Many might say it’s just a sign of the times and ask, “Is it really appropriate to take a break at this point in time?” Unemployment has soared to astronomical heights in recent past, and many (Americans at least) are still struggling just to hang on to their jobs to avoid bank foreclosures on their homes. Some economists report that the economy is showing signs of recovery, but it’s going to be quite some time before those signs have a significant impact on the world around us.

Regardless of the economy, I always feel like I need to be available to my clients, to my team, to my business all the time. Most senior leaders in organizations seem to feel the same way so it can’t just be because I’m an entrepreneur and small business owner. Actually, it’s a rare breed these days (at least in the US as opposed to places like Western Europe that all but shut down in the month of August) that recognizes the inherent need to take a break. It’s one of the best ways to gain an appreciation for our work. It’s one of the best ways to create some fresh perspectives on how we work.

I all but stopped reading after completing my dissertation more than 10 years ago. And while it was a challenge for me to get away from my email and turn off my PC during a family vacation last month (yes, I had GoGo Inflight internet access!), I read an entire Patrick Lencioni book in 1 flight from Los Angeles to Orlando with my kids. It was a great experience for all of us to be reading together. And it has given me a new way of looking at my work as a consultant simply from reading.

Caring for oneself has long been proven to be a critical cultural element needed for an organization to succeed. So as managers, we have to demonstrate a sincere set of values that focus on not just corporate objectives but also the health and well-being of our employees. Our intense focus on managing the crisis of the day near-term often gets in the way of our ability to consider our longer-term needs though. So how do we build this “rhythm” of work and recharging into the fabric of our organizational lives? How do we instill new values into our organizations such that rest and relaxation simply becomes part of our jobs and not a luxury that nobody can afford to take?

Many have already begun responding to these questions in a LinkedIn Future of OD group discussion. One member cited the importance of taking a break by quoting Margaret Wheatley: “‘The future materializes from the actions, values, and beliefs we’re practicing now. We’re creating the future every day by what we choose to do.’” Organizational values must be prioritized and set at the top and then reinforced by consistent management practices if they are to last.

Please share your thoughts about how you are successfully prioritizing recharging in your organization with us here and check out the group discussion on LinkedIn (http://bit.ly/futureOD) for more. It may just prove to be the best break you’ve ever taken!

Whether it’s a skater or skier or snowboarder or other, everyone who won a Gold Medal in Vancouver recently is a role model for us all. Practice, patience, persistence, and passion – the 4 P’s of Olympic Gold – are likely mantras for all these winners. Shaun White, in particular, is a true living example of exactly what every senior executive and business leader should be focused on creating in their organizations – not because he won gold on the half pipe, but because he won gold after winning gold on the half pipe!

That’s right.  Shaun White was standing at the top of his second and final run when the results came in, and he found out that he already won the gold medal without even completing his last run. In that very moment, he had a choice- walk down the mountain a victor with snowboard in hand or deliver what he came to deliver for the crowd. After a 2-minute pep talk with his coaches that seemed to last forever, he did exactly that. Deliver!

Shaun White was not just in it to win it. He was in it to bring it! Winning the gold almost seemed to be an unnecessary bonus for him as he stuck the landing on his final trick. Click on the following video to watch this incredible “double gold” performance.

Link to NBC Footage of Shaun White’s 2010 Olympic Performance

So what can we learn from Shaun White and all the other Olympic Gold Medalists this year?  The following 4 P’s of Olympic Gold are critical for anyone to be successful in fulfilling their dreams and achieving their objectives in today’s fiercely competitive business marketplace:

1. Patience – Gold medal performances don’t come overnight. Be patient and remain focused on your end goal.
2. Persistence – As a follow-up to #1, success requires long-term and unwavering commitment. Don’t give up even if you hit a few road bumps along the way.
3. Practice – Practice, practice, practice… Gold medals only come from taking risks, reaching beyond your comfort zone, and learning new skills over time.
4. Passion – And finally, passion! As Jim Collins writes in his best-seller Good To Great, you can achieve anything you set your mind to if you are passionate about it. Without passion, you are far more likely to throw in the towel on the 1^st 3 P’s before you achieve your objectives.

