Montgomery Community Media

“If you don’t go fire-walking, you’re not a team player.” So came the edict from the management of a large company, a brand known to everyone in America. And the luckless managers involved – well, they felt they had little choice. What are you gonna do – say no to the CEO and be branded […]

In these days of criticizing our civil servants, we forget when they do something really terrific. Imagine, for a moment, the gargantuan size of our U.S. Government. Consider all the departments, agencies, divisions, sections and subsections – each trying to fulfill their own mission and all looking to buy just about every product and service […]

Not so long ago, the HR department was all-powerful. They were the deciders on hiring and firing, the people who had the ear of the CEO, and the final arbiters on what development activities you could and couldn’t do for your staff. That picture is changing quickly today, as the business line takes back control […]

“If a lion could talk, we could not understand him”. – Ludwig Wittgenstein   We all know that the VA is in trouble for gaming the system to hide long wait times for medical care while – in some cases – veterans may have died. Meanwhile, some people who gamed the system received performance bonuses. […]

Embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned this Friday, May 30, in the wake of a growing scandal over some VA managers publishing misleading statistics about veterans’ wait times for medical care. “I can’t explain the lack of integrity among some of the leaders of our health care facilities,” said Shinseki in a CNN interview. […]

Teleconferencing, virtual meetings, and online learning – what’s not to love? As it turns out, plenty. There are many good reasons to want to believe that online meetings and online training are just as valuable as face-to-face sessions. For one thing, online options are usually much cheaper and faster – no travel time, no meals, […]

We’ve all been there. The team trainer says “Together Everyone Achieves More”, or “There’s no ‘I’ in Team”. Eyes roll, people sigh, everyone settles in and looks at their cellphones. Why do we feel this way? Is it just the mundane, hackneyed, clichéd aphorisms that turn us off? Is the trainer right that this is, […]

What’s the worst “team building” event you’ve ever been on? If you’re thinking about the time you had to play a lame role playing game a la “The Office”, or the time a facilitator made you write your “values” on an egg, count yourself lucky. A large fast-food chain sent its leadership team on a […]

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a hunter who saw his own reflection in a pool of water and became so obsessed with his looks that he sat and stared at himself until he died. We all know people like that – people who have a grandiose sense of self-importance, fantasize about their own unlimited brilliance, […]

Telework would seem to have everything going for it. It takes advantage of technology, saves time and the environment, and cuts down on office space. So why isn’t it more popular? On the opposing side, bosses often still struggle with trusting people to work when they can’t be seen. There’s also the matter of “face” […]