tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18411057132145268752008-03-27T18:09:39.530-07:00IanBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1841105713214526875.post-82977228456035684622008-03-27T18:07:00.000-07:002008-03-27T18:09:39.561-07:00

Change Management 11: Certain Misery or the Misery of Uncertainty Small changes can lead to big changes. We don’t need a treatise on Chaos Theory to observe that changing systems are nonlinear. Each variable in the change environment exponentially affects the outcome. For example, a simple three-variable closed environment will yield 6 permutations, while 6 variables will yield 720

Iantag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1841105713214526875.post-84499355378821000822008-01-13T14:43:00.000-08:002008-01-13T14:45:49.361-08:00

CONFLICT RESOLUTION 10 Arguments and Verbal Aggression It may not come as much of a surprise to learn that some people enjoy arguments. They look forward to them and literally get health benefits from the experience. This is a fact. Others, however, do not like to argue. For these people, an argument is an unpleasant and unhealthy experience, one they often avoid if given an option.

Iantag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1841105713214526875.post-29132974381764988642007-12-12T17:48:00.000-08:002007-12-12T17:52:24.549-08:00

Leadership 9 Who You Are And What You Can Become. Professor Marie McIntyre of Georgia’s Institute of Government has researched the relationship between managers and personality. Her findings confirmed my own experiences as a psychologist and a consultant, and probably will confirm yours as well. Managerial types are more analytical then interpersonal, i.e., they are data driven. They also

Iantag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1841105713214526875.post-66113593421356170252007-11-24T08:04:00.000-08:002007-11-24T08:07:19.206-08:00

Occupational Stress 8 Your mind, your body and job stress. A few years ago I was asked to give a lecture at Princeton University. The students wanted to know what stressors to expect from their initial experiences in the working world and how these stressors would affect them. Although this was an academic presentation, I was surprised to see that their questions and concerns were similar to

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Change Management 7 Three Techniques to Improve Communication, Empathy and Setting an Example. Last year I was teaching my Organizational Dynamics class. It was a large class of adults with years of business experience. While discussing the verisimilitude of change management, the class listed thirty factors for effective change management. We took these thirty factors and did a lazy man’s

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CONFLICT RESOLUTION 6 Measure twice, cut once. -Old saying- Two well-respected authors in the field of conflict resolution, Susan Carpenter and W.J.D. Kennedy, have eloquently codified the types of mistakes people make in large-scale public disputes. A mistake I often see is what they refer to as the Quick Fix, and in business settings, what I call the Type-A Solution. The Type-A Solution has

Iantag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1841105713214526875.post-57946273139057584542007-10-25T17:13:00.000-07:002007-11-24T17:09:37.247-08:00

Leadership 5 "Know thyself" - Plato According to an American Society for Training and Development study, job knowledge is the only thing that ranks higher than communication in determining good leadership. One of the most important ways a leader communicates to his or her group is by example and attitude, and attitude usually determines behavior. What’s your general attitude toward your

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Occupational Stress 4 “A beginning is a time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct” Frank Herbert, Dune New on the job or working with a new hire? The greatest job strain at such a time comes from the occupational stress domain referred to as Role Ambiguity, or the new-kid-on-the-block syndrome. This will affect the newly hired, recently transferred, or just promoted

Iantag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1841105713214526875.post-2636141000035255172007-10-03T16:05:00.000-07:002007-11-24T17:06:33.558-08:00

Organizational Change Management “There are three types of people in this world, those who can count and those who cannot.” If you’re in management long enough, you will eventually experience a significant change in your company. This is usually followed by an intense and often quite justified sense of betrayal by those most affected. You may overhear the employees bemoan, “I can’t believe they’

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CONFLICT RESOLUTION Attitude might not exactly be everything when dealing with conflict management, but it sure plays a big part. The most productive attitude in addressing disputes, especially in the initial stages, is one of letting go of resentment toward the other party. Regardless of what events have transpired, or what emotions have been riled up, trying to remain in the present, as

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The days of the dominating, stand-alone charismatic leader are long gone. Given that today’s projects are often costly and complex, and that group members are talented, specialized, and expensive, the charismatic leader model is something to be avoided—it’s the business equivalent of putting all your eggs in one basket. A preferred technique is Facilitative Leadership, which has been shown to be

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