“Great moments are born from great opportunity.” Family businesses often do not recognize great opportunity. We get satisfied, but what is satisfied? In today’s business each unit must practice continuous improvement. Success can be a reality. Be careful its effects are temporary. Often in small business, Family Owned Business, Women owned businesses and even big [Continue Reading]
Rites, Rituals and Routines
Leaders need to teach routines, create the rites and rituals appropriate for their organization. In 1975, a young, inexperienced second lieutenant reported to the 1st Armored Division in West Germany. The Division headquarters were in Ansbach with brigade units in the neighboring towns of Bamberg, Illesheim, Fürth (Nuremberg), Schwabach, Katterbach, Crailsheim, Erlangen, and Zirndorf. [Continue Reading]
Open Doors and Unintended Consequences
Family owned businesses need to be cautious of unintended consequences. Often a shoot from the hip great idea has many, many ramifications. In the social sciences, unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and intended by a purposeful action. The term was popularized in the twentieth century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton Unintended consequences can [Continue Reading]
In the Out of Hiring and Employee Retention
Recently we attended a manufacturers roundtable in the 3rd largest city in Tennessee. Every company at the table some 30 + were hiring and struggling to find employees. The real issues are multi-sided quandaries. At the top of each column in our analysis are gains and loses. First we realise we are according to [Continue Reading]
Leadership and a Mirror
Bill Hybels talks about 360 leadership. Leading those above, those who work for you and those on an even par. Austin McCann wrote in his blog, “In leadership, the hardest person to lead is not other people, but it is ourselves. We can see that even Paul faced the frustration of trying to lead [Continue Reading]
What’s the Cause? Family Business and Physics share the same laws.
Did you ever consider that some of the laws of physics, thermodynamics apply to Family businesses. Let’s consider a few laws of physics, you remember your quantum physics right? The three that effect Family Businesses: Hawthorne effect, a form of reactivity in which subjects modify an aspect of their behavior, in response to their knowing that [Continue Reading]
Family Business: Generativity Vs. Stagnation
In Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development, generativity is a struggle against stagnation that ascends during adulthood. Generativity in the psychosocial sense refers to the concern for establishing and guiding the next generation and is said to stem from a sense of optimism about humanity. Last week we had another one of those, I [Continue Reading]
Character, Competence and Chemistry in Family Owned Business
Recently the NCAA basketball season ended, both the Men’s and the Women’s champions have legendary coaches. Listening to the stories and the coaches; one had to ask. How do you win so often? What does it take to make a leader? Are there lessons a family business could learn from these two coaches? It takes [Continue Reading]
3 Thoughts on Object Permanence in your Family Business Culture
Standards in the Family Business Jean Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called “genetic epistemology”. One of Piaget’s theories discusses objective permanence. Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be observed [Continue Reading]
Standards Become Culture in Family Business
Standards are how we perform, where we are and what we hold ourselves and others accountable. In many organizations, employees must meet standards of professional behavior as a condition of employment. These standards help an organization create a respectful working environment for everyone. If you learn the standards that govern your workplace, you can ensure that [Continue Reading]