Business Archives

Ronald A. Heifetz: Preparing for an Adaptive Change

What exactly is an adaptive change? Have you ever introduced a fundamental change to your organization’s processes? How did you communicate it to your team? According to change theorist Ronald A. Heifetz, an adaptive change is a change instituted in response to an “adaptive challenge”—an organizational problem that has no known solutions. Part of your job as an adaptive leader is to prepare people for the change, and the first step to this is to make sure that everyone has an accurate understanding of what the challenge entails and what change is about to come. In this article, we’ll look

How to Initiate Change and Get People Onboard

What can the fable Our Iceberg Is Melting teach you about initiating change? Why do so many people resist change? How can you kickstart change in your organization? In their fable about change, Kotter and Rathgeber discuss the difficulties of initiating change in a company. They discuss the difficulties of convincing others that major change is necessary and what to do when you encounter resistance. Keep reading for advice on how to initiate change in your company or personal life.

8 Keys to Concrete Communication

Why is concrete communication important? How can presenting information in concrete terms make it resonate better? Many ideas fail to stick because they are presented in abstract rather than concrete terms. They are unconnected to specific things that people easily grasp. You need to use concrete communication if you want your message to resonate. Keep reading to learn eight keys to concrete communication.

Getting Through Organizational Conflict: The 8 Steps

Have you ever dealt with conflict at an organizational level? How did it manifest? What was the underlying issue? Surfacing organizational conflict is a sign of unarticulated and unacknowledged differences in values and points of view. It won’t be possible to function effectively until this information comes to light and people understand the conflict’s underlying issues. In this article, we’ll look at eight steps for getting through organizational conflict: how to bring it to light and how to resolve it constructively.

How to Stay True to Your Organizational Purpose

How to Find Your Major Definite Purpose in Life

What is organizational purpose? Do you feel like you often lose sight of your purpose as change gets in the way? Organizational purpose is the grand vision of an organization that pulls its different functions together. Although most businesses will have a purpose, many struggle to stay true to it as circumstances get in the way. There are five techniques to stay true to your and your organization’s orienting purpose as you navigate change.

Why Outside Ideas Are Critical for Dramatic Change

Is your organization in dire need of a change but you don’t know where to start? How can looking to outside sources help expand your options? In the fable Our Iceberg Is Melting, the penguins realize that their iceberg will not survive the winter but they can’t come up with solutions on how to fix it. Only when a seagull pays them a visit do they realize that their best course of action is to leave the iceberg altogether, something they never considered. Here is why outside ideas are crucial when it comes to making big changes.

Tax-Advantaged Accounts: What You Need to Know

What are tax-advantaged accounts? What kind of financial assets should you use a tax-advantaged account for? Tax-advantaged accounts are tax-deferred or tax-exempt. You should use these accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k)s, for holding tax-inefficient assets (e.g. bond funds that generate taxable interest, actively managed stock funds, CDs, and REITs). They pay interest and non-qualified dividends and produce capital gains distributions. Below, we’ll take a look at the basic types of tax-advantaged accounts and their key characteristics.

Beta Risk: How Systemic Risk Yields High Returns

What is a beta risk? What is the difference between systematic vs unsystematic risk? Does this particular kind of risk involve higher premiums? The key characteristic of systematic risk, better known as “beta risk” is that it cannot be diversified away by having a diverse portfolio. And researchers found that because it can’t be diversified away, beta risk is the only kind of risk that pays a “risk premium”—that is, a higher return for the higher risk. Keep reading for more about beta risk, and whether it actually leads to a higher premium.

How to Spread Ideas of Change in an Organization

Does your organization require major changes to stay afloat but others are resisting change? Do you want to know how to convince others about what needs to be done? In their fable about leadership and change, John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber discuss the difficulties of enacting change within an organization. They provide advice on how to slowly spread ideas until most of the members are on board. Here’s how to spread ideas of change within an organization.

How to Build a Network: Be a Giver

Do you want to level up your networking game? What is the key to building strong, personal ties? According to Adam Grant, the author of Give and Take, the key to building a social network is to be a giver. Grant explains that takers and matchers usually have small networks because recipients either feel like they’re being manipulated, or the give-take relationship is a quid pro quo. Givers, on the other hand, grow large networks because they give to many people, not knowing who might be helpful down the road. Keep reading for tips on how to build a network,