Francie Van Wirkus's Blog, page 17
April 23, 2018
Discovery is Learning
Discovery work is learning fast.
Learning that cool idea your team had really is worth exploring with an experiment.
Learning that the other really cool idea should be dropped, quickly.
Learning that your work has lots of emotion, but lacks data.
April 18, 2018
“We have so much to get done."
“We have so much to get done.”
“We have so much to get done.”
Stop.
Your goal is to build less software, not more.
Minimize the software you make, and maximize its impact.
April 16, 2018
Let's Get that Score Up!
Your organization won’t change because a leader announces that it needs to happen.
Well, the metric or score can improve, but the organization won’t.
Leaders can support and encourage change. Most importantly, leaders can understand and then work to mitigate or remove the barriers that hold back the organization.
March 28, 2018
Your Leadership is Critical Now
Your Leadership is Critical Now
Why is it first now important for your leader team to lead change? Likely, because your organization has failed to prepare them as leaders in some, or many ways. But it’s really important now. Yes. That doesn’t mean you can put the entire broken environment on your leader teams’ shoulders. This can be fixed with coaching and with relentlessly connecting your leader teams and employees to your…
March 26, 2018
What are you Asking?
Leaders who have never been asked to coach employees in the past usually can’t simply start doing it because you asked them to. And, why do your employees need coaching? They are a creative, intelligent group who likely knows exactly what to do and when. The environment created by your leader teams and your organization’s systems and funding methods is likely what needs attention first. Coaching,…
March 23, 2018
A Word About Productivity
The goal of leading change is not to restore people to their productivity before the change.
Leading change is about helping people understand change, and how they connect to it. Don’t have a vision that you’ve relentlessly shared with your people? Well, that sounds like a great place to start.
March 21, 2018
The Directive
Be engaged. Be visible. Be genuine. When you tell your leader teams and employees directives like this, they are usually lost. There is no leadership and vision-connected context, no support, and likely no good reason for them to go outside the normal, rewarded way of behaving to be this way. Instead, focus on strengthening the behaviors that drive these outcomes. Where to begin? Look within.…
March 19, 2018
Excellence in Mindset
No matter your responsibilities, you must...
No matter your responsibilities, you must (first convince yourself) believe that it is natural and normal to be the best you can be. Only after giving yourself permission to reach for the stars can you actually do it.
March 14, 2018
Fun Committee
The moment you’ve got a committee organized in order to have fun at work, you are missing the mark. Engagement doesn’t just happen; it’s a product of your environment. What is your environment? How you share your vision with people. …Do you share your vision with people? How do you administer benefits to your people (is it completely exasperating or simple?). How you lead and reward people, how…
March 12, 2018
Vision is King
Organizations with highly motivated and engaged employees know that vision is king. The quick-win, distracting rush of employee survey action plans, and events with catchy names are fun, but they are only for the moment. When things get difficult, or a great opportunity is upon you, these programs fade, and you are left with reality. Vision is king, because it lasts beyond the moment, and because…
