Last Saturday’s (11/30/13) episode of A Prairie Home Companion featured a skit where Guy Noir was hired by Bob Raymond, vice president of compliance and alignment at Ka-Ching Ching Superstores, to discover why his employees are so disgruntled. Here’s what he said when he met Guy: “Let me give you the lay of the land …
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What Does God Want Me to Do?
I’ve been neglecting blog posts the past few weeks due to lots of exciting client projects, but this passage from Decisive, the new book by Chip and Dan Heath, caught my attention. One of the points they make in the book is that we tend to narrow our options when making decisions and as a …
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What Do You Need to Let Go to Reach Your Destination?
I’ve never forgotten a story Meg Wheatley told in a workshop many years ago. It came back to me recently with force because I’m facing some tough climbs I hadn’t envisioned. If you feel stuck or frustrated, it may speak to you as well. As pioneers gathered along the Missouri River for the 2000 mile …
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Six Alternatives to the Dreaded Elevator Pitch
I’ve always hated the idea of an elevator pitch. There is something so off-putting about the image of accosting someone who is just trying to get from one place to another and in 30 seconds telling him or her why you or your idea is so wonderful. Yet, as Dan Pink argues in his book …
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Organizations Can’t Afford Immunity to Change
These are trying times for organizations. Short product life cycles, leaps in technology, competitive challenges, new business models and more stretch the capacity of leaders and employees alike. It used to be fine if one could be a good contributor or team player, now we need speed, innovation, flexibility, and self-direction. But there is opportunity …
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To Change, Test Your Assumptions
You may be asking yourself at this point in our discussion of Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s concept of immunity to change why people don’t just eat less or listen more or give someone else responsibility or do whatever they have to do to make the change they want to make. After all, people do …
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The Lever That Brings About Change
What we learned in the last post about immunity to change based on Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey’s book of the same name is that resistance to change isn’t about inertia or lack of will, but is the result of an unrecognized competing commitment. These hidden commitments cause us to behave in ways that seem inexplicable, …
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