If you are interested in engaging in a powerful and stimulating conversation about how best to groom the next generation of Gold Medalists in your organization, join us and the OD in LA MeetUp group next Tuesday, March 23^rd at 6:30pm. Plus Delta’s President and CEO Samantha and Jeremy Lurey will be hosting a World Café forum to discuss this very subject with some of LA’s finest organizational consultants. Click here for more info.

Should the profession of Organization Development (OD) require professional certification or licensing for practitioners to practice?

As we look to the future of OD, some questions come to mind :

-  Should anyone wanting to “hang out a shingle” as an OD practitioner be allowed to do so?

-  Should there be minimum educational requirements?  If so, what should they be?

-  Should OD practitioners be licensed through a formal licensing or certification process?

-  How would a governing body for licensing or certification be “selected”?

-  What risks to the OD profession are posed if licensing or certification is required?

-  How do you market your practice to differentiate and distinguish yourself?

Having practiced in the field for 30 years, now, I have seen OD grow to encompass a broad range of “specialty” areas beyond its origins in the area of “group dynamics”, “human relations research”, and “action research” back in the 1940’s and 50’s.  (See the Wikipedia article on OD here). Over the past nearly 60 years, the field of OD has grown and expanded to include a multitude of “sub-disciplines”, including organization design, change management, executive coaching and development, team building, appreciative inquiry (AI), future search, systems theory, employee engagement, organizational culture/climate, employee surveys, performance improvement, process improvement, strategic planning–the list goes on and on.

As with any field – whether it be medicine, law, chemistry, biology, engineering, etc. – this trend toward increased specialization affords exciting opportunities for people practicing in these fields to deepen their skills and knowledge in areas that are valued by society.  Just as deepening the field of medicine in, say, the specialization of oncology, can lead to new and more effective treatments for cancer, so can deepening the field of OD in, say, the specialization of organization design, can lead to new and more effective organizational forms.

But imagine that you are a potential client for a project that requires you to hire an OD consultant, and that project is going to cost your business $500K for the next 6 months.  You put out a request for proposal (RFP) stating your requirements, wait for the proposals to come in, and then interview the top finalists.  How do you, the somewhat uninformed client, know how to identify the right consultant or consulting firm?  They all claim to be OD consultants.  They all claim to have the right experience.  Each one of them tells you a different story about your problem, one saying that it’s a “performance management” problem, another saying that it’s a “reengineering problem”, and yet another saying that your executive team needs team-building or executive coaching.  How do you, as a client, know how to sort through the inevitable “BS” and make an informed buying decision?

Now, imagine that you’re the OD consultant!  How do you avoid being a “Johnny-one-note” with a “pet solution” designed to fit every problem?  (In other words, a hammer in search of a nail!)  Or how do you differentiate yourself from “OD wannabees” who have had little to no formal education or training in OD without sounding arrogant or prideful?  Or how do you market yourself so that you demonstrate depth in key (hopefully marketable) areas, without becoming so narrowly specialized that you miss out on potentially interesting and profitable consulting opportunities?

Paradigm shifts aside, for now let’s consider the future of OD as a cohesive “field”: OD “purists” and those who teach in academic institutions continually emphasize the need for empirical research and scientific methods in the field of OD to establish the validity of OD interventions and give the profession its due credibility in the business world.  But as a seasoned OD practitioner, how often are you asked for scientific evidence for your recommendations, or for the statistical validation of the efficacy of your group facilitation techniques?  I would imagine, however, that you have been asked to share specific examples of where your efforts have led to measurable improvements in business results and/or increased employee engagement. I am eager to hear from other professionals and engage in a debate on these matters!

(We encourage public comments! Private comments may be sent to Chagen_at_PlusDelta_dot_net)

Here is an excerpt of a recent discussion about the Best Recognition and Rewards Programs for the Post-Recession Economy:

[Jeremy Lurey]: A couple weeks ago, I facilitated a great session with a local NHRA (National Human Resources Association) chapter. The topic was Recognition and Rewards programs, and we used a World Cafe (see www.theworldcafe.com) format to bring everyone – and their richly diverse perspectives – into the room. During the World Cafe rounds, groups were asked the following 3 questions:

1. What are the top three MONETARY recognition and rewards approaches that you use in your company?
2. What are the top three NON-MONETARY recognition and rewards approaches that you use in your company?
3. What are the underlying assumptions of your recognition and rewards system, and does the absence of receiving a reward equate to PUNISHMENT?

