Strategy Activation

Is your organization achieving growth and change? If you're struggling, consider adopting a life centric strategy. Not sure how? Learn more here.

Culture must be at the forefront of leaders’ minds before, during, and after an M&A. Here are key things to do, as well as to avoid, during this critical time.

Employee engagement continues to be a priority for organizations, but we have four roots of engagement that can help reverse this issue. Keep reading to learn more!

Employees are setting the standards. They are forcing the changes. Is your organization listening?

Quiet quitting has been a long-standing issue plaguing organizations worldwide for years. It's time to fix the issue. Do you have a plan?

Do you hold people accountable or do you CREATE accountability? The difference is important and could change the way your people feel about work.

Is your organization ready for strategy activation? Ask yourself these 8 questions and assess if you're likely to succeed...or struggle.

Are you multilingual? If you take time to learn your internal customer’s language, they'll recognize your effort and become more open to your recommendations.

Without engaged and excited employees, the best plans are rendered useless. Here are five tips to help you entice employees to help activate your strategy.

Job crafting is a powerful tool and can help employees find long-term enjoyment at work. Is job crafting a priority at your organization?

The lessons learned through others can be extremely impactful on your journey. Here are some quotes to inspire you at work and beyond.

Your customers need you to get it right – digitization, that is. In a world where technology is infiltrating every aspect of our lives, how do you balance digitization with human interaction to work best for your customers and company?

Creating an inclusive and diverse workplace is critical to creating a positive culture and employee experience. Are you taking the right steps?

Onboarding is critical to retaining talent & empowering employees to contribute to strategic goals. Is your organization onboarding the right way?

Good strategies require different input & strengths to be effective. Silos are debilitating to good strategies. Use these 3 tips to stop silos from blocking success.

To get your people excited about a new initiative, make sure you get the "skeptic" on your side. Here are three tips to do this with success.

To increase the odds of success, here are three mistakes to avoid when activating your next initiative.

Storytelling is a leadership blind spot that has been facing the business world for the past 20 years. It’s time to address this.

Organizational change is never simple, and an M&A is no exception. To maximize success, follow these 5 tips that focus on culture, your people & communications.

While many strategies fail, the truth is that with some thoughtful planning and time, you too can pave the way for strategy activation success.

Employees want to be a part of something bigger, to belong, to go on meaningful journeys & make an impact. Here's how to make this a reality within your organization.

Companies that deliver great customer experiences also deliver great employee experiences. Do you have a winning employee strategy in place?

To help their organizations realize success, leaders need to create high-quality experiences that unlock their peoples' discretionary efforts. Are you ready?

Employees are your most important customers. It’s time to start treating them that way. Here are three tips to help.

Today leaders must do more to create a place that reenergizes people & enables them to contribute their best. Here are two key questions to ask.

Dialogue is at the root of all effective engagement and group action. Here are six tips to help ensure that dialogue thrives at your organization.

Arming employees with the confidence, knowledge & support to deliver amazing person-to-person interactions is critical. Do you have a winning strategy?

Employees are resigning from their jobs at rates we’ve never seen before, making it clear that they’re the ones with the power. Leaders and organizations must adapt to meet the needs of today’s workers.

What drove your people to perform in the past is no longer the same. Amidst a workforce evolution, leaders need to evolve their own thinking.

Smart decision-making creates countless benefits for your business. Do you have an effective process in place?

Without the right behaviors, strategy execution will fail every single time. Leaders must go first by walking the walk and talking the talk.

If you want your organization to succeed leaders must tell the truth about their reality, discuss the tough issues, and commit to changing negative behaviors.

Many companies share the same core strategy. The differentiator is the ability to execute – getting aligned on a vision & getting the priorities right. 

Visualization can help take the sting out of change by adding the necessary context that is so often neglected in corporate communication.

Managers must need to know how to lead with Empathy 2.0 if you want to get the best out of your people. Are they ready?

Hiring managers are focused on the wrong things. Look for the characteristics of high performers and forget everything else.

As leadership teams discuss plans for hybrid work and culture, they’re relying on HR leaders to successfully develop and engage their people.

We can't return to the “old” ways of working or leading. Here are three do's and dont's for a post-Covid workplace.

Neither the amount of change being faced in the workplace nor the pace of change is about to let up. Leaders need to work harder to ensure their managers are ready.

Change is rarely, if ever, easy. Here are four fundamental steps to help your people get ready to create change for your business.

If your organization hasn’t honed its virtual event skill set yet and still needs to figure out how to combine virtual events with in-person experiences, the time is now.

The future of work is here. However, before you can develop new skillsets, you must first build change mindsets.

Yes, it is possible for your organization to rise above the current talent-shortage trend and cultivate its next generation of leaders.

Your talent shortage has more to do with you and your organization than it does with the talent you're trying to recruit or retain.

What are you doing to improve the energy and attitude among your peers and teams? If you're stumped, read on for some tips to create a positive work environment.

Jim Haudan discusses diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and mental health with six C-suite leaders.

We are currently all at risk of cultural tunnel vision. And so we must work harder to establish mutual empathy and stronger connections.

Eradicating the impact of bias from the workplace isn't easy. The first step is resetting our unconscious bias goals and setting achievable measures of success.

High-performance teams are the result of people committing to build something together that is special. Here are tips to make this happen at your organization.

Working from home can be isolating. To help with this challenge, successful leaders weigh in on how to create cohesive and engaged workplaces.

Bite-sized learning and 60-minute modules aren't the only options. 15 minutes might be all you need to get the job done.

For an organization to conceptualize and roll out transformative change, it needs every single employee on board. Click for tips.

How can leaders create engagment despite the tidal wave of chaos casued by the pandemic? Celebrate your teams any chance you get.

Preparing for change? Here are three tips for leaders to mitigate risks and help prepare their people for the road ahead. Change isn't easy, but yes, it is achievable!

When leaders fail to address the cultural changes needed, they see limited success in attaining the strategic benefits of the M&A.

For an organization to succeed it must have a strategy for creating a winning employee experience. Feeling stuck? Read on for three tips.

Create emotional and intellectual understanding of strategy and priorities. Enable remote, shared learning using visualization and dialogue.

