Performance Excellence Network & Iowa Quality Center Announce Partnership Collaboration Provides IQC Members Access to PEN Resources, Supports Performance Excellence throughout Iowa ST. PAUL, Minn., December 13, 2023 – The Performance Excellence Network (PEN) and the Iowa Quality Center (IQC) today announce a partnership that expands the mission of both organizations throughout the Upper [...]
I was having a conversation with a colleague recently about how the world has changed the last several years. Think about the fundamental shifts we have collectively experienced, many brought on by the pandemic but many because of other things. For example, how many of us knew what Artificial Intelligence was just a year ago? [...]
Life is about paradoxes: sickness versus health; richer versus poorer; hot versus cold; better versus worse; happy versus sad. The same is true in our organizations: success versus failure; growth versus contraction; centralization versus decentralization; efficiency versus innovation. The truth, of course, is that these poles are not binary -- they’re all on a continuum, [...]
I get asked occasionally what is the single biggest reason organizations fail. Of course, there isn’t one right answer: organizations -- even from the same sector or industry -- have different cultures, different core competencies, different strategic challenges and advantages, different circumstances that contribute to success or failure. As a result, some organizations struggle with [...]
During the COVID years, we were all given the opportunity to reflect on our mortality and on what’s truly important in life: our fast-paced daily routines came to an abrupt halt, allowing us to recalibrate -- to refocus on the priorities in each of our lives. But, while COVID isn’t over, most of us have [...]
Artificial intelligence (AI) is an exciting, emerging technology that offers both incredible possibility, but also potential risk. At its simplest core, the goal of AI is sensemaking: it can help in making decisions; solving complex problems; enhancing lifestyle; and facilitating commerce, education, healthcare. We’ve all seen and used it: it’s embedded in Siri and Alexa; it’s [...]
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of participating in a local association’s Leadership Academy, a forum to explore best practices with 60 or more local leaders. It was a great conversation, full of insights and useful ideas. In the middle of the session, I found myself responding to a question with a [...]
PEN hosted our annual conference -- PENworks 2023 -- three weeks ago. As it (somehow) has become tradition, I walked on stage in costume -- this year as a mountain climber, reflecting the conference theme of ASCENDING TOGETHER: Connect, Discover, Imagine. Yeah, it was hot in four layers of clothing. And I felt a little [...]
2022 Performance Excellence Awards Presented at PENworks 2023 Conference ST. PAUL, Minn., May 5, 2023 – The Performance Excellence Network (PEN) honors seven recipients of the 2022 Minnesota Performance Excellence Award. The Award is based on the Baldrige Framework and is the culmination of a rigorous evaluation of an organization’s management and performance system. The [...]
In the wake of the last “Great Recession” in the 1980s (though we didn’t call it that back then), America was in economic trouble. The country suffered a two-phase recession in 1980-82 -- one that left unemployment high and interest rates even higher (recall credit cards and mortgages well beyond 20%!). The economic challenges were [...]
Copyright © 2025 | Performance Excellence Network | All Rights Reserved | Site Designed & Developed by: OrangeBall Creative
