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The Problem with Organizational Learning - "Retention"

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We have all heard “Problems are Opportunities”. If you search the internet for this quote you will find thousands of references to who said it and how it is used. In a Lean mindset, problems truly are opportunities. Without that mindset, running any business can be exhausting. Organizational Learning (OL) uses conceptual elements of Problems Are Opportunities (PAO) and is defined here from Wikipedia as: the process of creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within an organization. An organization improves over time as it gains experience. From this experience, it is able to create knowledge. Combining the mindset of PAO and OL into a system where the company maintains the knowledge is where the rubber hits the road and is where most companies fail. Many companies have great problem solvers and usually they have plenty of “theorists” that can talk about Organizational Learning. Few have truly figured out how to learn from problems and institutionalize these learnings. ...
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Deep Customer Understanding - Do You Really Know Them?

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tophdimgs.com Customers can be hostile antagonists or a strenuous protagonists. They love you when they love you but can turn venomous when feel mistreated. Partnering with customers is an important mindset to assume, but partnering comes from the basis of mutual power and mutual respect. Similar to the adage “peace through strength”, companies need to find their own strength in the relationship in order to create a partnership environment with core customers. This "strength" comes from knowing your customer better than they know themselves. Depending on the history of your business, strength starts with aligning your performance to customer needs such as delivery, quality, cost downs, and innovation. Too many companies either don’t measure their performance as seen through the eyes of the customer, or they only measure quality and delivery – Core Performance. Core Performance is simply the entry fee for maintaining business with customers where overall supplier pe...
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Taking A “Servant Leadership” Approach to Culture Change Organizational leaders talk a lot about how to change a culture. Changing the culture of an existing business, especially mature businesses like Romeo RIM — which has been around for 35 years — can be an amazingly difficult task. Once a company decides it needs new leadership at the top, it has an immediate challenge — credibility. New leaders start on important initiatives and the individuals at the organization’s lowest levels are skeptics: “We’ve seen this before; all we need do is wait him out and he will go away like the rest of them.” This is the reality of a new change agent within any company. How, then, do organizations make a culture change? It always starts with vision/mission and a confirmation or re-creation of the business’ core values. However, focusing on core behaviors — the first priority in cultural transformation — is a better approach than focusing on values. One cannot measure values, but we can o...
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Delegation not Capitulation

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Many struggle with Effective Delegation. A common misunderstanding is that delegating is a capitulation over the control of an outcome – “give it away and forget it.” Why do some master delegation while others are afraid of it or frustrated with it? The answer starts with self-awareness. While there are many personality types, there are two common flawed perspectives on the idea of delegating from two entirely different mind-sets: the Defender and the Pretender. The Defender is a high-order and detail-oriented person for whom delegation can feel like giving away control. He does the task better than most, so “why bother?” His experience in delegating has resulted in failure to meet dates or a poor level of quality. The Pretender is a big picture guy for whom delegation is a way of life. He surrounds himself with strong people “that are just expected to execute.” He may have had mixed success with this approach but feels emotionally disconnected from the process and divested of ...
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Every Conversation is a Vision Conversation

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Vision matters , but a dormant vision brushed off once per year may be worse than no vision at all. Few things live in dormancy, and usually the awakening is not beneficial. Vision can speak to humans at a very spiritual level. Leaders within the organization want to know both the what and the why to our vision for the future. Done well, proper vision drives daily behaviors. It is through conversation where vision-connection is achieved. Discussions in the hall about what to do next or what decision needs to be made now, are opportunities to have a "Vision Conversation". These are crucial moments to share who we are and what we stand for. Take your vision and re-analyze it. Make it real for all associates, regardless of where they reside on the organization chart. Talk about it all the time. Build alignment and encourage the organization to achieve. Build your strategies around your vision. Execute strategies through strong focus and accountability. O...
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The Loyalty of Leadership Leadership, the word, may be one of the most highly used words in the English language and it certainly is in the business community. Why are we so attached to this word? What does it mean and who is responsible for expressing its elements? The elements of Leadership, to me, are described in our Core Behaviors (Help, Engage, Respect, Excel, and Integrity). These elements are not owned or expected by just a few people. Servant Leadership
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Dissatisfaction, The Ultimate Motivator What causes people to take action or behave in a certain way or different way? What is their motivation? Motivation in the workplace can be a significant factor in creating greatness or sustaining mediocrity. Motivation is a fascinating and complicated topic. What are some of the common influences that frequently stimulate our motivation to achieve? Charismatic leaders Accountability conversations Disciplinary actions Anticipating an achievement Fear Desire The Future What is the Ultimate Motivation at the core of all influences?
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