We entrepreneurs get a thrill when we see an opportunity to put together solutions that solve problems for customers and make business sense.
Designing what your business will look like when fully developed and how you will transition from it is a mark of mature business insight.
Once an entrepreneur has begun and sold a couple business ventures, new insight is gained into beginning ventures which can become in themselves a finely polished jewel to be marketed and transferred profitably.
Venture capitalist thinking is this ability to utilize the resources of new ideas, skills, personnel to serve a particular market niche, then making it happen with project management and chutzpah,that spirit of audacity and spunk.
What are your dreams? Are you making them happen like you'd like? Examine the components and get expert advice to take your venture to the next level so you can step out and give the next entrepreneur the chance to play. Don't be too attached or your ladder becomes chains. Wings are better.... take flight!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Research and Development
Tell me about your research and development projects. I'm curious about the next products and services you are envisioning. Explain the features and benefits and exactly how they improve the lives of your clients.
Rank the importance of the projects you're considering. Which is first and why? What resources do you need to advance this best, next project? What are the capital and expertise needs? What technical or operational challenges are before you? How will you address them?
Who have you been depending upon to advance this, to make it real so far? Are you utilizing your network as a research and development team? Do you offer your help to them with their projects? If they are employees, does your firm offer the training and mentoring support to enable them to maximize their potential?
Forming explicit R & D relationships might noticeably improve your project success. How might you recognize and express your gratitude for the contributions your associates are making?
What's next? I' m curious.
John Anderson
John@BeCauseBusiness.com
Rank the importance of the projects you're considering. Which is first and why? What resources do you need to advance this best, next project? What are the capital and expertise needs? What technical or operational challenges are before you? How will you address them?
Who have you been depending upon to advance this, to make it real so far? Are you utilizing your network as a research and development team? Do you offer your help to them with their projects? If they are employees, does your firm offer the training and mentoring support to enable them to maximize their potential?
Forming explicit R & D relationships might noticeably improve your project success. How might you recognize and express your gratitude for the contributions your associates are making?
What's next? I' m curious.
John Anderson
John@BeCauseBusiness.com
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Alan Weiss Talk in Portland
I had the good fortune of hearing Alan Weiss address the Institute of Management Consultants in Portland yesterday speaking on building relationships and value based consulting.
Alan has written 16 books and 500 articles on building successful companies. He had some very interesting comments on self esteem, professional development and balance in life. Self esteem, he said is increased when we add discrete skills. Professional development is important for all of us to schedule and value given the rate of cultural and technological change. Healthy non-business activities increase our perspective to make wiser choices in business and elsewhere.
Not a bit bashful, Alan recommends coming right up to the edge between confidence and arrogance. A couple of consultants in the audience asked him if perhaps he's "over the line." He responded one must be comfortable "standing up in a breeze."
Weiss loves his Ferrari, Aston Martin and expensive lifestyle. He asked rhetorically, "Do clients want a successful consultant, or the cheapest?"
Alan has written 16 books and 500 articles on building successful companies. He had some very interesting comments on self esteem, professional development and balance in life. Self esteem, he said is increased when we add discrete skills. Professional development is important for all of us to schedule and value given the rate of cultural and technological change. Healthy non-business activities increase our perspective to make wiser choices in business and elsewhere.
Not a bit bashful, Alan recommends coming right up to the edge between confidence and arrogance. A couple of consultants in the audience asked him if perhaps he's "over the line." He responded one must be comfortable "standing up in a breeze."
Weiss loves his Ferrari, Aston Martin and expensive lifestyle. He asked rhetorically, "Do clients want a successful consultant, or the cheapest?"
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Accepting New Clients
We are ready to meet some new business owners eager to take their venture to the next level. Our passion is collaborating with leaders who want to improve their capacity to serve and satisfy more customers using improved systems.
The inspiration to innovate, followed by the commitment to reshape one's thinking is bold and courageous. How can we reduce inputs while increasing outputs? It's a puzzle we love exploring with our clients.
Best to you all this Father's Day. Mid-june and we're here on the glorious Oregon Coast with blue skies, bright sun, mid-70s and a light breeze kicking up some white caps looking south across Coos Bay. It's a great day to celebrate life, family and looking forward.
Send us an email, give us a call. Let's see how you might benefit.
John@BeCauseBusiness.com - 800.249.1622 - Skype Be.Cause
Technorati Profile
The inspiration to innovate, followed by the commitment to reshape one's thinking is bold and courageous. How can we reduce inputs while increasing outputs? It's a puzzle we love exploring with our clients.
Best to you all this Father's Day. Mid-june and we're here on the glorious Oregon Coast with blue skies, bright sun, mid-70s and a light breeze kicking up some white caps looking south across Coos Bay. It's a great day to celebrate life, family and looking forward.
Send us an email, give us a call. Let's see how you might benefit.
John@BeCauseBusiness.com - 800.249.1622 - Skype Be.Cause
Technorati Profile
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A Different Perspective on Employee Evaluations
By Kathleen D. Packard
kathleen@BeCauseBusiness.com
Employee evaluations are typically anticipated with dread by employees and managers alike. Managers see them as a time when they must be tough and judgmental. They must look for what’s wrong in the employee’s work and then they must point it out. Worst of all, there must be some threat, subtle or otherwise, that will motivate the employee to change.
Employees are typically clueless as to what is going to come up in the review, but they know they can look forward to having their deficiencies exposed. There will be discomfort for both parties, they will stumble through the encounter, then both will heave a sign of relief that it’s over and they’ll try to put it behind them like a bad dream. The next time there will be no memory of what was discussed previously and they’ll go through the whole unpleasant experience again, with no progress toward what either party really wants.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Rather than positioning the manager as the executioner and the employee as victim . . . oops, sorry, that’s my own experience. Let’s say . . . rather than positioning the manager as “doer” and the employee as “done to,” you can approach the process from a more collaborative coach/player perspective. This is how you do it.
In your first meeting with the employee, both of you reach agreement on what goals or actions are appropriate to work on and what time frame is reasonable for completion. Next, decide together what behaviors or indicators you will use to know when that target or goal is reached. Third, agree together on what the consequences will be if the target is hit or the target is missed. This doesn’t need to be a raise or a demotion or anything so dramatic. It can be a small acknowledgment or a simple reward or “punishment.” But it will be something that both of you agree on. Lastly, ask the employee what kind and how often they want feedback. It might be daily, weekly or monthly. How do they want that feedback delivered? It might be a daily question, a written note, or a two-minute meeting. Business coach Richard Reardon says that 25% of success can be attributed to having goals, but 75% is the result of feedback.
It must be the manager’s absolute commitment to follow through with what has been agreed upon. Otherwise, there can be no expectation for commitment from the employee. And the performance review will be a review of the performance of both the coach and the player. In this setup, everyone knows what is expected of them and by when.
Remember that as a coach, you will be prodding your employees to stretch themselves. As they become comfortable with the process, you will find that they will push themselves. Everyone wants to feel like they are headed somewhere. And everyone wants to know where they stand. Bring the process into the open and everyone’s experience will be positive. Share with the employee the goals you have for the company and the goals you have set for yourself as the owner. And ask the employee for feedback on the process itself. Together you can move the company forward and use your roles as vehicles for your own personal growth.
kathleen@BeCauseBusiness.com
Employee evaluations are typically anticipated with dread by employees and managers alike. Managers see them as a time when they must be tough and judgmental. They must look for what’s wrong in the employee’s work and then they must point it out. Worst of all, there must be some threat, subtle or otherwise, that will motivate the employee to change.
Employees are typically clueless as to what is going to come up in the review, but they know they can look forward to having their deficiencies exposed. There will be discomfort for both parties, they will stumble through the encounter, then both will heave a sign of relief that it’s over and they’ll try to put it behind them like a bad dream. The next time there will be no memory of what was discussed previously and they’ll go through the whole unpleasant experience again, with no progress toward what either party really wants.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Rather than positioning the manager as the executioner and the employee as victim . . . oops, sorry, that’s my own experience. Let’s say . . . rather than positioning the manager as “doer” and the employee as “done to,” you can approach the process from a more collaborative coach/player perspective. This is how you do it.
