Daughter Tara, while a high school senior, came home one weeknight after I’d turned in and typed out a note on my laptop. This is exactly how it looked and read: “Dad, I’m sorry for not calling to let you know I wouldn’t be home by ten. I understand things like this can take away the trust you have in me. I won’t even make excuses, because I know I need to have Personal Accountability!” I remember thinking, Wow, great note....

When speaking to a group, I've found the statement above often causes the audience to spontaneously clap. Dare I say I've even heard an "Amen!" or two. Why does this idea of hiring the person and not the label bestowed upon them by a college or university touch a nerve in people? Maybe because they know our organizations have gotten something out of whack in the hiring—and the promoting—process. That possibly we're missing...

A CiCi's Pizza guest speaks:Traveling through Ohio, we were, as usual with two little ones in tow, running late. Nothing seemed to be going right. We had promised our three-year-old that we would stop at CiCi's Pizza in Marion, Ohio, but heavy traffic and waiting for an accident to clear had put us hours behind schedule. It was 11PM when we arrived at the restaurant. The lights were off and they appeared closed. We were tir...

One of the many Miller daughters is now a barista with a large coffee house chain. What a fine organization they are. Great benefits. Decent pay. Good work environment. Fun culture. The company is successful beyond the founder's wildest dreams, I'm sure. But none of that matters to a teenager working her first job and experiencing her first boss. High school senior, Molly, came to work on a Tuesday at 3:30pm, expecting to...

I've been in the training industry since 1986 and have heard many discussions about organizational "culture" — and lots of definitions of what it is: "The way we do things." "Shared values." "Accepted norms of behavior." "How we talk to and treat each other." I don't know what the right definition is, but one exercise we at QBQ, Inc. like to take teams through is to allow them to describe their current culture — let...

I bumped into Dr. Ron Veatch, a well known psychologist in Denver, CO, at the airport. He was coming home as I was leaving town. I asked, "Ron, where've you been?" He said, "I attended a psychology conference out east." I was surprised, as this man is terrific at what he does, been in the field for many years, and knows his stuff. But, he's a life-long learner, so I said, "Great! What'd you learn?" Ron replied, "Nothin'!" T...

People do not come to work to fail. How do you feel about that statement? Agree? Challenged by it? Wondering what it means? In our work at QBQ, Inc., we find that the most effective people managers live by this belief. Holding this close to one's heart enhances our view of the people we manage and thus enables us to be more effective managers. Essentially, it means the QBQ! (The Question Behind the Question) Manager...