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October 2002

Brainstorming:  Sharpen the Focus:

Good brainstorming sessions get off to a better start if you have well-articulated description of the problem at

the right level of specificity.   For example, a topic like "spill proof coffee cup lids" is too narrow a description

and already presumes you know the answer.  A better, more open-ended topic would be, "helping bike commuters

to drink coffee without spilling it or burning their tongues."  The best statement is to focus outward on a specific

customer need or service enhancement, such as "How can we accelerate the time-to-first result for customers

searching via dial-up modem?"  Rather than inward on some organizational goal such as, "How can we build a

better search engine than Company Y?"

The IDEO Difference   Hemispheres  /  August 2002

September 2002

In recent years, companies have embraced big business ideas like revolution, reinventing, breakthrough thinking,

audacious goals, learning organizations, and the like.  While all of these ideas can make a huge impact on any

business, they're pointless unless you translate them into concrete steps for action.

Without execution, the breakthrough thinking breaks down.  Learning adds no value.  People don't meet their stretch

goals.  And the revolution stops dead in its tracks.

Execution is the missing link between aspirations and results.  Because it must be part of the company's strategy

and its goals, it is the most important job of any business leader.

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan

August 2002

"Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off."

Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will

get angry at your actions and decisions.  It's inevitable, if you're honorable.  Trying to get everyone to

like you is a sign of mediocrity:  you avoid the tough decisions, you avoid confronting the people who

need to be to be confronted, and you'll avoid offering differential rewards based on differential

performance because some people might get upset.  Ironically, by procrastinating on the difficult

choices, by trying not to get anyone mad, and by treating everyone equally "nicely" regardless of

their contributions, you'll simply ensure that the only people you will end up angering are the most

creative and productive people in the organization.

Colin Powell

July 2002

"Control is not leadership; management is not leadership; leadership is leadership. If you seek to lead,

invest at least 50% of your time in leading yourself�your own purpose, ethics, principles, motivation,

conduct. Invest at least 20% leading those with authority over you and 15% leading your peers."

June 2002

"You don't have to be good to start, but you have to start to be good"

May 2002

If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.

Abigail Van Buren

April 2002

Interchange your own role, it still fits...

To get anybody to buy from you requires three things: rapport, logic and emotion.

Rapport means that the buyer trusts you.

Logic means that buying makes sense.

Emotion means that buying feels good.

Use all three tools.....

Mark Sanborn Outlaw Wisdom 1999

"Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . .

In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility."

� Michael Korda
Editor-in-Cheif, Simon & Schuster

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,

but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

January 2002

Financial Fitness?

Have you ever noticed the people you see running day after day?

They are the ones who seem not to need to run.  But that's why they are fit. Those who are wealthy

work at staying financially fit.  But those who are not financially fit do little to change their status.

Excerpt from:  Stanley and Danko, The Millionaire Next Door p 40

December 2001

No implementation of �Intervention Strategies� or Discipline Programs can be successful without

useful content, effective instruction and an assessment that helps the student develop.  In every

classroom or school the primary focus should always be on the �Three E�s� (Hoglund, 1993). 

These elements include creating and maintaining a positive, supportive learning environment,

developing and clarifying school and class academic and behavioral expectations and increasing

the amount of self-evaluation.

In the best of classrooms students disrupt the learning environment.  More importantly,

they do not learn enough to be competent in every subject.  For that reason classroom

management and effective �intervention strategies� are essential.

As difficult as classroom management is at times, it consists of only two components: 

1.        Having a (consistent) philosophical belief about behavior,

          �What is the purpose of intervening with this/these student?�), and

2.        Having the skills to intervene and follow through in a way that is consistent with the philosophy.

Like us, students must see what is in it for them before they make changes.  When the student

believes that you are asking them about their own behavior or academic performance for their benefit,

they will evaluate and plan.  If the student believes that you are asking the questions to control or

�keep them in line�, they will do what they can to avoid responsibility for their actions.

Foreword by Bob Hoglund  from Intervention Strategies (c) 2001 Bob Hoglund

November 2001

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do"    

                                                            Benjamin Franklin

"One of the nice things about problems is that a good many of them do not exist except in our imagination"  

                                                                                                                                                                                            Steve Allen

October 2001

"The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over man who can't read them."

Mark Twain

"If a man empties his purse into his head, no one can take it away from him. 

An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

Ben Franklin

September 2001

"Nothing worthwhile can be accomplished without determination.  In the early d

ays of nuclear power, for example, getting approval to build the first nuclear

submarine � the Nautilus � was almost as difficult as designing and building it. 

Good ideas are not adopted automatically.  They must be driven into practice

with courageous practice."

Admiral Hyman Rickover

�Organization doesn�t really accomplish anything.  Plans don�t accomplish

anything, either.  Theories of management don�t much matter.  Endeavors

succeed or fail because of the people involved.  Only by attracting the best

people will you accomplish great deeds.�    

A Leadership Primer � Lesson 8                                                          Secretary of State Colin Powell

Lincoln Principles

• Spend time letting your followers learn that you are firm, resolute and committed in the daily performance of your duty.

          Doing so will gain their respect and trust.

• Etiquette and personal dignity are sometimes wisely set aside.

• Invest time and money in better understanding the ins and outs of human behavior.

• Showing your compassionate and caring nature will aid you in forging successful relationships.

• When you extinguish hope, you create desperation.

        From:  Lincoln on Leadership   Executive Strategies for Tough Times.  Warner Books, 1992.

J.C. Penny once said, "Show me a stock boy with a goal and I will show you a successful person;

show me a man without a goal and I will show you a stock boy."

1. Do we teach our students how to write plans and goals? 
2. Do we do it in a way that s/he sees as useful?

3. If not, how would you do it?

At a February, 2001  meeting in Los Angeles, Dr. Glasser stated that

"Unhappiness and all serious emotional problems, except those caused by Extreme Poverty /

Extreme Disease / Living under terrible tyranny, are the result of relationship problems.  A person

is unhappy because he/she wants a better current  relationship with someone who is important to him/her."

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