In your first meeting with the employee, both of you reach agreement on what goals or actions are appropriate to work on and what time frame is reasonable for completion. Next, decide together what behaviors or indicators you will use to know when that target or goal is reached. Third, agree together on what the consequences will be if the target is hit or the target is missed. This doesn’t need to be a raise or a demotion or anything so dramatic. It can be a small acknowledgment or a simple reward or “punishment.” But it will be something that both of you agree on. Lastly, ask the employee what kind and how often they want feedback. It might be daily, weekly or monthly. How do they want that feedback delivered? It might be a daily question, a written note, or a two-minute meeting. Business coach Richard Reardon says that 25% of success can be attributed to having goals, but 75% is the result of feedback.
It must be the manager’s absolute commitment to follow through with what has been agreed upon. Otherwise, there can be no expectation for commitment from the employee. And the performance review will be a review of the performance of both the coach and the player. In this setup, everyone knows what is expected of them and by when.
Remember that as a coach, you will be prodding your employees to stretch themselves. As they become comfortable with the process, you will find that they will push themselves. Everyone wants to feel like they are headed somewhere. And everyone wants to know where they stand. Bring the process into the open and everyone’s experience will be positive. Share with the employee the goals you have for the company and the goals you have set for yourself as the owner. And ask the employee for feedback on the process itself. Together you can move the company forward and use your roles as vehicles for your own personal growth.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Google's Shared Docs and Sheets
Google's shared documents and spreadsheets are wiki files that are great for team collaboration.
I set up shared spreadsheets for my clients to begin tracking sales, costs and profit and set the stage for doing forecasting. These spreadsheets are also a great way to involve staff, giving them a turn at the controls to run the venture, set destinations and steam towards far away lands.
Google documents are great for collaborating with team members on Job duties, work processes and frequently asked questions. They clarify what's expected and how to get things done.
I encourage my clients to have their staff post their questions in a FAQ format; when the employer answers the question, the knowledge is captured. Staff gradually builds a library of FAQ. When new employees come aboard with questions, the experienced staff can respond, "Let's look in the FAQ. Here's that question and an answer." or "Great question, you can add it to the FAQ; then we'll get the answer from the boss." Gradually, there is less time spent answering the same questions. Life is good!
I set up shared spreadsheets for my clients to begin tracking sales, costs and profit and set the stage for doing forecasting. These spreadsheets are also a great way to involve staff, giving them a turn at the controls to run the venture, set destinations and steam towards far away lands.
Google documents are great for collaborating with team members on Job duties, work processes and frequently asked questions. They clarify what's expected and how to get things done.
I encourage my clients to have their staff post their questions in a FAQ format; when the employer answers the question, the knowledge is captured. Staff gradually builds a library of FAQ. When new employees come aboard with questions, the experienced staff can respond, "Let's look in the FAQ. Here's that question and an answer." or "Great question, you can add it to the FAQ; then we'll get the answer from the boss." Gradually, there is less time spent answering the same questions. Life is good!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Wikis for Be Cause Clients
I set up a wiki for a Be Cause automotive repair client Saturday. We set it up as an internal company knowledge base.
We included pages for worst and best vehicles to repair, job descriptions and procedures. This week employees will be encouraged to begin adding insights and their frequently asked questions; the owner will post his answers.
The Be Cause Wiki is moving forward; see links at www.BeCauseBusiness.com
I finished reading "Wikinomics - How Collaboration Changes Everything" by Don Tapscott and William Anthony (www.Wikinomics.com). It's a thought provoking book on where participative management and Web 2.0 tools are leading business and culture.
I'm now reading "Publish & Prosper - Blogging for your Business" by DL Byron & Steve Broback. I am eager to dialogue with others about ways to enhance participative management. Cheers...
We included pages for worst and best vehicles to repair, job descriptions and procedures. This week employees will be encouraged to begin adding insights and their frequently asked questions; the owner will post his answers.
The Be Cause Wiki is moving forward; see links at www.BeCauseBusiness.com
I finished reading "Wikinomics - How Collaboration Changes Everything" by Don Tapscott and William Anthony (www.Wikinomics.com). It's a thought provoking book on where participative management and Web 2.0 tools are leading business and culture.
