Making the High Road Accessible – My Hope for 2008 and 2009 and 2010…

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 28, 2007 

I’m feeling philosophical at year’s end – an intriguing mix of sadness and restlessness?tempered by faithfulness and hopefulness. Systematically Building Trust?through Integrated, Consistent Systems Design One of the greatest attractors I have toward Elliott Jaques’ total-systems Requisite Organization model for organization design and managerial leadership?is that it is the epitome of the high road.??I believe […]

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Wii Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Tax Write Off Too

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 24, 2007 

Good news.? Those of you have purchased a Wii for your enjoyment might be able to claim it as a business expense.*** I don’t consider myself much of a tech-head.? Gadgits and gizmos don’t turn my head, but this video of?Johnny Chung Lee’s?unique use of the Wii remote was too good not to share. ***I […]

Filed Under High Potential, Personal Observation | 2 Comments

Why Disneyland is the Happiest Place on Earth

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 21, 2007 

Disney has revealed its secret to being the happiest place on earth – a systems-level approach! Thanks to Bob Sutton at Work Matters?for?pointing me to?this sign generator website. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. My posts will fall in the range of?sparse to non-existent until 2008!? Thank you to my readers and commenters for your […]

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Using Requisite Science to Design Work-Enabling Organizations

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 20, 2007 

This post is a continuation from yesterday’s post in which I mentioned that we were able to predict the turnover of specific individuals within a client’s?organization.? I promised to tell you more on how we spot?under-utilization?today. Management Science Should Take a Page from Physical Science An analogy:? An understanding of work levels and its relationship […]

Filed Under Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, High Potential, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | 3 Comments

Predicting Turnover – It’s not Rocket Science; It’s People Science

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 19, 2007 

We conducted a Talent Pool Evaluation for a client years?ago and found?four out of tweleve?of their district managers?had problem solving capability one level above?the District?Manager?role.?? Underutilized Employees Are At High Risk for Turnover? When we mentioned these particular District Managers to the client, she said these employees needed little training upon hiring and required no […]

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The Perfect Job Title?

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 18, 2007 

Google is currently recruiting for a Director of Other.? This sounds like a?dream job?because it affords?the potential to clench the proverbial best of both worlds.? Imagine the freedom to set your own agenda.? If you are given an assignment that does not interest you, you can say:? “Obviously, that doesn’t fall into the category of […]

Filed Under Accountability, Employee Engagement, Personal Observation | 5 Comments

When Everyone is Accountable, No One is Accountable – The Team Accountability Fantasy

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 16, 2007 

When?a project fails, people cover their tails trying to avoid being blamed.? (This sounds like it could be the beginning of a limerick, but I digress.)? One main reason projects fail in the first place is due to the failure to assign an accountable project leader. The Slippery Slope of Egalitarianism The idea of an […]

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When We Lose Hope, We Cope – A Friday Serious with a Funny Ending

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 14, 2007 

We all have our default coping mechanisms for dealing with stressful situations.? Some try to?dominate and intimidate.? Others accommodate and people please.? Others try to hide and withdrawal. The raw material for our “mechanism of choice”?begins with our natural hard-wiring and then we develop and refine it in a delicate dance of trial-and-error with our […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | 2 Comments

I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money – Why You Should Deliver Sensitive Messages in Person

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 12, 2007 

I’ve got some heavy writing commitments outside my blog this week so my entries will be a little lighter and less often.? It’s painful because I’ve stumbled upon some good stuff this week that I have not had time to research. Back in the day when I did customer service training, I used the following […]

Filed Under Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Personal Observation | 10 Comments

Managerial Leadership – What Doesn’t Get Measured, Doesn’t Get Done

By Michelle Malay Carter on December 11, 2007 

One of the services we offer our clients is a Leadership Scan.? We interview employees about whether basic managerial leadership practices are occurring in their department.? Further, we check to see whether?these practices are a simply a positive anomaly or whether they are specifically codified and organizationally system-supported. One of the questions we ask is:? […]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization | 3 Comments

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