The Power of Organizational Narratives Here’s how the story goes. AT&T’s network couldn’t handle the data demands of the iPhone revolution. Apple was sour, and AT&T was disconnected. Discussions were going nowhere. Someone at AT&T had an idea. He suggested to an Apple executive that it might help if, uh… well, maybe Steve Jobs could[…]
This is the first in a series of posts arguing that the role of corporate communications is bigger than even communicators imagine. We’ll explore, together, what it might look like for us to step into that role. First, some facts that are not in dispute: Engaged employees—those investing discretionary effort on the job—create tangible ROI[…]
Some dreary news this week from Gallup, as reported recently in the Sunday New York Times. Americans have never felt worse about work: People of all ages, and across income levels, are unhappy with their supervisors, apathetic about their organizations and detached from what they do. No wonder we’re in a recession. You don’t suppose all that apathy[…]
I get to New York maybe two or three times a year on business. It used to be something I looked forward to, but now I tend to think more about the expense, the noise, and the sore feet than the wonders of the world’s greatest city. And then last week I took my daughter[…]
“You are so in for it. You have no idea.” I hear this a lot these days. Upon learning I’ve got a couple of daughters about to become teens, people I barely know become strangely comfortable projecting their own experiences onto my children. There must be some comfort in universalizing a private hell. I’ve always thought that[…]
Spend enough time in business and you will likely collect a shelf-ful of dusty binders packed with expensive strategic thinking. What do you actually remember from any of them? That has nothing to do with whether the strategy was good or bad. Strategy in a binder is worthless; effective strategy lives in the beliefs and[…]
Chris Guillebeau’s “Art of Non-Conformity” is one of the few blogs I rarely miss, partly because I sort of want to be Chris. Well, not really — but I do want to be a travel hacker someday, and Chris seems to have that down. But to my point: Chris has a great post today on happiness — or,[…]