2012

Getting the dialogue going…or not!

Front foot No Comments

We are grateful to a reader for the reflections below on a previous blog – and thanks for the permission to publish then. We are delighted to share on the subject of how much interaction with people do we need/like in pursuit of the development of ideas:

“I was browsing through the Idenk blog this morning and came across your 5 November entry on the power of quiet: .

As a fully-fledged (almost off the scale) I, Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, was a fascinating read for me. At times, in fact, it read like a user guide to myself; something I wanted to hand out to other people and say “if you want to understand me, read this!” I have spoken to other introverts who are in leadership roles and they too have found the book to be right on the money.

If you have not come across it, Susan Cain’s TED talk is worth a watch too.”

And we see that the Cain TED video is in Bill Gates’ top 12 TED talks…

Tags:

Love to Learn…?

LearningStyles No Comments

Last month many of these blogs made a big thing about curiosity. So, you are at first base…you are curious. You want to learn something. You want to improve

What gets you to second base? How do you love to learn…which of these development methods is most ‘you’?

Have you thought about how you like to learn? This model based on Kolb is one of our favourites – and here is a simple quiz to see what your preferences might be.

If you want to think a bit more about your favourite learning style have a look at this on VAK.

And maybe read some of the critiques here on learning styles!!

Tags:

Oranges…

Reflect No Comments

I managed to see a stunning programme on the writer Jeanette Winterson this week.

The documentary was jam packed with interesting quotes and ideas – sound bites don’t do them justice…

– ‘Our enthusiasm often tells us where we are lacking’

– She talked powerfully of her ‘dark night of the soul’ when she tried suicide in 2008

– She talked of her life purpose for women writers to get ‘their share’

– She argued how we need writing to help us ‘grapple with the size of our own feelings’

– She summarised the ‘big endings in life’ (and literature) of revenge, tragedy, forgiveness

– She talked of ‘over-estimation of the object’ and the projection we make onto things as a defence

Tags: ,

Leaning it up

Checklists No Comments

On the theme of checklists, we like the challenge of ‘Lean’ processes in all sorts of business settings from school processes to charity management. The focus on end to end customer value/experience, doing things simply, eliminating waste is very helpful…there is a 10 point checklist in this resource.

Tags:

Leadership checklist

Checklists No Comments

And another checklist…for leaders.

Nice.

Tags:

Complaint handling checklist

Checklists No Comments

You will know how much we like checklists to guide professionals as reminders to do what is known – be they surgeons, pilots or engineers or facilitators!

This checklist gives some useful pointers to anyone in any industry facing a complaint.

Tags: ,

A checklist in action

Think No Comments

Thanks to The Health Foundation for encouraging and publishing this blog – in response to media coverage about The Liverpool Care Pathway (in reality a checklist designed to improve the reliability of care at the end of life).

Tags: ,

TPS Curiosity #179

Think No Comments

Another phrase I hear a lot of in Australia, is one I am familiar with in the UK too,  from the work of Chris Collision and others:  The Tall Poppy Syndrome.

Curiosity in action takes us here – an interesting read.

Tags: ,

Do you walk with a limp?

Reflect No Comments

A phrase I heard recently In Australia…

“Never trust a leader who hasn’t walked with a limp”

Researching it, it seems to have a spiritual route. However, I heard something similar said of Tony Blair: a leader who had never encountered personal hard times (prior to Iraq possibly), unlike Gordon Brown and David Cameron in their family lives.

Tags:

Is your team on the Front Foot?

Front foot No Comments

Of all the things we have thought and published, the piece that clients most repeat back to us is our reflection on The Front Foot Organisation. This framework and tools informs much of our work today, from talks and training to team development and top team time outs.

Is the group you work with most often on the ‘Front Foot’? Are you on the Front Foot (at home or work)?

Have a go at this simple ‘Cosmo-style’ test. Please answer the questions, and give 2 points for ‘totally’, 1 for ‘sort of’ and 0 for ‘no’:

Inspired in DIRECTION:

a) Your team (and organisation) are fully aligned behind a compelling strategy

b) You consider future uncertainties: you are confident of your ability to respond to whatever might happen in flexible and thorough ways

MOMENTUM for implementation:

c) You manage to overcome any inertia by promoting rapid trialling of new ideas, encouraging each other and moving forward fast with things that work

d) You take time to review the lessons you are learning and ensure they are used to guide your next steps

Successful CO-ORDINATION in team working:

e) You explore differences of opinion well, working through conflict to build a focus on shared results

f) You look forward to team meetings as a highly productive part of the working week

BALANCE in individual working lives:

g) You achieve a balance between home and work – and between time to work on your own, and in groups

h) The mood of the team or organisation is positive, tackling any ‘toxic’ behaviours

How did you do? Out of 16? [You can multiply by 6.25 to get at % score (if that is your sort of thing).]

Starting in 2013 we will run a survey to help leaders assess how far their teams and organisations are on the front foot? It will be based on this tried and tested model – and the 6 years of baseline data we have from its use with hundreds of clients.

Interested?

Tags: , ,

Phil's Blog

Sign up for Phil’s regular blog.

Email: phil.hadridge@idenk.com