I found this list on Yahoo and have included a few of my favorites, but you can see the list in its entirety here.

Q: Where was the first Super Bowl held?

A: Super Bowl I was held in Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 1967. The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.

Q: Which NFL team has played in the most Super Bowls?

A: The Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys have each played in 8 of them. The Steelers have won six of those games (also a Super Bowl record). The Cowboys have a 5-3 record.

Q: Which NFL teams have never played in the Super Bowl?

A: The Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Houston Texans.

Q: How many Super Bowls have the Patriots been in, including Super Bowl XLVI? How about the Giants?

A: This is New England’s 7th trip to the Super Bowl. It’s New York’s 5th trip.

Q: Super Bowl XLVI is a rematch of Super Bowl XLII between the Patriots and the Giants. Can you name the other Super Bowl rematches (hint: there are four other sets of teams)?

A: The Cowboys and the Steelers collided in Super Bowls X, XIII, and XXX. The Steelers won the first two; Dallas won Super Bowl XXX.

The Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills played in consecutive years in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII. Dallas won both games.

The San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals met in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII. The 49ers won both games.

The Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins tangled in Super Bowls VII and XVII. They split the series.

Good luck to both teams and everyone have a great Super Bowl weekend!

“People who are skilled at dialogue do their best to make it safe for everyone to add their meaning to the shared pool–even ideas that at first glance appear controversial, wrong, or at odds with their own beliefs. Now, obviously they don’t agree with every idea; they simply do their best to ensure that all ideas find their way into the open.”

― Kerry Patterson, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High

Rich is a Sr. Learning Consultant with the Girls Scouts America. Prior to that he worked as an instructional designer at Arthur Andersen, A TQM Education Manager at Square D Company and a Manager of Organization Effectiveness at Baxter Healthcare Corp. He also worked as an independent OD consultant for 15 years. Rich lives with his wife and 2 sons in the Princeton area of New Jersey.

The other day I was chatting with a client who was asking me to help make some edits to a leadership training program that needed some final clean-up.  When I asked her when she needed it done by, she said, “It’s not so important when, it just needs to be perfect.”  I remember pausing because I thought that was such an odd word to throw in there.  But, having some history with her, I’m pretty sure it was code for “don’t let anything blow back on me if this doesn’t go off without a hitch.”

What also made the comment surreal, and somewhat ludicrous, was my own worldview and experiences that say any program involving human interaction and choice is bound to have things “go wrong”, i.e. things that happen that the designers of the program don’t expect or want.  I chose in that moment not to question the request, but it got me thinking about the subtle (and not so subtle) messages people send about how neat and orderly things should unfold.  That thinking is at odds with most everything we know about how innovation and change take place inside an organization.  It is not a neat and orderly process, but quite messy and full of two steps forward, one step back experimentation.

Lately, it seems leaders from all manner of organizations are talking about how their organization needs to risk, innovate more and be willing to “embrace mistakes.”  Unfortunately, we still have a fair amount of people who don’t understand what that looks like behaviorally and end up doing and saying things that, instead, often squelch people’s inclinations to go ahead and “try something.”  I have no easy answers to reconciling these mixed messages we’re all too familiar with, but here are some things to remember if you want to travel the natural trial, error and learning approach inside your own organization:

1. Don’t ask for upper management approval/buy-in before setting up a small “test” of your idea.  You’re bound to run into someone who wants “proof of concept” beforehand (another oxymoron that makes no sense)
2. Run your pilot/test with a small customer segment, under the radar and make sure you manage expectations about potential outcomes.  Not asking for permission first can be risky politically, but if you keep it small enough and approach customers you have a strong relationship with, they will be more patient with the inevitable hiccups that come with experimenting and won’t trash your idea before giving it a chance.
3. Use the positive customer response to your test to make the case for expanding your idea.  Don’t expect an internal champion to back it on faith (see point 1)
4. Know that no matter how well your test goes, people at all levels will take shots at it because they’ve made careers on finding potential pitfalls.  Give them a sincere, “thanks for your input” and continue moving your idea forward.

The old adage is worth repeating…Never let pursuit of “perfect” get in the way of reaching the “very good.”

Yesterday I received a phone call from him, in which he shared a disheartening story with me. After he conducted the daily shift meeting in the morning, he kept tabs on his team to ensure that everyone was doing what needed to be done. Unfortunately, two hours after the meeting there were still two employees ‘putzing around’ and not doing what they had been assigned. My friend approached them individually and was very direct in telling them that he knew they were trying to take advantage of him. He also made the bold statement that if they didn’t stop slacking off he was going to dedicate his day to following them around and watching their every move. Now, ‘slacker #1’ seemed to take his threats seriously and got straight to work; ‘slacker #2’ on the other hand… well, he started crying. Apparently he was having a horrible day and his wife is leaving him, unbeknownst to my friend.

