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Creating a Learning Organization

March 31, 2018 by Uwe Wetzel Leave a Comment

We all know the phrase: “You learn from your mistakes” or “Learning by Doing”. Most of the time mistakes happen as a deviation from an established or defined process for several reasons.

  • Person did not know there was a defined process
  • This action or reaction was not covered in the process
  • The person forgot this step in the process
  • The person used a short cut and ignored the process
  • Distraction from outside created an oversight of a process step

This is just a small example why mistakes occur, and the correction depends on the type of mistake that happened.

  1. Mistakes that can have life threatening impact on the person or other employees e.g. not following a “lock out” procedure doing maintenance work on a machine, oil spills that can create a hazardous environment like slipping, etc. need to follow immediately a corrective action procedure like the 8-D process, a method for root cause analysis to prevent any future mistakes
  2. Mistakes that impact the quality of a product or service should follow the same procedure as described in 1.
  3. Mistakes that are not life threatening or a major quality issue and are more of a procedural issue.

There are two important follow up questions:

  1. Why did it happen (8-D Analysis)?
  2. What is the corrective action, so it cannot happen again in the future.
  3. What did we/you learn from this mistake

In a learning organization you need to

  1. Create an environment of trust, so people are not afraid to admit to a mistake and come forward immediately when they recognize the mistake
  2. Reduce the fear of being punished if they voluntarily admitted the mistake as soon as they became aware of it.
  3. Allow them to become part of the solution, if they are willing to share their experience with others, learn from the mistakes and prevent future mistakes.

Just food for thoughts and open for your comments and experience.

 

Filed Under: 0.1a Organizational Environment, 0.1a.(2) Mission, Vision, and Values, 0.1a.(3) Workforce Profile, 0.1b Organizational Relationships, 1 Leadership, Uncategorized

CEO Habits to Develop in 2018

February 3, 2018 by Chris Scherer Leave a Comment

Six Entrepreneurial Habits to Develop in 2018

Filed Under: 0.1a.(2) Mission, Vision, and Values, 1 Leadership, 1.1 Senior Leadership, 2 Strategy, 4.2a Organizational Knowledge, A.02 Visionary Leadership, A.06 Focus on Success

Dream of Selling

October 31, 2017 by Chris Scherer Leave a Comment

Every business owner thinks about exiting their business. Some hope to sell. Others may have plans for somebody to ‘take over’ (e.g., next generation; partner/co-owner; employees via employee stock ownership plans; etc.). Maybe the plan is to step away slowly and continue to take an income or profit. Regardless of the plan, the success of each is largely contingent upon the health of the business.

Any buyer will want some assurance of continuing revenue, as well as the ability to continue operations at a profit. The likelihood of recurring revenue lessens when the ‘Selling CEO’ exits and there is no team in place to drive sales. Let’s assume there is a sales and marketing team to drive revenue. Is there an operating system with the accountability in place to execute on delivering the products and services sold? Does the system measure the effectiveness of those responsible? Do you have trusted relationships with suppliers? How well documented are your systems and processes?

It might seem counterintuitive, but a good test of this happens with a passive CEO. What happens when you (the owner/CEO) take time off? Imagine taking a two-week vacation with no access to your phone or computer. Would the business thrive or would you come back to a firestorm? Take it a step further. Does your management team have a clear direction for the next 3-5 years? Are your vision, values, and goals clear? Would they share the same view of that long-term goal in your absence?

Based on our collective experience in leading Peer Advisory Boards (Mastermind Groups) and one-on-one executive coaching, if the answer is ‘no’, it’s unlikely the team will be able to provide strategic direction, much less daily tactical direction.

The following article shares similar guidance. Please tell us about your experience, as you dream about exit and begin to move closer to leaving your business.

Why Many Small Businesses Cannot Be Sold (NY TImes)

Filed Under: 0.1a Organizational Environment, 0.1a.(2) Mission, Vision, and Values, 0.1a.(3) Workforce Profile, 0.1b Organizational Relationships, 0.1b.(1) Organizational Structure, 0.1b.(2) Customers and Stakeholders, 0.1b.(3) Suppliers and Partners, 1 Leadership, 1.1 Senior Leadership, 2 Strategy, 4.2 Knowledge Management, Information, and Information Technology, 6 Operations, 6.1 Work Processes, 7 Results, 7.1 Product and Process Results, 7.2 Customer-Focused Results, 7.3 Workforce-Focused Results, 7.4 Leadership and Governance Results, 7.5 Financial and Market Results, A Core Values and Concepts, A.01 Systems Perspective, A.02 Visionary Leadership, A.03 Customer-Focused Excellence, A.05 Organizational Learning and Agility, A.06 Focus on Success, A.11 Delivering Value and Results

Why not you?

October 21, 2017 by Chris Scherer Leave a Comment

This man has a dream.

John-Leslie Brown is the Baby Boy of Mamie Brown’s Baby Boy, Les Brown. You might have heard of them. If not, Google can fill in the blanks.

Toastmasters International awarded John-Leslie Brown the Best Speaker Award, making him the highest paid teen speaker in America.

He begins this speech talking about Mamie Brown. She had a dream. By all accounts, that’s about all she had.

Mamie Brown, with her third grade education, passed down her values to her family.

Here, he asks, “Who is your Mamie Brown?”

“Why not you?”

