Category Archives: Organizational communication
Speech of the devil: Words That Work
Imagine: I recommend reading a book by the guy who gave us “death tax,” “energy exploration” and the Contract with America. Frank Luntz helps Republicans choose words that resonate with Independents. I held my nose and bought his book, Words That Work, hoping to learn the devil’s secrets so I could twist them to good [...]
Also posted in Marketing and PR, Opinion Tagged language, Opinion, Organizational communication, persuasion Leave a comment
A book for resolve: Change or Die
Change or Die by Alan Deutschman was referred to me by a physician who is using its ideas to help her patients make life changes (thanks, Deb). It was an ideal read to usher in a new year, a new decade and a new phase in my career. Many of the change ideas were familiar to [...]
Also posted in Book reviews, Leadership, Life, Organizational culture Tagged Book reviews, books, career, change, communication, conversation, culture, emotion, health care, leadership, openness, organization, Organizational communication, public opinion, rhetoric, storytelling, storytelling tips, teams, writing Leave a comment
Great ideas for improving meetings
Lencioni, P. (2004). Death by Meeting. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. When you stop to think of the resources an organization invests in meetings, you realize what a tremendous return is needed to justify them. Unfortunately, very little attention is paid to the conduct of a meeting and this valuable tool is largely wasted. Lencioni’s fictional leadership [...]
Is storytelling the “sixth discipline?”
Denning, S. (2005). The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. As a knowledge management leader at the World Bank, Denning gained influence by gathering and using the organization’s success stories. He went on to study the historical and anthropological roots of storytelling and he joined a storyteller group. The result is a scholarly analysis [...]
Also posted in Book reviews, Leadership Tagged leadership, organization, storytelling Leave a comment
Quantum physics meets dialogue
Bohm, D. & Nichol, L. (Ed). (1996). On Dialogue. New York: Routledge. During his career as a theoretical physicist, David Bohm’s writings and lectures took side trips into dialogue and collective thought. In this book, editor Lee Nichol compiles Bohm’s ideas to suggest a coherent theory of co-creation of meaning. There is a flavor of [...]
Also posted in Book reviews, Leadership, Organizational culture Tagged communication, dialogue, leadership Leave a comment
My favorite org comm book
Clampitt, P.G. (2004). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage. Clampitt suggests that effective communication is like dance, with partners passing messages back and forth, learning about each other and co-creating meaning. It is an ongoing process, rather than definitive episodes of message transmission and receiving. If a leader understands communication in this way, [...]
Also posted in Book reviews Tagged Book reviews, books, communication, leadership, organization, resources Leave a comment
“The Checklist Manifesto” has a hold on me