Provided below are some of the key themes that emerged from the group. I’m curious if this is in line with your experiences or if you have other “best programs” you would recommend.

- MONETARY programs included spot bonuses, spot awards of all denominations, sales incentives, and structured commissions for sales people. Some of the best suggestions actually included having the program guidelines approved by management but then having the awards themselves appointed by others without management intervention.

- NON-MONETARY programs included everything from hand-written Thank You cards from senior leadership to deserving employees to more visible Employee of the Month/Year awards to more individualized service pins and other tokens of recognition, including honorary parking spots. Some of the best recommendations were actually based on assigning special project tasks (i.e., Tiger Team assignments) to people to recognize their abilities and unique contributions.

- Some of the final thoughts about PUNISHMENT may have been most interesting of all. A significant number of participants remarked on how many rewards were removed in 2009 due to the economy and how this simple act of cost-cutting was experienced by many as punishment. So the resounding recommendation of the group was to not implement something that may not be sustainable, because any improvements in organizational culture and performance that may have been gained initially surely would be lost – and then some! – as soon as those rewards were taken away.

[Future of OD Member]: This sound[s] like it would have been [a] fascinating meeting. I couldn’t agree more with the final comments. Once the bar has been set, anything that lowers the bar is experienced as either punishment or taking something away. We create the expectation of recognition when we initiate a recognition program. If we, for any reason, have to stop that program, we then fail to meet the expectations that we have created. This gives us a very fine line to walk, but it’s worth it if we can find our way.

[Jeremy Lurey]: Thanks (Member). It really was a great meeting. Not often, we as professionals get a chance to focus on knowledge transfer and learning in this type of intimate group forum. And the ideas that came out of the discussion were powerful and tremendously rich. Everyone very much agreed with what you just described which is the basic tenet of “Don’t do it if you aren’t serious long-term” and “Fight to keep it once it’s already in place.”

So what are your thoughts about recognition and rewards for the post-recession economy? As you can see, we are blogging about a discussion that is now taking place online even though it originally formed from the ideas discussed in a separate in-person group. Help us continue the conversation here via this communication media by commenting below. Or better yet, take an excerpt of this blog post and start another discussion in yet another form. We welcome it!

Many organizations have realized that green business practices provide a competitive business advantage. It’s an opportunity to make a real difference in a way that benefits not only bottom line results, but also fosters stronger employee engagement, improves community relations, and creates a sense of corporate responsibility.

Some companies have integrated their green initiatives into every aspect of their business, and have even resulted in the addition of innovative products and services to boost bottom line results. In most cases, though, it’s not easy to come up with potentially significant contributions that result in a measurable impact to cost or profitability.

Plus Delta Consulting recommends collaborating with all of your stakeholders — employees, customers, vendors, and business partners — to gather input, ideas, and perspectives. Educate your stakeholders about sustainability and the company’s vision, and then involve them so everyone feels like they are contributing to the goal. They will be much more engaged in the process and will be much more likely to participate in any new initiatives.

Whether your organization is looking to implement green initiatives as part of a large-scale transformation, or just at a grassroots level, Plus Delta suggests the following idea starters to…… get you “going green.”

1. What can I do individually? How can I change my  behavior or ways of working to contribute to the organization’s sustainable business practices?
2. What can our department do? What opportunities do we have within our department’s operations or processes to support the company’s vision of going green?
3. What opportunities exist between departments? Can we create efficiencies or new processes in how we work with other departments?
4. What divisional or company-wide opportunities exist for efficiency? Where can we create efficiencies that benefit both the company and the environment?
5. How can we reduce our energy consumption? Are there low-risk opportunities to use less electricity, fuel, renewable energy sources, etc.?
6. How can we reduce materials or waste? What are the low-risk, high-value opportunities in how we produce our products or services?
7. How can we create a more efficient infrastructure? Are there opportunities to reduce, reuse, or recycle within our systems?
8. How can we improve the design of our products or services? How can we make our products or services even better and more environmentally friendly at the same time?
9. What new products or services could we offer? How can our company provide “green” products or services to new markets and customers?
10. What new products or services could we create that might also be patented or licensed to other companies? What are the opportunities for government funding for these in our market or industry?
11. How could we reduce our carbon footprint? What key functions or areas of the company could we analyze and target first?
12. How could we partner with our vendors and business partners on collaborative green initiatives? What green initiatives are they implementing? How can we collaborate and support each other?