The concept of “giving back” is showing up outside the expected.It appears to be a critical ingredient in sustaining meaningful human behavior change.

The goal of a virtual event is to create a directed experience that you can control, people can unify around, and everyone will remember.

If you’re delivering the same customer experience today as you were in January 2020, you’re doing things wrong. To help you get it right, let's talk about a brand that is “blowing up the box” on their customer experience. First up: Hilton Hotels.

Companies that can turn obstacles into opportunities will be the ones to remain standing in the end. Check out these tips.

Did you know that people don’t resist change? It's true. They resist being told to change or being changed by someone else. This is an important distinction and one that leaders must take to heart.

People must understand how a business operates and what it takes to win if they give their best efforts. Three tips to encourage everyone to work together.

Strategy without execution is meaningless, and execution without engagement is impossible. Is your company actually executing your strategy through people.

Strategic change requires engagement - not just emails, videos or powerpoint presentations Metaphors, visualization, and discussion can help.

Traditional gender roles still hold firm in most financial institutions and large purchasing processes and experiences. However, in today’s highly competitive market, financial services organizations need to take practical steps to serve female investors more effectively. The institutions that win with (millennial) female investors will be unstoppable.

The way we live, work, socialize, travel, learn and more is all a bit (or a lot) different now. Today incremental change is not enough – you can’t just think “outside the box.” You need to blow up the damn box. Here's how.

Few people welcome change. In fact, most of us fear it. But there are ways to set your organization up for success. Change isn't easy. But it is possible. Are you ready to learn how to make your change stick?

Collaboration is powerful. You just have to be wiling to loosen your grip on being right. You need to enter a conversation ready to receive others’ ideas and then layer your thoughts on top of them. By approaching a conversation this way, you’ll wind up with solutions you never thought of before.

Do you know the truth about how your people are feeling right now? We'll fill you in. They're hurting, stressed, and exhausted, but don’t feel safe enough to tell us. It's time to figure out how to connect with your people and we have insights to help.

I miss hallway conversations -- not the actual hallway, but the connections. The performance and emotional health of your people in this new virtual work from home world requires leaders to help create deliberate and purposeful connections. Are you prepared?

Is your organization establishing new health & safety rules as a result of COVID-19? This is an opportunity to create a long-term competitive advantage.

When two multi-billion dollar companies merged, they realized they needed to meld two significantly different company cultures to ensure future success.

At Root, we believe in challenging you to become a disruptor, and then empowering you and your people to get engaged in that journey. It's time - will you disrupt or stay stagnant and watch someone disrupt you. What do you choose?

The world isn’t going to stop changing so what is your retail or hospitality business doing to pivot and adjust strategy to meet customers where they are?

During change people want and need three things: clarity, connection, and conversation and messaging needs to address each of these elements.

Why is the deployment and execution of strategy so tough? Because most new strategies bring conflict, adversity, and inconsistency – out of necessity.

There is a better way to make decisions – a way to take different perspectives into account and to arrive collaboratively at a suitable solution.

As change continues to accelerate, business agility becomes an organizational imperative. Pivoting quickly is an imperative for organizations to survive.

When it comes to enacting change, how do you encourage your people to do it with a consistency that creates an effective and successful CX?

Organizations need to implement changes to navigate tremendous challenges. Communicating effectively has never been more critical than it is right now.

If your people don’t trust your leadership, then navigating a crisis and delivering future success become nearly impossible.

COVID-19 has created a radical sales shift from exchanging pleasantries to creating intimacy. Developing deeper client relationships is transformational.

As you continue to perfect your contactless customer experience, think about how your people will help bring the digital experience to life.

Engagement surveys have a place and time.This is not it. But it's still critical to know what people are thinking,to guide organizational shifts.

While we certainly value in-person gatherings, you can’t afford to put events on hold even if you can’t be together. Your business and strategy can’t wait.

The only way to catalyze and accelerate results is through your people. You need to move fast right now. But you can’t skip steps.

Insights on how to think about challenges at the intersection of strategy and operations.Specifically, how to make the complicated a little more simple.

Be agile, flexible, and ready to change course at a moment’s notice. Don’t wait around for someone else to save you. Control your own destiny!

Change means doing something different. Something risky. Something uncomfortable. This 9-Step “How to Change” guide get you a headed in the right direction.

Understanding your current state, capabilities, and future impact can help you come down the mountain at a pace that keeps you in control.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, shaking hands or giving hugs when you greet someone is likely a thing of the past. This pandemic has accelerated and intensified the need to reinvent the customer experience, too. We need to reinvent the handshake and CX – and we need to do it right now.

Right now you’re seeing the needs of your customers change dramatically, which requires operations changes.Your employee experience needs to change too.

We can only be nimble when we have the right culture and agree on the behaviors that make it work. There are four primary behaviors that drive agility.

To maintain a positive culture that drives results, leaders need to constantly nurture it. Throw in a global pandemic and the need becomes exponentially greater precisely when we are most distracted. But positive culture in this environment is not optional – it’s necessary! Here are three strategies you can implement immediately.

Changing our behaviors to flatten the curve is a major societal change, but we go through the same phases when faced with change in our work. When your team is facing change – big or small – there are four elements to creating lasting change to consider and plan for.

Our natural reaction to change – the instinct to panic – hasn’t changed since the time of Heraclitus. It’s the way our brains are wired: change is a threat

There has been a lot of great content put out about how to lead and engage your people and your organization in times like these. However, I haven’t come across much that is targeted at the individual. Yes, leaders need guidance, but as an individual I want advice on how best to navigate these difficult waters too.

What can I learn from this crisis in relation to helping people adopt new technologies in the workplace? For me, this is not just about the technology. It’s about people. It’s about learning. It’s about maintaining both personal and professional connections during a time when it’s very easy to feel isolated.

Working from home, or “WFH” as it is now often called, is becoming increasingly common in the modern workplace. To help those who find working from home challenging, here are some tips for staying motivated and being efficient.

Thriving through change, rather than just surviving, requires (virtually) capturing t¬he voice of your employees and customers. These insights are valuable for your strategic decisions, and their engagement is critical to coming out of the present situation stronger than ever.

