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The Power to Change.®Welcome to Grid International, INCen-usSat, 25 May 2013 18:04:15 -05005Grid International, INC.15690
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http://gridinternational.com/images/logo.jpgBook Review: "Change By Design" By Robert R. Blake, Jane Srygley Mouton, and Anne Adams McCanse
http://gridinternational.com/news/book-review-change-by-design-by-robert-r-blake-jane-srygley-mouton-and-anne-adams-mccanse
http://gridinternational.com/rss/book-review-change-by-design-by-robert-r-blake-jane-srygley-mouton-and-anne-adams-mccanseThe Power to Change.®Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:03:00 -0500<p><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Change By Design</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">By Robert R. Blake, Jane Srygley Mouton, and Anne Adams McCanse</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><p><img title="Change By Design front cover" src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Change_By_Design_front_cover.jpg" alt="Change By Design front cover" width="300" height="454" /></p><br /></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>Change by Design </em>deals with the fundamentals of “how to” carry out organization culture change. This book describes the principles, concepts, and values behind Grid® Organization Development (Grid OD) and its methods of planned culture change. Actual OD projects are detailed, for example, the pivotal work changing the culture of the airline cockpit with United Airlines from one of commend and control to one characterized by transparency and candor.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The authors present the stages of development essential for inducing change and achieving desired results in an orderly, rigorous, and controlled way. The strategies and tactics presented go beyond anything with which most people may have had direct experience. These strategies call for a different mindset as they do not lie within the traditional realm of organization change.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><em>Change By Design</em> should be read as a departure from the more widely accepted rational strategies, quick fixes, and remedies that are characteristic in modern leadership, but instead to take a fresh look at the possibilities offered by a systematic and integrated theory-based approach.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Included within the book are the major points of application and implementation. Specific case studies are cited as a means for introducing the reader to the versatility of the Grid approach across a varied array of organizational cultures, both from a domestic and an international perspective. The text also outlines in detail the approaches to organization diagnosis for determining the specific development needs of an organization and the process of setting in place a program for planned change. It provides a full and comprehensive statement of one approach that has been tested and refined over a number of years. Although it is theoretical in formulation, it is thoroughly evaluated for effectiveness in actual practice.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Contents</span></p>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Organization Change by Design</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Grid</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Corporate Culture and Commitment to Change</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Organization Diagnosis</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Learning About Behavior Dynamics</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The Beginning of Pay-Out</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Team Building</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Interface Conflict-Solving Model</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Developing the Operational Side of the Business</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Grid OD in Perspective</span></li>
</ol>KOC recently designated Grid as a best practice consulting company for the oil sector in Kuwait
http://gridinternational.com/news/koc-recently-designated-grid-as-a-best-practice-consulting-company-for-the-oil-sector-in-kuwait
http://gridinternational.com/rss/koc-recently-designated-grid-as-a-best-practice-consulting-company-for-the-oil-sector-in-kuwaitThe Power to Change.®Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:28:00 -0600<p><p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/KOC_Logo.png" alt="KOC Logo" width="201" height="243" /></p></p>
<p>As part of several initiatives which were undertaken by KOC management to meet the ambitious 2030 strategy, improving KOC corporate culture has been identified as a critical factor for enhancing commitment at KOC. For this purpose KOC commissioned Grid International, the world authority on enhancing corporate cultures, to help management and staff design a culture which can meet their future challenges.</p>
<p><a title="KOC Newsletter 1" href="http://gridinternational.com/fm_files/KOC_Synergy_Newsletter_1_Revised.pdf" target="_blank">Please read more in this newsletter</a></p>Grid International announces new social networking links:
http://gridinternational.com/news/grid-international-announces-new-social-networking-links
http://gridinternational.com/rss/grid-international-announces-new-social-networking-linksThe Power to Change.®Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:07:00 -0600<p>Did you know that Grid International now has social networking links? The social networking icons are located on our website’s homepage. You will find and receive all the latest news items from Grid International by signing up and following us on Linked-in, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. This is an excellent way to make the Grid connection with us as well as other people that have experienced Grid. Please click on the linked Microsoft Word document for step-by-step joining instruction and links for each social networking website.</p>
