Living for the 70's....

When I consult with organization, sometimes the process requires me to interview various employees up and down the management chain.

I was recently consulting for a mid-size company, and as I walked around I consistently heard employees proudly say:

"We do things here the same way we did them 30 years ago!"

one variation even went:

"We do things the same way we've been doing them for years ... except that we have email now!"

(Honest. Someone actually said that.)

Um...............

See the problem?

Unless you're a maker of 70's fashion, doing things the same way you did them 30 years ago is a serious problem. Processes that are 3 decades old are not points of pride--they are red flags that something has been seriously missed.


BOTTOM LINE: Emotionally Intelligent leaders listen carefully for signs of stagnation in their organization. Stagnation means the same thing as "someone else will eat our lunch".