January 31, 2012 • by Geoff Schaadt • 0 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, innovation, leadership, management, risk management, social media, strategy, sustainability
Last week I was lucky enough to attend an Executive Workshop in Phoenix, Arizona, that was presented by the AHC Group, and led by the group’s founder, Dr. Bruce Piasecki. For those who are familiar with the long-term focus of Bruce’s work, it will come as no surprise that the theme of this meeting was around…
January 23, 2012 • by Alcide DeGagné • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, competitiveness, leadership, management, process improvement, quality, risk management
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 What exactly do we mean when we talk about ‘improving engagement’? Put simply: both individuals and managers must focus on how they…
January 20, 2012 • by Alcide DeGagné • 1 Comments • Categories: change management, competitiveness, leadership, management, process improvement, quality, risk management
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 provide a product or service that performs well, and can be counted on to do so consistently and…
January 17, 2012 • by Jim Taggart • 3 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, hr & talent management, leadership, lessons learned
I was born in 1955, the same year as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. As a fellow cohort a few things distinguish me from them: I’m a lot shorter, far less wealthy, not nearly as smart, nowhere near the visionary, and the list goes on. Plus, I’m a boring Canadian. Having already read a lot on…
January 13, 2012 • by Allen Black • 0 Comments • Categories: management, organizational development, process improvement, strategy
A recent global strategic business report makes the assertion that the global business process management market is projected to exceed $5.0 billion by the year 2017. This is good news for the Information Technology community, considering the advent of cloud computing, mobile and other technologies, but what does it mean for businesses, non-government organizations, and…
January 10, 2012 • by Greg Tricklebank • 0 Comments • Categories: management, performance measurement, planning & policy, process improvement, program evaluation
In response to my recent blog concerning why Public Service managers should care about Program Evaluation, I was asked about the difference between evaluation and performance measurement. As these terms are bandied about rather loosely, there may be a perception that they are really the same thing. The Simple Answer The simplest answer is that performance…
December 23, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, current events, leadership, lessons learned, management
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. Overall, I think that we have achieved our goal to provide our clients and readers with information…
December 19, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 3 Comments • Categories: change management, innovation, leadership, management, organizational development
"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 “pain points” they face in their work place. All of these cases involved understanding the root causes of their pain. Invariably,…
December 09, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 0 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, hr & talent management, innovation, leadership, management, public service renewal
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 not easy to do. In its July 2011 study, The Engagement/Performance Equation (paywall), the Aberdeen Group states that to move towards Best-in-Class…
December 06, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 0 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, hr & talent management, innovation, leadership, management, public service renewal
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 Public Service—Modern leadership: agile, adept and collaborative. I totally subscribe to the essence of his message; however, for me…
December 02, 2011 • by Greg Tricklebank • 0 Comments • Categories: knowledge transfer, performance measurement, program evaluation, public service renewal
from: Performance and Planning Exchange (PPX) - November 28, 2011 This morning I attended another excellent PPX sharing and learning event at which senior performance measurement and evaluation managers from TBS and several line departments gave refreshingly candid presentations on the progress of measurement and evaluation integration. By way of background, the Government of Canada recognizes…
November 30, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 0 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, innovation, knowledge transfer, lessons learned, public service renewal, social media
Along with over a hundred other delegates, presenters and sponsors, I had the pleasure of participating in the PS Engage 2011 Learning & Networking Event last Tuesday. The Canadian Aviation and Space Museum was a wonderful and inspiring choice of venue, and we were extremely fortunate to have the entire run of the museum for the…
November 16, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, current events, innovation, knowledge transfer, learning, public service renewal
We have burned a lot of cycles on this blog writing and writing and writing about… Some of the many hurdles facing the Canadian Public Service The Great Recession has left global markets in turmoil, and, even though we Canadians have been well insulated, this thing is far from over. Fiscal responsibility is the overriding theme…
November 11, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, leadership, organizational development, public service renewal
We spend a lot of time talking about communication around here. Why? Because it may very well be the most important aspect of anything you hope to achieve in a group environment. Right now, we’re focusing on change and the steps that you can take to give yourself the best chance of success. But it really…