<p><p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Social_Networking_Logos.png" alt="" width="459" height="442" /></p><br /><br />Grid International also has a new QR Code. This code, when scanned by any smart phone equipped with a scan app and camera, will direct a user to our Grid International website. Please feel free to print and distribute this code.</p>
<p><p><img title="Grid International QR Code" src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Grid_International_QR_Code.png" alt="Grid International QR Code" width="300" height="300" /></p><br /><br />Do you have questions or comments related to Grid International social networking? If so, please contact Paul Nadeau pauln@gridinternational.com</p>
<p>Direct links to our different social networking websites:</p>
<p>Linked-in: <a title="Grid International Linked-In" href="http://www.linkedin.com/company/974446" target="_blank">http://www.linkedin.com/company/974446</a></p>
<p>Google+: <a title="Grid International Google+" href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/112902572043921954919/" target="_blank">https://plus.google.com/u/0/112902572043921954919/</a></p>
<p>Twitter: <a title="Grid International Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/gridconsulting" target="_blank"> https://twitter.com/gridconsulting</a></p>
<p>Facebook: <a title="Grid International Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/GridInternationalInc" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/GridInternationalInc</a></p>
<p>PDF of all Grid social networking and QR code:</p>
<p><a title="Grid Social Networking PDF" href="http://gridinternational.com/fm_files/Grid_Social_Networking.pdf" target="_blank">Step-by-step instructions for setting up personal social networking accounts and following Grid International</a></p>Book Review: "Making Experience Work-The Grid Approach to Critique"
http://gridinternational.com/news/book-review-making-experience-work-the-grid-approach-to-critique
http://gridinternational.com/rss/book-review-making-experience-work-the-grid-approach-to-critiqueThe Power to Change.®Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:56:00 -0600<p><span style="font-size: large;">"Making Experience Work-The Grid Approach to Critique"</span> By Dr. Robert R. Blake and Dr. Jane S. Mouton</p>
<p><p><img title=""Making Experience Work - A Grid Approach to Critique"" src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Making_Experience_Work.png" alt="" width="533" height="724" /></p></p>
<p>Here is a unique study of a skill that is essential for every successful manager or administrator—how to learn from experience.<br /> <br />Learning from past mistakes is not as easy or obvious as it seems. People form bad work habits even when there is evidence that their methods aren’t getting results. Departments fall into counterproductive activities and self-perpetuating inefficiencies, often disregarding constructive suggestions from within and without. Companies fail, year after year, to outmaneuver the competition or solve their internal problems.<br /><br />You’ll see why when you read this remarkable book.<br /><br />You’ll discover critique–a systematic way of evaluating past actions and building a plan for doing things better the next time. Critique is demonstrated as an effective cause and effective study of how to make teamwork work. <br /><br />Not to be confused with haphazard trial-and-error learning, critique is a highly analytic and deliberate process. You’ll explore its many and varied techniques in this unique book.<br /><br />Prototypes and pilot projects–You’ll see how to test the feasibility of a project, identify sound features, and correct problems before plunging into the real thing. <br />Inspection–a mechanism for quick fact-finding that helps you make sure your new, higher standards of performance are being met.<br /><br />Simulation–a way to learn from experience before you go through it.<br /><br />Zero-based budgeting–how to use this new approach to re-examine past programs and put your resources to work (in the future) where they’ll do the most good.<br /><br />Psychodrama–a way to help you identify personal problems and solve them.<br /><br />If you’ve ever dreaded building the teamwork that’s needed to get key projects going strong, you’ll value this practical book. It shows how to reduce harmful competitiveness among team members…how to combat win/lose attitudes…how to pool the talents of members…and how to bring disagreements out into the open and resolve them once and for all.<br /><br />You’ll find multiple applications for the problem-solving methods elaborated in this book. For example, you’ll get a whole new perspective on:<br />Union Problems. You’ll see how to solve recurring problems with a union. This section includes an actual/ideal model followed by single-team implementation strategy.<br /><br />New product failure. You’ll see how to discover the real reasons for the market’s rejection of a project–how to assess the merits of competitors’ product lines, and how to use past failures as stepping stones to future success.<br /> <br />Project management. You’ll read a fascinating case history on how to get a new manufacturing plan on stream as fast as possible. This includes the use of simulation and an action research model. <br /><br />The technology race. You’ll learn how to use critique to weed out obsolescence, combat resistance to change, and promote innovative thinking. <br />With the help of this book you’ll never stop “learning to learn” for the rest of your career. You’ll never have to shrug your shoulders and decide to live with a bad situation, and almost every problem you confront will turn out to be hiding unsuspected opportunities. <br /><br /></p>"Productivity: The Human Side" is the seminal book for understanding the dynamics of culture that drive organization norms and behavior...
