A Network Perspective

Juniper Networks was founded on innovation and it continues to run deep in our DNA today. We believe in the value of an open network, and this means more than just the technology we create. Juniper also recognizes the value of open people-networks. This idea is explored in the following video with our esteemed partner, Rob Cross.

Rob Cross, associated professor of management at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and research director of The Network Roundtable is a leading expert in the field of social networks and has co-authored The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Gets Done in Organizations as well as Driving Results Through Social Networks. His interest in social, people-networks is around building a network-based organization.

According to Rob, a network-based organization can more easily adapt to the fluid, dynamic reality of our time. They are future oriented and increase innovation while reducing complexity. And they multiply the impact of key talent. Network-based organizations can quickly recognize opportunities and challenges and then coordinate the appropriate responses. 

Recently Rob spoke at a conference in the Valley on the topic of Social Networks and the Network Perspective. He was kind enough to share a few minutes of his time with my Juniper colleague, Chris Ernst.

Enjoy!

Bad day rant

I am having a really bad, no good, terrible kind of day. Okay, it’s actually not that bad – I have buckets to be grateful for and nothing has actually gone wrong.

Yet I just feel so “bleh” and dejected. What’s up with that?

The most interesting part is that I don’t care to make myself feel better. I could rattle off a million things I could do that would put me in a better frame of mind. I have all sorts of coaching tips and tricks to knock me over the doldrums fence. And I have prayers galore that would instantly raise my spirits. But I’m not interested. I am such a happy, up, all is great-all the time kind of gal that I’m finding some strange satisfaction in being unhappy. Now really, what is up with THAT?

Maybe it’s actually an act of compassion. Because I am usually so positive myself, perhaps it is sometimes difficult to relate to others that were born with a more pessimistic (or as they would likely say, reality-driven) streak.

Maybe it’s an act of surrender. If God and the stars and nature and whatever other voodoo-jou-jou is conspiring to make me have a rough day, then I’m best to just accept it. Why fight the toxicity when you can just let it flow right past.

It could be an act of prescience. Maybe this is just the wake up call I need to realize some ailing element in my life. I may look back at this day in weeks to come and recognize that my bad day was the sign of some major change.

Perhaps it’s an act of observation. An opportunity to watch it, question it, examine it – but not attach to it. How very Yogi of me.

Or maybe it’s just a not-so-bad, not-so-great, not-so-terrible day and one should not waste timing writing about in a blog. And instead move on to whatever the next moment holds. Because maybe it will be joy or it will be sadness, but this current bleh moment is moments away from being in the past.

An Interview with HR & Leadership Icon, Dave Ulrich

I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference led by some of the luminary business minds in Human Resources via the RBL Group. Originally another colleague was intended for the spot but had to bow out. Making good on the quote, “Opportunities are never lost; someone will take the one you miss,” I was ecstatic to be asked to fill in. I believe that ‘seize the opportunity’ attitude helped me to reap as much as possible from the experience. And it was quite a transformative experience.

One of the not-to-be-taken-for-granted opportunities was interviewing Dave Ulrich for the Life at Juniper blog. Dave is an HR icon. He has been ranked as both the #1 most influential person in HR and the #1 most influential international thought leader in HR several times by HR Magazine. Dave also has been named one of the 10 most innovative and creative thinkers by Fast Company, ranked as the #1 management educator and guru by Business Week and listed in Forbes as one of the “world’s top five” business coaches. Not to mention being an all around really nice guy.

Please enjoy reading the thoughts Dave was kind enough to share.

Josie:  

You have several upcoming book releases, what are some of the topics you'll cover?

Dave:  

We are very excited about books on both HR and leadership.

In HR, we hope to define the way forward by looking at HR from the Outside In (both a book title and the message) where we show that strategic HR can evolve to outside/in where HR connects work to external stakeholders and business conditions.  And, we have global HR Competencies (another book) where we report the competencies required of HR in each global region to deliver on the outside/in expectations.  We are very grateful for our partners in our HR competency research.

In leadership, we have two books.  One is the next step in our leadership journey.  We have talked about why leadership matters (why the bottom line isn’t) and about what leadership required (Leadership Code andLeadership Brand).  Our book on leadership sustainability focuses on how leaders implement what they start; how they make sure that their desired outcomes actually happen.  Our other book, leadership in Asia Pacific, reports innovative research on how leadership occurs in different Asian markets (China, Thailand, Malaysia).

Josie: 

What factors are making these topics so critical?

