Originally sent on June 14, 2023

Hi Barb,

I have gotten a reputation for always trying to improve things.

One friend and colleague occasionally chides me, saying, “Can we stop improving this now? It’s good enough."

Most of the time, though, she calls this tendency a “deep dedication to excellence.” 

While my deep dedication can sometimes look like perfectionism, more often, I truly want to make things better. 

For example, I’m dedicated to helping leaders:

-- to get more done in less time, 
-- to make decisions efficiently while also including dissenting viewpoints,
-- to transform their meetings, and 
-- to evaluate how things went so they can <ahem> make things even better.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a healthcare organization’s Quality Forum, where learners shared the results of Quality Improvement projects.

Although the format was new to me, the blend of healthcare, education, and quality improvement left me feeling right at home!  

Throughout my career as a scientist in the Wisconsin DNR, I helped foster change for the better, whether it was for improving groundwater monitoring around landfills, developing an environmental staff mentoring program, or reducing wastes in healthcare.

Now I help people change their meetings so they can make progress faster – particularly on the pressing health and environmental challenges of our time. 

Are you working on change initiatives? Is continuous quality improvement on your radar? Write back and tell me about the challenges you are facing right now so I can tailor these emails to support you.

Warmly,

Barb Bickford

If an event has already occurred, the links in this email may not work. Questions? Contact Barb.

Save the date!  August 16, 2023

Did you miss our workshop "Grow and Let Go"? You have yet another chance to experience the Ecocycle on August 16th at a workshop jointly offered by the Pacific Northwest and Minnesota Organizational Development Networks.  No experience necessary -- this workshop is open to anyone interested in innovation and change in organizations.  Registration information will come soon!

Bending Granite: 30+ true stories of leading change

I was truly inspired by these personal stories of how ordinary people created positive changes in their communities and in a broad range of organizations. Learn more about the book here.

Do you know a group that needs a speaker?

If you know of any groups that need a speaker, let me know! It can be a group you are in, or a conference or and upcoming professional meeting.  I can speak in person in Minnesota or Wisconsin, and online. For ideas of topics, see the list under My current workshops and courses.

Recent Blog posts

-- Leading with paradox
-- Evaluate your meetings

My current workshops and courses

A simple way to lead during conflict

When faced with conflict over what to do -- you know, in those “either X or Y” scenarios of two seemingly contradictory but equally desired ends otherwise known as paradoxes -- some leaders give up.  They throw up their hands and say, “It can’t be done. We have to choose one or the other.” They call for a vote and the dissenters lose.

Others leaders embrace paradoxical contradictions as opportunities to break through to better solutions. They include dissent.  And the dissenters don't derail things later.

You can be one of the latter leaders. By asking paradoxical questions like “how can we have both X and Y?,” you can invite your groups to come up with something that is better than X or Y.

To learn more about how leaders can use paradoxes to help groups innovate, read my latest blog.

Want more tips? Access Ten Tips to Foster Online Engagement.

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