The Concept of Negative Giving - and Its Positive Impact on Leadership and Performance

I remember when I was a young leader, managing my first really big budget and team, and learning the concept of a Zero Budget Balance or "ZBB." The company I worked for at the time was extremely powerful and on a trajectory of growth that reached the $1 Billion mark in less than 10 years of operations. Our very famous founder and CEO used to regularly brag “we have two billion dollars in the bank” – and that’s with a B.” As a global sales and marketing leader in this organization, I lived like “richy-rich” and yet there was a fierce fiscal discipline and operating culture that demanded “you will not spend beyond your budget.” Budget meant everything from pencils to people to deliverables to dollars.

Zero Budget Balance or ZBB If ZBB methodology had a theme song, it would be captured in the words of  The Circle of Life, the Elton John/ Tim Rice tune from the Lion King. This song touts the truth “there’s more to do that can ever be done” – and you should never take more than you give.” Like any good leader and portfolio/project manager, I learned to live within my budget and to think long and hard about what was most important to get done and of course what had the most impactful return on investment. I thought of the projects and initiatives above the ZBB as the “Greenfield of Execution.” Greenfield, of course, was the word I used as a metaphor for sowing the most important seeds and reaping the most relevant harvest in any given quarter or fiscal year.

The Dark Pool As I got better and better at managing my budget and operating “above the ZBB” – I began to take extra notice to what was below the Zero Budget Line.  I became more and more interested in and conscious of what was NOT being done. I was often deeply aware of the fact that the list of projects and things that we were not doing was almost TWICE AS LONG as the things we were. I also understood that a budget is a budget and a list is a list. Both kinda gnawed at my sense of effectiveness and I began to look at and refer to the projects and work below the ZBB as “The Dark Pool.” “What If”, I thought, “ I started to try to tackle some of this work ?” “What would it teach me?” and what could I gain from trying to get things done with “negative resources?” (meaning there was no approval and/or funding for my dark pool exploration and attempted execution).

What I learned way back when, and have continued to do throughout my entire career, is to view things holistically. Just like black and white, on and off or hot and cold; the Greenfield of Execution and The Dark Pool, I believe, are deeply related. I liken the Greenfield to consciousness and The Dark Pool to work undone, or the unmet need, or the untapped resource, or the secret strength yet uncovered.  I began to review the projects my Dark Pool list as if I was mining for gold. Doing so challenged my thinking and changed my work life and success rate forever.  What I learned is no less powerful than a law of the universe. It was my new truth. I named it “Negative Giving.”

At first, I changed priorities and moved projects from The Dark Pool to the Greenfield and vice versa.  I got a lot clearer about my priorities and about communicating them with my team and executing on them. Things just worked better with my holistic view of the “to be completed” and “what could be done”  lists. Then something really wonderful happened. Once I shared with my team my thinking about the ZBB and the Greenfield of Execution and The Dark Pool, work left undone and struggles unresolved on The Dark Pool list, starting getting done. The team started thinking about and working on The Dark Pool list, and doing so without funding or operational guidelines. My whole team started thinking holistically. Understanding The Dark Pool and its relation to approved projects above the ZBB became a challenge for everyone on the team. Our energy quickened and our productivity clicked into higher gear. Soon everyone was thinking about how to do things differently and more effectively. Solutions to nagging problems appeared.  An innovative idea spawned from trying to solve items on The Dark Pool now helped solve major components of an active project ABOVE the ZBB. My team got to see and work through the whole business of our work and operating unit. I am SURE I witnessed and experienced, firsthand, what W. Edwards Deming called the “unleashed potential and joy of work. “  My team,  a diverse group of wildly talented people with a wide range of perspectives, skills, experiences and abilities; was more productive, more innovative and more connected to each other and our goals than I ever imagined we could be.

Watching my team come alive and unleash their individual and collective untapped potential got me thinking about The Dark Pool and how it relates to personal leadership and performance. I started thinking about “Negative Giving” and how it impacts people and performance.  What came to mind is the Parable in the Bible about the Widow’s Offering (Book of Luke: Chapter 21: Versus 1-4). In this parable Jesus explains that the widow who gave her last two pennies gave more than all other givers combined, for they gave not out of their need, but out of their surplus, or the run-off from their overflowing cup of resources.

The Power of Negative Giving I understand the lesson of the parable of the widow's offering. If a person gives me one of his or her last pennies or one of his or her last two apples fully aware that doing so could lead to their own suffering and perhaps even demise - and STILL chooses to give; well then, THAT's meaningful giving. That kind of giving changes ME. It makes me think of the giver with higher regard. It lets me see their real character. Best of all, it makes me want to give back and not just to them but to others. It gives me a view into the greater good. A window is opened for me, and a view for how to become a better person is provided, when I am the recipient of such giving.  I can only surmise that such giving, or Negative Giving as I like to call it, is what bonded people together during the Great Depression and World War II. I am sure that this kind of giving, even of life and limb , is what makes soldiers in a unit mighty in their fighting efforts.

How Negative Giving Impacts Leadership and Performance I regularly advise overworked individuals and teams. Individual professionals and teams often feel overburdened and overwhelmed.  Many times they have trouble prioritizing work, staying positive and generally staying productive amidst the pressures and demands placed on them.   I have learned that “Negative Giving” can have a significant impact and work wonders to change this experience and the not so stellar results.  Here’s how it works. Take two teams and a couple of individuals on each team and ask them to “give” or work for the other team.  Make the teams swap and share resources they think they don’t have.  Ask one team leader to take a valued resource from what they think is already an over-taxed team and give that resource to another team.  Ask the other team leader to “inherit a newbie” (a person with little or no functional work experience in their sphere of influence) and provide them with full participation and power to contribute to the team (and vice versa). Watch what happens. I am guessing that you’re thinking about the potential outcome.

Through Negative Giving, skills advance, perspectives broaden, unproductive patterns are dislodged, ideas fly, new insights come, energy increases, engagement and enthusiasm rise, individual knowledge of the overall business rises, performance rises, biases decrease, guards drop, cross team bonding, knowledge and support  rise – you get the picture.

How It's Implemented Besides sharing and swapping resources in the example I just gave, there are other ways to implement Negative Giving. Ask individuals on your team to create their own ZBB’s.  Conduct a working-session to compare notes.  Discover hidden thoughts, plans and actions that come out of the process. Ask a Senior Leader to become a regular member (ex: participate and contribute to weekly team meeting) of a Junior Team.  Assemble an innovation team made up of integrated disciplines (members from various functional areas) to derive solutions to a enterprise-wide business problem.  Use your own Dark Pools to expand and grow. Turn negative giving into positive outcomes and results. Untapped potential will begin to emerge and you might even release some intrinsic joy in your work.