At this point in our conversation, my friend became very remorseful and felt he shouldn’t have been so direct. My advice to him was to take a step back in a situation like that and really ask questions before jumping the gun. Although people will be testing him, he can’t just assume that all employees don’t respect him. I feel that it is important to be direct and transparent as a supervisor that has been promoted from within, but it may not be necessary to always bring down the hammer immediately. It is important to make your expectations clear up front and ‘set the bar’ for your team, but it is equally as important to build up a repertoire with them so that they respect instead of fear you.

So some thought questions for you are: How would you have handled the situation? As a new manager, how would you achieve respect and build positive relationships with subordinates who may be resistant?

It is in this idea of apprenticeship, HBR explains, that business educators should find inspiration. Business schools’ current methods of preparing students include tactics like using case studies, memorizing interventions, and discussing the history and trends of the business world. As effective as these tools can be, nothing replaces contextual experience. Young business professionals inevitably find themselves thrown into the field and attempting to bridge the “knowing-doing” gap.

By utilizing internships, etc., students can improve their management skills and abilities. I encourage those of you lovely readers with the resources to provide internships or shadowing opportunities to consider mentoring through these methods. As a new intern, I can honestly say that I’m already miles ahead of my classmates. I’ve already learned more than what they may study this entire semester. Moreover, the exposure is simply invaluable.

Source:

“What Business Schools Can Learn from the Medical Profession” – by: Nitin Nohria

On February 1, JC Penny will drastically mark down all of their merchandise, permanently, by at least 40%, creating a new “every day low price” (sound familiar?). Additionally the only “sales” that you will see at JC Penny are “monthly value” discounts on select items, and “best price” sales held regularly twice a month. This all sounds very “Wal-Mart” to me…

This big shift in JC Penny’s strategy is the brainchild of their new CEO Ron Johnson, the former Vice President of Retail Operations at Apple. Ron is best known (in my opinion) for pioneering the concept of the Apple Retail Stores and the Genius Bar. Now, who doesn’t love going to the Apple store?

So what does all this mean for us, the consumer? It seems to me, that we can expect to more affordable prices that take the guess work out of wondering if this item is going to go on sale next week or not – and that my friends, is awesome.

I’m the first person to admit that I hate shopping, but what I mean when I say this is that I particularly hate shopping for a sale – trust me you should see my closet. I don’t hate clothes. The grueling task of sifting through racks to find the best deal is not for me and I applaud anyone (my future mother and sister in laws) who has the patience and the drive to do that – but I just can’t.

To all you consumers out there who hate hunting for a sale, rejoice in knowing that you can always expect the same prices at JC Penny. It is suggested that JC Penny’s transformation will change the way Americans shop. If that’s the case, I welcome the new change! I’m personally excited to see how the success (or possible failure) of this plan pans out for JC Penny because it will be really interesting to see what other department stores will do in contrast.

Happy Friday!

The article my partner and I were asked to present was published in 1996. The author describes “current” trends in the workforces and makes predictions as to how those trends will impact training over the next 5 years, until 2001 (Thayer, 1996).  What I found interesting is that all the implications noted in the article are still relevant; granted they are relevant to a different extent than Thayer predicted, but none the less still relevant.  As an example, Thayer talks about an increase in the service sector and a consequent shift to people-to-people training needs, but mentions it only as a side note. Today, the service sector is more prominent in our lives than Thayer could have imagined.

Now, service is used as a competitive edge and built into the organization’s business strategy. Since the ‘next best thing’ in technology is obsolete within days and competing on price just isn’t enough anymore, industries are turning to quality of service as a way to compete for customers. The airline industry is a great example of the service sector emphasizing service quality as their competitive advantage.  Southwest, for instance, advertises how much they want to take care of you! Check out this Youtube video to see their unique brand of customer service.

Reading this article and researching the influence the service sector has had on the trainer’s shift towards people-to-people skills over the past ten years, got me thinking about what other business trends are going to impact trainer’s tool kit: Businesses are increasing social media use to reach new customers; the government is offering incentives to increase manufacturing in the US; and the need to bridge the generation gap between Baby Boomers and Millennials in the workplace, just to name a few.

