Hothousing vs.Greenhousing

“A 2009 Question - Hothousing vs.Greenhousing,
what approach will you be taking to deliver the best results ...”

Hothousing is a competitive environment where ideas compete, are rapidly evaluated and dismissed; the winning idea is then implemented.

Greenhousing is a nurturing environment where ideas are focussed and invested in; ideas are protected and given time to mature before being evaluated and taken forwards to implementation.

In Hothousing there is a very real danger that potentially successful ideas can be killed before they have had an opportunity to develop and prove their worth. There is also a risk that the rapid timescales involved in Hothousing mean that the problem is never really understood (often the problem you start working on is not necessarily the one you end up having to solve). There is also the risk that the evaluation criteria may be based more on the strong personalities of team members in the winning team than on the proposed solution. Early commitment is made to a solution and a course is set that then becomes very difficult to change if the solution starts to look a little shaky.

In Greenhousing specific ideas are focussed on and nurtured; given time to develop and protected until their true value can be assessed. This means that the assessments are based more on the merits of the solution than on the team presenting it. Also, if there are flaws in the solution their is opportunity to identify and remedy before any final decision is made. This approach can be seen as more risky because it requires investment and comitment to specific ideas that may not work out; however the approach does offer a greater degree of success and a better end solution than Hothousing. If you take a medium to long-term view then this approach does offer a greater return for the commitment.
Source: Random Thoughts

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How To Breaking the Glass Ceiling

“Steps to breaking the glass ceiling ...”

Hobnob With The Bigwigs

According to stereotype, women are better at developing relationships than men. But that's not true in the corporate world, says Carol Gallagher, author of Going to the Top.

Women tend to put their heads down and finish their work, assuming they'll get noticed, she said. "Guys are out playing golf and networking," she says. The men gain valuable connections.

They also learn about big-picture strategic issues, knowledge that helps them climb to the top.

Don't Nitpick

Women tend to obsess about details, says Gallagher. She's seen women in board meetings contradict a presenter when one fact was wrong in a document. That offends the presenter, she says, without accomplishing much. Men are more likely to let small errors fly in order to preserve their relationships.

Sell Yourself

Make sure your bosses know your ambitions and your capabilities. "Women tend to expect that meritocracy will take place," says Gill Rider, chief leadership officer at Accenture. But meritocracy won't work on its own. Women, like men, need to promote themselves and their achievements.

Ask For More Money

Women are more likely than men to take whatever salary is offered to them, because they don't want to rock the boat. A client of Gallagher's discovered that a junior male colleague was making $100,000 more than she was. She talked to her boss, who saw the error--and perhaps the threat of a lawsuit--and promptly upped her salary by $100,000.

Have Fun

Women burn out, Gallagher says. It's well-known that women do more housework than men. But women also tend to stay in the office, while men are more likely to be out networking and building connections. "Women are fried, exhausted, at the end of the day, the week, the year," Gallagher says. "The men are having more fun."

Take Risks

A client of Gallagher's wanted a new challenge. So she told her boss she was interested in moving to a more senior position. The boss came through with an offer, but it was in a different division that the client knew little about. She turned the offer down. "She didn't want to take the risk because she wasn't sure if she could be perfect at it," Gallagher says. Her husband convinced her to take the job.

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Charisma, a gift or power of leadership or authority

... Charisma plays a huge part in bringing success because it goes hand-in-hand with self-confidence, he says. But although it can be learnt, it can't be faked.

“Charisma is a thing that you either have it or you don't”

First, charisma is entirely subjective: one man’s Martin Luther King is another man’s Iain Duncan Smith.

Secondly, context is everything with charisma: Jack Welch pontificating on the subject of Six Sigma may have been a sight to behold within GE, but would be less impressive on a Friday night at the Wolverhampton branch of Nandos.

Thirdly, the line between charismatic and creepy is a fine one. If you tried to implement all of the aforementioned tips at a champagne reception – especially the “simple touching” and the smiling “through cheekbones” – you could probably clear out the room in seconds.

Source: The Times
Some discoveries ...

charisma is all about “integrity” and being “restless”

charismatic person has three traits:
- they feel emotions strongly,
- they induce these emotions in others,
- they themselves are immune to the influence of other charismatic people.

a major contributing factor to charisma is a broken childhood

your smile should be “pleasant but noncommittal” – it should make you “look like you have a wonderful secret that you will tell or not tell”

And here's some ways on
HOW TO BE MORE CHARISMATIC

General: Open body posture, hands away from face when talking, stand up straight, relax, hands apart with palms forwards or upwards

To an individual: Let people know they matter and you enjoy being around them, develop a genuine smile, nod when they talk, briefly touch them on the upper arm, and maintain eye contact

To a group: Be comfortable as leader, move around to appear enthusiastic, lean slightly forward and look at all parts of the group

Message: Move beyond status quo and make a difference, be controversial, new, simple to understand, counter-intuitive

Speech: Be clear, fluent, forceful and articulate, evoke imagery, use an upbeat tempo, occasionally slow for tension or emphasis

Source: Prof Richard Wiseman


A charismatic person has three attributes, says the professor:

* they feel emotions themselves quite strongly;
* they induce them in others;
* and they are impervious to the influences of other charismatic people.

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