We’ve all seen the TV docs do a postmortem to figure out why and how a victim died so the NCIS detectives can catch the bad guy. A lot of organizations will conduct a postmortem after a big event or project has concluded to do an evaluation (though I prefer an After Action Review, since I hope no one died while implementing the project). Research has demonstrated … [Read more...] about Conduct a Premortem
Building Your Bench
Staff turnover is a fact of life – as much as you might want to use your wishful thinking to make it go away. Once you have accepted that fact of life – now it is time to prepare for it. Here are some things you can do to be prepared to successfully navigate the departure of key staff: *Identify possible successors – internally and externally. Even if your organization … [Read more...] about Building Your Bench
Thanks for the Feedback (Or Not)
We know that receiving valid feedback for improvement on our performance and then acting on it is a helpful way to continue our professional development. However, it is all easier said than done. This is one of the helpful themes of the book Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well (even when it is off base, unfair, poorly delivered, and, … [Read more...] about Thanks for the Feedback (Or Not)
Endangered Resource: Focus
The battle for Focus is on! As if it is not enough that we already have too much to do . . . now the “devices” have entered the fray. If it’s not your computer, then it’s your “smart” phone, or your (Dick Tracy-like) Apple watch. You can try to focus – but then what is that text say? Or the Linked In update, or Tweet, or FaceBook message . . . much less the more normal … [Read more...] about Endangered Resource: Focus
SOAR without SWOTs
Frequently I tell people (including the grad students I teach) that strategy can be done well in many different ways. Certainly, I prefer the Mission Impact approach, but there are a lot of great methodologies out there that can work for organizations. One interesting approach is S.O.A.R., which you can read more about it at this link. S.O.A.R. stands for Strengths, … [Read more...] about SOAR without SWOTs