Dave:  

A number of years ago the US military came up with the term VUCA to describe world conditions: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.  These external conditions continue and in these conditions external stakeholders (customer, investors, suppliers, regulators, communities) have demanding and changing expectations.  Organizations who do not anticipate and respond will fail; organizations who build agility, flexibility, and capacity for change into their cultures will likely survive.

Josie:  

Why should people outside the human resources function care about HR?

Dave:  

Senior leaders care about human resources because HR professionals inform decisions about individual talent, organization capabilities, and leadership.  When talent, capabilities, and leadership align with external expectations, organizations sustain their competitive advantage.

Employees care about HR because HR shapes an employee value proposition to ensure that employees receive meaningful value for the work that they contribute.  In our Why of Work book, we suggest that employees not only get economic value, but meaningful work from the work they do.

Josie:  

What is the next big thing on the horizon that is going to shift the way we experience and think about work?

Dave:  

Whew…wish I knew for sure.   My sense is that work is being redefined through technology.  Technology allows for shared information so decisions are made differently.  Technology enables a mobile workforce so that the boundaries of work are redefined.  Technology redefines time and relationships so work is done anywhere, anytime, with anyone.  Technology speeds decisions, changes where and how work is done.  Technology also intrudes in personal lives.

I am grateful to Dave for taking the time not only to respond to these questions but also to generously provide a 30-minute 1:1 coaching opportunity to many of the conference participants. That single mentoring session has provided me with a career’s worth of aspirations and goals.

If you were given the same opportunity to pitch a few questions to a megastar in your professional field, what would you ask?

How would YOU respond to the final two questions I posed to Dave?

My Thermostat: Is Seeing, Believing?

Living in the Midwest has been interesting this summer. More articulately, it’s been hot. Record heat, dramatic drought, it’s definitely been trying. And so thank goodness I’m fortunate enough to have an air-conditioned home; even if I keep the thermostat set high. I like the heat, but I do have a limit.

It seems my air conditioner had a limit, too. Somewhere around the fourth consecutive day of 105+ degree temperatures I noticed my home was warmer than usual. It was in the evening and the thermostat thermometer read 79 so I decided to sleep on it and see what the next day brought. (Rookie homeowner mistake.) The next day I was met with unquestionable heat and a thermostat in the 90s. The repairmen were booked for the day, “Oh, honey you should have called last night, you know we book up all our appointments the evening prior.”

I sweated through another balmy night and the next day the repairman arrived, replaced some stuff and voila! cool air was once again blowing through the vents. At this point it was afternoon so my house had been baking in the sun and had no intention of cooling off quickly. Cut to later that evening, the thermostat now reads 87 but surely the house couldn’t still be that warm. I hold my hand up to the air vent and yes that is definitely cool air. I think it’s cool air. It seems cool. Hmm. Well, it’s definitely air moving. I ask my friend who has braved the sauna-house and she confirms it doesn’t feel like 87. But maybe it’s just because it’s so hot outside? Hard to tell, really.

Finally, after the sun set and my house had a fair chance in the fight to cool it, my thermostat returned to its usual temperature and the house felt ‘right’ again. As I settled into bed, comfortable for the first time in several days, I reflected on how strange it was to “feel” something but to “see” something else. My senses were telling me cold air was blowing and that the house was cooling off and yet my brain was processing a numerical figure and trying to make right the dissonance.

Oftentimes with faith we ask to see so that we may believe; “Just give me a sign, God.” But sometimes what we see makes us question what we believe; “How could a loving God do that?” As a perpetual optimist, I’m often slapped with the comment; “You simply see what you want to see.” And as a Catholic who sometimes struggles with the institution; “You only believe what you choose to believe.”

Maybe it’s a classic “both, and” situation. Both the house was hot, and the air was cool. Both my brain, and my senses were ‘right’ in their judgment. Seeing is both believing, and doubting. Just as faith may be both anchoring and releasing.

Deceptively Simple Questions

Where do you work? What are you working on? Who do you work with?

These questions are often bandied about at cocktail parties as simple conversation-starters. Yet, they’re really rather probing. How often have you stopped to reflect and really consider: Where DO I work? What AM I working on?

Similarly, Patrick Lencioni writes about six critical but deceptively simple questions in his latest book, The Advantage. The exercise is part of a model that includes four disciplines to achieve organizational health.

1. Why do we exist?
   The answer to this question will yield a core purpose.
2. How do we behave?
   This question examines behaviors and values required for success.
3. What do we do?
   This answer provides a simple, direct explanation of the company.
4. How will we succeed?
   This question requires the team members to develop a strategy.
5. What is most important, right now?
   The answer to this question is the establishment of a unifying thematic goal and action plan.
6. Who must do what?
   This question addresses roles and responsibilities.

