Some machines have pressure gauges to inform us as to whether the pressure is too low to sustain effective operation, or so high that the machine may malfunction. The color green is usually effective, white too low, red too high. I’ve felt that some of the classic problems consultants and entrepreneurs in general encounter with esteem is that they are seldom in the green. They either have mistaken notions of a white “humility” or approach the red of narcissism. The …
TBOTD is priceless. If people trust you, they forgive errors. I forgave some mediocre service on Emirates because they treat me so well all the rest of the time. But I’d have a hard time forgiving United these days. We can see this is in the huge, unprecedented high negative ratings of both presidential candidates. Whoever is elected will not be receiving the benefit of the doubt from a large portion of the electorate, because they’re not receiving it now (often within …
I drove over to Bentley because the driver’s side wiper is leaving a large patch of untouched windshield. The service manager grabs two mechanics and they’re all over it with new wiper blades (which, understandably, come in a set of two). One engineer hands me a bill for $142. I’m thinking, there’s more than one possible cause here, how do they know this is the solution? I say, “Just hold off on the bill until we’re sure about solving the …
Saturday night I attended a surprise birthday party for a friend who turned 80. (I’m always reluctant to shout “Surprise!” in the dark to an unsuspecting 80-year-old, but it worked out!) We were asked to simply “bring words” for the occasion, and I wrote her a poem. She looks and acts about 60 at most. There’s barely a line on her face, because she uses vaseline nightly, not any exotic oils or astringents. Everyone there was overjoyed to be with …
Here’s a nominee for the DASM Hall of Infamy. I’m considering buying a property to have a new train layout built. As some of you know, I’ve built a couple in my home, but now all our rooms are assigned other uses and I want a professionally built layout, not one where my wiring might blow up the town. As you can imagine, money is not an issue. Logistics, relationships, trust, and so forth are. I wrote to eight companies …
I hear far too much “background” from consultants on their clients’ internal politics, gossip, history, and irrelevant issues. The shortest distance between two points is still a straight line. Find out the desired future state, identify the current state, and propose how to get from here to there. All the rest is static.
My colleague and friend Helen Turnbull, PhD has a wonderful new book out, The Illusion of Inclusion. Her global clients include some of the largest organizations in the world seeking her help on more than “lip service diversity.” This is a great book for every manager and every consultant to management. http://businessexpertpress.com/books/illusion-inclusion-global-inclusion-unconscious-bias-and-bottom-line Book cover final – DrTurnbull
