The Dbottino Weblog

When you are implementing change in an organization remember this line: “Slow is fast and fast is slow.” While this statement is the opposite of what often feels or seems right, it lies at the heart of a successful change implementation program.

Most leaders feel the need to “push” change to “make it happen.” In most situations, pushing change will actually slow the organization down. As Saint Augustine said: “Patience is the companion of wisdom.”

In a recent discussion with one of my coaching clients, we identified change management and implementation as his highest priority issue. As we discussed the leadership and communication implications he needed to address during the change process, he said that his natural desire was to do precisely the opposite of the course of action that we finally agreed upon. He said that his natural inclination would be to “Go in and tell them what to do and expect them to do it.” In fact, the course of action we chose made him feel like he was sitting still and doing nothing. That’s a tough situation for an action-oriented leader.

This business leader needs to change both attitudes and behaviors in his team. He is not in a crisis situation, but neither can he wait forever for people to “get onboard” with the changes. He is a focused, hard-working leader who really cares about his business and his people. He needs the change to happen quickly and smoothly, but not at a break-neck speed. I advised him to slow down during the early phases of the change implementation to give his people the opportunity to contribute their thoughts and to maximize the probability that they will buy-in to the plan later.

The leader, in this case, has good data and sound insights about what needs to happen in his business. Unfortunately, his team does not yet see things like he does. Honestly, I think his plan will prove to be the bestand most direct solution to improve his business performance. Unfortunately, what he and I think is irrelevant when it comes to his team accepting and embracing a new way of doing things.

This situation highlights one of the major dilemmas leaders face. Namely, consciously choosing, in the early stages, to do what “feels wrong” or “seems too slow” because it pays big dividends later. Delayed gratification comes into play in a number of leadership situations, but slowing down while driving a change through your organization is vital to long-term change acceptance. The idea is to personally slow down so that your organization can speed up.

To explain my thinking on this topic, I’ll share a change acceptance model for consideration. Every change, whether good or bad, involves loss. The loss of “the way we used to do things,” the loss of comfort, the loss of security, etc. This feeling of loss triggers something like a grieving process that follows a relatively predictable pattern. The pattern goes in this order:

Denial
People focus on the past and hope the change fails or goes away.

Resistance
People acknowledge the change, but they focus on the effects (their feelings of loss, anger, etc.) and not the positive benefits of the change.

Exploration
People begin to face the reality of the change and explore both the positive and negative aspects of it.

Acceptance
People accept the new way of doing things and start to move forward again.

Leaders often go through this process privately or with a small group of close advisors before they decide on the need for a change. Then they try to push the change through the organization. However, their people have not had the opportunity to process the change, so the organization reacts with denial:

- “It can’t be done.”
– “It’ll never work.”
– “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Or resistance:

- “I’ll quit before I’ll do that!”
– “You’ll have to force me.”
– “I’ll do it if I have to.”

Leaders who push too quickly for agreement tend to lock themselves and their organization in a downward spiral of conflict and resistance. Once locked in a downward spiral of bad attitudes and behaviors, making progress on the change implementation becomes very difficult.

Leaders who slow down to give people a chance to process, and contribute to, the change on the front-end, get better buy-in and faster progress on the back-end. The approach that initially feels slow and laborious winds up reducing the overall change implementation timeline.

About the Author:

Guy Harris is the Chief Relationship Officer with Principle Driven Consulting. He helps entrepreneurs, business managers, and other organizational leaders build trust, reduce conflict, and improve team performance.Learn more at http://www.principledriven.com

In my attempts to find the love of my life, I knew that they were not going to be found in the town where I lived, so I took to the Internet. My first experience was the result of a television commercial. They looked so darn happy, you couldn’t help but wonder if this could also work for you, so I tried it. Put it this way, finding my “Mr. Right” may have ended up costing me a small fortune!

Then one day I was working on my computer and along came an annoying pop-up. Normally, I delete them as fast as they pop-up, but this one caught my eye. It was for another dating site. Once inside the site, I was amazed at all of the handsome black men and a few white ones too, who were looking for the perfect black woman.

Because of how I am, my desire for monogamy, this is who I was looking for, someone who had the same desire as me. What I quickly found out, on my first night on the site is that most men don’t even bother to read your profile they just look at your picture and click! Thanks for the compliment, I think? However, when a man takes the time to read your profile, he is going a little deeper than just the physical attraction and actually learns a little about you before sending you a message.

At that time my profile was a little friendlier, more inviting. What I found was that I spent more time eliminating those who did not fit the bill until I thought I had found the one. However I have a hard time giving all of my attention and affection to someone who is not returning the favor. And because of who I am, it is not in my nature to be intimate with more than one person at a time. To me, intimacy definitely includes more than just sex. It involves allowing a person to really get to know who you are, what your likes and dislikes are, what your loves and fears are, trusting to the point of vulnerability. So because I was not getting what I needed in return for what I was giving, I said audios!

I decided to give this site another go. This time I spelled out exactly what I expected in my profile. It was probably more intimidating to some. I think that they could tell that I was very serious about what I am saying and if they are all about the game, they don’t even bother to click. That’s good! As I say, that way I don’t have to bother cutting away the fat to get to the meat. Or as one gentleman said, “the apples at the top of the tree are more appealing but the ones on the ground are easier to get.” I am still the same person, but this time I am realizing that it’s really all about the game. The object of the game is to talk with whomever you want, as many as you want, as much as you want, as intimately as you want, all at the same time, and finally, if you choose to do so, you can select the one who has won you over from all of your many admirers. However, don’t forget that while you are being pursued by him, he is being pursued by others and he is also pursuing others at the same time he is pursuing you. It’s like one big orgy!

For this very reason, I don’t think that online dating is right for me. But let’s turn that around. Online dating is what you make it. You can play by your own rules. As for me, I really don’t care what the others do; I will stick to my molasses method of one person at a time. The problem is finding that one who would be willing to give up the buffet to see what the steak taste like. I’m sure that it will take me longer this way to find the one who is right for me, but after all when I do, it will have been well worth the timefor both of us!

By taking steps to get healthier and become more active, you are definitely in the Juicy circle. Girl, you are so savvy realizing the importance of caring for yourself. You know that without taking care of yourself you won’t have the energy to enjoy anything in life. Yes. You are most definitely a Juicy Woman.

Add these 10 yummy little tidbits of wisdom to your daily health regimen consistently and you are guaranteed to feel better about yourself, get healthier, look sexier and live longer. Stir these gently into your day to add more joy, fun, frivolity and confidence as you prepare to take the biggest bite out of each day and add juice to your life by living outside of the box. As a young girl, you didn’t color in the lines you just filled the page with color. Do the same with your life. Live juicy.

The whole object of these is to have more fun, be more loving, laugh and relax on your journey to getting healthier. Use these in combination when your eating program is going straight to hell. Remember willpower is not meant to be used over the long term. Use them individually or combine them for a power packed energy boost to regenerate your motivation and get you feeling great about how wonderful you really are!

You can pull these out and use these when you need to re-group and get back in the game.They represent the tip of the iceberg and are a must for any woman who wants to consider herself a juicy woman. Juicy women are everywhere. They are rich in spirit, love people and are deeply passionate about many things in life. They come in all shapes, colors and sizes. They are absolutely perfect in their rich diversity and unique beauty. Their juice comes from a zest for living. They are magnetic in that they are so loveable, dependable and nurturing. Juicy Women are the movers and shakers in life because they are devoted to making the world a better place. Whether they are sitting on a mountain top or running a family or corporation, they are at home in their skin.

Use these juicy tidbits are a resource when life seems to get overwhelming, the tendency is to feel frustrated, and judge yourself too harshly. Use the tips to create more opportunity to be aware of yourself and your needs. By having them, you will be more aware of the choices that you make and more in control of your own happiness.

1. BE CONSCIOUS. Become aware of what choices you are making in terms of your eating. Pay close attention to what and how much you are eating in addition to the events, people and patterns surrounding those choices. You might consider writing down what you eat in a daily journal. When you recognize patterns, you are in a better position to make small changes as necessary instead of getting on the scale one day and seeing a 10 pound gain.

