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- Humane Downsizing
- Influence. Action. Change!
- Don't Shoot! Webinar
- Change Open Source Project
Is Humane Downsizing an Oxymoron?
Last week a reporter asked if I could give him examples of companies that had employed alternatives to downsizing. I was glad to tell him what I knew. There aren't lots of examples, but there are some. But even rarer are stories of companies that downsize using any of the values that litter their corporate office walls - things like respect, engagement, teamwork, dignity. You know that list. Fast Company ran a story about Danny Meyer, the famed restaurateur, who in 25 years of running 28 restaurants only had to close one. What interested me was how he conducted the downsizing. He is the type of person I would love to work for. Here is a snippet from the interview Fast Company's David Burstein conducted with Meyer: "I also realized that the cruelest thing I could have done was to keep that restaurant open. We had an incredibly loyal staff, they were so loyal that they wouldn't leave, so that mean that for 3 or 4 years they were not getting raises. So we closed it--we closed it the right way. We had a job fair for all of our staff. We invited all of our chefs and GMs, and we also invited every chef and GM of other restaurants who had been alums of Tabla to come in and hire our team. Now all of those people are further in their careers, and a lot of them have come back work with us." (BTW, the full interview is worth reading.) Influence. Action. Change!
I will be presenting an Overview of Influence. Action. Change! on February 21 in the DC area. . . So if you live in the DC/Baltimore area, please consider joining me at CBODN (Chesapeake Bay Organization Development Network). It will be a very active two-hour overview of some of the key topics in this new Gestalt Institue of Cleveland program. I will provide more details (like time, place, and cost) once they tell me. I am sure it will be open to the public. And, we are accepting applications for the next Influence. Action. Change! program at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. (Distance learning portion begins on March 1, 2012.) The class will meet for the first time on March 18. For more information click: Influence. Action. Change! Or give me a call. I recorded a short video describing this program. Recording of Webinar with the Author of Don't Shoot Robert (Jake) Jacobs, through Nexus 4 Change, conducted a conversation with the author of Don't Shoot, David Kennedy. Because Jake knows organizations and their challenges, he asked the types of questions that you and I might want answers to. Consequently, this was a rich conversation and a valuable use of my time. And it was free. Here is a link to the recording of Jake and David Kennedy's conversation. Webinar Recording.
Change Open Source Project
In 2009 I started the Change Management Open Source Project. it now has over 900 members from well over thirty countries. Due to my own web illiteracy and a web host that changed its policies after we were up an running (they only allow very short videos and podcasts unless you want to pay a premium price.) Since I want to keep the open source project free, I started looking around for an alternative host.
I am happy to say that we are close to having a new site with what I think will be a better web host. I hope to launch this in February. I will let you know. But, for now, consider "liking" www.facebook.com/rickmaureronchange. This will automatically sign you up to the new improved Change Management Open Source Project site.
Warm regards,
Rick Maurer
President
Maurer & Associates
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