Tag: book

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One of the ideas was making an uncommon book

Make an organizational vibrancy book that flies in the face of what normal books look like?

Are you crazy?

• What if people shun it?
• What if it doesn’t work?

You can feel the logic in those questions because they’re no-brainer questions, questions every smart leader would ask.

But what about these.

• What if people love it?
• What if it works better than your wildest dreams?

Of course, there’s no guarantee either way.

This is why most people, and most organizations, stay on the tried and true path of good and very good.

The commitment to make excellence the only goal is scary for most.

Why?

Because it requires risk.

Risk scares people and organizations.

This is fundamental, elementary even.

And true.

But what if instead of being scary, risk was embraced as essential to your health and the health of your organization?

Not until leaders, and organizations, desire to make business excellence risk-taking mandatory will cultural transformation start spreading its wings.

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Business Excellence Next Steps activity

Strike while the iron is hot. Iron is easily malleable when hot, and impossible to shape when not.

Now (yes, right now) is the time to write down some important, top-of-mind business excellence thoughts.

Make a few lists and don’t fuss over minute details – this is high-level, very rough-draft thinking. Have fun, and don’t over-analyze. This should be quick:

Who (whom should you involve):

What (what needs to be done):

Where (where will the work occur):

When (when will the work happen):

How (how will the work be accomplished):

Why (why is this important; what’s to be gained by doing it, what’s to be lost by doing nothing):

How’d that feel?

Have you perceived what’s happened in the past few minutes?

You’ve just started planting, on paper, the seeds of intentional business excellence behavior that will facilitate the slow and steady path forward to business excellence transformation.

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Who better than you?

From the business excellence activity you just completed, you should be somewhere on the spectrum between overjoyed with future possibility or overwhelmed with hopelessness.

The next best step for your current state is action.

Action will harness your joy for possibility and it will also mitigate your feelings of hopelessness by giving you the initial small steps required to gain a feeling of progress and hope.

Who better than you to have this remarkable business excellence opportunity?

Pause for a moment before reading the next sentence and contemplate and answer the question above: “Who better than you?”

How did your answer resonate?

Okay, let’s continue with another question.

How did it feel to write and/or draw your business excellence thoughts on paper?

Was it easy?

Why?

Was it hard?

Why?

Do you feel more optimistic or less optimistic from the exercise?

Regardless of your answer, what are your next business excellence culture steps?

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Disney Business Excellence activity

We are going to pause for a few minutes and give you an opportunity to reflect on what you’ve read from “It’s A Trap” (page __) to here.

In the space below, write (or draw) words, phrases, questions, answers. Remember, the reason you’re doing this is to capture your key thoughts as we build your organizational vibrancy assessment of your current state, visualize a bright future for yourself and your organization, and start outlining your business excellence next steps agenda.

Have fun, dream big, burn your ships…

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When business excellence transformation happens

Wouldn’t it be great if positive business excellence change just fell from Heaven?

But it doesn’t.

So ask yourself why you go to work each day. What’s the purpose? What do you contribute?

Is not your purpose to drive change, to make things better?

To make today a little, even if it’s imperceptible to most, better than yesterday.

To make this year better than last year?

To make your second decade better than your first?

Business excellence transformation won’t just come to you. It won’t happen on your week-long vacation to the beach.

It won’t happen when you wake up in the morning.

No.

So why do you show up for work?

How do you find joy (and motivation) when you and your organization are stuck?

This is going to sound crazy but business excellence transformation happens when you need it to happen; the caveat is you’ve got to be willing to pay for it.

When you’ve run out of options you are close to a breakthrough. You are literally at the proverbial fork in the road.

Many fail to turn the corner because they couldn’t convincingly answer the previous questions about their purpose for showing up every day.

One direction leads to misery and frustration, the other to your first of many lucky organizational vibrancy breaks.

Looking back, you’ll wonder why you didn’t commit sooner.

Remember, business excellence growth is a long-term, never-ending process. Be thankful for all the years you and your organization struggled. Your struggle deserves the credit for bringing you to where you are now.

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Any fool can dream

Dreams are great.

But organizational vibrancy dreams without a plan and action are worthless.

