A few days ago, we marked Memorial Day and in about five weeks, we’ll celebrate our 241st birthday as a nation. It’s a time for picnics with family; reflections on those who sacrificed for their country; maybe parades or cemetery visits or fireworks with friends. It’s also a time to enjoy and appreciate our freedom […]
Continue ReadingNobody Raves About Average: 52 Insights on the Road to Excellence
Last week, the Performance Excellence Network hosted our annual PENworks 2017 conference. The event featured 31 local, regional, and national speakers, each sharing best practices and insights to improve organizational performance in areas such as leadership effectiveness, customer focus, workforce engagement, and operational efficiency. Some speakers were from large, complex organizations (3M, Ecolab, Mayo […]
Continue ReadingPerformance Excellence Network Recognizes Four Organizations
Performance Excellence Network Recognizes Four Organizations 2016 Performance Excellence Awards Presented at PENworks 2017 Conference; Lt. Governor Celebrates Excellence in Minnesota ST. PAUL, Minn., April 27, 2017 – The Performance Excellence Network (PEN), formerly the Minnesota Council for Quality, today honors four recipients of the 2016 Performance Excellence Award (formerly the MN Quality Award). […]
Continue ReadingThe Path to Performance Excellence: The Real Value of Baldrige
In the wake of the last “Great Recession” in the 1980s (though we didn’t call it that back then), America was in economic trouble. The country suffered a two-phase recession in 1980-82 – one that left unemployment high and interest rates even higher (recall credit cards and mortgages well beyond 20%!). The economic challenges were […]
Continue ReadingHe Who Profits Most Serves Best: The Power of True Customer Service
Sometimes the most powerful insights come from the most disastrous experiences. This is particularly true as it relates to poor customer service – something with which, unfortunately, all of us can relate. As Bill Gates once said: “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” It was the morning of May 15, […]
Continue ReadingKeeping Score: Best Practices in Organizational Measurement
If you don’t know it, I’m a diehard Kansas City Chiefs fan. Third generation season ticket holder (yes, while living 400 miles away in Minneapolis). I was in Arrowhead last week when the Chiefs lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Divisional Playoffs – a devastating way to end the season (especially on a […]
Continue Reading14 New Year’s Resolutions for Professional & Personal Productivity, Health, Happiness
As 2016 winds down and we turn our sights to 2017, many of us will begin setting personal, professional, and organizational goals. But 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 (that’s why the gym is so crowded the […]
Continue ReadingWhen Great Leaders Become Good
No, this isn’t an article about the recent presidential election, though I suppose it could – maybe should – be interpreted through that lens. It’s about the difference between good leaders and great leaders – and the imperative for us all to strive to be both. I read two great articles on leadership recently, […]
Continue ReadingStressed Spelled Backwards is Desserts: How to Reduce (Workplace) Stress
Things are a little tense these days. We’re in the final stretch of what many experts are calling the most stressful, polarizing Presidential elections in generations, filled with talk of building walls, deporting immigrants, and hiding emails. And though calmer now, this summer many American cities (the Twin Cities included) endured countless nights of civil […]
Continue ReadingThinking 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 […]
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