We celebrated Jukka Soikkeli’s 20+ years at Nokia Research Center at Cafe Fino in Palo Alto last night. Besides learning about Jukka’s penchant for Corvettes, and some of his tangible and intangible contributions to (and through) Nokia, it was noted that Jukka is a prototypical Finn: a man of few words, the wisdom of which often becomes evident well after they are uttered. In keeping with this tradition, Jukka gave a rather short speech, although the wisdom (for me) was immediately apparent. One of the things he emphasized was the importance of passion as the key ingredient behind successes he’d witnessed (and promoted) in his years at Nokia. He encouraged those of us who will be continuing on with the firm to not pay so much attention to what people further up the chain are saying [I’m suddenly struck by the multiple interpretations one might associate with the "chains of command(s)"], but to follow our instincts when we’re on to something we truly believe is important. [I’ve posted a separate entry on following my instincts in sharing my passion for Amarone last night on my wine blog]
The topic(s) of passion, instincts and authority provided an undercurrent to many of the discussions I had throughout the rest of the evening with several of my colleagues here at Nokia Research Center Palo Alto. I believe everyone believes in the power of passion, but some of the people who have been with NRC for a long period of time have experienced or witnessed changes that I’ve heard variously described with terms ranging from gentle breezes to earthquakes. While we are regularly encouraged to take risks here, it’s very challenging to take risks in an environment that is not perceived as offering a high level of trust and support. NRC Palo Alto is a new lab, and as such we are co-creating a new culture; as we develop and apply our skills in technical areas, we need to consciously cultivate the kinds of social and community support that will offer the scaffolding needed for bold[er] actions … and to recognize that we are all leaders in this effort.
I wrote recently about how I feel I’m really coming alive again, after having lived and worked through some winds of change and groundshaking experiences myself (in both the personal and professional dimensions). I still feel very much the new kid on the block, having been here just
over 6 months, and coupled with my natural naivete and unbridled
optimism, I have high hopes about our prospects for creating a high
trust environment that will encourage the kinds of risks we’ll need to
take in order to succeed.
Mashing up the wisdom of Jukka with a quote often attributed to Harold Thurman Whitman:
Don’t ask yourself what
the worldNokia needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that. Because whatthe worldNokia needs is people who have come alive.
Comments
5 responses to “Fino, Finis, Finnish: Jukka Soikkeli’s Farewell Party (and the Power of Passion)”
How about this one, Joe, looking it more practical and/or realistic?
“Don’t ask yourself what the ? needs. Ask yourself what keeps you and makes you come alive, and then go and find a way to do that. Because what the ? needs is people who can stay alive and make things happen and come alive”
Ramin: Thanks for the comment.
In addition to my naivete and optimism, I tend to be idealistic (if that’s not obvious from this and other posts). That said, I recognize that survival (or physiological and safety issues, using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs) is a more fundamental human need than self-actualization. While it is possible to address both levels of needs, I suspect that most people who are focusing on surviving (keeping alive) are not focusing on thriving (coming alive). I interpret Jukka’s comments as focusing more on thriving than on surviving … though as a 20+ year veteran of NRC, I imagine he has found a way to do both (and perhaps thereby exemplifying your mashup of the quote).
As a research lab, I hope we can invent new ways of supporting the more basic needs at the lower levels of the pyramid. However, I hope we can also design, develop and deploy technologies that will help people climb to higher levels. And to do that, I believe we need to operate at those higher levels (as designers and builders) ourselves, By consciously cultivating a culture of trust, I’m hoping that we can build the scaffolding that will enable people to not simply survive, but to truly thrive (and, by doing so, fostering the creation of new technologies that will help others to thrive).
Nokia has at least one passionate person on their staff
Its wicked to see an entire blog post dedicated to passion. I have one quote to add Joe:It’s a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. – American BeautyI love running this blog because
Joe
The issues you raise in this posting are familiar to me. Someone, a key player, retires and in a farewell speech urges others to express their passion and take risks. How frequently I have heard of such advice, almost like that given in an exit interview, telling a truth that was not so safely expressed except on the way out the door. This says something of the reality of the culture — that those who have succeeded have done so by following the rules and “chain of command,” by not taking the very risks that others are now encouraged to take. This above/below the water-line dynamic, at one level aiming to inspire others and at quite another implicitly warning them about what not to do, means there is much work ahead to genuinely create the kind of culture that can in fact foster innovation.
Risk and trust are tied together closely. Recent research suggests that teams that learn are the ones that can openly discuss problems and mistakes together safely, and the way to that safety is through the leader’s own behavior. Does he or she ask for feedback, openly encourage people to bring forward issues and problems, and does the leader then foster meaningful action and response? It’s one thing to encourage people to speak up; quite another for people to actually try it and then see that this results in positive change rather than negative repercussions. By comparison teams that appear to be doing things perfectly are actually the ones learning nothing, precisely because the reality of the conflicts, mistakes, and problems are officially “undiscussable.”
I believe you are asking the right questions, Joe, and are breaking through the “self-sealing” aspects of organization. To express what you have expressed is perhaps already a risk but definitely on the right track. People need to talk about their perceptions of how encouraging, supportive, trust-based, and stimulating the environment really is — and what it would take to make things better. They need to talk about ways to create safety, connection, and reward for “experiements,” even the ones that fail. People need to find ways to share in their mutual learning, mutual exploration of ideas, and actions — the ones that succeeded and the ones that represented pure learning. From my standpoint, this requires people to be more open, community-based, and actually caring for one another. Without that care, truth becomes a rarer and rarer commodity, and without the truth, real innovation cannot survive. And none of this occurs without the single, indefinable quality called leadership, first and especially demonstrated by those with formal power….
Dan: thanks for your support and encouragement (here and elsewhere), and for injecting your insightful notion of undisussables into the discussion. I’m also reminded of your earlier pointer to Amy Edmondson‘s work on failing to learn and learning to fail.
I want to emphasize that our culture (at the relatively new Nokia Research Center Palo Alto lab) is very much “under construction”, and that I have very high hopes for our leadership (formal and informal). I would not have come here if I didn’t believe that we can walk this talk, but I welcome the ongoing support and encouragement by you (and others inside and outside the organization) as we proceed, mistake by mistake, and (perhaps, thereby) success by success.