Process Consulting a Primer
The principles of process consulting.
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Designs | Innovation | Teams | Workshop
Going in Reverse
Sometimes flipping your perspective leads to innovation. A number of years ago, I got to meet the great bicycle visionary, Dick Ryan. I have always been a big bike fan, and quite by accident got to see Dick’s prototype, the Avatar, a recumbent bicycle. In conceiving it, Dick flipped the concept of upright…
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Take a Knee
I have always enjoyed watching Colin Kaepernick play. He plays with abandon, exhorting his team mates, taking risks, and showing the courage to stand his ground and take the hits that sometimes come from making a play. I’m just a fan, an emotional one I will admit, and it gives me pause to see him…
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Stem Cells for Group Process
Sometimes a well-placed metaphor is just what a group needs. A while back I consulted to a department in trouble. This area was mission critical to the success of the company. Three divisions comprised this function and although successful completion of the work required interdependence among them, the very structure of the department fostered irrelevant…
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Stand Out By Fitting In
You can find any number of articles written on how to stand out from the crowd, to differentiate yourself. The click bait is everywhere. Fitting in is another way to stand out. Collaboration is hard. It requires facing the group paradox head on and solving the I / We dilemma for your self. On real…
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What Does The Silence Mean?
A silence in a group once gave me twenty years of work. I was asked to see the working dynamics of the top executive team of a major insurance company. My pitch to the CEO was to let me observe his meeting for an hour. If, when the time ran out, I couldn’t say…
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Team Tune-Up
Team Tune-Up Group issues don’t go away on their own. Teams need to work through their problems by talking about them, not in pairs, but in the context of the whole group. What teams need is a model and a map to get them started. We make use of the Drexler Sibbet Team Performance Model…
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The Waggle Dance – Stating Your Feelings on Teams
Learning to express your feelings in a group is critical for helping your team to see reality. Honeybees know this and they do what’s called a waggle dance when they return to the hive for a meet up. Through their informative dance, they tell the exact location of a new source of food, flowers and…
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Upgrade Your All-Hands Meeting
Calling all your people together is a powerful intervention. I recommend approaching it from a design perspective. Think of it as an event as opposed to a meeting. Design it well and make a real statement about the company, the leadership, and the employees. Here are a few ideas that will help you to design…
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Reading People and Groups
Would you like to increase your Influence with the key people in your life? Have you ever wondered why some people are so action-oriented, while others wait and reason everything out? Or why some people just run when conflict arises? This is your opportunity to understand the characteristics and typical behaviors that everyone displays, and…