http://gridinternational.com/news/productivity-the-human-side-is-the-seminal-book-for-understanding-the-dynamics-of-culture-that-drive-organization-norms-and-behavior
http://gridinternational.com/rss/productivity-the-human-side-is-the-seminal-book-for-understanding-the-dynamics-of-culture-that-drive-organization-norms-and-behaviorThe Power to Change.®Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:24:00 -0600<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Productivity: The Human Side</span><br />By Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton<br /><br />Productivity is the seminal book for understanding the dynamics of culture that drive organization norms and behavior. The text presents the often-complex concepts of group dynamics in the context of the workplace in easy-to-understand terms. Readers will gain an understanding of how norms develop and become entrenched in an organization’s culture. Also discussed at length is how norms create a strong resistance to change and how to overcome that resistance to build norms around performance excellence.<br /><br />As the title suggests, the focus is on how understanding group dynamics can best be used to increase productivity. Concrete examples are provided from many different work settings, for example, safety procedure enforcement, poor performance at the end the workday, as well as union/management relations. <br />The text is also filled with solutions that can be used in any workplace. Step-by-step processes are outlined for identifying unsound behaviors and developing solutions that become as entrenched as the poor performance norms they are replacing.<br /><br />The book also presents how group dynamics work at the individual level so people can understand how they contribute to small group culture norms as well as large group culture norms. A quick summary of the small group norms process is illustrated below and is explained in step-by-step detail.<p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Group_Dynamics_Basics.png" alt="Group Dynamics Basics" width="586" height="505" /></p></p>
<p>A summary of the basic laws of group dynamics is presented in the graphic below. Each of the key stages (convergence, cohesion, and conformity) is described in detail.</p>
<p><p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Group_Dynamics_in_Action.png" alt="Group Dynamics in Action" width="650" height="470" /></p></p>
<p>This book is recommended for individuals wanting to understand how they fit into and influence their relationship groups, or leaders wanting to change workplace cultures into cultures of excellence, one relationship and group at a time. <br />Contents<br />v Preface<br />1 Chapter 1: Approaches to Improving Productivity<br />17 Chapter 2: Group Norms and Personal Attitudes<br />23 Chapter 3: How Norms Arise<br />34 Chapter 4: The Formation of Groups<br />43 Chapter 5: The Pressure to Conform<br />52 Chapter 6: Maintaining Independence<br />63 Chapter 7: Intergroup Relationships<br />69 Chapter 8: Changing Norms to Improve Productivity<br />80 Chapter 9: The Management of Safety<br />88 Chapter 10: Reworking the Union—Management Relationship<br />95 Chapter 11: The Last Hour of Work<br />102 Chapter 12: Designing a Norm-Shifting Seminar<br />108 Chapter 13: Releasing Creativity Within Groups<br />118 Chapter 14: Conclusion<br />125 Index<br /><br /></p>The 2011 Book "Steve Jobs" recounts an obsession with a culture of collaboration.
http://gridinternational.com/news/the-2011-book-steve-jobs-recounts-an-obsession-with-a-culture-of-collaboration
http://gridinternational.com/rss/the-2011-book-steve-jobs-recounts-an-obsession-with-a-culture-of-collaborationThe Power to Change.®Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:14:00 -0600<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>The 2011 Book “Steve Jobs” recounts an obsession with a culture of collaboration.</strong></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: small;"><p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/steve-jobs-book-cover.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="300" /></p></span></strong></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In the Steve Jobs book by Walter Isaacson (2011 Simon & Schuster) one of the key themes throughout is Jobs’ passion for a culture that married software and hardware, and creating “end-to-end” product experience. “We wanted to get rid of anything that wasn’t absolutely essential,” he said. “To do so required total collaboration between the designers, the product developers, the engineers, and the manufacturing team. We kept going back to the beginning, again and again. Do we need this part? Can we get it to perform the function of the other four parts?” (Page 344)</span></p>
<p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Jobs accomplished this by demanding a culture of collaboration between departments typically competing for power, like design and engineering. He would fire people who failed to collaborate. (Page 400) A few excerpts follow that demonstrate how Jobs built and nurtured such a culture.</span></p>
<p><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">“Because he believed that Apple’s greatest advantage was its integration of the whole widget–from design to hardware to software to content–he wanted all departments at the company to work together in parallel. The phrases he used were "deep collaboration" and "concurrent engineering." Instead of a development process in which a product would be passed sequentially from engineering to design to manufacturing to marketing and distribution, these various departments collaborated simultaneously. "Our method was to develop integrated products, and that meant our process had to be integrated and collaborative," Jobs said.” (page 362)</span></p>
</p>
