We have found three very interesting posts on two of the blogs we follow most closely, and we thought them so valuable that we decided to share them with you!
From Arras People:
Current Recruitment Activity in Project Management. Mixed news and fortunes surround recruitment activity in project management at the moment, there are winners and losers across all sectors. Specifically within project management, the volume of requirements is down year on year by 50%, and we have also seen some pressure on day rates and salary levels over the last six months. Read full article here
From Project Shrink:
How To Promote Yourself As A Project Manager. Read full article here
You Are Using Project Leadership Almost Every Day. Read full article here
Showing posts with label Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Management. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Monday, 27 July 2009
Beating boredom at work
Here at Maven we always make sure that staff are not bored with what their doing – we believe in constant challenge and innovation! So it was not a surprise to us to learn from this month’s issue of Professional Manager Magazine that bored, disengaged and disenchanted employees can cause serious consequences to the organisation.
Organisations that don’t offer opportunities for control by their workers are putting themselves at risk of their staff feeling, well, bored and tired.
Contrary to popular belief, boredom is NOT the result of having nothing to do – it stems from a situation where none of the possible things a person can realistically do appeals to them. Research suggests that the most boredom-inducing parts of a job are those that are repetitive and routine or that under utilise the skills or abilities of an individual.
How can an organisation beat boredom, then?
Some simple steps can go a long way. Giving employees control and autonomy over their work will help them feel more responsible for it, more trusted by the organisation and, therefore, more appreciated – and it’s a well-known fact that people like to make their superiors proud, so they’ll work with more excitement and be less prone to not caring about what their doing. Avoiding or minimising ‘scripted’ repetitive work also helps – allowing creativity to flow will help keep your staff motivated! Long, pointless meetings can also be exhausting – keep your get-togethers to a necessary minimum, stick to the planned agenda, work on pragmatic briefings and make sure everyone understands what you expect from them. Allowing better work conditions also works a treat: background music and the ability to schedule one’s priorities have been ranked high by employees in search of a nicer office life.
Organisations that don’t offer opportunities for control by their workers are putting themselves at risk of their staff feeling, well, bored and tired.
Contrary to popular belief, boredom is NOT the result of having nothing to do – it stems from a situation where none of the possible things a person can realistically do appeals to them. Research suggests that the most boredom-inducing parts of a job are those that are repetitive and routine or that under utilise the skills or abilities of an individual.
How can an organisation beat boredom, then?
Some simple steps can go a long way. Giving employees control and autonomy over their work will help them feel more responsible for it, more trusted by the organisation and, therefore, more appreciated – and it’s a well-known fact that people like to make their superiors proud, so they’ll work with more excitement and be less prone to not caring about what their doing. Avoiding or minimising ‘scripted’ repetitive work also helps – allowing creativity to flow will help keep your staff motivated! Long, pointless meetings can also be exhausting – keep your get-togethers to a necessary minimum, stick to the planned agenda, work on pragmatic briefings and make sure everyone understands what you expect from them. Allowing better work conditions also works a treat: background music and the ability to schedule one’s priorities have been ranked high by employees in search of a nicer office life.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Interesting blog find of the week (so far!)
We have just come across a very interesting Project Management blog, Fear No Project, which purpose, they state, is to “share thoughts and experiences on issues affecting project managers and the world of project management”. Two of their recent articles, we think, are of extreme relevance – that’s why we’re sharing them with you here!
Role of Project Managers in Change Management
July 10, 2009 — Bruce McGraw
Because change is an organisational constant affecting everyone, we assume everyone knows about Change Management. However, change management requires more than the natural flow of change in an organisation. Change Management (emphasis on the management) begins with a desired behavioural outcome and works methodically toward that goal by re-shaping an organization’s culture or way of doing business...
Read full article.
Project manager – having difficult conversations
June 20, 2009 — Bruce McGraw
Whether it’s an underperforming developer, a lazy team member, some type of inappropriate behaviour, or a prima donna on the team that makes everyone angry, there are times in every project manager’s life when he or she must have a difficult conversation with employee team member. These conversations are always difficult because you will be saying something that the other person doesn’t want to hear. You will be asking the employee to change his or her behaviour which is not something people are often motivated to do...
Read full article.
Role of Project Managers in Change Management
July 10, 2009 — Bruce McGraw
Because change is an organisational constant affecting everyone, we assume everyone knows about Change Management. However, change management requires more than the natural flow of change in an organisation. Change Management (emphasis on the management) begins with a desired behavioural outcome and works methodically toward that goal by re-shaping an organization’s culture or way of doing business...
