The Carrot Principle by Chester Elton — Book Brief

The Power of (Re)creation

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…

How to Leverage Training (Part 2): Our Initial Results

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…

How to Leverage Training (Pt. 1): Make It a Whole Team Activity

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…

Consistent Feedback is Important to All Workers

In a world that has been reshaped by instant communications via texting and 24/7 social networks, the mere thought of sitting down with a worker once every six or 12 months to provide an evaluation of their progress is nothing short of bizarre.

Everybody knows that a performance review (PR) is a requirement, and is used for not just documenting progress and some planning, it is also a device to justify…

For Zen Habits Readers…Some Afterthoughts

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…