by Kathy F. Bernhard
What, another generation of Star Trek extraterrestrial humanoids to contend with?
Mercifully, no. Look carefully, and you’ll see we’re not talking about Star Trek Vulcans; rather it is a real life, non-fiction uber-challenging force facing all of our organizations, the advent of the VUCA world. Continue reading
by Robert Kegan, Lisa Lahey and Andy Fleming
When we hear people talk about struggling to maintain work-life balance, our hearts sink a little. As one executive in a high-performing company we have studied explained, “If work and life are separate things—if work is what keeps you from living—then we’ve got a serious problem.” In our research on what we call Deliberately Developmental Organizations—or “DDOs” for short—we have identified successful organizations that regard this trade-off as a false one. What if we saw work as an essential context for personal growth? And what if employees’ continuous development were assumed to be the critical ingredient for a company’s success? Continue reading
By Bill Sims, Jr.
Are you keeping up with your New Year’s resolution? If you’re like most folks, you’re probably hard at work on that new diet or workout program.
While you’re doing those next 25 crunches, ask yourself these questions: What’s my New Year’s resolution for my business? What are the exercises that will help me and my team perform better at work this year?
That answer is positive reinforcement. Continue reading
by John Coleman
An inspiring historical story is once again making the rounds at least partially because of its inclusion in Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David and Goliath. In it, Gladwell tells the story of the French town of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, which became a safe haven for Jews in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Led by minister André Trocmé, the residents of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon saved between 3,000 and 3,500 Jews (in addition to others seeking refuge) from 1940 until the end of the war, bringing them into the community and hiding them from French and Nazi officials. By any measure, their actions were courageous and inspiring. They were also an example of the power of community in leadership. Continue reading
by Alan Kantrow
Employers the world over tell us that what truly counts in hiring decisions is not the rote knowledge that helps college students answer examination questions, but skills and competencies that are essential for, and often developed at, work. To be useful, the bricks of modern education need the straw of experience-based skills. Bricks without straw tend to crumble; they cannot support weight, as has been known from Biblical times. Continue reading
