Pensights2023-09-18T11:08:03-05:00

Pensights

Performance 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). [...]

April 28, 2017|Tags: , , |

The 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[...]

He 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,[...]

Keeping 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[...]

January 25, 2017|Tags: , |

14 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[...]

December 22, 2016|Tags: , , , |

When 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,[...]

November 29, 2016|Tags: , |

Stressed 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[...]

October 25, 2016|Tags: , , |

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[...]

September 18, 2016|Tags: , |

If You Don’t Take Care of Your Customers, Someone Else Will

According to the Research Institute of America and CX Solutions (formerly TARP), 90% of dissatisfied customers will not come back or buy again.  90%.  And yet we see service breakdowns in every type of organization pretty much every day.  Think of the last time YOU received poor service – from a utility or cable company[...]

Chillax: 13 Ways to Reduce Workplace Stress

Quick trivia: from what movie does the line “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” come?  It comes from the 1976 movie, The Network.  Winner of four Academy Awards and with an all-star cast, The Network is a satirical film about a struggling fictional TV network.  The movie climaxes[...]

July 24, 2016|Tags: , |

Seeing around Corners: The Power of Big Data & Predictive Analytics

Does the name “Nate Silver” ring a bell?  It should: he is the statistician who correctly predicted the winner in all 50 states and DC for the 2012 presidential election (and something like the last nine consecutive presidential elections before that, dating back to Reagan).  He’s also developed a powerful system for predicting the performance[...]

June 29, 2016|Tags: , , |

Learn What Drives Organizational Excellence: Become a 2016 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 – in the Upper Midwest improve outcomes?  Would you be interested in networking, learning, and sharing with others who feel the same way?   The Performance Excellence Network is[...]

May 26, 2016|
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