Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
The job market – something I survey as unconsciously as most people breath air as part of my work – seems to be telling us something this first week of the Gregorian new year.
But what it is?
For a large part of the US population the Great Recession is like a parallel universe; heard about, but not part of anyone’s day-to-day existence.… Read the rest
One of my college nicknames – a byproduct of a seemingly ceaseless quest for everyday relevance as a kid at the SAE fraternity house at Willamette University – was “Right On Smitty.”
While the nickname was usually meant with mixed affection, the striving to be relevant was a constant. I was keen that the things we did in the frat house made sense for us.… Read the rest
There are random events, and there are events that are chock full of patterns: the trick is knowing one set of events from the other, and in figuring out what, if anything, any patterns mean.
Something as simple as a run chart stuck up on your bulletin board wall helps you plot experience, whether it be the number of times your seven year old wakes-up at nights (less common lately – thank goodness) or the number of times things a client calls with one “last” change.… Read the rest
My first trip to China last week as part of work with a client brought back memories of business from almost three decades ago. It was a different time and a very different place, but ff you worked in business in the 1980’s in the United States, all eyes seemed to be focused on Japan. From cars to copiers, Japanese companies could seem to do no wrong, and US companies seemed to be able to do not much right.… Read the rest