Can Plus Delta Consulting help your organization “go green”? Our consultants are passionate about helping our clients implement sustainable business practices, so please do let us know. If you have implemented green practices, please share your “green” organizational experiences with us!

Due to the popular demand we received from our clients last month, we are extending our New Year’s offer for FREE 360-Degree Leadership Excellence Surveys for anyone who starts a new Executive Coaching program. Plus Delta’s coaching programs range from 6 months of rigorous support to help you and your senior leaders develop the skills you need to ensure the success of your organization to our much more targeted “Quickstart” program. Either way, Plus Delta’s talented executive coaches will help you leverage the tools and insights you need to bridge the gap between more traditional managerial roles and your new responsibilities as business leaders in this post-recession economy. And to make sure these programs deliver long-term sustainable results, we’ll include not only a FREE 360-Degree Leadership Excellence Survey but also a one-year subscription to ThinkBox – one of the most powerful online, on-demand learning and development resources around today – with every program.

Interested in learning more? Ready to invest in yourself and invest in your leaders? With Plus Delta’s Executive Coaching programs, you can improve the performance of an individual leader or an entire executive team. Give us a call at 866.PLS.DLTA (757-3582) or send an email to info@plusdelta.net and get started today. Believe it or not, our Quickstart programs begin at just $1950 per leader, so you don’t want to miss this amazing opportunity!

Thank you,

Plus Delta Consulting Team

Every major consulting or research firm has the data to prove it.  Engaged employees are not only happy employees, but they are much, much more productive employees. They make companies more profitable, and shareholders richer.  (Click here to download a Gallup white paper on the power of employee engagement as a core business strategy.)

I think that most leaders are coming around to believe that this is a truth:  engaged employees are a good thing for the business. The problem is that many leaders have trouble figuring out what it takes to get those employees  “engaged”.

Let’s make it clear.  “Engaged” employees are emotionally involved with their job, their company, and their co-workers. Some of their co-workers become friends outside the workplace, and they care about and support one another.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that HR departments in companies should start planning weekly company picnics or make a return to “fermentation Fridays”.  I’m not suggesting that we run a “social Meet Up” application on the company intranet.

We don’t need to run “team building” meetings and ropes courses in every department to get employees engaged.  And no, we don’t need executives to do a weekly “lunch with the President” meeting (UNLESS the “Pres” is willing to stick with the program and actually follow through on his/her commitment to meet with employees, get to know them, and do something about their suggestions).

What I am saying is that the major reasons employees:

-         Enjoy being at work

-         Are willing to give more effort to work

-         Feel good when they tell their friends and family about their work

…are that they:-         Enjoy working with the people they work with

-         Feel pride in the workspace that they occupy

-         Feel that the work they’re doing is important and meaningful

-         Relate to the work they do and identify with it on a deep level

Just read some of the top survey responses related to employee engagement in the Gallup survey for evidence to support this:

-         At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.

-         My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.

-         The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important.

-         I have a best friend at work.

-         This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

Is this so hard to understand?  Probably not for most readers.  And while it looks good on paper, it’s often difficult to make happen.

And that is what we as OD practitioners do for a living. When given the opportunity to partner with visionary leaders, we can and do make it happen.

Our job is to size up a company, understand the business, get a sense of what employees are thinking and feeling, assess what it is that needs improvement, align leadership on their vision and purpose, and then to put into play a uniquely tailored strategy to completely change the relationship that employees have with one another, with their work, and with the company.

Sound a bit like marriage counseling? I suppose it is. Some marriages get better after counseling, particularly if the couple involved wants things to get better. Some marriages get worse, and people leave the relationship.  The same thing happens when employees leave for another job.

(I’m reminded of the old joke, “How many therapists does it take to change a light bulb? Only one, but the light bulb has to really want to change).

The key to achieving engagement is to change the conversations that employees and leaders have about the business. It’s about making time to talk, listen, and take action on what workers will tell you about how to improve the business, the work environment, and the culture of the company. It’s simple, but oh so complex in execution. These conversations can lead to changes in business processes, job design, organization design, systems, policies, management practices, hiring practices, and a number of other things. But the key ingredient is getting employees involved (and, dare I use the word “engaged”) in changing the conditions in which they work…for the better. More than just a “suggestion box” program, the idea is to change that conversation that employees and leaders have about the business.  This is “business as unusual”.

