Scott Simmerman
Some fun illustrated business haiku on how things really work in most organizations, using Square Wheels cartoons and other images
Teamwork just might happen on its own when people are faced with a challenge. Well, probably not. One is actually much more likely to see competition and each individual working in their own best interests. A lack of teamwork is costly. One should expect only a little collaboration between groups and a lot of crashing,...
There are issues with pushing the wagon and with pulling the wagon and also issues with smoking. But, I wonder which of these is actually worse for one's health. Ya think?
Don't Just DO something, Stand There!
And go find some Round Wheels. For tools and toolkits, visit us here, Do cartoons, not cigarettes, For...
Daylight Savings Time is called "Spring Forward" but the reality is that not much springs and not much improves that day, or any other day!
Here is a cute one about motivation that comes from continuous improvement: Sure can be fun out there! See our toolkit on Manager as Motivator, a Square Wheels-based training package For the FUN of It! Dr. Scott Simmerman is a designer of team building games and organization improvement tools.
Small Moments of Beauty: Here are two nice haiku around the issue of the value of making changes to improve your workplace and the gratification that comes from making such changes. DO note that the change may sometimes go unrecognized by others but does that really matter? After all, Intrinsic motivation is intrinsic!
Intrinsic motivation is the most powerful framework for implementing change and continuous continuous improvement. The round wheels are already in the wagon and change is incremental. Two poems.
Making progress in any initiative is taking steps forward. Often, it is about working with others and being led on the journey. One often needs peer support, good systems and processes to manage transactions, and the knowledge of desired outcomes. Motivation comes from being involved and engaged, having clear expectations, and being aligned to the...
I commonly and often say, "The Square Wheels are everywhere..." when it comes to happenings around customer service. Here are a few haiku on teamwork, change, generating perspective and celebrating performance improvement
It's the dawn of a new day and one arises thinking that new ways of getting things done just might be possible: And we all know the importance of communicating about ideas for improvement: But the reality of day after day, week after week, month after month has really taken its toll. A resignation is in order
The Square Wheels wagon rolls forward. Not smoothly, but it rolls... There are all sorts of issues and frameworks and anchors to how things really work, but this one should help explain a bit about the issues around engagement and motivation: With this as your view, and the isolation of the thumps and bumps by...
Teams and teamwork and team building. A pretty funny thing that seems so simple but that involves so many bits and pieces. Teams want to form naturally. Put a group of four or five people together and give them a challenge and teamwork often results in a collective problem solving initiative.
It IS a rat race at times, although one seldom hears those words these days. Rat Race. Guess it is partly because people don't watch rats race much any more and horses and greyhounds only go around once before they hit their finish line. On the other hand, when I was growing up, we used...
Finally, enough was enough and the performers found that the pin had actually HIT the balloon and all things went "POP!" That happens, you know. But I guess the good news is that they care enough to care. That is not always true with people. Maybe that loud POP was simply a signal that you...
The painter sees a different reality than what presently exists. It is a caterpillar no longer in thought. You can read a LOT more about Teaching the Caterpillar to Fly by clicking on this image below and going to my other blog on people and performance: You can see a collection of thoughts and haiku...
I started doing a whole big bunch of haiku poems for business process improvement. This is one of the first. I'm having fun with these. And if you want to embellish or improve, have at it in the comments. If you have a specific cartoon you want to poem, send me an email and I...
Playing with some comments on Dan Rockwell's blog with talk of courage and change and I thought to pop up a Haiku on the theme. Change is about choice. Without change, little happens. The good news is that if little happens, fear is minimized. But then, so are results and improvements, along with intrinsic motivation...
Scott is Managing Partner of Performance Management Company and the developer of the Square Wheels toolkits and team building exercises like The Search for The Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine.