2. EMBRACE THE PRESENT. Wherever you are in your journey to improve your health, recognize and acknowledge that place. Appreciate your successes and become aware of the places where you need support. Love you body regardless of its shape or size. Our feelings are invisible yet they are very powerful. If you harbor resentment toward your body, your thoughts will move you to sabotage your efforts. Take it slowly and appreciate the process. Learn how to make it fun and take a small step at a time.

3. ACT NOW. Never procrastinate. Every moment counts. Make your decisions and stick by them. If you decide that you are going to go the gym, schedule it and make sure that you do it or decide upon a reasonable substitute. Get it done now or as soon as possible. Once you make a decision, follow through and take action. Action creates momentum. When you notice that you are stuck, don’t beat yourself up, ask for help! Just keep on moving.

4. EMBRACE FEEDBACK. Recognize that the scale is just one form of feedback and it’s not always accurate. You know if you’ve been sticking to your plan. Learn how to take the grains of truth from every situation and toss out the rest. Don’t be your own worst enemy and give up! Be willing to be flexible in your approach and eager to embrace new learnings. Challenge yourself to learn from every situation. If you realize that eating Chinese Food the night before a weigh in causes you to bloat and affects your weigh in the next day, don’t do it. Make a change. Try something different next time. Focus on the mountain of possibilities rather than the restrictions.

5. USE ROLE MODELS. Speed up your success by listening to those who have blazed a trail before you. Don’t re-invent the wheel. Seek to find someone who can guide you to cultivate the health habits you seek. Make certain that they have already accomplished what you desire. Figure out what you really want and then ask for help to get it. Make sure that you are both in alignment as far as what drives them to want to stay on program. If it is fear that motivates them and you are driven to move toward your ideal, then you might want to realize that something that they are doing compels them through fear. You might not want this as part of your model and you might choose to make changes in this area and find someone who is more in line with your beliefs and motivations.

6. VISUALIZE YOUR DREAM. Take a few moments each day and allocate them as quiet time reserved just for dreaming and planning the new you. You can enjoy doing this while soaking in the bathtub, relaxing in your backyard, sitting in your favorite chair, strength training at the gym, anywhere that you feel relief from daily pressures can be the perfect place to focus on your dreams and goals. Engage as many senses as possible to create a powerful memory and anchor for your continued success. Our subconscious works on the basis of the images that we create in our minds, the more compelling the vision the more our brain will attract us to the conditions that will make its manifestation possible.

7. ACKNOWLEDGE SOMEONE TODAY and tell them how much they mean to you. Say “Thank you.” Gratitude is the highest energy, when you are in a space of gratitude everything is possible. In that space, you attract more of what you desire and people will love to be around you. Realize that everyone wants to be appreciated. Join a community of people who are on the same journey as you. There will be a great deal of camaraderie and support in an environment that is warm and non judgmental. Acknowledge your appreciation of this by sharing your gratitude with your support buddies. People love to help others when they know that their efforts are appreciated.

8. SET A GOAL to learn something new every day. How many ways can you think of to add more value to your life by learning? It’s calorie and carb free and oh so yummy. Take a course, learn how to set up a blog, see a movie, go for a hike, read a book, teach a class, sample a new recipe, try a new workout. What’s your pleasure? Go for it. It’s food for the soul.

9. SPEND TIME NURTURING YOURSELF, take a bubble bath, sew, paint, dance, write in a journal, read a book, go shopping, hug a tree. Enjoy being with yourself. Look at time spent alone as an opportunity not a challenge. You are wonderful. Be open to exploring all your gifts.

10. ALWAYS ADMIT TO MISTAKES. Maintain your integrity and be truthful, with and about yourself, and your abilities. When you slide and fall into patterns of overeating, forgive yourself, let go and move on. By doing so, you will inevitably like yourself more, relieve yourself of undue guilt and get back in the swing of things.