Don’t be over-confident though. While some leaders have the intuition and the experience to lead these kinds of change initiatives, it is often advised to have an experienced OD professional assist in conducting these conversations to move from talk to action. Leaders will find value in having an experienced set of eyes and ears looking at the same situation they are looking at, and seeing it with a professional perspective.   And a good OD professional will bring a variety of new approaches to consider – not just a “one-size fits all” solution.

So what are some simple things leaders can do without an OD professional to offer support?  No surprises really.  Here’s a short list:

1. Encourage people on your team to form the natural friendships that foster a positive working environment.  (Or at least don’t discourage it).
2. Encourage discussions about how current work processes might be improved, particularly with cross-functional work processes
3. Set up a peer recognition program.
4. Hold regular discussions with your employees about ways they can continually improve their skills on the job.  Consider job rotation or cross training.
5. Listen to your employees’ ideas and, when possible, implement them

Frankly, I get discouraged working with leaders who don’t “get it”. Many leaders simply equate employee engagement initiatives with an increase in the training budget or consulting expenses. And while these may, in fact, be outcomes of an employee engagement initiative, there is a reason for that. It’s because to get a return, you need to make an investment – an investment of time, money, and effort. All leaders ask for the ROI. And so they should. Well, the ROI is there. The research proves it. If a company can get a 10% or 20% improvement in productivity, sales, revenue, profitability, market share or any other key performance indicator, would it be worth the investment?

What does your leadership team have to say about the importance of employee engagement? And if it they see engagement as something of value, what strategies are they using to more fully engage the potential of the workforce?

All of us at Plus Delta Consulting have been reflecting on what we will do as we enter the New Year to improve performance in our organization – and with our client organizations. 2009 was a rocky year for many, and I for one am very glad to put it behind me. With that said, I’d be remiss if I simply said, “Thank God it’s over!” without doing any planning for 2010.

As we enter the New Year then, we’d like to recommend 5 simple steps for you to drastically improve performance in your organization. What steps have you taken or do you plan to take as you begin the New Year to produce better results? Please take a moment to comment below and share your own actions and ideas with us and all of our readers.  Until then, here’s our list!

1. Plan your future from the future:

If anything was possible for you and your organization in one year from now (or even 10), how would you have the future be? Suspend reality for just a moment, and don’t worry about being practical or even reasonable. Focus on defining your ideal future based on your most important values and longer-term business objectives. And don’t frame this as “fixing” something that already exists or working within your current constraints.

This is purely a process of creation. By the way, you need to enlist the support of your team and explicitly ask those around you what contribution they would like to make to the organization and the world around them – again given no constraints – to develop a shared vision for this ideal future. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish if you work together as a team to achieve this future from the future!

2. Conduct a “Quick Pulse” assessment of your organization:

Good health and wellness is critical to the success of any organization. If you want to produce better results, you need to determine what’s working well across your organization today as well as what opportunities exist to improve performance moving forward. This doesn’t have to take a long time. Just talk to some of your key managers and staff and ask them what they think. You can also administer an online survey to gather information quickly from a wider audience. Together, this process of listening to your people will help you understand their individual perspectives about organizational performance and quickly gauge what your organization needs to do differently in 2010. If you tie this information back to your company’s strategic objectives, you will have all the ingredients you need to create a recipe for success this year.

3. Talk to your people and become a mentor to them:

Do you have a forum in place today to tell your employees what they do well and what they aren’t doing so well just yet? Are you giving your direct reports the feedback they need to succeed? Feedback is a gift. At Plus Delta, we say “Feedback, Feed-forward”. If you don’t take the time to talk to your people, they won’t know what to continue doing nor will they know what to stop doing.

One simple activity is to conduct a quick goal-setting meeting with your employees in which you clarify what to Start, Stop and Continue doing in 2010 to be more effective. Match this against your more formal (or informal) performance review process, and you’ll be able to see where things are in alignment versus where they are not.

But remember, the process doesn’t stop here… Your employees need you to provide ongoing feedback and coaching throughout the year to stay on track. Being a mentor is not a one-time event, and creating sustainable results doesn’t happen after one sit-down together. Continue providing feedback to and mentoring your people on a regular and ongoing basis to produce long-lasting positive results.