I'm now reading "Publish & Prosper - Blogging for your Business" by DL Byron & Steve Broback. I am eager to dialogue with others about ways to enhance participative management. Cheers...
Monday, April 23, 2007
What am I creating?
In recent weeks, I've been writing on how organizational development can lead to sustainable prosperity.
Friday and Saturday we participated in a program called The Experience Training in Salt Lake City. Our dear friends and colleagues, Bob Adams and Diane Cole, assisted. In the training, we did extensive reflection and dialogue about our lives, dreams and purpose.
Afterwards, my partner Kathleen and I drove 12 hours from Salt Lake City to Longview, Washington. Below are some rambling "stream of consciousness" thoughts from the drive.
Sustainable prosperity is abundant wellbeing that continues indefinitely. Sustainable means something that continues in perpetuity. While something sustainable may fluctuate in strength, it is resilient. Built into a sustainable system is self-regulation so it can grow and renew itself. It is adaptable and flexible.
The term sustainability is usually associated with the environment. Our dependence upon autos and industry appears to be causing global warming. If so, these behaviors are not contributing to a sustainable environment.
Nature has been sustainable for tens of thousands of years. Imploding meteors may have triggered global climate change and the end for dinosaurs. This was perhaps the latest in a succession of explosive episodes in the earth’s history. Nature has been quite stable until the last 150 years. Beginning with the industrial age and accelerating with the atomic age, our modern culture has resulted in unprecedented rates of environmental change.
I have learned that the effects in nature we see today are caused by events which took place 50 years ago. This has been called the “butterfly effect:” Small changes can have large consequences. A butterfly in China flapping its wings results in storms and high winds far away in the United States. Weather is a complex adaptive system. Simple causality is not adequate to explain today’s reality. Perhaps a better way to express this is our complex understanding requires sophisticated explanations.
A report on global warming released in England earlier this year, calls for dramatic changes by governments and industry to avoid huge economic shifts 50 years from now.
Another recent event is the success of the film and book “The Secret” about the “Law of Attraction.” Newsweek and others have criticized it as simplistic, wishful thinking. Positive thinking, affirmations and new age philosophy are denounced in the popular press.
This is a volatile time. War in Iraq and Afghanistan has been longer than World War II with three thousand American troops dead, hundreds of thousands wounded and ten times those casualties and dead for the local people.
Congress and the president are at war over the direction of our government.
Perhaps we need some “wishful thinking.” In conversation with a dear colleague and old friend, he suggested that a more thoughtful criticism for positive thinking is it doesn’t take into consideration the place of tragedy in human life. Instead, it covers over or ignores it.
I say there is no “unified field theory” for life. There is no single explanation or methodology to guide us despite the appeal of such an idea. Perhaps the closest I have come to it is the only moral decision is to do good. The Buddha’s final words, “Be a lamp unto yourself.” Shakespeare said, “To thy own self be true.” Jesus, Mohamed, Patanjali , the Sikh gurus and all the spiritual teachers have aphorisms we can live by. These guiding principles have profound meaning. From their work we have elaborate systems, codes, rules and laws.
These very beliefs have us at war with Al-Quaeda and some Islamic leaders. Their idea of heaven and ours contradict. Yesterday within a hour I heard two dramatically different news items that reflect what is so. A vanload of people in Iraq belonging to a minority religious sect, presumably was killed by another sect. An American woman, raised in a large Catholic family, converted to Islam and has been elected president of the American or North American Islamic Society. This is the first time for this society to elect as president a woman, a convert and a non-immigrant. There was an extended interview of her on NPR’s “Speaking of Faith.”
Today it is one week since a lonely Korean attending Virginia Tech killed 32 on that campus. In this event are stories of tragedy, evil, heroism and good. Horrible and glorious events are unfolding all around us. Our stories to understand them follow. We are awash in communications, adrift seeking meaning and direction.
A fundamental question is can we learn to live together? Can we serve another while caring for ourselves? I suppose an answer is that we are, it’s not always pretty, polite or comfortable. Can we do better? Obviously and we are. This is a process.
Population is increasing, therefore as a species we are succeeding. What is the price of this success? What is the quality of our lives? Each of us must ask and answer this question or face ongoing depression and confusion.
My reply is, “I create meaning and beauty in the face of temporality.” I am choosing to consider what is balance and harmony in my life experience? How may I serve, live simply and prosper. How may I sustain prosperity? My reply is what I think, speak and do. Today, my partner and I will visit her 29-year old niece that the doctors say is dying of cancer. Today she is alive. She’s happily married with two small children. They are a happy family. Her time is apparently quite limited. Today she is alive. Is this a tragedy? Is it stupid and crazy that this could be true? Her immediate and extended family is in deep grief. Everyone is hurting. Today she is alive.
Today I am alive. What will I do? What am I creating? Can I find balance? How may I contribute more than I consume?
I am creating my today and thereby my tomorrow. I live in a complex circumstance. This is life, my life, our life. I chose to serve small businesses improving their sustainable prosperity.
To create business models which are sustainable and prosperous is the goal of small business to support families of owners and employees while serving customers and their broader community.
Friday and Saturday we participated in a program called The Experience Training in Salt Lake City. Our dear friends and colleagues, Bob Adams and Diane Cole, assisted. In the training, we did extensive reflection and dialogue about our lives, dreams and purpose.
Afterwards, my partner Kathleen and I drove 12 hours from Salt Lake City to Longview, Washington. Below are some rambling "stream of consciousness" thoughts from the drive.
Sustainable prosperity is abundant wellbeing that continues indefinitely. Sustainable means something that continues in perpetuity. While something sustainable may fluctuate in strength, it is resilient. Built into a sustainable system is self-regulation so it can grow and renew itself. It is adaptable and flexible.
The term sustainability is usually associated with the environment. Our dependence upon autos and industry appears to be causing global warming. If so, these behaviors are not contributing to a sustainable environment.
Nature has been sustainable for tens of thousands of years. Imploding meteors may have triggered global climate change and the end for dinosaurs. This was perhaps the latest in a succession of explosive episodes in the earth’s history. Nature has been quite stable until the last 150 years. Beginning with the industrial age and accelerating with the atomic age, our modern culture has resulted in unprecedented rates of environmental change.
I have learned that the effects in nature we see today are caused by events which took place 50 years ago. This has been called the “butterfly effect:” Small changes can have large consequences. A butterfly in China flapping its wings results in storms and high winds far away in the United States. Weather is a complex adaptive system. Simple causality is not adequate to explain today’s reality. Perhaps a better way to express this is our complex understanding requires sophisticated explanations.
A report on global warming released in England earlier this year, calls for dramatic changes by governments and industry to avoid huge economic shifts 50 years from now.
Another recent event is the success of the film and book “The Secret” about the “Law of Attraction.” Newsweek and others have criticized it as simplistic, wishful thinking. Positive thinking, affirmations and new age philosophy are denounced in the popular press.
This is a volatile time. War in Iraq and Afghanistan has been longer than World War II with three thousand American troops dead, hundreds of thousands wounded and ten times those casualties and dead for the local people.
Congress and the president are at war over the direction of our government.
Perhaps we need some “wishful thinking.” In conversation with a dear colleague and old friend, he suggested that a more thoughtful criticism for positive thinking is it doesn’t take into consideration the place of tragedy in human life. Instead, it covers over or ignores it.
I say there is no “unified field theory” for life. There is no single explanation or methodology to guide us despite the appeal of such an idea. Perhaps the closest I have come to it is the only moral decision is to do good. The Buddha’s final words, “Be a lamp unto yourself.” Shakespeare said, “To thy own self be true.” Jesus, Mohamed, Patanjali , the Sikh gurus and all the spiritual teachers have aphorisms we can live by. These guiding principles have profound meaning. From their work we have elaborate systems, codes, rules and laws.
These very beliefs have us at war with Al-Quaeda and some Islamic leaders. Their idea of heaven and ours contradict. Yesterday within a hour I heard two dramatically different news items that reflect what is so. A vanload of people in Iraq belonging to a minority religious sect, presumably was killed by another sect. An American woman, raised in a large Catholic family, converted to Islam and has been elected president of the American or North American Islamic Society. This is the first time for this society to elect as president a woman, a convert and a non-immigrant. There was an extended interview of her on NPR’s “Speaking of Faith.”
Today it is one week since a lonely Korean attending Virginia Tech killed 32 on that campus. In this event are stories of tragedy, evil, heroism and good. Horrible and glorious events are unfolding all around us. Our stories to understand them follow. We are awash in communications, adrift seeking meaning and direction.
A fundamental question is can we learn to live together? Can we serve another while caring for ourselves? I suppose an answer is that we are, it’s not always pretty, polite or comfortable. Can we do better? Obviously and we are. This is a process.
Population is increasing, therefore as a species we are succeeding. What is the price of this success? What is the quality of our lives? Each of us must ask and answer this question or face ongoing depression and confusion.
My reply is, “I create meaning and beauty in the face of temporality.” I am choosing to consider what is balance and harmony in my life experience? How may I serve, live simply and prosper. How may I sustain prosperity? My reply is what I think, speak and do. Today, my partner and I will visit her 29-year old niece that the doctors say is dying of cancer. Today she is alive. She’s happily married with two small children. They are a happy family. Her time is apparently quite limited. Today she is alive. Is this a tragedy? Is it stupid and crazy that this could be true? Her immediate and extended family is in deep grief. Everyone is hurting. Today she is alive.
Today I am alive. What will I do? What am I creating? Can I find balance? How may I contribute more than I consume?
I am creating my today and thereby my tomorrow. I live in a complex circumstance. This is life, my life, our life. I chose to serve small businesses improving their sustainable prosperity.
To create business models which are sustainable and prosperous is the goal of small business to support families of owners and employees while serving customers and their broader community.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Salt Lake City - Experience It!
Salt Lake City - Experience It!
Today we arrived in Salt Lake after a midnight blizzard in Southern Idaho. It was white-out, blowing snow last night on I-84 east of Boise. Packed snow on the signs prevented us from knowing exactly where we were.
Stopping at midnight for gas and directions, we were told the weather would be worse for the next 100 miles. We decided a warm bed was the wise choice. It was!
This morning the sun was bright and except for packed snow and ice on portions of the highway the roads were clear. Like yesterday when we crossed the high deserts of eastern Oregon, the drive to Salt Lake was spectacular. Broad expanses of wide, open country that make me take a deep breath looking at the fields, mountains and open prairie.
We're here for visioning with Bob Adams and Diane Cole, the Be Cause Team tax strategists, about the challenges facing businesses and how they might actualize sustainable prosperity using organizational development.
Bob and Diane typically find $2,000 in additional tax refunds in 60% of the prior year tax returns they review. They look at tax returns for the three prior years at no charge and with no obligation.
Most wage-earning people (80 million Americans) are aware of only three basic
deductions: dependents, mortgage interest and education. This is part of the two tax systems of America. Fourteen million American taxpayers have businesses and can start with 157 possible deductions.
What is possible for organizations? What can we create?
We are considering questions:
1. If you had all the money, education, resources and abilities you would like to have or feel you need, what would you spend your life doing?
2. If you were suddenly told you have a year to live, what would you do?
3. If the doctor said you have a month to live, what would you do? Who would you communicate with? What would you say? What important dreams have you wanted to accomplish? What would you do?
We invite you to answer these questions and email your thoughts to us. For the next two full days, Kathleen and I will be in an "Experience It" training here to presence new possibilities we can bring to our "research and development team." We are organizational developers for sustainable prosperity!
Today we arrived in Salt Lake after a midnight blizzard in Southern Idaho. It was white-out, blowing snow last night on I-84 east of Boise. Packed snow on the signs prevented us from knowing exactly where we were.
Stopping at midnight for gas and directions, we were told the weather would be worse for the next 100 miles. We decided a warm bed was the wise choice. It was!
This morning the sun was bright and except for packed snow and ice on portions of the highway the roads were clear. Like yesterday when we crossed the high deserts of eastern Oregon, the drive to Salt Lake was spectacular. Broad expanses of wide, open country that make me take a deep breath looking at the fields, mountains and open prairie.
We're here for visioning with Bob Adams and Diane Cole, the Be Cause Team tax strategists, about the challenges facing businesses and how they might actualize sustainable prosperity using organizational development.
Bob and Diane typically find $2,000 in additional tax refunds in 60% of the prior year tax returns they review. They look at tax returns for the three prior years at no charge and with no obligation.
Most wage-earning people (80 million Americans) are aware of only three basic
deductions: dependents, mortgage interest and education. This is part of the two tax systems of America. Fourteen million American taxpayers have businesses and can start with 157 possible deductions.
What is possible for organizations? What can we create?
We are considering questions:
1. If you had all the money, education, resources and abilities you would like to have or feel you need, what would you spend your life doing?
2. If you were suddenly told you have a year to live, what would you do?
3. If the doctor said you have a month to live, what would you do? Who would you communicate with? What would you say? What important dreams have you wanted to accomplish? What would you do?
We invite you to answer these questions and email your thoughts to us. For the next two full days, Kathleen and I will be in an "Experience It" training here to presence new possibilities we can bring to our "research and development team." We are organizational developers for sustainable prosperity!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Creating New Possibilities
Lots of new learning at the International Association of Facilitators Conference March 7 - 10 in Portland with 400 participants from over 60 countries. Sessions I participated in were:
Eye of the Storm: Advanced Facilitation Skills
Boundaries of Facilitation
Web 2.0 for Facilitation
Virtual Teams
Kathleen's sessions were:
Effective Facilitation
Tools for Decision Making
Then I took a 2 1/2 day Communications Course: Access to Power in Seattle offered by Landmark Education March 31, April 1 and 5th.
New books are:
"Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything" by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.
Eye of the Storm: Advanced Facilitation Skills
Boundaries of Facilitation
Web 2.0 for Facilitation
Virtual Teams
Kathleen's sessions were:
Effective Facilitation
Tools for Decision Making
Then I took a 2 1/2 day Communications Course: Access to Power in Seattle offered by Landmark Education March 31, April 1 and 5th.
New books are:
"Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything" by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Wow! Wild Web News
Envisioning what's next or for that matter, trying to get hold of what's now is making me dizzy. I love a fast dynamic, but whaoo, what I'm seeing is something else.
Last night I had a long phone conversation with my 26-year old son, Esana Anderson (digital media geek) and we took a spin across the Internet, he in Orlando and me in Oregon. Over a couple hours he introduced me to a number of new destination sites, programs and methods for gathering and sharing information.
We started at www.Digg.com. This site features listings of Internet news-like stories rated by how many people "dig" them by voting. The top stories are the most votes in the most recent past. Talk about breaking news, this is it and it's on ALL kinds of information.
He had me do a search of a couple topics that interest me, like coaching, management consulting and group facilitation. There are search options like last seven days, weeks, months or forever and more.
He had me download Vienna software on my Mac G4 laptop, then showed me how to transfer the RSS feed from Digg subject searches. Now when I run Vienna it links automatically to the Digg subject searches and I see breaking news on the exact subjects I'm interested in.
Boy, I can't wait to show my clients how they can stay up to date about breaking news in their various industries. Heh heh
Last night I had a long phone conversation with my 26-year old son, Esana Anderson (digital media geek) and we took a spin across the Internet, he in Orlando and me in Oregon. Over a couple hours he introduced me to a number of new destination sites, programs and methods for gathering and sharing information.
We started at www.Digg.com. This site features listings of Internet news-like stories rated by how many people "dig" them by voting. The top stories are the most votes in the most recent past. Talk about breaking news, this is it and it's on ALL kinds of information.
He had me do a search of a couple topics that interest me, like coaching, management consulting and group facilitation. There are search options like last seven days, weeks, months or forever and more.
He had me download Vienna software on my Mac G4 laptop, then showed me how to transfer the RSS feed from Digg subject searches. Now when I run Vienna it links automatically to the Digg subject searches and I see breaking news on the exact subjects I'm interested in.
Boy, I can't wait to show my clients how they can stay up to date about breaking news in their various industries. Heh heh
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Building Healthy Organizations
Conflict is a normal part of all relationships. Despite its normalacy, it's frequently not fun or comfortable for most of us. We have conflict within us, or at least I do. I can't be sure about you.
I believe that our different learning and personality "styles" create misunderstandings between us. It's easy to ask, "What's wrong with you or them" when the other doesn't do things as we think things "should" be done. Add to this limited time, resources and many options. Instead of, What's wrong with you?" more productive questions might be, What is most important? What are our priorities?
One way to make conflict work for us, instead of against us is to value the energies driving conflict. If people don't care and care deeply and passionately, it doesn't matter. So we can respect conflict. Honor these energies as sacred. They infuse life and lead to purpose.
Clarifying what each voice wants is a good first step. Everyone must be heard. Out of this sharing, opportunities can be found, agreements can be reached on measurable goals by fixed dates. Strategic and tactical planning establishes the milestones and action steps necessary for buy-in by everyone. Negotiation is required to achieve consensus.
In management circumstances, establish written expectations for job performance. Match responsibilities with adequate compensation and benefits. Most frequently forgotten in small organizations, is performance evaluations, done in a supportive environment.
New employees require training, direction, supervision and correction. As quickly as possible to maintain enthusiasm, shift from telling to inquiry. What does the new hire see with their fresh eyes, that you as expert do not? These are precious, valuable moments to gain competitive advantage towards better serving your customers. You have a baseline for each position, a minimum requirement for the job. Now ask and stand in the question, "What is possible and currently impossible but something we could reach towards in this activity?" Don't rush for answers. Keep asking and encouraging your new hire to create options, ideas and what-ifs.
As an employee gains skill and mastery, healthy management methods are less directing and increasingly encouraging, supporting, coaching and facilitating. The manager becomes a resource provider, consultant, advisor and problem solver to partner with advancing what is so and what could become.
Our culture is demanding that we all become creative, learning organizations to thrive today. When performance evaluations can be conducted from an "appreciative inquiry" perspective, performance increases. Conflict between can transcend personalities and become the quest and struggle to let go of certainty and habits to consider how valuable the unknown can be.
I believe that our different learning and personality "styles" create misunderstandings between us. It's easy to ask, "What's wrong with you or them" when the other doesn't do things as we think things "should" be done. Add to this limited time, resources and many options. Instead of, What's wrong with you?" more productive questions might be, What is most important? What are our priorities?
One way to make conflict work for us, instead of against us is to value the energies driving conflict. If people don't care and care deeply and passionately, it doesn't matter. So we can respect conflict. Honor these energies as sacred. They infuse life and lead to purpose.
Clarifying what each voice wants is a good first step. Everyone must be heard. Out of this sharing, opportunities can be found, agreements can be reached on measurable goals by fixed dates. Strategic and tactical planning establishes the milestones and action steps necessary for buy-in by everyone. Negotiation is required to achieve consensus.
In management circumstances, establish written expectations for job performance. Match responsibilities with adequate compensation and benefits. Most frequently forgotten in small organizations, is performance evaluations, done in a supportive environment.
New employees require training, direction, supervision and correction. As quickly as possible to maintain enthusiasm, shift from telling to inquiry. What does the new hire see with their fresh eyes, that you as expert do not? These are precious, valuable moments to gain competitive advantage towards better serving your customers. You have a baseline for each position, a minimum requirement for the job. Now ask and stand in the question, "What is possible and currently impossible but something we could reach towards in this activity?" Don't rush for answers. Keep asking and encouraging your new hire to create options, ideas and what-ifs.
As an employee gains skill and mastery, healthy management methods are less directing and increasingly encouraging, supporting, coaching and facilitating. The manager becomes a resource provider, consultant, advisor and problem solver to partner with advancing what is so and what could become.
Our culture is demanding that we all become creative, learning organizations to thrive today. When performance evaluations can be conducted from an "appreciative inquiry" perspective, performance increases. Conflict between can transcend personalities and become the quest and struggle to let go of certainty and habits to consider how valuable the unknown can be.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Welcome to Being Cause
Crafting your plans in narrative and numbers can be exciting and daunting. Getting started is the hardest part. We at Be Cause Business Resources reduce the stress, time and risk and improve your results.
This blog is a chance to express yourself and exercise those creative mental muscles. Try it, you'll like the results in your bank account and investment portfolio. Let's hear from you!
This blog is a chance to express yourself and exercise those creative mental muscles. Try it, you'll like the results in your bank account and investment portfolio. Let's hear from you!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)