claire49468

I am a firm believer in continuous improvement. I have spent years telling teams that almost anything we build can be made better once we start using it. We can refine the process, change the tool, simplify the workflow and learn from what is working. But there is a prerequisite that is easy to overlook. There has to be something there to improve. I am finding myself having this conversation with clients more and more. I may come into an organization to help with communications or coach an...

Last night I sat in a middle school gymnasium watching my oldest son’s seventh grade band concert. He plays percussion, which means I can usually pick his part out immediately. Snare, cymbals, the instruments designed to cut through the noise. One of the groups that played was the jazz band and I loved it. I stayed completely locked in the entire time and my kid wasn’t even playing. By the second song, I had a thought I have not been able to shake since. It is not really about music. It is...

In my experience, layoffs are rarely what damage an organization’s reputation. How they are handled is. Most of the individuals impacted understand the business reality. They know decisions have to be made. What they do not accept is being treated as if their contributions did not matter. And that is where organizations create risk they did not anticipate. What I am seeing right now is not a communication issue. It is a failure of leadership alignment and consideration. Employees who were let...