A Quantum Voyage

YOU'RE ALWAYS IN CHARGE OF YOU

While your character is formed by circumstances,
your own desires can do much to shape those circumstances.
Thus, you have the power over the formation of your own character.
You're the master of your fate and the captain of your soul.

Nature is always at work around you.
Your character and destiny are her handiwork.
She gives you love and hate, jealousy and reverence.
You have the power to choose which impulse you will follow.

You can at any time decide to alter the course of your life.
No one can ever take that away from you.

The greatest power you possess is the power to choose.
You're the master of your joys and your sorrows.

YOU CAN ACHIEVE ANYTHING

The only thing that stands between you
and what you want from life,
is simply the will to pursue it
and the faith to believe that it is possible.

You can have anything on earth that you want,
once you mentally accept the fact that you can have it.

If you want success, begin thinking of yourself as a success.
The feeling of being successful has to come first.
If you have a deep inner conviction
that you will always have all that you need,
if you actually feel prosperous, it will be so.

Only your mind sets your limits.

SUCCESS IS A CHOICE YOU MAKE

Success or failure? It's always your choice.
You alone have the responsibility to shape your life.

Once you understand this,
nothing and no one can deny you success.
There's really no one to stop you but yourself.

More powerful than all the success slogans ever written
is the realization that everyone has but one boss.
That boss is you.

Your life will always be to a large extent what you make of it.
No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but you.
If you want to be successful, you can be successful.

THE HIGHWAY TO SUCCESS IS A TOLL ROAD

You must give up something to get whatever you want in life.
The greater the value, the greater the sacrifice that will be required.
Everything has a price.

You pay a price if you want to make things better,
and you pay a price for just leaving things as they are.

Nothing worthwhile will come easily to you.
Work, continuous work and hard work,
is the only way to accomplish the results that last.

You'll find no success at bargain basement prices.

ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

A few weeks ago in this space we discussed Organizational Culture. This time, we'll take a look at Organizational Climate. The academic literature on the topics of organizational culture and climate makes a distinction between the two as follows:

Culture is comprised of components such as values, myths, beliefs and norms - very soft, amorphous stuff; while climate is made up of workplace dimensions that can be fairly easily measured. Over our 30 plus years of working with small and mid-size organizations, we have assessed, or surveyed the peoples' views of the climates of many of our client organizations.

Seven dimensions of climate have been shown to have the most direct impact on the behaviors and performance of the people surveyed.

1. CONFORMITY:  The organization has clear rules, procedures, policies, practices, and guidelines which people follow.
2. RESPONSIBILITY:  People are given personal responsibility to achieve their part of the organization's goals; people can make decisions and solve problems without checking with managers each step of the way.
3. RECOGNITION/REWARD:  The organization recognizes and rewards people for doing a good job rather than ignoring, criticizing or punishing people when something goes wrong.
4. STANDARDS:  The organization emphasizes quality performance/production; the organization sets challenging organization goals.
5. ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY:  The organization is well organized and has clearly defined goals rather than being disorganized, confused or chaotic.
6. WARMTH & SUPPORT:  The organization values friendliness; people trust and support each other.  Good work relationships exist in the workplace.
7. LEADERSHIP: The organization encourages leadership based on expertise; people accept and follow direction from other qualified people, not just those with formal leadership titles, rather than being dominated by one or two people in the organization.

For an idea of the state of climate of your organization, take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire below. Then, create a line graph showing the disparity between actual and optimum. We call this the development gap. We'd be glad to create the graph for you. Just fax or email your completed questionnaire to us with organization name, your name, email or fax number.

QUESTIONNAIRE
For each of the seven organization climate dimensions described below, circle the number in the ACTUAL row that describes your organization, now.  Next, circle the number in the OPTIMUM row that describes your view of the where your organization should be to be at its best.

CONFORMITY
Actual/Now
Few rules/policies/procedures                                 Many rules/policies/procedures
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Few rules/policies/procedures                                 Many rules/policies/procedures
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

RESPONSIBILITY
Actual/Now
Little/No responsibility is given                                 A lot of responsibility is given
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Little/No responsibility is given                                 A lot of responsibility is given
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

RECOGNITION/REWARD
Actual/Now
People are criticized/ignored/punished                  People are recognized/rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
People are criticized/ignored/punished                  People are recognized/rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

STANDARDS
Actual/Now
Low/No performance standards                              High, challenging performance
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Low/No performance standards                              High, challenging performance
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY
Actual/Now
Disorganized/confused/chaotic                         Well organized/clearly defined goals
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Disorganized/confused/chaotic                         Well organized/clearly defined goals
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

WARMTH & SUPPORT
Actual/Now
Little/No warmth, support, trust                           Lots of warmth, support, trust
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Little/No warmth, support, trust                           Lots of warmth, support, trust
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

LEADERSHIP
Actual/Now
Few leaders/leadership not rewarded                  Many leaders/leadership rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Few leaders/leadership not rewarded                  Many leaders/leadership rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

If you are completely honest in your responses, you will see a marked gap between actual and optimum. If you are a senior executive and you ask others in your organization to complete this questionnaire, you will probably find that their gap between the way things are and the way they would like them to be is greater than yours. For information on how to reduce these gaps, give us a call or drop us an email. We'd be happy to chat with you.

SUCCESS IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

Every situation, properly perceived, becomes an opportunity.
But you have to act on them if you're going to be successful.

Distant pastures always look greener than those close at hand,
but real opportunities are right where you are.
You must simply take advantage of them when they appear.
You can start where you are at any time.

Success is all around you.
It's not in your environment,
it's not in luck or chance,
or in the help of others.
Success is in yourself alone.

You don't need more strength
or more ability or greater opportunity.
What you need is to use what you have.
Learn to seize good fortune,
for it is always around you.

You must go to success,
it doesn't come to you.
Open your own doors to opportunity.