FastCompany RSS

personal growth

A New Set Of Metrics Defines The True Scorecard Of Success

We measure success by things like money, power, fame, good looks, possessions, toys, trophies, and degrees. We strive for likes, followers, a high Klout score, and a giant LinkedIn network. Adding some focus on a more enlightened set of measures can not only make the world a better place, it can even drive real business results.READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

THE JOB INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE: BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP OR ...?

    When organizations need new employees they start up their recruiting process (preferably earlier, but that is not the topic of this article). Once the first candidates are selected the interviews will ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

SERVICE WITH(OUT) STRESS

  In the April issue of Fast Company there are quite some facts listed about stress.   -       62% of Americans are stressed about work, according to the American Psychological ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

DESIGN THINKING AND SERVICES: WHY THIS IS NEW AND NEEDED

    I just finished the inspirational book ‘Change By Design’ from Tim Brown. You can feel the passion as Tim describes the difference between being a designer and thinking like a designer. That passion, ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

Dear Leaders, You Have To Change Too!

Last week I had a series of interviews with executives form a company which manufactures cancer treatment equipment. What stood out were two things: Leaders are not open for personal change. The new ways of doing ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

IS PLANNING FOR YOU OR FOR THE CUSTOMER?

  Recently I did receive a card, which mentioned that on the 17th of March a preventive maintenance call was scheduled for my heating system. There was no time mentioned. As I was abroad at that time I did call for a ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

INFORM YOUR CUSTOMER

Last Sunday I had a stopover at the airport of Frankfurt, as I was flying from Ahmedabad in India to Amsterdam. I already had a boarding pass for my flight to Amsterdam and the gate was B7 at Frankfurt airport. We were early and our ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

OLYMPIANS’ PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHANGE

  In his book Rules of Thumb, Alan Webber writes that change is a math formula. Change happens when the cost of the status quo is greater than the risk of change:   C(SQ)>R(C)   This is valid both ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

(UN)PROFESSIONAL AND (UN)POLITE ......

 In the week before Christmas I did send an inquiry to an organization. I had to send it to their info@ address as there was no other name mentioned on their website. This raises my first comment. Many people agree on the fact ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

CUSTOMER SERVICE: PART OF MARKETING OR...........?

  Recently I was in a meeting with a general manager and I explained what service innovation could mean to him. When I mentioned customer service he started to talk about his experience with a software company. His ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

LEARNING MORE IMPORTANT THAN KNOWING

 If there is one thing that everyone agrees on than it is the fact that changes are the norm and they are becoming more and more unpredictable as well. This means that what worked in the (recent) past might not work in the ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

THE MARKET IS WIDER THAN YOU THINK

  Recently I did ask a customer what he viewed as his competition. Because he was working in the IT market, he mentioned other IT companies. This is a very risky perspective though.   Why?  Well your new ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A WIN-WIN SITUATION

Last week I did attend a Center for Services Leadership webinar about Georgia’s roadmap to faster, friendlier and easier customer service. It was very impressive to see the results of such a large project, which covers 130.000 ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

THE ‘NOT-INVENTED-HERE SYNDROME’ PREVENTS INNOVATION

  Many organizations are starting to see the need to innovate. However still many of them still have the (strong) opinion that they can only innovate themselves, so innovate from within. Open innovation, crowdsourcing and ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

THE ‘NOT-INVENTED-HERE SYNDROME’ PREVENTS INNOVATION

  Many organizations are starting to see the need to innovate. However still many of them still have the (strong) opinion that they can only innovate themselves, so innovate from within. Open innovation, crowdsourcing and ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

THE SERVICE OF SELF SERVICE

  In December I did fly to Copenhagen for the Climate Change Conference. The day before I departed I could check in online. Nothing special you would say. However, I was pleasantly surprised when they offered the option to ...READ»

Virtual Project Management Tool Organizes Project Steps

The virtual workspace is a project management tool that allows individuals, groups and business teams to connect and collaborate on projects digitally. Teams can plan projects, update project steps, organize events and create reports ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

COLLABORATION IS A MUST FOR SERVICES

COLLABORATION IS A MUST FOR SERVICES For products most collaboration takes place in the design and manufacturing phase. During that time there are different departments involved in designing and building the products. E.g. ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

AN APPETITE FOR APPS

  The iPhone is the most popular smartphone in many countries. One of the reasons for that success is the availability of many, many useful applications (apps) in the Apple store.   An app is software, which is ...READ»

ATTITUDES   |  Comment

WHY ARE SMART WORKING AND INNOVATIONS GOOD PARTNERS?

  EIM did a large research (650 companies) into the effects of smart working in the Dutch SME market. Companies who invested in smart working have on average: -       16% higher growth ...READ»