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Showing posts from March, 2013

Change requires building new habits

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Lots of research indicates that most (more than 70%) of the change initiatives do not reach their intended outcomes. And because they do not produce the required results, we will launch new initiatives! This becomes an ongoing process, in which a lot of time and resources is wasted. What can de done? A starting point is to look at the inner perspectives of change. How does change work inside of us?  And what prevents change from happening? Here is a simple formula: Thinking ------>   Feelings   ------->   Actions ------>  Results This means that if I want different results, that I then have to change my thinking. Different thinking leads to different results. Sounds simple, right? Well, it isn’t that simple, because we are creatures of habits and these habits influence our thinking. Habits are thoughts which we have nurtured over time and which have become kind of embedded in our thinking. They are like the grooves in records. You reall

It is no luxury to have a complaints department

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Recently I did have some problems with the provider of glass fiber services (phone, TV, Internet). They had sent an offer to check out HBO for free for 2 months. In that same mail, it was mentioned that if I cancelled before February 6 th , there would be no charges. So, I did cancel by the end of January. However, I was unpleasantly surprised, when I saw my invoice. HBO was completely charged for the next months. Then I did check my services online and it appeared that the HBO cancellation was not processed at all, although I did have a confirmation. So, I did call them and the finance department told me that there was one-month termination notice, so everything was administered correctly. He was not open to my arguments. He suggested contacting the complaints department, if I still disagreed. Then I did write to the complaints department. And I did receive a confirmation from “mr/mrs complaints”, that I would receive an answer within 10 working days. Fina

Have some ‘De-Digitalized Dialogues’

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These days, it seems like we are glued to our screens. First we did spend many hours per day in front of the TV. Then we were (mostly for work) tied to terminals and PC’s. And since the introduction of smartphones, it looks like we are inseparable – the screen and me. Whether we are sitting in the train, biking, attending a seminar or having a coffee, we are always staring at the screen. It looks like that the ‘good-old’ dialogue, where you have eye contact and are focused on the conversation itself and your partners, are disappearing fast. While I will certainly not deny the benefit of always being able to connect to the Internet, we are at the same time missing something. We miss the real (and sometimes emotional) connection with other human beings. This connection is crucial to understand the other persons. And interpersonal sensitivity is not easily transferred via the screen. We do need to look each other into the eyes to get to know each other. This

How to be a young innovator

Proudly I am announcing my new course: How to be a Young Innovator. Please have a look:  https://www.udemy.com/how-to-be-a-young-innovator/