Category: Uncategorized
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Is Authenticity the key to being “Meaningfully Different”?
If organizations are going to be successful at attracting good members and good clients or customers, they have go beyond showing how they are different from other, similar organizations. They have to take that extra step, and demonstrate why these differences are meaningful. “Meaningful difference” “Meaningful difference” is an important concept in both organizational theory…
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Registering Dis-engagement: How would you respond?
Here’s a little story, compelling in its simplicity, about an organizational situation that raises issues of loyalty, commitment, and engagement. When I heard about the initial situation, I had an immediate reaction. My analysis was quickly followed by a few recommendations for the employee involved. [ Of course, as an ENTJ, I am quick to…
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Resumes and Bad Judgment: More bias than you think
Every resume should come with a warning label: Don’t trust your judgment of this person. It’s probably biased. Study after study shows us that the assessments we make of people based on their resumes are biased. These biases are predictable, and they skew our judgments of job candidates. Judging personality from resumes? You’re probably wrong.…
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My baby, she wrote me a letter … about iPads?
I’m not sure whether to be dismayed or delighted… am I allowed to be both, at the same time? I’m delighted about my kids’ initiative, and dismayed at the power of Apple’s advertising. Listen to my story… Saturday morning, racing towards a deadline, I was working in my office when my daughter came in and…
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Capturing Authenticity in Your Business Name: Dangerous Mathematicians
Over the weekend I took my family over to Brooklyn to visit our groovy friend Lizz. Part of the plan was to wander around Boerum Hill and explore (okay, window shop and eat ice cream). As per usual, I found it necessary to stick my nose in someone else’s business. Wouldn’t you *have* to go…
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Authentic Church Signs: Authenticity and ‘the new church movement’
Would it surprise you to learn that the online place where people talk about organizational authenticity the most is in ‘the new church movement’? ‘The new church movement’ (what I call it, but it may have other labels) is that center of online energy around being a better Christian. By better, I mean more about…
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Rearranging Chairs as an Act of Leadership
Certain members of my friends and family circle make fun of me tease me because I often rearrange the chairs at social, public and business gatherings. My beloved sister got a bit irked by my penchant for chair moving last month when, 20 minutes before her party started, she came into her living room to…
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Readers’ Question: Can we shift to more authentic communication?
Last weekend Bob Sutton and I got a pair of emails from readers who are frustrated by a specific kind of inauthentic participation within their organization. They wanted some ideas on how to name this behavior, in the hopes that labeling the behavior would help them get a handle on it. Here’s a snippet from…
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Work-Life Initiatives Are the Foundation of Authentic Organizations
Earlier this week I met with a group of organizational change advocates, each of whom is dedicated to reshaping the relationship between work and life. Work-Life issues per se aren’t really my gig, although I’ve had a fair amount of work-life conflict in my day as an employee and as a manager. However, I invited…