Learning and Change Management Articles
Our expert staff is well known throughout the industry for its breadth of knowledge gained through years of practical experience. The following articles, written by members of our staff, have been published in industry journals and Web sites.
Justin Bieber - Change Agent
By Scott Franklin, Life Cycle Institute
As an avid music fan and the father of three daughters, it has been a losing effort to escape the ubiquitous presence of the pop sensation Justin Bieber. Currently celebrating the 2nd anniversary of my 50th birthday, I regretfully find myself relieved of command of the automotive entertainment unit (the radio) and therefore at the mercy of the musical choices of a younger generation. As I listen to Mssr. Bieber's massive hit ‘Baby’, there are many reasons that I find the song difficult to appreciate...“I Talk, You Listen”…Not Anymore! Achieving Results-Driven Communication
“I talk, you listen!” This phrase is a parent’s favorite, or at least it was for my parents! How many times have you been told to just listen while someone else talks, spewing tons of information your way, little of which is relevant to you? Had that person stopped to listen to what is important to you, the conversation would have been more effective.
Spartacus - Change Agent
By Scott Franklin
In 73 BC, Spartacus, a Roman slave turned gladiator, turned leader of the Third Servile War, leads his group of fellow slaves in an uprising against the Roman Empire. History portrays Spartacus as an excellent tactician and leader who inspired upwards of 70,000 untrained slaves to follow his quest for freedom. The 1960 film adaptation featuring Kirk Douglas shows Spartacus as all of these plus something else – a brilliant agent of change.Dave Ramsey - Change Agent
By Scott Franklin, Life Cycle Institute
As appeared in IMPACT
Responding to many of his radio show callers with the always cheerful refrain “Better than I deserve,” Dave Ramsey is familiar to many of you as a financial advisor with a syndicated radio show. In addition to his radio show, Dave also runs the Financial Peace University workshops, has a best-selling book titled ‘The Total Money Makeover’ and has helped thousands regain control of their personal finances and their lives. All of this with a fundamentally flawed financial model...Training the New Workforce: SMEs and Learning Professionals, Unite!
By Tara Denton, Life Cycle Institute
January 1, 2011 seemed ordinary enough. In fact, most people probably do not realize that on this day a cycle was kicked into action that will forever change the face of organizations as we know them. On January 1, 2011, the first Baby Boomers started turning 65. This group, making up the largest percentage of the workforce, is reaching retirement age. This is a scary realization for many organizations whose workforce is stacked with Baby Boomers...How to Fail at Change Management
By Scott Franklin
In the challenges we do face, the fundamental lesson of the risks of focusing on only half of the journey applies. When planning for a change, the temptation is to focus on the technical solution and investing the majority of our time, energy and resources on developing the most technically correct solution – i.e., the ‘right’ answer.
How do you create a high performance team?