November 06, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 4 Comments • Categories: change management, hr & talent management, management, organizational development
Your organization has—though painful at first—completed a large-scale change initiative. And now you are starting your next change project, right on the heels of the first one. Taken together, it just might be too much change for your employees to absorb and implement. Following one change program with another often encourages employees to maintain a ‘bunker’…
November 01, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 3 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, hr & talent management, leadership, management, organizational development, public service renewal
Everyone knows—and in theory agrees—that change is necessary. It must and will occur. Implementing change is hard. And making it stick is even harder whether you are following Kotter’s Eight Steps to Changeor David Ulrich’s Seven Key Factors for Making Change Happen. Irrespective of your organization’s change capacity, you may encounter some employees who resist change.…
October 25, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, competitiveness, leadership, management, organizational development, public service renewal
As the rate of change that our people and our organizations face continues to accelerate, many are undoubtedly in the process of preparing for some form of transformational change. For public servants, most of you are preparing to face the fallout of the current SOR, while private sector companies wrestle with increasing intrusion from global competition…
October 21, 2011 • by Phil Hawkins • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, competitiveness, innovation, leadership, organizational development, process improvement, productivity
So what is the culture of an organization, and where does it exist? Change is a good thing. For the purposes of this discussion, the culture of an organization exists in the conversations of its participants. In other words, what conversations routinely happen and are encouraged versus what conversations are looked on disapprovingly. In my experience,…
October 19, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 2 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, leadership, management, organizational development
As Geoff Schaadt conveyed so well in his latest blog post Kotter’s 8 Steps to Change: More Relevant Than Ever, in Step Four, Communicate the Change Vision, it is likely that you will under-communicate 10 to 100 times too much. In other words, “good communication” is critical to the success of each and every change initiative.…
October 14, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, hr & talent management, leadership, organizational development, public service renewal
“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 strategy and operational alignment right, the commenter then went on to lament the great vacuum of “leadership to…
October 07, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, current events, management, public service renewal, strategy
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 the leadership want it to happen. And, if these changes are going to be…
October 04, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 2 Comments • Categories: change management, culture, leadership, management, organizational development, public service renewal
Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. - John Wooden In 1996, John Kotter published Leading Change, which quickly became the seminal work in the change management space. 15 years later—an eon in the Internet time-space to which we have become accustomed—and Leading Change is still the work that most change management…
September 30, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 0 Comments • Categories: culture, hr & talent management, leadership, management
I’ve talked about corporate climate and culture in past posts, Do You Know the Difference Between Corporate Culture and Climate? and The Smell of the Place. Today I want to look at two major obstacles to changing corporate culture: myths and symbols. Myths and symbols, especially with organizations that have been around for a long time,…
September 28, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 4 Comments • Categories: change management, competitiveness, current events, lessons learned, public service renewal
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 to her largely cynical notion that only bad things will result, I do share her worry…
September 27, 2011 • by Greg Tricklebank • 0 Comments • Categories: current events, performance measurement, public service renewal
{images1}Update: the 2011 PSES has been extended to October 7th! Public Service employees have only 3 8 days left to complete the 2011 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES). Twenty-eight of the seventy substantive questions address the Management Accountability Framework (MAF) and will help determine whether deputy heads are meeting expectations. This is a powerful reason for…
September 23, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 0 Comments • Categories: current events, hr & talent management, management, planning & policy, public service renewal
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 people find the Government’s decision to engage consultants in this critical task as offensive. But really, should anyone be…
September 20, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 1 Comments • Categories: management, process improvement, productivity, quality
Does it seem to take forever to find that document on your server? Do you spend hours in your storage room looking for things? If so, than you are probably wondering if there is a way to reduce time wasted searching and increase your productivity, and the answer is a simple, Yes! Implementing a 5S cycle…
