1. A Message from the President: If You're Happy and You Know It, Stomp Your Feet: US Employees Are Disengaged 2. Managing Transformational Change: Fall Conference Nov 14; Pre-Con Nov 13 (Bloomington) 3. The Principles of Performance Excellence: Baldrige 101 Workshop 10/16 (St. Paul) 4. New Videos on History/Impact and Name Change for Performance Excellence [...]

It’s human nature to want to succeed: most people try hard to get good grades in school, to advance in their careers, to maintain happy and sustainable relationships, heck, even to win at that occasional poker game or round of golf.  Organizations are similar: they want long-term, sustained success – happy, loyal customers; happy, loyal [...]

1. A Message from the President: Success Often Comes from Failure 2. Forming Additional Roundtables this Fall -- Peer Problem Solving and Knowledge Sharing Groups 3. Want to Learn More the MN Council for Quality (now Performance Excellence Network)? View this New Video on our History, Impact 4. More Information, 2-Minute Video Behind the New [...]

Legend has it that during World War II, Navy fighter planes had a watch embedded in the steering column – not to help the pilot keep time, but to help save his life.  You see: the first step in a pilot’s emergency response process was to wind the watch.  It may sound crazy, but Navy [...]

1. A Message from the President: Going Slow to Go Fast 2. Forming Additional Roundtables this Fall -- Peer Problem Solving and Knowledge Sharing Groups 3. Quality is Never Going Away: An Exclusive Interview with the Star Tribune 4. Performance Excellence Network Changes Email, Web Address, Breakfast Knowledge Forums 5. Managing Transformational Change: Fall Conference [...]

The phrase “a rose is a rose is a rose” was first written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem “Sacred Emily.”  Some three hundred years earlier, Shakespeare offered a similar quote in his seminal Romeo and Juliet: “What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose by any other name would [...]

1. A Message from the President: A Rose is a Rose: What's in a (Brand) Name? 2. Six Organizations Recognized for Performance Excellence at June 5 Conference; Nearly 400 Attend 25th Anniversary Celebration 3. Sustainability: A Common Language, A Shared Approach -- Workshop 7/18 (Twin Cities) 4. Forming Additional Roundtables this Fall -- Peer Problem [...]

Next week, the Council celebrates its 25th anniversary, a change in brand name, and an official expansion into the Dakotas.  I think it’s only fitting for us to reflect on how (and why) we got here, as well as how our mission of advancing performance excellence has become so critical for Minnesota, the Dakotas, and [...]

1. A Message from the President: 25 Years of Advancing Performance Excellence -- Happy Birthday, Council! 2. Council's Annual Best Practice Conference: Celebrating 25 Years of Advancing Excellence -- June 4-5 (St. Paul); Lt. Governor to Attend 3. Sustainability: A Common Language, A Shared Approach -- Workshop 7/18 (Twin Cities) 4. Learn What Drives Organizational [...]

“Leaders are never too busy to strive for excellence,” said BG Porter, president of Studer Group at last week’s Quest for Excellence conference in Washington DC. I attend this conference most every year, and I always pick up best practices on what drives organizational performance excellence. This year (since I’m now Tweeting: @LassiterBrian – see [...]