As a practitioner of mindfulness meditation for 46 years, and a teacher of it for 25, I’ve followed the rise of the mindfulness movement over past two decades with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it’s been refreshing to see something I so value getting some airtime. On the other hand, its popularization, a.k.a. McMindfulness, has trivialized the practice beyond recognition, depicting it as a faddish skill you can pick up over a weekend. Mindfulness isn’t a new way to think or an attitude to adopt. It’s a practice, a way of being, diligently cultivated over time. It saddens me to see so many apostles of mindfulness, who clearly don’t practice it themselves, monetizing it.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Career Coaching
Strategic Change Management Principles to Consider
Some of our clients have found it beneficial to approach strategic change as a process guided by proven behavioral principles rather than fancy or faddish models. These principles aren’t merely pet theories of ours. Rather, they derive from research in management best practices and social psychology, and have proven valid in our practice and in the experience of other management and organizational consultants.
Read MoreWhat is Organizational Culture?
According to Edgar Schein, organizational culture is the pattern of shared assumptions a group learns as it solves problems of external adaptation and internal regulation. These assumptions have proven to work well enough to be considered valid by the group, and therefore are taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel.
Culture, then, refers to the aspects of groups or organizations that are the most stable and least flexible. It also may be thought of as a group or organization’s “style” and comprises such qualities as:
Selecting the Right Executive Coach
Choosing a coach who is a good fit for an executive, as well as for his or her organization, can be tricky. It raises questions as to which selection criteria are relevant? As you evaluate prospective coaches, here are a few things to possibly consider:
Read MoreAn Overview of Strategic Change Management
“All organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they’re getting . . .”
It’s one of the old-saws of organizational consulting. But consultants are not alone in thinking it. Systems theorists have been saying the same thing in different words since the beginning of the 20th century.
Read MoreBasic Strategic Planning Models
To develop an effective business or strategic plan, the process doesn’t need to be complicated. Sometimes simpler is better. This is especially the case for non-profit organizations or communities for whom planning involves many different people and interest groups. But simplicity also pays off for many for-profits, excepting those that face a lot of market complexity.
Read MoreWhat is Strategy Anyway?
The word strategy derives from the Greek strategia, which means “office or command of a general.” Since the days of Alexander, usage of the word has expanded considerably from its original military context. Today, strategy generally refers to plans, methods, or activities for obtaining desired results. In other words, strategy is about creating successful futures—however such success might be defined.
Read MoreGoals v. Objectives: Are They The Same or Different?
The terms goals and objectives are often confusing because they are frequently used interchangeably. Some people classify objectives as broad and general and goals as specific and measurable. Others see it the other way around.
The important point is that defining goals and objectives is a critical part of most, if not all, strategic planning processes. So guidelines for establishing viable goals and objectives can be invaluable.