May 15Why You Need to Learn Executive TellsPoker is a game of concentration, reactions, and critical thinking. While luck still plays a large factor in the distribution of the cards, your skill at reading common poker tells can give you a significant edge. …Communication3 min readCommunication3 min read
May 1The Biggest Risk to Your Business is What You Actually See ComingWe’re in flood season here in the Midwest. Waters are rising, but it’s not like in the movies, where a torrential flood sweeps across the landscape in seconds, and people are running for their lives. It’s actually quite uneventful. Temporary barriers get put up in streets over the course of…Strategy3 min readStrategy3 min read
Apr 24How Big Is Your Organizational Debt?The debt that’s crippling your company isn’t on your balance sheet. It’s organizational debt. We’re all familiar with the concept of financial debt — money you owe, often with interest. …Organizational Culture3 min readOrganizational Culture3 min read
Apr 17What Really Kills Organizational ProductivityI was sitting in a coffee shop on a Thursday afternoon when I overheard two gentlemen talking about work. Not so much about whether client X needed Y, solving a technical problem about a product, or even collaborating on a slide deck. They were deep in discussion about organizational behavior…Productivity3 min readProductivity3 min read
Mar 20Are you creating, killing, or hiding value?In business, we talk extensively about value, specifically how we can create it. But more often than not, in our quest to find new ways to develop value, we have many overlooked opportunities to unleash existing value and underlying things in our organizations that kill it. If a company is…Value Creation3 min readValue Creation3 min read
Mar 8Why Your SWOT is UselessOne of the traditional steps in developing a strategy begins with a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. The results are usually unremarkable, highlighting the same things year after year, and failing to reveal any new, unique ways for the organization to compete. …Swot3 min readSwot3 min read
Feb 28Transparency Creates a Better Customer ExperienceWe’ve all been in the hospital waiting room. You sometimes seem to sit there forever. You see people come and go, and maybe you see your appointment time come and go. You don’t know whether they’re running behind, forgot you, or simply have an emergency to deal with. While a…Transparency3 min readTransparency3 min read
Feb 203 Signs of Organizational Dysfunctionality and How To Fix ItWe all have worked for dysfunctional companies at one time or another. Most of the time, we view them through the lens of people — whether it be domineering bosses, hostile work environments, or sweat-shop-like circumstances. …Leadership4 min readLeadership4 min read
Feb 13Why Organizations Say But Don’t Really DoWe’ve heard it before. A new initiative or focus is announced to the organization. There’s an explanation as to why it’s important, and why the company is addressing it. Then crickets. Or worse, a few superficial, window-dressing activities are conducted before it goes radio silent. Why? Why bother with starting…Leadership4 min readLeadership4 min read
Feb 6Building Business Resilience Starts With The FundamentalsDuring the 1980s, top executives were judged on their ability to restructure, declutter, and de-layer their corporations. This often translated into overly flat and overly lean organizations, where remaining staff worked longer and harder with less. While the approach benefitted the bottom line, it didn’t increase organizational efficiency, effectiveness, or…Leadership4 min readLeadership4 min read