September 16, 2011 • by Ian Jackson • 2 Comments • Categories: change management, current events, management, public service renewal, strategy
This post is the fourth in our series on Strategic & Operational Reviews (SOR). Part 1 — Strategic & Operational Reviews: We Can’t Agree to Disagree — dealt with the issue that changes are coming to the Public Service, whether or not the leadership want it to happen. And, if these changes are going to be…
September 09, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 2 Comments • Categories: change management, current events, management, public service renewal, strategy
This is the third post in our series on Strategic & Operational Reviews (SOR). Part 1 — Strategic & Operational Reviews: We Can’t Agree to Disagree — dealt with the issue that changes are coming to the Public Service, whether or not the leadership want it to happen. And, if these changes are going to be…
September 07, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 3 Comments • Categories: change management, current events, management, public service renewal, strategy
In my previous post — Strategic & Operational Reviews: We Can’t Agree to Disagree — I discussed the fact that SOR will bring changes to the Public Service, whether managers want it to happen or not. It’s coming. The success or failure of these changes will be dictated by two key concepts: alignment and conflict management. …
September 02, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 2 Comments • Categories: current events, management, planning & policy, public service renewal
Once again, the Canadian Federal Public Service is undergoing strategic and operational reviews (SOR) — and implementing the changes that flow from SOR will represent a tremendous challenge. They’re Crazy From my personal experience, a range of mixed emotions will follow: If she/he thinks I’ve bought in to this plan, they’re crazy. Even if {fill in…
August 30, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 4 Comments • Categories: communication, culture, hr & talent management, leadership, lessons learned, process improvement
If you don’t read Jim Taggart’s Changing Winds leadership blog, you really should add it to your list – he does a great job! Yesterday I read his latest entry Work Hard, Play Hard: Leadership Lessons to Redefine Your Thinking about Michael Abrashoff, retired U.S. Naval Captain and co-founder of GLS Worldwide. Jim’s post is a…
August 26, 2011 • by Stephen Davies • 5 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, hr & talent management, management, organizational development, process improvement, public service renewal
“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” – Edwards Deming Budget cuts. Lay-offs. Resource restrictions. Fiscal restraint. We hear it again and again. As a manager, how are you going to meet these financial requirements? If your organization is like most, you are likely considering a workforce reduction – and will probably…
August 23, 2011 • by Christian Bertoli • 8 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, leadership, management, organizational development
Since its publication in 1985, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wes Roberts, Ph.D., has had a cult following in management circles. Leadership Secrets first gained notoriety in the late 1980's when it was mentioned in a passage in the book Call Me Roger, where Roger Smith, the Chairman of GM at the time, forbade…
August 19, 2011 • by Delaney Tosh • 0 Comments • Categories: communication, hr & talent management, leadership, management, organizational development
We have been having a lot of conversations with businesses, teams and their leaders, about engagement, disengagement and the link between team culture and a company’s or team’s ability to be innovative…or just productive. Top of mind is the competitive business environment and how a team can be not just responsive, but out-pace competitive pressures in…
August 16, 2011 • by Christian Bertoli • 0 Comments • Categories: planning & policy, process improvement, program evaluation, project management, public service renewal, risk management
One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. - Milton Friedman Delta Partners is pleased to present our newest eBook Evaluation - A Primer on Evaluation in the Government of Canada. {images1}With the Policy on Evaluation deadline to evaluate all direct program spending once every…
August 12, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 0 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, hr & talent management, leadership, organizational development
We thought nothing of it. Paint the deck since it was starting to peel. Except something weird happened along the way. Max, our five-year-old American Yellow Lab, loves to lie on the deck, watching as people (and dogs) pass by down below on the walking path behind our house. Two days after painting the deck, which…
August 09, 2011 • by Bert Zethof • 1 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, innovation, management, process improvement, productivity
How to make innovation every employee’s responsibility was the topic of discussion at a recent Surge Group Breakfast Dialogue. Often organizations can’t get on the road to innovation because their people are blocked by the thinking of the past. A story shared by Paul Barron, Associate Portfolio Manager at Odlum Brown Limited, illustrates the point: When…
August 05, 2011 • by Scott Hodge • 0 Comments • Categories: management, performance measurement
The development of a strategic performance measurement system is a critical process for the overall success of any organization. There are, however, a few myths about the development of performance measures that are often discussed and mistaken as “guiding principles”. Here are four guidelines that often espoused, but in my experience could become catastrophic landmines if…
