Posts Tagged ‘organizational development’

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Culture Matters

By Jim Whitt I just read an article by Bill Barnett in the Harvard Business Review entitled When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters. That is an understatement. Let me share an example. I know of an employee who went to work for a company and was so excited he couldn’t wait to get started. This exceptionally talented and qualified candidate was hired for a newly created position and he was determined to show what a difference he, and the new position, could make. The problem was that he discovered he was the only one who cared about making a difference…. Read More

May 16th, 2012 at 6:44pm

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What you can learn about purpose from a HOG

By Jim Whitt My friend Don Riley sent me this email after the holidays: Hi Jim, Hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season. I don’t know why it just popped into my head, but I have belonged to an organization for the past 10 years that epitomizes your purpose principle. The organization is called Harley Owners Group or HOG for short.  It was formed in 1983 by the Harley-Davidson Motor Company after the executives bought the company back from AMF. The purpose of Harley Owners Group has remained the same for 29 years.  The ONLY purpose of… Read More

January 24th, 2012 at 10:56pm

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Lessons on PURPOSE from our armed forces

By Jim Whitt I received this email from my friend Peter McGuill: Jim, Hope all is well.  I was thinking of you earlier today.  I am participating in a Leadership Development program right now.  As part of the program we spent the day at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio listening to U.S. Army officers describing “Military Leadership.” One of the officers described leadership as “Protection, Projection, and PURPOSE.”  I was thrilled to hear someone talk about purpose as it relates to leadership.  The points he made were very much in line with those that I have heard you present… Read More

December 14th, 2011 at 11:02pm

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What Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson Can Teach Us about Change

By Jim Whitt A few months ago, Charlie Sheen seemed to be on top of the world. Then his world turned upside down. What’s really sad is that Charlie thought he was, to use his terminology, winning. And why shouldn’t he? He was raking in millions of dollars as the star of the highest rated sitcom on television. By many standards Charlie Sheen was a success. He probably really believed he possessed Adonis DNA and Tiger Blood. He saw absolutely no need to change. Now he has no show. Mel Gibson, another celebrity whose problems are well documented, knows what… Read More

April 28th, 2011 at 1:58pm

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Leadership Lessons from the Mideast

By Jim Whitt All of us are probably watching what’s been happening in Libya, Egypt and the rest of the Mideast with conflicted feelings. We’d like to see dictatorships overthrown but wonder if what replaces them might be even worse. In a piece entitled The Tyrannies Are Doomed, the Wall Street Journal’s Barry Weiss shared some insights from historian Bernard Lewis. An expert on the Arab world, the 94 year-old Lewis cautions that holding free elections too quickly in the wake of these revolutions can be a mistake. He offered this example: “After World War I, the victorious Allies tried… Read More

April 7th, 2011 at 9:47pm

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Do You Have Organizational Sclerosis?

By Jim Whitt A friend of mine who was attending the South by Southwest festival in Austin emailed this summary of one of the sessions he was attending: “Blockbuster had it all figured out. Kodak was America’s favorite company. Tower Records was the place to be. Cunard was the fastest way to travel. Alas, no more. Each of these companies were blindsided by innovation. In the blink of an eye, their entire reason for being disappeared into thin air. Every day companies new and old, small and large, start down the path to obsolescence. Some have no idea that they… Read More

March 23rd, 2011 at 10:47pm

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Money and Motivation

By Jim Whitt Just how effective is money as a motivator? Research conducted by MIT, the University of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon reveals that monetary rewards do improve performance when applied to simple mechanical tasks. But when more advanced cognitive skill is required, monetary rewards not only fail to motivate but actually de-motivate. So what does motivate us? The research identifies three factors: Autonomy Mastery Purpose This is not some touchy, feely, new age philosophy or someone’s opinion — it’s science. If you are skeptical you’ll find the results of this research summarized in a short and very entertaining video… Read More

October 27th, 2010 at 8:38pm

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The 80/15/5 Rule

By Jim Whitt You’ve probably heard of the 80/20 rule of business — 20% of your customers account for 80% of your revenue. So, you pay close attention to the 20%. I discovered a variation of this rule years ago that applied to organizational development that I call the 80/15/5 rule of people. It goes like this. 80% of people who work in an organization have a pretty positive attitude and show up at work every day to work hard and do a good job. 15% tend to be lukewarm. They have good days and bad days. 5% are so… Read More

July 27th, 2010 at 7:54am

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The Real-Time Performance Review

By Jim Whitt On the list of things that are done for all the wrong reasons in organizations, performance reviews would have to rank near the top. They end up being “check the boxes” exercises that have little influence on performance because they take place after the fact. The typical performance review is the equivalent of landing an airplane and asking, “Now, where are we?” It’s a little late in the game for that question. One of the worst things about many reviews is the use of numerical values to rate performance. I’ve known more than one manager who refuses… Read More

June 23rd, 2010 at 9:40pm

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Leader of the Pack

By Jim Whitt If you’ve ever watched Cesar Millan’s TV show, The Dog Whisperer, you’ve seen some amazing transformations take place with dogs and their owners.  I’ve been reading his book, Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar’s Way to Transform Your Dog and Your Life, and find many of Cesar’s canine principles apply to human behavior. For example, here’s a sad but true observation: “Humans are the only species that will follow a totally unbalanced, unstable leader.” Our species can learn a lot about leadership from a dog’s point of view. Cesar says the “alpha” dog is no more important… Read More

June 16th, 2010 at 4:41pm

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