Creating Experience-Driven Organizational Culture


Book Description

An incisive and hands-on discussion of how to transform your organization's project management culture into a strategic capability In Creating Experience-Driven Cultures:How to Drive Transformational Change with Project and Portfolio Management, distinguished business strategist and execution expert Dr. Al Zeitoun delivers an exciting and insightful discussion of how to set up your organization to achieve excellence by building an experience-driven culture. The author expands on the proven 10 pillars of success set out in his previous work, Project Management Next Generation: The Pillars for Organizational Excellence, covering each of the 21st century skills your teams need to have to enhance the experiences of stakeholders. He also builds on the principles captured and analyzed in his work: Program Management: Going beyond Project Management to enable Value-Driven Change. Readers will find: A thorough design of the adaptable future dynamic and adaptable future organization Comprehensive explorations of the success ingredients to creating a culture of innovation that drives transformative change Practical discussions of how project portfolio management skills have evolved and what the future holds for the role of project and portfolio leaders The human connection necessary for the inspiring leaders to achieve balance in the digitally fluent AI era In-depth treatments of the continued evolution of the project impact muscle and project management offices in an agile and fast-moving marketplace Perfect for managers, executives, entrepreneurs, founders, and other business leaders, Creating Experience-Driven Cultures will also benefit program and project management professionals, executive sponsors, team leaders, students in project and program management courses, and product team members interested in the future of project and change management.




The Culture Engine


Book Description

An organizational "North Star," codifying valued behaviors for optimal performance The Culture Engine shows leaders how to create a high performing, values aligned culture through the creation of an organizational constitution. With practical step-by-step guidance, readers learn how to define their organization's culture, delineate the behaviors that contribute to greater performance and greater engagement, and draft a document that codifies those behaviors into a constitution that guides behavior towards an ideal: a safe, inspiring workplace. The discussion focuses on people, including who should be involved at the outset and how to engage employees from start to finish, while examples of effective constitutions provide guidance toward drafting a document that can actualize an organization's potential. Culture drives everything that happens in an organization day to day, including focus, priorities, and the treatment of employees and customers. A great culture drives great performance, and can help attract and retain great talent. But a great culture isn't something that evolves naturally. The Culture Engine is a guide to strategically planning a culture by compiling the company's guiding principles and behaviors into an organizational constitution. Decide which behaviors and attitudes are desired in the organization Secure leader commitment to planning, drafting, and implementing the document Learn the most effective way to socialize the draft statement and get everyone on board Model desired behaviors to boost employee engagement throughout the process Organizational culture is not an amorphous thing – it comes down from the top, inspired and exemplified by the leadership. It can steer a company up or down, keep it on mission or force it off-course. For an organization to fulfill its potential, the culture must be on-point, truly reflecting the heart of the company from leaders to team members across the company. The Culture Engine helps leaders define the playing field, pushing performance to the next level.




Experience-Driven Leader Development


Book Description

This book is written for human resource, organization development, and training professionals who need real-world best practices that show who actual workplace learning approaches work and how they can be applied. Co-published with the acclaimed Center for Creative Leadership, this important book offers a compendium of best practices, tools, techniques, processes, and other resource resources to harness the developmental power of work experiences for leadership development. In addition the book includes illustrative case studies of leadership approached that have worked in such forward thinking organizations as Boeing, Microsoft, and Heineken.




The Art and Adventure of Leadership


Book Description

For the first time, a top leadership scholar and a top leadership practitioner explore the true duties, demands, and privileges of leadership. Intellectual sparks flew when Warren Bennis, the “father” of modern leadership studies and Steven B. Sample, one of the most accomplished university presidents in recent history, came together for candid explorations of the forces that shape successful leaders and unsuccessful ones. The Art and Adventure of Leadership, their final collaboration, reveals the profound insights that the authors gained together over the 16 years in which they co-taught one of the most popular leadership courses in America. Here, each brings his own distinct vantage point as they address the mechanics and mysteries of leadership. The result is a unique examination of the journey of great leaders from momentary setbacks to ultimate success. It offers profound lessons on what determines the difference between failure and redemption for leaders. And it illuminates important and overlooked dimensions of great leaders ranging from Winston Churchill to Steve Jobs. Together, they explore why: A mature leader must grasp when it’s healthy to risk failure, and when failure can’t be tolerated at any cost Leadership isn’t for everyone and requires a particular set of skills and competencies that are often glossed over in most management literature To succeed in an uncertain and fast-changing world, a shrewd leader must understand which aspects of human society change—and which aspects never change A mature, wise leader must seek a balance between high-minded ideals and the gritty realities and compromises that leaders face in their daily lives Above all, meaningful leadership remains a matter of character With incredible insight, this book examines why George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other giants were able to recover from failures, learn resilience, and prepare themselves for their moments of destiny. In so doing, it demonstrates and helps cultivate the leadership skills that you need to create your own most meaningful legacy. The Art and Adventure of Leadership is a unique look at leadership, and a critical resource for the leaders of tomorrow.




The Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience Excellence


Book Description

"Top Ten Business Books For 2017" - Forbes The fully revised and updated edition of the classic book about Nordstrom's extraordinary customer service In this new edition of the management classic, the authors explore in-depth the core values of the culture that have made Nordstrom synonymous with legendary customer service. These essential values have enabled Nordstrom to survive and adapt to dramatic market shifts regularly since 1901, and the new edition explains how the Nordstrom approach can be emulated by any organization—in any industry—in every corner of the world. This is not a book about selling shoes or clothes or cosmetics or jewelry. It is a book about how underlying values such as respect, trust, compensation and, even fun, are the building blocks of a culture where employees are empowered to consistently deliver a world-class experience to customers. Nordstrom believes that the employee experience determines the customer experience, and that when you attract and reward people who are comfortable in a service-oriented culture, then everyone succeeds—both individually and collectively. No wonder Nordstrom is one of only five companies to make Fortune's "Best Companies to Work For" and "Most Admired" lists every year since those surveys have been taken. With new interviews from senior Nordstrom executives and family members, the book explains how to successfully respond to today's tech-savvy, time-crunched customers who demand a convenient, seamless, painless, personal experience across all channels. Nordstrom gives its frontline people all the digital tools necessary to satisfy the customer—and your organization must do the same, if it wants to adapt. The authors show what it takes to earn brand loyalty, lead through change and uncertainty, and combine extraordinary brick-and-mortar with online experiences. 'The single most important reason we try to provide great service is this: It enables us to sell more,' says co-president Blake Nordstrom, great-grandson of the founder. 'The best way for our company to achieve results is to do what's best for the customer.' In this book, readers will find: Suggestions for becoming the Nordstrom of your industry The ten values that define a customer-driven culture Lessons for providing superior service and experience across all channels




Culture Hacker


Book Description

HACK YOUR WORKPLACE CULTURE FOR GREATER PROFITS AND PRODUCTIVITY "I LOVE THIS BOOK!" —CHESTER ELTON, New York Times bestselling author of All In and What Motivates Me "When companies focus on culture, the positive effects ripple outward, benefiting not just employees but customers and profits. Read this smart, engaging book if you want a practical guide to getting those results for your organization." —MARSHALL GOLDSMITH, executive coach and New York Times bestselling author "Most books on customer service and experience ask leaders to focus on the customer first. Shane turns this notion on its head and makes a compelling case why leaders need to make 'satisfied employees' the priority." —LISA BODELL, CEO of Futurethink and author of Why Simple Wins "This is a must read for anyone in a customer service-centric industry. Shane explains the path to creating both satisfied customers and satisfied employees." —CHIP CONLEY, New York Times bestselling author and hospitality entrepreneur The question is not, "does your company have a culture?" The question is, "does your company have a culture that fosters outstanding customer experiences, limits employee turnover, and ensures high performance?" Every executive and manager has a responsibility to positively influence their workplace culture. Culture Hacker gives you the tools and insights to do it with simplicity and style. Culture Hacker explains: Twelve high-impact hacks to improve employee experience and performance How to delight and retain a multi-generational workforce The factors determining whether or not your employees deliver outstanding customer service




What Great Brands Do


Book Description

Discover proven strategies for building powerful, world-class brands It's tempting to believe that brands like Apple, Nike, and Zappos achieved their iconic statuses because of serendipity, an unattainable magic formula, or even the genius of a single visionary leader. However, these companies all adopted specific approaches and principles that transformed their ordinary brands into industry leaders. In other words, great brands can be built—and Denise Lee Yohn knows exactly how to do it. Delivering a fresh perspective, Yohn's What Great Brands Do teaches an innovative brand-as-business strategy that enhances brand identity while boosting profit margins, improving company culture, and creating stronger stakeholder relationships. Drawing from twenty-five years of consulting work with such top brands as Frito-Lay, Sony, Nautica, and Burger King, Yohn explains key principles of her brand-as-business strategy. Reveals the seven key principles that the world's best brands consistently implement Presents case studies that explore the brand building successes and failures of companies of all sizes including IBM, Lululemon, Chipotle Mexican Grill, and other remarkable brands Provides tools and strategies that organizations can start using right away Filled with targeted guidance for CEOs, COOs, entrepreneurs, and other organization leaders, What Great Brands Do is an essential blueprint for launching any brand to meteoric heights.




Organizational Culture and its Impact on Continuous Improvement in Manufacturing


Book Description

Organizational Culture and its Impact on Continuous Improvement in Manufacturing presents detailed insights into recent studies, providing solutions that can be scaled up at a global level.




Journey to the Emerald City


Book Description

Connors and Smith explore the direct link between a company's culture and the results it produces, providing a program to transform entrenched patterns into potent new ways of being and doing. Getting to the core of why people work as they do is a dynamic process demanding that leaders take control of the culture to create experiences that foster beliefs, drive actions, and produce the ultimate competitive advantage. Filled with success stories, the book introduces a step by step model to help people at any level of the organization take action that will alter the company's belief system in order to produce the desired results.




The Customer-Driven Culture: A Microsoft Story


Book Description

If you’re striving to make products and services that your customers will love, then you’ll need a customer-driven organization. As companies transform their businesses to meet the demands of the digital age, they find themselves grappling with uniquely human challenges. Organizational knowledge becomes siloed, employees move to safeguard their expertise, and customer data creates polarization and infighting between teams. All of these challenges widen the distance between the people who make your products and the customers who use them. To meet today’s challenges, companies need to do more than build processes for customer-driven products. They need to create a customer-driven culture. With the help of his friend and mentor Monty Hammontree, Travis Lowdermilk takes readers through the cultural transformation of the Developer Division at Microsoft. This book shows readers how to "hack" their culture and reduce the distance between them and their customers’ needs. It’s a uniquely personal story that’s told amidst a cultural revolution at one of the largest software companies in the world. This story acts as your guide. You’ll learn how to: Establish a Common Language: Help employees change their thinking and actions Build Bridges, Not Walls: Treat product building as a team sport Encourage Learning Versus Knowing: Help your team understand their customers Build Leaders That Build Your Culture: Showcase star employees to inspire others Meet Teams Where They Are: Make it easy for teams to to adopt vital behavior changes Make Data Relatable: Move beyond numbers and focus on empathizing with customers