The Little Brown Playbook: Leading a Business Community

The Little Brown Playbook: Leading a Business

Community

Heather MoniganSr. Analog Engineer/Strategic Planner

Intel CorporationFriday October 25, 2013 | 1:30pm - 2:30pm

Facility & Room : BCC, 309 Track : Management and Strategy

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Ground Rules• Although this lecture is based off of principles from an order

of Ancient Benedictine Monks, great care will be taken to be inclusive, gender neutral, and secular (when possible). No specific religion is recommended; rather a call to listen to something bigger than yourself.

• This lecture assumes all agree to the principal of the Golden Rule and commit to its practice.

• The author recognizes multiple, legitimate, alternatives paths to God; and the recognition that some people will also reject this.

• This lecture in no way is meant to Proselytize; but rather suggest rules of how you can conduct yourself. It is not to force your will on others; or my will onto you.

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Golden Rule . . . In Business?• One should treat others as one would like others to treat

oneself

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. . . A Little Story• Global Validation Program Manager (Matrix Manager) of Hard

IP (HIP) Circuit Design of Intel® Atom™ C2000 Product Family• US: California, Oregon, Arizona• India• Mexico• Malaysia• Israel

• Created a Community, not a Team• Personally was studying St. Benedict . . . and something

started to shift . . .

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St. Benedict of Nursia• 480-543• Hermit; didn’t like people – but they still came• Built an Organization, very reluctantly• Created 73 Chapters – known as The Rule of Benedict

If All Work is Prayer . . . What do My Prayers

Say?

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The Little Brown Playbook

• Vow of Obedience• Vow of Stability• Vision• Flexibility• Hospitality• Humility• Vow of Conversion of Life

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VOW OF OBEDIENCE 7

Obedience

• Dictionary.com definition: compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority

•What comes to your mind?• Negative thoughts?•What rules do we Obey in this world?

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Obedience: Etymology

Defining "obedience“Etymology - Latin oboedire - ob = towards; oedire = "to hear“• Meaning: "to hear or listen towards“• Popular English usage: "to follow, heed, comply with

commands or injunctions within a sphere of jurisdiction.“• Hebrew word shama - "to hear, listen; obey“• Greek word hupakouo - "to listen under; obey“• Old English word herknen ("hearken"); both hear and

obey9

Obedience or Listen

• Vow of Obedience = Listen• Listen, O my child . . . and incline the ear of thy

heart, and cheerfully receive and faithfully execute the admonitions of thy loving God, that by the toil of obedience thou mayest return to God . . . (Prologue of St. Benedict's Rules)

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Marketing

Management

Engineering

Manufacturing

Customers

Sales/Marketplace

360 Degrees of Listening

Project Management

Fin

an

ce

Reg

ula

tion

s (

Dom

esti

c &

Glo

bal)

HR

Validation

Technical Support

Legal

Listen - Practical Tips

•General:•Close your Mouth; Open your Ears•Repeat what you Heard• Take time to Quietly Meditate (or

Actively Process – like Journaling or Contemplative Walking)

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Listen - Practical Tips

•Management view: • Have Regular 1:1’s with Each of your

Reports• See your People as Human• Encourage your Reports to see their

Peers as Human• Individual Contributor View:• See your Co-Workers and Manager as

Human13

VOW OF STABILITY 14

Stability

• Anchor or Ground Yourself in Something• Golden Rule• Something Bigger than You• Personal Transition from “Telephone Pole”

to “Bamboo”

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Stability Opens the Door

• Benedict’s Rules• Vision: co-existence• Flexibility: exceptions to rules• Hospitality: welcome the stranger & the

familiar• Humility: community first

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Vision – Practical Tips

•Management view: • Tether yourself to the End Goal• “Green” – Stephen Covey• Individual Contributor View:• All tasks and effort should align with

End Goal• Pushback/question if you don’t

understand the alignment 17

Flexibility – Practical Tips

•Management view: • Stuff Happens; Have Buffer & Patience• Keep both your Humans & End Goal in

mind• Individual Contributor View:• Communicate up & around when Stuff

Happens (where appropriate) 18

Hospitality – Practical Tips

•Management view: •How can you offer comfort?•Honor Wholeness of your Reports:

Dietary Restrictions, Worship Requirements, Culture

• Individual Contributor View:•How can you offer comfort to your

co-workers and manager?19

Humility – Practical Tips

•Management view: • Know What You Don’t Know • Honest Retrospectives• Individual Contributor View:•My Way may not be the Best Way• I am Willing to Learn More

Comment: as a female engineer, humility doesn’t mean you lack confidence or knowledge

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VOW OF CONVERSION OF LIFE 21

Conversion of Life – Practical Tips•Management view: • It’s Not About You• It’s About Nurturing the Community

that You Built• Individual Contributor View:• It’s Really Not About You

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. . . A Story’s End

• Benefits of the Little Brown Playbook• Our Team was the first to successfully

finish our A0 power-on tasks. Then we helped others.• Our Team worked seamlessly with other

internal teams.• Our Team shared Resources and Material

when needed across Geographies.• Our Team was a Community

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The Little Brown Playbook• Vow of Obedience• 360 degrees of Listen

• Vow of Stability• Vision: Tether yourself to your end goal• Flexibility: Stability doesn’t mean rigidness; it means grounded

so that you can answer the call when life happens• Hospitality: What are the needs of your people? Are you

answering this call?• Humility: Serve your team. (Comment: as a female engineer,

humility doesn’t mean you lack confidence or knowledge.)• Vow of Conversion of Life• It’s not about you; everything changes

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Additional Resources• http://www.littlebrownplaybook.com/• Our blog: http://littlebrownplaybook.wordpress.com/• Abby Circles – coming soon!

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Bibliography• The Rule of Saint Benedict (Paperback ) by St. Benedict

(Author) , Timothy Fry (Editor) , Thomas Moore (Foreword)• The Monastery of the Heart: An Invitation to a Meaningful

Life (Paperback) by Joan Chittister• The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century

(Spiritual Legacy Series) [Paperback] by Joan Chittister• St. Benedict's Rule for Business Success Paperback by

Quentin R Skrabec Jr• https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits.php• http://www.holyrule.com/index.htm

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