…fill in the dots…

Why not you be the person who accomplishes something?

“Why shouldn’t you be the person…who actually cares about something outside?”

What’s your dream?

http://ceofocuspartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/20171014_John-Leslie-Brown_Dream.mp4

 

Filed Under: 0.1a.(2) Mission, Vision, and Values, 1 Leadership, 1.1 Senior Leadership, 1.2 Governance and Societal Responsibilities, 7 Results, 7.4 Leadership and Governance Results

Where do you spend your ‘free’ time?

September 12, 2017 by Chris Scherer Leave a Comment

In this article by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), they share a study by Harvard Business School reporting that CEOs spend 60% of their time in meetings and 25% on the phone and events, with the balance (15%) going to everything else. Whether your ‘free’ time is 15% or 50%, how you spend it is key to whether you are investing it or simply spending it. Now is the time for reflection.

We, too, have found that time can be spent unwisely, with limiting decisions (from poor planning) that lead to unclear goals and lack of clarity. This quickly turns into lots of questions, is often accompanied by low energy. Fear eventually takes over, resulting in a reaction plan.

On the contrary, empowering decisions that invest in the future typically lead to higher energy and a sense of gratitude about the situation. This clarity on the end goal is accompanied by strategic questions and the courage (determination, faith) to take decisive action that moves ever closer to the end goal.

You might ask, what is the common denominator between thought and reflection (as highlighted by BCG) and an investment in empowering decisions? The answer: an investment is foundational and long-term, whereas ‘solving immediate problems’ is situational and short-term (i.e., putting out fires).

BCG notes the value in allowing some structure and schedule to allow time to step back and consider the big picture and long term. In so doing, having the perspective from an outsider (whether it be a trusted partner from within your industry or an advisory board from outside your industry) helps provide a level of honesty and accountability that goes beyond the immediate ‘need’ to put out (forest) fires, helps avoid fires in the first place, and may even chart a path beyond the edge of that forest to whatever it is that you dream about achieving.

Please read further to enjoy The Rewards of CEO Reflection.

Filed Under: 0.1a.(2) Mission, Vision, and Values, 1 Leadership, 1.1 Senior Leadership, 7 Results, 7.4 Leadership and Governance Results, A Core Values and Concepts, A.02 Visionary Leadership, A.06 Focus on Success

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Categories

  • 0 Organizational Profile
  • 0.1 Organizational Description
  • 0.1a Organizational Environment
  • 0.1a.(2) Mission, Vision, and Values
  • 0.1a.(3) Workforce Profile
  • 0.1b Organizational Relationships
  • 0.1b.(1) Organizational Structure
  • 0.1b.(2) Customers and Stakeholders
  • 0.1b.(3) Suppliers and Partners
  • 0.2 Organizational Situation
  • 0.2a Competitive Environment
  • 0.2c Performance Improvement System
  • 1 Leadership
  • 1.1 Senior Leadership
  • 1.2 Governance and Societal Responsibilities
  • 2 Strategy
  • 2.2 Strategy Implementation
  • 3 Customers
  • 3.1 Voice of the Customer
  • 3.2 Customer Engagement
  • 3.2a Product Offerings and Customer Support
  • 3.2a.(1) Product Offerings
  • 3.2a.(2) Customer Support
  • 3.2a.(3) Customer Segmentation
  • 3.2b Customer Relationships
  • 3.2b.(1) Relationship Management
  • 3.2b.(2) Complaint Management
  • 4 Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management
  • 4.1 Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance
  • 4.1a Performance Measurement
  • 4.1b Performance Analysis and Review
  • 4.1c Performance Improvement
  • 4.1c(1) Best Practices
  • 4.1c(2) Future Performance
  • 4.1c(3) Continuous Improvement and Innovation
  • 4.2 Knowledge Management, Information, and Information Technology
  • 4.2a Organizational Knowledge
  • 4.2b Data, Information, and Information Technology
  • 5 Workforce
  • 5.1 Workforce Environment
  • 5.2 Workforce Engagement
  • 6 Operations
  • 6.1 Work Processes
  • 6.1a Product and Process Design
  • 6.1b Process Management
  • 6.1c Innovation Management
  • 6.2 Operational Effectiveness
  • 7 Results
  • 7.1 Product and Process Results
  • 7.2 Customer-Focused Results
  • 7.2a Customer Satisfaction
  • 7.3 Workforce-Focused Results
  • 7.4 Leadership and Governance Results
  • 7.5 Financial and Market Results
  • 7.5a Financial Performance
  • 7.5b Marketplace Performance
  • A Core Values and Concepts
  • A.01 Systems Perspective
  • A.02 Visionary Leadership
  • A.03 Customer-Focused Excellence
  • A.04 Valuing People
  • A.05 Organizational Learning and Agility
  • A.06 Focus on Success
  • A.07 Managing for Innovation
  • A.08 Managing by Fact
  • A.10 Ethics and Transparency
  • A.11 Delivering Value and Results
  • Baldrige
  • FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions
  • Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • The Blue Yarn
  • Crisis Management & how to overcome it
  • Creating a Learning Organization
  • Four Barriers to Business Transformation
  • CEO Habits to Develop in 2018
  • Will Your Business Be Sold Or Will It Fold?
  • Measure Your KPI’s
  • Avoiding Blind Spots
  • Who’s In Charge
  • Dream of Selling

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