August 02, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 2 Comments • Categories: knowledge transfer, learning, lessons learned, management, strategy
Here are my favourite books on strategy: The Art of War – Sun Tsu{images1} James Clavell This book offers an overarching vision of strategy and implementation that is still highly appropriate in the chaotic times we face. The importance of visionary zeal found in the Confucian concept of “oneness" grips the ‘human spirit’…
July 29, 2011 • by Greg Tricklebank • 0 Comments • Categories: lessons learned, management, program evaluation
Some time ago, in anticipation of the new Government of Canada (GOC) Policy on Evaluation, we conducted an evaluation benchmarking study of several federal government departments and agencies on behalf of one of our clients. By sharing some of the findings and conclusions, we hope to spotlight a few issues that need to be addressed…
July 25, 2011 • by Greg Tricklebank • 0 Comments • Categories: current events, management, performance measurement, program evaluation
The LPGA Commissioner, Michael Whan, just announced the plan to inaugurate a fifth major tournament on the LPGA tour, sparking a discussion on the Morning Drive television program about fairness … Annika Sorenstam, for example, had won a record 10 majors when there were only 4 each year. With 5 majors per year, future players will…
July 22, 2011 • by Greg Tricklebank • 2 Comments • Categories: lessons learned, management, performance measurement, planning & policy, program evaluation
A great deal is written about the self-identity of ‘evaluation’ as a discipline and/or a profession. Viewpoints abound concerning the role and expectations of evaluators, ranging in scope from mere collector and presenter of factual data to virtual philosopher-king, arbitrating complex issues concerning what is of value to society. And, of course, there is much in…
July 19, 2011 • by Scott Hodge • 2 Comments • Categories: management, performance measurement, process improvement, program evaluation, public service renewal, strategy
Like most organizations, you probably dedicate significant time and resources for planning – strategic planning, operational planning, business planning, program planning, project planning, even planning for meetings. How do you know if your operational performance is contributing to the achievement of the goals and objectives set out in the plans, or if you are heading down…
July 15, 2011 • by Raphael Amato • 1 Comments • Categories: culture, hr & talent management, knowledge transfer, learning, wellness
Coaching and mentorship are two popular concepts that are used interchangeably quite often. And while there are similarities, they are not the same thing. Management and executive coaching seems to be quite in demand these days and is cited often in literature. Not surprisingly, there are also numerous consultants offering coaching to their clients. In the…
July 12, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 2 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, management, organizational development, productivity, public service renewal, wellness
Delta Partners is pleased to present our newest white paper, Leadership and Engagement: Demand Stress and Depression. In this paper our president, Alcide DeGagné, discusses the impact of changing corporate culture and the effect that it can have on impacted employees as the balance between the demands on them and the resources available to them becomes misaligned. As the…
July 08, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 2 Comments • Categories:
Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) has gained recognition for achieving major improvements in a number of areas such as the startup of Service Canada. However, anyone who has spent significant time in any large complex public or private sector organization knows that the internal hurdles are invariably very challenging. It’s no less so for…
June 29, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 4 Comments • Categories: current events, hr & talent management, leadership, management, wellness
Today the Ottawa Citizen featured a front-page article, “PS disability claims soaring”. Its timely release dovetails nicely with our discussion in Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Illness in the Workplace, and also the issues discussed in a previous post that is still generating a lot of interest: Canada’s Public Service: A Career for the Net Generation?.…
June 24, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 0 Comments • Categories: communication, hr & talent management, leadership, management, wellness
Mental illness affects people of all walks of life. Twenty percent of Canadians will experience it personally in their lifetime, which means that chances are everyone will know someone who has - or has dealt with - a mental illness. Even though it touches the lives of most Canadians, many do not have a good understanding…
June 21, 2011 • by Phil Hawkins • 2 Comments • Categories: communication, hr & talent management, leadership, management, organizational development
Do you talk in pictures? Most people would say not, usually we speak in words - but people listen in pictures. They use the words you say to create a picture in their mind. How they create those pictures is a story for another day – a long day! Here's an example: {images1} There is nothing…
June 17, 2011 • by Diane Thompson • 1 Comments • Categories: culture, hr & talent management, management, productivity, wellness
You may be sceptical. Does it work? Can a workplace wellness program actually result in a return on investment? Can you really change your employees’ behaviour and overall health and wellness? There are reasons to be sceptical. The return on investment takes time and what will be the proof? What’s at stake? Poor health habits and…
