Archive for 'Culture'

Wildness: The Lure of the Future

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Kathryn Alexander

This is Spring, Easter, a time of renewal. When most people think of sustainability they think about being around for a long time. For business the life expectancy is about forty years, there are a very few businesses that have been around for 100 years of more.

What is Right and What is Wrong: Trying to be Ethical

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Kathryn Alexander

How do we determine what is right and what is wrong? Ethical behavior is 'right' behavior so why is it so hard to know right from wrong?

Ethical Smthical What Does It Matter?

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Kathryn Alexander

Why are ethics important? What is it about ethical behavior that seems to make a difference? What do we need to know to be consistently ethical? Does the answer help us create strong cultures?

How to Undermine an Ethical Culture

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Kathryn Alexander

Is it possible to destroy a culture where people love to come to work? Just exactly how would you go about it?

Our Achilles Heel

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Kathryn Alexander

I’ve been an organizational change consultant for most of my working life. The organizational development (OD) community was on fire when I first got exposed to it. The field was young and people were going from helping people work together better to learning how to make the whole organization work better. Those in the field were writing papers and books with new insights coming out weekly, it seemed.

Discovering Regenerative Businesses

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Kathryn Alexander

The current crop of sustainability oriented companies are reducing resource use, and that will give us time, but we need to rethink how we interact with nature to prevent a reoccurrence of the situation we now face. These companies are leading the way!

Authenticity – Key to Good Leadership-

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

Culture is created a employees watch the actions of leaders, listen to their words, and then try to make sense of the difference. When theories are shared they become fact and people adjust their behavior accordingly.

Organizational Culture & Software Development

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

There seems to be a new interest in corporate culture and the one's carrying the banner are Agile software development folks. This seems rater amazing given the anti people reputation of IT.

We Are On Tour - Almost

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

We know American business is resilient - we want to bring you those stories! What are the tips and tricks to create a robust & sustainable culture? Help us find out!

B Corp - This is a Shift of Another Kind

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

I was video interviewed this morning for a group doing a documentary on B Corps. They are traveling the country talking to companies that have chosen to become certified B Corps.

Culture: Finding Meaning in Work

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

Do you think that making work meaningful is too grand a vision for your company? What would happen if you started to rethink the work your organization does from the perspective of how to make it meaningful to the people to do it?

What can Your Culture Learn from Slime Molds?

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

I did a podcast today on self-organization. There are a few companies whose leadership is not afraid of the employees they hire and they actually encourage their employees to think for themselves and for the company.

Mortgages & Foreclosures – Oh My!

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

This whole mortgage topic has seemed to be forgotten by the press but the legacy from 2008 roars on. Because the intent/purpose of the systems we’ve created are all about money we have missed the real issues and been blind to obvious solutions.

Role of Money on Public Policy

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

John Robert’s ruling on the Healthcare issue opens up the ability of states to resist federal requirements that they spend money on: disabled children’s education, poor peoples health (Medicaid), and other programs designed to ensure a healthy, educated population. Robert’s ruling raised the specter of federal forcing states to do things that they wish not to do.

Is Your Culture One of Promise or Catastrophe?

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

We think of natural selection as the mechanism of Darwin’s theory of evolution, but it is at work in our organizations as well. It starts with hiring, when hiring mangers or the Human Resources department looks for ‘fit.’ In trying to find someone who will ‘fit’ in with the culture or with their perspective manager

Natural Selection and Your Company

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

In nature natural selection is a process that is seen as something that increases what works by eliminating that which doesn’t work. In nature what ‘works’ is what can survive to reproduce. How does that apply to business and specifically to your organization?

Corporate Social Responsibility Wave of the Future?

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

I was going through the website for the 2011 Corporate Citizenship Conference and the various video clips submitted by organizations on their corporate citizenship projects. Corporations are going all over the world to help people in developing nations in all sorts of ways. It is heartwarming to see the good that companies can do if they try.

Ethical Culture – Oxymoron?

Posted on April 20, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

For those who are in the compliance game having an ethical culture can be a safety net. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines specify up to $75,000 per infraction. What can save you is having an ethical culture.

How Important is Culture to You?

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

One of the biggest hurdles leaders have to get over is learning to hire effectively. Most people hand the responsibility off to the human resources department and pray. This is a bad idea for many reasons.

Reciprocity – What We Miss by Hording

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Kathryn Alexander

When I talk to people about reciprocity as a value they rarely know what I mean. When I ask, people will say it means give and take, a sort of mutual exchange. Yes it does, but those definitions do not do it justice. Reciprocity is a natural value, one that is inherent in nature.