Blog

The Goals Habit

Submitted by Paul O'Malley
on Sat, 05/05/2012 - 20:02

In his excellent new book, The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg writes about keystone habits, high leverage routines that lead to a cascade of additional positive habits and results. For an individual, exercise is a keystone habit, in that people who establish a consistent exercise routine will often improve their diets (eating habits), and will enjoy enhanced energy and productivity, less stress, better sleep, etc.

Organizations can also benefit from establishing keystone habits.

Tags: 
goals
keystone habits
learning

The missing management process

Submitted by Paul O'Malley
on Mon, 04/09/2012 - 22:05

There are a number of clearly defined processes and tools for managing activities in small to mid-sized organizations (SMOs). For financial management, there are standard accounting practices, and tools like QuickBooks. For marketing, sales and customer service there are CRM (customer relationship management) processes, and specific tools like Salesforce.com and SugarCRM. For operations or IT projects there are project management processes, and tools like Microsoft Project and Bootcamp.

But what about the most important set of activities any organization performs, the process of management

Tags: 
management process
strategy
goals
culture
SMBs

Management Process: The fourth of four key success drivers

Submitted by Paul O'Malley
on Sat, 11/12/2011 - 15:18

For an organization that embraces ValueGroove, there are four key drivers of organizational success: Culture, People, Strategy and Management Process.  In this entry we will briefly review the essential elements of the ValueGroove Management Process.

ValueGroove Management Process—the big idea: Establish a reasonably disciplined, simple execution process, including clear goals and milestones, with regular feedback loops to drive learning.

What to do

  • Commit to establishing and using a true management process—even when the building is on fire.

Results

  • Everyone in the company will become more
Tags: 
management process
asset goals

Strategy: The third of four key success drivers

Submitted by Paul O'Malley
on Sat, 11/12/2011 - 14:59

For an organization that embraces ValueGroove, there are four key drivers of organizational success: Culture, People, Strategy and Management Process.  In this entry we will briefly review the essential elements of the ValueGroove approach to strategy.

ValueGroove Strategy—the big idea: Establish a focused, clearly articulated strategy, that is based on delivering superior value to a targeted set of customers, and communicate that value proposition effectively to the target customers.

What to do

  • Identify market opportunities and what is driving them (technology, demographics, industry
Tags: 
strategy
value creation

People: The second of four key success drivers

Submitted by Paul O'Malley
on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 19:44

For an organization that embraces ValueGroove, there are four key drivers of organizational success: Culture, People, Strategy and Management Process.  In this entry we will briefly review the essential elements of the ValueGroove approach to people.

ValueGroove HR—the big idea: Establish a simple, high-value People process.

What to do:

Hire the best possible people for each role.  Over-hire with respect to intelligence, drive, initiative, accountability, emotional intelligence, and any other aspects of cultural fit. 

Establish a clear social contract with employees and deliver on it.

Tags: 
value creation
HR
social contract

Culture: The first of four key success drivers

Submitted by Paul O'Malley
on Fri, 11/11/2011 - 19:19

For an organization that embraces the ValueGroove Process, there are four key drivers of organizational success: Culture, People, Strategy, and Management Process.  In this entry we will briefly review the essential elements of the ValueGroove approach to culture.

Organizational culture—the values, attitudes and “ways of doing things” that characterize a company—has a major impact on the organization’s ability to succeed, adapt, and grow.  Culture also is a major determinant of what kinds of employees will be hired and retained.

Tags: 
organizational culture
value creation
values
success
purpose