Getting on the Same Page – The Power of Team Alignment
I think all of us have felt like the Aflac Duck, quacking our bills off about something really important–if only we could get someone to listen. A great example of a voice that people didn’t listen to was W. Edwards Deming, inventor of process improvement, rejected in the U.S. that catapulted Japan to dominance in the auto industry. Several years ago Carol Kallendorf, PhD and I created a system of alignment that is the key component in organizational success. In those years executives often told us they[…]
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Wile E Coyote and the Battle for the Brain
Do you remember the Roadrunner cartoons? They’re a huge chunk of Americana that you can check out on YouTube. In the cartoons, the Roadrunner never speaks–his only words are a cheery “Beep! Beep!” He’s a cocky bird, zooming over tricky terrains–mountains above, cliffs below. The Road Runner is constantly pursued by his nemesis, Wile E Coyote, whose life goal is to make the Roadrunner his lunch. He contrives elegant inventions worthy of Thomas Edison in order to trap the Roadrunner–it’s only that they always fail. […]
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Organizational Values: From Platitudes to Attitudes
Organizational Values: From Platitudes to Attitudes By Jack Speer and Carol Kallendorf, PhD | September 24, 2019 Are stated values in organizations really valuable? Any entrepreneur will tell you that values are critical. They give an organization direction, define its “DNA” and pull it together. Organizations often do live their values, and we have clients that live them every day. Having said that, when you look at the format in which corporate values are written and presented, they often seem abstract, disconnected–and yes, here I said it–mostly[…]
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The Battle for the Brain
The Battle for the Brain If you want to improve life and profitability in the workplace, take a look at the mental health of your organization. The battle for the brain in the workplace today may by more important than production, sales, and marketing. According to the World Health Organization, the impact of mental health is way underestimated in the workplace. You can prove this today in your workplace by looking around you to see how many projects are either moving along at a snail’s place[…]
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Giving a Lift Without a Free Ride -Dream Come True
I want to make the case to you this week in the Tuesday Report that giving back to others some of what you have received makes good business sense. It’s not just an American value, it makes sense in the boardroom. A shrinking middle class in American and around the world is a shrinking market, which shrinks the opportunity for business. Yet unfortunately traditional charity often does not create opportunity and all too often is part of the poverty trap.I want to make the case[…]
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Agility and Resilience— When Grit and Guts Trump Intelligence and Charm
My Aunt Vera Mae Burkes died this month at the age of 96–she was a remarkable woman and she demonstrated one of humanity’s most valuable traits–agility and resilience. Agility is the ability to adapt to surprising, unexpected changes that life can present to you, and to survive and thrive. Vera Mae and her generation modeled resilience. She was born in rural America in the early years of the 20th Century. Automobiles and radios were new technologies. Electricity and telephones were game changing in their impact[…]
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Who Are You Going to Believe—Really?
Who Are You Going to Believe—Really? Spin, deception, diversion, and outright lies can take a person far on the national level. At the level of your organization, team, and job, if someone asks the question, “How are we doing?” it often depends on who’s doing the asking. After hearing several versions of what’s being said we often want to say, “Who does a person believe? Truth and Transparency on Teams – Not Ever Easy Truth and transparency are the oxygen and water of a successful[…]
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Delta Inc guided us through some mission-critical, challenging and complicated transitions in our company. They have a tremendous ability to build trust and establish credibility and confidence.
- Matt Chasen, Founder and CEO, uShip
