Pensights
I Never Said Most of the Things I Said: The Wisdom of Yogi Berra
Last week, baseball lost a legend. Yogi Berra participated in 18 All-Star Games and 14 World Series (winning 10 of them, the most in baseball history). He was a three-time MVP (most ever for a catcher), had a lifetime .285 batting average, hit 358 home runs, and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame[...]
Overwork, Underperform: Why More Hours Leads to Less Productivity
People are overworked. Maybe it’s because the post-recession “New Normal” is forcing all of us to do more with less. Maybe it’s because 10,000 Baby Boomers are retiring EVERY Day, forcing all of us to do more with less. Maybe it’s because wages really haven’t kept up with inflation the last 30-40 years, forcing all[...]
Sustaining American Excellence
Earlier this month, we celebrated our 239th birthday as a nation. Most of us probably had a picnic with family, enjoyed a parade, or watched fireworks with friends. But all of us enjoyed the freedom – the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness that has made this country strong for nearly a quarter millennia. Let’s[...]
Thinking Inside the Box: How Organizational Innovation Really Works
A recent Wall Street Journal article captured the challenges most organizations face in trying to be innovative. Authors Drew Boyd (a former J&J executive and current professor at University of Cincinnati) and Jacob Goldenberg (a professor at Hebrew and Columbia University and author of “Inside the Box: A Proven of Creativity for Breakthrough Results”) reveal[...]
Performance Excellence Network Recognizes Six Organizations
2014 MN Performance Excellence Awards Presented at PENworks 2015 Conference; Coach Jerry Kill Offers Remarks; Governor Celebrates Excellence in Minnesota ST. PAUL, Minn., April 30, 2015 – The Performance Excellence Network (PEN), formerly the Minnesota Council for Quality, today honors six recipients of the 2014 Performance Excellence Award (formerly the MN Quality Award), five from[...]
The Key to Sustained World Class Performance: Deliberate Practice
Everywhere you look, standards are rising. In business, in sports, in education, in healthcare – really in all aspects of human and organizational achievement – what is considered world class continues to increase. For example… It used to take 72 hours by plane to cross the Atlantic (1913); it now takes just over six. The[...]
Insights to Excellence: Tips from the Country’s Highest Performing Organizations
I just got back last week from the Quest for Excellence, the Baldrige Program’s annual conference, in Baltimore. Recognized for achieving high performance were four extraordinary organizations (each also to be featured in next week’s PENworks 2015 Minnesota conference): PricewaterhouseCoopers Public Sector Practice (VA), St. David’s HealthCare (TX), Elevations Credit Union (CO), and Hill Country[...]
Valuing our Differences: How Cross-Sector Learning Stimulates Innovation
I remember the call distinctly: it was the summer of 2007, when the Superintendent of Duluth Public Schools called, seeking benchmarking partners. He was looking for other school districts that were more advanced at using data to make decisions and to manage and improve performance. I gave him two or three districts from which I[...]
What the Gophers Can Teach Business about Winning: Coach Kill to Keynote PENworks 2015
As winter winds down (eventually) and spring approaches, many sports enthusiasts have moved from the gridiron to March Madness. But football season is not quite over for the Performance Excellence Network, as we are pleased to announce our fifth and final keynote speaker at PENworks 2015: Jerry Kill, head coach of the Minnesota Gophers! […]
2015 Performance Excellence Award Deadlines Announced
Is your organization interested in using a proven Framework to identify and prioritize its improvement opportunities? Would your workforce engagement increase from providing input into your organization’s future? Would your organization benefit from public recognition of your improvement efforts and your performance outcomes? […]
Learn What Drives Organizational Excellence: Become a 2015 Performance Excellence Award Evaluator
Are you interested in learning more about what makes organizations successful? Are you interested in helping other organizations — such as schools, hospitals, non-profits, and businesses — around the three-state region improve their performance? Would you be interested in networking, learning, and sharing with others who feel the same way? […]
14 New Year’s Resolutions for Personal Productivity, Health, Happiness
Research shows that up to 80% of New Year’s resolutions are broken, and that the average date of breaking resolutions is about January 20 (so much of us failed about a week ago!). But if you want a second chance, here are 14 research-based New Year’s resolutions for you to try – tips for improving[...]
