What do you think about slogans? Do they resonate with you or do you just shrug them off?
The subject came up when a client asked me whether it was worth the effort of finding an effective slogan for a new program at his company; he said the idea surfaced because of the success of President Obama’s “Yes we can” during the last election.
Our conversation reminded me of an article last year about the futility of slogans in today’s world by Dan and Chip Heath, co-authors of Made to Stick.
Now, Made to Stick has some great stuff in it and they …read more

Company culture is a hot topic in the business press; CEOs are working to foster “cultures of innovation;” and culture is being lauded or blamed for a variety of happenings.
The bird’s eye view of what’s important in culture is as varied as the executives, academics, pundits, media and other experts who expound on the subject.
But what about the worm’s eye view—what do plain vanilla employees think and want? It’s important, since without them there is no company.
It used to be when I talked with people that it was easier for them to articulate the attitudes and behaviors they didn’t want …read more

Southwest Airlines, like Zappos, has a corporate culture that is head and shoulders above most and is the envy of their competitors.
Southwest’s culture is so important that the company walked away from a deal to buy Frontier Air Lines.
It is that culture has helped Southwest weather the current financial storm and it zealously guards that culture because it knows it is the true foundation of its strength..
As Gary C. Kelly, Chairman, President and CEO, said in the during the Q2 Earnings Call,
“Excluding special items, we reported a second quarter profit of $59 million and that was $0.08 a share. And …read more

Last Monday I said that leadership was another word for initiative and that meant it had to be spread like fertilizer to every level and person if the company wanted to thrive.
Tuesday I followed up saying that leadership fertilizer was better composted than taught.
That thinking made me realize that the best cultures are also composted.
Cultural development follows a Y-shaped path.
Initially, the raw ingredients from the top person’s MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) form the basic building blocks of the culture.
At that point the culture moves along one of two divergent routes—one akin to the controlled manufacturing approach of synthetic fertilizer and …read more

As a boss (whether CEO, team leader or any level in-between) you need to accomplish many things within your organization (whether company or team) to be successful, especially in the current economic situation.
Near the top of the list is the need to

motivate your people (without breaking the bank);
strengthen and diversify your workforce (often without adding headcount); and
innovate (products and processes; internally and externally; large and small)

Big order, but here’s how to make it happen.
Start by looking inwards to be sure your MAP supports the program.
Next, …read more

If you read me often you won’t be surprised to learn that I love culture. I believe in the power of culture. I believe that good culture is the difference between great companies and the rest.
Most importantly, I know that if it’s going to succeed culture must be stain not paint.
Unfortunately, many companies use culture paint, believing they can pass it off as culture stain.
The difference is obvious, just as stain is absorbed by wood, culture stain is absorbed into the very fiber of an organization affecting everybody’s thoughts and actions.
And just as paint covers a surface masking its imperfections, …read more