay strategy is the following:

• Written job descriptions
• Establish pay ranges for each position within the company
• Market research on what those positions are paid in our market area
• A process for each department head to request raises
• Pay level spreadsheets for each department head
• Each employee gets an annual review. Raises are not given at that time. Expectations and goals are clearly communicated
• Annual review of pay ranges

There are market forces that affect pay policy.  If there is a limited pool of qualified employees for a particular position we are recruiting for we may modify the pay range.  The profitability of the company and forecast for future work could also affect pay ranges.

Once an employee reaches the top of their pay range for any position they would have to offer value in some other way in order to be paid outside of their pay range.  This also applies to making progression within your pay range.  An employee that has diversified skills may be more valuable.  If you can sculpt, paint and do woodworking that may be more valuable than someone that can only do woodworking.  If you can produce something fast you may be more valuable (this applies more to hourly workers than salary, but counts in both).  If you have not offered more value than you did in the previous year your raise may match that year’s inflation rate.  In 2009 there was no inflation.  According to the BLS it was negative .4% for 2009.  In 2010, it has been 1.1%.

Pay may also vary depending on what other benefits we are offering individuals.  We offer a variety of training.  If we are sending someone through extensive and costly training that may affect their pay for that particular period.  If we have to train someone extensively that may affect their pay level.  The pay strategy includes all benefits (health insurance, 401k, life insurance, etc.).

The work that we do is very unique and very competitive.  We compete with companies across the U.S.  Our competition often bids lower.  We assume part of their ability to do this is based on their pay strategy.  If you have to pay workers less in Atlanta for the same work we produce in IL that can make it difficult for us to compete.  We consider the unique work we do as a competitive advantage.  How many people can work at a place in which one day you learn about dinosaurs and the next the civil war?  It’s a very creative environment which also makes it appealing to come to work every day.  This advantage may mean we pay slightly less than the contractor down the street.

Do you have a pay strategy?

I have talked with many business owners who offer incentives in some fashion.  I have also heard stories of how many of these have backfired or the owner is frustrated with the entitlement mentality that develops.  I will share my story.

Many years ago, one of my managers proposed an incentive he thought would highly motivate our sculptors on a particular project.  I thought it was a good idea and we presented it, in writing, to a few of our lead artists.  We told these artists that if they beat their time goals by 5% we would offer so much, if they beat them by 10% we would offer them a little more and if they beat them by 15% we would offer even more.  Beyond that we thought quality would suffer.  Their work had to be approved by our Art Director.

The project went very well.  The work was some of our best and the team beat their time goals by more than 20%.  As we had agreed in writing, I gave out checks to this small group of artists for the 15% bonus amount.  I had also recently given an end of year bonus that was quite large.  Right after giving out the checks the artists came into my office together.  They had checks in hand and demanded more.  I was shocked.  I thought I had been extremely generous.  I paid them more than our agreed upon salaries to do what their job descriptions required in the first place.  I had just given out other bonuses, too.  They took home several thousand dollars more than usual.  I, of course, said “no” to their demands and was hurt that they were not more appreciative of the extras I had given already.

On the next several projects, productivity and attitude spiraled down hill with some of these artists because  I was not offering the same incentive.  I assume they thought they should share in all profits going forward.  Of course, they didn’t think of paying for the losses and taking the risks, too.  Behavior really began to become unprofessional as time went by.  One of the artists wrote FU on the back of a groundform we fabricated.  Another took a knife to insulation in one of our newly constructed buildings.  Their attitude and behavior was shocking.  In the end, after several months, two of them were let go from the company.

I have never offered this type of incentive again.  Since then, I have read articles like the this one by Alfie Kohn that discusses why incentives don’t work.  Daniel Pink’s latest book Drive also discusses how some rewards do not motivate us.  Personally, I have been motivated by potential rewards.  For instance, I chose to study business instead of equine science, so I could buy my own horse.  Even so, I am still leery of offering incentives.

What motivates you?  Would you offer incentives?

I went to my home town of Streator, IL for father’s day.  My dad wanted to show me how my childhood park had been revitalized.  My expectations were low.  I knew this park well as a kid.  It bordered our cow pasture, so I rode my horse there often.  I remember hanging out on Charlotte, my childhood horse, at the bottom of the Falls as my friends sun bathed on the limestone rock shelf.  It was a great place to hang out.  If you walked back from the Falls in the creek towards our pasture, there was a deep spot.  We would jump off a tree into this water hole.  The park had a tough side, too.  There were lots of drugs and drinking at various times throughout its history.  It grew very rough over the years.  It was tough to control given its remote location and partial gravel roads getting to it.

As soon as we pulled into the park I was impressed.  There was a big wooden sign, the parking lot was nicely graveled, there was a motor home with mowed grass in front of it, a fence with beautiful flowers, a wooden bridge with a ramp, a bulletin board type sign and people.  This was different than the dirt lot with rough trails that I remember from childhood.  As soon as we pulled up, my dad introduced me to Ruth Fennick and Lois Guyon.  They were very excited to show us the new hanging bridge.  Wow!  What a bridge.  It is an Indiana Jones like hanging bridge over the creek.

