A friend sent me a joke this week. It was clever, but it also contained a couple of good messages about not letting a problem get in your way, thinking sideways and not letting a someone who's lost in linear thought get the best of you.
While it will take weeks to fully chew on all that was presented and develop some personal reflections on what I was exposed to at the conference, there were some immediate, powerful take-aways that will leave lasting impressions. I was able to see less than half the speakers due to the many simultaneous break-out sessions that went on, however, here is what I took away :
In essence, the classroom is a microcosm of a learning culture. The suggestions we so often discuss for creating leaders who bring out the best in people are already present in a typical classroom. Whether a pre-kindergarten class or an adult graduate course, the traits are common: Patience, planning, flexibility, respect for others, learning from mistakes, constant communication and measureable criteria for success or failure provided at regular, frequent intervals.
I’ve encountered a few offices where personality literally hung from the walls. In these spaces, people were free to decorate the walls with almost anything that came to mind. While the atmosphere was bizarre at first, after a while, you began to get the sense that people weren’t just free to decorate – they were free to express. This freedom of expression, in turn, was really just an outward sign that people were free to think, feel and act without the burden of artificial constraints. It was in these environments that I witnessed tremendous innovation – from the shop floor to...
Whenever I discover someone in a miserable work situation, I often hear them say, “As long as they keep paying me, I’ll keep doing it.” So, what you’re really saying is: Your misery can be bought. What? Have some dignity! Tell me this: at what price do you finally recover your sense of self esteem? How little are you willing to sell your dignity for? If your reasoning is that you’ll put up with any amount of incompetence, frustration, or downright degrading work in return for a paycheck, it begs the question: how much do you value your misery?...
The soldier has a right to competent command. — Julius Caesar When applied to the workplace, this quote speaks directly to the need for leaders who are actually capable of leadership, of course. Yet, many organizations employ methods of promoting individuals into leadership roles do little to take into account the person’s leadership skills. Instead, technical expertise tends to be what is promoted, with the belief that leadership skills can then be acquired. Consequently, there are armies of internal and external coaches and consultants working to infuse leadership characteristics into those who, suddenly, find themselves in roles where they...
I Attended a presentation tonight from the Positive Deviance Initiative. According to their website: The Positive Deviance Initiative (PDI) is a network organization which is dedicated to amplifying the use of the Positive Deviance (PD) approach to enable communities worldwide to solve seemingly “intractable” problems which require behavioral and social change. While most of the work of the PDI is in underdeveloped, 3rd-world regions, they have also done work in developed nations. Nonetheless, the phrase “Solve seemingly intractable problems which require behavioral and social change” sounds remarkably similar to what organizations face at the outset of a major change...
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