The Enterprise of the Future: What Does it Mean for Training?

By Sean P. Murray

December 15, 2009

3 Min read

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IBM interviewed over 1,000 CEOs and asked them what the enterprise of the future will look like.  What IBM discovered, and recently published in a study,  is that future organizations will be even more dependent on collaborative global teams to drive innovation.  In the opening letter, IBM’s CEO, Sam Palmisano says: “A focus on innovation works. That is also evident in this year’s study results. Those of you who are making the boldest plays — pursuing the most global, collaborative and...

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Something to be Thankful for: Your People

By Sean P. Murray

November 25, 2009

2 Min read

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As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow with our families, now is an appropriate time to take account of the many things to be thankful for at work.  As a leader, what comes to mind for me is the debt and gratitude I have for the people I have the honor to work with everyday.  So how do I, as a leader thank the many people around me who not only contribute to my success, but more importantly to the success of the organization?  One way is to simply say “thank you.”  But another more...

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New e-book: Getting More from Your Investment in Training

By Sean P. Murray

November 10, 2009

3 Min read

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The current global economy is forcing people and organizations to find ways to do business more efficiently and more effectively. Companies are revisiting strategy, markets, R&D, size of workforce, and their entire cost structure. There is an intense focus on business results with an added emphasis on trimming anything that doesn’t directly contribute to the success of the organization.  These same forces are affecting training and development departments at corporations across the globe...

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Web 2.0 is the Future of Corporate Learning

By Sean P. Murray

November 5, 2009

3 Min read

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A much discussed article by Tony Bingham, the President of ASTD, appeared in the August 2009 T+D Magazine under the title “Learning Gets Social.”  In the piece, Tony delivers a shot across the bow for many learning and development departments, saying basically, if we all don’t get on board and start leveraging and supporting Web 2.0 technologies for learning, we’re simply going to be deemed irrelevant by the businesses we support.   The article quotes Karie Willeyard, CLO of Sun Microsystems...

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Leadership and Time Management

By Sean P. Murray

October 28, 2009

5 Min read

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Earlier this month, while catching a flight home to Seattle from New York City after a long week on the road meeting with clients, I made it to my seat, sat down and breathed a huge sigh of relief.  For a moment, it was bliss.  I knew in a few hours I would be home to see my family.  But then the slow, creeping realization set in that my email in-box was overloaded with hundreds of emails I was unable to get to while on the road.  Furthermore, I had five voicemails on my cell phone and probably...

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Turning Employees into “Owners”

By Sean P. Murray

September 28, 2009

2 Min read

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The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index is a joint venture between Gallup and the health management company Healthways.  The Index is designed to measure the overall well-being of the United States and its various regions by randomly administering a comprehensive survey measuring the overall mental, physical and emotional health of individuals across the country (Hawaii and Utah top the list). Healthways being a client of RealTime Performance, I have been following the index carefully and I was...

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Applying the 5As Framework

By Sean P. Murray

September 18, 2009

5 Min read

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Often when working with clients to design and deliver leadership training, I’m told to create an experience where participants have fun, are fully engaged in the program and learn new skills.  Recently, I partnered with a client, a major U.S.-based insurance company, that decided to raise the bar and set the expectation that learners would also apply what they learned back on their job in a way that impacts business results. To achieve this goal we applied the 5As Framework to the design and...

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Creating a Learning Culture

By Sean P. Murray

September 9, 2009

3 Min read

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One of the great business challenges of the 21st century will be building the capacity of large, complex organizations to change and evolve continuously in order to deliver ever-increasing value to customers.  In the world of leadership development, we often think of this pursuit through the narrow lens of developing individual leadership skills and competencies through training. Creating a Learning Culture However, an adaptive and flexible organization is the result of a true learning culture...

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The Downside of Multitasking

By Sean P. Murray

September 1, 2009

2 Min read

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One of the long-standing assumptions about leadership in today’s wired and global economy is the critical importance of multitasking.  With information coming at us through email, RSS, Twitter, smart phones and the like, the ability to perform multiple actions at once, quickly prioritizing tasks and making decisions, would seem to be an important contributor to leadership success.  However, the more this vaunted “skill” comes under scrutiny, the more doubts there are about the correlation...

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U.S. Army Embraces Wikis

By Sean P. Murray

August 25, 2009

4 Min read

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In July, the U.S. Army broke with long-standing tradition and began encouraging all personnel to contribute to U.S. Army Field Manual.  The Army Field Manual, which contains detailed information and how-to’s, serves as a playbook for soldiers operating in the field.  The New York Times reports: The goal, say the officers behind the effort, is to tap more experience and advice from battle-tested soldiers rather than relying on the specialists within the Army’s array of colleges and research...

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