4. Take a step back to examine how you’re managing performance from a company point of view

When we work with clients to help them improve performance management in their company, often their focus is on the question of “how do we raise the bar?” or “how do we have those ‘difficult’ conversations with poor performers?” or “how do we do a better job of defining and measuring goals, objectives, and key performance indicators?”.  But when we actually get into a conversation with them about what’s working and what’s not working, it turns out that their real issues are more related to managing organizational performance.  What we begin to hear are things like, “we have too many competing priorities” or “our project priorities continually shift, so we can’t help our employees prioritize what’s important from one week to the next” or “what are priorities for our group are not priorities for the other groups we work with.”

These are symptoms that the management processes for managing organizational performance are either not in place or not working effectively.  By management processes, I mean the mechanisms (i.e., meetings, forums, etc.) for the management team to meet to:  a) establish a “project portfolio management plan” of critical projects over the next 90, 180 days and beyond; b) regularly revisit that plan in light of constantly shifting priorities, marketplace dynamics, competitor plans, customer demands, etc. c) to re-prioritize projects, redistribute resources, and refine objectives and milestones; and d) re-communicate the outcomes of those meetings to employees so that their work activities are consistently prioritized, coordinated, and integrated.  While it may take some effort (and time) to establish and carry out these management processes, the overall savings of time and money on the organization through improved coordination of effort will bring a significant return on investment.

5. Evaluate your organizational strategy for using social and collaborative media:

It is essential for you – and your organization – to leverage new media for increased collaboration, networking, knowledge sharing, and improved productivity.  Whether it’s updating your LinkedIn profile, starting a new blog on a question or idea you have, or leveraging Facebook to promote your company brand, these tools can keep you connected with everyone around you.

Prior to launching a social media campaign, joining the relevant social networks, and becoming more interactive in the realm of new media, you have to determine your longer-term strategy, establish goals, and create a plan. Why are you doing this? Is it to keep your friends and family informed about what you are doing? Would you like to draw customers to your company? Are you looking to improve collaboration among members of a virtual team?  There is tremendous pressure to jump right into this game with both feet, but this arena has its own set of norms and rules and there are long-term implications for deciding to use these new media channels.

Interactivity with one’s key customers and/or encouraging internal collaborative efforts in your organization can be both rewarding and highly effective in all types of companies and communities. Understanding and establishing a set of common practices and policies on how you and your employees should use these tools is critical to the success of any such efforts though, so think first. If necessary, consult an expert to guide you before getting started.

At Plus Delta, we have experienced an ever increasing flow of feedback from our clients and others that the long anticipated economic recovery is happening and the pace of the recovery will increase significantly. The information we have received is corroborated by government figures and statistics – for example: the Consumer Confidence Index rose in December, the first time in over a year; the Monthly Home Sales Prices are up for the 5^th straight month and over the last 3 months have risen nearly 20%; the Gross Domestic Product increased 2.2 percent in the third quarter of 2009 as compared to the 2^nd quarter of 2009.

A recovering economy dictates that your organization must be prepared for changes. Our business climate dramatically changed in 2008 and early 2009 when the U.S. economy nearly came  to a complete halt. Processes in your organization were also changed; people assumed multiple roles while they tried to accomplish the same amount of work as two or more downsized workers.

Getting frustrated by conflicting demands to continue to stabilize your organization through the traditional methods of cost cutting, job layoffs, hiring part time workers, early retirement of older workers, etc.– while trying to ramp up for the arriving economic recovery will do no good.

What is mandatory is that planning must start right now. You must begin to work with your organization to prepare for a long anticipated positive move forward. You hoped for it; you asked for it, even begged for it. Now you have got it. But what to do? Here are 5 steps to get you started:

• Learn about your organization’s performance. Do this by collecting relevant data about performance by your organization, by the competition, and by requirements of the new emerging economy. Interviews with key stakeholders, clients, and suppliers are an essential part of understanding where your organization’s performance level is and where it has to go.

• Do a SWOT analysis – be brutally honest about your firm’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Done correctly, it will provide very important information and lead to a good understanding of next steps.

• Conduct workgroup feedback sessions to gain valuable insights from the “experts.” Those who work in the processes know what will be required of them to make the changes happen. They will give extraordinarily valuable insights to next steps and how difficult the changes may be.

