Waiting. Plugged into one of the few, coveted outlets at Gate 12. Ready to pierce the night sky at 560 mph, 40,000 feet and 60 below zero - in a coke-bottle-shaped tube with wings. As the earth's most collaborative species, together, we have made this kind of technologically advanced transportation possible. So many shoulders on which we have stood.
Our world is becoming smaller and smaller, faster and faster every day. But with each breakthrough in technology we also galvanize a new level of expectation where we feel justified in complaining that our flight is delayed an hour - or a day, or that "this" airline doesn't have TVs in the back of EVERY seat or that our phone can't make toast.
And even though we have Skype to see each other and virtual meetings to conduct online we find that, in many ways, our relationships are getting further and further apart.
Bill John,
President & CEO.
Odyssey Teams, Inc.
‘Five Whys' - Create more commitment and connection to your organizational pursuits by uncovering the underlying motivations and values using the "Five Whys." I learned this tool from David Langford of Langford International, an expert in quality tools derived from Edward Deming's work. It changed my life and the business of Odyssey.
‘He who has a why can bear almost any how'
-Nietzsche
Why are the "Five Whys" important? I'll answer through my own experience of this process.
Fifteen years ago Odyssey Teams was invited to provide its "Leadership Odyssey" session to the incoming MBA students at the Anderson School of Business at UCLA as part of their student orientation. It was designed to accelerate the relations between students and compel them to their best efforts as individuals and as a team. As a business read more
"We influence by what we ask more than by what we tell"
John Bidese,
Johnson Controls
Helping Hands participant
Dun & Bradstreet - Helping Hands program
by Steve Mangold, Dun & Bradstreet, Vice President of Sales - West Coast
As corporations have grown over the past century they have also become more targeted, niche and expertly focused on one specific part of a process in a larger business world. At Dun & Bradstreet, we are very aware of this. Since the days when Abraham Lincoln worked as a Dun and Bradstreet credit reporter to today, where information flows instantaneously around the globe in a non-stop digital loop, the work of our employees has changed.
Oftentimes we don't see the end result of our daily tasks. We sell information to businesses that use it in ways we only conceptually understand. If we are not careful to re-connect, we become disassociated from making a difference in our daily business lives.
As the area vice president for our West Coast sales operation, I have been fortunate enough to lead a team that has been highly successful at selling the services of Dun & Bradstreet across the globe. But recently we began to feel the need to be inspired once again, to re-connect with "why" we do what we do on a daily basis and understand the differences we make. That is why we contacted Odyssey Teams to conduct... read more
Build-a-Hand Teambuilding kit™
Created for Odyssey Teams' clients who want to make a BIG impact on a large scale in their organizations. This easy-to-use Build a Hand teambuilding kit unlocks the secrets behind Odyssey Teams rousing live "Helping Hands" program. Each kit includes step-by-step facilitation and assembly instructions, program videos, Powerpoint to build state-of-the-art prosthetic hands. Each kit contains ten program-ready hands good for 10 to 30 participants. Scales perfectly for hundreds and even thousands of participants. Duration: 2-4 hours.
Learn more here or call 800-342-1650 or www.build-a-hand.com
What was Lain thinking?
I have been speaking in front of groups as small as 10 and as large as 3,200 people for the past 19 years. Just the other day, I was about to be introduced to a group of 650 Banana Republic store managers and executive staff. I had a few minutes to connect with the person who was introducing me backstage. Both of us where feeling the power of the moment and hoping with all our hearts that the next four and a half hours would be something we would never forget. She went on stage and began to welcome the crowd and lay the foundation for my presentation. She expressed her own excitement that I was about to share a life-changing experience with her and her team.
What was I thinking during that five minutes? To tell you the truth, my mind was almost blank and I was about to panic. Would I be able to rise to the moment and somehow turn a two-year sales cycles, three months of preparation, four hours of observation, face-to-face meetings and three conference calls into the perfect training program? This is a moment I experience often and have almost become comfortable with the feeling of responsibility and accountability for the quality of 650 people's lives and the millions of customers they serve. Not to mention the investment the company has made into the program and all that is required to bring that many people together. read more ...
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This happy man just received his new LN-4 prosthetic hand last Saturday and is holding the photo of the people who built it for him. He lost his right hand when we was 15 and is happy he can write again - he never mastered left hand writing. The young woman, Diana, is in the Cali San Fernando Rotaract Club (Cali, Colombia) and showed him how to fit and use his new LN-4. Every hand contains a photo of the team/Odyssey client who built it for them.
Helen Landry
Marketing & Special Programs
GE Healthcare
“We were looking for something that would bring our organizational values to life in a meaningful, memorable and relevant way. The impact on our team was profound.”
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/16/giving-amputees-the-world-over-a-helping-hand/
http://www.themeetingmagazines.com/index/Portals/1/CIT2011a/02/CIT_2011-02Feb_Issue-InteraciveExport-v3a.pdf
http://www.successfulmeetings.com/Conference-News/Event-Management-Compaines/Articles/Odyssey-Teams-Responds-to-Recession-With-Affordable-Team-Building-Kit/