“We are in the middle of one of the most profound shifts in human history, where the primary work of mankind is moving from the Industrial Age of “control” to the Knowledge Worker Age of “release.” – Stephen R Covey For centuries people have organised themselves into collective groups. We all know that when we … Continue reading What is High Performance through Engagement?
Unlocking Sustainable High Performance: The Power of the Three-Legged Stool
In the context of sustainable high performance in an organization, the three-legged stool metaphor represents the three necessary conditions for achieving that goal: Commercial Responsibility, Customer Value, and Culture. The first leg of the stool is Commercial responsibility, which refers to an organization's ability to manage its finances, resources, and operations to ensure its long-term … Continue reading Unlocking Sustainable High Performance: The Power of the Three-Legged Stool
Five Ways Interest-Based Problem-Solving Accelerates Personal Growth and Development at Work
Interest-Based Problem-Solving, an approach rooted in addressing the underlying needs, interests, and concerns of all parties involved, has gained prominence as an effective method for conflict resolution and collaboration in the workplace. In addition to fostering stronger working relationships, this method can also accelerate personal growth and development. By incorporating elements of Robert Kegan's Constructive … Continue reading Five Ways Interest-Based Problem-Solving Accelerates Personal Growth and Development at Work
How to evaporate Conflict, reduce Silos and stop Bloating in your organisation
Discover the Power of finding Synergy between Commercial Responsibility, Customer Value, and Culture Are you tired of the conflict, silos and bloating that stop your organisation from delivering on its potential? Do you want more collaboration, flow and throughput to drive performance and achieve more for your organisation? If so, then this webinar could be for you! Join … Continue reading How to evaporate Conflict, reduce Silos and stop Bloating in your organisation
What is Interest-Based Problem-Solving?
It is estimated that employees spend 42% of their time engaging in or attempting to resolve conflict and 20% of Managers' time is consumed with conflict-related issues. Masters and Albright (2002), in The Complete Guide to Conflict Resolution in the Workplace, point out that people thrive on conflict in most areas of their lives–football games, political debates, legal disputes–yet … Continue reading What is Interest-Based Problem-Solving?
You can do work that matters for people who care.
This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See by Seth Godin Seth Godin has taught and inspired millions of entrepreneurs, marketers, leaders, and fans from all walks of life, via his blog, online courses, lectures, and bestselling books. He is the inventor of countless ideas that have made their way into … Continue reading You can do work that matters for people who care.
Ladies and gentlemen. The financial performance is not enough! A word from Goldratt.
"Ladies and gentleman. The financial performance is not enough. The real thing is the harmony within the company. If you have the harmony within the company the financial performance will arrive. If you don’t have the harmony inside the company the financial performance, even if you have them, will be lost. The real key is … Continue reading Ladies and gentlemen. The financial performance is not enough! A word from Goldratt.
There are three necessary conditions for sustainable high performance. Commercial Responsibility, Consumer Value AND Culture.
Alex Rogo, the new executive vice president of UniCo, must turn around three newly acquired companies, knowing that if he succeeds, they will be sold off and the new owners will replace him, and if he fails, the companies will be closed--in either case, he will likely be fired. Using the unique business-novel format, It's Not … Continue reading There are three necessary conditions for sustainable high performance. Commercial Responsibility, Consumer Value AND Culture.
Exploitation and Subordination Reframed as Productivity and Utility
This article was first published on LinkedIn by Dr Kelvyn Youngman. It is re-published here with permission. Introduction Very few people understand subordination. No, it's true! In contrast, almost everyone understands exploitation. So, how can this be? Well, exploitation is instinctful and subordination is not. Subordination is thoughtful. We most easily understand exploitation, instinctfully, as a matter of … Continue reading Exploitation and Subordination Reframed as Productivity and Utility
“Perhaps the majority on either side do not believe that it is possible so to arrange their mutual relations that their interests become identical.”
"It would seem to be so self‑evident that maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with maximum prosperity for the employé, ought to be the two leading objects of management, that even to state this fact should be unnecessary. And yet there is no question that, throughout the industrial world, a large part of the organization … Continue reading “Perhaps the majority on either side do not believe that it is possible so to arrange their mutual relations that their interests become identical.”
‘Command and Control’ or ‘Facilitate and Release’
“We are in the middle of one of the most profound shifts in human history, where the primary work of mankind is moving from the Industrial Age of “control” to the Knowledge Worker Age of “release.”Stephen R Covey The quote above is from the foreword of "Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning … Continue reading ‘Command and Control’ or ‘Facilitate and Release’
The largest continuing hemorrhaging cost in every organisation is …
“The largest continuing hemorrhaging cost in every organisation is the time that people are wasting basically protecting and looking out for themselves.”- Robert Kegan
Focus on improving the parts or focus on improving the whole?
Can we move the whole by focusing on just one part? I wonder what Archimedes would have said?
High Performance Engagement, Air New Zealand, and the 3C’s
“The thing for me is recognising that, as a business leader, you have a responsibility to lead a company for the future, leaving it in a better place in five, 10, 15, or 20 years’ time. My job is to make sure that commercials are strong, the customer experience is great, the culture of the … Continue reading High Performance Engagement, Air New Zealand, and the 3C’s
Remove resistance or harness it?
There are fundamentally two approaches to dealing with resistance to change. First, we can see the power in it and utilise it in the same way as Dr. Kegan and Dr. Lahey suggest in my last post or, we can see it as harmful and try to eliminate it. In 2001 Prof. Victoria Mabin and … Continue reading Remove resistance or harness it?
Facilitating change – the real issues are …
"It's worth remembering that we lived in tribes for millennia, long before we learned how to speak. Emotional connection is our default. We only added words and symbolic logic much later. There are a few places where all that matters is the words. Where the force of logic is sufficient to change the moment. The rest … Continue reading Facilitating change – the real issues are …
How Culture Works
What is culture?'Culture' is a term that has become an important part of any organisation's vocabulary and a defining characteristic when talking about the organisation to both employees and customers. However, what it really means, how it works, and the impact it has on performance are often misunderstood. At Human Synergistics International, they define "culture" in … Continue reading How Culture Works
How we resist change.
In a previous post I described Efrat's Cloud, a very effective way to explain why we resist change. Human thinking and behaviour is very complex. In order to make something complex easier to understand a picture can paint a thousand words. While Efrat's cloud is a picture that describes the dynamics of our thinking and … Continue reading How we resist change.
Can the Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI) be used as a cultural diagnostic?
The Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI) is one of the Human Synergistics International tools for individuals. It is actually two tools: The first is Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI 1). This tool provides participants with the answer to the question “How do I think I think?” The second is Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI 2). This tool provides participants … Continue reading Can the Life Styles Inventory™ (LSI) be used as a cultural diagnostic?
How efficient is a fire engine?
Fire engines are really important. When someone's house or business is burning down or there is a major problem it will often be a fire engine that "saves the day". That is why they have real value. But, when things are quiet, fire engines just sit there doing nothing. What is worse is that they … Continue reading How efficient is a fire engine?