The Gallup organisation recently released its annual State of the Global Workforce survey results. The news is mixed. What they call engagement is up slightly to 23%, but that small shift doesn’t offset the massive deficit of those disengaged. But what is engagement anyway? The theory began its march to prominence in a...
Once you know what your values mean, you can begin the climb to mastery. Still, the gap between the bottom two layers of the pyramid and the top three is akin to calling the Grand Canyon a ditch. The chasm is so rarely bridged because it takes concerted discipline and consistent effort. These...
The famous 19th-century fable says a frog in boiling water will jump out. However, when put in tepid water that slowly increases in temperature, the frog will not notice the change and will die. Spoiler. It’s not true. A frog placed in boiling water will die immediately, and when cooler water...
This started as a different article about the elements that make up an experience. But after rumbling them and examining what organisations do and don’t control, I realised the details are less important than how they turn into value. Which led me back to promises. In the hands of organisations, experience is...
From day one, Sue landed like a firecracker. After the grind of a tough few months, co-workers said they loved her enthusiasm and energy. Yet despite that promising start, excitement dissipated once the honeymoon period ended, and after a few more months, it was clear she wasn't going to work out. Like...
In an episode of Ted Lasso, when Rupert makes a disparaging comment about Rebecca, Ted turns to him and says, “Hey, better manners when I’m holding a dart, please.” Perhaps people on the frontlines of service need their own projectiles. Indeed, something needs to shift amid news over the past few...
At a recent event, I suggested, "Experience is a bridge value crosses into and out of your brand." And while in my brand formula, I couple it with promises. For this article, I'm focusing on the specific role experience plays in people's day-to-day activities. First used in the 14th century, with Latin...
You have a culture if your organisation is over a few days old. It’s made of how you do things and is rooted in values. It’s also in flux. Every person you hire and fire, office you open and close, market you enter or exit shapes activity and know-how. I’ve previously written...
Hands up if you have a ‘to-do’ list. I suspect nearly everyone does. Now hands up if you have a ‘done’ list. Fewer if any, hands in the air. Me among you. I stumbled upon the idea last week from Oliver Burkeman, a favourite thinker about how to use our...
Forbes Magazine describes the idea of staff engagement as “the emotional commitment the employee has to the organisation and its goals”.And organisations’ desire for that commitment often kicks off a slew of things designed to motivate people and measure how they’re doing.But those motivations and measures are distant from people’s...