By Bill Wilder, Life Cycle Engineering
An effective work team is a group of engaged individuals. In “The Toyota Way”, Jeffrey Liker tells us, “the center of TPS is people. A common phrase heard around Toyota is “before we build cars we build people.” You can have the best tools, most productive processes and the biggest bank account. None of this will produce results unless you have people.Rubeus Hagrid – Change Agent
By Scott Franklin
Rubeus Hagrid, the beloved Keeper of Keys and Grounds at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is best known for his fascination with exotic (and potentially deadly) magical creatures including the Hippogriff, Acromantia, Thestrals and even Blast-End Skrewts. While not particularly noted for his academic expertise, R. Hagrid was quite knowledgeable on advanced change management methodologies...Bugs Bunny - Change Agent
By Scott Franklin
As appeared in IMPACT
In addition to his long-running acting career, Bugs Bunny was also a driving force in Warner Brothers’ early business success. As Mr. Bunny was assisting the company in making the change from three-minute comic clips into syndicated half-hour episodes, he needed to ensure that the rest of the organization understood the size and scope of this type of change and planned accordingly. To set the stage early, he opened the first planning meeting with the now famous, and slightly mangled, change management directive...Change Management: Some Things Can’t Be Delegated
By Dave Berube, Life Cycle Institute
As appeared in Learning to Change
As leaders move into positions of increasing responsibility, they learn to delegate more projects and tasks to others. Out of necessity they move beyond the “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself” mentality and realize that by enabling employees to excel and succeed, leaders will excel and succeed.Michael Jordan - Change Agent
By Scott Franklin
Michael Jordan is well known for his professional sports careers in both basketball and baseball, his success as a business man and his contribution to numerous charitable organizations. What often gets overlooked is his short, but impactful work in the field of Organizational Change Management. While still a rookie NBA player, he worked with Coach Phil Jackson to transform the Chicago Bulls into a national championship team. At their first Change Management offsite meeting, Michael reminded the team that organizational change is based upon individual change – or as he so eloquently stated...Using the CLICK Model to Keep Your Skills Fresh
By Tara Denton, Life Cycle Institute
Today’s workplace demands the flexibility to change, grow and constantly update your skills. No profession is immune from this requirement. As a course of business, the amount of change to accept and the accompanying knowledge to ingest will not slow. On the contrary, it’s likely to increase. To meet this continuous learning challenge one must become a knowledge worker. What is a knowledge worker and how does a person become one? Read on to learn about today’s knowledge worker and the CLICK model of personal development.Team Charters: What are they?
A team charter is a document that is developed in a group setting that clarifies team direction while establishing boundaries. It is developed early during the forming of the team. The charter should be developed in a group session to encourage understanding and buy-in.Generating Buy-in for New Ideas
By Dave Berube, Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared in RxToday“Innovate or Die.” This often-used quote was made famous by Tom Peters and used by people ranging from Bill Gates to United States senators. Where does innovation come from? It’s fairly simple: innovation requires creative people with new ideas. What is not so simple is getting people to listen and buy-in to new ideas. What about new employees? One of the benefits of adding new employees is that they are a great source of new ideas. How can we best take advantage of their imagination and brain power? Were you once that new employee who had a great idea that could have resulted in significant improvements but struggled with getting acceptance?
Keep your eye on the ball: Visualize goals to help your team attain them.
By Robert (Bob) Call, CMRP
Close your eyes for a second and think about your ride to work this morning. If you’re driving right now, don’t really close your eyes; you are guilty of Example No. 4 below.The ABCs of Change Sponsorship
By Scott Franklin
During a transformational organizational change, leaders throughout the organization are expected to sponsor the change. What oftentimes gets left out is any guidance on how.Making Agile Work of Course Development
By Tara Denton Holwegner, Life Cycle Institute
You hear the word “agile” a lot these days. Companies need to be more “agile” in response to the demands of the market. High performing teams want to be “agile” to get the most out of their efforts.Re-imagining Leadership, Re-energizing the Workplace
By David Marquet
We are in the midst of an epidemic of apathy and anemia in our workplaces. By many measures workplace satisfaction, happiness and worker engagement are dropping. Workplace satisfaction in particular is at an all time low since the Conference Board starting conducting its survey in 1987. The costs of this dissatisfaction and disengagement are huge in terms of productivity for employers and in terms of happiness for employees.What are coaching cards and how are they used?
By Joe Mikes, CMRP, Life Cycle Engineering
Coaching cards are a critical component of a comprehensive change management program. They are used to make sure that the change that an organization has put in place is actually working as planned. Using coaching cards creates a non-threatening opportunity to meet with those people living with the change in their daily lives and help them to be successful.Asking the Right Questions, Driving the Correct Behaviors
By Bob Call, CMRP, Life Cycle Engineering
As appeared in RxToday
It’s a challenge to attain any type of significant improvement in business. I am certain that many of you, like me, have tried every method you know to drive improvements in your operation only to find that things pretty much stay the same, or even get worse. You ask yourself “Why can’t we get better?”