Read full article.
Project manager – having difficult conversations
June 20, 2009 — Bruce McGraw
Whether it’s an underperforming developer, a lazy team member, some type of inappropriate behaviour, or a prima donna on the team that makes everyone angry, there are times in every project manager’s life when he or she must have a difficult conversation with employee team member. These conversations are always difficult because you will be saying something that the other person doesn’t want to hear. You will be asking the employee to change his or her behaviour which is not something people are often motivated to do...
Read full article.
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Maven Training proud of Birmingham City Council
A long-term Maven Training client, Birmingham City Council has recently won the “Outstanding Employee Engagement Strategy HR Magazine Excellence Awards”.
Prior to CEO Stephen Hughes’ arrival in 2006, only 56% of BCC employees felt motivated and less than ¼ thought the council was well-managed.
A remarkable turnaround in fortune put the council back on track – and now they lead the way in staff engagement. Their £1.2m ‘Best’ programme – an initiative that turned disengaged employees into empowered staff trusted to identify and remedy problems themselves – has created over 1800 ‘best leaders’ who have the authority to implement service improvements. These ‘best’ leaders trained and run workshops for 23000 staff through management meetings, social relationship websites and a Dragon’s Den-style event where staff could pitch ideas for a chance to win £1,000!
The results of the investment are outstanding: now 75% of staff who have taken part on ‘best’ workshops say they feel more engaged and motivated, 83% of general staff say they feel motivated (up from 56% in 2006), 90% say they’re proud to work at BCC (up from 50% in 2009) – and that’s not all: public satisfaction of BCC residents rose from 53% to 62%!
Well done, Birmingham City Council!!
Prior to CEO Stephen Hughes’ arrival in 2006, only 56% of BCC employees felt motivated and less than ¼ thought the council was well-managed.
A remarkable turnaround in fortune put the council back on track – and now they lead the way in staff engagement. Their £1.2m ‘Best’ programme – an initiative that turned disengaged employees into empowered staff trusted to identify and remedy problems themselves – has created over 1800 ‘best leaders’ who have the authority to implement service improvements. These ‘best’ leaders trained and run workshops for 23000 staff through management meetings, social relationship websites and a Dragon’s Den-style event where staff could pitch ideas for a chance to win £1,000!
The results of the investment are outstanding: now 75% of staff who have taken part on ‘best’ workshops say they feel more engaged and motivated, 83% of general staff say they feel motivated (up from 56% in 2006), 90% say they’re proud to work at BCC (up from 50% in 2009) – and that’s not all: public satisfaction of BCC residents rose from 53% to 62%!
Well done, Birmingham City Council!!
Monday, 15 June 2009
More on Programme Management
By Melanie Franklin, CEO, Maven Training.
We are getting a lot of demand from clients to help them with their programme management at the moment.
For example, lots of Primary Care Trusts in the NHS are creating new programmes to delivery World Class Commissioning, which means reorganising their internal processes. Other clients are reorganising to save money, and they need to get things done fast.
One of our clients told me the other day "I am not worried about whether we are doing it right – I just need it done. How can we get a cost reduction programme underway and delivering benefits NOW?"
In response, we have created a series of three-hour 'Quick Fix' workshops that cover all the difficult topics – scope and strategic objectives of the programme, defining benefits, being an effective sponsor.
These workshops are defined to get everyone on their feet and contributing their ideas – see the pictures of the ‘workshop in action’!
Are you under pressure to deliver quickly, and are you getting the message that 'we don't mind how, just get it done?' I would love to hear your views.
We are getting a lot of demand from clients to help them with their programme management at the moment.
For example, lots of Primary Care Trusts in the NHS are creating new programmes to delivery World Class Commissioning, which means reorganising their internal processes. Other clients are reorganising to save money, and they need to get things done fast.
One of our clients told me the other day "I am not worried about whether we are doing it right – I just need it done. How can we get a cost reduction programme underway and delivering benefits NOW?"
In response, we have created a series of three-hour 'Quick Fix' workshops that cover all the difficult topics – scope and strategic objectives of the programme, defining benefits, being an effective sponsor.
These workshops are defined to get everyone on their feet and contributing their ideas – see the pictures of the ‘workshop in action’!
Are you under pressure to deliver quickly, and are you getting the message that 'we don't mind how, just get it done?' I would love to hear your views.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
BCS Debates - Making Projects Work
Last month our CEO Melanie Franklin was a panellist of the BCS Debate, “Making IT Projects Work”, along with David Hicks, CEO, RADTAC and Paul Major, CEO, Program Framework.