<p><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">When building the new headquarters for Pixar, Jobs was very deliberate about building the space in a way that fostered collaboration. “Steve had this firm belief that the right kind of building can do great things for a culture,” said Pixar’s president Ed Catmull. Jobs controlled the creation of the building as if he were a director sweating each scene of a film. "The Pixar building was Steve's own movie," (John) Lasseter said. Lasseter had originally wanted a traditional Hollywood studio, with separate buildings for various projects and bungalows for development teams. But the Disney folks said they didn't like their new campus because the teams felt isolated, and Jobs agreed. In fact he decided they should go to the other extreme: one huge building around a central atrium designed to encourage random encounters. Despite being a denizen of the digital world, or maybe because he knew all too well its isolating potential, Jobs was a strong believer in face-to-face meetings. "There's a temptation in our new networked age to think that ideas can be by email and iChat,” He said. “That’s crazy. Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say, ‘wow,” and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.” So he had the Pixar building designed to promote encounters and unplanned collaborations. If a building doesn’t encourage that, you’ll lose a lot of innovation and the magic that's sparked by serendipity,” he said "So we designed the building to make people get out of their offices and mingle in the central atrium with people they might not otherwise see." The front doors and main stairs and corridors all led to the atrium, the cafe and the mailboxes were there, the conference rooms had windows that looked out onto it, and the six-hundred-seat theater and two smaller screening rooms all spilled into it. "Steve's theory worked from day one," Lasseter recalled. "I kept running into people I hadn't seen for months. I’ve never seen a building that promoted collaboration and creativity as well as this one. (Pages 430-431)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">In the book “The World is Flat 3.0 (Thomas L. Friedman Picador 2007) Friedman also talks about the Apple culture: “In the Time magazine cover story (October 24, 2005) on Steve Jobs and the Apple video iPod, one paragraph jumped out at me, It said: "Apple employees talk incessantly about what they call 'deep collaboration' or 'cross-pollination' or 'concurrent engineering.' Essentially it means that products don't pass from team to team. There aren't discrete, sequential development stages. Instead, it's simultaneous and organic. Products get worked on in parallel by all departments at once-design, hardware, software in endless rounds of interdisciplinary design reviews. Managers elsewhere boast about what little time waste in meetings; Apple is big on them and proud of it. 'The historical way of developing products just doesn't work when you're as ambitious as we are: says Jonathan Ivy, [head of design], an affable, bear-like Brit. ‘When the challenges are that complex, you have to develop a product in a more collaborative, integrated way.’”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Both books are recommended to any Grid enthusiast as it underscores the importance of culture.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Buy the book here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360621435&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+jobs">http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1360621435&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+jobs</a></span></p>A Truly Breakthrough Innovation defines Argil...
http://gridinternational.com/news/a-truly-breakthrough-innovation-defines-argil
http://gridinternational.com/rss/a-truly-breakthrough-innovation-defines-argilThe Power to Change.®Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:54:00 -0600<p><span style="font-size: small; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A Truly Breakthrough Innovation defines Argil, our South African Partner’s answer to a common dilemma in carrying through corporate-wide culture change:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><p><img src="http://www.gridinternational.com/im_images/gridargillogo.png" alt="" width="200" height="135" /></p></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Argil’s approach entitled “project 650” (for the 650 lower-level employees) set out with the following objectives:<br />❖ A Common Grid Language and Culture throughout the organisation<br />❖ Workers empowered to create the 9,9 culture in own departments<br />❖ Workers empowered to challenge up<br />All at client levels understand the strategy and their role in achieving this. Their answer to the challenges faced was to transform traditional learning documents into<br />fresh, short, easy-to-understand (and entertaining) booklets. These were used in short, dynamic, modular learning sessions.<br />Each session addressed one skill (Candour, Listening, Asking Questions, Speaking Up, Critique). The lessons were grouped into two broad modules and was carried out in factories<br />using Industrial theatre, Ambush Theatre, Role-Plays, Graphics, and Pictures.<br />To strengthen commitment and buy-in, the customer identified internal champions who had ownership of the project, and these champions led 270 sessions in three months. All workers<br />participated with people at their level to reduce skepticism.<br />Results to date include:<br />❖ Un-earthed LEADERS<br />❖ Committed Champions<br />❖ Committed to the 9,9 way!<br />❖ Living the values and creating constant awareness of the benefits of being 9,9.<br />❖ Leading by example – out-performing their own managers and foremen!<br />❖ Confident & Competent Facilitators<br />❖ Excellent examples of facilitating self-convincing learning – not “Teachers”<br />❖ An outsider couldn’t tell that they are machine operators or Union Officials!<br />❖ Developing a momentum of its own<br />If you are interested in taking this process to your clients, please contact Lawson Leslie or Mike Montocchio at +27 31 262 0850</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a title="650 Project" href="http://www.gridinternational.com/fm_files/650_Project_News_Item.pdf">pdf document: 650 Project</a></span></p>Interview: Robin Moore, CEO of Nampak Flexible
http://gridinternational.com/news/interview-robin-moore-ceo-of-nampak-flexible
http://gridinternational.com/rss/interview-robin-moore-ceo-of-nampak-flexibleThe Power to Change.®Mon, 10 Dec 2012 09:37:00 -0600<p><p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/homeimg3.jpg" alt="" width="297" height="135" /></p></p>
<p>In a recent interview, CEO Robin Moore of Nampak Flexible discussed his experience with Grid International, who he has been working with for the past 4-6 years. Since going through Grid training, the company has experienced an exponential profit increase. In 2009, the team began coming together from the initiatives implemented in the meetings. In 2010, they began to see significant results, leading to Nampak Flexible receiving the prestigious Chairman Award for the Best Business of the Year 2010, outscoring other businesses in control and risk management, and doubling the sales of regional and international competitors.</p>
