Consider the following scenario: You go to a new restaurant for the first time. You evaluate quality of food and quality of service. Your first visit was about experimenting with a new place and getting an experience. A few weeks later, you go there again. You get a similar or a better experience this time. […]
A few weeks back, my friend Becky Robinson at Mountain State University gifted me with a copy of John C. Maxwell’s latest book “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect”. The book, as the title suggests, is all about establishing meaningful connections to build great relationships at work and in personal life. The book introduction says, “Connecting is […]
As a business leader, if you think “costs” are only the ones where you spend real money, think again. Have you ever realized the costs of: having an inefficient leadership team? setting wrong examples? not treating people well? not aligning middle managers with vision at the top? long unnecessary meetings and deadlocked debates? efforts spent […]
One of my friends recently joined a new organization at a senior position. When we met over a cup of coffee a few days before his joining, he mentioned to me that his primary challenge would be to build trust. As professionals, we interact with a wide variety of people including our customers, suppliers, new […]
Quality of relationships between the team members is one of the determinants of success as a team – be it project, process improvement initiative or an organization building one. Success of projects/initiatives is generally attributed to processes and rituals. Processes are crucial but not sufficient. It is people who work, co-operate with each other, demonstrate […]
Many years ago, I had a chance to visit a friend’s farm on a weekend. My friend owned a huge farm on the outskirts of the city where they had employed farmers. A farmer’s outcome was quality of the crop. To ensure this, the farmer worked the soil, got the best seeds from the marketplace, […]
Have you ever experienced the following? You complete a project and then do a small ‘post-mortem / retrospective analysis’ of what went well and what did not. You then document these lessons in a nice looking template and share it with all stakeholders before getting onto the next project. Next project looks exciting in the […]
I love quotes because they inspire and ignite a thought process. Today, I read this brilliant quote from Steve Jobs: “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” ~ Steve Jobs Loved the first part. Be a yardstick of quality. As professionals, we can only differentiate ourselves […]
Most organizational/team improvement initiatives we undertake involve change – from current state of affairs to desired state. Change is hard and painful and necessary for growth/survival. Process improvement is all about managing change – and in my view, change (and its respective benefits) does not happen when you: Keep thinking big without starting small: It […]