The debate, chaired by Brian Runciman, Managing Editor of the BCS , concentrated on discussing problems and solutions revolving around IT Projects. The high level of the participants brought interesting answers and comments on Project Management itself – amongst the questions answered was “Are project failures a perception or sheer reality?”. They discussed the real chances of acquiring more information about failed projects, the difference between projects and programmes (and the definition of both frequently seeming a bit “hazy”), projects that work, projects that don’t and why, and the benefits of a dedicated project office. However, it was the panellists’ years of project and programme management experience that drove the conversation to the human side of project management – knowing how to deal with the people who work in a particular project is as important as having a structured approach to managing it. The focus was on the migration of “techies” to project management, PM “lingo” on the way of success, how to engage people – including management of board expectations.
WATCH THE DEBATE!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
The debate, chaired by Brian Runciman, Managing Editor of the BCS , concentrated on discussing problems and solutions revolving around IT Projects. The high level of the participants brought interesting answers and comments on Project Management itself – amongst the questions answered was “Are project failures a perception or sheer reality?”. They discussed the real chances of acquiring more information about failed projects, the difference between projects and programmes (and the definition of both frequently seeming a bit “hazy”), projects that work, projects that don’t and why, and the benefits of a dedicated project office. However, it was the panellists’ years of project and programme management experience that drove the conversation to the human side of project management – knowing how to deal with the people who work in a particular project is as important as having a structured approach to managing it. The focus was on the migration of “techies” to project management, PM “lingo” on the way of success, how to engage people – including management of board expectations.
WATCH THE DEBATE!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Monday, 18 May 2009
What a training organisation can do for a client
By Susan Tuttle, Associate Trainer.
Earlier this year I was commissioned with the development and delivery of a bespoke Project Management course to a specific client. After running the series of courses successfully (there have been nine issues), I thought of sharing a summary end-of-event assessment with you.
The delegates – who ranged from never having been on a project to leading projects (especially events) – were open to the ideas and principles of the client’s own Project Management framework, as well as a generic PM approach. The three hours spent on each of the courses seemed enough time for them to try out important aspects of PM on a fictitious case study, as well as bring up ideas and issues of using a methodology/framework on real-life projects.
The course opened with a brief overview of the client’s own PM framework and how it could be applied to projects using a matrix of project categories. Most delegates understood this concept, but wanted more clarification on the categories and how exactly this would affect their current and future projects.
The client divides its framework in four phases: ‘Consider’, ‘Organise’, ‘Realise’ and ‘Close Down’.
The second topic of the course covered the ‘Consider’ phase, which concentrates on exploring options and justifying the project investment. Again delegates understood the value of a Business Case, but questioned the practicalities when the “decision had already been made” to do the project or pursue a certain option. No one had experienced comparing the project option with the “do nothing” option on 'real' projects.
The third topic, ‘Organise’, involved critiquing and adding to a Project Initiation Document. This was consistently met with apprehension from the name of the document to the level of detail required for a PID.
During the ‘Realise’ portion of the course, the delegates were asked to deal with risks, issues and changes, based on their scenarios. Information previously defined (or not) in the PID helped the delegates understand the importance of the information from the PID to assist them in managing the execution of the project.
Finally, when working on ‘Closing Down’ and evaluating the case study project, delegates made several connections to identifying, confirming and agreeing the information from the PID in order to achieve a successful outcome at the end of the project, especially in the three areas focused on during the PID exercise – Risks, Communications and Product Descriptions.
As it’s clear from this example, tailoring well-known Best Practices methodologies to the needs of each specific client is something that can be done – and in the case of Maven Training, that’s where we excel!
Earlier this year I was commissioned with the development and delivery of a bespoke Project Management course to a specific client. After running the series of courses successfully (there have been nine issues), I thought of sharing a summary end-of-event assessment with you.
The delegates – who ranged from never having been on a project to leading projects (especially events) – were open to the ideas and principles of the client’s own Project Management framework, as well as a generic PM approach. The three hours spent on each of the courses seemed enough time for them to try out important aspects of PM on a fictitious case study, as well as bring up ideas and issues of using a methodology/framework on real-life projects.
The course opened with a brief overview of the client’s own PM framework and how it could be applied to projects using a matrix of project categories. Most delegates understood this concept, but wanted more clarification on the categories and how exactly this would affect their current and future projects.
