Putting Our Differences to Work

Putting Our Differences to Work

Released June 2008
Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ISBN: 9781576757819

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Book description

Putting our differences to work means creating an environment where people, naturally unique and different—diverse by nature and experience—can work more effectively in ways that drive new levels of creativity, innovation, problem solving, leadership, and performance in the marketplaces, workplaces, and communities of the world. Debbe Kennedy shows how to make all the dimensions of difference—such as thinking styles, perspectives, experiences, work habits, and management styles, as well as more traditional diversity considerations like gender, race, ethnicity, physical abilities, sexual orientation, and age—tremendous sources of strength.
Kennedy draws on the latest research and a wealth of real-world examples to offer compelling evidence showing exactly how putting our differences to work accelerates innovation and contribution. She identifies five distinctive qualities of leadership that leaders must add to their portfolio of skills to make differences an engine of success. And she provides a detailed six-stage process for making the most of differences in the workforce, combining first-person best-practice stories and strategic with tactical ideas to help you put each step into action.
Kennedy has written both a personal and a practical guide that changes the prevailing rules of how to think, behave, and operate as a leader, connecting four diverse elements of business and society that have traditionally been siloed: innovation, leadership, diversity, and inclusion. She and futurist Joel Barker also look at how new discoveries, including Web 2.0 technologies, can draw us closer together in previously unimagined ways.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Foreword: by Joel A. Barker
  5. Preface
  6. Introduction: The Fastest Way
    1. Dimensions of Difference
    2. Top 10 CEO Challenges Overall: Rankings of Challenges of “Greatest Concern”
    3. HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED
    4. THE FASTEST WAY TO BEGIN
  7. PART I: Taking Your Leadership to a New Level
  8. CHAPTER I The New Business Essentials
    1. SAMENESS OR DIFFERENCE?
    2. Sameness or Difference: What Does Your Organization Value?
    3. THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE BREAKTHROUGH IN THINKING
    4. KEY POINTS: PUTTING OUR DIFFERENCES TO WORK
    5. WHO SAYS PUTTING OUR DIFFERENCES TO WORK IS THE FASTEST WAY TO INNOVATION?
    6. THE HABITAT JAM
    7. Habitat JAM: Who Showed Up?
    8. The Habitat JAM
    9. Habitat JAM Results Achieved
    10. The Rest of the Habitat JAM Story
    11. Putting Our Differences to Work: Insights from the Good Neighbor Group Inspired by the Habitat JAM
    12. GLOBAL INNOVATION OUTLOOK
    13. Global Innovation Outlook—Fall 2005: Who Participated?
    14. WHO SAYS PUTTING OUR DIFFERENCES TO WORK IS THE FASTEST WAY TO INNOVATION?
  9. CHAPTER 2 Five Distinctive Qualities of Leadership
    1. THE CALL
    2. FIVE DISTINCTIVE QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIP NEEDED FOR PUTTING OUR DIFFERENCES TO WORK
    3. KEY BEHAVIORS
    4. KEY BEHAVIORS
    5. KEY BEHAVIORS
    6. KEY BEHAVIORS
    7. KEY BEHAVIORS
    8. A NEW BEGINNING FOR LEADERS
    9. Five Distinctive Qualities of Leadership
    10. HOW TO BEGIN YOUR LEADERSHIP RENEWAL
  10. CHAPTER 3 The Basics for Putting Our Differences to Work
    1. THE PUTTING OUR DIFFERENCES TO WORK MODEL: Six Steps That Make It Happen
    2. CREATING AN ORGANIZATIONAL SNAPSHOT: Establishing a Reference Point for Change
    3. Word of Caution
    4. How to Take a Snapshot
    5. Organizational Snapshot
    6. PRINCIPLES FOR SUCCESS
    7. TALKING WITH PEOPLE: Common Mistakes Leaders Make
    8. MOVING FROM THOUGHTS INTO ACTION
    9. OUR DREAMS IN ACTION
  11. PART 2: Knowledge and Know-how to Guide the Way
  12. CHAPTER 4 Step I—Assessment: Defining Current Realities
    1. KEY POINTS: ASSESSMENT
    2. THE FASTEST WAY IDEAS FOR STEP 1—ASSESSMENT
    3. Best Practice—Education
    4. KEY POINTS: BERT BLEKE’S STORY
    5. Best Practice—Medium-Size Business
    6. KEY POINTS: SUE SWENSON’S STORY
    7. Best Practice—Military