Hope is a great strategy, but it’s a poor tactic.

Action is the antidote for being dissatisfied.

But there’s never enough time is there?

This is a great time to have a mantra along the lines of, burn the ships.

It’s also foolish to metaphorically put your life on the line.

Or is it?

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It’s never going to feel safe

Let’s agree that risk implies an uncertain outcome – an uncertain future.

Easy, right?

The good news about organizational vibrancy risk when the future isn’t certain is that you know you are on to something special.

Listen to the sound of that again – you’re on the path to something special.

Of course, the other option is to stay on the beaten path, the tried and true.

You know what you’ll get.

Safety.

Mediocrity.

Plain vanilla.

Stagnation.

Competition.

Average.

Now back to the uncertain path, the future, and the reality that your risk might not work.

This is the opposite of the tried and true formula which requires us to do today what we did yesterday and the day before that. And to repeat that tomorrow and the day after that.

Every day you embrace an uncertain future is a day of adventure.

Will you have the stamina, the courage, the creativity, the tenacity, and the desire to keep moving forward when the logical thing to do is to turn around and retreat?

Imagine answering, “Yes.”

Burn the ships, no?

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Newton’s Law of Gravitational Culture

Gravity is a law, not a theory.

An intentional business excellence culture versus an unintentional business excellence culture is a theory.

A theory that is, for all practical business purposes, as valid as the law of gravity.

On Earth, gravity is unmistakable.

Gravity is also irrefutable.

Without gravity, Earth would be chaos compared to how we currently know it.

A science fiction movie like we’ve never seen.

Here’s why i told you that.

Culture is like that too.

An unhealthy, unfocused business excellence culture creates unlimited chaos for leaders, employees, customers, financials, business excellence, as well as creativity and innovation.

When a corporate organizational vibrancy culture is architected with the equivalent of construction blueprints, the results are extraordinary.

Another simple analogy…

What would happen to a person who has neglected the seven basic wellness tactics: cardio, strength, core, flexibility, nutrition, rest, motivation?

What would happen if all seven were managed well?

It’s the stunning difference between thriving versus surviving.

Given the choice, none of us would pick surviving.

So, back to your business excellence culture.

Why would anyone settle?

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Newton’s Law of Culture In Motion

A culture in motion tends to stay in motion.

We can say this with confidence, every company has a culture.

And every culture has motion.

Focused motion, a culture by design.

Unfocused motion, a culture by default.

Building a culture worth defending is the most important long-term priority for a business owner and CEO.

And if it’s not, it should be.

Here’s an easy way to see the obvious yet often invisible.

Compare the organizational benefit to building a personal wellness and personal vibrancy lifestyle.

All able-bodied adults know personal health is important. How many actually live like they believe it – as if their life depends on it?

Five percent?

Less?

Now apply this analogy back to organizational health.

How many CEO’s make cultural vibrancy their number one long-term priority?

Like physical wellness, corporate Organizational Vibrancy culture must be a daily focus.

Well, it doesn’t need to be a daily focus, just like regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest don’t need to be a daily focus.

We reap what we sow.

As surely as gravity keeps us grounded on Earth.

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Not until it’s something everyone wants to defend

If you’re the business owner or co-owner, you’re either  the CEO, on the Cabinet, a silent partner.

Your stakes are as high as they get.

Owner.

You own the business.

You’ll defend it with every fiber in your mind, body, and spirit.

Right?

Now imagine you’re not the owner.

How invested are you in the issues, the challenges, the opportunities, and, the problems?

Not very.

Why should you be?

Do the math, what if 99.9% of your employees (at all levels) would be willing to walk away if times got too tough?

Do the math a second time. What if 99.9% of your employees (at all levels) would NOT be willing to walk away if times got too tough?

A striking difference to be sure.

Why wouldn’t they abandon ship?

Because they believe in what you do in such an unexplainable (and wonderful) way that they can’t imagine doing anything but protecting your Organizational Vibrancy culture, your Organizational Vibrancy brand.

Why?

Because your Organizational Vibrancy brand is a huge part of their personal vibrancy brand.

It’s in their DNA to be on the (your) mission that makes the world a better place.