The client divides its framework in four phases: ‘Consider’, ‘Organise’, ‘Realise’ and ‘Close Down’.
The second topic of the course covered the ‘Consider’ phase, which concentrates on exploring options and justifying the project investment. Again delegates understood the value of a Business Case, but questioned the practicalities when the “decision had already been made” to do the project or pursue a certain option. No one had experienced comparing the project option with the “do nothing” option on 'real' projects.
The third topic, ‘Organise’, involved critiquing and adding to a Project Initiation Document. This was consistently met with apprehension from the name of the document to the level of detail required for a PID.
During the ‘Realise’ portion of the course, the delegates were asked to deal with risks, issues and changes, based on their scenarios. Information previously defined (or not) in the PID helped the delegates understand the importance of the information from the PID to assist them in managing the execution of the project.
Finally, when working on ‘Closing Down’ and evaluating the case study project, delegates made several connections to identifying, confirming and agreeing the information from the PID in order to achieve a successful outcome at the end of the project, especially in the three areas focused on during the PID exercise – Risks, Communications and Product Descriptions.
As it’s clear from this example, tailoring well-known Best Practices methodologies to the needs of each specific client is something that can be done – and in the case of Maven Training, that’s where we excel!
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
The Project Management Market – a survey by Arras People
Our friends at Arras People – project management & project office recruitment specialists – have carried out their fourth annual survey of the UK project management market. Having interviewed 1,200 project managers, and building on the picture from previous surveys, this one shows how the current economic climate is affecting salaries, aspirations and professional issues.
Arras People estimate that there are nearly 80,000 people working as project managers in the UK alone, and it classifies it as “an occupation which has evolved from short-term ‘task force’-type activities to a fully fledged professional career based on the effective management of change”.
Recession bites: according to the survey, it is only beginning to get tough, with 47% of contractors saying that the number of available contracts decreased in 2008 and 60% expecting cuts and redundancies in their sector. The number of employees who expect their salaries to remain unchanged – or even fall – in 2009, increased from 35 to 60% from last year’s survey.
Accreditations and qualifications: previous Arras People surveys have noted a continuing trend towards accreditation through qualification and/ or membership of a professional body.
Programme Office – has it caught on? Over 60% of respondents reported that their organisation had a PMO, with 35% of them working within one.
Salaries: there are both high and low earners in most roles across genders, but there is a pecking order: programme managers earn more than change managers, who earn a little more than project managers, and they all earn more than project staff. Higher salaries are on the private sector, the lower band is in the public sector, but the middle band has the same weight on both. And there is a gender gap: more males are on the higher salary brackets and more female in the lower ones.
The overwhelming majority of interviewees (a resounding 84%) believe that they have “a significant contribution to make in turning the UK economy around”. We think they are absolutely right in following Sir Winston Churchill’s advice: “When going through hell, keep going!”
If you would like to check the full report, just clck here.
Arras People estimate that there are nearly 80,000 people working as project managers in the UK alone, and it classifies it as “an occupation which has evolved from short-term ‘task force’-type activities to a fully fledged professional career based on the effective management of change”.
Recession bites: according to the survey, it is only beginning to get tough, with 47% of contractors saying that the number of available contracts decreased in 2008 and 60% expecting cuts and redundancies in their sector. The number of employees who expect their salaries to remain unchanged – or even fall – in 2009, increased from 35 to 60% from last year’s survey.
Accreditations and qualifications: previous Arras People surveys have noted a continuing trend towards accreditation through qualification and/ or membership of a professional body.
Programme Office – has it caught on? Over 60% of respondents reported that their organisation had a PMO, with 35% of them working within one.
Salaries: there are both high and low earners in most roles across genders, but there is a pecking order: programme managers earn more than change managers, who earn a little more than project managers, and they all earn more than project staff. Higher salaries are on the private sector, the lower band is in the public sector, but the middle band has the same weight on both. And there is a gender gap: more males are on the higher salary brackets and more female in the lower ones.
The overwhelming majority of interviewees (a resounding 84%) believe that they have “a significant contribution to make in turning the UK economy around”. We think they are absolutely right in following Sir Winston Churchill’s advice: “When going through hell, keep going!”
If you would like to check the full report, just clck here.
Monday, 2 March 2009
What’s in a Word? What's in a Name?
The meaning of ‘Maven’, by Carol Elliot, Training Consultant at Maven Training.
I recently read the book “The Tipping Point”, by Malcolm Gladwell. I found it both inspiring and ambitious. In reading this book I discovered the meaning of ‘Maven’. The paragraph below are quotes from Gladwell’s book.
