August 4, 2018

Dollens to graduates: Continue to study, learn, listen, challenge

Ronald W. Dollens, Purdue alumnus, retired president and chief executive officer of Guidant Corp., and chairman of the board of Halyard Health, made these comments during Purdue University’s summer commencement on Saturday (Aug. 4, 2018)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Stay Awake! Look Forward! Paint the Picture!

Let me extend my personal congratulations to the newest graduates of Purdue University.

You are proud. Your parents and friends are proud and you should know, your university will take great pride in you and your efforts.

I have to admit, initially, I was concerned that today’s message may not be one of those life altering prose one hopes for.

And then, upon reflection, I realized, not only did I not remember who had spoken at my commencements, I had no clue about the message. I can only assume it was, “Chase your dreams” and, “Try to make the world a better place.”

I hate to seem short-sighted in my youth, but during my commencement, my mind was probably wandering to whether Susie’s newly found teaching position and my weekend job in a pharmacy could handle the rent and tuition during graduate school?

My limited remarks today will not fall into the category of “save the world” ... unless “saving the world” is on your personal agenda. In that case, these observations may prove helpful.

It’s slightly embarrassing to be pragmatic during a celebratory day like today, but let’s start:

First: unless you’re going to be an inventor, a professional athlete, or an individual performer, you’ll need to develop the capability of influencing others and achieving results with and through others.

You may say, “sounds right,” but that’s easier said than done, and I’m not sure influencing others is in my wheelhouse.

The short answer is … this skill is learned. It’s totally available to you, and it’s your decision how influential you wish to be. You’ll need to develop this capability, which is knowledge-based, therefore, subject matter dependent, and that’s before the hard work starts.

So you ask, why will others listen to my ideas and take new risks by following a path that I feel is in their best interest? Is it because you have a degree from Purdue? That’s a good start, but probably not sufficient.

What you need is credibility; you need a reputation. What you need is a “track record.”

Your “track record, your credibility, your history of results, your view of the future, will either encourage or discourage people to listen, consider and join in on your path toward a place that is in THEIR best interest.

How does this track record, this ability to influence, originate? Is it the loud voice in a small room? Is it your presence as a physically attractive, articulate, brilliant, likable person?

The ability to influence requires deep subject matter knowledge, broadly. Some refer to it as vision. Do you understand the complexity and interrelationships in the opportunity you’re trying to pursue or the problem you’re trying to solve?  

Can you learn to anticipate? And understand the implications of future environments?

Can you be forward thinking? What’s next? How will that outcome impact our efforts?

The ability to anticipate is learned. Anticipation is subject matter dependent.

What’s it look like?

In your chosen field.

What defines innovation?

How will technology evolve? What are new applications? When Clay Christensen describes disruptive technology, it has very little to do with technology, but much to do with innovation.

What are the customers’ expectations?

What will they be? What should they be?

Who will be the new customer? Are there or should there be other decision makers?

Are there alternative organizational constructs and novel incentive systems that can influence behaviors?

Are there geopolitical influences that affect our current and future efforts?

Are there policy implications that encourage or discourage where we’re headed?

And may affect the success of the institution or enterprise?

Anticipation requires:

Deep knowledge, a broad understanding (tech, institutions, products, markets, processes, individual and group behaviors).

Therefore, it’s not a transferable skill - unlike management, unlike the ability to execute, where you’re getting things done correctly, in a repeatable, sustainable manner, which also is very, very important.

I hate to bring it up, but if you’re interested in influencing others - or leading - you will need to continue to study, learn, listen, challenge and become very well versed on the dynamics around your industry, institution and environment.

Learn from your experiences; each and every experience provides a learnable moment.

I approached a mentor of mine. He didn’t realize he was my mentor, and I wasn’t looking for one … and I inquired about the youngest individual in the management group. Why was he so insightful, forward thinking, compared to his more experienced counterparts?

He didn’t hesitate but said, “He’s had great experiences and was awake during all of them.”

Learn from others. Remember, everyone wants to be your “mentor.” They may not know it, and you won’t realize it until later.

