What's Wrong With Business?

As this Forbes article shows it looks like much of what is wrong with modern "Big Business" can be laid at the door of management strategy consultants. Maybe the guys at despair.com got it right all along.

Graythorn Group Admires the Sunshine Initiative

One of the most important parts of our vision is people really enjoying themselves through their work. Patrick Saleeby at The Sunshine Initiative also believes that we should be empowered to enjoy our jobs.

If you are stuck in a job that’s grinding you down, you are not trapped; you only think you are. Oh, and don’t kid yourself. It’s not just a job. I hate it when people say that. It’s your life, where you spend the bulk of your hours and days. If you’re miserable, and I was, then there’s really only one thing to do. Yep, you guessed it: change.

Go check out The Sunshine Initiative and remember how to breathe again.

The Graythorn Group Admires: SparkPeople

SparkPeople only has one tiny little goal. To improve the health and fitness of everyone, everywhere. Nothing major, right? Based on the statistics that they track it looks like they are doing a good job of it (they've counted over 6 billion calories burned and over 8 million pounds lost). So what is it they think they're doing?

At SparkPeople, our mission is to SPARK millions of PEOPLE to reach their goals and lead healthier lives. We offer nutrition, health, and fitness tools, support, and resources that are 100% free... About Spark People

Now that is truly awesome.

The Graythorn Group Enjoys Curious Cat

Today while doing other things (which is when most good things happen), we came across the Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog. Since today's top story was a criticism of outrageous executive pay we knew we had found a kindred spirit. Curious Cat, you make us purr.

Creating Magic

Walt Disney himself once said, "Why be a governor or senator when you can be king of Disneyland?" It seems like Lee Cockerell might agree with him. The former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World Resort enjoyed his tenure with the Mouse, and has written up the leadership methodology that he implemented in his new book Creating Magic.

As you may know, the Walt Disney Company is famous for their training program for Cast Members (i.e., employees). But that level of training apparently didn't extend to leadership skills. So Cockerell instituted a new leadership program. Can you imagine that?

You can check out Lee's website at www.leecockerell.com. To get a feel for his philosophy read his most popular blog post, "The Soft Stuff and The Hard Stuff." You can also buy Lee's book in our Graythorn Group Amazon Store.