Tag

Agility
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Lessons from the Lake

As many want to do in the upper Midwest, I spend part of my summer fishing.  While I live in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, one of my favorite fishing trips is to Lake Sakakawea in North Dakota.  The Lake is actually a reservoir created by the damming of the Missouri river.  It is a...
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Jim Mora on Management and Corporate Restructuring

There are a number of great anecdotes and quotes associated with American Football.  From Vince Lombardi, “What the hell is going on out there?” to Dick Butkus, “I only cheat in league games,” to Randy Moss’ “Straight cash, homie!” the characters of the game have provided us with a number of memorable one-liners and stories....
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Organizational Agility: Performance Management

In an earlier post, I talked about Job Descriptions and Roles.  In another, I talked about Vertical Hierarchy and Titles.  It’s time to talk about Performance Management. One of the most hated systems in many organizations is the performance review system. Every few years the griping will rise to a level where the Talent Management...
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Organizational Agility: Job Descriptions & Roles

I hate most job descriptions; I find them unnecessarily complicated and overly sophisticated. In any organization that is growing and expanding, they are meaningless anyway because they can’t keep up with the rate of change. If you have a job description that says what you actually do, then you are probably part of a nice...
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The 8 Necessary Values of an Agile Leader

It is now the task of every corporation to examine its own culture, not merely for the sake of its competitive position, although that should be reason enough, but because it is the culture of our business corporations that will determine the future wealth of our nation. – Lawrence M. Miller The topics of “Agile...
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A Heritage Created by People with Brains, Heart & Guts

The principles, values and core beliefs of the Agile Manifesto have been around since Moby Dick was a minnow. Over the years, they’ve been successfully employed by motivated and enlightened leaders in a wide variety of industries—a heritage created by people with brains, heart and guts. Agile: Traced Back to Post-WWII Japan Contrary to common...
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It’s Your Choice: Make an Excuse or Move Toward Agility?

“We have to have people work on multiple teams.” “We can’t afford to have a dedicated Scrum Master.” “Everything is a number one priority—we need it all!” “We have to have a signed document prior to moving forward.” “We have to measure utilization.” I have heard these and several similar statements frequently in my time...
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4 Unfortunate Reasons Why Agile Is Close to Being a Fad

A fad, according to Merriam-Webster, is a “practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal.” It’s often a new thing or a revived thing. Yet, Agile is neither a new thing nor a tech thing. Even so, it’s in serious danger of becoming a fad. 1. Agile Isn’t Something You “Do” There are...
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Micro & Macro Agility: Surviving Through Whole-System Organizational Transformation

Your organization and its health can be directly compared to your body and its health. Just like when a small health concern turns into a life-threatening emergency, you must change to survive if your business is struggling. Micro-Medicine vs. Macro-Medicine You’re enjoying life and you’ve gotten comfortable. Other than normal bumps like a typical cold...
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Persuasion, Selling & Manipulation: The Hierarchy of Effective Communication

After years of experience in the field, I’ve found that there is a hierarchy in ways one can convince another person of something. Understanding this hierarchy is critical for effective communication from the C-level down. The Hierarchy of Effective Communication Manipulation: Lacking the Character Traits of Honesty, Integrity & Civility The lowest plane of communication...
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