Andrea Amador is The Juicy Woman. Drawing upon her 18 years of vast experience and leadership abilities acquired as Managing Agent and Vice President of 3 corporations owning prime Manhattan Real Estate, she balances that experience with her 31 years of personal growth work and comes to the table as a powerhouse of energy. As a certified energy coach, Andrea inspires women to live juicy. Skilled at the level of Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming and Ericksonian Hypnosis, she combines her abilities as a Certified Empowerment Coach along with her personal experience and knowledge of energy psychology tools like Emotional Freedom Technique and Z Point Process to effect powerful change at the core level of beliefs.. Find out more about her teleclass series called, “Get the Fat Out Of Your Head: Change Your Thoughts To Shape Your Body.” When you are working with Andrea, be prepared to experience quantum change in your life and get ready to rock your world. How much joy can you stand? Call 845-371-0115 and visit http://www.thejuicywoman.com

Need a new way to pump up this year’s fundraisers at your nonprofit? These six fundraising ideas will definitely maximize your results.

1 – Auction off premium event seating
2 – Grab Google Grants for publicity
3 – Leverage eBay for donations
4 – Swell your revenue stream with credit
5 – Multiply donations with upfront requests
6 – Explode your results by going OTT

Auction Premium Seating
Heard about the Minneapolis church that auctioned off their three front pews for the Christmas Eve service as part of their school fundraiser? The bids topped $6,000 or $1,000 a pew. Not bad for something that went for free most other places. Just imagine what you can get for the premium seats at your own events.

Google Grants
Are you hip to Google Grants? The world’s favorite search engine provides free advertising for registered 501c nonprofit groups. The Google Grants program is like Google’s pay-per-click AdWords program without having to pay for the clicks.

To be eligible, groups must have a website, non-profit 501(c)(3) status and not be religious or political in nature. Google picks new grantees every quarter. To apply for Google’s free advertising program, fill out an online application at http://services.google.com/googlegrants/application

eBay Giving Works
Got eBay? Not in your fund raising plan? Then go to the world’s largest market place and sign up your nonprofit group for online donations. eBay Giving Works puts the power of the eBay Marketplace to work for nonprofit organizations.

Anyone can sell items on eBay and donate part or the entire final sale price to your nonprofit organization. Donations from the sales of eBay Giving Works items will be collected and distributed to you, and tax receipts will be issued to the seller on your behalf. Find out more at http://givingworks.ebay.com/nonprofit/

Increase Revenue With Credit
Did you know credit is better than cash? Not only are people more likely to honor a pledge backed by a credit card than an ordinary phone pledge (100% to 70%), they are also much more willing to give more if you split the amount into smaller monthly pledges.

Instead of asking for a $100 donation, ask for $10 a month. Make sure you set it up as a recurring billing where you can bill the monthly amount for periods up to 36 months. Find the monthly sweet spot of your donor base and explode your donations on autopilot.

Make It Easy To Donate
Shy about asking directly for money? A small Illinois nonprofit held a fundraising dinner for their supporters and raised $6,000. They prominently placed a big donation jar at the registration table and raised an extra $18,000.

Don’t be shy about asking for help and don’t be shy about making it as easy as possible for supporters to give financial support at any event. Just be upfront about your needs and give them high visibility.

Explode Results By Going OTT
Know the secret of OTT? Over the top is what you want your fundraising event to be, the must attend occasion topping the social calendar. Pull out all the stops to add glitz and glamour. Be sure to provide multiple attractions that encourage participants to join in the fun (and open their wallets) wherever possible.

Silent auctions, live auctions, raffles, door prizes, entertainment, sponsorships, celebrity presenters, and glamorous settings work wonders by boosting turnout through free publicity and word of mouth. By going “over the top” with your fundraising event, you’ll magnify your donations mightily.

Put these fundraising ideas to work for your nonprofit group and make 2006 your best year ever.

Greg Reynolds writes about ideas for fundraising and other non-profit fundraisers at FundraiserHelp.com. Browse the site today for hundreds of great fundraising tips.

The chief criteria for judging an ecommerce shopping cart are the number of credit card processors and shipping services it supports, and the number of people that support *it*.

Why? Because credit card processors and shipping services mutate all the time. Your cart will require updating. Which service works today may go out of business tomorrow, and leave you with the orders piling up.

