Are You in Gear?

In a recent meeting, a colleague quoted his father, “You can only coast when you are going downhill.” I immediately wrote it down because it seemed profound in a folksy kind of way.  In organizations, in fitness, in cycling, and in driving, if you aren’t in gear and moving forward, you’re losing ground.  And taking a breather to coast makes it only harder to resume making progress.
Why are we tempted to coast?
The competition seems to have slowed.  We’re tired of the hard work required to keep moving forward.  We’re feeling burnt out.  Don’t we deserve a little break?
Baldrige 2024
“Baldrige Reimagined” has developed a new award criteria focused on organizations that are role models for resilience and long-term success, with five years or more of sustained high-performance results that clearly outperform the competition and the industry.  A streamlined process aims to make it easier for organizations to apply for the award.  Baldrige applications are due April 11 with site visits announced in June, and Award recipients announced in September.  https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/baldrige-award/award-criteria
Getting Your Second Wind
What can we do to get a second wind?  One way to start coasting is to run out of gas.  So first, make sure that we’re nourished and hydrated.  What’s the equivalent in business?  Make sure that we’re seeking best practices from others.  This is where attending conferences, listening to webinars, and reading books on leadership excellence come into play.  Second, surround yourself with like-minded individuals who strive for high performance.  Finally, continuously measure progress against long-range goals.  The events listed below are all great opportunities to recharge your batteries and get back on track.

Baldrige Foundation Webinars

April 25th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Baldrige Foundation Institute for Performance Excellence Webinar
 Stop Visualizing and Start Utilizing: Making Data Work

Data literacy is an explicit and necessary driver of business value, demonstrated by its formal inclusion in over 80% of data and analytics strategies and change management programs. The importance of correct measurements and specific action on those measurements is the driving force of success. In this session, you will learn the key elements to create a culture that is engaged and using metrics to drive the business forward.

Business intelligence tools offer countless ways to slice and dice data. Enamored by yet another way to collect data, many organizations today have built the proverbial “hidden factories” of generating what are merely “Passive Reports”. Emailed to countless individuals, posted on antiquated bulletin boards, and taking valuable time to build and distribute, these passive reports are simply not “Driving the business forward.” Whether it is too much data, too complex data, or most often, the lack of acute business acumen to process the data, most companies today are drowning in useless reports.

Business data must take the form of an “Active Positioning Device.” The most successful organizations today view data as a process, not a report. These organizations recognize that points are not given for colorful bulletin boards and fancy email attachments, but rather a simple and concise system that allows every team within the organization to utilize their performance data to “drive their business forward.”

These organizations create a weekly cadence where the organizational scorecards truly educate, facilitate, and motivate every employee toward demonstrative conversations and actions. This view of data as an “Active Positioning Device” allows organizations to recalibrate and eventually eliminate many non-value added reporting functions, thus streamlining and simplifying the data that truly allows the business to understand “winning and losing.”

Baldrige Foundation Institute for Performance Excellence Training

Train, get certified, and unlock your true leadership potential by enrolling in any of the 400+ educational programs offered by the Baldrige Foundation Institute for Performance Excellence. Elevate your skills through cutting-edge curriculum designed to cultivate effective communication, strategic vision, and team empowerment. Join us today to embark on a journey of professional development. These programs are highly customizable, and you are encouraged to contact Josh Racette, Vice President of National Programs & Development, at jracette@baldrigefoundation.org to learn more. To view additional information about all educational opportunities offered by the Institute for Performance Excellence, please visit www.baldrigeinstitute.org/education.

COME. LEARN. NETWORK. ENGAGE

Join us at the Quest for Excellence 2024! The conference will feature some new and exciting opportunities to learn role model best practices from nationally recognized thought leaders, Baldrige Award recipients, and representatives from other high-performing organizations.
Enjoy sessions focusing on organizational resilience and future emerging challenges and take home solutions to help your organization achieve breakthrough performance and results in all sectors in areas such as leadership; strategy; customers; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce; and operations.

Engaging Employees in a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Join Kay Kendall, Co-Founder, Baldrige Coach as she discusses Employee Engagement best practices.
Description: This webinar will describe the characteristics of an organization with a culture of continuous improvement and the attributes of the leaders who lead them. We’ll discuss problem solving methodologies and do a brief refresher of the seven basic quality tools that can solve up to 95% of an organization’s problem or process issues and engage front line employees in continuous improvement.
Who it is for: This webinar is designed for leaders of organizations, departments, or functions who aren’t satisfied with “good enough” and who want to develop employees’ skills in making improvements.
Date and Time: May 21, 2024 at 11a.m. Central/12p.m. Eastern
Cost: Free
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