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Alcide DeGagné


Happy Holidays 2012

As we close up the office here on Canotek Road and battle the snow to finish those last-second errands, we just wanted to take a moment of your time to thank you – for everything. Cherish the season and the opportunity to spend time…  continue reading

Delta’s Top 10 Posts in 2012

Another year has sped by, and we’ve continued to publish posts fairly consistently (we aim for twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays) on the Delta Blog on a range of topics - from change management and leadership to food safety and…  continue reading

Strategic Planning and Risk Management

In the first blog of this series Strategic Planning as an Organizational Learning Model, I suggested that a strategic plan should represent the best of the collective learning of the organization. My second post dealt with Strategic…  continue reading

Strategic Planning and The Quality Imperative

In the first blog of this series, we introduced the notion that viewing strategic planning as an organizational learning model is key to improving implementation. In this post we explore the quality management imperative through the same…  continue reading

Strategic Planning as an Organizational Learning Model

Strategy, and more to the point, the execution of strategy, is often a tremendously complex undertaking. The standard list of “problems” identified with strategic planning include: about 40% of strategic plans fail or are not…  continue reading

Tapping Your Innovation Potential

“Doing more with less” has once again become the mantra for executive leaders – and now is the time to capitalize on the opportunity to harness your innovation potential. Budgets have been allocated. Meetings are frantic, issues get…  continue reading

Creating a Cultural Shift to Frugality

Treasury Board president Tony Clement says the upcoming federal budget must be the start of a sweeping culture shift in official Ottawa of bureaucrats containing costs instead of fostering spending.       Ottawa Citizen, 11 March…  continue reading

The IT Challenge: Innovation & Collaboration

    We have a set of management practices in corporate America that are tied back to the industrial era. We still use the term human resources, as if our people are interchangeable resources like steel or energy. People are…  continue reading

The New Keys to Leadership (from 1500 years ago)

The North American economy appears to, finally, be finding some traction and slowly moving back into a growth phase. And as the economy recovers, many businesses are finally loosening some of the cash that they have been sitting on,…  continue reading

Food Safety and Traceability

Delta Partners was an exhibitor at the Food Manufacturing Summit held in Dallas, Texas, January 25th and 26th.  The summit was billed as a learning and networking event for food and beverage firms of all kinds. Approximately 110…  continue reading

Food Safety - A Complex Leadership Challenge (Part 2)

This post follows on Part 1 where we discussed employee engagement and the vestiges of 19th century management.   “Treat regular workers as if they were volunteers.” Drucker on Leadership Gaining Traction on Engagement…  continue reading

Food Safety - A Complex Leadership Challenge (Part 1)

At their most basic level, companies exist to create revenues by selling products to customers.  And for most industries, this seller-buyer relationship is founded on a basis of trust.  The buyer trusts that the seller is going to…  continue reading

Delta’s Top 10 Posts for 2011

For the past year we’ve been publishing posts fairly consistently (we aim for twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays) on the Delta Blog on a range of topics - from change management and leadership to program evaluation and innovation.…  continue reading

Managing Change: A workbook for personal and organizational change

"Profound and lasting cultural change in an organization cannot happen unless individuals...themselves undergo a personal change”.      - Stephen R. Covey Over the years, we have helped a large number of clients deal with the…  continue reading

Strategic & Operating Reviews: The Ultimate Leadership Challenge (Part 2)

What Needs to be Done? “Treat regular workers as if they were volunteers.”       Drucker on Leadership Overview While research shows that engaging employees can directly improve performance, experience has shown that it is…  continue reading

Strategic & Operating Reviews: The Ultimate Leadership Challenge (Part 1)

In an interview report in a recent issue of the Canadian Government Executive magazine, Wayne Wouters, the top public servant in the Canadian federal government, answered a number of questions explaining his take on leadership in the…  continue reading

Leading Change—Modelling Behaviours Is Crucial for Success

“Leadership to step through the door”       - Jody Loughrey   I received a really powerful comment to my recent blog on Strategic and Operating Reviews—Change and Failure. While agreeing with my comment for leaders to get their…  continue reading

Strategic & Operating Reviews Part 5: Waiting for Your Numbers

This post is the fifth in our series on Strategic & Operational Reviews (SOR). Part 1 — Strategic & Operating Reviews: We Can’t Agree to Disagree — dealt with the issue that changes are coming to the Public Service, whether or not…  continue reading

The Alternative to ‘Death by a thousand cuts’

Earlier this week, the Ottawa Citizen published a Susan Riley piece entitled “Death by a thousand cuts”.  In it she expressed her concern that “no good will come” from the current round of federal budget cuts.  While I don’t subscribed…  continue reading

$90k-a-day for Consulting? Depends What You Are Buying.

Tories hire $90,000-a-day consultant to cut spending The above headline appeared in the Globe & Mail on September 20, 2011. Understandably, the reaction by members of parliament and the public has been swift and vocal. Clearly, many…  continue reading