Why Is the Soft Side the Hardest Part?

Why Is the Soft Side the Hardest Part?
Author: William D. Mayo
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2011-10-20
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1463474385

Many managers thrive on overseeing budgets and paperwork, but theyre intimidated when it comes to communicating, listening, and being diplomatic. These skills are often seen as side dishes to the real meat of business, but in private, veteran managers will tell you that these soft-side skills matter the most. William D. Mayo, who served his country in the U.S. Navy for nine years before spending almost thirty years at Caterpillar Inc., helps you master soft-side skills that will boost results at your business or organization. Learn how to: achieve more while experiencing less stress; speak the truth without apologyespecially when dealing with employees; and deploy a people-centric philosophy rooted in courage, service, love, and authenticity to unleash the power of people. Mayo weaves in lessons from his experiences as an executive officer of a ship, a battalion commander for more than nine hundred recruits and senior noncommissioned officers, and an executive at one of Americas industrial giants and most admired companies so you can master soft-side skills that will boost performance.

The Hard and Soft Sides of Change Management

The Hard and Soft Sides of Change Management
Author: Kathryn Zukof
Publisher: Association for Talent Development
Total Pages: 479
Release: 2021-03-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1950496880

Change isn’t going anywhere. Learn how to manage it. We live in a wild world of volatility, unpredictability, chaos, and ambiguity, with change seemingly as the only constant. Change can be difficult. It often induces resistance, panic, and fatigue. And, as you may expect or have experienced first-hand, many organizations aren’t handling change all that well, with many efforts resulting in failure. What you may not realize, however, is that some workplace change initiatives are stunning successes, rolling out smoothly and more easily embraced. Why do some change initiatives fail while others succeed? How can organizations and employees handle change better? In The Hard and Soft Sides of Change Management, Kathryn Zukof offers practices and approaches to help you and your organization roll out, receive, and manage change effectively. Namely, Zukoff shows that you need to manage the process (or the “hard”) side and the people (or the “soft”) side of change and find the sweet spot between the two. She demonstrates that when you integrate both sides, you and your organization can make change less of a hit-or-miss affair. Successful change management means deploying sound project management techniques that increase the odds of achieving the outcomes of your change initiative. It also means helping employees understand the need and vision for change, so they feel less threatened by it and become excited and energized by what’s ahead. To deliver best results, you need to: Define the change and how to get there—with project charters and plans. Involve the right people in the right ways—from dedicated change teams to affected stakeholders. Build support, understanding, and awareness—with communication, training, and resistance management plans. Assess progress and adjust along the way—through action reviews and steps to tackle thorny issues. Capturing the inherently messy nature of workplace change—from technology implementations, mergers and acquisitions, and business transformations to office relocations and more—this book offers tangible insights to help you and your organization tackle change challenges. Follow the book’s tools and practices to lessen the messy and objectionable parts of change and actively give your change initiatives the best chance for positive outcomes.

Motivation, Beliefs, and Organizational Transformation

Motivation, Beliefs, and Organizational Transformation
Author: Raymond T. Butkus
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 224
Release: 1999-06-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0313004382

Why does management encounter people problems whenever organizations attempt to change? Green and Butkus say this occurs because organizations overlook one of the most critical problems of change: how employees react it emotionally. Change is not about work processes or information systems alone. It is also about what people believe and feel—emotions such as anger, anxiety, confusion, and fear. Yet managers are usually unaware of these things,and those who are aware usually lack skills to manage these emotions effectively. They tend to rely on traditional incentive systems, which usually do not work. What does work? The one approach that has been applied consistently with positive results is Green's belief system of motivation and performance. Green and Butkus show how the belief system helps to bring negative feelings and convictions to the surface. They provide ways to identify the underlying emotional problems and find effective solutions. The belief system works, say the authors, because it goes directly to the source of the problem—employees themselves—to discover why motivation and performance problems occur and what can be done to solve them. This book describes applications of the belief system in a variety of work situations, including a recent effort at organizational transformation with AT&T's Business Communications Services (BCS) Division. It outlines in detail the process that BCS used to implement the belief system, starting at the highest management levels and cascading down to the organization's front lines. With a clear exposition of the belief system's theoretical underpinnings and nuts-and-bolts methods, Green and Butkus provide executive decision makers and planners throughout the organization with critical insights into the pitfalls in the implementation process and workable guidance on how to avoid them.

Books in the Digital Age

Books in the Digital Age
Author: John B. Thompson
Publisher: Polity
Total Pages: 481
Release: 2005-03-25
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0745634788

The book publishing industry is going through a period of profound and turbulent change brought about in part by the digital revolution. What is the role of the book in an age preoccupied with computers and the internet? How has the book publishing industry been transformed by the economic and technological upheavals of recent years, and how is it likely to change in the future? This is the first major study of the book publishing industry in Britain and the United States for more than two decades. Thompson focuses on academic and higher education publishing and analyses the evolution of these sectors from 1980 to the present. He shows that each sector is characterized by its own distinctive ‘logic’ or dynamic of change, and that by reconstructing this logic we can understand the problems, challenges and opportunities faced by publishing firms today. He also shows that the digital revolution has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the book publishing business, although the real impact of this revolution has little to do with the ebook scenarios imagined by many commentators. Books in the Digital Age will become a standard work on the publishing industry at the beginning of the 21st century. It will be of great interest to students taking courses in the sociology of culture, media and cultural studies, and publishing. It will also be of great value to professionals in the publishing industry, educators and policy makers, and to anyone interested in books and their future.

A Whack on the Side of the Head

A Whack on the Side of the Head
Author: Roger von Oech
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2024-05-07
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 153876721X

The hugely bestselling creativity classic with “lasting appeal,” A Whack on the Side of the Head is now available in an updated and revised edition, inspiring readers to unlock their creative thinking with thought-provoking examples, famous historical anecdotes, mind-bending puzzles, and so much more (New York Times)! For more than four decades, A Whack on the Side of the Head has been a consistent leader in stimulating creativity and innovation. Translated into over twenty languages, Roger von Oech’s bestselling classic is back—and better than ever! Completely revised, enlarged, and supercharged with new ideas, this definitive edition offers more stories and exercises to bring its famous innovation boosters to a new generation. Learn how to overcome the ten biggest mental locks and unleash your full creative potential. Use the four roles of the creative process—Explorer, Artist, Judge, and Warrior—to generate and apply new ideas. Exploit the power of discontinuity, constraints, and “playing the Wise Fool” to find the “second right answer”!

After Writing Culture

After Writing Culture
Author: Andrew Dawson
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 294
Release: 2003-12-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134749244

This collection addresses the theme of representation in anthropology. Its fourteen articles explore some of the directions in which contemporary anthropology is moving, following the questions raised by the "writing culture" debates of the 1980s. It includes discussion of issues such as: * the concept of caste in Indian society * scottish ethnography * how dreams are culturally conceptualised * representations of the family * culture as conservation * gardens, theme parks and the anthropologist in Japan * representation in rural Japan * people's place in the landscape of Northern Australia * representing identity of the New Zealand Maori.

I Love You Anyhow

I Love You Anyhow
Author: Marge Thompson
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2014-03-20
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1480905712

This book encourages, instructs and equips its readers to experience the fulfillment of an “I Love You Anyhow” kind of love - a love they can count on even when they mess up. It recounts true stories of dozens who desperately sought meaningful relationships and came up wanting – until they came face-to-face with the principles of this radical “I Love You Anyhow” kind of love. “The book is thoroughly Bible based, complete, well organized and colorful. The stories bring each concept to light in a powerful and practical way….the foundation and development of ideas really stand out… the story is honest, true and inspiring.” Mike Householder, Pastor - church of 10,000 “This book is a must read.... Marge has done a masterful job of compiling the insights and instructions of other authors and weaving them together with God’s Word…a great resource for individual or group study.” Dr. David Groen, POD “Anyone will be captured by the messages and real life stories….an easy read, fascinating, difficult to put down and anxiously calls one back to read further.” Leanne Andreas, Retired Adjunct Professor-AD

Managing Change

Managing Change
Author: Kazuhiko Nakamura
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2023-04-25
Genre: Comics & Graphic Novels
ISBN: 1394176236

CREATE A HIGH-PERFORMING TEAM BY EMPLOYING EFFECTIVE CHANGE MANAGEMENT Do you want to improve your current workplace or organization? Organization Development can teach you what steps you can take to achieve your goals. You’ll follow Chuji, a store manager at an automobile company who’s been sent to a troubled dealership branch and learn from the challenges he faces as he implements a series of managerial changes only to meet resistance and hostility from employees and leaders. You’ll also learn about: How to overcome obstacles and resistance to organizational change How to employ the principles of visibility, communication, and visioning while leveraging the strengths of your team The science of organizational development Managing Change is an indispensable roadmap to effective change management that will help you shift the mindset of your team members from individualism to one focused on the good of the organization and the team as a whole. Find out why the Manga For Success series—now available in English for the first time—is so popular in Japan, Korea, and beyond.

The Transportation Experience

The Transportation Experience
Author: William L. Garrison
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 634
Release: 2014-01-09
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0199389527

The Transportation Experience explores the historical evolution of transportation modes and technologies. The book traces how systems are innovated, planned and adapted, deployed and expanded, and reach maturity, where they may either be maintained in a polished obsolesce often propped up by subsidies, be displaced by competitors, or be reorganized and renewed. An array of examples supports the idea that modern policies are built from past experiences. William Garrison and David Levinson assert that the planning (and control) of nonlinear, unstable processes is today's central transportation problem, and that this is universal and true of all modes. Modes are similar, in that they all have a triad structure of network, vehicles, and operations; but this framework counters conventional wisdom. Most think of each mode as having a unique history and status, and each is regarded as the private playground of experts and agencies holding unique knowledge, operating in isolated silos. However, this book argues that while modes have an appearance of uniqueness, the same patterns repeat: systems policies, structures, and behaviors are a generic design on varying modal cloth. In the end, the illusion of uniqueness proves to be myopic. While it is true that knowledge has accumulated from past experiences, the heavy hand of these experiences places boundaries on current knowledge; especially on the ways professionals define problems and think about processes. The Transportation Experience provides perspective for the collections of models and techniques that are the essence of transportation science, and also expands the boundaries of current knowledge of the field.