“Mavens are really information brokers, sharing and trading what they know. They are intense gatherers of information and impressions, and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends. To be a Maven is to be a teacher. But it is also, even more emphatically, to be a student. A Maven is someone who wants to solve other people’s problems. The fact that Mavens want to help, for no other reason than because they like to help, turns out to be an awfully effective way of getting someone's attention. The word Maven comes from the Yiddish and it means one who accumulates knowledge”.
Wanting to know more, I ‘googled’ the word Maven. These are my findings …..
Maven
- (noun) someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
Maven
- (countable) American English someone who knows a lot about a particular subject
MAVEN (also ma•vin n ) a person who has special knowledge or experience; an expert
The word (it seems) originated in United States from Yiddish
[Yiddish meyvn, from Hebrew mēbîn, active participle of hēbîn, to understand.]
Seemingly, since the word was introduced to English (with attestations going back to 1952), the world has been blessed with a multitude of mavens. Nowadays you can find a sports maven, a political maven, a public relations maven, a principle-driven policy maven; a cruise maven, a gift maven; a movie maven, a sci-fi maven, even a local historic legal maven. There is software known as File Maven, a computer buying guide (by Business Week) called Maven.
So what about a ‘training’ maven?
We now have one: Maven Training Ltd. The quality of our training materials and our history of successful pass rates allow us to class ourselves as dazzling, expert ‘training mavens’!
I recently read the book “The Tipping Point”, by Malcolm Gladwell. I found it both inspiring and ambitious. In reading this book I discovered the meaning of ‘Maven’. The paragraph below are quotes from Gladwell’s book.
“Mavens are really information brokers, sharing and trading what they know. They are intense gatherers of information and impressions, and so are often the first to pick up on new or nascent trends. To be a Maven is to be a teacher. But it is also, even more emphatically, to be a student. A Maven is someone who wants to solve other people’s problems. The fact that Mavens want to help, for no other reason than because they like to help, turns out to be an awfully effective way of getting someone's attention. The word Maven comes from the Yiddish and it means one who accumulates knowledge”.
Wanting to know more, I ‘googled’ the word Maven. These are my findings …..
Maven
- (noun) someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
Maven
- (countable) American English someone who knows a lot about a particular subject
MAVEN (also ma•vin n ) a person who has special knowledge or experience; an expert
The word (it seems) originated in United States from Yiddish
[Yiddish meyvn, from Hebrew mēbîn, active participle of hēbîn, to understand.]
Seemingly, since the word was introduced to English (with attestations going back to 1952), the world has been blessed with a multitude of mavens. Nowadays you can find a sports maven, a political maven, a public relations maven, a principle-driven policy maven; a cruise maven, a gift maven; a movie maven, a sci-fi maven, even a local historic legal maven. There is software known as File Maven, a computer buying guide (by Business Week) called Maven.
So what about a ‘training’ maven?
We now have one: Maven Training Ltd. The quality of our training materials and our history of successful pass rates allow us to class ourselves as dazzling, expert ‘training mavens’!
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Mr Bhatti's Pearls of Wisdom
Oh, the beauty of the Infinite Wisdom of Senior Managers... Everyday our Managing Director, Salman Bhatti, enlightens us with his ever so significant and serious quotes, which never fail to make our days more fruitful. Today I am delighted to share some of his classic “Pearls of Wisdom” with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Deep thoughts
“Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday”.
“’Smile’, they said, ‘life could be worse’. I did, and it was…”
“The wisdom of the wise is a large degree of common sense”.
About Work
“Why is there so much month left at the end of the salary?”
“Isn’t it heavenly to do nothing and rest afterwards?”
“I like work; I can sit and stare at it for hours”
Mundane reflections
“A good day is when all the wheels on your shopping trolley go in the same direction”.
Men and women
“God made beautiful women – and then they turned into wives”.
“A woman changes a lot after marriage, especially her husband.”
“A bachelor is someone who comes to work from a different direction every morning”.
Knowledge
“Expert: someone who has stopped learning”.
“Never learn to do anything. If you don’t learn you will always find someone else to do it for you”.
Growing old
“Middle age is when your broad mind and narrow waist change places”.
“Wrinkles are hereditary – parents get them from their children”.
On Business
“The trouble with opportunity is that it looks so much bigger going than coming”.
“Diplomacy: the art of saying things in such a way the no one knows exactly what you mean”.
And finally, on the complications of communication
“I know you believe you understand what you think I just said. But if hope you realise that what you just heard is not what I meant!”