Ruth and Lois shared with me all they had done at this park.  The park is about 37 acres.  Many trails have been created.  Enough for an hour and a half horse ride if you meander them all.  Many signs have been created naming each trail.  They have a map of all the trails as a handout.  School groups have started coming to the park for natural history education.  Research has been done on the history of the park and it is maintained.

The amazing thing is how this small group of people converted a very rough park into a gem.  I asked how they kept drunks and druggies away.  These 70 year old ladies take two hour shifts keeping an eye on the park.  They ask people to leave if unruly.  They said it doesn’t have to take government money to create a beautiful park.  It is all volunteer, donations and ladies with spunk.  Much of the town has jumped in to help and donated or volunteered in some fashion.  Even my dad drove his tractor there to help spread the gravel for the parking lot.  If you have a few hours and a pair of gloves please give them a hand.

Is there a park like this in your hometown?  Let us know about it.

I just got back from Arkansas where my teams presented Design Development for Jacksonport and Logoly State Parks.  Our designs for each of these parks are substantially different, as they should be, to represent the uniqueness of each site.  The teams are also different.  Jacksonport’s story is driven more by artifacts and Logoly’s is more natural history.  Both teams are passionate about their sites.

Jacksonport Renderings:

Jacksonport State Park Gallery Intro

Jacksonport State Park Prosperity Exhibit

Logoly Renderings:

Logoly State Park Entryway

Logoly State Park Sound & Discovery Exhibit

We really enjoy working with Arkansas State Parks for many reasons:

• They are passionate about their parks.
• They understand interpretation and work hard to educate and engage their visitors.
• They keep us on our toes by asking tough questions during the design process. This helps assure a successful project.
• They are polite and fun. We feel at home and comfortable working with these teams.
• Some of their staff members have worked in Arkansas State Parks for 40 years. This means they know their stuff from how durable an exhibit needs to be to what will keep a visitor enthralled.
• We love visiting Arkansas! It’s beautiful country with great people, lots of parks, lakes, streams and 2.6 million acres of national forest.
• They have very special stories to tell, from the only diamond mine in the world open to the public to having the oldest national park (Hot Springs).

I really love working with the folks in Arkansas and hope to continue this relationship for years into the future.  Many years ago we designed and fabricated exhibits for Crater of Diamonds.  Within the next year we will install exhibits at Prairie Grove State Park.  Plus, we will continue our work for Jacksonport and Logoly.  I highly encourage you to choose Arkansas for your vacation.  What a beautiful state to meander through.

Betty with little sister and a friend on Buck

Growing up on a farm is a rare these days.  I feel fortunate to have had the rare opportunity to be raised on a farm.  Here are a few things it taught me.

Problem Solving - When I was about 15, I drove a tractor to a field an hour away from our home.  The tractor overheated.  I had watched my brother and father fix it before and used my water to fix it.  When you are out working on your own you learn to solve problems.

Perseverance - When you have livestock, you have to feed them everyday no matter how cold or hot it is outside.  I would climb the silo and scoop silage down onto an elevator and into a pickup truck in the winter.  Then I would have to empty the truck into the feed troughs.  It could be well below freezing out and you would sweat in the silo.

Responsibility - Having a variety of pets teaches responsibility.  I had horses, bunnies and a variety of animals that were my responsibility on the farm.

Humility - We had cattle.  Cleanliness is not top of mind with them.  They can stick their tongue all the way up their nose.  I think dealing with dirt and grossness can be a humbling experience.

Hard Work - There is endless work on the farm.

Cool and Calm Under Pressure - When you have lots of animals you have accidents, births, deaths and illnesses.  As a kid, I pulled calves out of cows, took care of hurt animals until a vet could get there, and rushed people to the hospital after farm accidents.

Betty with one of the cows

High Pain Tolerance - On the farm you often get cut, bumped, scraped and bruised.  It’s not that big of a deal.

Reliability - I got a job cleaning stalls at a nearby stable when I was fourteen.  The owner often traveled and counted on me to take care of her horses.  Once she was out of town during a huge snow storm that blocked all the roads.  The horses needed water and feed.  My father and I drove a tractor the ten miles to get to the horses.

Personal Finance - I think farm kids often start earning money at a young age.  They might sell their 4-H steer, sweet corn, furs that were trapped, etc.  My parents also taught us how to save, not to buy more than you earned and how to manage a checkbook.  At my horse stable job, I was paid by the stall.  I had to invoice my boss every two weeks.

Growing up on a farm also gave me a love of nature and animals, an independent nature (self reliance), a sense of humor (we did laugh a lot), a strong body and an entrepreneurial bent.  I wish more people grew up on livestock farms.  We would recruit them.