My mindset can’t be that of a marathon runner or a sprinter during these uncertain times. Instead, I think we should embrace an interval training mentality.

The big differentiator is how leaders empathize, engage, motivate, and capitalize on their talents and knowledge in the face of adversity.

As we grapple with the challenges of maintaining health and safety, business continuity, and jobs, it’s easy to forget that your people need self-care.

The coronavirus has forced many to cancel meetings, conferences, and gatherings that were previously considered essential. Don't go dark, go virtual! Here are our top tips for driving virtual engagement that works.

Leaders need to be thinking about how Coronavirus will impact all facets of their business. Regardless of the fear circulating, we needed to remain productive and leaders must develop plans that address the risks while striving to stick to normal operations as much as possible.

Today I'm discussing change & consistent CX. Today you need to either keep pace with change or risk failure. And when it coems to CX, organizations need to be consistent because the experiences created for customers are the pathway to success or failure.

While welcoming adversity might feel counterintuitive and against how most human brains are wired, the benefits are huge. So the next time you’re facing what you would normally consider an undesirable and unexpected problem, try hugging that thunderstorm of adversity. Odds are, you’re about to see your personal growth skyrocket.

Change is only as effective as its sustainment effort. You need people thinking about it, talking about it, doing something with it for change to stick.

The best chief strategy officers I engage with today are not only analytically brilliant, but they are also world-class storytellers and architects of change plans to evolve culture or build new organizational capabilities.

Jennifer Brown provides a step-by-step guide for the personal and emotional journey we must undertake to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

Yes, bots are taking over the tactical, but they won’t replace the humans – they’re here to help humans focus on the bigger and more strategic issues of CX.

Is employee engagement a buzzword? What leaders can do to foster an engaged workforce.

We asked members of the workforce to name their organization’s top priority for 2020. Are you helping your people connect the dots of your strategy ?

Each day, I work alongside a team of people who are equally passionate about proving that change is possible.

The importance of exceptional service was ingrained in me before the term “customer experience” was ever created. My grandfather, and then my parents, operated the business with the following mindset: “The customer is always right – even when they’re wrong.”

Not long ago, several of us at Root got a chance to work with a Division I college football team to help reestablish a high-performance culture and team.

My role, leading our CX team, gave me insight into how easy it is to initiate organizational change and how hard it is to sustain real change.

Bridge the gap from strategy creation to strategy activation, and achieve strategic results. This paper provides tips to overcome common strategy mistakes.

I had chosen to view this challenge as a threat rather than an opportunity. Of course I hadn’t seen progress; I had been operating with a “fixed mindset.”

Creating change mindsets during financial downturns requires doubling down on engaging your people in your strategic priorities to maintain focus.

What kind of a decision-maker are you? Whether individual contributors, managers, or executive leaders, the decision-making process is very important.

Organizational change is unavoidable. Here are four tips to keep operations running smoothly amid change.

Values, purpose and mission should align to the work an organization does—and all the decisions made along the way

PowerPoint effectively showcases data, but it might not be an effective engagement tool or the best way to get people to care about what you're sharing.

One of our clients is in the telecommunications space, and working with them led to what became the best experience I’ve had in my role as a Concept Artist.

If we don’t have that clarity of purpose and direction from the why standpoint, then how much harder is it to envision what our desired future state?

While I don’t believe I have to all the answers on all things business and leadership related, I am certain about one thing

Over the past 20 years, we have seen a proliferation of diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts in organizations. In some cases, the efforts have paid off.

The times when we need to be the most conscious of others are when things get chaotic, stress levels run high, and deadlines loom. But, this rarely happens.

This graduation season, I attended five graduation ceremonies. The volume is a bit uncommon for me, and the diversity of the students was even more unusual.

Change requires commitment, focus and a process that gives every single person in the company a connection to the strategy.

We’ve all heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” We have found that to be exceedingly true in business. As a matter of fact

Throughout my career, I’ve worked at places that focus on some of the biggest problems facing our nation. Defense. Security. Important stuff.

Another ringing endorsement that visualization promotes retention came from the most recent Jeopardy! Champ. Contestant James Holzhauer

Despite the well-documented power of storytelling, most leaders are just awful at telling stories. Learn seven ways to become a stellar storyteller now.

There is nothing better than working in an organization that has a great culture. According to Deloitte, 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe

I recently read an article in Fast Company about burying the term “work-life balance” and embracing “work-life fulfillment” instead. I don’t disagree.

The following is an excerpt from Erica Kewsin’s Bring Your Human to Work: Ten Sure-Fire Ways to Design a Workplace That is Good for People

Realism and truth-telling are at the heart of authentic engagement and change. But at people people rarely tell each other the truth.

The importance of problem-solving in customer experience: from me, your customer. An open letter to the waitress who rolled her eyes at me.

What will it take to be a place people not only want to work, but love to work? A persistent and consistent commitment to designing culture.

The fate of your strategy hinges on everyone in your organization getting their heads, hearts, and minds around a new way – the needed culture change.

If you are not considering your corporate culture and how that may or may not fare through M&A, you are likely doomed - it’s the lifeline of your company.

I always thought I was good with change – I adapt easily and I’ve thrived in a job where every day looks different. Turns out, I’m terrible at change.

Why is Dilbert funny? Mainly because it’s true. It may be exaggerated, but for many of us Scott Adams holds up a candid mirror of reality in the workplace

This excerpt from Chief Joy Officer: How Great Leaders Elevate Human Energy and Eliminate Fear is written to help leaders bring a renewed sense of joy

Want that next strategic initiative to be a success? It all comes down to focus. That means setting your priorities. Not an easy task.

Customer experience has come a long way. Once only a focus of retailers, it has now become a top priority of almost every industry

In sports or business, winning isn’t automatic just because you buy, recruit, or develop great talent. Performance and execution are as much tied to

January marks my one-year anniversary with Root Inc. As I reflect on the day I received the call to lead the Food & Hospitality practice, I remember

Fearlessness is enabled by creating a psychologically safe environment that makes it possible for productive disagreement and free exchange of ideas.

Strategy without execution is meaningless. Execution without engagement is impossible. What strategy questions are you asking yourself and other leaders?

