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Making A Difference – Thoughts, Observations and Opinions
This is Dave Brock’s Blog.
It offers my views on a variety of business, sales, marketing, and leadership topic. My goal is to make a difference for you, the reader, in both your professional and personal lives.
Latest Posts
Globalization—Imposing Our Standards
We work with many organizations in globalization. One of the most common things we encounter is the tendency for the organization to impose its standards and norms on its customers and partners in other regions. American companies want to impose the American ways of doing business wherever they are–Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa. Likewise, companies in other regions do the same thing in entering new geographies.This is a sure formula for failure. To be successful, we need to understand the norms and standards of the region or country and adapt for success. This does not mean sacrificing an organization’s value […]
When People Don’t Want To Change
One of the frustrating things we encounter in helping improve organizational performance is driving change–particularly with people who don’t want to change. Marshall Smith has a great perspective on this in his Harvard Business Review Blog. He says—“Let it go.” “Don’t waste your time.” It’s a good post, take the time to read it: When People Don’t Want To Change.
Investing In Developing Your People
It seems fewer and fewer organizations invest in developing and retaining their people. Too often, people seem to be viewed as commodities. It is great to see executives recognize this and are taking action to improve performance. A client, Sean Harrigan, Senior Vice President of Sales for Laird Technologies, is one of those rare executives. There is a great article about what he is doing in Workforce Management. I’m convinced the strategies Sean is implementing are critical to sustaining performance and growth in any organization.
Keeping Priorities Straight
Reading the New York Times article: Keeping Priorities Straight, Even At The End , I was reminded about the related story I read last Fall. I am inspired by the courage, perspecitve and humor of Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon. Dr. Pausch is dying of Pancreatic Cancer. Last September, he delivered is “final lecture” on Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. I’ve watched the lecture and read the transcript. It is inspirational. It’s not a lecture about cancer or dying, it’s a lecture about living a full life. It’s a fun and genuinely interesting talk, certainly worthwhile reading/watching. The […]
Guilty As Charged
Email is both a wonderful tool and something that can get in the way of effective communications. Too often, we —- I plead guilty in this case —– use email when a direct conversation is more appropriate. Somehow email is so easy, in a few seconds, I can send a missile across the world. I can hit as many targets as choose, then I can run and hide. All of it is too easy, and is probably not great for effective communications. Yesterday, I noticed, I sent a colleague an email message, I got an immediate email response, to which […]
Challenging Idea
I liked this sentiment and thought it important to post: We can change the world by changing how we choose to look at the world. Enough said.