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I am reading from the book the Three Laws of Performance by Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan. They point out that one of the flaws of some management systems is the fragmentation of accountability. That struck a chord.

I have often seen managers and departments work only for their silos.

-   “We don’t need to know how they will deliver”.
-   “We don’t know if they can implement timely “.
-   “Who cares if operations, has the capacity”.
-    “Our job is to sell then ... << MORE >>

I just finished the book, How the Mighty fall by Jim Collins. In this book, he explores how once great companies fall from their pinnacle of success. One of the things that I noticed was that companies were more successful when they grew their own talent. Often times when the mighty companies were in decline, they would look to outside leaders to “save” them.

This in turn made me think of an article I read recently by Jeffrey Pfeffer on www.BNET.com He explored a study by Professor Boris Groysberg, of the Harvard Business ... << MORE >>

I just returned from conducting Mock Interviews with Good Will to Work . It is a program to help High School kids prepare for the work force. What a great experience on so many levels.

First there were at least a dozen volunteers to conduct the interviews. These are people that gave up “money time” to help a bunch of kids. These were small business owners, Entrepreneurs, HR professionals and young professionals. I am encouraged by their willingness to plant seeds for tomorrow.

Second, I met a young entrepreneur with the coolest product. They teach Work Ethic and Certify  an embrace of Work Ethic through an online course. As a more experienced business leader I cannot count the number of times I have heard someone say, “These kids have no work ethic”.  The A Game www.TheAGame.com teaches people, skills that lead to work ethic. Things I am not sure we can measure like:  

Attitude                         Attendance                                 Appearance
Ambition                      Accountability                             Acceptance
Appreciation

And yet they have results from clients that demonstrate a marked improvement in satisfaction in workers after they go through this course.

Finally the kids; they were between 14 and 21 years old. They had been in the Goodwill to Work program for just four days. For many this was their first attempt at anything like an interview. They had been coached well though.

Friends there is hope I found these kids and young adults to be articulate (some more than others), ambitious, eager, enthusiastic and willing to work. That was a common theme from them all; they were eager and willing to work.

I share this with you because I have been involved in several conversations and discussions about how can business leaders find workers willing to work, that can communicate and that are willing to solve problems?

 Let me suggest a place, Goodwill to Work

    

Earlier this week in an exercise the question, “Why do you always have to play fair, life isn’t…” was asked.

The readers of this blog know that I have a firm belief that the things that are hard to measure make a measurable difference in our success and quality of life. I am talking about things like, Truth, Generosity, Attitude and so on. When the question of fairness hit the radar my reaction was, “Hell yes, we have to play fair. ” However, do we?
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I have been reading recently Bob Burgs new book, Go-Givers Sell More. In it he points out that our job in business is to create value. (I like this guy already). It is through value creation that people will willingly pay us. The more value we create the better we are paid. Pretty simple equation isn’t it.

Here is where it gets interesting. He demonstrates the value of an attitude with the experience of staying at a Ritz Carlton Hotel. We all know this is one of the more expensive chains in the world. ... << MORE >>

I have been giving a lot of thought recently to the role of intentions in business. I believe they are one of the keys to our long-term success. Most companies are started with an intention to deliver something better or to solve a problem that has not been solved. As they deliver value, they get more customers. As value goes up so typically does their revenue.

Over time, the intentions of individuals and organizations may change, sometimes consciously and sometimes not. I worked for a company many ... << MORE >>

I recently read a post by Sandy Styer From Trusted Advisor Associates. It dealt with Apollo 13 and the model of collaboration that the Ground Control crew demonstrated for us. It is a great article and you really should go read it here.

What leapt out at me was her sentence, “First, it’s no coincidence that the space missions were called missions. They weren’t projects or details or jobs, but missions. It took over 400,000 people to get a spacecraft launched, and all of them had a clear and ... << MORE >>

In order to be successful organizations need to have goals and destinations. The paradox is that when we manage so tightly to the interim steps – when we get attached to the interim goals we often lose sight of the bigger picture and our team can come under attack …FROM US!

If you think about a sea voyage or plane trip, the vessel is off course most of the time. (Missing the interim goals) The Navigator makes adjustments and pulls ... << MORE >>

I don’t watch a lot of sports but one story has captured my attention recently. It was a game between the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Indians. In this game the First Base Umpire clearly made a call in error in calling the runner Jason Donald Safe.

Later Joyce publicly apologized to the Pitcher Armando Galarraga and said, “I was wrong, and I cost him a perfect game.” WOW. You don’t see umpires admit they were wrong very often. It is even rarer when they admit it publicly.

Now ... << MORE >>

A few weeks ago, I started what will become a series of posts on the type of things that make up the “Immeasurable Things That Make a Measurable Difference”, those behaviors and beliefs that while we cannot measure them, they make a measurable difference in the quality of our careers and our lives and dare I say it, the world!  One of those behaviors is the structuring of our environment. I believe we operate in three environments the physical, mental and emotional.

The Chinese have a field of study devoted to ... << MORE >>