Sustainment is the single secret to lasting change and can become the business strategy that helps your organization achieve the impossible.

When we understand why we gather – to acknowledge, to learn, to challenge, to change – we learn how to organize gatherings that are relevant and memorable

Consumers have power and retail brands want loyalty, so before you cut and run because the big retailer won’t indulge in a little haggling, try it!

Do your people feel good about the ways your organization contributes to the community? Today, giving to the community is a vibrant part of our culture.

Growing up, coaches everywhere would say, “practice makes perfect.” But here’s the truth – it doesn’t! Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.

The purpose of strategic planning is not to make plans. It is to change the way that we think and act. It requires changing behaviors.

Does everyone in your organization have the opportunity to get recognition? I really value this particular question on the Great Place to Work survey

In your culture, are managers approachable and easy to talk to? This question highlights the importance of leadership approachability in workplace culture.

I grew up in a town of about 7,000 people in metro Detroit – a typical example of urban sprawl, whilst holding that “hometown vibe” close to the heart.

An organization is only as strong and successful as the health of its people. It builds their capacity for optimal performance and overachievement.

There is more than $350 billion of lost productivity every year. Let's recover the lost hours of productivity by engaging people at work.

Some of the best customer experiences come from small businesses because the employees act like (or are) the owner. Let's scale that magic.

Here are three reasons executive parking spots are a clear indication that there are major barriers to change in an organization.

We all know customers are not flawless, but that doesn't mean they should leave our store dissatisfied with the experience we provide them.

The power of face-to-face engagement enables people to have meaningful connections which in turns allows them to remember the content even years later.

When celebrating your most loyal customers, remember to celebrate your employees as well. Their loyalty is why you have such a great customer experience.

Three tips to make your change initiative stick by helping every single person understand the "why" and "what" of the strategy and "how" they impact results.

We know successful strategy execution is not easy. We have all read the articles, blogs, white papers, case studies that shout at us that strategy often

The topic of Talent Management is a broad, but extremely critical one that can mean a lot of different things to different people

Jim Haudan, and Rich Berens of Root Inc. detail 5 leadership blind spots that hinder employee engagement and innovation in the workplace.

Change is hard, but using these two words can make a big difference when trying to create big changes in your life or in your organization.

Designing uniforms and implementing change have one thing in common, seek employee feedback if you want it to be successful.

When people are face-to-face, they talk about the true story behind why your business is changing and how they see themselves impacted in that change.

Find out the three keys that makeup successful storytelling. They come from an unlikely source that we've all probably experienced... airline safety videos.

The lack of real dialogue is preventing change in organizations. Here are six ways to ensure dialogue thrives in your organization.

Start working on these six customer experience (CX) areas right now and your organization will be what other businesses are looking for in the future.

5 key elements for culture success that help you build a culture that attract customers, engage employees, and create purposeful and connected organization.

Four ways to build authentic advocacy, which means getting brand buy-in from your employees and customers and getting them involved in advocacy work.

Accountability improves our decision-making and information processing because we know in advance that we will have to answer others for our decisions.

Find out with this quick 5 statement assessment if your leadership is ready to become a disruptor in the marketplace today.

Creating an engaging, positive experience that leaves room for failure instead of focusing on a goal creates meaningful change that lasts.

Be the disruptor, or be disrupted. Here are 6 things to think about to help you disrupt your marketplace and stay ahead of the competition.

The power of visualization is that it creates a clear picture that enables everyone to constructively discuss their opinions in a more thoughtful way.

This excerpt from the book INSIGHT takes us on a journey of self-exploration, showing us how to survive and thrive an increasingly delusional world.

It's time to start treating your employees as the most important customer, otherwise they cannot deliver the proper experience to your paying customers.

People know the best way to engage themselves with their work. Here is one person's letter to their boss on how they want to be engaged at work.

Creating a customer-first culture that everyone in the organization can embrace and live makes all the difference in how your brand is perceived.

Diversity and inclusion at work enables people to show up as their whole and authentic selves which allows them to bring 100% of their value everyday.

How you handle change says a lot. To propel change successfully in your organization remember to focus on these important three key areas.

By engaging all employees in a discovery-based interactive experience, you can deploy your new strategy in an effective and sustainable way.

Why is it worth investing time to create a pre-performance routine? Because, it can put you in the right state of mind to boost your chance of success.

While success should be celebrated, it's important to remember disruption is not a destination. Becoming a disruptor just puts a large target on your back.

Here are three questions to ask to achieve diversity and inclusion in your marketing to ensure all of your customers are welcome into your company.

Shifting business priorities can cause headaches, but by focusing on early wins and painting a positive picture makes a difference in long-term success.

Company culture must change to reflect societal trends, marketplace shifts and more. Here are three tips to a successful culture change.

Innovation at work is crucial for an organizations success in today's environment. Colby discusses ways to see if yours is ready for an innovation today.

You have a new strategy and need employee engagement ideas? Combining metaphors, visualization and discussion enables your strategy to be a success.

No one remembers a memo, so why do we think they will activate strategy? Start making strategy stick with visualization, data, and dialogue.

Every culture has a unique experience, and so does every organization. How do we create a consistent global customer experience.

Proper change management (CM) ensures that change in an organization goes smoothly and has the desired impact. Learn how to manage change successfully.

Emotional intelligence is just as (if not more) important than technical skill. Here are seven reasons why emotional intelligence is so important.

Engaging people in your company culture takes more than ping pong and a stocked snack room. A compelling organizational purpose is key to your culture.

Successful change from the top down means starting with the leaders. Jim Haudan gives leaders three areas to improve to deploy a successful strategy.

Everyone has their way to motivate a team; here’s how we do it at Root. Motivating a team is a rewarding experience that has a lasting impact.

When you are the early bird, the world is a different place. Learn how waking up at 4am can have a dramatic benefit on your day.

Every company has a story, which when told correctly can lead to great things. Here are three tips to use yours to inspire the change your company needs.

Inspiration increases effectiveness, spreads positivity, and helps people and organizations grow. Learn how to increase inspiration at your organization.

Disruption. That’s a word that can be misused or even mistaken for a buzzword and it’s anything but. To be a disruptor means to evoke palpable change

Everyone want to create positive change, especially at work. Here are 3 barriers to overcome or avoid to create change at work.