What are your predictions for how business trends will impact the training industry?  How can trainers stay competitive? Please share your thoughts and what’s worked for your training business.

Resources:

Thayer, P.W. (1996). A rapidly changing world: Some implications for training systems in the year 2001 and beyond. In M.A. Quinones & A Ehrenstein (Eds.), Training for a rapidly changing workplace: Applications of psychological research. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, pp.15-30.

Soat, J. (2010). Seven Questions to Key Social Media Networking Success. Information Weekly. Retrieved on January 26, 2012 from: http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/social_network/222301011http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/social_network/222301011

Employment and Training Administration (2012). Government Incentives and  Assistance for Employers. Retrieved on 1/24/2012 from: http:// www.doleta.gov/business/incentives/

But in the news segment, Berger says studies show that students with internship experience on their resumes are landing jobs faster than those without internships and at a higher starting salary. So she maintains that it’s so important to get that practical workplace experience on your resume before you graduate.

Berger says many students view internships as “slave labor,” but she says that’s a mistake. Personally, she’s had a total of 15 internships, which she admits was more than necessary. However, she suggests that students do two internships before they graduate. She says each one will help them decide what they want to do with their lives.

The book takes readers through the entire process: 1) how to find the right internships; 2) deciding on how many internships to apply to; and 3) how to make the most of the situation and use it to leverage a job after graduation.

The book also focuses on time management, since many students have difficulty prioritizing and juggling school work with the responsibilities of an internship.

To further dispel the slave labor stereotype of internships and illustrate how they have value, the author likes to told a story about when she was assigned to make coffee, that famous job of interns, at her first internship. She said she pushed a button and thought the machine was going to blow up, but added she now knows how to make a great cup of coffee.

Today I begin the first class of my last semester at TCS (*happy dance*). I’m excited to see how this class plays out because it is based on Performance Management—specifically focusing on performance appraisals, which is a topic I am frequently conflicted about. From personal experiences with performance evaluations, I would guess that a vast majority of organizations don’t properly implement the process.

Even though we will be taught the best practice methods of using appraisals in this class, I believe that there are still factors that cannot be trained and/or controlled for. For example, managers typically get so caught up in daily activities that they rarely, if ever, keep track of each employee’s ongoing performance; therefore, when it comes time for the yearly review they are basing their ratings on the most current behaviors. Furthermore, many organizations tend to tie financial incentives to reviews (i.e. regarding departmental performance for management, individual employee bonuses, etc.) which ultimately increase the chances of ratings being skewed.

Also, relating to frequency of conducting reviews, I feel that many organizations loose the value of feedback by only conducting yearly/bi-yearly/quarterly reviews. Without having a solid knowledge base concerning performance management, I whole-heartedly believe that employees should be given feedback as often as possible. Whether that be through monthly ‘sit-downs’ or more informal talks just to touch base on performance while an individual is in the act of adhering to specific behaviors. Think of it in a more abstract way; when someone is raising a child, they do not punish or reward behavior after a long period of time has passed; rather, they correct or reinforce the child while they are in the act of doing something. The foundations of psychology teach us that immediately reinforcing a behavior will result in higher learning—so I question why organizations don’t follow this principle.

Although this is just a brief recap concerning some of the questions/ideas I have about performance management, I hope this can get you thinking about your organization’s system. As the semester goes on, I hope to gain more insight so that I can offer the most realistic and effective solutions to common issues associated with performance reviews. In the meantime, some questions that you should consider are—How often does your organization conduct reviews? Do the reviews tie into an overall talent management plan for each employee? Are the criteria that the reviews are based on accurately measuring employee performance? What are some factors that could cause biased/skewed ratings?

Unfortunately, the economy is definitely contributing to the boredom predicament. Since more and more people are forced to take jobs that may not exactly align with their skill set and interests, it is up to the employer to find inventive ways to keep every staff member engaged.

There is a difficult balance that must be upheld in a workplace. A happy medium between being bored and challenged – but not overwhelmed – must be found. “Being chronically bored means being unhappy and stressed,” the article explains. This perpetual disinterest can lead to feeling despondent. At this point an employer needs to intervene in a big way.

I would encourage workplace leadership to consider trying new ways to keep employees engaged at work. The article mentions that this can take the form of constructive breaks. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to make tasks and duties any less monotonous. But perhaps management can create and facilitate constructive break activities that keep the brain working but allow the feeling of relief. Maybe with frequent and fun outlets, the long-term strain of boredom can be alleviated.

“Boredom, Constant Cheer, Cynicism, and Other Job Hazards” – ABC News