One of the critically acclaimed films that I’ve heard quite alot about over the past several months, is The Interrupters. Part of the RWJF funded CeaseFire Chicago project, the film looks at preventing violence through the lens of public health. How awesome is that? Violence as a disease. Brilliant. Here’s a video of one ofRead… Read more »
As organizations become more complicated, success can often be tied to the degree to which an organization is responsive to customers. This generally happens on the front line. So empowering front line managers to solve problems without going up through the chain of command is an important leadership strategy. The September 2011 issue of theRead… Read more »
Adam Grant writes in the June 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review that research shows that customers themselves are “surprisingly effective in motivating people to work harder, smarter, and more productively.” I’ve seen this phenomenon at work in government, as well as in private industry. I remember the story of a Virginia state trooper whoRead… Read more »
Bob Stone, the head of Vice President Gore’s reinventing government initiative, focused his attention on what was going on at the front line. He said helping them understand and get their jobs done was the most important activity of a leader. That insight led to the creation of both Hammer Awards and Reinvention Labs asRead… Read more »