Other important criteria are how easy it is to set up, and add products, and how easy it is for the customer to use.

When you set up your shop test it using a wide variety of the oldest and buggiest browsers you can find. If your web store works under them you’re home and dry.

Here are the cheapest, simplest, and most effective carts I’ve found:

1. Oscommerce (free) – http://www.oscommerce.com

A very good, full-featured, cart. Uses Php and MySQL. Not easy to set up for a ‘newbie’. Cookies are used to track the order. If you have PhpMyAdmin installed in your web account, it’s easier. Requires a customer to register before they can make a purchase. Supports a wide range of credit-card processors and shipping services.

Bad point: Technical support is limited to the Oscommerce forums, which are not helpful to newbies.

Also, it may be a while before an update is available to a payment module. These are done by unpaid enthusiasts.

Good point: Oscommerce is supported by thousands of unpaid enthusiasts; this means updates do eventually arrive, and it’s less likely to go out of business, unlike a commercial cart.

2. X-Cart (commercial) – http://www.x-cart.com

Similar to Oscommerce. Requires a customer to register before they can make a purchase. Lots of features and add-ons. Supports a wide range of credit-card processors and shipping services.
Has an affiliate program add-on, and lets others sell products though your cart.

3. Dansie Cart (commercial) – http://www.dansie.net

A well specified cart. Supports a wide range of credit-card processors and shipping services.

Bad point: Apparently the Perl code is obscured, to make it harder to copy, which is annoying if you want to customise it.

3. Interchange (free) – http://www.icdevgroup.org

A version of the old Akopia / Minivend carts. Complex product with lots of files and a lot of setting up to do. A complete solution, and includes the option of third party credit-card real-time order processing. Encrypts orders.

4. Agora (free) – http://www.agoracart.com

A Web-Store/Commerce.cgi hybrid.

5. The Commission Cart (commercial) – http://www.siteinteractive.com

A CGI-based shopping cart which also functions as an affiliate program. Other webmasters earn commissions by signing up and linking to your site.

6. ShopFactory (commercial) – http://www.shopfactory.Com

Has a nice little wizard-based set-up. If you have a lot of items in your shop, this is an option worth checking out.

This is a very valuable feature. A person who’s set up CGI scripts before will get the most out of this. Supports a wide range of credit-card processors and shipping services.

Bad points: It’s ugly, awkward, and uses JavaScript too much.

7. WebGenie Shopping Cart Pro (commercial) – http://www.webgenie.com

A simple, wizard-based option. Uses Javascript a bit, but the main work is done by CGI scripts. It saves the credit card information on your server.

It’s for someone who hasn’t set up a CGI script before. Expensive for what you get, but it works. Option to buy it on hire-purchase.

8. Actinic Catalog (commercial) – http://www.actinic.co.uk

Most suitable if you have lots of items in your store. It’s a ‘wizard’-based PC program; you type in your information, and the program sets up the store.

You should set up the default store as-is, then customise it later. Supports a wide range of credit-card processors and shipping services. A little complicated for an internet newbie; there’s quite a lot in it.

9. Order Maven (commercial) – http://www.briggsoft.com

A clever little program. It’s a standalone Windows executable, which the customer downloads. The customer starts it up, chooses the product, enters their details, and sends off their order like an email, with the credit card details encrypted. It costs $29.00 at the time of writing. No secure server or order page needed; it’s all done on the customer’s PC at their leisure.

You need to customise it. Make sure you write your mail server URL into the code. For the customer, the order module is a 160kb download.

NOTE: Try to avoid carts that use cookies and javascript only, or that tie you into only one secure server and credit-card processor.
Also avoid web-based services that you lease only. They can go out of business, leaving you flat.

Having read the above you should have eliminated quite a few programs from your shopping list. They either won’t work properly with all browsers, or they won’t encrypt your order, or they want to tie you into their manufacturers’ secure order system at $40+ per month.

Another option is to get a bespoke system set up for you by a specialist company. These cost thousands of dollars. Aren’t you glad you read this far?

About the author: T. O’ Donnell (http://www.tigertom.com/web-designer-london.shtml) is an ecommerce and web site design consultant in London, UK.