Pensights
Chillax: 13 Ways to Reduce Workplace Stress
Quick trivia: from what movie does the line “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” come? It comes from the 1976 movie, The Network. Winner of four Academy Awards and with an all-star cast, The Network is a satirical film about a struggling fictional TV network. The movie climaxes[...]
Seeing around Corners: The Power of Big Data & Predictive Analytics
Does the name “Nate Silver” ring a bell? It should: he is the statistician who correctly predicted the winner in all 50 states and DC for the 2012 presidential election (and something like the last nine consecutive presidential elections before that, dating back to Reagan). He’s also developed a powerful system for predicting the performance[...]
Learn What Drives Organizational Excellence: Become a 2016 Performance Excellence Award Evaluator
Are you interested in learning more about what makes organizations successful? Are you interested in helping other organizations -- such as schools, hospitals, non-profits, and businesses – in the Upper Midwest improve outcomes? Would you be interested in networking, learning, and sharing with others who feel the same way? The Performance Excellence Network is[...]
The Secret Sauce of Leadership: 9 Traits that All Good Leaders Have
Leadership matters. It’s what separates the good organizations from the bad and the great organizations from the good. Good leadership is critical for optimizing resources, maximizing employee engagement, aligning organizational activities, and achieving and sustaining high performance. In fact, research shows that leadership is the number one driver of superior organizational outcomes. Or, said another[...]
Excellence Decoded: Insights from PENworks 2016
Last week, the Performance Excellence Network hosted our annual (sold out!) PENworks 2016 conference. The event featured 31 local, regional, and national speakers, each sharing best practices and insights to improve organizational performance and personal and leadership effectiveness. Some speakers were from large, complex organizations (Cargill, State of MN); some were from small nonprofits[...]
Performance Excellence Network Recognizes Four Minnesota Organizations
For Immediate Release Performance Excellence Network Recognizes Four Minnesota Organizations 2015 MN Performance Excellence Awards Presented at PENworks 2016 Conference; Governor Celebrates Excellence in Minnesota ST. PAUL, Minn., April 20, 2016 – The Performance Excellence Network (PEN), formerly the Minnesota Council for Quality, today honors four recipients of the 2015 Performance Excellence Award (formerly[...]
Partnership Brings Good Leadership Skill Development to Performance Excellence Network
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 20, 2016 Partnership Brings Good Leadership Skill Development to Performance Excellence Network Program Helps Organizations Hardwire “Soft” Leadership Skills Brooklyn Center, MN -- The Performance Excellence Network (PEN) and Good Leadership Enterprises launched a partnership today at the annual PENworks conference bringing Good Leadership training to PEN members. The move[...]
PEN to Form Partnership with Good Leadership Enterprises
Performance Excellence Network to Form Partnership with Good Leadership Enterprises April 16, 2016 By Neal St. Anthony, Star Tribune Training organization will form partnership with leadership group to round itself out The Performance Excellence Network (PEN), formerly the Minnesota Council for Quality, and Good Leadership Enterprises will announce a partnership this week at PEN’s annual[...]
The Science of Happiness: Improving Your Career, Your Organization, Your Life
Are you happy? No, I mean really happy – the type of happy that makes you feel like you’re floating through most days. The type of happy that has you whistling while you work (or while you play), so to speak. Most of the time, you can’t wait until tomorrow, but you still savor every[...]
Everything’s a Process, So Everything Can Be Improved
I’m on Day 22 in dealing with a concussion. I guess now that it’s been three weeks, it probably isn’t considered minor – the kind that resolves itself in a few hours or days. But I’m also very lucky that it wasn’t more major: it is progressively healing, and I’m much better off than many[...]
Toilet Paper Up or Down? The Power of Comparative Data
I ran across an interesting statistic recently: 68% of Americans place their toilet paper in the holder with the roll coming over the top (rather than underneath). Interesting. I guess I’m “normal” (not that placing it the other way is necessarily abnormal). But I guess it’s been a long debate – Wikipedia has 133 footnotes[...]
The Value of Core Values
Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. Who knows where these powerful – and timeless – 12 words come from? Anyone who has raised his right hand with three fingers up (or has/had a son, grandson, or other family member or friend do so) will recognize them as Boy[...]
