Think about the last time you talked to someone, maybe a friend, work colleague or family member, you hadn’t seen in a while. When you asked them how they have been how did they respond? How did you respond when they asked you? It usually goes something like this: “Hey there! How are you?” “Well, … Read More
As we look back at the end of 2016 and into the fresh beginnings of a new year, I wanted to offer a bold idea that could absolutely transform your organization in 2017: What if you could replace your entire people strategy with the diagram above and a simple mantra? That may seem crazy, but hear me out… For … Read More
We often bump into the idea that the kind of work we do at Forte is perceived as “warm and fuzzy” by businesspeople. (My friend Shawn just expressed something similar on his site.) The work we do isn’t “fuzzy” or “soft,” but this is quite a persistent myth. Let me explain why it’s untrue—and more importantly, why it’s … Read More
This article was originally posted on Fast Company If you’re like me, you’ve probably heard many variations of it throughout your work career: “Everyone is replaceable.” In practice, it sounds like this… “If you don’t want to do the job, there are hundreds—maybe thousands!—of people who are desperate for work and we’ll go find them.” … Read More
For me doing practically anything an Olympic athlete does is impossible. For me, building the financial models that power big companies is impossible. For me, playing in the NFL is impossible. (Don’t believe me, download a few photos.) It’s true that I don’t know how to do any of these things, but it’s not just … Read More
[This article was originally published on Switch & Shift] Today, our organizations are a lot of things… They are the economic engines of the world. For example, did you know that of the top 150 economic entities in the world, 58% of those entities are corporations — not nations/countries? They are the places where we occupy some most of our time. Where do … Read More
[This article was originally posted on The Huffington Post] When I was doing the research for my book, Igniting the Invisible Tribe, I stumbled across an article by Gary Hamel called “First, Let’s Fire All The Managers.” Released by Harvard Business Review in December of 2011 about a California-based tomato processing company called Morning Star, I … Read More
[This article was originally published on Forbes] It’s easy to vilify business. Sadly, we’re usually justified in these feelings, too. For many reasons, over the past decades business folks have gotten the idea that it’s OK to screw over their employees, foul up the environment, and treat customers like garbage. But all these antics are covering up … Read More
If you’ve recently asked someone, “How are you?” a likely response you heard was, “Oh fine, just busy.” And there you have it. “Busy” has been now elevated to an emotion! Unfortunately, we live in a society that thrives on being busy. In fact, it’s almost a badge of honor! I mean, what if you … Read More
[This article was originally published on Switch & Shift] Intellectually, it’s easy for us to promote the value of diversity in our organizations. We can endlessly proclaim epithets about the added benefit of a diverse and varied constituency of employees, espousing the importance of mixing genders, races, generations, and lifestyles. In our heads, we “get … Read More