In the spirit of C.A.N.I. (Continuous And Never-ending Improvement), here are this week’s new facts—one for each day of your coming week. Pass them on to others to keep the spirit alive or invite your friends and family to visit our blog where they can also view previous entries.
- Babe Ruth wore a cabbage leaf under his cap to keep him cool! He changed it every two innings!
- Experts say the average person spends 30 years mad at a family member.
- Jupiter is large enough to fit all the planets of the solar system inside it.
- Pepper is the top-selling spice in the world. Mustard is #2.
- The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches by high school graduation.
- There are eight flavors of NECCO wafers: lemon, orange, lime, clove, cinnamon, wintergreen, licorice, and chocolate.
- The average American only knows about 10% of the words in the English language.
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John Paul Kotter is a Harvard Business School professor who is widely regarded as the world’s foremost authority on leadership and change. His is the premier voice on how the best organizations actually “do” change.
Business Week magazine recently shared a comment made by IBM CEO Samuel J. Palmisano who said: “The way you will thrive in this environment is by innovating—innovating in technologies, innovating in strategies, innovating in business models.”
Innovation can and will occur in a wide variety of ways if you’ve created a culture of encouragement and support for creative thinking. Great ideas can and do come from every level of the organization when such a culture does exist. What was once considered a nicety is today a necessity. Are you sending that message to your staff?
One of the most obvious, but often ignored, differences between people is their age. Does a person’s age influence how they respond to a message? Absolutely! While hierarchy, ethnic culture and gender have tended to dominate prior discussions on tailoring communication, research by academics and practitioners on so-called “Generation X” and their successors suggests that when communicating, equal attention ought to be paid to age differences.
There was once a very nice lady who was a little old-fashioned. She was planning a week’s vacation in Wisconsin at a particular campground she hadn’t visited in decades. She decided to write ahead to make certain of the accommodations in advance.
“The last time my wife and I went was six years ago, and it was so crowded we had to stand up the whole time we were there. It may interest you to know that right now there is a supper being planned to raise money to buy more seats. They are going to hold the fund raiser in the basement of the “BC.” I would like to say it pains me very much not to be able to go more regularly, but it is surely no lack of desire on my part. As we grow older, it seems to be more of an effort, particularly in cold weather. If you decide to come to our campground, perhaps I could go with you the first time, sit with you, and introduce you to all the other folks. Remember, this is a friendly community.”
A few years ago, we shared a proven strategy with our clients who found themselves in need of assistance. Of course, we also shared this unique approach with a number of our friends and associates. My friend called to report that he had just returned from working with a client in Arizona. He facilitated a three-day series of successful seminars and, in addition, reduced his total cost to the client by 75%! It was obviously a win-win situation for everyone involved. This type of partnering is essential in today’s challenging environment.
Let’s get right to the point!
By the way, training courses, seminars and workshops don’t work. People do. As a 
There once was a time when most every organization viewed innovation as a priority—something a business must do in order to grow and prosper. In today’s economy, innovation falls into the same category as 
Apple (2008 – #1)
They say “practice makes perfect.” Here’s an interesting exercise that will demonstrate exactly how difficult it is to communicate across generations. While you may find yourself smiling, and even laughing aloud, during this exercise, you’ll also experience a certain level of frustration and maybe the realization that we need much more practice when it comes to this critical skill.
Business Week – 
20SEARCH –