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About two years ago, while reading Jennifer Garvey Berger’s Simple Habits for Complex Times, I was introduced to the distinction between complex and complicated. This distinction, more than anything I had previously learned, helped me to understand why we often get stuck and frustrated by the challenges we face. What was most liberating for me […]
Remote work can feel like flying blind sometimes. The regular stream of verbal cues we get from those around us in an office are absent.
For too many people, the stress of trying to get away, and then catch up when they return, makes the process of taking a vacation counter-productive.
There are people who just have a job, and there are others whose work is part of a bigger personal mission. Sadly, there are far more people with just jobs.
Think about the most enjoyable business relationships you’ve had. I am going to bet that you shared similar values, expectations, and more.
Your clients trust you to help them fix problems, engage their teams, and get better results. But do they trust their teams? Do their teams trust them?
Courage and faith are required of the leader, because once you commit to crossing the cultural Rubicon, there is no turning back. But you won’t want to.
I’m so proud and grateful to be part of a team that understands their role in cultivating the culture that we want and need.
Meetings don’t have to suck. Meetings, when done right, can be a great way to foster collaboration, creativity and engagement.
I don’t work for Actionable in an effort to fulfill a job description and get paid. I work for Actionable in order to be a part of something so much bigger.
By arming yourself with research about how our brains function, you can work to mitigate threat responses, and pave the way for successful behavior change.
CYA behavior is a clear indication there is a lack of trust on our teams, and manifests in sending too many emails, and attending too many meetings.
If incivility chips away at health and performance, and if, collectively, we are feeling bombarded by incivility, what can we do?
As culture change agents, unless we can help organizational leaders think and act more laterally, we’re guaranteed to miss the mark at delivering changes.
Actionable is a completely remote working environment—many of us have never met in person. And yet we know each other on a deeply personal level.
Watching our company values in action at Summit deepened my understanding and connection to our culture as an organization.
Stepping back from anything—a dilemma, a relationship, or yes, even a job—is really valuable. It provides a lot of clarity and fresh perspective.
Actionable walks the talk on our values—we don’t just write about why organizations to create a learning culture, we embed these lessons in our daily work.
We all have one: that cartoon-like bubble above our heads, filled with thoughts, beliefs, judgments, assumptions, fears, biases, and experiences, that colors our ability to be present and engaged.
The ability for organizations to change is not a luxury. Yet the notion that we can put people into little boxes and then be ‘agile’ and adaptive is completely at odds with that reality.
We set out to create four logos that would embody the spirit of Actionable, while at the same time creating a new and consistent look—a clear brand.
Research shows that resilience is directly linked with happiness. And, it’s important to note that we’re talking about actually experiencing positive emotions, rather than avoiding negative emotions.
My managers don’t need to provide bean bag chairs or ping pong tournaments—the opportunity to do great work that matters is more than enough to keep me engaged.
If your team is struggling with engagement, try one of these techniques to encourage a healthy work environment.
I was delighted to chat with Jane about the extensive experience she brings to the Actionable team and her vision for the future of the company.
We reached out to the consultants in our LinkedIn Community for their expert advice to individuals taking on leadership roles for the first time, and compiled the results in this Infographic.
We need to be having more of these conversations at work. We can’t keep leaving our personal lives at the door, and expecting people to be engaged and passionate about our work.
Making clear requests and promises, and following through on the commitments I make has not only been personally fulfilling, it’s been a sound business investment.
Many teams never escape the “I’m busy” phase. What’s worse is they wear their busyness as a badge of honor. They seem to say, “I’m busy because my job is important.”
There are three key things that I find help me be productive in a ROWE: timing, environment, and optimum stress level.
As with many great company policies, “unlimited” vacation in a ROWE does have its downsides. It’s not as simple as just booking a trip and hitting the road.
For leaders, honesty, hard questions, and having to look in the mirror and face the truth about shortcomings can feel uncomfortably personal, or even a bit hostile.
Are your clients struggling to create a great organizational culture? We have created an infographic of 8 types of conversations to help your clients build stronger levels of employee engagement.
With the contagious enthusiasm of the Actionable team, and with the values that make working with them an inspiring experience, I hope to improve a little every day.
To create a great culture, team leaders need to be having regular conversations with their teams (and not just about project updates).
Effective communication strategies are crucial, but I’d also urge you to think deeply about what effective communication looks like for your team. Every group will have different ideas and goals.
In your consultant practice, when your clients are lamenting ineffective team dynamics, coach them to look out for the disruptive forces on their teams.
In this fast-paced world, collaboration, or more specifically, establishing successful commercial relationships, is a becoming a necessity. We need to be agile, well-informed, and not simply stuck in the bubble of our day-to-day activities.
What makes us a cohesive, collaborative team is our respect for each others’ unique lifestyles, expertise, time zones, and leadership. We work with each other, never against or in spite of each other.
Allowing employees to manage themselves—to establish effective work flows and processes, and to manage their own time—is a crucial component of creating and maintaining employee engagement.
Just as teams look to their leaders, clients will look to you. Set the bar high for creating learning cultures, and I have no doubt the results will follow.
Within the teams you have established, it’s a practical business investment to take the time to ensure the members of your team have a clear sense of their role and the culture of the company.
Finally, after many terrible interviews that left me feeling discouraged and deflated, I spoke with Chris Taylor. From our first conversation I felt that I could be myself, ask questions, and talk openly about my aspirations.
These three summaries will give you the framework you need to create a learning, creative culture in your organization, and build an engaged team that is capable of navigating new challenges.
If you’re hiring for culture, look for impassioned people. People who will (respectfully) disagree on certain points because they know truly who they are and what matters to them.
To avoid complacency and create engaged employees, it is crucial to step back and examine the purpose and processes (the why and the how) that inform outcomes.
When I joined the Actionable Team, I quickly came to learn that autonomy is imperative in a Results Only Work Environment (ROWE), and closely tied with the core values of Actionable.
As I learned through my study of martial arts, there are no shortcuts to mastery. Progress is earned through the repeated application of ideas.
At Actionable, we have the power and responsibility to manage our own schedules. The highly collaborative and engaged teams own their projects and get a lot done.
When you’re going through bursts of growth, it’s important to set the heading (vision), and then schedule “annual planning” sessions for a more frequent schedule.
Life often gets busy. I have found that the best way to manage my schedule and avoid last minute cancellations is to give commitments an absolute yes.
The data is clear: teams in the top-quartile of engagement see higher customer metrics, higher productivity, higher profitability, and lower absenteeism.
I feel incredibly fortunate to work at an organization like Actionable where something like a sabbatical is not only offered, but embraced. Without the support of Chris and my colleagues, this wouldn’t be possible.
Building a strong workplace culture with engaged employees is crucial for success. We have curated a list of great reads to get you started.
Over the last two years, we’ve had amazing guests join our 21st Century Workplace podcast. Check out some of the great authors who have joined us recently this year.
Sink or swim. That was the onboarding philosophy of one company I started at. I was given a desk, phone and a database of cold files, and invited to start selling.