Decision Making

8 Jul, 2014

What’s in a Name Change? Part I

By |2016-10-29T15:29:27+00:00July 8th, 2014|Accountability, Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

The majority of the world spent the last five days living their life. A small slice of the universe who make their living selling ideas, however, were agitating themselves into a frenzy. In case you missed it, the National Speakers Association, an association of which I am a member, decided to re-brand itself and change its name to PLATFORM. This is a first world problem. In the context of all of the turmoil in the world, the re-naming of this 41-year old association ranks right up there with … well almost nothing. And yet, people on all sides of the argument lit up the blogosphere and social media channels supporting their positions … even if it meant refusing to consider that others might be equally right in their own stance (see my blog on “Is It Always Right to be Right” for more on that phenomenon.)

17 Jun, 2014

The Fault in Our Institutions is the Fault Within Ourselves

By |2016-10-29T15:29:28+00:00June 17th, 2014|Accountability, Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Government & Politics, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

The lack of confidence in the institutions that define our collective culture is threatening the civility, economic prosperity, and standing of the United States as a world leader. Let’s start with the government. The President’s [...]

12 Jun, 2014

Is It Always Right to Be Right?

By |2016-10-29T15:29:28+00:00June 12th, 2014|Accountability, Corporate Culture, Government & Politics, Integrity & Ethics, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change|

The 1971 Oscar in the Short Film, Cartoon category went to a piece titled “Is It Always Right To Be Right.” It was directed by Lee Mishkin, narrated by Orson Welles, and written by Warren Schmidt. The opening words of the film are: There once was a land where people were always right. They knew they were right and they were proud of it. It was a land where people stated with confidence, "I am right and you are wrong." These were words of conviction, courage, strength, and moral certainty. In this fictional land, any attempt at cooperation and understanding were viewed as cowardice and weakness. Everyone was so convinced of their rightness that no one dared to utter words such as, “You may be right” or “I may be wrong.”

29 May, 2014

Jack Be Nimble: Sure, but how?

By |2014-10-20T16:56:01+00:00May 29th, 2014|Accountability, Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

This would have been the message if the speaker at your last business meeting presented in nursery rhymes: Jack be nimble. Jack be quick. Jack jump over The candle stick. You feel better, right? You now know what is expected of you and the definition of success. And, you have no real context for why it is important or idea about how to move forward.

19 May, 2014

Break the S-R Loop to Make Change Work

By |2014-10-20T20:03:28+00:00May 19th, 2014|Business Growth, Business Strategy, Corporate Culture, Leadership, Leading & Managing Change, Results|

We taught mice and pigeons to do all sorts of interesting things during my graduate school class in behavioral psychology. The principle is simple: provide a stimulus and elicit a response. The stimulus-response cycle still plays an important role in animal training today. And, it is evident in virtually every routine action we take. You don’t think about your response; you just make it. And at some point, it becomes automatic. On most days, those automatic responses are benign routines that allow you to effectively navigate. Unfortunately, they can also become anchors that prevent you from making a change that will transform your business and your life.

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