Next comes the task of communication. Steps 3 and 4 in Lencioni’s Healthy Organization model are to over-communicate the clarity created from answering the six critical questions and then to reinforce the clarity/communication. Lencioni says the sign of a good parent is if their kids can do an impression of them when they’re not around, “Don’t stay out after midnight, nothing good can happen.” The same is true for good leaders. Unless your line managers, your junior contributors and your executive VPs can all mimic you, “We have to get XX right, we can not get it wrong.” then you’re not yet doing your job.

We often hear, “Do what you say, and say what you do.” But if nobody’s paying attention or unable to mimic your language and behaviors, then you best change how you’re saying it or change how you’re doing it.

So what are you saying? What are you doing? And to bring it full circle, where do you work? And what are you working on? Here is a quick look at how fellow Juniper colleagues in Engineering took on those deceptively simple questions: 

The Slinky: A Study in the Spectrum of Sin

I recently had an insight (while searching for an alliterative headline) that the Slinky proves an excellent analogy for the spectrum of sin between good and bad that I have been noticing lately. If you will, imagine a slinky from your childhood and label one end “good,” or right relation and one end “bad,” or sin.

Now think about that Slinky when compacted and held tightly together. The distance between the good and bad is very, very short – perhaps an inch. Or if you imagined a metal version versus the plastic kind, that distance may be even less.

Next, consider the Slinky extended wide, accordion-style with one end stretching long to the other end with good to bad being very, very far apart. I think this helps me understand how before, within an inch you could cross from good to bad. But now with the distance of an inch, you are simply one inch away from good. You might even be six inches away from good but still be on the healthy side of the good to bad spectrum. This comforts me when I see where I stand on an issue compared perhaps to where my peer group or family stands on that issue. Even though I may be more liberal or farther away from the “good” starting point, I still haven’t crossed over to the sin side.

Then I also think about a Slinky sitting at the top of a staircase. With just a simple push the Slinky is sent on a collision course of top over bottom, good over bad, good over bad. I’ve also felt like this before in my sin life. Like I’m tumbling over and over and unsure which way is up.

Or, imagine when you hold the Slinky ends in both hands. You lift your left hand, everything cascades to the right. You lift your right hand, everything cascades to the left. Left. Right. Left. Right. Good. Bad. Good. Bad. Just when you think you’ve lost a particular dirty sin, habitual momentum brings it right back.

And then for those who’ve ever seen a toddler with a Slinky, or a Slinky that met its demise through an unfortunate encounter with the family pet, you can see how completely gnarly the spectrum of sin can get. You may be much closer to the opposite end that you realize, all the while thinking you’re comfortably sitting aside good.

All of this is to say that while good and bad may be concrete, defined, black and white concepts, the spectrum of sin seems to expand and contract. It seems to allow more room on some issues than on others and is much harder to pin down.

Where Will You Do Your Best Work?

Full disclosure right up front. I'm a former marketing gal and now an HR gal. I'm clearly going to be biased in my opinions about Juniper and will most definitely espouse the virtues of the company and how great it is to work here. But truth be told, it's honestly how I feel about Juniper. This really IS where I can do my best work.

I've been with the company for a little over 2 years. It was my first corporate gig after an exciting life at various advertising agencies. (As Don Draper would tell you, ad agency years count like dog years.) I was immediately validated for making the right choice, impressed by the brand work being championed, the strength and diversity of the executive team and the vibrant culture of innovators constantly striving to solve problems. After a year at Sunnyvale HQ I took advantage of Juniper's flexible work environment options and attained virtual worker status so I could return to my home state of Missouri and be near family.

Being selected to champion a body of work we call "Life at Juniper" I was exposed to many colleagues around the globe. We interviewed them for videos and an interactive experience that would help tell the Juniper story. A passion was sparked and I recognized a desire to work more closely with the HR organization. Emboldened by the Juniper Way (our guiding principles and corporate values) I trusted my supervisor enough to have an authentic conversation about my career aspirations. Through the strong, interdependent relationships I had forged, that bold aspiration became a reality and I transferred into the HR organization. You surely are starting to see why I think this place is amazing — and unique.

I hope that you will enjoy hearing about Life at Juniper firsthand and encourage you to reach out with questions or topics of interest. There is a lot going on inside Juniper and I'm excited to be a small port hole into that world. And I hope that perhaps this blog may inspire some of you to come and do your best work alongside me.