Tag Archives: win – win

Here’s a small wins way to recognise a good job

I met another consultant today who told me about an amazing, small wins leadership practice she witnessed with one of her clients. The leader in question gives her team members a Chupa Chup with a hand-written note when they have done a great job. I love this. It’s fun. Simple. Personal. Timely and Specific. It makes the receiver and the giver feel good — a win -win. Most of all – its a small wins approach to leadership. Leadership is more often about the little things ... Read more

The secret to employee engagement

One of the discoveries of my interest in a small wins approach is the concept of win – win. I noticed in my many examples in this site of successful innovation often involves a win for the customer (e.g. easier, simpler experience) and a win for the brand or business (e.g. increases sales or customer retention). Perhaps the same win – win framework also applies to employee engagement? Many of these types of engagement programs I have seen are skewed one way or the other. There ... Read more

How to lose weight using a small wins approach

I am not a nutritional or health expert. But this is the story of an Australian guy who lost a lot of weight. His name is Gus Worland who happens to be a radio host and TV personality. He also happens to be best mates with Hugh Jackman. When Hugh was last in Australia he apparently said to his mate that he (Gus) was over-weight — and was worried about his health. Gus weighed a mighty 140 kilos at the time. He started on a health and fitness campaign and some 11 months and 30 kilos ... Read more

Here’s how to celebrate success

Remember the school assembly? Lets admit it – sometimes the experience was a bit boring. But on other occasions it was quite inspiring. These were the occasions that the principal recognised specific individual or team achievements. Perhaps leaders can learn from the school assembly about how to celebrate success? Here are my thoughts: Make it regular. – the assembly was every week – no excuses — every monday morning without fail. It’s public – The school ... Read more

How the simple checklist can make a big difference

I had to have a blood test recently and on the wall was a checklist for the nurse. It outlined in a step by step way what the health practitioner should and should not do. As a patient I also liked seeing the checklist because I knew what to expect. It was a win – win. It was a form of quality control and productivity check all rolled into one. Who have have thought the simple checklist could prove so invaluable for process type work. A checklist is a powerful example of a small ... Read more

What are the 3 key higher performance areas?

The aim of the small wins way is to provide a mechanism for leaders and their teams to drive higher performance. The key word here is higher not high. With higher there is no ceiling. It is a continuous journey of reaching a higher performance level that you are at the moment. Then pausing and stretching to achieve a new level. And so on. Even if this new performance level is an increase by 1%. What I like about this approach is that it is accessible to all leaders and teams. And can ... Read more

How to think and work smarter

We have all been told to work smarter not harder. But how do you actually do this? I suspect the starting point is to step back and ask yourself and/or your team a number of questions. The first one is: What is a smarter way to do this? Then work your way through a number of ‘how to’ type questions: Could we for example: – Stop this activity all together? - Can we delegate it? - Have we asked the users (recently) if they still want it? - Can we use technology to help us ... Read more

What is a small wins mindset?

We all like the big idea or a bold dramatic action. Or the big decision or speech. These are often amazing to experience. But they are infrequent and often limited to a few leaders. There is another path to long-term, systematic and sustainable success. It’s called small wins. But it needs a shift in mindset. Fortunately a small wins mindset can be learned and developed. A small wins mindset believes: – It is better to make a start than continue to plan or over-think. In short ... Read more

How a small change in my business card made a big difference

I still have business cards. I know some people have moved on but I still find them useful and in some cultures (e.g. China) essential. A few years ago I changed my title on my card. I became a CIO. Chief Idea Officer. It is amazing to me how many people comment on my title. It stops people and engages them. It even brings a smile to their face. It’s a small change that has a big impact. The new title implies new, different, originality and a slight dose of fun and irreverence. All ... Read more

A key innovative behavior – bouncing

One of the most important innovative behaviours is what I call ‘bouncing.’ It’s when one person has an idea and they bounce it off another person. The concept of bouncing has a long history in creative collaboration. For example: “We’d sit down and say, ‘OK, what are we going to do?’ and we’d just start off strumming and one or the other of us would kick off some kind of idea and then we’d just develop it and bounce off each other.” – Paul McCartney on his ... Read more