<p>Nampak Flexible, who produces packaging for corporations like Unilever, Mars, Cadbury’s, and Frito Lay, says that their success today is far from where they were seven years ago, when the business struggled to stay afloat after a series of acquisitions and mergers. Moore decided to first assess their working culture before they focused on increasing profit. As employees were introduced to company practices, each with their own schema regarding working culture, Moore realized they needed to “create their own culture in the business” if they were going to grow collectively as an international business.</p>
<p> At first there was no clear strategy, except communication barriers–made even stronger by the presence of racial, hierarchal, and cultural barriers–needed to be broken. Moore describes the former company environment as a “shoot the messenger” atmosphere, where bad news was hidden in order to maintain morale. Moore realized that aversion of issues and lack of communication was detrimental to business. “You want to get this whole candor idea into your business. If you know what the issue is, you can fix it. If you don’t know it exists, you can’t fix it.”</p>
<p>After training 150 employees through the Grid Culture change process, Moore is working on what the company has deemed the “650 Project”, denoting the amount of employees they expect to go through the same process, which was set to begin August 2011. “What we’ve realized is, given the squeeze on middle management, we need to take the principles of Grid all the way down the line.”</p>
<p>Moore plans to continue the process because he firmly believes that true profitability comes from continuous reevaluation and change. “We said in the beginning that we wanted to embark on a group progress because it would be the glue that held everything together. Grid has helped us to bring all the people on board. Grid has opened people’s minds to change and to operating differently. They understand that individuals are different but you have to create organization values that everyone subscribes to, and that will help pull you in the right direction.”</p>
<p>See the interviews here:</p>
<p>2008 Interview</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jFy8vvEfc5g" height="300" width="350" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>2011 Interview, Part I</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/m6XOPO4oHtA" height="300" width="350" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>2011 Interview, Part II</p>
<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3JPndFO5azY" height="300" width="350" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>How Great Companies Think Differently
http://gridinternational.com/news/how-great-companies-think-differently
http://gridinternational.com/rss/how-great-companies-think-differentlyThe Power to Change.®Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:04:00 -0500<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The attachment is a fantastic article I want to share about culture just released in the November issue of HBR (<a href="http://hbr.org/magazine">http://hbr.org/magazine</a>) by Rosabeth Moss Kanter. </div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Kanter provides current and very convincing examples of the importance of building a culture of performance excellence through interdependence and deep personal motivation. The article outlines six facets to what she calls "institutional logic"–the strategy of culture development that "radically alters <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">leadership and corporate behavior: a common </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">purpose; a long-term view; emotional engagement; community building; innovation; and self-organization." </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Here are a few excerpts: </span></div>
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">“Institutional grounding involves efforts to build and reinforce organizational culture, but it is more than that. Culture is often a by-product of past actions, a passively generated outgrowth of history. Institutional grounding is an investment in activities and relationships that may not immediately create a direct road to business results but that reflect the values the institution stands for and how it will endure.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Institutional logic holds that companies are more than instruments for generating money; they are also vehicles for accomplishing societal purposes and for providing meaningful livelihoods for those who work in them. According to this school of thought, the value that a company creates should be measured not just in terms of short-term profits or paychecks but also in terms of how it sustains the conditions that allow it to flourish over time. These corporate leaders deliver more than just financial returns; they also build enduring institutions."</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">"Utilitarian rationality is not the only force governing corporate performance and behavior inside organizations; emotions play a major role, too. Moods are contagious, and they can affect such issues as absenteeism, health, and levels of effort and energy. People influence one another, and in doing so they either increase or decrease others’ performance levels, as my study of teams and organizations on winning and losing streaks reveals (</span><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">see my book </span><em><span style="font-family: Arial;">Confidence, </span></em></strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Crown, 2004)."</span></span></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://gridinternational.com/fm_files/How_Great_Companies_Think_Differently_-_Harvard_Business_Review1.pdf" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">pdf document: "</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Bold;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica-Bold;">How Great Companies Think Differently" </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; color: #585556; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; color: #585556; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; color: #585556; font-size: small;">by Rosabeth Moss Kanter</span></span></span></a><!--EndFragment--></p>
</div>Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you?
