Art Petty, Author at Management Excellence by Art Petty

Improve Strategy and Execution Planning with Project Management Practices

The application of professional project management practices to the strategic planning and execution program development cycles of an organization can eliminate many of the common pitfalls that derail these programs. While the Project Manager cannot guarantee that the insights and actions developed during strategy are the right ones, he/she can take away the organizational-risk that so often rears its head to doom the best intended initiatives.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:21-05:00November 24th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Sustaining Performance Excellence in Business and in Life

It genuinely bothers me when organizations spend years and untold dollars reinventing themselves and succeeding with a quality framework (i.e. Baldrige or Six Sigma) only to show up in the business press as an organization fighting for survival. Achieving milestones and winning awards helps reinforce the progress on the journey, but leaders at all levels have to foster a culture that is perpetually dissatisfied. The fact is that the market never sleeps, customer issues/needs change constantly and there are always competitors interested in taking your share of the customer’s budge

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:23-05:00November 24th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Managing Resistance to Change

Resistance to Change in corporate life is a very real force, and of course, the bane of existence of the many advocates of change challenging you to put aside your fears and embrace the new way of doing things. You are going to pay for resistance up-front by dealing with it, or your going to pay during the life of the initiative. Some resistance can be overcome through training and education and the rest will only be solved with accountability measures. Proper investment up-front will hopefully minimize the cost and pain as the initiative unfolds.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:24-05:00November 24th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

In Search of the High Performance Team

I regularly poll my seminar participants and MBA students on their team-focused experiences in the workplace and I am consistently surprised when very few report ever being part of something that they would classify as a “high performance” team. The results of my unscientific polling are all the more surprising given that we live during a time when involvement in short-term projects with individuals across functions is a part of the regular work experience of most professionals.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:25-05:00November 11th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|2 Comments

Change or Die

Perhaps it is human nature, but we tend to eschew change either in our personal habits or in business settings until we are faced with mortality. In organizations, most significant change occurs during times of crisis when the threat of extinction sufficiently motivates individuals and groups to consider changing long-standing ways of doing things. The crisis brings into stark focus the fact that it is easier and less costly to accept or embrace change than it is to suddenly become extinct. Unfortunately, by the time this clarity is achieved at the top leadership levels, it is often too late.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:26-05:00November 10th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Does Your Dashboard of Performance Measurements Include a Warning Light?

In discussions and lectures with the up and coming generation of leaders, there is widespread cynicism over the intentions and the capabilities of many of their firm’s senior leaders. There is little faith expressed that their leaders understand their firm’s key drivers and little confidence that the leaders are taking actions and measuring performance based on anything other than preconceived notions of what they think is right. Fewer organizations than you might think are doing anything to engender employee satisfaction…which is ironic given the mountains of data that indicate that employee satisfaction flows through to customer satisfaction and strong financial performance. This current generation of senior leaders is failing, and the very imbalanced scorecard is visible all around us

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:27-05:00November 7th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

Does Your City Government Treat You Like a Customer?

This is my pre-election post on government, and I promise to stay focused on performance and not politics. There’s enough hot air being expended by the candidates and pundits and I don’t need to add to the global warming. However, it does seem like a good time for all of us to evaluate the return we are getting from government and frankly, ask for more. And by more, I don’t mean more money or even more government. I mean quality, performance, results, and yes, even a bit of good old-fashioned customer treatment.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:29-05:00October 31st, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

October 29th Carnival of HR (and much more)

Readers interested in some divergent thinking and great ideas should take a look at the menu of authors and content at the latest Carnival of HR. And don't let the HR headline trick you. This Halloween collection of articles covers diverse topics in leadership, communication, execution, talent development and priceless career advice. Oh, and of course, Dan McCarthy, the host, was nice enough to include my recent attempt to place a quantifiable value on leadership development activities. Check it out, it's definitely a treat.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:30-05:00October 29th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|0 Comments

In Hopeful Praise of the Millennials

’ll opt for the dissenting view on the Millennials. Where others see management headaches, I see fire, creativity, passion, skill and maybe the capacity to face a world that looks very much the worse for our efforts. Maybe, just maybe, this group will earn the label of The Next Greatest Generation. I’m encouraged and hopeful.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:31-05:00October 24th, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|1 Comment

In Search of a Quantifiable Return on Leadership Development

very few months, I run head-on into a discussion with someone (usually a prospective client) about how to value the return from investments in leadership development. The question is not asked as a means of qualifying my services, but rather as a genuine practitioner-to-practitioner inquiry, not dissimilar to what two MDs might talk about with respect to the latest treatment results for an experimental drug program. The person asking knows as well as I do that Return on Leadership Development continues to be an elusive issue that no one has substantively put to rest, and that our best answers are no stronger than impassioned, qualitative opinions.

By Art Petty|2024-08-08T13:48:33-05:00October 22nd, 2008|1,770 Legacy Leadership Caffeine and Management Articles|2 Comments

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