Simple Truths. Good Decisions. Beautiful!

Innovation is Messy

This is the booklet form of a popular post I wrote a couple of years ago. It's a parable called, Conception Is Messy. Download innovation_parable.pdf

Bobb Biehl's Top 10 Questions

I've never met Bobb Biehl but some of my early mentors are close friends of his. He is famous for his collections of questions. The 10 categories below contain the questions that are his personal favorites:

These questions are best asked in the order presented.

1. GOD: What three changes in me would be most pleasing to God?

2. DREAM/PURPOSE: What can I do to make the most significant difference for God in my lifetime? Why am I on the earth? What is the very best organizational context for my dream?

3. PRIMARY RESULT: What is the single best measurable indicator that I am making progress toward my dream?

4. LIFE PRIORITIES: If I could accomplish only three measurable priorities (goals reached - or problems solved) before I die, what would I accomplish?

5. TEN YEAR FOCUS: If I could accomplish only three measurable priorities in the next ten years, that would make a 50% difference in my life-long contribution, what would I accomplish?

6. ANNUAL FOCUS:

SINGLE WORD FOCUS What single word best captures the focus of my next year?     

OPPORTUNITY Where was my greatest unexpected success last year? Why was this area so successful? What three steps could I take now to take full advantage of this "Window of Opportunity" next year?

LAND MINES What three land mines or roadblocks need my immediate attention? What three changes could reduce my "risk" by 50%?

3/10/50% If I could only accomplish three measurable priorities in the next 12 months that would make a 50% difference in my contribution over the next 10 years, which three things would I most want to accomplish?

7. QUARTERLY FOCUS: What three measurable priorities could I accomplish in the next 90 days to make a 50% difference in the results I see by the end of the year?

8. ORGANIZATION: What three changes could I make to see a 50% difference in our morale as a family or team?

9. CASH: If I had to cut my budget 20% (or some other significant percentage), what would be the first three things to go? If I got a surprise gift of 20% of my budget, what three things would I do immediately?

10. QUALITY: What three changes could improve the quality of my work by 50% in the next 12 months?

© 2003 Bobb Biehl *   www.MasterplanningGroup.com * 800-443-1976

I can't teach you anything because you haven't read anything

I become more and more convinced that leaders should read less about their field or industry and more in other fields. Specifically, they should read classics. This point was reinforced in an article about Colin Forbes, one of the founders of Pentagram.

One of his teachers was a wood engraver named John Farleigh, who said to him one day, "Colin, I can't teach you anything because you haven't read anything."

Why (and how) we should teach literature to business students

Dr. Vigen Guroian has concluded that his college is “complicit in producing so-called educated people who are deaf to wisdom, blind to beauty, and incapable of mounting an argument for goodness and truth against evil and falsehood.” In response, he decided this spring to try an experiment with a class of business undergrads, helping them to make the distinction between a truly liberating education and mere training for work, showing them how literature can help make them—and us—more fully human. His story can be found in the link below.

Link: Implications: An Online Journal from the Trinity Forum.

What gets measured gets done

What gets measured gets done.

When I saw this “washroom hygiene monitor” at a rest stop in England I just had to take a picture. It’s a great example of using technology to address a perennial problem. It includes a digital countdown clock that tells how many minutes until the next time the restroom will be cleaned. If the lights turn red it means the attendant is overdue.

What’s something that you could measure that would make a difference to employees or customers?