http://gridinternational.com/news/top-athletes-and-singers-have-coaches-should-you
http://gridinternational.com/rss/top-athletes-and-singers-have-coaches-should-youThe Power to Change.®Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:43:00 -0500<p>The<strong> <em>New Yorker</em> </strong>October/2011 article by Atul Gawande, “<em>PERSONAL BEST: Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you?</em>” explores the value of continuously challenging your culture towards performance excellence.</p>
<p>Atul Gawande’s most recent article explores the value of coaching seasoned professionals to avoid falling into a culture of "performance plateau." This article is a great read for anyone in the consulting arena that has to manage learning ‘fadeout.’</p>
<p>As with <strong>Complications</strong> (2002), <strong>Better</strong> (2007), and <strong>Checklist Manifesto</strong> (2009), Gawande explores innovative ways to avoid drifting into a culture of complacency, especially in seasoned, highly professional fields like surgery. As always, he counts the value of strengthening the "human side" of complex professions (personal judgment, humility, and a willingness to have your skills exposed) as vital as any technical aspects. He writes with same humility as previous publications, using his profession as a surgeon as one of many examples explored.</p>
<p><strong>A small excerpt:</strong></p>
<p><strong></strong>“Élite performers, researchers say, must engage in “deliberate practice”—sustained, mindful efforts to develop the full range of abilities that success requires. You have to work at whatyou’re not good at. In theory, people can do this themselves. But most people do not know where to start or how to proceed. Expertise, as the formula goes, requires going from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence to conscious competence and finally to unconscious competence. The coach provides the outside eyes and ears, and makes you aware of where you’re falling short. This is tricky. Human beings resist exposure and critique; our brains are well defended. So coaches use a variety of approaches—showing what other, respected colleagues do, for instance, or reviewing videos of the subject’s performance. The most common, however, is just conversation.”</p>
<p><br />LINK <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_gawande#ixzz1Z5vo9Bm4">http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/03/111003fa_fact_gawande#ixzz1Z5vo9Bm4</a></p>
<p>For more information about the author and his other publications: <a href="http://gawande.com/">http://gawande.com</a>/</p>International Grid Conference in Bangkok
http://gridinternational.com/news/international-grid-conference-in-bangkok
http://gridinternational.com/rss/international-grid-conference-in-bangkokThe Power to Change.®Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:03:00 -0500<table>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;">Consultants worldwide attend</p>
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<td><input id="rptNews_ctl00_hdnNews" name="rptNews$ctl00$hdnNews" src="http://www.gridinternational.com/UploadImage/1/Bangkok 1small.jpg" type="hidden" value="<p>Grid International recently conducted its 2010 Annual Conference, hosted by Grid International Thailand at The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel in Bangkok. The purpose of the conference was to communicate the new vision and direction of Grid International to its worldwide network of consultants. Participants came from all over the globe, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Lebanon, Mexico, Thailand, and the United States. They listened to various aspects of the new vision and then participated in a variety of team activities to ensure understanding and commitment.<br /><br />Grid Thailand also provided some fun and relaxing activities to complement all of the hard work, including a welcome cocktail reception and dinner at the hotel, as well as a farewell dinner cruise along the famous Chao Praya River. The conference was an unqualified success – all of the Grid consultants felt energized by the new vision and refreshed by their visit to exotic Bangkok. <br /><br />Here are comments from some of the participants:<br /><br /><strong>Teerachai Chemnasiri, Thailand:</strong> We had a good staff meeting this afternoon to discuss the new strategy introduced by Bruce and John and we found it the right strategy and so timely. The conclusion is so positive that everyone in the office likes this new methodology very much. Thanks to the tireless effort of Bruce and John for this new Business Model.<br /><br /><strong>Patrícia S. Herrera Paes, Brazil:</strong> It is refreshing to get down to business with a new sense of direction and renovated belief.<br /><br />The synergistic leadership put forward by John and Bruce will definitely inspire our work here, as well as guide us to take Grid to Brazil—which is a huge country and market that we are willing to conquer. We know it won't be easy, and we know that we can make it—with the help and assistance of GII.<br /><br />Overcoming obstacles is a requirement to accomplishing great things!<br /><br /><strong>Rudy Attems, Austria:</strong> When it comes to choices, whether to offer tailor-made process consultation or offer GRID interventions, we should be more confident and decisive in bringing our GRID intervening-process to the client<br /><br /><strong>Oscar Morales, Mexico:</strong> And now we have a new strategy for implement in our countries, I wish the best for all us in this new journey. Thank you GII, Bruce, John and all the partner for his support.</p> <p><br /></p> <p><img src=" /> <p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Bangkok_2small.jpg" alt="" width="176" height="132" /></p> <p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Bangkok_3small.jpg" alt="" width="176" height="132" /></p>
