I used to be the permanent residence of the GIF – the Good Idea Fairy.  He really enjoyed hanging out with me, because I’d take all the good ideas he’d whisper in my ear and head off toward the sunset, chasing the next windmill.  My team members were the perennial victims of this constant stream … Read more

How to go about building an organizational culture? You hear this everywhere… “We’ve got to build a great culture.”  “We’re going to grow our culture.”  And as Chris Edmonds writes in The Culture Engine, this is a significant challenge we’re facing as leaders of companies large and small: “The problem?  Most leaders put greater thought … Read more

Have you ever heard of this “story game” to get a party going?  Here’s how it works.  Write a short paragraph with a story, and choose 4 people.  Have them line up side by side, and give the first person the story to read (but don’t show it to the other three).  Then ask the … Read more

Lighting the Decision Tree Have you ever worked for or with someone who wanted to know all of the information, be a part of every discussion, and make all of the decisions?  If you haven’t had this sad experience yet, chances are you will someday.  The worst examples are the ones who have been relatively … Read more

It’s really easy to “drink the Kool Aid”, isn’t it?  When you’re even marginally successful in your business or your part of the business, success is seductive.  You know what’s working, what’s selling, what’s making the production line hum.  Everyone loves being right, or almost right.  That’s why we rarely have debriefs (or After Action … Read more

I think we all agree in principle with Jack Welch on this one; the problem is, we often don’t act in accordance with what we think.  Growing leaders is a classic example of this challenge.  We truly value the leaders we have who work hard to get the job done every day.  We can’t say … Read more