Len Musielak
Want to change your culture? Get in the weeds.

The politics in the middle management level of most organizations is designed to make sure executives don’t really know what the culture is really like. The only way to get past it is to dive into the weeds.

Want to change your culture? Get in the weeds.
Len Musielak
COVID-19: Making the Impossible Possible

When approaching a problem or assessing a new idea, we think of all the ways that something can go wrong, blow up in our faces, or just plain fail. We are too busy trying to predict doom to even see that there is a path to success. It turns out, when we change the question from "Can we...?" to "How do we...?" nothing is impossible. Things can be difficult, inadvisable, or even unreasonable but not impossible. Don't wait for the next crisis to shift your mindset--start now.

COVID-19: Making the Impossible Possible
Len Musielak
Has COVID exposed your short-term results v. ...

The hardest part of planning for the long-term is seeing past the giant dollar sign directly in front of your face. It's huge. It's right there. It says everything is going just fine. It is also blocking your view of the cliff just ahead. COVID's business impact shows us why this is important.

Has COVID exposed your short-term results v. long-term strategy problem?
Len Musielak
Maintaining Your Company Culture with a Remote ...
Len Musielak
How A Product of 1980's Bureaucracy Can Keep ...

I can hear the eyes rolling now. How can a complicated system of surveys—developed at a time when tight rolled jeans, permed hair, and BUM equipment sweaters were in style—possibly help an agile 201x startup stay agile? Well, it can’t. However, the final capability rating is a quick way to evaluate any part of any company on the fly.

How A Product of 1980's Bureaucracy Can Keep Your Business Agile

Leadership

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Ask An Entrepreneur: Shannon Clemonds of Shannon Gail

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Ask An Entrepreneur: Shannon Clemonds of Shannon Gail

For our inaugural Ask An Entrepreneur, I spoke to my good friend Shannon Gail Clemonds owner/operator of Shannon Gail. Shannon Gail is a Chicago-based event planning firm producing 90+ weddings and events per year locally and across the United States. The team is comprised of a unique blend of business and event professionals with backgrounds in finance, marketing, design, venue management, hospitality, and catering and prides itself on being the go-to expert in all areas of event production. In its 10 years of business, the company has continued to set the bar for event management standards and has built an impressive resume of corporate and social clientele. 

Consistency in Delegation

People want to know what is expected of them.    Failure to apply a consistent standard of delegation will deflate morale and inflate indifference.  If your team isn't clear on what they can do, they will do nothing.  Inevitably, prolonged exposure to inconsistent delegation will result in an inefficient organization--you will have to make the final decision on everything from which vendor use for coffee to what color ink is in the pens at the front desk. 

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Do Something: What to do when you can't do anything.

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Do Something: What to do when you can't do anything.

We have all been put in situations beyond our control.  We have all experienced a time where our fate or the fate of our organization rested squarely in the hands of someone or something over which we had no influence or authority. However, in my experience, there is always something you can do to improve the situation for customers.