CCCs Blog
Our publications which we hope you will find useful.
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It Takes Time to Know Who You Are - May 2023
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Organization development, like self-development, starts with increasing self-awareness. So we at CCC embarked on two projects to increase our own awareness of how we do our work and to create more transparency with our clients.
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It's been ten years! - April 2022
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It is with tremendous gratitude that we are marking Crystal Clear Consulting's tenth anniversary. There is much we wish to share with you: lessons from our leadership coaching; our recent AAC&U article; and the design principles that underpin all of our development programs.
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Attention: Are you STILL talking about race? - February 2022
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While working at MIT in the ‘00’s, I eagerly volunteered for a newly convened Diversity Committee. I’m guessing I was not the only well-meaning but profoundly ignorant white person in the room. When I was assigned to the “education subcommittee” tasked with finding the important content areas, definitions, etc. we should be teaching, I balked and argued against my participation...
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2022 Leadership Imperative: Reconnecting - January 2022
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During the past two years, we’ve communicated with you about crisis management, organizational agility, self-care, work/life balance, revising strategic plans, prioritizing with ever-constrained resources, and planning for an unknown future. We’ve asked you to be authentic while exercising your leadership voice. We’ve suggested you model taking care of yourself and set appropriate boundaries and realistic expectations. And we’ve empathized when all of the above seemed insufficient.
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Managing an Under Performer - November 2021
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We empathize with the challenge to help a chronically underperforming team member improve.
Often we see managers try to address the issue by: providing more and more detailed instructions and oversight; ramping up the corrective feedback; giving them an exciting project with the hope of improving motivation; and if none of that works, simplifying requests, reassigning tasks or... Continue reading... |
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New Year, New Start - December 2020
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We end this difficult year with admiration for how you have faced its challenges, gratitude for our opportunity to work with you, and hope for the future.
2020 tested the resiliency of individuals and institutions in unprecedented ways. Resiliency comes from... Continue reading... |
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Easier Said Than Done - October 2021
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We all know that clear communication and strong interpersonal relationships between managers and their employees are key ingredients for producing good results. Most of us are also familiar with difficult, awkward or unsatisfying interactions where those key ingredients are missing and difficult to foster. Do you recognize any of these?
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Fierce Stewardship and Other Strategies for the Mezzo Pandemic - September 2021
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In the early days of the pandemic, our clients were focused on safety -- self-care and caring for those they were responsible for; as we passed the six-month mark, the focus shifted toward resiliency -- learning and adapting in a new context. By late winter, it was clearly endurance that was needed -- shoring up the mental and physical fortitude for both the pandemic and fulfilling the mission and strategy of the enterprise. Finally, in June...
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Bringing the Boats to Harbor - June 2021
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Last March, we were cast out to into the uncharted waters of the pandemic – for the first time the entire globe collectively weathered the same storm, but individually we were in very different boats. In ways none of us could have predicted fifteen months ago, that metaphor (coined by Damien Barr) continues to be spot on.
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Dayenu - April 2021
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A popular Passover tradition is the singing of “Dayenu” which translates to “it would have been enough.” It recounts the many ways God is said to have assisted the Jews in their escape from slavery and responds to each with gratitude saying “it would have been enough.”
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Better Together - October 2020
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No personal development plan nor institutional strategic plan anticipated a global pandemic, a catalyzed fight for racial equity, an economic meltdown and a political crisis.
Yet we persevere. We question, we learn, we grow. We adapt. We invent. And through it all... Continue reading... |
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Identifies and discusses some of the challenges faced by faculty and staff trying to accomplish important work together given their very different perspectives and expertise. © 2003
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Participants in communications workshop often suggest that they'd be more successful if they could put their emotions "aside." This article explores that impossibility and suggests how to use your emotions to improve communication effectiveness. © 2003
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Describes how unconscious biases negatively impact decision-making and proposes networking as one effective antidote. © 2015
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Identifies the moment a conversation turns “difficult” and describes a simple process for using mindfulness to help transform the difficult into meaningful.
© 2015 |
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A tongue in cheek piece which compares providing good feedback with preparing a gourmet meal. It is a useful tool both for those who have little experience with giving feedback and those who have been through countless workshops! © 2000
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Explores how middle managers can broaden and deepen the relationship with their boss to benefit themselves, the boss and the organization. © 2015
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Points out how our preparations for difficult conversations may only create more conflict and offers eight ways to approach the conversation differently. © 2015
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