drama Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

27
Jul 21
-

Drama Stories Create More Action Than Realized

Tags : decision making drama sales story telling

Are you telling drama stories? Do you recognize when you are doing it?

Likely, a story isn’t a story until you add a little drama. Painting the picture might be drama. Exaggerating the moment with body language, sounds, or using props might add a little drama.

Comedians get greater impact and connection by animating the story. Sometimes it is funny without any words. A well-placed moment of silence can add a little drama.

Many stories are a reenactment of sorts.

Then of course there is selling. Selling the product, selling an idea, or even selling yourself in a job interview or as a professional services provider.

A good attorney has stories. A medical doctor might have a story or two.

Drama isn’t just gossip or rumors, sometimes it is factual.

Does the story resonate better with a little spice added?

Drama Stories

People make decisions. Decisions often involve emotion. Even when someone suggests to remove all emotion.

Buying a new car? Your decision might be based on emotion. Otherwise, if it is truly only about transportation you might pick only the most economic means to get from point A to point B.

Perhaps, that is no car at all.

Finding a great hotel, hiring a new employee, or where to have dinner on date night. Much of the activity in your life is bought and sold based on drama.

Do you tell yourself drama stories? You might seek to feel the moment. Moments of success, luxury, or pride. Decisions might be made in favor of short-term, long-term, or that are better for your family.

The truth of it is, there is a lot of drama.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

18
Mar 21
-

Drama Habit, Do You Create More Of It?

Tags : communication drama habits respect workplace

Do you have a drama habit? What about members of the team, do they seem to thrive on it? Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that people like to have more of what makes them feel comfortable.

Did you grow up eating breakfast or skipping it? What about lunch, have you made a habit out of skipping lunch or do you always eat?

The same questions might apply for morning beverages, after hour beverages, or even when you brush your teeth.

Workplace Drama

Many workplaces are full drama.

Drama about how to get the next customer or close the next sale may not be a bad form of drama.

Drama about what Susan is wearing or whether Jack will use micro-aggressions with the boss today may not be healthy.

Certainly, it may go deeper than that. The drama may be about workplace romances and who does what during their off-work time. It may even dip into discriminatory patterns with racial undertones, gender issues, age, and many other areas.

Can you stop it? Should you?

Drama Habit

It is a truism that many people do what they do because they are seeking comfort. Consciously or subconsciously, this is often the case.

People reposition in their chairs, follow a specific daily routine, and seek comfort in repetitive social patterns.

In 2020, you probably started to have a meeting or two either via Zoom, Skype, or Microsoft teams. In other cases perhaps you were still meeting in the conference room, only everyone was wearing a mask. Was this different? Was it comfortable?

Workplace drama can come and go. When a drama topic starts to slow down and interest is less, surprisingly, or not so much, new drama will take its place.

If you have witnessed this you may be wondering what can you do? Is there anything you can do? Is drama here to stay?

Plan for Change

A plan by workplace leaders to be a catalyst for shifting the drama may be the best approach. If drama is here to stay, shifting it to more constructive approaches may be your answer.

In short, if all of the talk, the focus, and the chatter are about production, services, and helping the customer there is much less room for negative, degrading, and disrespectful drama.

Communication is everyone’s responsibility. Consider what your communication consists of and how to regain focus on what matters the most.

Are you part of the problem? Creating drama about the people who are the most dramatic may mean you’re part of the problem, not the solution.

It probably isn’t about the flip-flops Susan is wearing or whether Jack is bashing the boss behind her back.

Change the discussion and leave less room for all the stuff that doesn’t really matter.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

21
Jul 20
-

Workplace Division Sometimes Gets More Attention

Tags : division drama dysfunctional purpose team

Only when leadership allows room for it! Does your organization struggle with workplace division?

It’s not a math problem, but yet it is. The group dynamics and psychology associated with drama and conflict are often more attractive than success.

If asked, employees will likely verbally confirm that success for themselves and success of the organization matter. However, what happens next is often something different.

Love the Drama

Media streams love drama. Political buffs love drama. People are drawn in to drama.

Think about these headlines:

Mask Wearing Man Drops Dead

Why Complete Collapse is Likely After the Election

Big Banks Cash in With Your Money Following PPP Roll-Out

Are the headlines more about success or drama? Perhaps it depends a little on your viewpoint, but likely they’re enticing you with drama.

What are the headings in your workplace underground?

Boss Sleeps with Marketing Manager Following Holiday Party

Two Departments Will Be Downsized, Will It Be Yours?

Sales Manager Provides Fake College Degree in Original Job Application

Conflict and drama often sell better than forward motion, progress, or team success.

Workplace Division

Often the average employee doesn’t feel a connection with organizational success, so it is just a job, not a career.

Employees may also be missing the point of their work. This is often known as his or her purpose. Perhaps they don’t know or understand the mission. The feeling may be, the company doesn’t care about me and I don’t care about the company.

Workplace division is likely connected to leadership.

The human side of the work requires connections to emotions. Things like passion for the work, inspiring stories of customer delight, and pathways for employee success.

The more room there is for drama, the more it will zap the energy required for progress.

Leadership Action

It’s not all talk and no action.

Leadership should ensure that there is time spent on connecting, not dividing. It is critical for organizational success.

Drama and division seem to grow like weeds. Turn your back, and something new appears.

You have to constantly cultivate the team and culture to ensure you’re using all of the energy wisely.

It all starts with today’s headline.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

17
Apr 20
-

Drama Decisions Are Not Productive

Tags : choices decisions drama pivot productivity

Each day you have a responsibility. The responsibility to make decisions. Are you making drama decisions, or good decisions?

When your job, at least in part, is to make good decisions have you considered the information that guides those decisions?

Obstacles and Validity

It’s common that workplace leaders hear and see a lot. People run to bosses, especially middle managers, seeking an opportunity to have a voice.

They voice their opinions. Opinions that sound like facts, but are not facts. Some may be valid and reliable. Others may be nothing more than hearsay.

Your best decisions may come from careful analysis. It may mean examining the data, asking more questions, and even having the patience to allow things to unfold a little before jumping.

Some workplace leaders find themselves sandwiched between a variety of stories with little data. These stories are often embellished versions of the real story, and unfortunately an easy management trap is to listen to a few and then the last presentation seems to win.

These are drama decisions.

Drama Decisions

Drama decisions are fueled with unproductive emotions. Often arising from jealously, envy, or spite.

Voices get loud. Frequencies increase, and the outcomes feed the drama even more.

If part of your job is being responsible for making good decisions then it may be very important to consider the characteristics of the source.

Are you listening for facts and not reacting to opinions?

Is there any data to back up the message?

What is really the root cause of the scenario being presented?

You didn’t achieve a position responsible for making good decisions by often making bad ones, but could you still do better?

Have you considered the value of thinking more critically and making better decisions?

It may be a worthwhile exercise.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

23
Dec 19
-

Shiny Object Chasing and Your Focus

Tags : drama focus results shiny object

Are you focused on what needs to be accomplished? Do you go after the shiny object?

Many workplaces are filled with drama. Stepping back and looking at the drama we may realize that it is the excitement or interest that is attractive. The gossip, the mismanaged conflict, or the turmoil.

It may seem polite to ask someone about their day.

How’s it going?

What are you up to?

Did you have a good day?

Sometimes we listen and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes the question is asked only in an attempt to break the ice. In other cases, it is asked to create a distraction, shift the focus, or break up the monotony.

Describing What’s Interesting

When people respond about their day, they are often telling their story. Perhaps an attention capturing story. Responding with my day is, “okay,” is very different from, “I’m about to flip out on the boss.”

The shiny object syndrome applies to our workplace life in many ways. It is often suggested that this syndrome means we can’t focus and we’re always chasing something new, different, or presumably more attractive.

As soon as you start a conversation about focus it won’t be long until someone brings up ADD or ADHD. Certainly, this could apply to those who truly have a professional medical diagnosis. However, for everyone, what you focus on is what you get.

Shiny Object Chasing

What you focus on becomes a core part of the story you tell. The story you tell is your narrative. It is how you see and describe what is happening for you and those around you.

Chances are good that everyone has a part of their day that is both good and bad. Sometimes the good things just don’t seem as exciting as the bad.

Instead of looking for what is bad, try looking for what is good. Don’t let the shiny objects be the ones tarnished with doom and gloom. Don’t allow the most exciting things to be made of self-destruction, or worse, team destruction.

There is nothing shiny about gossip, mismanaged conflict, and turmoil.

Stay focused on things that positively, not negatively, are shiny.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

05
Dec 19
-

Project Drama and Workplace Advancement

Tags : attention drama trust workplace

What do project drama and workplace advancement have in common? They both seem to get attention. Are there other commonalities?

Career minded employees are hungry for opportunity. They often create some of the opportunities by attracting attention to their work.

Attention and Trust

Tesla recently smashed some windows on their new prototype truck. Was this a complete failure or was it really intentional to attract more attention?

Failure or success, it improved visibility. They received huge publicity and many preorders.

Many people would quickly suggest that means success. They only question some would ask is, “Can you trust the product?” If the glass breaks that easily, what else may happen?

Research suggests that customers who have experienced product or service challenges but have had their challenge resolved satisfactorily are actually more loyal than those customers who never had a problem at all. It may seem strange, yet it is true.

Project Drama

Back to the workplace. Does the squeaky wheel get the attention? The project that nearly fails as compared to the project that moved flawlessly from step-to-step? Which one received more attention? Which scenario creates more trust?

Many people wonder why Alice was promoted instead of Jane. After all, Alice’s work seems a little shaky.

We are in a society that is craving more and more attention. Social media feeds get flooded every day with attention seeking propaganda. Something as silly as “the cat meme” gets lots of attention. Smudge became popular overnight.

Onlookers often get irritated with attention seekers. Creating project drama is not a recommended practice. Yet, sometimes you have to toot your own horn and make some noise.

Breaking glass, literally, or metaphorically (glass ceiling, perhaps) also seems to attract some attention.

Does it help with workplace advancement? Does it inspire trust and create success?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

25
Jun 18
-

Reporting Problems, Saving The Drama And Delay

Tags : delay drama problems reporting solutions

Show up at the meeting and you’ll hear about the problem. Ask why the project is delayed and you’ll hear about the problem. Reporting problems seems to be the catch all action for buying more time. Is it the right action?

Most projects develop because someone has a problem.

We need to shorten the time from order to ship.

Customers are discovering damaged product because of the packaging.

Sales are down because we lack essential features.

Problems come in a lot of sizes, adding a problem to the problem is commonplace. Perhaps not because it is a stall or delay, but because the discovery brings us to additional aspects of the original problem.

When a problem is left unsolved it is usually because of difficulty with the solution. Easy problems are often fixed first. They are the low hanging fruit, the first problems grabbed and solved.

Problem Drama

Reporting problems is really the easiest part.

What if you bring solutions to the meeting instead? Solutions begin to shake out the flow of work. They initiate a frame around what will be done first, and what should be approached next.

Instead of solutions though, people often bring drama.

This problem is huge.

This problem will stop production, cost a lot of money, and start to erode the customer base.

Often this type of problem reporting starts or ends with the phrase, “Don’t shoot the messenger.”

It is another way of expressing, “I don’t know any solution but this is huge and I can’t wait to see your reaction.”

Reporting Problems

Most people bring problems to the meeting. They seldom bring many solutions.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that the easy problems have already been solved and there is no need for addition discussion. There is seldom drama involved with an already solved problem. It’s over.

The second reason is that it feels easier to ask for help with an unframed problem. The presentation concept is, no one knows the magnitude and we need help.

A different way to report problems at the meeting is to do some of the investigative work first. Answer the questions that you know will be asked. Questions like how will this affect our customers, what is it costing us, and where should we start?

Reporting problems is the easiest part. Solving problems starts with a definition and a frame, otherwise it is mostly just drama and a delay.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

24
May 17
-

Workplace Drama and the High Costs Associated with Managing It

Tags : culture drama efficiency leadership reputation

Ask anyone in middle management or a front line supervisor about workplace distractions and you’re likely to hear about the drama. In what ways is negative and harmful workplace drama costing your organization?

Often front line staff view drama as just a part of their workday. In fact, some of them might be directly responsible for its existence. As a society we might get entertainment value from drama, in the workplace it often isn’t much different.

Management often chooses to ignore drama. It is true that sometimes ignoring it will help it to go away. If the drama doesn’t get any attention, if no one reacts, it might fizzle to nothing. In other cases, it might get louder.

Workplace Drama

What is drama costing your organization? Here are five of many problematic outcomes of workplace drama:

Absenteeism and turnover. Certainly, drama easily connects here. Often someone is the aggressor, which might mean someone else is the victim. No news here, it causes absenteeism and turnover.
Sabotage. Unfortunately, as the drama or conflict escalates so do the consequences. Unfortunately, employees may decide to sabotage another’s work or effort. In some cases, retaliation might be against the entire organization. Extreme drama might also invite theft or other ethical challenges.
Reduced efficiency. When employees become more interested or more focused on the drama it is at the expense of productivity. Water cooler chats might increase and become unproductive. So might texting, emailing, and strategizing for the next (non-business) moves.
Customers and clients. Nothing that takes energy away from serving the customer is probably going to end well. The ill effects of internal drama always affect the customer. In some of the worst cases the drama becomes about the customer. A loss most businesses can’t afford.
Reputation and growth. Most organizations aren’t designed to plateau, the plan is for growth. While all the drama is taking its toll on the energy and excitement of progress, the organization becomes stuck or stalled. Worse, it might begin to decline.

Avoid the Costs

Drama might be entertainment in the movies or on reality television. Workplace drama likely has a cost that you want to avoid.

How your organization defines itself is based on culture. Culture is based on the ideologies and behaviors of its people and the decisions that are made.

Drama is a choice.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: drama

Jul 21

-

Drama Stories

Mar 21

-

Workplace Drama

Drama Habit

Plan for Change

Jul 20

-

Love the Drama

Workplace Division

Leadership Action

Apr 20

-

Obstacles and Validity

Drama Decisions

Dec 19

-

Describing What’s Interesting

Shiny Object Chasing

Dec 19

-

Attention and Trust

Project Drama

Jun 18

-

Problem Drama

Reporting Problems

May 17

-

Workplace Drama

Avoid the Costs

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