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and some of them take a long time to germinate.
In fact up to 1,040 years for a record Lotus seed at the bottom of a pond.
Or 28 years and counting for Mr. Deming (who like the lotus parent missed seeing growth/change)
The idea of merit rating is alluring. The sound of the words captivates the imagination: pay for what you get; get what you pay for; motivate people to do their best, for their own good.
The effect is exactly the opposite of what the words promise. Everyone propels himself forward, or tries to, for his own good,
Continue reading Some things truly are Seminal
If a rating system has a distribution curve it is a RANKING system.
As soon as you assign percentages to decisions about ratings you are matching up individuals one against the other. I know that is not necessarily what is intended. But that is exactly what happens sooner if not later. With people and organizations effects are much stronger than intent. In fact effects usually erase intent.
(The alternative is to measure individuals against standards for their role, use a number system and calculations around categories if needed and then match that number as a multiplier against a compensation structure.
Continue reading Rating plus percentage equals RANKING
According to Chief Learning Officer tomorrow’s leaders “must not only embrace change- they must create it”. To do that, according to the article, those leaders must be-
1. Dynamic strategists. 2. Courageous innovators. 3. Emotionally and culturally intelligent. 4. Learners and teachers who develop their own and their teams’ strengths.
Maybe I have been in the change game too long (before it passed fad into the anybody-who-works-is-a-change-agent phase or at least has self-labeled for that) but are these not qualities that should have been present all along? I see nothing new in the list. One leader in a sea of
Continue reading Tomorrow’s Leaders- Where were they yesterday?
Policing Covering Tracks A Fairness Veneer An avenue for fear and hesitation Not what they are supposed to or should be
An executive friend of mine from a Fortune 100 firm said to me the other day, “during the dot com everything was about working toward clear goals. Everyone participated with 100% energy and things got done. Now it is all about “performance” and policing of people.” Enter performance management processes and systems. On the measurement side they seem to be tools for keeping track of people and then, possibly, getting rid of people. On the development side it
Continue reading What performance processes have become
What exactly is the reason for Performance Management (PMD)?
It depends, which means there are a lot of different answers. Coming up with them is a mini lesson in stakeholder analysis.
There is the answer of the peddlers (software companies, efficiency consultants and possibly coaches- depending on how and what they coach), “to improve the performance of the company”.
There is the answer from HR and Legal, “to record and protect legally”.
There is the Finance answer, “to provide measures for performance”
There is the leadership/HR answer, “to differentiate pay and compensation”.
There is the answer of the CEO and
Continue reading Thoughts on Performance Management (and Development)
What’s really behind the penguin thing from yesterday?
I have yet to have, or hear of from another consultant, a high level change initiative that was the perfect solution and implementation. With all of the factors pushing against change that is understandable. To not set sights on the level of solution that skips ahead of root cause to me, is puzzling.
Most of my scenarios at client organizations are not as extreme as our picture illustrates-one lone knowledgeable “penguin” amidst a group of self centered and distracted juveniles. I did say most though…
When change is expected to be
Continue reading The Lone Penguin Continued
The energy, determination toward solutions, end state focus of good consultants, often, somehow, has a hard time standing out in the crowd. It is, perhaps, because the solutions are ahead of the possibilities. Or maybe the hustle and bustle of task overshadows the voice of potential.
Sometimes, as a consultant, you just have to stroll through the crowd unnoticed.
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Awareness.
One of my first questions to clients is, “how much do the stakeholders know about this change?”. Since few clients are smart enough to front load change and most CM resources are pulled in a couple of rungs too low to have much influence the answer is usually, “not much”. The other side of the equation then is communication. In between falls training, mentoring and development. None of which works or serves a purpose unless the change makes sense and the end state has been fully developed.
Awareness
When it is perfect a stakeholder will know exactly where they
Continue reading Change Management’s most important ingredient
Any one beginning to feel like Little Johnny in the back of the classroom?
Are you the boy in the red who appears to be close to getting his moment? Are you the girl in the orange who might be sitting a little too close and maybe trying to hard? Are you the girl in the striped shirt patiently waiting for her shot at fame and fortune? Or maybe you are our guy in the green, checking out, looking over this whole silly scenario or possibly resting after having worked to write down the correct answer?
Some change happens
Continue reading Social Media is Like a Kindergarten Class with all the hands up- pick me! pick me! PICK ME!
File this one under two categories- one is let’s make sense of things and two is let’s dig a little deeper into languaging and meaning.
Something that is compelling is “forceful, convincing, persuasive and gripping”. When something is compelling it holds our attention. A vision is a dream, idea, mental picture, image, or visualization. It involves the imagination and is a glimpse of a desired future state. Hence, when these two definitions are combined, we see that a compelling vision is an idea of a desired future state that grips our attention and inspires us to action. http://tinyurl.com/2esmg2a
This from
Continue reading Why “Compelling Vision” is two words that should be in separate sentences
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