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<p>Grid International recently conducted its 2010 Annual Conference, hosted by Grid International Thailand at The Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel in Bangkok. The purpose of the conference was to communicate the new vision and direction of Grid International to its worldwide network of consultants. Participants came from all over the globe, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Lebanon, Mexico, Thailand, and the United States. They listened to various aspects of the new vision and then participated in a variety of team activities to ensure understanding and commitment.<br /><br />Grid Thailand also provided some fun and relaxing activities to complement all of the hard work, including a welcome cocktail reception and dinner at the hotel, as well as a farewell dinner cruise along the famous Chao Praya River. The conference was an unqualified success – all of the Grid consultants felt energized by the new vision and refreshed by their visit to exotic Bangkok. <br /><br />Here are comments from some of the participants:<br /><br /><strong>Teerachai Chemnasiri, Thailand:</strong> We had a good staff meeting this afternoon to discuss the new strategy introduced by Bruce and John and we found it the right strategy and so timely. The conclusion is so positive that everyone in the office likes this new methodology very much. Thanks to the tireless effort of Bruce and John for this new Business Model.<br /><br /><strong>Patrícia S. Herrera Paes, Brazil:</strong> It is refreshing to get down to business with a new sense of direction and renovated belief.<br /><br />The synergistic leadership put forward by John and Bruce will definitely inspire our work here, as well as guide us to take Grid to Brazil—which is a huge country and market that we are willing to conquer. We know it won't be easy, and we know that we can make it—with the help and assistance of GII.<br /><br />Overcoming obstacles is a requirement to accomplishing great things!<br /><br /><strong>Rudy Attems, Austria:</strong> When it comes to choices, whether to offer tailor-made process consultation or offer GRID interventions, we should be more confident and decisive in bringing our GRID intervening-process to the client<br /><br /><strong>Oscar Morales, Mexico:</strong> And now we have a new strategy for implement in our countries, I wish the best for all us in this new journey. Thank you GII, Bruce, John and all the partner for his support.</p>
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<p><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3JPndFO5azY" height="300" width="350" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>Best selling authors cite value of Blake and Mouton's work in highlighting the importance of a culture of candor
http://gridinternational.com/news/best-selling-authors-cite-value-of-blake-and-moutons-work-in-highlighting-the-importance-of-a-culture-of-candor
http://gridinternational.com/rss/best-selling-authors-cite-value-of-blake-and-moutons-work-in-highlighting-the-importance-of-a-culture-of-candorThe Power to Change.®Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:47:00 -0500<h3>Candor</h3>
<p><em>Transparency: Creating a Culture of Candor</em> (J-B Warren Bennis Series) (Hardcover)<br />By Warren Bennis, Daniel Goleman, and James O'Toole<br />2008: Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint</p>
<p><p><img src="http://www.gridinternational.com/im_images/candorbook.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="270" /></p></p>
<p><strong>Synopsis</strong></p>
<p>In <em>Transparency</em>, the author powerhouse trio in the field of leadership look at what conspires against "a culture of candor" in organizations to create disastrous results, and suggest ways that leaders can achieve healthy and honest openness. They explore the lightning-rod concept of "transparency" which has fast become the buzzword not only in business and corporate settings but in government and the social sector as well.</p>
<p>Together Bennis, Goleman, and O'Toole explore why the containment of truth is the dearest held value of far too many organizations and suggest practical ways that organizations, their leaders, their members, and their boards can achieve openness. After years of dedicating themselves to research and theory, at first separately, and now jointly, these three leadership giants reveal the multifaceted importance of candor and show what promotes transparency and what hinders it. They describe how leaders often stymie the flow of information and the structural impediments that keep information from getting where it needs to go. This vital resource is written for any organization, business, government, and nonprofit that must achieve a culture of candor, truth, and transparency.</p>
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<p>Click on the following link to purchase the book: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0470278765/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1DEDS0Z8GFHABMN8FG0Q&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846" target="_blank">Purchase the Book</a></p>
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<p><strong>Blake and Mouton reference: </strong>In his essay "Speaking Truth to Power," (pages 45-91) James O'Toole illustrates how ethical transparency is predicated on the existence of two parties -a candid speaker of facts and a receptive listener- and how both followers and leaders can benefit from the many historical, literary, and philosophical examples of those who dared to speak the truth.</p>
<p>He cites Blake and Mouton in reference to "followers":</p>
<p>"When social psychologists Robert Blake and Jane Mouton examined data from a 1970s NASA study designed to uncover the human factors involved in airline accidents, they discovered that the habitual ways in which pilots interacted with their crews determined whether or not crewmembers would provide essential information to the pilots in the midst of an air crisis. Intact cockpit crews -pilot, co-pilot, navigator- were placed in flight simulators and tested to see how they would respond within the crucial 30 to 45 seconds between the first sign of a potential accident and the fatal moment when it could no longer be averted. The researchers found that the stereotypical take charge flyboy pilots who acted immediately on their gut instincts were far more likely to make the wrong decisions in trying to avoid disaster than were the more open and inclusive pilots who said to their crews, 'We've got a problem. How do you read it?' before they made up their minds on a course of corrective action.</p>
