Do you want to be the victim of circumstance or the master of your own destiny?
What will be the difference between your success and that of the opposition?
The Coach
The Consultant
What behaviours, attitudes and performance does your culture produce?
Does your team take responsibility for its own actions?
The Presenter
Do you want more than just manufactured talk and psychological babble?
Your audience needs information that will sink in and make a lasting impression.
Organisational Mediocrity
Tuesday 20th January 2009
This month's question is:
Are there any specific areas or signs you look for when you first start working with a team or organisation?
Great question and the answer is yes, but the reality is we could spend the entire year just working our way through the individual things I look for.
But to get the ball rolling one of the first things I look for are indicators of the standards. I want to find answers to the question of - is this a team/organisation that wants to be great or are they OK with just being good?'
Here are some of the signs I look for under the tittle of:
The DNA of Organisational Mediocrity
Unwillingness to change
Inconsistency
The preparedness to compromise
Ineffective communication
Accepting good as the standard
No ongoing personal or professional development
Taking the path of least effort or resistance
Non recognition of the benefit of difference
The approach of one size fits all
Procrastination
The person at the top is the only one with the experience to solve problems
Everything is decided by consensus
Lack of urgency
Non recognition of individual responsibility
Action is never taken
Lack of accountability
Non recognition of use by date
The things will just happen attitude
Why does this happen to me/us?
Everyone is good, but no-one is working to be great
Decisions never get made
Leadership by title alone
Selection by psychological profiling
Doing it in a way you are familiar with rather than doing it the best way
Relying on talent alone
Short term fix
Mistaking activity for achievement
Progress is difficult to define or measure
Denial
Disregard for the basics
Doing the same things over and over, but never asking why
Goals/outcomes/ expectations are constantly changed before they are achieved
You use a window instead of a mirror to explain lack of performance
Creativity and innovation are best pursued by others
Mistaking training for development
Things done by convenience rather than correctness
Are there any specific areas or signs you look for when you first start working with a team or organisation?
Great question and the answer is yes, but the reality is we could spend the entire year just working our way through the individual things I look for.
But to get the ball rolling one of the first things I look for are indicators of the standards. I want to find answers to the question of - is this a team/organisation that wants to be great or are they OK with just being good?'
Here are some of the signs I look for under the tittle of:
The DNA of Organisational Mediocrity
Unwillingness to change
Inconsistency
The preparedness to compromise
Ineffective communication
Accepting good as the standard
No ongoing personal or professional development
Taking the path of least effort or resistance
Non recognition of the benefit of difference
The approach of one size fits all
Procrastination
The person at the top is the only one with the experience to solve problems
Everything is decided by consensus
Lack of urgency
Non recognition of individual responsibility
Action is never taken
Lack of accountability
Non recognition of use by date
The things will just happen attitude
Why does this happen to me/us?
Everyone is good, but no-one is working to be great
Decisions never get made
Leadership by title alone
Selection by psychological profiling
Doing it in a way you are familiar with rather than doing it the best way
Relying on talent alone
Short term fix
Mistaking activity for achievement
Progress is difficult to define or measure
Denial
Disregard for the basics
Doing the same things over and over, but never asking why
Goals/outcomes/ expectations are constantly changed before they are achieved
You use a window instead of a mirror to explain lack of performance
Creativity and innovation are best pursued by others
Mistaking training for development
Things done by convenience rather than correctness
The Journey Continues!
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