Change comes upon us gradually. Change comes in our organizations when we hire one person, and then two, and then more, who think differently about the mission, vision, values, and goals of the organization. Change comes when the people (or persons) at the top of a hierarchy choose to give Read more…
There are 200 bad drawings inside every comic book artist. Just as there are an estimated 1,000 bad words/turns of phrase inside of every writer. And there are a certain number of below quality (or poor quality) teaching or training experiences inside of every teacher and trainer. There are 1,500 Read more…
The resistance to needed changes in your organization is insidious, pernicious, persistent and determined. And if you are committed to making changes by grappling with the resistance, your approach to resistant people, resistant systems, and resistant attitudes should be as well.
Rejection comes in a litany of flavors: “We don’t have any conflicts here.” “We deal with conflicts really well here.” “We don’t really need your services right now, but if we do, we’ll give you a call.” “[silence]. Who are you again?” “How do you say your name?” “I don’t Read more…
Organizational inertia is exacerbated when leaders succumb to the strong forces of temptations. Temptations for organizational leaders include (but are not limited to) maintaining the status quo, keeping the bureaucracy in place, and making sure that the can gets kicked far enough down the road that any consequences from that Read more…
Caring costs. It costs to be empathetic to your employees’ emotional needs. It costs to be mindful of the non-verbal messages you’re role modeling. It costs to be engaged all the time in the active act of actively listening. It costs to develop connections that gain you nothing in the Read more…
The question that academics should be asking (and answering) is this one: “What value do I add to a college students’ experience in a world where information is just a Google search away?” The answer to this question requires academics to admit, out loud, that research may not be the Read more…
Human beings built many (if not all) of the systems we are surrounded by every day. Flawed, replaceable, myopic, visionary, human beings. Language systems. Monetary systems. Housing systems. Legal systems. Travel systems. Resource allocation systems. Organizational systems. Cultural systems. Religious systems. There’s nothing inherent in our DNA that drives us Read more…
When faced with a project there are three places to thrash: Early—before the project begins. Middle—as the project is proceeding. Late—as the project ends. When you (or your team) thrashes early, brainstorming becomes a way to develop new ideas. Speed and immediacy become the primary goals of early thrashing: Speed Read more…
When we tell someone to “stay in their lane.” When we say to a group of people, “your people have never done that before.” When we tell an individual that, “people like you don’t do things like that.” When we say, “we don’t want that idea here.” When we assert, Read more…