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Corporate Jester's Web Presence
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Putting the Pieces Together: Creating Culture
Have you stepped further into the role of a Jester? Is the book making a difference in your organization? We want to hear from you!
This month's comment comes from Diana, a Director of Human Resources.
"We talk about culture quite a bit in our organization. Even though there is a lot of discussion about it, there isn't a lot of guidance provided to help people think about their day to day behavior - whether it is enhancing or detracting from the kind of culture we say we want."
"I think the book does a great job in creating a shared understanding of the relationship we would like to promote between our employees. If each person felt the responsibility to act as a Jester for others, and committed to being open to Jestership from others, we wouldn't just have a healthier culture but also better results as a company."
Thanks for your email Diana! | |
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Greetings!
Welcome to the November issue of The Muse! This newsletter is intended to keep you connected to Corporate Jester as part of our commitment to help individuals and organizations create maximum results leveraging the concepts and philosophy from the book The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester: A Fresh Perspective on Organizational Leadership, Culture and Behavior. |
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90 Second Jester Challenge |
As we have mentioned before, an important Jester skill is the ability to look beyond initial perspectives in order to perceive what might otherwise be blind spots.
So how is your ability to look beyond initial impressions? Let's find out! This month's Jester Challenge is interactive, fun and visual.
To participate, click here to link to a special page on the Corporate Jester website - then follow the instructions. Have fun! |
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The Reality of the House Next Door |
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We read a very interesting article in GQ recently (yes, we do read more than just business magazines). In The Braindead Megaphone, George Saunders makes the point that the voice of the media is becoming less and less a conduit of reality and is dramatically impacting thought processes in our society. Very interesting!
As we were reading, a particular section caught our eye as directly applying to the concept of Jestership. It does a wonderful job highlighting the fact that organizations don't just need people that can recognize reality - they need people who can also successfully transmit that perception of reality to others. They need Jesters! Paraphrased, the section we liked follows.
A man sits in a room. Someone begins shouting through his window, informing him of the conditions in the house next door. Our man's mind begins to imagine that house. What factors might affect his ability to imagine the next door house as it actually is?
1) The clarity of language by the informant (has the man's preferences for learning been taken into account or will there be misunderstanding due to word choice, jargon, complexity, etc?)
2) The agenda of the informant (do hidden agendas, beyond the goal of transmitting reality, exist?)
3) The care the informant has put into planning and constructing the communication (was it well thought through, revised and improved before it was transmitted?)
4) The duration allowed for the communication (was enough time taken to fully transmit, explain, explore and clarify the communication?)
Jesters, when fully stepping into their role, take all of the above into account as they storytell (illuminate and address blind spots for others).
In organizations without Jesters, these aspects may not be taken into account when communicating. Misleading jargon, inappropriate complexity; learning style misalignment; hidden agendas; ill prepared statements and narrow timelines - all contribute to communication that doesn't do a very good job in transmitting reality.
In fact, as you might imagine, in the above environment, our hypothetical man would never form an image of the next door house as it actually is.
In the same way, leaders trying to form images of the "houses" (feelings, attitudes, projects, departments, morale, etc) in their organizations will never be able to perceive them as they actually are unless they surround themselves with Jesters - experts at transmitting reality. |
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Jestership in Your Organization |
We love to share our thoughts about Jestership with organizations around the world. We believe that Jestership, leveraged, can provide a healthier culture and increase results in YOUR organization.
With that in mind, we developed a keynote address/workshop designed to introduce people to the concepts behind the book "The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester". This engaging session is fun, interactive, practical and can be customized to tie seamlessly with initiatives or current challenges facing your organization.
For more information, contact us, or download recent feedback we received from JetBlue Airways to get a sense of the benefits a Corporate Jester visit can bring. |
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Website Roundup |
Fortune Magazine has recently expanded its free online content. If you don't already subscribe to the print edition, this is a great substitute to keep up on business news! Click here for the link.
Free Rice is such a clever idea - we wish we thought of it first! This website hosts a fun online vocabularly game with a twist. For every right answer a player makes, 20 grains of rice are donated through the United Nations to help combat world hunger. Increase your vocabulary and do some good - we love the combination! Click here for the link.
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Search Inside "Secret Life" |
If you haven't recently been to the book's page on Amazon.com, you should take a look.
After Amazon's team recently scanned a copy of "The Secret Life of the Corporate Jester", the entire text is now searchable from within Amazon. Customers can even view sample pages from the book as they browse! Try it.
Not only are we excited that the book been upgraded to a Search Inside edition, but it also has 24 wonderful reader reviews!
We want to keep that going, and need your help.
If you haven't yet posted a positive reader review on Amazon we would certainly appreciate it if you would do so now. Creating one is quick, easy and would make us smile. Just click here to be taken to the book's page and look for the create your own review button. |
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We Love Free Stuff! |
We are starting to notice that Jesters tend to be creative, visionary types but are not always skilled at personal organization. With that in mind, we wanted to let you know that Intuit has started giving away the basic version of QuickBooks, its e asy-to-use accounting software. This free version is full-featured software - not a trial. Click here to find out more or to download your copy. Enjoy!
Our congrats go out to Greg from Pfizer, the winner of our United Airlines Premiere Status upgrade. Thanks to everyone who wrote us - we sure wish we could upgrade you all!
Stay turned for more free stuff coming up in future newsletters. | |
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One quick request from the editorial team. Each month we try to put together a newsletter that is fun, informative and has a little something for everyone. How are we doing?
Could you take a moment to drop us a line to tell us what you have enjoyed most in past editions? What would you like to see more of? We want to continue to bring you a newsletter you look forward to opening each month!
Thanks for being a part of Corporate Jester.
Sincerely,
The Newsletter Team
Corporate Jester
phone: 408-454-6650, toll free: 866-896-8948
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