I am wondering about the importance of enthusiasm in the workplace. As Goethe has said: “In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm… in the real world all rests on perseverance.” I have seen the strength of enthusiasm in teams – that kick of positivity and the will to move on, the ‘yes’ disposition – these can be very helpful to maintaining momentum and motivation. Read More
Teams that utilise conflict in their decision making processes consistently outperform those that focus on cohesion. That’s because when ideas are still being developed or decisions still being considered, criticism and conflict are vital to testing the value of ideas and helping increase that value. Read More
Great teams that achieve great things need great leaders. The OzTrain Leadership Dream Team program is designed to develop the practice of your leadership team to enable them to foster high performance in others. The program is delivered in-house, which means you can customise it to suit your specific needs and interests. So, if your leadership team is ready to go from good to great, give us a call on (08) 8100 2800 or email us at oztrain@oztrain.com.au today. Read More
Article worth reading:Everything You Thought You Knew About Teamwork Is Wrong http://www.businessinsider.com/5-reasons-everything-you-know-about-teamwork-is-wrong-2013-3 Read More
I recently had the privilege of preparing a group of senior teachers from the Barossa for their role as mentors to early career teachers in their region. One of the ideas explored that created a lot of discussion was that we respond more positively to people who are optimistic thinkers and that help us create positive images of our future. Appreciative inquiry (AI) taps into this ideal by providing conversation guideposts that focus on identifying and building on strengths (what’s working well) rather than weaknesses (what’s broken that needs fixing). AI was first developed in the mid-1980s by David Cooperrider and has evolved over time to include five key stages: Read More
Fran Turner, the Manager for ICT Strategy at the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure sent me the link to the Harvard blog today. It has a sound message about making teams a place where you can really talk about how you are travelling. Without it, the article suggests, you can’t really be a high performing team. Thanks Fran for a great reflection piece. Read the article here. Read More