But please pay attention, but if you want deep knowledge, do as you did in your upper-level courses. Ask penetrating questions and spend time thinking about “what if.”

What are the implications? Can I anticipate what’s next?

Please stay awake, and reflect on what you think you’ve learned, and then rethink those conclusions. It becomes an enjoyable process and intellectually challenging. But at first, it’s a conversation with yourself.

You may ask when will you have time. I barley have time to sleep. The answer is … maybe on that run, or bike ride, or in the shower. When driving down the road you’ll be staring forward and your significant other will ask what are you thinking about. Don’t be completely honest every time. He may get tired of hearing you describe some challenging thoughts from your second-order thinking. When you really are hooked, when you enjoy thinking forward, you will find the time.

OK, anticipation is important, and as our forward-looking view becomes obvious to us, we’re ready to move. Yes?

Well maybe not!

As you know, being right … being correct is almost useless. Unless you can leverage your ideas, generally through others, and cause movement toward a positive result. And that’s called gaining Alignment.

Alignment is the most difficult and hardest work in gaining influence, and for some of us, the least enjoyable, but absolutely a prerequisite to sustainable movement.

Alignment seems easy if you are the boss, but you’re not the boss forever and probably won’t be the lead person initially. How do you make other’s commitment to YOUR vision sustainable?   How do you get them to see this is in THEIR best interest?

Thirty years ago I was transferred to manage a division in the Bay Area. In that role, after a couple of years of great company and technology success, I began to worry about future growth drivers. The company was so profitable we invested in new polymers, composites, laser applications and cryogenic and mechanical cutting - all at the end of a catheter over a guide wire through the coronary arteries of the heart. But what assurance did we have that ours’ would be the approach of choice, sustainably?

Did we have the team or even one inventor that could be so insightful in a predictable, sustainable way? At that same time a young man came in my office and said, ”Ron, a group of individuals I’ve envisioned will be able to  grow the smallest mechanical parts in the world.” He was an inventor, without a college education, and he wanted the company to finance an effort that brought together three Berkeley Ph.D.s, a fellow to write code and two individuals from the machine shop, each already within the company.

I personally felt this truly was the answer. We didn’t need to guess on the next application. We would build our understanding of materials and processes as we approached nanotechnology as a proprietary position to do anything at the end of a catheter, whether therapeutic or diagnostic. But this isn’t a story of  a great vision. This is a story of not understanding the importance of  “alignment.”

The story is: Since I was leading the organization, we proceeded with the project, but when I was no longer the decision maker, the new management wasn’t convinced by this vision and canceled the budget. I hadn’t worked diligently enough or in the correct manner to convince them of this projects’ value for the organization’s future. A big mistake made. A huge lesson learned. 

Anticipation and then Alignment

They are all learned skills, but they start with deep knowledge, which you and Purdue can take credit for enhancing.

I would be remiss if I didn’t identify at least one behavioral asset you will find most helpful.

Everyone enjoys working with people that have a positive view.

One of the most positive persons I ever experienced in business was a gentleman named Hunter Simpson, who founded Physio Control, the first company to commercialize a portable defibrillator. When Physio would announce their quarterly financial results, the University of Washington’s marching band would march through the plant with employees following, leading to a pancake breakfast served by the senior management team.

As his chair of the board and also a legend in the Pacific Northwest, Bagley Wright commented, “Hunter has a wellspring of optimism that seems to never run dry!”

His dogged determination was contagious.

My earliest personal experience of taking the positive view: My Father’s observation every time an ambulance would pass our home … there’s another baby being born! It wasn’t until coming home from Purdue one summer and an ambulance passed and Dad made the same observation … now Dad, if all of those ambulances were delivering babies, western Hendricks County would be experiencing a population explosion. Mother laughed and Dad grinned.

You’ll be leaving campus and you’ll make positive contributions in areas that are hugely diverse. But each will be important … to you … and in aggregate, they will be very important for society.

Enjoy your future, and as Rosabeth  Moss Kantor stated in “When Giants Learn to Dance,” Succeed, Succeed, Succeed. And raise terrific children.

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