Geshido” – Chelsea Grace Google “geshido” and a list of links to a climbing shoe pop up. That’s not the geshido we’re talking about here. Geshido is a word coined by my good friend Chelsea Grace. She uses it as a call to action. “Geshido!” she’ll cry. If you’re part of a Lean obsessed organization, […]
Over the past year or so I’ve worked a lot with Cognitive Edge‘s complexity theory facilitation methods and through that work, a group of people and I have seeded into our organization the term: safe-to-fail. It means creating an experiment to test the organizational response to a certain intervention (e.g.,, a new program, policy or
Last week I introduced you to permissive statements, e.g., “Feel free to…give me honest feedback about my blog.” This week I want to introduce you to their companions: assurances (definition: statement to relieve doubt). Anyone can use assurances to set clear yet flexible lines of accountability, both for themselves (e.g., “I will always attend team
Nicolas Hoizey via Compfight I usually can tell you the chapter and verse of where I first encountered a concept. For the life of me I can’t remember where I first came across permissive statements, and yet, I can’t let my lack of memory stop me from sharing the concept with you. Permissive statements are
Permissive Statements Read More »
One of the first posts three years ago when this blog began was Driving Change versus Driving People to Change. Quickly after a friend pointed out the unnecessary nature of the last “to change” and it was readily dropped. (Proof I take criticism well.) In that post I called Driving People and Driving Change terms
Philosophy of Change Read More »
Don’t follow it. An unwritten rule by its definition cannot compel compliance. Only written rules can compel compliance, hence a cop may give you a ticket only for violating the written rules. The unwritten rule’s power is found in your willingness to submit to it and your fear of the consequences if you don’t. If
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In the spring of 2007, I was 16 weeks pregnant when I learned that my unborn son had spina bifida, a congenital deformity of the spine that would cause him to have partial leg paralysis and a host of other attendant conditions. In the instant of his diagnosis the story of my life shifted dramatically.
Increasing our adaptive capacity Read More »
This week I got an e-mail survey at work. The body of the e-mail read, in part: Consistent findings from the Office of Personnel Management’s Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) show that Federal employees are dedicated and committed to their work. As a dedicated Federal employee, your feedback about the workplace is essential in addressing
The words are spreading Read More »
With a quick Google search you can find page long lists of blog posts dedicated to complaining about meetings. I challenge you to find another blog post like this. Why is this post unique? Because I intend not to complain about meetings, but about the word meeting itself. As of today, I’ve given up the
Down with Meetings! Read More »
Here’s a quick hint for how to rapidly create a change you want within a bureaucracy. Stop generically naming your problem (e.g., The reimbursement amounts for company travel need to change) and instead start quoting the chapter and verse (e.g., Table 5 of instruction 7852.4 says reimbursements shall be calculated based on the hotel rates
