Metaphors yield a surplus of meaning.” – Paul Riceour, French philosopher of linguistics When you driving change you’re often taking people to a place they’ve never been. As it often isn’t a physical place you’re taking them, you don’t have the crutch of photography to rely on. What can you do to paint a picture […]
Surplus of Meaning Read More »
Seth Godin wrote today of Low Esteem and the Factory, of how many companies are still looking for employees they can categorize, command and dominate. He writes: If you want to raise your game and build an organization filled with people who will change everything, the first thing to look for is someone who hasn’t
Keep up the great work Read More »
When Seth Godin tells you to offer your assumptions… Instead of arguing for a course of action based on the status quo or your emotional gut, describe the theory of the case. …he’s outlining the Model II portion of the research and teachings of Chris Argyris. If you want to improve your change driving skills,
Godin, Argyris and Underpants Gnomes Read More »
…we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.” – Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence [July 4, 1776] Maybe your change requires a commitment less than your sacred honor, but it still requires something. You must align what you’re willing to pledge with what your change requires, be that a
Regularly I recharge my change driving batteries by sampling the delightful links my friends send me. As I prepared for the long holiday weekend–Happy 4th of July by the way!–I thought, “Why not offer up some link fuel for my Engine for Change friends?” Enjoy! Charles Green reveals the silly secrets of strategy in You
I slumped in my chair, closed my eyes and sighed under my breath, “Ugh!” What else can you say when you watch a truly urgent plea for transformation closely followed by a detailed paper directing the recipients to perform typical incremental improvement behavior? What can you do when a valiant call for new, purposeful action
5 Steps to Save A Transformation from the Incremental Monsters Read More »
On the days when I wanted to give up I think of a parable Admiral Rickover used to tell. The parable goes something like this, An ancient philosopher came to a city to save its people from their sins. The inhabitants of the city, who at first listened to the philosopher, gradually turned away. One
“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.” — John Wooden A colleague recounted an experience implementing a company-wide quality initiative in a multi-national manufacturing firm. The initiative required employees to make significant changes not only in how they did their jobs, but also in their attitudes toward their responsibilities and the
Involving Employees in a Change Initiative Read More »
On Wednesday I’m off for my first vacation in a very, very long time. For all my Input strength readers (and all the rest), I couldn’t leave you without any delicious new content to devour, so I’ve made arrangements. I’m pleased to welcome Dr. Andrea Shapiro, author of Creating Contagious Commitment, as the first Engine
When I’m sitting around a table after work with my friends sometimes it’s fun to go around the table and tell our “the only one” stories about how one of us has been the only one who’s done something, knows something or has seen something at work. A few of my favorites to tell are:
