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A Natural Systems Approach to Reducing Workplace Anxiety
One of the fundamental principles I bring to my consulting practice is that people are better able to solve problems and think creatively when they are less anxious. In an article based on my dissertation research, I explain how this idea fits with neuroscience research–that cognitive impairment, which translates into poor problem solving and reduced […]
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Holding People Accountable
What does it mean to hold people accountable in the workplace? Must a person be in a position of authority–a manager or a supervisor to hold another person accountable for his or her actions? It is certainly important for people in leadership roles to hold employees accountable for fulfilling their job duties. However, holding people […]
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Project Management and Organizational Change
The Project Management Institute has published Managing Change in Organizations: A Practice Guide. This guide, which a staff member at a client organization brought to my attention applies project, program, and portfolio management practices to change management in organizations. The goal of the guide is to increase the effectiveness of change management in organizations. Of […]
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Why I am “pro” rather than “anti”
About the same time that I proposed to use an Appreciative Inquiry approach for strategic planning with a new client, Chris Bourg wrote a piece about anti-harassment policies at conferences for her blog, Feral Librarian. Chris advised other libraries to join Stanford in encouraging staff members to look at whether a conference has an anti-harassment […]
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Fiddling While Rome Burns
The heated debates prompted by the recent announcement that University Librarian, Karin Wittenborg has changed the status for new librarians at the University of Virginia from faculty to staff strike me as fiddling while Rome burns. Those who advocate for faculty status for librarians working in academic settings cite the importance of librarians participating in […]
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Innovative Organizational Design in Academic Libraries
Academic library leaders seek new organizational models to support the agility and experimentation needed to respond to an environment characterized by disruptive technological change. While some libraries have created new departments or units within their organizations to focus on digital library development or scholarly publishing, these new endeavors remain situated in traditional 19th century hierarchical […]
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Structural Obstacles to Effective Digital Preservation Practice
Last week, I had the privilege of attending iPRES 2012 in Toronto. The conference was replete with case studies and research reports detailing the state of the digital preservation field. A number of presentations provided strong evidence for progress in web archiving and frameworks for understanding data curation, as well as development of tools and […]
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Logo Conveys Consulting Practice Purpose–To Enable Organizations to Realize Potential
I am thrilled with the new logo design the talented designer Justin Rands created for me. Derived from the photo of inflating hot air balloons on my web site banner, the logo conveys movement and growth. My consulting practice adds value to organizations by bringing an outside perspective to help break out of patterns that stand in the way […]
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Consulting Services that Meet Client Needs
Last week, at a conference, a colleague asked me, “What differentiates your services from those that other consultants offer?” It didn’t take me long to respond. I pride myself on tailoring services to meet client needs rather than leading with a particular technical solution. Like the organization development consultants I studied in my dissertation research, […]
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Application of Bowen Theory to Organization Development Practice
At the end of May, I presented a summary of my dissertation findings to my dissertation committee and fellow Fielding Graduate University students. This event is called the Final Oral Review (FOR). My FOR was a webinar–but we had some technical difficulties, and the session was not recorded. I wanted to be able to share […]