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"Social media has the potential to dramatically improve the inner workings of every company. The interstitial connections can quickly cross business silos, inform decision making, educate people at all levels, and allow employees—especially new entrants—to pick up the natural rhythms of how people around them work. But only if the company allows access to social networks. And most companies don't."
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"Major change usually comes off a platform of crisis, and I think everyone can agree that crisis conditions surely exist in health care economics. The nation's health care bill has been doubling every eight years for the last four decades. The runaway costs have been busting the budgets of federal, state and local governments, and they have bled the bottom lines of corporations. [...]
We began our quest with a simple goal: neutralize the upward spiral in health costs so we can avoid annual premium increases for the company and its co-workers.
How did we do this? As CEO and now chairman, I asked our 460 workers to take ownership of their health and healthcare costs, and we gave them the incentives and information to become expert consumers of health care."
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"When they're not around you or me, the Amish speak a language called Pennsylvania German. Demut is their word for humility. And Demut isn't just for the Amish.
Why does humility matter?
It matters in business. It matters in life. It matters in our relationships.
"Celebrity" is a word you don't often see next to "humble." If you're gunning for stardom, there are only so many spots. Unless you're one of a select lucky few, you're bound to be disappointed, or worse. Humility is healthier.
A humble approach in a relationship helps one recognize the other person's inherent value and needs. Humility fosters human understanding.
If you're guided by humility in business, you are less likely to blow up the company by going too big, too quick. Humility checks you when that demon in your brain says "more." The one you know you should ignore.
And as some find out the hard way, humility can save a heck of a lot of pain."
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"Most organizations believe they are not working as well as they used to. They blame the rapid and unpredictable changes that are going on around them. But many of them have failed to grasp one fundamental truth: CHANGE IS THE NEW CONSTANT.
To be successful in the 21st century requires an approach that change is here to stay, so one of the most critical components for success is now the ability to build a culture to adapt and thrive in change."
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"The desire for equality permeates everything we do and always has, as can be seen in many of our age-old philosophies. For example, we see it in the Golden Rule, which is often interpreted as 'Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.' However, who really cares what you want?
After all, treating people as you want to be treated doesn't address the needs and desires of others.
Buying into these doctrines, myths, and lies leads to pasteurizing, homogenizing, and sanitizing everyone in order to fit people into one mold and think the same way so they can then gather together in like-minded harmony. There's a good reason why they call it a company culture, since
organizations are, in actuality, mini-cults. Instead, we should consider living by the doctrine:
The person you like the least may be the person you need the most."
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