By Jennifer Dawson @ 1:00 pm
Patrick Lencioni’s book, published in 2007, begins with a fitting quote from Samuel Johnson: “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” The three signs of a miserable job, which are engagingly explored in Lencioni’s tried-and-true fable-format, are not complex, academic or especially original. They are simple and based in common sense. This book is Lencioni’s reminder, a la Samuel Johnson, that managers and employees already have the knowledge and tools to make the jobs around them meaningful and enjoyable. (more…)
By Melanie Parish @ 1:00 pm
Breakfast Torta
More than a decade ago I was visiting my friend Mariah in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She had recently clipped a recipe for an egg and potato dish, spiced with green chiles, and proudly served it to me. It was absolutely delicious, but I never got to see the recipe. Since that time I’ve been experimenting with the dish–playing with the addition of other ingredients, and tweaking the quantities–in a culinary evolution of Mariah’s original. The current version, which I love and serve for many a weekend breakfast, replaces the chiles with spinach and parboils the potatoes for the sake of efficiency. Enjoy!
5 medium potatoes, sliced thinly
12 eggs, beaten
2 large handfuls of fresh spinach, washed
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
5 tbsp vegetable oil
Parboil potatoes. Sauté onion in 1 tbsp of oil in a large, oven-proof skillet. Add spinach and sauté until limp. Remove from skillet and set aside. Using the same hot skillet, add 4 tbsp of oil and brown the potatoes, arranging them to form a crust on the bottom of the pan. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and add the spinach and onion mixture and grated cheese. Pour over the potatoes and cover. Cook on medium heat until almost done. Place under the broiler to finish cooking the very top.
By Jennifer Dawson @ 9:29 am
The many images evoked by the term “gym”–sweat-jewelled men and women pumping iron, spandex-clad aerobics classes, and maybe even (for the less athletically inclined) the humiliation of getting picked last for the murderball team in Grade 4–don’t seem to relate to coaching. It’s true that “members” of a “coaching gym” are more likely to lift a telephone handset than a free weight. But, like members of a fitness gym, coaching gym members are committed to self-improvement. (more…)
By Melanie Parish @ 1:00 am
As CEO of a growing company, I am very aware of the time and expense involved in becoming the best organization possible. Creating new processes is costly, and sometimes feels like it gets in the way of the work we do and the product we deliver. Processes are about making the future better, but it can be hard to think about tomorrow when we have clients to serve and sales to make today. Rather than lose focus on the big picture, I have tried to think systematically about maximizing our potential as an organization. First I tried words. I ended up drawing a house. (more…)
