The cover article of the new March – April edition of Harvard Business Review* is on Better Brainstorming and includes a number of interesting ideas. It’s written by Hal Gregersen, who is a faculty member at MIT and author of a forthcoming book, Questions are the Answer. Gregerson has invented a process he calls “Question Burst” which focuses the brainstorming process on … [Read more...] about Better Brainstorming
The Ideal Board Chair
This column is written in honor of Richard R. Gibbs, who was the first Board Chair I worked for and who passed away during this past week. Richard was an exceptional leader and was a very supportive Board Chair of a very young Executive Director who didn’t really know what he was doing. I learned a lot from Richard and am very thankful for him in many ways. Here are some … [Read more...] about The Ideal Board Chair
Engaged & Exhausted
Employee engagement is the current Holy Grail for organizations. Many employers – including my own, the University of Maryland – are spending millions of dollars to assess employee engagement and implement programs to increase engagement. Given the research on the payoff of having an engaged workforce, these investments make sense (e.g., see extensive research by Gallup). … [Read more...] about Engaged & Exhausted
Five Questions for Better Decisions
We all face challenging decisions on the job from time to time. A recent article from Harvard Business Review* suggests answering five questions that can help clarify a decision: 1. What are the net, net consequences of all my options? 2. What are my core obligations? 3. What will work in the world as it is? 4. Who are we? 5. What can I live with? Net-Net … [Read more...] about Five Questions for Better Decisions
Ambitious Goals and Wells Fargo
In recent years, some researchers* have suggested that setting goals – especially ambitious goals – can increase the possibility of individuals taking unethical actions to accomplish those goals. The recent revelations about practices at Wells Fargo quickly come to mind. For those not following closely, here are the highlights – or lowlights. *Regulators found that the … [Read more...] about Ambitious Goals and Wells Fargo