• Examine where your processes are today and where they will need to be likely changed, updated,  completely reworked, or simply tweaked. This examination will serve to demonstrate how complex a change will be required to perform in the new, now emerging economy.

• Conduct a survey of employees, customers, suppliers, and management to help verify all of the items you have discovered.

After you have grasped the extent of the needed changes, you are in a relatively good position to begin to plan the changes themselves, the timing of the changes and how to avoid negative impacts of the changes on the organization. You can begin to do sensible “makeover” plans and start the task of properly managing your processes for a leading role in the future of your organization.

The details of the work you do to get to this point and to move forward will provide you with the structure and plan to manage the changes that are necessary to successfully deal with the new, fast approaching economy.

Where does your organization stand? What are your most pressing challenges? Need help or have questions? Please contact us. We enjoy challenges!

Jack Weber is an Executive Consultant with Plus Delta Consulting, LLC

Click here for larger video, a full transcript, discussions, and extra information. This link will be provided again at the end of this entry.

Have you ever considered the possibility that the language we use in organizations can have a direct impact on the experience of an individual worker or larger group? How many times have you seen individuals or work groups that seem to exude a culture that undermines either their own stated goals or those of the organization as a whole? In what ways do they speak of themselves, their co-workers, and the work itself, and how has this correlated with their success?

Alternatively, have you seen individuals or groups within organizations that seem to “get it?” How do they speak about themselves and others, and what culture tends to form around them and spread to other parts of a larger organization?

Tribal Leadership, written by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright, provides a framework from which to understand the various “tribes” in an organization and the cultural stages in which they reside. One of their goals is to educate leaders on how to take a tribe (or set of tribes, if in a larger organization) from one cultural stage to the next, until they align around core values and a noble cause. This is achieved both through providing specific coaching tips and through addressing how a leader and an employee can speak about themselves and others.

In the video above, Dave Logan discusses the various cultural stages. Does the following expression sound familiar? “I’m great… and you’re not” Well, in Dave’s “cultural stage” model that’s a classic “stage 3” cultural expression that often leads to people attempting to outperform one another. And while healthy, good-natured competition in organizations is generally a good thing, unhealthy competition can breed negative consequences.

The authors provide concrete steps to lead groups from stage 3 to stage 4 behaviors that focus on more positive, healthy work relationships, and emphasize a project focus that is bigger than one person can do alone. Substituting “we” language instead of “I” language can have enormous impact. It allows a stage 3 individual to focus on the success of the team. The authors write that “The essence of tribal leadership is building the “we,” and as a person does this, his [or her] influence, respect, and power increase[s].” They also emphasize that a tribal leader’s goal is to find those core values and noble causes that unite the tribe. How many of you have attempted to do this in your own workplace or as a consultant, or witnessed it being done?

If you’re an outside consultant using Appreciative Inquiry or other models that utilize the consultant-as-partner perspective rather than the consultant-as-expert, then you’re already working within a stage 4 culture framework.

Stage 4 can produce extraordinary results. Take a look at the success of Zappos.com! Is it coincidence that they’ve chosen to give away the audio version of Tribal Leadership for free?  Zappos is an organization that has the potential to reach stage 5, and perhaps they have done just that. Stage 5 is exceedingly rare. The authors of Tribal Leadership believe stage 5 is “the future of business,” however it happens in limited bursts in the corporate setting. Its expression is “life is great,” and the people tend to form boundless networks of those who share their dream.

Stage 5 culture provides a level of performance that can make history. Have you seen this up close? It’s characterized by the unlocking of boundless potential and committing to something larger than the group would imagine is possible. We’ve seen it with Olympic teams and the authors’ research has uncovered it at times within business organizations. But they are committed to stabilizing business organizations at level 5!

For a moment let’s think beyond the level of any one organization. Given that we, as human beings, must take decisive collective action toward such complex matters as reducing global climate change and the stabilization of our global economic recovery, can we afford to wait for fleeting moments of stage 5 culture or shall we work toward it now? Recently CNN highlighted individuals who were called “Heroes” for their unwavering commitment to making a difference on this level. They think from Stage 5.

Many of you work with or work inside of large organizations. What are your experiences, both positive and negative, of the culture of your “tribe” or your organization, and what can you see as possible?

Link to video of Dave Logan explaining Tribal Leadership

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