“Good is the enemy of great” Jim Collins famously wrote in his superb book, Good to Great. Collins points out that it is so easy to settle for “good,” that many people and organizations never become “great.” Collins makes an excellent point, but the relationship between “good” and “great” is actually more complex. Consider the personalities of the Perfectionist and the … [Read more...] about Good and Great
Decision Making
Leading with an Open Mind
How open minded are you, really? This is a question I have been asking myself since reading an interview with Adam Grant about his newest book, Think Again. In his interview with Inc. magazine, Grant explains that most of us spend our time in one of three different mind-sets: *Preacher Mode: Persuading others to your point of view. *Prosecutor Mode: Trying to prove … [Read more...] about Leading with an Open Mind
Give Me Some Slack!
Recently, I was teaching a group of nonprofit executives about Almost Impossible Goals and Innovation. One of them said “How am I supposed to get staff to spend time on this when they are already booked 100% on other things they are doing?” The answer, of course, is that you need to give people time away from their current projects to do this. And it is not a popular … [Read more...] about Give Me Some Slack!
Better Team Decision-Making
We all want to make better decisions in teams, and here is some new research with on how to do this – based on an article from Harvard Business Review: *Small Teams are Better for Important Decisions. Research from this article suggests that teams of seven or more are more susceptible to confirmation bias. They suggest teams of three – five for important decisions. (This … [Read more...] about Better Team Decision-Making
Challenge Your Echo Chamber
If you read the headline and thought “I need to share this with a friend who I think needs to challenge their echo chamber,” then guess what – this article is actually for YOU! And for ME. For all of us. And this is not just about politics. It happens to all of us in our organizations. We all know what the customers/clients/donors want. We all know what the … [Read more...] about Challenge Your Echo Chamber