lean thinking


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Manage the Process

Wendy Mack’s fall newsletter asks: which of the following tools is the most powerful for motivating employees?

  • Support for making progress
  • Recognition for good work
  • Incentives
  • Interpersonal supportwendy_mack
  • Clear goals

If you’re like ninety-five percent of managers, you believe recognition for good work has the most impact on employee motivation. But Harvard University has proven that support for making progress is the greatest motivator, particularly for scientists, engineers, programmers, marketers, and other knowledge workers. Managing by objectives, which puts the focus on outcome, misses the opportunities of managing by means (Profit Beyond Measure, Thomas Johnson). Focusing on progress motivates – but requires skill and comes with a warning… continued

Circling the Line of Continuous Improvement

Linear goes straight. Intuitive circles. Continuous Improvement circles the line of improvement options. 

spiralContinuous Improvement is one of the guiding principles of lean thinking. How do you keep leaning forward? Lean strives towards perfection, while knowing that perfection is not a static state. That means everything is subject to curious inquiry. 

So this week, as I’ve been creating the perfect title for my presentation on lean communication, It’s a creative process, which means I need to allow lots of room for circling intuition. I invited input from many others. Paul gave input that hit home deeply. I created a title. Lee loved it with minor tweaks. Kelli had a very different idea altogether. Karyn took a new direction with it. And me? I am patiently circling the line of continuous improvement as I move toward the ecstatically – as opposed to statically – perfect title. 

Johnny Cash walked the line. At the moment, I’m circling it. And while part of me wished my temporary title team would just tell me I’m perfect already, I am willing to circle the line until the deadline arrives or I get so inspired by what I/we come up with, the only think I can say is WOW!

Circling the Line of Continuous Improvement

Linear goes straight. Intuitive circles. Continuous Improvement circles the line of improvement options. 

spiralContinuous Improvement is one of the guiding principles of lean thinking. How do you keep leaning forward? Lean strives towards perfection, while knowing that perfection is not a static state. That means everything is subject to curious inquiry. 

So this week, as I’ve been creating the perfect title for my presentation on lean communication, It’s a creative process, which means I need to allow lots of room for circling intuition. I invited input from many others. Paul gave input that hit home deeply. I created a title. Lee loved it with minor tweaks. Kelli had a very different idea altogether. Karyn took a new direction with it. And me? I am patiently circling the line of continuous improvement as I move toward the ecstatically – as opposed to statically – perfect title. 

Johnny Cash walked the line. At the moment, I’m circling it. And while part of me wished my temporary title team would just tell me I’m perfect already, I am willing to circle the line until the deadline arrives or I get so inspired by what I/we come up with, the only think I can say is WOW!

The Woman Behind the Method

Meryl seated color top-300H

I Works With Words Because Our Voices Matter

Hi. I’m Meryl Runion Rose. It pains me when good hearted and wise people are unable to speak the truth – unable to influence a situation. I’m talking about myself here sometimes too. When I know my input is just what a situation needs, it’s important to be able to give it. 

I earned an MSCI, and a CSP. I identify more with my perspective as a Communication Alchemist. I know the power of words. Do you? I created The SpeakStrong Method so the power of our words can work for us, not against us. I write and speak about dynamic, authentic, effective communication skills. You can’t be an effective communicator without practicing communication alchemy.

I go brain-dead when communication doesn’t ring true – mine or anyone else’s. I use that response as a signal to practice Communication Alchemy – to go deep instead of cheap and find words to bring the conversation back to life.

My readers know me mainly by my “Perfect Phrases” and my “PowerPhrases“, but there is a lot more to my SpeakStrong Method than that: as any good alchemist would know.

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Out of the Darkness

If I could find my voice, anyone can. (Not that I’ve arrived – it’s a process.) I’ve come such a long way… from not knowing how to ask for the time of day to being able to navigate difficult conversations so skillfully everyone forgets they’re difficult. Not that I bat 1000. But I marvel at how simple so many formerly tough conversations have become.  

I graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Political Science and received a Masters in the Science of Creative Intelligence from MERU European Research University. I’m certified in Lean Office and practice what I’ve learned in my own business. I started working in government and quickly gravitated toward acquiring and teaching personal development skills. My commitment to powerful communication was galvanized in 1986 when I was unable to penetrate my late husband’s denial when he developed cancer. 

Now I’m a “recovered passive.” I became “a woman on a mission” to learn to say things gracefully with impact (that’s an example of alchemy). I developed The Speak Strong Method to empower people to “say what they mean, mean what they say, without being mean when they say it.“ 

Alchemy is: a power or process of transforming something common into something special. The specialness comes from synergy. Communication Alchemy finds dynamic synergy in otherwise ordinary communication, kind of like how a great cook can make magic happen in the kitchen with a few ordinary ingredients.

I live in Cascade, Colorado, where I write, dance with abandon, hike, and help people say things. I LOVE capturing the essence of a message in the perfect phrase.

I’d like to help you and your organization SpeakStrong.  

Here’s a video to tell you more about what I do. 

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This video gives you a taste of my message. It was at the closing session of the Emergency Nurses’ Association.


               

Let me know what I can do for you!