What would we do without such wonderful remarks?
PS: since Melanie talked about the 50th anniversary of Charles Darwin's 'The Origin of Species' on our last post, I just thought it was worth mentioning that today is his birthday.
Deep thoughts
“Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday”.
“’Smile’, they said, ‘life could be worse’. I did, and it was…”
“The wisdom of the wise is a large degree of common sense”.
About Work
“Why is there so much month left at the end of the salary?”
“Isn’t it heavenly to do nothing and rest afterwards?”
“I like work; I can sit and stare at it for hours”
Mundane reflections
“A good day is when all the wheels on your shopping trolley go in the same direction”.
Men and women
“God made beautiful women – and then they turned into wives”.
“A woman changes a lot after marriage, especially her husband.”
“A bachelor is someone who comes to work from a different direction every morning”.
Knowledge
“Expert: someone who has stopped learning”.
“Never learn to do anything. If you don’t learn you will always find someone else to do it for you”.
Growing old
“Middle age is when your broad mind and narrow waist change places”.
“Wrinkles are hereditary – parents get them from their children”.
On Business
“The trouble with opportunity is that it looks so much bigger going than coming”.
“Diplomacy: the art of saying things in such a way the no one knows exactly what you mean”.
And finally, on the complications of communication
“I know you believe you understand what you think I just said. But if hope you realise that what you just heard is not what I meant!”
What would we do without such wonderful remarks?
PS: since Melanie talked about the 50th anniversary of Charles Darwin's 'The Origin of Species' on our last post, I just thought it was worth mentioning that today is his birthday.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Blogging
Browsing through the blogosphere, we found welcome to optimism, a blog about life at the London-based advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy. There, we learned about Yvon Chouinard and his book, "Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman" and thought of sharing a quote/ thought for the year ahead from it:
"The owners and managers of a business that wants to be around for the next hundred years had better love change. The most important mandate for a manager in a dynamic company is to instigate change. In his book 'The Beak of the Finch'Jonathan Weiner talks about an insect that was found preserved in amber. The specimen, millions of years old, is identical in appearance to that species living today - with one big difference. The present-day insect had developed the ability to shed its legs and regenerate new ones after touching plants covered with pesticides. Surprisingly, this ability has evolved just since the time of World War II, when pesticide use began. The lesson to be learned is that evolution (change) doesn't happen without stress, and it can happen quickly."
He goes on to say:
"Just as doing risk sports will create stresses that lead to bettering of one's self, so should a company constantly stress itself in order to grow. Our company has always done its best work whenever we've had a crisis. I've never been so proud of our employees as in 1994, when the entire company was mobilized to change over from using traditional cotton to organically grown by 1996. It was a crisis that led to writing down our philosophies. When there is no crisis, the wise leader or CEO will invent one. Not by crying wolf but by challenging the employees with change.
As Bob Dylan says, "He not busy being born is busy dying."
New employees coming into a company with a strong culture and values may think that they shouldn't rock the boat and shouldn't challenge the status quo. On the contrary, while values should never change, every organization, business, government, or religion must be adaptive and resilient and constantly embrace new ideas and methods of operation."
"The owners and managers of a business that wants to be around for the next hundred years had better love change. The most important mandate for a manager in a dynamic company is to instigate change. In his book 'The Beak of the Finch'Jonathan Weiner talks about an insect that was found preserved in amber. The specimen, millions of years old, is identical in appearance to that species living today - with one big difference. The present-day insect had developed the ability to shed its legs and regenerate new ones after touching plants covered with pesticides. Surprisingly, this ability has evolved just since the time of World War II, when pesticide use began. The lesson to be learned is that evolution (change) doesn't happen without stress, and it can happen quickly."
He goes on to say:
"Just as doing risk sports will create stresses that lead to bettering of one's self, so should a company constantly stress itself in order to grow. Our company has always done its best work whenever we've had a crisis. I've never been so proud of our employees as in 1994, when the entire company was mobilized to change over from using traditional cotton to organically grown by 1996. It was a crisis that led to writing down our philosophies. When there is no crisis, the wise leader or CEO will invent one. Not by crying wolf but by challenging the employees with change.
As Bob Dylan says, "He not busy being born is busy dying."
New employees coming into a company with a strong culture and values may think that they shouldn't rock the boat and shouldn't challenge the status quo. On the contrary, while values should never change, every organization, business, government, or religion must be adaptive and resilient and constantly embrace new ideas and methods of operation."
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