<p>"This finding probably shouldn't come as a surprise. After all, there is the old saw that 'none of us is as smart as all of us,' and at another level the lesson of the study is simple: leaders are far more likely to make mistakes when they act on too little information than when they wait to learn more.</p>
<p>"But Blake and Mouton went deeper in their analysis, demonstrating that the pilots who made the right choices had habitually engaged in open exchanges with their crews, while crewmembers who had worked regularly with the 'decisive' pilots were unwilling to intervene with their take-charge bosses even when they had information that might well have saved the plane. In effect, the latter crewmembers thought to themselves, 'Who am I to challenge his authority?' Blake and Mouton go on to make the obvious analogy: 'Such attitudes create real problems for management, from top to bottom, whether the manager is the captain of a 747 with 400 passengers on board, the manager of a crew of forest fires, the executive in the boardroom, or the supervisor on the shop floor.'"</p>
<p> </p>Major university study underway that focuses on the impact of Grid on Culture Change
http://gridinternational.com/news/major-university-study-underway-that-focuses-on-the-impact-of-grid-on-culture-change
http://gridinternational.com/rss/major-university-study-underway-that-focuses-on-the-impact-of-grid-on-culture-changeThe Power to Change.®Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:40:00 -0500<p><strong><p><img src="http://www.gridinternational.com/im_images/UT_Grid.JPG" alt="" width="246" height="111" /></p></strong></p>
<p><strong>Grid International, Inc. is partnering with professors at the University of Texas-Austin</strong> to measure culture change in Kuwait Oil Company. The purpose of the project is to understand and improve people’s lives at work. We're especially interested in how work environment and culture can help or hinder commitment, productivity, and communication. </p>
<p> <strong><em>Overarching Research Goal: </em></strong>To measure the impact of GRID Culture Change on manager and employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance.</p>
<p> <strong><em>Specific objectives </em></strong>to be addressed in the research: </p>
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<li>Assess the overall effects of GRID roundtables on managers and their subordinates in terms of attitudes, behaviors and performance. </li>
<li>Connect GRID concepts with scientific research using academic measures, methodologies, and statistical analysis. </li>
<li>If possible, publish significant results showcasing that GRID is a modern and leading-edge theory in applied academic outlets (e.g., Harvard Business Review)</li>
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<p> </p>International Conference in Prague
http://gridinternational.com/news/international-conference-in-prague
http://gridinternational.com/rss/international-conference-in-pragueThe Power to Change.®Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:18:00 -0500<table>
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<p style="font-weight: bold;">Exciting New Projects Discussed</p>
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<td><input id="rptNews_ctl00_hdnNews" name="rptNews$ctl00$hdnNews" src="http://www.gridinternational.com/UploadImage/1/Prague1.jpg" type="hidden" value="<p><strong>Second Annual Conference in 2010</strong><br /><br />Grid International Partners gathered in Prague, CZ for a two-day conference June 12-13. The second of three international conferences in 2010, the Prague conference worked to further develop the new strategic direction. Participants included consultants from Beirut, UK, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, and Portugal.<br /><br />The first 2010 conference was held in Bangkok, Thailand April 9-11 with Grid Partners from throughout Asia and North America attending.<br /><br />In addition to the new strategic direction, Partners discussed research projects underway with the University of Texas and Grid clients in Ireland and the Middle East. The research seeks to validate the impact of Grid’s methodology. The results will be published in late 2010 or early 2011.<br /><br />John Bakhos will host the third 2010 conference October 1-3 in Beirut, Lebanon. This conference will focus on the best ways to build the new strategic direction into each Partner’s business.</p> <p><br /><img src=" /> <p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Prague2.jpg" alt="" width="123" height="167" /></p> <p><img src="http://gridinternational.com/im_images/Prague3.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="166" /></p>
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<p><strong>Second Annual Conference in 2010</strong><br /><br />Grid International Partners gathered in Prague, CZ for a two-day conference June 12-13. The second of three international conferences in 2010, the Prague conference worked to further develop the new strategic direction. Participants included consultants from Beirut, UK, Ireland, Germany, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Greece, Turkey, and Portugal.<br /><br />The first 2010 conference was held in Bangkok, Thailand April 9-11 with Grid Partners from throughout Asia and North America attending.<br /><br />In addition to the new strategic direction, Partners discussed research projects underway with the University of Texas and Grid clients in Ireland and the Middle East. The research seeks to validate the impact of Grid’s methodology. The results will be published in late 2010 or early 2011.<br /><br />John Bakhos will host the third 2010 conference October 1-3 in Beirut, Lebanon. This conference will focus on the best ways to build the new strategic direction into each Partner’s business.</p>
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