Strategic Sense

Are You Asking the Right Questions?

Patti Blackstaffe — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:01:20 +0000

“We find … it’s much more important and difficult to ask the right question. Once you do that, the right answer becomes obvious.” ~Amory Lovins If you want to know more about why people do or don’t change, then ask more questions. When working with organizations and teams, it is important to first listen and [...]

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Are You A Team Player?

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:40:12 +0000

In his blog titled, “We Don’t Need To Make it Better” on February 5, Seth Godin says this about improvements. “Just because it is uphill doesn’t mean it’s hopeless, though. One of the most essential tasks a leader faces is understanding just how much the team is afraid of making things better (because it usually [...]

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Policies, Procedures and the Leadership Team

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 22:27:34 +0000

Whether you have 10 people walking in the door for work or 1000, they all bring with them their dreams, hopes, values, frustrations, problems and their desire to make their career the best it can be. People bring with them every experience they have ever had, and their perception of what that experience has meant [...]

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Why I Can’t Be Hired

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:08:59 +0000

Be willing to do the work, not play the victim of circumstance Working in Organizational Development (executive coaching and change management) is my passion. I love situational, character and behavioural development within an organizational environment. I personally study hard to build my programs and I take neuroscience, anthropology and psychology research into account for all [...]

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Rock and Roll Momentum

Patti Blackstaffe — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:30:03 +0000

Have you ever noticed when a really catchy song comes on the radio, you can’t help but tap a toe, hum or even sing along? For me, it is when a song from my late teens and early twenties comes alive. There is something about reminiscing back to a time of personal freedom, and feeling [...]

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The Credit is Due

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 06:24:23 +0000

Ideal: Everyone wants to work for a great team and to give credit to a great team – that’s most people’s workplace utopia. Reality: Human dynamics, competition and workplace conflict make it difficult to know just where credit and responsibility are to be shared. Here is a hint: It’s multi-level and sometimes confusing. Clarification: Your [...]

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Five Years!

Patti Blackstaffe — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 06:49:10 +0000

At the end of January we will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary as a business! On January 29th, 2008 Strategic Sense Inc was incorporated and what a ride it has been. Keep in touch and follow us as we make plans to celebrate our 5th year! ___________________________________________ Patti Blackstaffe [...]

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Liars Get Caught, Period.

Patti Blackstaffe — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 21:31:36 +0000

It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but liars do get caught. The thing about lies is that they are unsustainable. Eventually, someone begins to catch on, investigate, corroborate and vet the lies. When a person tells enough of them, it is too hard for the liar to keep track of who/what [...]

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The Three E’s of Hiring

Patti Blackstaffe — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:58:22 +0000

Do not be fooled by assuming that education = expertise. Do not be fooled by assuming expertise = results. Do not discount experience. The HR hiring departments of many organizations seek qualifications, expertise and experience when trying to fill a position. Paper tells very little. The person can tell/show you a lot. Start with experience [...]

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Seven Life Lessons From Dad

Patti Blackstaffe — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 16:02:05 +0000

I don’t know how many of you are lucky enough to still have your dad in your life, or even have a dad as dedicated as mine, but given that Father’s day is fast approaching, I would like a chance to share some of the very valuable lessons I have learned from the man who [...]

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The Great Big Shake Up

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:54:16 +0000

“The key to change… is to let go of fear.” – Rosanne Cash Many people who have been connected to me in social media will have noticed I took a social media vacation this last while. Mainly to re-examine both my business and my life – I was fortunate to have a friend who cared [...]

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The Rumours of My Absence – a personal note

Patti Blackstaffe — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:19:27 +0000

In work as in life, being present is not always possible… And I have been absent. By the team or the client, absence is sometimes misconstrued as your having dumped people and responsibilities without out care or concern for their well-being, even when the absence has been unplanned and impossible to manage. Life throws some [...]

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Business IS of the Heart

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:31:40 +0000

…When Cultures Collide in Mergers and Acquisitions Business consultants tell entrepreneurs to know their exit plan, and many focus on a merger or acquisition market as they build their businesses. This is especially true in the technology or engineering space, where valuations are done of a technology which may be attractive to larger firms looking [...]

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The Real Reason Your Team Doesn’t Trust You

Patti Blackstaffe — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:27:49 +0000

Today’s guest post is by Mike Figliuolo, the author of One Piece of Paper: The Simple Approach to Powerful, Personal Leadership. Here’s Mike: Your team doesn’t trust you. Honestly. They don’t. Trust is key to effective working relationships; yet, as you climb the corporate ladder, trust seems harder to earn and easier to lose. [...]

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Occupy Your Street

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:16:35 +0000

There is a commercial on television where a woman and man are sitting in a reception area, the woman turns to her husband and says, “I just want to stop paying checking fees” and a woman at the reception desk says, “If you want to stop paying checking fees, then stop paying Checking fees.” I [...]

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Warranty Wise and Pocket Poor

Patti Blackstaffe — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:18:35 +0000

Are cell phone warranties worth it? Based on my personal experience, I don’t think so. This is a customer service post, a little experiential story about my opinion on cell phone warranties… I purchased a cell phone at Future Shop in 2010. This was already an expensive purchase because the previous cell phone wasn’t working [...]

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Beware of Mediocrity

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 05:30:43 +0000

”Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” –Aristotle He nestled snug inside his cheap blanket, not [...]

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The Art of “Allowing”

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 02:38:34 +0000

I know a person who has an opinion about everyone. It is interesting and sometimes comedic to listen to because the focus is always about how others should speak, act, and live. I find these opinions even more comedic because they come from someone who has a long way to go to get their [...]

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Loss of a Distant Mentor

Patti Blackstaffe — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 20:36:18 +0000

Sadness over the suicide of Trey Pennington on Sunday September 4, 2011. I did not know Trey personally, only via our social media channels. He was one of those individuals to whom people looked up to, a mentor who knew the right way to say things, how to get his point across without arrogance and [...]

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The Fat File

Patti Blackstaffe — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:59:04 +0000

Do you keep a file that holds all of the awards, recognition and comments made to you about your performance? I do. I keep everything written about my performance by the companies for whom I have worked in addition to the customers and clients I have served and I call it my Fat File. This [...]

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