    8. KEY POINTS: JAN SWICORD’S STORY
    9. ASSESSMENT: Strategy And Tactical Ideas
  13. CHAPTER 5 Step 2—Acceptance: Developing Support for Change
    1. KEY POINTS: ACCEPTANCE
    2. THE BASICS OF ACCEPTANCE: Men and Women Working Together
    3. THE FASTEST WAY IDEAS FOR STEP 2—ACCEPTANCE
    4. Best Practice—Small Business
    5. KEY POINTS: NANA LUZ’S STORY
    6. Best Practice—Government and University Partnership
    7. KEY POINTS: DONNA SHIRLEY’S STORY
    8. Best Practice—Community Organization
    9. KEY POINTS: YEHUDA STOLOV’S STORY
    10. Follow This Path
    11. ACCEPTANCE: Strategy and Tactical Ideas
    12. ACCEPTANCE: A Call to Action
  14. CHAPTER 6 Step 3—Action: Moving Forward
    1. RUMOR HAS IT, WE’RE READY TO TRUST OURSELVES
    2. Web 2.0— What Is It?
    3. THE GREATER IBM CONNECTION
    4. THE FASTEST WAY IDEAS FOR STEP 3—ACTION
    5. Best Practice—Corporation
    6. KEY POINTS: SIDALIA REEL’S STORY
    7. Best Practice—Corporation
    8. KEY POINTS: JERROLD TUCKER’S STORY
    9. Best Practice—Small Business Entrepreneur
    10. KEY POINTS: CHARLES BLODGETT’S STORY
    11. ACTION: Strategy and Tactical Ideas
    12. ACTION: A Call to Action
  15. CHAPTER 7 Step 4—Accountability: Establishing Shared Ownership
    1. Commitment
    2. THE FASTEST WAY IDEAS FOR STEP 4—ACCOUNTABILITY
    3. Best Practice—Medium-Size Business
    4. KEY POINTS: SUE SWENSON’S STORY
    5. Best Practice—Education
    6. KEY POINTS: BERT BLEKE’S STORY
    7. Best Practice—Corporation
    8. KEY POINTS: CINDY STANPHILL’S STORY
    9. ACCOUNTABILITY: Strategy and Tactical Ideas
    10. ACCOUNTABILITY: A CALL TO ACTION
  16. CHAPTER 8 Step 5—Achievement: Measuring Progress; Celebrating Success
    1. THE FASTEST WAY IDEAS FOR STEP 5—ACHIEVEMENT
    2. Best Practice—Corporation and Nonprofit (Partnership)
    3. KEY POINTS: BOB’S STORY
    4. Best Practice—Global Citizen
    5. KEY POINTS: CATHERINE DEVRYE’S STORY
    6. Best Practice—Corporation
    7. KEY POINTS: J.T. (TED) CHILDS’S STORY
    8. ACHIEVEMENT: Strategy and Tactical Ideas
    9. ACHIEVEMENT: A Call to Action
  17. CHAPTER 9 Step 6—More Action: Keeping Momentum Alive
    1. Five Distinctive Qualities of Leadership
    2. THE FASTEST WAY IDEAS FOR STEP 6—MORE ACTION
    3. Best Practice—Corporation
    4. KEY POINTS: JERROLD TUCKER’S STORY
    5. Best Practice—Local Government
    6. KEY POINTS: SONIA MELARA’S STORY
    7. OGUCHI NKWOCHA, M.D.
    8. KEY POINTS: OGUCHI NKWOCHA’S STORY
    9. MORE ACTION: Strategy and Tactical Ideas
    10. MORE ACTION: A Call to Action
  18. PART 3: Ever-Expanding Possibilities
  19. CHAPTER 10 Innovation at the Verge of Differences by Joel A. Barker
    1. Almost always, the new rules are written at the edge.
    2. Ink Jet Housing
    3. Gift Wrap and Paper Bags
    4. Debbe and Sally
    5. The Toyota Prius
    6. The Cell Phone
    7. APPROACHING THE VERGE TERRITORIES
    8. WINNERS AND LOSERS
    9. KEY POINTS: INNOVATION AT THE VERGE OF DIFFERENCES FROM JOEL A. BARKER
  20. CHAPTER 11 Collaborating at the Verge of Differences
    1. BARKER-KENNEDY EXPERIMENT
    2. The Five Distinctive Qualities Put to the Test
    3. Mutualism the Fast and Flexible Way
    4. KEY POINTS: COLLABORATING AT THE VERGE OF DIFFERENCES
  21. CHAPTER 12 The Power of the Virtual Gathering Place
    1. PIONEERING THE IDEA OF VIRTUAL GATHERINGS
    2. The WB Café
    3. KEY POINTS: THE WB CAFÉ STORY
    4. Global Dialogue Center
    5. HP Common Thread 2.0
    6. HP Common Thread 2.0
    7. KEY POINTS: HP COMMON THREAD STORY
    8. THE FUTURE OF VIRTUAL GATHERING
  22. A Send-off: A Final Word
  23. Resources and Studies
    1. Putting Our Differences to Work Resource Center
    2. Putting Our Differences to Work Organizational Snapshot
    3. The Wisdom Collection Directory
    4. Global Dialogue Center
    5. PODCASTS, VIDEOS, AND EXHIBITS
    6. Seeds of Innovation Team and Organization Assessment
    7. RELATED STUDIES
  24. Notes and Sources
    1. Introduction
    2. PART 1
    3. PART 2
    4. PART 3
    5. A Send-off
  25. Acknowledgments
  26. Index
  27. About the Author
  28. ABOUT BERRETT-KOEHLER PUBLISHERS
    1. BE CONNECTED

Product information

  • Title: Putting Our Differences to Work
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: June 2008
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781576757819