Welcome to the March 12, 2008 issue of The Total View

Published by Success Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe

Visit our Human Resources Blog and Perfect Labor Storm Blog where we can post daily (and more often) human resource updates, news, and Perfect Labor Storm facts. 

What's Inside this issue of The TotalView:

1.  Are your mental models crystal clear or clear as mud?

You have a need to know. Your future depends on it.  

We live in a world of great risk and great possibilities. Every business is in a race against time, influenced by new competitors, new technologies, and demanding - if not fickle and impatient consumers.  In a world of increasing complexity and an avalanche of information, making good sense of our world has never been harder.

Some might even argue that the world is already too complicated for us to make sense of it. They act as if we need to just keep our heads down, focus on the trail blazed by others for us, and keep moving.

When a business recognizes that a revolution is under way, its responses are often feeble, held back by fears of leaving the comfort of the old model, especially if it had been successful.

Today businesses have unprecedented opportunities to blend the best of the old with the innovation of the new.   New mental models allow people to see profitable opportunities where others see only new threats.

Mental models represent the way we look at the world.  Everything we see is viewed through the filter of our mental models.  Mental models are always with you.  They can be a great help or a huge hindrance. These filters make things crystal clear, rosy or dark depending on the mental model we use.  The mind chooses to ignore most of the signals it receives from the external world.  Our eyes and ears are constantly gathering information but our brains choose to see what fits through the filters and discards the rest. While our mental models shape the way we see the world, they can also limit our ability to see the whole picture. 

As a result, mental models filter the information we use to make decisions, learn and innovate. Until we recognize the lenses we use - and the lenses others see the world through - we can't begin to understand the possibilities, opportunities and threats that exist.  The failure to see how mental models shape how we think and act leads to serious errors and missed opportunities.

What mental models are working for you? What critical information is being blocked out by your current model? What does your marketplace look like through the eyes of your competitors?  What if they are right?  Isn't it time to test the mental models that are shaping your company's future?

To learn more about "testing" your mental models, call us at 800.803.4303 or 717.291.4640.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Warnings   

Every day I receive dozens of stories highlighting

another shortage of workers. Each week I'll post

one or two of the more interesting ones. In a

change of pace, this week's post focuses on a

change of attitudes. It comes from a good

friend and colleague Martin Gilligan:

Scenario:  Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.   

Scenario:  Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.   

Scenario:  Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1957 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.   

Scenario:  Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary.  Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.  

How times have changed! What will they be writing about in 2058?

Stay current with workforce trend updates by subscribing to the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 blog.

Read more about skilled worker shortages in the NEW Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 (soft and hard cover versions)

Now on Sale!  Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 (soft and hard cover versions)  

Order today and save 25%.

NEW Chapters!  Generational Conflicts in the Workplace, Managing the Future Workforce, Attracting Young Employees in a Seller's Job Market plus hundreds of new facts, trends and stats.

View Table of Contents  

Save 25% off retail by ordering now.

Hard Cover: $29.99         Soft Cover: $19.99  

Your Price: $22.49           Your Price: $14.99

To order Perfect Labor Storm 2.0, call 800.803.4303.  Discounts for orders of 10 or more.  Specify hard or soft cover.

3. Understanding Business Values and Motivators

What makes employees "tick?"  In "Understanding Business Values and Motivators". Ira Wolfe writes a book that translates motivation into an easy to understand, modern day version of "why we do what we do." This book isn't about hocus-pocus, rah-rah tricks and techniques to motivate others, but a down-to-earth approach for understanding how people are "wired" and how to tap into those motivators for their success and yours.

Order Understanding Business Values and Motivators.

4.  The Leader Within

Best-selling authors and Fortune 100 consultants, Dr. Drea Zigarmi, Dr. Ken Blanchard, Dr. Michael O'Connor and Dr. Carl Edeburn reveal the results of an in-depth, seven-year statistical study of leadership in Corporate America. Their new book, The Leader Within, Knowing Enough About Yourself To Lead Others, shows how leaders exert influence and how disposition, values, beliefs, and persona contribute to their very success-or failure.

What's the difference between Managers and Leaders?  

Purchase "The Leader Within" Today.

5. New White Paper: "Why Executive Coaching"

Whether it's due to business growth or pending

retirements, the demand for the next generation

of leaders has shifted into high gear.  As a result,

executive coaching has moved out of the board

room and into the mainstream. Once a perk

for the top executives, executive coaching today is

becoming a requirement for high-potential employees

and managers to meet the current and future demands

of the job.  

Matt Angello, founder and principal of Bright Tree Consulting Group, recently published an outstanding white paper titled "Why Executive Coaching." It's a free download which can be accessed by clicking on the following link: Why Executive Coaching.  

Success Performance Solutions is a strategic partner with Bright Tree Consulting. Ira S Wolfe, founder and president of Success Performance Solutions, serves as Bright Tree's assessment consultant.

6. Speaking Schedule: Ira S Wolfe

2008:

April 2 - Wachovia Bank, Philadelphia PA - Flashpoint: When Boomers and Younger Workers Collide  

May 16 - Sovereign Benefits Solutions HR Conference, Hershey PA

June 6 - CEO Roundtable, Boston MA

October (tentative) - American Staffing Association Annual Meeting - Workforce Trends That Change The Way You Will Do Business  

Call 717.291.4640 to schedule Ira for your next meeting or conference.

7. New Book: Coming Job Boom

Ira recently collaborated with Bonnie Kerrigan Snyder on a new book, The Coming Job Boom.  Bonnie is the author of The Public School Parent's Guide to Success. The Coming Job Boom is the "ying" for the "yang" of The Perfect Labor Storm.  While the Perfect Labor Storm is beginning to make managers feel like storm chasers looking for qualified workers, high school and college students must be smiling at this Upcoming Job Boom. For those young workers with the right skills and motivation, the job market will make these kids feel like  - well, like kid's in a candy store! The book release is scheduled for April 2008. Watch for more info in future newsletters.

8. Quotes from Hire Authorities

"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinion."

Leonardo Da Vinci

Permission is granted to consultants, managers, business owners and HR professionals to reproduce content from this newsletter for your internal publications, or to distribute copies to your workforce, on the condition that you reproduce the credits and contact information as follows: "Reprinted with permission from Ira S Wolfe and Success Performance Solutions. Copyright 2008 Ira S Wolfe."  We also hope you will forward the newsletter in its entirety and recommend to others that they subscribe.

Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2007 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission