Blog
I look forward to share some items from my dusted-off, mental shelf. Perhaps some of the presented views, recaps, and observations may find value in your dialogue - whether where you work or where you roam. I also use the social media site Digg to comment and post stories in and around business and talent management. Look for my most recent Digg stories on each page of this website. | |
Showing category "Organization Behavior" (Show all posts)
What is the cost of culture? Why is it even worth identifying corporate culture? Let's start with what is culture. Culture is the values, norms, assumptions, expectations, and definitions that characterize organizations or affectionately known as: how things are done around here Culture is often a holdover from the founder(s) actions; sometimes developed consciously by management teams who decide to improve their company’s performance in systemic ways; and sometimes, in the absence of di... Continue reading ...
Cultures are characterized by how things are done around here . Culture is sometimes adopted from the founder, sometimes developed consciously by teams who try to improve performance, and sometimes culture is formed in reaction to a lack of leadership or need for survival.
Culture emerges from collective:
- behavior,
- values,
- norms,
- assumptions,
- expectations, and
- process
When organization culture is set, it is difficult to change. Reasons you need to change an organization culture might include:... Continue reading ...
Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. We have meetings to clear up confusion, to communicate, to interact, to make decisions, to listen, and to collaborate. Too many meetings end without clear decisions and too often it is not
until after the meeting is finished when the real conversations begin when people: - complain about not being heard,
- complain about pushy agendas,
- hold back their cooperatation,
- complain about lack of involvement
Those type of meetings waste time and create acrimony, which ... Continue reading ...
I see and read so much about offers to teach or facilitate innovation, but what is innovation? -
Innovation is risk
- Innovation is dialogue
- Innovation is opportunity (also known as diversity)
Are you innovative: Do you ask good questions or do you listen without judgment or without looking to interrupt? Do you allow
yourself and people around you to remain in the moment? Have people
told you that you are a good listener? Are you known to cultivate, mentor, or develop others or are you surrounde... Continue reading ...
When did systems theory get hijacked by process engineers and change management stormtroopers? When did we allow our organizations to be built and led by analytical, causal, deductive, drones and an over-adherence of frameworks to analyze past events? Frameworks and theories that rely on past events ignore all opportunity for organizations to interact in an interdependent cogenerative way: systems theory. Systems theory and systems thinking relies on interface, feedback, organizational goa... Continue reading ...
Change Management is the IllnessOverwhelming,
organizations rely on process analysis to identify opportunity for
savings. Process analysis is most commonly identified as change
management. Change Management: Analyze and diagnose business and operations processes with a focus on
the greatest areas of improvement in cost, schedule, and quality. Very
few enjoy having themselves and their work process diagnosed for
inefficiency. Change management, or its red-headed step child name:
business pro... Continue reading ...
How do organizations survive?
The only way an organization survives is to grow. Like people, an organization grows and develops by developing new skills, knowledge, and abilities. An organization's strategy is nothing without an organization's development. Most professionals have an image of what marketing, sales, accounting, or
human resource professionals do, but fewer are naturally exposed to the specialists
within each of those fields. Organization development is not
only a specialis... Continue reading ...
Reading a blog on the venture capital website Start Up Hire called: Should Startups Compromise When Hiring? I found a reference to a blog Dharmesh Shah, Chief Technology Officer & Founder of Hubspot* and Onstartups.com, wrote, "Why Startups Should ALWAYS Compromise When Hiring?". I posted a comment to the blog as I felt Start Up Hire's blog and Dharmesh Shah's blog both have valid points, but neither blog strikes a talent management, financial case.
I post the thread here as I found it re... Continue reading ...
I challenge myself to write blogs that might start a conversation either leading to change or to sustain what is working. I want to present an idea to provide a spark for action or follow-through. Anyone can come up with an idea, that's easy, the hard part is to take an idea into implementation. My goal is that you come to rely on blogs that are compelling, concise, and provide nuggets in exchange for the time you took to read the blog. I enjoy writing about leadership for 2 reasons:- to ...
Continue reading ...
On 2 earlier blog posts I write 1) that motivation is the bottom-line success and 2) diversity is about opportunity. In this blog I want to dig into how diversity can negatively affect motivation. First, let's look at 2 definitions*: - Of, relating to, or supporting broad social, political, and educational change, especially to redress historical injustices in matters such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.
- Being or perceived as being overly concerned with such change, often to the...
I admit each organization is unique. Each handles and manages industry and firm-specific stress and demand differently. I do not admit that organizations are anything more than a system of human interrelations. The organization is a product of human interaction and social construction. Organizations do not follow ordained, industry-driven culture. There is no set of industry commandments or blueprint all organizations must follow.
Organizations are a product of social interactions not indust... Continue reading ...
Your organization is only effective when they feel like it.
Have you coached your management and executive team on how to motivate people around your vision? A leader holds management accountable to understand, commit, and own their role to translate your vision to their team. Your management's ability to own their role and translate that to their team is the break point on if your organization succeeds or fails.
Every employee wants to know how they make a difference: how they contribute ...
Continue reading ...
In a prior post I advocate emotional intelligence as a more important quality job interview criteria than a corporate or team culture fit. What is emotional intelligence or EI? And what does the EI vs. IQ debate mean? Where IQ intends to measure the ability to reason deductively or inductively. Much has come to light to say it is wrong to expect the higher someone's measure of logical reasoning, math skills, spatial skills, understanding analogies, and verbal skills [IQ] the higher someon... Continue reading ...
In organization change I always avoid the term buy in . You may hear
the term in some variation of the following: now we need to get
[insert stakeholder here] to buy in.
I have never been
comfortable asking anyone to 'buy in' to a strategic plan, a new
product launch, or an organization change. 'Buy in' sounds too much
like slippery salesman's jargon. I don't need the person to 'buy in'
and then feel they were sold something bogus. I don't need surprises
and a revised sell job.
Don't ask people...
Continue reading ...
When an organization's words do not match action, who is to blame?How many companies have you seen or worked with that have literature, speeches, employee handbooks, or marketing that just does not match the actions or culture inside the organization? Ever been around a company with printed materials that talk of putting people first, but do not provide flexible schedules or project opportunity for staff development? Ever been around a company committed to diversity as long as no one offers... Continue reading ...
Does your company have a hiring philosophy to find people who fit into the company culture? Do you interview people to fit into the culture of your division? Do you interview people to fit into the culture of your team? Why do we look for people who will fit in when what your business needs are people who stand out. What good is it to hire for culture fit when we work and live in a dynamic world where change is constant? You may not want change in your personal life, but you better be bui... Continue reading ...
Managers manage. Leaders lead. Are these roles so different? A manager is charged to manage their resources against a budget. Does this allow a manager to maximizing their talent, to cultivate creativity in their team, or to take risks? The manager needs to deliver to their budget and align their resources to successfully enable their team’s role to perform against the plan.Leaders shape a vision. Leaders look beyond the horizon for opportunity and threats, they calculate risk, and co... Continue reading ...
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