Is hiring for EQ the right decision? Explore what makes a good hire and why hiring for EQ still the matters in today's online world.

Change is hard and sometimes you have to help employees change. Use these three tips to help make the next big change in the workplace a success.

It's important to create meaningful lives so here are three things smart people do to create meaningful lives for themselves.

The success of your research isn't dependent on how surprising the results are. Sometimes it's the little things that go a long way.

Diversity and inclusion is powerful for innovation and problem solving in businesses. Learn how to make D&I work in your organization in 4 easy steps.

When you avoid a challenging situation out of fear or worry or potential embarrassment, you never get to benefit from the power of discovery.

Customers on airplanes don’t’ want to be treated like threats and airline employees don’t want to be enforcers.Both sides must have more empathy.

The purpose of strategic planning is not to make plans. It’s to change the way we think and act. If our newly formed visions and strategic plans

You can’t force employees to care, to be nice, to smile or to be authentic. You simply can’t mandate a great customer experience.

Do your managers know how to analyze customer satisfaction data? If not, they probably are not using it to create a meaningful impact for your customers.

Visuals are powerful storytelling tools because they allow you to see the big picture. Read how a visual helped everyone see what was really being discussed.

In most organizations change is hard, that's why using visuals can help everyone see what is really happening.

The real issue was not the incident itself, it is the incredibly poor job United did in the recovery. United Airlines blew it. Plain and simple.

Gallup shows that employee engagement has risen 5%. So is employee engagement getting better? Find out if 5% is enough and why you should care about it.

Long have we been talking about the transformation of HR and how its role and significance is shifting within our businesses. There is opportunity now for HR to evolve further and be a strategic contributor and influencer in the future success of our organizations. The workplace of the future is arriving—one where an all-inclusive talent … Continue reading “It’s Time for HR to be a Strategic Contributor”

To create employee engagement strategies that last, it takes more than a ping pong table and snacks. Here some people actually care about at work.

If you want change and fresh ideas, don’t think about that same old box at all. The challenge is not in coming up with catchier ways to describe our goals.

Improve your customer experience by creating a customer community that people feel apart of and that their voice is heard.

7 Steps to Building a Learning Initiative that Grabs the Attention of Millennials and Beyond Have you ever had a seven-layer salad? I haven’t either. They’re too healthy. That’s why I’m going to be open about my obsession for another food with an equal amount of layers: the seven-layer bar (shout out to the best … Continue reading “How to Create the Best Company Training Initiative Ever”

The innate form of communication is visuals. Learn how visuals can help a strategy roll out be successful by ensuring everyone sees the same strategy.

Patient experience is a significant topic in the healthcare world. According to HealthLeaders Media, 84 percent of healthcare leaders rank patient experience among their top three priorities. And over the past decade, scores of research has been completed and published on the design and operations of healthcare settings to improve the patient experience. This onsite … Continue reading “Better Suites, Fancier Tools and Faster Technology Does Not Equal a Better Patient Experience”

Create happy customers over the phone by taking the time to create micro-connections. Micro-connections can have a huge impact on your customers and brand.

Creating a strong vision statement has an immense effect on your business. Learn how to create a vision statement that guides your organization to success.

When you want to improve your onboarding program focus on Day 1. Day 1

Improve customer experience by focusing on the the micro-connections. Create a customer experience that is personable and focuses on the little things.

There are 4 reason why storytelling is so powerful and enables you to tell your sustainability story successfully. Start telling stories today!

While there is no magic fix for removing unconscious bias, there are things we can do to help prevent these biases from negatively impacting our workplace.

Engaging millennials at work with gamification improves learning and meets them where they are, their phone! Learn why 'mobile first' can have a big impact.

The excerpt from The Purpose Effect shows how Dan believes your personal purpose and workplace purpose can intersect.

Learn how you can start using a comic in your business to help enable effective strategic communication.

Some of the best customer experience advice can actually come from music lyrics. I get some of the best advice from artists such as Bruno Mars and Pitbull.

Build better employee engagement by creating super super fan employees. Super fan employees are game changers to their organizations.

Creating a world-class onboarding program with these 7 traits ensures your new strategy will be a success.

When designing the strategy deployment experience, it's important to imagine yourself in the customer's shoes.

Engage your people in how important micro experiences are and how they can elevate the customer experience by making it magical.

It's time to start engaging Millennials at work. Studies find that recent college graduates are not engaged in their work, it's time to change that.

Super-chickens can give you great customer experience lessons, but ensure you hire people who are focused on creating a team environment.

Want to inspire strategy success? Well it's a lot like setting the table for Thanksgiving. It's all about the whole experience, and not just the turkey.

Tips and Tricks for developing a successful strategy development and execution plain in 2017.

Let's make 2017 the year where we get beyond the buzzword and start using real words to create a shared meaning among all employees.

To unlock employee potential you need to give them the key, or multiple keys. Study what is already working and share it with the rest of your employees.

A customer who has had a CX problem that is resolved to their satisfaction is actually more likely to become loyal than one that has had no problem at all

Online technology doesn't hamper the personal connections for good customer experience, it can help bypass the transaction and focus on the relationship!

Retailers that do customer experience right engage their people in their strategy to drive mindset shifts and ultimately behavioral change.

On September 30th, Rich Berens and I were invited to a meeting at the White House focusing on how to create sustainable business practices

Creating a unique and personalized experience drives great service. It is extremely important to connect with customers to build emotional connections

It has been more than 20 years since we first drew “The Canyon,” and yet it still evokes animated responses, chuckles, and reflections from anyone

Whether you’re a CEO, senior manager, or recent college grad just entering the workforce, I have no doubt that you’re hearing the term employee engagement

Listening to and learning from your employees uncovers opportunities for your business and helps your leaders improve their performance management abilities

Everyday, your brand interacts with people in stores and online. Creating a great customer experience and delivering it consistently is job one!

Long have we been talking about the transformation of HR and how its role and significance is shifting within our businesses

Online is your new frontline and everyone involved in that experience – from the coders to the designers to the developers – should understand the customer.

Almost all organizations are laser-focused on trying to deliver customer experiences that truly differentiate their businesses.

What does being a patient have to do with being a customer? Everything! Retailing has transcended consumer products and is now a part of the way we “shop”

Arden Brion, Root’s managing director of healthcare, enjoys helping healthcare organizations engage their workforces in the execution of strategies

3 secrets to customer experience - establish a customer first culture, empower staff to act like business owners, and create an authentic experience.

Make it a better workday by saying these things to front line employees. Follow the words with actions to show that you mean them.

When organizations strive to create customers for life or create exceptional customer experiences, there is understandably a large focus on journey mapping.

If you follow through with transparency and flexibility working hand-in-hand, the end result is happier, more engaged employees

The cover story of the April 2016 Harvard Business Review (HBR) issue carried the headline, “You Can’t Fix Culture,” which challenged traditional views

People love a good story and it’s not just because stories are entertaining. We are wired for storytelling. The short story about stories is that they sell.

Dealing with problems head-on and recognizing that your people can be critical resources to helping overcome difficult situations is key.

Root can help show you the big picture of change so you know how much longer you need to fight.

In virtually every conversation I have with healthcare executives, at some point the discussion turns to the patient experience. Health systems have always

Patient experience is not about smiles and making people happy. Yes, it’s possible to put a smile on a patient’s face though a warm handshake

Back in May, I wrote a blog about Zappos’ bold move to embrace a no-manager model. While a drastic tactic, I have always been a fan of moving away from the archaic managerial role and more toward one that revolves around coaching and development. As part of Zappos’ strategy, CEO Tony Hsieh’s offered a severance package to employees … Continue reading “Checking in on Zappos’ Holocracy Movement”

Millions of dollars are spent each year in board rooms as executive teams determine the best strategy to win in the marketplace, be more competitive,

I am NOT a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions. With the best of intentions they are made to kick off the year with a set of goals or aspirations. But…they rarely have a plan that supports their long term success. What if this year, instead of drafting a list of promises you intend to … Continue reading “Sustainable Change – A Great Solution to the Failed New Year’s Resolution.”

Every company has its own procedures and processes for new hires. From compensation and benefits forms, to training, to shadowing others – there are a lots of ways to bring new hires under the tent and make sure they become part of your organization and most importantly a contributor to the corporate strategy and culture. … Continue reading “Want Your Employees On Board? You Better Onboard!”

“Bright spots” does not equal best practices. We sat down with research managers Kari Terzino and Sam Need for a behind-the-scenes look

Emotional Intelligence, or EQ (Emotional Quotient) as it is commonly called, emerged as a hot topic back in the mid-1980s. Yet, today EQ is more relevant

Risk taking leads to ideas and breakthroughs that can drive new business. In fact, the only way to be successful is to fail forward on purpose.

Millennials. They’re entering the workforce in droves, and they’re not very quiet about it.

Not sure how many of you caught this recent Fast Company article on the new rules of work. It makes some really good points about how what we do every day is evolving. And that may be too light a word… less evolution, more revolution, it seems. “The old rules of work applied to an economy of … Continue reading “The New Rules of Work”

We sat down with two Root executives this month – Founder and CEO Jim Haudan and Consultant (and millennial) Kara Davidson – to discuss personal purpose

No matter how great a leader is at building a smart strategy, telling a compelling story, or engaging people during a launch, hard-wiring change for the long term seems to be mission impossible. Just search the phrase “strategy execution failures” and you’ll find a hefty 858,000 Google results. Yes, almost a million links you can … Continue reading “The Truth About Why Your Dang Strategy Isn’t Working Again!”

As a child in school, my teachers would say, “Gary, please be quiet and take your seat!” Year after year, no matter who the teacher was, what the grade or which subject was being taught, that mantra never changed. I was never a trouble maker, I merely wanted to connect with the other kids in … Continue reading “A First for Everything”

Have you ever dated someone and come to the realization a few weeks into the relationship that the actual version of the person you’re dating is actually

You might think you’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to creating amazing experiences for your customers. You’ve put the right people in place,

Seventy-seven percent of organizations do not engage employees in the customer experience design process. Seventy-six percent do not provide customer

Even in an omnichannel world, most of us view frontline employees as the final frontier in the customer experience. They’re greeting people entering your

Tackling strategic change/transformation is never easy – and tackling it without being fully prepared sets an organization up for failure. For more than 20 years we have worked with organizations of all types to support the strategy and change process. In that time, we have observed a few key steps that can be taken upfront … Continue reading “Organizing to Win – How to Set Up an Infrastructure for Strategy Success”

Companies often have a hard time understanding why their junior or mid-level staff is frustrated with the direction of the company or with senior management

Scott Thompson was Yahoo’s CEO for only four months last year before he was fired for listing a bachelor’s degree in computer science that he didn’t have

All of us can learn from one another if we take the time to open up and listen. Even community leaders, politicians, and CEOs have room to learn a lesson.

Many organizations attempt to create a climate of accountability with robust performance management systems. The hope is that by building

Realism and truth telling are the heart of authentic engagement. But many organizations lack realism and by not embracing honesty and truth they are at risk

What do you do when you’re caught in the mire or having analysis paralysis? How to make better decisions in life and work

DuPont Pioneer leaders wanted to increase employee engagement with better clarity, alignment and focus on the company strategy, its process and growth plans

A study revealed seven areas where leaders can make changes in the workplace that would have a significant impact on the organization

Check out this short 10-minute webinar from Root CEO, Jim Haudan, who shares some details on these four areas where leaders can help build trust.

Realism and truth telling are at the heart of authentic engagement. However, many organizations lack this realism. And the higher you go the more rare

“The most empowering condition of all is when the entire organization is aligned with its mission, and people’s passions and purpose are in synch

Perspectives on how to anticipate, understand, and initiate conversations with your people to build engagement and improve performance.

I have a question for all of the company leaders out there: Do you really have a finger on the pulse of the customer experience you’re delivering?

What keeps leaders up at night? Things like figuring out how to tweak a business model; how to do things faster, better, and cheaper;

Whether its training, implementing a new process, or embracing a strategy – technology plays a critical role in how we absorb data and work on a daily basis

40% of employees don’t understand their company’s purpose. If you don’t know what your company stands for how can you derive the pride of purpose.

Connecting purpose and meaning at the various levels of the business is something that organizations don’t always do and it has detrimental effects.

What’s the case for storytelling? The mind processes information faster and better when it's in the form of something memorable and cohesive, like a story.

College Basketball. UCLA. Ten NCAA National Championship titles in 12 years, seven of those consecutively. Coach: John Robert Wooden.

Paradox is important because new strategies get stuck in translation around a major paradox causing polarization instead of creating a platform for change

Thinking of engagement as a means to successful strategic change rather than an end in itself,than investing in engagement becomes vital to performance.

I recently viewed a story about Alan Alda, who you may remember is best known for the long-running M*A*S*H sitcom. He has been a frequent host of science-rich programs that focus on communicating science concepts in ways that kids can understand. Alda tells a story in which he recalls an exchange he had, at the … Continue reading “How Would Eleven-Year-Olds Judge the Explanation of Your Strategy?”

Research on high performers and their daily practices sheds light on effective habits and routines that should be encouraged across the entire organization.

Despite the strides women have made in the workplace, there is still significant work to do. How does your organization support the evolving role of women?

To truly understand how business is won and how successful work gets done is what helps an organization make the right “on” the business decisions

The Accordion Chart is an innovative tool that provides a useful visual breakdown of everything you need to know to get your employees on the same page.

If you want a high-performing organization, the good news is, it's not that difficult to identify those things that really yield high performance.

The voice of fear and limitation can easily change your growth mindset from being intensely focused on being better, to being consumed with being bitter.

Your paying customers are actually not your most important customers. Employees are, in fact, who you should focus on most.

Be sure to be create an organization where people feel safe to tell the truth because honesty is the best policy.

If the strategy isn't clear and the executive team and board of directors weren't aligned on the it, they would never be able to bring the strategy to life.

Anyone can be creative, but there must be an environment that spurs and facilitates that creativity.Time to forgo traditional mindsets and predictability.

Driving change is one of the hardest things to do. Approaching it as you would to form a new habit helps make it manageable and achievable.

Work with your people to get something on paper – images, words, ideas. Encourage everyone to contribute through every iteration of the visual.

At a time where creativity and strategic innovation is falling short and change is a way of life, people are not showing up at work engaged in what they do.

We have unique ways to engage people, make it interactive, and appeal to both right-brain and left-brain thinkers to help them draw their own conclusions.

A fear-free, open environment encourages people to share ideas. If people know it’s safe to share their thoughts in the workplace, the floodgates open.

Realism and truth telling are at the heart of authentic engagement and change. The challenge is that rarely have we seen organizations of any type, profit or non-profit, where people tell each other the truth. And the higher you go in an organization, the worse it gets. As a matter a fact, when we ask … Continue reading “The Bold Side of Vulnerability in Creating Fearless Engagement – Part 1”

Without effective dialogue, achieving real results can be challenging. But how do you ensure the dialogue in your organization is genuine and meaningful?

Leaders commonly when the business isn’t performing - “we must have the wrong people or management team in place” – and they initiate a structure change.

Our experience bridging the divide between the “smart” and the “healthy” stuff shows that most companies still outsource the engagement of people to HR.

Don’t just look at the technology enablement, but also the shift in IT culture and the norms required for mobility to thrive in your organization

Visualization is probably one of the strongest assets any organization has in its arsenal and is a major competitive differentiator

I would argue employee engagement is owned by the executive team, the same way they are responsible for managing all of the other critical assets.

The bottom line is Border's lost its focus on the customer, its purpose for being, and most importantly its people - the 'burning platform' wasn't enough.

Think about companies where employees are engaged. Southwest Airlines or Zappos? It’s a totally different customer experience.

What does student debt have to do with strategy execution? It is all about elevating your thinking and seeing the big picture as an interconnected system.

I think great performers and CEOs often have an uncanny ability to refine special skills of extraordinary anticipation and exceptional peripheral vision. A great illustrative point of that concept is hockey great Wayne Gretzy’s famous quote: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going … Continue reading “Decisions without Commitment – a Recipe for Strategic Failure”

You probably think you’re pretty focused on delivering a stellar customer experience. You have a great brand, loyal customers, and

If you think constant change is some-thing new, step back in time with me to the days of the Old West. Let’s see what happened in Yesterday Town

Over the last few years, we’ve had the opportunity to work with dozens of Fortune 500 organizations to aid them in the development or deployment of their strategic plan. The strategic planning process usually starts with some form of “data gathering” or “insights generation” intended to challenge perceived norms and provide an input to the … Continue reading “Your People, an Overlooked Ingredient in Making Your Strategy Viable”

An organization is only as strong as its root system or foundation - mainly it's employees and how engaged they are in the big picture strategy.

It isn't culture vs strategy. It's culture, strategy and vision. Combining all three will ensure your company will have success.

Last week, I talked about the challenge of senior leaders in building “collective intelligence” by owning the whole before their individual piece. When senior leaders are working too much on their individual agenda, they are often not spending enough time owning the whole — they’re not focused enough on the big picture of where the … Continue reading “Owning the Whole Before Your Piece – Part 2”

As strategy execution consultants, we constantly see mandates to innovate and strategies built around innovation. More than ever, it seems that organic

The real key is each team member must own the whole before their piece: They must sacrifice the area they represent for the overall good of the company.

A people strategy is going to have a greater impact than a mere product launch. Learn why investing in your people is as important as a product launch.

Design is essentially a rational, logical, sequential process intended to solve problems or initiate change in man-made things

Few opportunities for building trust are as profound as a leader’s role in creating a “safe haven” for difficult conversations, decisions, and strategy execution – an environment where people feel it is safe to say what they really think and what they think is best for their organization.  Members of a team often define a … Continue reading “A Leader’s Role in Creating a Safe Haven”

Employees can truly love their organizations only when they are committed to the organization’s vision, understand the strategy and how they contribute

The dawning of a new year is a time when many organizations look to push the execution of their strategies beyond its current level to the mythical “11”

Engaging the entire company in the strategic change enables people to understand how they fit and how they can best enact the change that is needed.

One of my favorite quotes from Anne Frank is: “No one ever became poor from giving.” I find it so simple, true, and inspirational. And yet, I’ve also found that people rarely give just to give and even those with tremendous resources don’t pull out the checkbook to give to anything and everything. Quite the … Continue reading “Giving Is Personal”

the essence of her golden touch was that she figured out long ago that giving and growing were inseparable. You couldn’t have one without the other.

Cartoons aren't just for the Sunday funnies. Using them at the office opens minds to new ideas by suspending disbelief, so why not a cartoon?

I love a good provocative philosophical debate! A classic example: Are we who we are because of nature or nurture? Most people will say its both

“Our employees are too smart for visuals,” that they’re “analytical and data-driven.", but those same people are using images or visuals to solve problems!

We often build principles of play into our creative methods to solve business problems and build employee engagement along the way.

When you try to do too much, nothing gets done. Seeing the big picture helps companies understand which business investments are important.

There is no silver bullet for simultaneously establishing a compelling vision and engendering employee engagement for execution

The question became, “How can we balance the need for leaders to establish their vision while gaining commitment from more employees?”

Link people who test, build, manufacture, pilot, serve, and transport the products and services to how it impacts the people using them.

Is your company at a crossroads on next steps, don't now how to respond to changes, or how to communicate new strategies - storyboards might be the answer

A meaningful journey has challenge, risks, excitement, suspense, unexpected events, unknowns and a purpose that makes it all worthwhile

I recently started boxing to get in shape. Yesterday, I sparred with the instructor for the first time. I got hit directly in the face at least 60 times and landed three punches of my own. Leaving the gym exhausted and somewhat humiliated, I thought, “I should just stick with the things I’m good at. … Continue reading “Innovation is like Getting Punched in the Face Sixty Times.”

Create a culture targeted at aligning organizational focus, capability, systems, and processes to enable the unique and differentiated value of each company

The culture of competence is undermined when leaders aren’t clear or aligned on the unique competence created and employees don't understand its value.

Building a sense of belonging to the team of the future for your people is an important proactive art of leadership and engagement.

Any investment in helping managers be better employee coaches can have a lasting and significant impact on the success of your business.

The perennial advice to college grads is “find yourself.” Root CEO Jim Haudan (and others) suggest the real point is to “lose yourself.”

Creating employee engagement is a challenging endeavor for any organization, particularly if it’s suffering from low employee morale or if there is a “make or break” strategy that needs to be executed well for the organization to continue to be viable. Sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start. There is really no “one size … Continue reading “Missing a Critical Element of Employment Engagement?”

All organizations have business processes, and today’s organizations are constantly trying to transform – from manufacturing to brand-led, from domestic to global. But if you ask organizations for the process that guides the way they manage the organization through change, you may get a blank stare. Strategic change is a process, but it’s often managed … Continue reading “How Successful Strategies Win: Strategic Change as an Interdependent Process”

Adventures take shape in many forms.  And from adventures there are usually lessons to be learned.  I recently took part in a program offered by the National Outdoor Leadership School, which takes people of all ages on remote wilderness expeditions, teaching technical outdoor skills, leadership, and environmental ethics in some of the world’s wildest and … Continue reading “Survivor: Patagonia”

Customers are a finicky bunch.  It only takes one bad experience to destroy loyalty to a brand. Businesses everywhere are looking to earn and keep the loyalty of customers, and in most cases they are falling short because they don’t deliver a great experience. Businesses must: Create Lifetime Loyalty: Businesses have to keep a customer’s … Continue reading “Are you creating customers for life…or customers for now?”

I was speaking at Owens-Corning the other day about the reason for strategies.  Companies create strategies so they can continue to grow.  And to grow companies and the people in them, there are six components: Embrace Reality. In more than 20 years in business consulting, we’ve learned that change and growth can occur naturally if … Continue reading “Six Ways to Lead Change, Build Teams, and Make It Personal”

We customers are a finicky bunch. It only takes one bad experience to destroy our loyalty to a brand. Think about your own buying habits.

If you’ve been focusing on operational excellence or innovative product development, maybe it’s time to take a look at your company’s ideas

One day last week I walked into the neighborhood sub shop to grab some lunch. I dropped off my laptop at a table and went to the counter to order

Most all of us had the opportunity to watch the extraordinary events on TV over the past three weeks.  We witnessed a people overturn 30 years of dictatorship in a mere 18 days.  I’m still in awe of the spirit and endurance that the people of Egypt showed the world, the sense of community they … Continue reading “What we can learn from the events in Egypt”

When it comes to mergers, a compelling Day 1 is the first step, a very powerful step, in creating a thriving single organization.

Every new year brings hundreds of predictions and thoughts about future trends. Just five years ago, Josh Bersin predicted that the LMS market would be

“We should not look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought experience.” George

In the Jan/Feb issue of The Watercooler, we talked about trends for 2010.  There seems to be an increasing panic in the area of Learning & Performance centered around technology and Millennials entering the workforce…pushing everyone to be on the cutting edge.  I’m not convinced that Millennials are overwhelming the workforce; Boomers and X’ers still … Continue reading “Reflecting on the Past to Handle the Future in Learning and Performance”

Lou Piniella, former Chicago Cubs general manager, was about to start his final baseball game before he retired. It was basically a meaningless game to the Cubs since they were well out of any hope for post-season play – and they lost this game by 11 runs – but it sure wasn’t meaningless to Lou … Continue reading “There’s No Crying in Baseball”

There is a saying, “Hope springs eternal,” that often gets used in sports at the beginning of a new season. It is a time when players, coaches, and fans get excited about the possibilities and potential of what lies ahead. It is a time when we seem to be willing to shift our energy from … Continue reading “2011: Leading in the New Year”

I recently returned from an overseas trip to Russia. My husband and I traveled from Detroit to Amsterdam to St. Petersburg to Arkhangelsk and back again in 6 days. A lot of traveling in a short period of time, but we couldn’t be more motivated and engaged. Even with the crazy time zones and lack … Continue reading “The Roots of Engagement in Russia”

Corporate Strategy Execution is important, fast, and difficult. Get a head start on your next strategy roll-out with these Five Fundamental Truths.