Tag: Leadership

We recently asked futurist Dr.  James Canton about trends for 2011 in our last issue of The Watercooler, and he suggested some new ways for leaders to lead.  In my opinion, the mentality that leaders and managers need for the near future and beyond is one of “don’t tell – ask.” The manager of the … Continue reading “The “Manager of the Future” – the Future is Now”

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

Raise your hand if you work for a consulting firm. Raise your hand if your work has ever given you the opportunity to work closely with consultants. Raise your hand if your company has ever hired consultants. That’s a lot of hands up. Business and management consulting has a rather long history starting around the … Continue reading “The Infancy of Visual Consulting”

You’ve likely heard the phrase, “Culture eats strategy for lunch.”  The idea behind this is that values and cultural norms in an organization are often much stronger than the strategy that gets communicated in PowerPoint decks from the company’s top leaders.   But what about pursuing growth?  Does strategy trump culture then?  How much of the … Continue reading “Strategy or Values? Yes!”

During a merger or acquisition, it’s critical to consider corporate culture. The required cultural change often represents the soft underbelly of a merger or acquisition. Everyone agrees that it’s important, but it often takes a back seat to the stated cost synergies to be achieved and the new organizational footprint to be established. Without addressing … Continue reading “Culture Change in M&A”

When I work with senior teams to help them make decisions on the clarity, alignment, and execution for their strategies, I ask, “How much of your time is spent working in versus on the business?” Working in the business means playing the game with day-to-day tactical activities. Working on the business includes coaching, anticipating, and … Continue reading “4 Ways to Shift a Leader’s Focus from In the Business to On the Business”

I’m fascinated with a new visual craze hitting photo circles called tilt-shift photography.  This is a technique where the lens is actually not directly attached to camera but separated by a “shiftable” lens or other homemade device.  It gives photos a blurred effect around all portions of the photo but the middle. This makes the items in focus … Continue reading “Tilt-shift Thinking…”

Do you believe that “a picture is worth a thousand words”? It refers to the idea that ideas and stories can be described with just a single image, instead of a large chunk of text. Well, last week, I received a picture from my older brother: A picture of my niece dressed as Belle (from … Continue reading “A picture is worth a thousand words”

As learning designers, it is our duty to present the material in a way that will allow learners to learn effectively. The presentation of information must be tailored to fit various learning styles, because every learner is different. But what is the best way to do this? Our approach to learning is based heavily on … Continue reading “Designing for Different Learning Styles: Follow-up”

How ABC’s Hit Show, Extreme Home Makeover Gave Me Insights to Efficiencies and Strategic Engagement Extreme Home Makeover recently came to our city to film an episode. For those unfamiliar with the program, basically a deserving family is surprised one morning to find the show’s charismatically, hyper host telling them to vacate the house because … Continue reading “Good Morning, Management Family!”

Have you ever been invited to help co-create a solution? It can feel daunting whether you have a whole day to discuss the issue and come up with an appropriate and effective solution or just an hour. The big question is always – where do you begin? Most people want to automatically go to “solution … Continue reading “Don’t Put the Cart Before the Horse”

This little nugget of wisdom baffles me: “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.” Why? Is there anyone who ever had cake who wasn’t able to eat it too? It doesn’t make a lot of sense, and I would counter that you can in fact get everything you want. As I write this … Continue reading “I Want Cake, and Yes, I’ll be Eating It Too”

Problem solving. That’s what we do. Given the nature of our business, when we’re working with a new customer, we’re often tempted to jump right to visualization – to show what we’ve done for others as a way to frame and define what we can do for them. In the instances where they want to … Continue reading “Asking the Right Questions”

One of the fastest ways to provide a common understanding is through a story or a visual. Film marries both approaches in less time.

It is tempting to focus on the look and feel of a game, but the power of gaming is in the gaming concepts and their applicability to adult learning