Is the recession your big break?
What is no longer serving you?
First, the good news: you and your colleagues already have all the
inner resources that you need to succeed. So, while news of a
deepening recession abounds, we invite you to take the challenge
of looking at the current situation differently.
How much of this fear-inducing recession talk actually makes the
situation worse? When we are afraid, we act in ways that impede
us reaching our goals. Fear reduces our creativity, our flexibility,
our ability to think clearly and make informed decisions, and our
capacity to take action – this is biological fact. None of this helps
business to thrive.
But what if we could turn this on its head? When I checked the
dictionary, I discovered that recession also means “a break” and
“a time to take stock”. Every company, every group and every
individual can benefit from a chance to take stock, to consider
how we can make the way we do things better – more rewarding,
more inspiring, more productive, more profitable. Everyone can
contribute to this, be they company director or security guard.
(Continued below)
Thriving in Tough Times
Breakfast Seminar – 30th October 2008
Research shows that high staff engagement increases operating
income by 19% on average. This seminar focuses on simple and
effective ways to improve staff engagement.
Learn three proven tools that will enable you to:
- increase productivity painlessly
- retain key staff
- decrease absenteeism
- inspire staff to actively decrease costs
- increase innovation
Date: Thursday 30th October 2008 Cost: £65 inc VAT
Venue: Hilton Bracknell, Bagshot Road, Bracknell RG12 0QJ
Breakfast: 7.30am – 8.00am Workshop: 8.00am – 10.00am
Contact us for more information
Is the recession your big break? (Continued from above)
It’s possible for a business to focus too much on the balance sheet
and forget the importance of the staff’s ability to create, innovate
and excel. When times are tough, it is the companies which
embrace strong values that are able to draw on a deeper sense of
community and of pulling together. The more vibrant and
engaged your teams, the more you can collectively find ways to
create success in these challenging times.
An engaged, passionate team can create a compelling vision of
success against the odds. Together they can vision and innovate;
developing new ideas for products, services, add-ons and upgrades.
They can define and refine your “wow factor” – the thing
that has your customers returning time after time. They can
commit to ensuring that customer service exceeds expectations,
reinforcing and improving your company’s reputation. When a
dedicated team pulls together in the face of a shared challenge,
there are few limits to what they can achieve.
If you are reading this and you’re not a manager or a director, if
you feel you are powerless, why not create your own challenge?
Get some of your friends and colleagues at work together for
lunch; first, celebrate your Top Ten reasons for working in the
company, and then use Radiant Problem Solving (see below) to
identify areas where your group can help the company reach new
levels. Even small steps, when we do them regularly, make a big
difference – as anyone who has skipped their gym visits will know!
Are you sharing your wisdom?
If life had an instruction booklet, what would you include in it?
What have you learnt that would help a young person just starting
out?
We are delighted with the contributions we’ve received to the
Life’s Letters collection (see August newsletter). The letters are
simple and insightful. They express important truths we can all
recognise.
We believe everyone has some wisdom to offer from their journey
through life, and we’d love to receive your contribution. Even if
you feel reluctant to write – give it a go. Make it one of your
‘measured risks’ for the week (see July newsletter). We look
forward to hearing from you!
Email your letter to Jennifer: jennifer.hurley@lamontassociates.com
(We will be putting a selection of the letters on our website soon.)
Radiant Problem Solving
The purpose of this activity is to help you think creatively about
any problem and to generate innovative solutions fast.
Step 1: Name the problem. Now turn it on its head and express the
problem in terms of the goal you want to achieve. Make the goal
as specific as possible. e.g. ‘The problem is 30% engagement’
becomes the goal ‘80% engagement within 3 months’. Place the
goal in the centre of a large sheet of paper in a bright colour.
Step 2: Thinking about the goal, the group brainstorms, for 2
minutes only, all the ‘blocks’ preventing the goal from happening.
Generate these as fast as possible and without comment. Write
them up radiating out from the goal and in a different colour.
Step 3: Now for each ‘block’ (problem), brainstorm for 20 seconds
all possible solutions. Use a third colour. In this way the solutions
will stand out, distinct from the blocks.
When you’ve finished, look at the web of problems and solutions
that you have created; see the interconnections and identify 2 or 3
solutions each of you will take action on. Get a buddy to help you
keep on track with your commitment. Meet up a week later to
check in and see how you are all progressing.
Note: you may also notice that some of the solutions are about
changing attitudes and perceptions; they do not necessarily
require tasks to be done – it may be simply a shift in your attitude
that will make the difference.
Kia Ora, Aotearoa.
A big hello to all our new subscribers
in New Zealand. And thank you for your
warm welcome during out recent visit. |
 |
Story – The Grape or The Watermelon?
Are you thinking big enough?
When Rodrigo approached Richard asking for help promoting his
product, Richard was surprised. “Rodrigo you currently have the
whole market! Why would you want to encourage us, your
competitors, by asking us to set up an accreditation scheme?”
Rodrigo replied, “The market I have can be likened to the size of
a grape. With competition, I think the market can be increased
to the size of a water melon. I would prefer to have a slice of
water melon to a whole grape!”
They are now working together to create that larger market for
everyone’s benefit.
(Our thanks to Richard Pharro from APM Group for this story.)
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