Archive for 'Innovation'
The Carrot Principle by Chester Elton — Book Brief
Posted on 29. Jun, 2009 by admin.
Continue Reading
Kids and Working: We Need to Get to Them Earlier
Posted on 17. Apr, 2009 by admin.
Most managers look at the generation coming out of school with a fair degree of skepticism that they’ll be able to make a serious contribution early on.
To a large extent, this view is accurate. Most young women and men aren’t adequately prepared to deliver even minimum wage value. Often times it’s a lack of basic skills but, too frequently, it’s the attitude toward work.
A lot of kids want money and know they have to work to get it, but they don’t care much for actually doing it. Work looks boring, tedious, repetitive, uninspiring, and generally uncool. Maybe this is because we’ve…
Continue Reading
The Power of (Re)creation
Posted on 24. Mar, 2009 by admin.
I have trained a lot of people over the years and the courses I originally wrote and produced have held up well throughout continual change.
Truth be known, I’ve changed a lot as well. Because I’m not the same person I was almost a decade ago when I created the initial materials, I prefer not to present some of those courses. The information is still solid and value is high, but I’ve moved on and…
Continue Reading
How to Leverage Training (Part 2): Our Initial Results
Posted on 17. Mar, 2009 by admin.
In my last post I discussed the concept of making training — rather the followup to training — something that the entire staff can take part in. If you missed it, you’ll benefit from getting the background with How to Leverage Training (Pt. 1) — How to Make it a Whole Team Activity. This sets the stage for what’s in this segment.
We’ll report on our progress incrementally
When I decided to write about our shared training experience I figured I would let it all play out, and then report on the outcome. That changed when I…
Continue Reading
How to Leverage Training (Pt. 1): Make It a Whole Team Activity
Posted on 10. Mar, 2009 by admin.
Imagine if you could multiply the benefits of training, easily and in a way that produces greater value for all involved. That’s what I’m going to give you in this post.
Our story
We recently closed our company for a full day — mid-week — so that each member of our team could attend a leadership teleconference; 10 world class speakers and thought leaders, who deliver exceptional value that touches attendees in many ways.
For a small company this is no small undertaking. It would mean that work would pile up that had to be done the next day, and no sales calls would be made. It was a zero revenue day, and we had projects with deadlines.
Our manager felt that it would be a good time for the whole team to have a shared learning experience. I trust her judgment and during the course I began to think of a way to not just leverage the training benefit, but to…
Continue Reading
Stop Pigeonholing Workers — Learn More
Posted on 28. Feb, 2009 by admin.
How many managers hire someone for a specific set of tasks and then forget that they hired a whole human being who is full of undocumented skills and capabilities?
Answer: Too many.
And we lose a big advantage as a result.
Why do we pigeonhole people?
When we hire people we conduct the interview(s) and scan the resumé for red flags, but we probably don’t go very much in depth with them, learning what else they can do. I think this is fumbling…
Continue Reading
For Zen Habits Readers…Some Afterthoughts
Posted on 21. Feb, 2009 by admin.
Welcome to the Zen Habits readers who clicked over after reading my post on Five Strategies For Surviving a Tough Boss.
Since finishing that article I’ve been thinking how the problem could be avoided from the very beginning. Would it be possible to create an environment where your manager would know — right from the start — that you would not be an easy target for unfair treatment or aggression?
There is. Like anything else, it will take some work but…
Continue Reading
Force Leadership on People When You Have to
Posted on 21. Feb, 2009 by admin.
Imagine that you own a business and have poured years into the development of a successor, but the closer you get to the transition of power this person shows only moderate interest in assuming the leadership role.
Add in that this is a family member so the thought of developing another person, just in case the heir apparent changed his/her mind, was an option seldom considered at all.
Yet, here you are at a time when you figured you would have your plan solidly in place and you could prepare for the next stage of your career and life — and it’s not even close.
What would you do?
Continue Reading
Pete Carroll — Something Good Is Just About to Happen
Posted on 07. Jan, 2009 by Jerry Roberts.
Continue Reading
Never Accept a Job or Assignment Without Knowing What Success Looks Like
Posted on 29. Dec, 2008 by Jerry Roberts.
If you’ve ever done the assembly of a complicated holiday gift or a jigsaw puzzle with several hundred pieces, you know that it’s impossible without one thing:




