Laura’s Winning Ideas

My Haiku for this week’s work:

Tidy piles surround
Storyboards hold intention
Report underway

Shouldn’t all managers write poetry for their team? We need the break from our pace, a moment of thoughfulness. Then we return with a new perspective. (Read on …)

This is a letter to Suzanne, and the entire listserve of Herdomain, one of the oldest listserves in existence. The list suffered tribulations during the presidential election campaigns of 2004, and members were dismayed and considering options for moderating the list, or spliting the community into several lists. My goal was to help them see this as a natural part of our community and accept the bothersome posts just as we all accept that strange cousin at Thanksgiving who no one understands. Examples of client work are often too revealing for publication, so this example is safe ground to demonstrate the principles I use.

Dear Suzanne,

You may now appreciate the synergies necessary to create and sustain a listserv such as Herdomain over these many years.

IMHO, the trick is engagement. How do you find topics that engage the members to join the conversation and/or read the posts? (Read on …)

As some of you know, I’m an avid Swing Dancer. Here in Milwaukee we have the luxury of dancing in the streets at a variety of fairs and festivals all summer long. This item was posted on the Milwaukee Swing Dance forum, CCSwing.com, and outlines for new members how we manage our personal property when we dance in the streets. This is an example of process used to change behavior. Examples from clients are often too revealing, so this is one way I can demonstrate the principles I use.

Dance Stash
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I thought I’d talk about the Dance Rat’s Stash at public venues since we have enough newcomers who may not realize the value of this tip.

When we go to a public venue, and have our bags filled with shoes, water, sweaters, change of shirt, towels, etc., keeping our things safe is a concern since we can�t dance with purses and bags.

The solution is a dance stash: We pick a spot and everyone leaves their things together in the stash.

The keys to a good stash are:

Pick a visible spot. The back of the audience is not a good spot, in front of the stage apron is a good spot. The best stashes allow the audience as well as the dancers on the dance floor to see the stash.

Keep everything tightly together so there is no doubt our bags are together.

Once you have an obvious stash, the entire pile is protected from pilfering. (Read on …)

How do you understand the Millennium Generation? That’s crucial to finding your management voice with them. Here’s a note I sent to help that understanding move forward.

In the movie “Dancing with Wolves,” I’m reminded of the idea that we have established for ourselves a lifestyle that is nonsensical and unsustainable. The Native Americans lived a life that looked poverty stricken to the white men, but it was a life that preserved the connection to the pure joy and love we all strive for. I always come away from these kinds of experiences wondering how to simplify and move our lives closer to that ideal — but struggle with the idea of giving up hot showers every day!

It seems to me that the Millennium generation may be more successful moving toward this ideal than our generation. (Read on …)