June 14, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 3 Comments • Categories: culture, hr & talent management, leadership, management, wellness
How balanced are you when it comes to juggling work duties, family responsibilities (not just kids but also ageing parents), social life, physical fitness, walking the dog, hobbies, and the list goes on. When I worked in government before hitting the eject button last December, I spent a good portion of three decades working in the…
June 10, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 6 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, culture, hr & talent management, leadership, management, organizational development, public service renewal
I think we may safely trust a good deal more than we do. - Henry David Thoreau When an organization is secretive, tightly controlled, does not delegate authority, and sharply segregates management and management decisions from employees and lower level managers, it’s not a stretch to recognise that management does not trust its "underlings" to…
June 07, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 33 Comments • Categories: communication, culture, hr & talent management, leadership, organizational development, public service renewal, social media
The front page headline on yesterday’s Ottawa Citizen featured a story about a recent survey that links the level of engagement that Canadian federal public servants are reporting, based on the amount of time they have been employed. What is interesting about this particular survey is that the group being evaluated is made up entirely of…
June 03, 2011 • by Diane Thompson • 0 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, management, organizational development, productivity, wellness
What do we mean by wellness? Merriam-Webster’s Eleventh Edition defines wellness as “the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal.” The National Wellness Institute defines wellness as “an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.” The key idea is that…
May 31, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 5 Comments • Categories: communication, hr & talent management, lessons learned, process improvement, productivity
Update 1 June 2011: I have been exposed to Kanban and other Lean tools for a few years, which led to my exposure to Personal Kanban via the Lean community. However, I was of the belief that this was a generic term and practice. Apparently, not so. I saw this tweet this morning, and must assume…
May 27, 2011 • by Christian Bertoli • 5 Comments • Categories: communication, hr & talent management, leadership, wellness
Most people have heard that more facial muscles are used to frown than to smile — it’s something you might say to someone who seems unhappy to get them to “turn that frown upside down.” Without a doubt, smiling can have positive effects on the workplace and employee wellness. A smile is a simple way to…
May 24, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 6 Comments • Categories: change management, leadership, lessons learned, management, organizational development
Change Management. As a topic of interest, leading groups of people through periods of significant change and uncertainty became a central point of concern within the business community and press in the mid-to-late 90's. Since then academics, consultants, retired and active business managers have written reams and volumes on the most effective ways to create lasting…
May 20, 2011 • by Greg Tricklebank • 1 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, innovation, organizational development, process improvement, productivity, strategy
I believe that ‘innovation’ is the source of constant discussion because nobody knows what to do about the massive problems facing the world today. Whether on the national stage or at the level of the organization, the message is the same, “we must innovate if we hope to….” But saying that we need to innovate is…
May 17, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 0 Comments • Categories: communication, lessons learned, management, project management
There are always some clients/sponsors who insist on skipping the project kick-off meeting. They are too busy, the project start has already been delayed enough, or it is seen as just a formality. In a previous post entitled Managers: 7 Steps to Successful Project Launch, I identified the kick-off (or project launch) meeting as one of…
May 13, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 5 Comments • Categories: change management, innovation, leadership, management, organizational development
The word ‘leadership’ is used so loosely in everyday speech that it is in danger of becoming a superfluous term. Within organizations – public and private – not only is it used to excess, but this trend is undermining what leadership is intended to accomplish. This is most unfortunate because the organizational turbulence we are witnessing…
May 11, 2011 • by Allen Black • 2 Comments • Categories: management, planning & policy, process improvement, program evaluation, strategy
Whether in government, the private sector or the non-profit sector, these key questions apply in any context: Are we doing the right work? Can we make better decisions? Are we getting superior results? Logic models can help with the design of your idea, program, or project to ensure the right work, the plans and implementation that…
May 06, 2011 • by Phil Hawkins • 4 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, innovation, lessons learned, management, organizational development, process improvement
This post is the third in a series of three by Phil Hawkins in which he looks at the work of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. In the first, Bringing the Factory to the Office: Applying Deming, he discussed the concepts of quality, process, and people. In the second, Bringing Deming to the Office: Drive Out Fear,…
May 03, 2011 • by Diane Bégin • 5 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, innovation, organizational development, public service renewal, strategy
Let’s face it, the ability to offer many choices to meet as many individual needs as possible, whatever the situation, is a popular notion. This applies to more than just the shampoo section of your corner drugstore. There is something special that comes from knowing someone cares enough to provide a choice that is made…
April 29, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 9 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, current events, hr & talent management, leadership, management
How can you think and hit at the same time? - Yogi Berra Part One of this two-part series assumed a more provocative stance on the leadership definition debate, leaving it to you, the reader, to initiate a process of reflection and inquiry. And my promise holds: there will be no definitions of leadership…
April 26, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 0 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, current events, hr & talent management, leadership, management
If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. - Yogi Berra I’ve been a student of leadership for some 20 years and am fascinated by viewing it through different lenses: business leadership, political leadership, historical events, geo-politics, and grassroots leadership. What prompted this post was a recent interview on…
April 21, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 4 Comments • Categories: communication, hr & talent management, leadership, lessons learned, management
I have two kids. They love kid things – colouring, bikes, skating, dolls, birthday parties, video games, dancing, hockey, braids. All the usual stuff. And they really love holiday celebrations, with the Easter egg hunt coming in very near the top of the list. It has always been fun for my wife and I to set…
April 19, 2011 • by Allen Black • 2 Comments • Categories: management, planning & policy, risk management, strategy
In response to last year’s H1N1 crisis, I posted a blog suggesting it would be timely for organizations to consider a strategic planning exercise aimed at developing contingency plans that could be quickly implemented to ensure continuity in their operations should such a crisis eventuate. Without such plans, organizations would be left scrambling in panic mode…
April 15, 2011 • by Greg Tricklebank • 2 Comments • Categories: change management, communication, culture, hr & talent management, leadership, management, organizational development, public service renewal
Some time ago, in a paper describing the important distinction between organizational climate and culture, I used the term ‘anomie’ as one of the dysfunctional states of culture. But, what is anomie and why should you care? I would argue that some of the seemingly most intractable challenges facing today’s manager may be the result of…
April 12, 2011 • by Lynn Thorsell • 8 Comments • Categories: communication, hr & talent management, leadership, lessons learned
I just finished reading a book by “Survivorman” Les Stroud that my brother-in-law lent me. Will to Live: Dispatches from the Edge of Survival succinctly recounts seven incredible true stories of people surviving and attempting to survive through outrageously extreme conditions. Reading these stories - along with Stroud’s assessment of what contributed and detracted from their…
April 08, 2011 • by Phil Hawkins • 2 Comments • Categories: communication, hr & talent management, leadership, lessons learned, management, organizational development
This post is the second in a series of three by Phil Hawkins in which he looks at the work of Dr. W. Edwards Deming. In the first, Bringing the Factory to the Office: Applying Deming, he discussed the concepts of quality, process, and people. In this piece Phil moves on to the domain of personal…
April 06, 2011 • by Heather Hughes • 4 Comments • Categories: change management, leadership, management, organizational development
I was talking with a business leader recently, and he was lamenting the lack of passion and energy at his organization. He said he wanted to create an engaged and dynamic workplace, and had brought his managers together to talk about it - all to no avail. He told me it was essential to his organization’s…
April 01, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 13 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, knowledge transfer, lessons learned, project management
Most people have a passing understanding of the PMP credential. This acronym is shorthand for “Project Management Professional”, and indicates that the individual has passed a certifying exam that indicates expertise in the principles of project management as identified in the PMBOK. However, many people are beginning to hear about PRINCE2 as “yet another” project management…
March 30, 2011 • by Ian Jackson • 3 Comments • Categories: change management, hr & talent management, learning, management, project management, public service renewal, risk management
When most managers talk about project management it’s normally associated with a major event like a building construction project or a new business system design. These projects require a high level of project management expertise such as those acquired through a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) designation. And there are, of course, times when a depth…
March 23, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 2 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, hr & talent management, knowledge transfer, leadership, learning, organizational development
Delta Partners is proud to announce its second ebook: Creating Order and Meaning During Organizational Chaos: The Fall and Rise of the Learning Organization. This book provides a unique view of the many challenges faced by the managers and leaders in today's organizations. The accelerating pace of technical change, coupled with the radical globalization of markets…
March 18, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 3 Comments • Categories: management, productivity, project management, quality
In some of our previous posts we’ve been looking at a number of tools and skills managers should include in their tool kit including SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, the “Org Chart”, PICO, delegating, business case development, successful project launch, checklists, and how not to waste time in meetings. In this post I would like to introduce…
March 15, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 8 Comments • Categories: leadership, management, strategy
In a previous post, we discussed the use of SWOT Analysis and it’s usefulness as a framework for discussing the internal and external environment that an organization faces. I would like to extend that discussion here to introduce the PESTLE Analysis – another framework used to guide your thinking as you participate in strategic evaluations. You…
March 11, 2011 • by Alcide DeGagné • 6 Comments • Categories: from the desk of..., lessons learned, productivity
During the 1990’s Internet technologies arrived in the workplace seemingly overnight. And, just as quickly, email replaced the telephone, the fax, and the business letter as our first choice for communication between professionals. It offered the speed of phone calls without the sometimes lengthy time commitments that general courtesy required while maintaining the asynchronous exchange of…
March 08, 2011 • by Phil Hawkins • 4 Comments • Categories: process improvement, productivity, quality, strategy
The work of Dr. W. Edwards Deming is well known as it applies to quality in manufacturing, though when asked, people will give different interpretations of his work - usually as it applies to them. My view is that Deming understood more than people give him credit for, (more of this later) and that a lot…
March 04, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 4 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, lessons learned, productivity, project management
Nowadays we all suffer from the same condition; my time is too short and my to-do list is too long. Most of us resort to multitasking – usually as a necessity to meet work expectations. We have to multitask, don’t we? The real question: should we? Gen Y’s have had lots of practice in the art…
March 01, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 2 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, current events, innovation, risk management, strategy
We live in a period of what British management thinker Charles Handy has called Discontinuous Change - that change arrives in erratic, unpredictable bursts. Handy is regarded as one of the top thinkers of all time, ranking beside management guru the late Peter Drucker. Author of such highly acclaimed books as The Empty Raincoat, The New…
February 25, 2011 • by Allen Black • 0 Comments • Categories: culture, leadership, management, organizational development, public service renewal
At GTEC (Canada’s Government Technology Event) this year the theme was High Performing Government. GTEC brings together leading public and private sector experts to collaborate on serving citizens better through innovation and technology. Building on this theme, PPX (Performance and Planning Exchange) hosted a learning event in Ottawa recently that had to do with creating high-performing…
February 18, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 4 Comments • Categories: culture, hr & talent management, leadership, management
Delta Partners is pleased to release its first e-book: Leadership and the Intergenerational Divide: Issues, Trends & Solutions. Today’s post was written by Consulting Associate Jim Taggart, and also the author of the e-book. Several of the e-book’s key messages are shared in this post. An ageing population presents unique leadership challenges to organizations. That the…
February 15, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 4 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, leadership, management, organizational development, public service renewal
The discussion around employee engagement has been loud – and growing to deafening proportions - over the past several years. Employee engagement has become the metric of preference (pdf) for HR and OD professionals as high engagement has been linked to remarkable profits, productivity, retention, and client engagement, while active disengagement leads to significant losses on…
February 11, 2011 • by Ian Jackson • 2 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, management, organizational development, strategy
It’s a story that has played out more times than we care to remember. Chances are good that you’ve seen it happen. An executive in your organization is flipping through a three-ring binder looking for some document, and there, on the third page, is a yellowed, wrinkled, coffee-stained copy of the “Org Chart” for the firm. …
February 08, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 8 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, innovation, leadership, public service renewal
February 2nd, 2011 has come and gone. Deputy heads should have submitted reports on their overall progress against the four pillars of the 2010-2011 Public Service Renewal Action Planto the Clerk of the Privy Council: Integrated Planning – implementation – reporting on results Recruitment– targeted – coordinated - efficient – diverse Employee Development– talent development…
February 04, 2011 • by Allen Black • 0 Comments • Categories: planning & policy, risk management, strategy
In my November blog post Scenario Planning: Crystal Balling or Smart Business?, I looked at how scenario planning makes good business sense and shared a client success story. The example I used was part of a strategic planning session but scenario planning should not be thought exclusively as the domain of senior management engaged in weighty…
February 01, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 0 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, leadership, performance measurement, project management
The modern workplace has moved away from the lone expert grinding away at her craft, to a landscape dominated by teams and group activity. This trend will only increase as Gen Y and Gen Z - with their propensity for working in groups and sharing information and ideas - enter the workforce. Because of the this…
January 28, 2011 • by Jim Taggart • 4 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, hr & talent management, innovation, leadership, management
Delta Partners is pleased to release the White Paper: Building Effective Management and Leadership Practices to Enhance Organizational Innovation To help managers from the public and private sectors gain a better perspective of the leadership challenge stemming from rapid and unpredictable change, this post presents some of the key messages from the White Paper.…
January 21, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 4 Comments • Categories: innovation, leadership, management, strategy
The first implementation of the SWOT Analysis seems to have been put to use somewhere in Southern France roughly 28,000 years ago by a local cave dweller who was evaluating the wisdom of pursuing a strategic move to the hunting of saber tooth cats. At least it seems, to those who pay attention to the business…
January 19, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 8 Comments • Categories: culture, leadership, lessons learned, productivity
Is procrastination something to be avoided or even "cured"? Nowadays, everyone expects everything to be right away - or better - last week. We juggle endless to-do lists, meetings, commitments, e-mails, and nurturing our social media klout. We just don’t have time to come down with a bout of procrastination. So, for all of you who…
January 14, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 3 Comments • Categories: leadership, lessons learned, management, process improvement, project management, strategy
Many of my current friends and colleagues are not aware of it, but I actually spent the first half of my professional life working as a medical professional. There are, of course, many differences between working in a medical setting and working in a traditional business environment. But one of the biggest – in my view…
January 11, 2011 • by Debra Sunohara • 2 Comments • Categories: hr & talent management, knowledge transfer, leadership, management, project management
There are any number of skills that a manager must master to be successful, but the ability to effectively and appropriately delegate tasks might be the most critical. Letting go of total control is difficult for many of us - especially when it involves expecting less satisfactory results than you would produce yourself. If you are…
January 07, 2011 • by Geoff Schaadt • 0 Comments • Categories: knowledge transfer, lessons learned, management
A few of our colleagues here at Delta Partners have recommended books that they read and loved in 2010. And so, as many of us think about how we are going to improve ourselves in 2011, here is a list of our recommended reading: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard Alcide DeGagne…
December 30, 2010 • by Allen Black • 0 Comments • Categories: lessons learned, planning & policy, strategy
Sound Familiar? "We can't afford to fund every new project or development proposal anymore. We have to find a better way to prioritize proposals, decide which to continue, and which to drop." "Starting this year, any request for non-budgeted funds is a non-starter without a strong business case behind it." "New government policy says we have…
December 23, 2010 • by Geoff Schaadt • 4 Comments • Categories: change management, culture, leadership, lessons learned, management
Effective communication skills. The Harvard Business Review says, “Effective communication is a key driver for achieving desired results on a personal or business level.” So why is this so common: Together, we will leverage our assets to deliver the strategic value that our stakeholders expect and deserve as we create synergistic value add via the integration…
December 14, 2010 • by Debra Sunohara • 4 Comments • Categories: lessons learned, process improvement, productivity, project management
What steps can we take every time we have a business interaction to give ourselves the best odds of success? Identify and clarify your client’s expectations. We don’t have to think too deeply about the deliverables – what is it that they expect to get from us – this is second nature for most of us. …
December 07, 2010 • by Jim Taggart • 0 Comments • Categories: competitiveness, culture, innovation, leadership, lessons learned, management
The marketplace is exceedingly brutal. What was technologically exciting a few years ago is now mundane. Some 20 years ago the Sony Walkman was seen as the epitome of cool. For guys like me, we went with clones since Walkmans were too expensive. Just recently, Sony announced (finally) that it would cease production of the Walkman,…
December 03, 2010 • by Debra Sunohara • 0 Comments • Categories: lessons learned, management, project management, risk management
You have a fairly clear picture of what you want to accomplish and you've secured the budget, so you’re ready to start a new project...or are you? Plan to Fail I think that most of us are familiar with the old adage “Fail to plan...plan to Fail”. But, did you know that the rule of thumb…
November 30, 2010 • by Allen Black • 2 Comments • Categories: management, planning & policy, risk management, strategy
Is trying to make projections for the future – which is not the next year, but three to five years out – too risky? Might this be perceived as “crystal balling” and not worth the time and effort, or might it be something that makes perfect business sense? Worked Last Year The default for most business…
