Thanksgiving and Happiness Linked

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 27, 2008 

It’s Thanksgiving in the United States, and although the average US standard of living has steadily risen over the last decades, self-reported happiness has declined.? Thanksgiving provides us an opportunity to remind ourselves that things do not make for happiness. Gratitude Research Dr. Robert A. Emmons wrote a book, thanks!,?detailing his research on gratitude.? His […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Personal Observation | 2 Comments

CEO Leadership – Key Points to Understand

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 23, 2008 

Elliott Jaques wrote Social Power and the CEO: Leadership and Trust in a Sustainable Free Enterprise System?in 2002.? It’s worth reading.? If you don’t care to read the whole book, an excellent summary was published by Business Book Review. A reprint of the review was published in Organization Design, Levels of Work & Human Capability […]

Filed Under Accountability, Corporate Values, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Organization Design, Requisite Organization, Work Levels | 2 Comments

What is the Opposite of a Yes Man? A Friday Funny

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 21, 2008 

Do You Agree? This week we’ve been talking about emotions.? For most of us, nothing stirs them up more than an opposing viewpoint. My client used a term for?a non-yes woman the other day that was so spot on that I can’t get it out of my head.? I wasn’t sure where the term fell […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Personal Observation, Strategy | 2 Comments

Don’t Feel that Way. Feel Better?

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 19, 2008 

A Common, but Misguided?Strategy Trying?to make a person feel better by telling them not to feel what they are feeling is a strategy doomed to fail.?? How often do we, with the best of intentions,?tell people not to feel the way they do? Don’t be upset.? It’s not that big of a deal. Don’t whine.? […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Managerial Leadership | Comments Off on Don’t Feel that Way. Feel Better?

It’s Irrational to be Rational with the Emotional

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 17, 2008 

One of the easiest ways to make an emotional situation worse is to offer rationalizations before dealing with the emotional aspects of a situation.? Whether you are a manager, a customer service representative, or a resident of planet earth, my advice to you is ignore others’ emotions at your peril. Emotion Up, Rational Down Picture […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement | 9 Comments

Speaking of Faulty Assumptions – A Friday Funny

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 14, 2008 

We’ve been talking about faulty assumptions and problem framing this week.??When we misfire on root cause, we can harm people with misguided?”therapies”.?? What conclusion do you jump to when you see the image below?? Invest 10 seconds to see if you are right. ? ?

Filed Under Requisite Organization | 1 Comment

Requisite Weekend Transformation? How Are You Framing Your Organizational Issues?

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 12, 2008 

Folklore has it that Elliott Jaques, the author of the meta model, Requisite Organization, used to say you could transform an organization over the weekend by restructuring an organization to align with the requisite model. Requisite Organization Design Principles That means, among other things,?re-aligning as necessary to meet the three requisite organization design criteria. Conceptually […]

Filed Under Corporate Values, Employee Engagement, Executive Leadership, Felt Fair Compensation, Requisite Organization, Work Levels | 6 Comments

Requisite Organization Resources – Talent Management, Accountability, and More

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 10, 2008 

For those of you interested in Requisite Organization,?Don and Bonnie Fowke, management consultants from the New Management Network, are hosting a weekly internet radio show exploring various management topics and methodologies. Below are summaries of their last two shows.? You can access them here. Talent Management Don Fowke of Toronto explores how a talent management […]

Filed Under Accountability, Executive Leadership, Managerial Leadership, Requisite Organization, Talent Management | 4 Comments

Male Boss or Female Boss? A Friday Funny

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 7, 2008 

As a blogger I try to not only to be an observer of human and organizational behavior but also?to offer practical, actionable solutions to all that ails organizations. ? Warning – The clip below?is merely a comedian’s observations with no actionable content whatsoever.? You can take it for what it is – a hoot!? Or […]

Filed Under Requisite Organization | Comments Off on Male Boss or Female Boss? A Friday Funny

The Employee Contract – Are We Buying Outputs or Renting Capability?

By Michelle Malay Carter on November 4, 2008 

Expanding upon my last post on managerial accountability … when you hire an employee, my friend and colleague Herb Koplowitz says, “You are renting employee capability not buying outputs.” Herb helped write the FAQ section for the Global Organization Design Society which has just redesigned its website.? Check it out here.? It has a large,?free […]

Filed Under Accountability, Requisite Organization, Strategy, Talent Management | 2 Comments