SELF IMPROVEMENT AND MOTIVATION

Last weekend, I got a big surprise when I wasn’t expecting it. I fell into watching the end of the movie  Patch Adams  as it just happened to be on tv. I’d seen  Patch Adams  many years ago (it was a 1998 film with Robin Williams) yet I was very surprised by how inspiring his speech was near the end of the film. Below, you can find a full transcript of the speech and two videos that cover the full length of the speech (one starts at the beginning but doesn’t go all the way to the end, and the other does the opposite). The quotes in this speech that really resonate in my heart are; If we’re going to fight a disease, let’s fight one of the most terrible diseases of all, indifference. this reminded me of my own recent thoughts on indifference – see  The Silent Power of Indifference Every human being has an impact on another. Why don’t we want that in a patient doctor relationship? Always live in awe of the glorious mechanism of the human body. reminds me of my new ...

Believe it or not, you can have fun at work! Switch things up at the office and try some new, fun team building activities to get everyone energized. “I NEVER DID A DAY’S WORK IN MY LIFE. IT WAS ALL FUN.” – THOMAS A. EDISON Realistically, work tends to be a bore at times. It doesn’t have to be though! There are tons of highly effective fun team building activities that you and your team can do to become more engaged, better acquainted with each other, and more productive all while having some fun. It’s important to team build often and even more important to get everyone participating. Good lines of communication, strong team work skills and getting to know your team are all what to expect with the right amount of effort. If you are trying to  fuse fun and work  look no further! Photo Credit:  kenexa.com (1) LUNCHING WITH COWORKERS Lunch time is a glorious time for many people in the work place, and with good reason. Having time to...

Few things are as costly and disruptive as managers who kill morale. Demotivated employees underperform and then walk out the door at the first opportunity. The scariest thing is how prevalent this lack of motivation is. Gallup research shows that 70% of employees consider themselves to be disengaged at work. Organizations know how important it is to have motivated, engaged employees, but most fail to hold managers accountable for making it happen. When they don’t, the bottom line suffers. Research from the University of California found that motivated employees were 31% more productive, had 37% higher sales, and were three times more creative than demotivated employees. They were also 87% less likely to quit, according to a Corporate Leadership Council study on over 50,000 people. Gallup research shows that a mind-boggling 70% of an employee’s motivation is influenced by his or her manager. It’s no wonder employees don’t leave jobs; they leave managers. Making Things Worse Before mana...

DMAIC is a six sigma term that stands for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control. One of our consultants recently used this term in the context of a process improvement project, and I can’t believe I hadn’t heard about it before! It is certainly strongly rooted in the six sigma and lean concepts, but the fundamental principles apply to any problem solving approach. Define : This is where you identify what the real issue is. What is important? What is the key problem, the key process we are looking at? When I do the standard problem solving training, I always spend a lot of time on the first step – problem definition. Really step back and define the problem clearly, force yourself to fill out a “problem statement worksheet.” Other elements that are also part of this critical problem definition phase: Who are the customers? What are the critical outputs / deliverables? What is the goal of the project? What are the boundaries of the process or ...

The GROW model is a technique that has been historically used in coaching, The model goes back to the 1980s and 90s. There is no clear originator, but a number of authors have popularized it, among them Graham Alexander, John Whitmore, and Max Landsberg (whose book „The Tao of Coaching“ is a great reference). While the applications in coaching are well know, I believe the model is actually quite helpful also in a project management and problem solving context. For example, it’s a good interview guideline as you scope out a project: You’ll ask some questions about goals, reality/situation, obstacles/options and the way forward. So in the explanation of the model below, rather than using a coaching example (e.g. a client wants to lose weight), I included some examples related to this broader problem solving application. Here is what the model stands for: G – Goal Define as clearly as possible the goals and objectives. Questions to ask: How will success look like? What ar...