A Culture of Appreciation As I mentioned in my last post in the Collaboration is Hard series, we’ve tried to create a culture of appreciation at Return Path that lowers barriers to collaboration and rewards mutual successes. We developed a system that’s modeled somewhat after a couple of those short Ken Blanchard books, Whale Done and Gung Ho! It may seem a little hokey, and it doesn’t work 100% of the time, but in general, it’s a great way to make it easy for people to say a public “thanks” to a colleague for a job well done. The idea is simple. We have an “award request” form on our company Intranet that any employee can use to request one…
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Ken Blanchard
Book Short: Shamu-rific
Book Short: Shamu-rific I re-read an old favorite last night in preparation for a management training course I’m co-teaching today at Return Path: Ken Blanchard’s Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships. I was reminded why it’s an old favorite. It has a single concept which is simple but powerful. And yes, it’s based loosely on killer whale training tactics. Accentuate the positive. The best example in the book is actually a personal one more than a professional one. The main character of the book has a “problem” in that he chronically works late, then comes home and gets beat up by his wife about coming home so late. The result? No behavior change — and probably even a reinforcement…