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Note:  I am reposting this from 2017, amid current fears about COVID-19 coronavirus and a possible pandemic, financial market gyrations, continuing terrorism, escalating political dramas, locust swarms in Africa, and so on.  The message remains the same, even as it did in 2017 with the then-update of a post after the 9/11 attacks.

Terrorism, war, and acts of hate have a grip on our consciousness these days.  Media, including movies and books, capitalize on our fears and add to them by projecting visions of future evil.  Worries mount.

Fear stifles innovation and agility.

We must know how to keep our fears manageable.  Otherwise, we will unnecessarily retreat from life … personal, and business.

Fear is good!

Have you seen the movie “Wall Street”? If so, you may now be thinking of the scene when character Gordon Gecko pronounces “greed is good” to shareholders.

The problem with Gecko’s statement, and mine of “fear is good!,” is that the qualifiers are missing. A desire to improve one’s condition can lead to good things, and fear can lead to good things. The key in both cases is to avoid the downside.

And no more so than in current times.

Here are some changes in thinking and concrete actions that will help you manage your fears.

[Read more…] about “The Only Thing We Have to Fear is …”

A fundamental formula for business agility and success in general is quite simple.

Simple enough that third grade sports teams can understand … and I know, because I have used it in coaching them … yet powerful enough for business.

Here it is:

[Read more…] about A Simple Formula for Success

Teams continue to be a key aspect of most company organizational strategies.  A team is often needed to do more than one individual can accomplish.  Teams are also seen as an effective way to improve productivity and performance.  Most agility transformation approaches also hinge on effective teams.

Unfortunately, most companies also have a team “killer” in their midst. One that is ubiquitous yet not always recognized. One that is assumed to be “status quo” yet needs major change for teams to actually work.

What is this team killer?

[Read more…] about A Team Killer Lurks in Your Company

Agile promises revolutionary results.

OK – maybe not that kind of revolutionary result 🙂

Conventional wisdom says that if you change your processes to “agile,” you will achieve “enterprise agility.”  And doing so will bring revolutionary results for the entire business.  That is far too simplistic and is, basically, wrong!

[Read more…] about Agility Transformation Requires Self-Disruption!

Does your office space resemble a black hole?

This is a guest post by colleague Tom Meloche, whose new book on organizational ceremony just came out.

It is an authorized extract – edited to remove client-specific information – from a private client communication and how to achieve the next level of agility.  The client has an agile tribe that other companies come visit for inspiration and exposure to “doing agile well.”  Every visitor drools over the tribe’s office area and the radically better “feel” it provides.

Tom, however, contends that their space … the very office area that other companies covet and the client uses as a showcase … is actually holding them back from going further in their agility journey.

Here are his thoughts:

 

“The facility is a nightmare.  Love, Tom.”

[Read more…] about (Office) Space – The Final Frontier for Your Business?

Ceremony.  The word brings up images of ritualistic events outside our work lives, like weddings, graduations, and presidential inaugurations.  Ceremonies are not new and are in fact as old as civilization itself.

So why are colleagues Tom Meloche and Kyle Aretae calling ceremony a “new method” in their book title?

Because the enormous power of ceremony is missing in business.  The authors point out that ceremony as a conscious organizing strategy remains almost unknown in the business world.  Executives, entrepreneurs, and front-line managers cannot formally describe what ceremony is, how it works, or how to leverage it in their organizations.  Surprisingly, it has also been ignored by an entire generation of business consultants.

[Read more…] about Ceremony – A Profound New Method for Increasing Productivity and Achieving Successful Change