The Vitality Imperative. Mickey Connolly

Wonder Principle #1: People want to wonder

       Wonder Principle #2: Differences + trust = brilliance

       Wonder Principle #3: The past is information, not limitation

       Wonder Principle #4: New connections create new possibilities

       Wonder Principle #5: Wonder thrives on appreciation

       Wonder Practice #1: “No, but” versus “Yes, and”

       Wonder Practice #2: Anticipation

       Wonder Practice #3: Look for surprise

       Timing:

       Timing Principle #1: Beware the timing traps!

       Timing Principle #2: Align deeply, act quickly, and adjust often

       Timing Principle #3: Above all, love the question, “What is it time for now?”

       Timing Practice #1: Diagnose, predict, and prescribe

       Timing Practice #2: An adjust protocol

       Timing Practice #3: Make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard

       Surprising Results:

       Surprising Results Principle #1: Transform a popular problem into a 90-day core sample adventure

       Surprising Results Principle #2: Gather support, do all it takes and nothing more

       Surprising Results Principle #3: Establish a core team who will align deeply, act quickly, and adjust often

       Surprising Results Principle #4: Enjoy the fruits of trial, progress, error, and adjustment

       Surprising Results Principle #5: Share the results and lessons widely and appreciate the contributors

       The Vitality Imperative: A Fact-based Fable

       Appreciation

       About Conversant

       Appendix

       Foreword

      I first met Mickey Connolly around 1994 when I was a participant in a leadership class he was leading for managers at Hewlett-Packard Company. At that time, I knew I had connected with someone having genuine curiosity for who I was and what was important to me. By the way, this curiosity was not reserved for myself only– it was extended to each and every person in the room. I remember feeling engaged and more present to the conversation we were all about to have.

      Reflecting on the experience now, I realize that seeing us all as valuable and fascinating individuals was the secret to capturing our willingness to be deeply open with the possibility of making even greater contributions as leaders. It was exciting, energizing, fun, and productive. It’s no surprise that my organization at the time invested so heavily in not just this training but also in the on-going practice of what was modeled in the class. In no small way, this way of working together contributed to the success and exponential growth of HP’s Inkjet business over a ten-year period.

      Many others have explored in part and in different ways what Mickey and his co-authors, Jim and Richard, define as vitality. Often referred to in the corporate world as well-being, employee satisfaction, ownership, and high performance, most of these related concepts only nibble around the edges of what it really takes for people to connect and commit whole heartedly to each other on behalf of accomplishing great things. With this book, Mickey, Jim, and Richard succeed in giving us something larger and more practical—a useful and catalytic definition of vitality at work and what it takes to protect and expand it over time. Their definition encompasses what it means to be human beings at work, and will help you remove barriers to great and rewarding accomplishments in your organization.

      It’s taken a while for people to be ready to hear about vitality. Partly, this is because of deeply-seated, erroneous, centuries-old cultural beliefs. These beliefs assert that as humans, we must make tradeoffs between opposing forces: rational individual self-interest vs. seeking the common and collective good. The premise underlying this belief is that the natural order is the individual and that only out of necessity for survival do we give up some of our personal desires in order to be protected. This is simply not true.

      In fact, great thinkers, such as Adam Smith, Emile Durkheim, George Herbert Mead, and Humberto Maturana have challenged this underlying assumption with logic and evidence that suggest just the opposite. They reveal we are human only because we are socialized. And our nature and the very emergence of our intelligence and well-being are dependent upon our interactions, positive emotions, and solidarity with each other. In short, there is a fundamental human need to live and work together, and to care about one another. The choice between results and community, contribution, and choice is not an either/or. Rather it is a yes/and.

      The autonomy to pursue a meaningful life only has traction in relationship to each other and a shared purpose. Researchers Edward Deci and Richard Ryan have named universal, co-existing human intrinsic needs: relatedness, competence, and autonomy. The Vitality Imperative interprets and expands these essential elements as: community, contribution, and choice. In doing so, it further shatters the damaging notion of either/or thinking. Here’s the good news of The Vitality Imperative: You can both increase organizational vitality and dramatically increase business results!

      As you read, you will discover the power of making community, contribution, and choice available in any organization. This makes you and your team more innovative because you are having fun. It fosters health because you and your team genuinely care and support one another. And it allows you and your team to accomplish the extraordinary because you are smarter collectively. And because no one has to live in fear and isolation, the best ideas emerge and win in an organization committed to fostering vitality.

      As this book reveals, fostering vitality requires keeping seven promises. These promises do not exist only in the cognitive domain. Those committed to keeping them must also develop social, emotional, and physical awareness on the path to becoming connected leaders. For those that do, the rewards are energizing: you and your team successfully achieve the organization’s purposes with confidence, joy, and even enthusiasm. Who wouldn’t want that every day?

      Years ago, while working for a major organization, I was visiting with a colleague about the looming specter of a downsizing and how to best cope. He turned to me and soberly reported, “I know we have great corporate values about respect for