What You Might Not Know, But Should, About the Effective Use of Measurement

Measurement gets a bad rap!  In business, measurement can be used to solve problems and help companies perform better, but one of the most frequent uses of measurement is to identify performers…

Twitter: More Than a Social Platform—An Effective (and Cool!) Tool for Building Fluency in Pinpointing

Without fail, one of the most challenging tasks managers and leaders face in building coaching fluency models is developing pinpointing skills. I see it consistently with my new clients during their…

Eliminating Rare Errors – Even Sleeping Air Traffic Controllers

It’s happened again! An air traffic controller deliberately made his bed and slept in it while 7 different aircraft were trying to safely land at a Tennessee airport. I think it’s safe to assume this…

Translating Sports Philosophies to Business: A Lesson for Us All

Just recently I was asked to comment for an article that was published on Mainstreet.com, Famous Sports Wisdom to Use at Work. This was no far stretch for me as I have collected various quotes…

For Women Only: When is Talking About Yourself Helpful to Your Career?

While reading an article from the Huffington Post by Marcia Reynolds titled, When Women Talk about Themselves, They Earn More, it reminded me of something my actress daughter said jokingly that…

Are Googlers Really That Different From the Rest of Us?

This is not the first blog I have written about mistakes I think Google is making in how they are managing the company.  It will probably not be the last.  This blog was prompted by an…

Will Safety Issues Entangle Spiderman?

Workplace Safety will not improve until OSHA learns the basics of behavior change I couldn’t help but be amused about an article in the New York Times reporting the latest citation by Federal…

Steve Jobs: Recent Appearance Raises the Question of Legacy Planning

Sure the Apple community was thrilled yesterday when the man who runs what is arguably the most highly valued tech company in the world, took to the stage to launch its latest product amidst stepping…

Coaching ROI: Approach is Everything

Coaching, like leadership, is one of the most highly ‘Googled’ terms today. It wasn’t long ago that coaching was perceived as something poor performers received as a last ditch effort to improve…

“Let Me Speak to Your Supervisor”

Guest post by John Green Does customer service have to be a thing of the past? Even the Superbowl ad from CarMax, an online used car buying service, brought to light the strong and effective…

Cutting the Federal Budget: Can it Really be Done Without Everybody’s Help?

Talk of cutting the Federal budget has been going on for months and will no doubt continue for the foreseeable future.  It is interesting to me that the talk has centered, as it usually does, on…

Survey Says?

Surveys can uncover a lot, but it’s what you do with that information that counts. While organizations commonly use surveys to gather information and identify opportunities for improvement, very few…

San Francisco Board of Governors and McDonald’s in a Food Fight

The San Francisco Board of Governors recently voted to prohibit McDonald's from selling Happy Meals with a toy unless the contents of the Happy Meal meet certain criteria: it contains less than 600…

Google Follow Up

The following is a comment on my post "What Was Google Thinking?!" My response required more than few words so you'll find it below. Question What would be an appropriate model for…

End-of-Year Bonuses; Some Parting Words

As the end-of-year bonus season approaches, remember the words of Thomas Gilbert, who said, Money is a beautifully honed instrument for recognizing and creating worthy performance. It is the…

What Was Google Thinking!

The headline read “Google Gives All Employees Surprise $1,000 Cash Bonus, 10% Raise.” While I believe that companies should work to pay employees as much as possible, there is a right and wrong way…

Cigarette Warnings: Government Approach is Well Intended But Won’t Change Behavior

Several weeks ago Secretary LaHood unveiled with considerable fanfare, a new attack on smoking where manufacturers will be required to display on the top half of the pack of cigarettes larger, more…

Inspecting Our Way to Safer Food?

The Senate, this week, approved a bill that will require food manufacturers and farmers to use scientific techniques to prevent contaminated food from reaching our dinner tables.  It also…