The Last Best Swindle Royal Flush

PeopleNology by Gregory Bodenhamer Ph D
Nollijy University Mechanicsburg Pa 17055
Translating PeopleNology Techniques
into Truck Driver Recruiting & Retention Results
Social and System Motor Freight Trucking Engineering
Write for FREE information; PeopleNology@hotmail.com
Publisher of PeopleNology Nollijy Leftovers Aunt Polly Nude Trucking Medicine The Royal Flush by Ph.D. Gregory Bodenhamer All Rights Reserved Motor Freight Trucking Expert Consulting Seminars
Working on the Truck Line
Curiosity of People
Royal Flush Truck Driver Retention
The Grand Swindle of Trucking Managers, Pay Packages and Mergers
Compliance Profit Service Growth Recruiting Retention Rewarding Recognition


Social distance
Techniques > Use of body language > Social distance
Why the distances? | Social distances | Town and country | See also
We like to keep our distance from others and there are very specific social rules about how close we can go to others in particular situations.
This social distance is also known as body space, and the use of this space is called proxemics.
Why the distance?
Regulating the distances between us and other people provides us with several benefits, including:
Safety: When people are distant, they can't surprise attack us.
Communication: When people are closer, it is easier to communicate with them.
Affection: When they are closer still, we can be intimate.
Threat: The reverse can be used - you may deliberately threaten a person by invading their body space.
Social distances
The social distances here are approximate, of course and will vary with people. But they are still a good general rule.
Public Zone : > 12 feet (3m)
The public zone is generally over 12 feet. That is, when we are walking around town, we will try to keep at least 12 feet between us and other people. For example, we will leave that space between us and the people walking in front.
Of course there are many times when we cannot do this. What the theory of social distance tells us is that we will start to notice other people who are within this radius. The closer they get, the more we become aware and ready ourselves for appropriate action.
When we are distant from another person, we feel a degree of safety from them. A person at a distance cannot attack us suddenly. If they do seem to threaten, we will have time to dodge, run or prepare for battle.
Social Zone : 4 - 12 feet (1.5m - 3m)
Within the social zone, we start to feel a connection with other people. When they are closer, then we can talk with them without having to shout, but still keep them at a safe distance.
This is a comfortable distance for people who are standing in a group but maybe not talking directly with one another. People sitting in chairs or gathered in a room will tend to like this distance.
Personal Zone : 2-4 feet (0.6m - 1.5m)
In the personal zone, the conversation gets more direct, and this is a good distance for two people who are talking in earnest about something.
Intimate Zone

Category: General

PeopleNology by Gregory Bodenhamer Ph D
Nollijy University Mechanicsburg Pa 17055
Translating PeopleNology Techniques
into Truck Driver Recruiting & Retention Results
Social and System Motor Freight Trucking Engineering
Write for FREE information; PeopleNology@hotmail.com
Publisher of PeopleNology Nollijy Leftovers Aunt Polly Nude Trucking Medicine The Royal Flush by Ph.D. Gregory Bodenhamer All Rights Reserved Motor Freight Trucking Expert Consulting Seminars
Working on the Truck Line
Curiosity of People
Royal Flush Truck Driver Retention

The Grand Swindle of Trucking Managers, Pay Packages and Mergers
Compliance Profit Service Growth Recruiting Retention Rewarding Recognition

Creating a positive culture
Explanations > Culture > Creating a positive culture
Develop a sense of history | Create a sense of one-ness | Promote a sense of membership | Increase contact and exchange | So what?
A positive culture is the holy grail of many change activities. Here are four steps for creating just such an organization.
Develop a sense of history
History is important to people, giving them a sense of identity and belonging. Just look at how genealogy becomes more important to people as the grow older. Talk to an American and they will soon tell you they are Scottish or Polish in origin.
Tell stories about the history of the organization. Glorify heroes of the past who have embodied the corporate values. Tell stories of the present and link them to the past. Have displays of products created long ago. Show photographs of founders and days of thunder.
Connect the best of the past to the present and so create the future.
Create a sense of one-ness
Leaders who bring people together talk about 'us' more than 'I'. They propagate the stories of history and present stories that create a sense of togetherness. They also create objectives for the organization and structure the workforce that ensures that they have to work together.
Highlighting the dangers from outside also brings people together, as threats from competitors and pressures from customer and governments show that the only way to survive is by working together.
Promote a sense of membership
Belonging also comes from the benefits that people gain, so work on the reward and recognition system. Help people manage their careers, making promotions meaningful and not being promoted acceptable.
More than anything else, the most important process in an organization is selection, whether it is promotion or recruitment from outside. Creating a meritocracy means this is done fairly, with a focus on the best person for the job rather than on favoritism.
When people join, have a very deliberate process of socialization, where they learn the culture and the present organization. Having senior managers present to the new recruits sends a very powerful message. Likewise in training and development, a consistent promotion of the culture through all things sustains the message and the meaning.
Socialization often starts with a humility-inducing experience that shows the person that they really do not understand how things work. This is followed by an in-the-trenches immersion that inculcates the culture.
Increase contact and exchange
Help people stay in touch with one another. This is particularly important in a global or otherwise distributed organization. Have conferences and meetings across several days so people can socialize in the evening. Bring people together deliberately for social events anyway.
Work to create inter-group cooperation and collaboration. Have work-exchange programs and move people sideways so they spread ideas and get to understand the bigger picture.

Category: General

PeopleNology by Gregory Bodenhamer Ph D
Nollijy University Mechanicsburg Pa 17055
Translating PeopleNology Techniques
into Truck Driver Recruiting & Retention Results
Social and System Motor Freight Trucking Engineering
Write for FREE information; PeopleNology@hotmail.com
Publisher of PeopleNology Nollijy Leftovers Aunt Polly Nude Trucking Medicine The Royal Flush by Ph.D. Gregory Bodenhamer All Rights Reserved Motor Freight Trucking Expert Consulting Seminars
Working on the Truck Line
Curiosity of People
Royal Flush Truck Driver Retention

The Grand Swindle of Trucking Managers, Pay Packages and Mergers
Compliance Profit Service Growth Recruiting Retention Rewarding Recognition


Causal Analysis
Disciplines > Change Management > Diagnosing change > Causal Analysis
Root causes | Circular causes | See also
An excellent question when analyzing around change is 'why?' Causal Analysis seeks to identify and understand the reasons why things are as they are and hence enabling focus of change activity.
Root causes
The basic principle of causal analysis is to find causes that you can treat rather than treating symptoms (which, as all doctors know, seldom effects a lasting cure). A root cause is the basic reason why something happens and can be quite distant from the original effect.
Ask why five times
The trick with seeking root causes is to keep looking. When you ask 'why' of something, you will get a nearby direct cause. If you keep asking 'why' of each answer, you will eventually get to a cause that you can act on. It is not always five times that you as, but it may well be around this number. The key is just to keep asking until you get to a real 'aha' that you can treat.
Sales figures are down.
Why? Because we are selling less.
Why? Because our customers do not want our products.
Why? Because our competitors have better products.
Why? Because we have not produced good products for a while.
Why? Because in the last change we significantly reduced research investment.
Cause-effect diagram
The Cause-effect Diagram is a simple hierarchical tool that is used to break down cause into a tree-structure, allowing you to follow individual streams of possible cause. It is usually used to support brainstorming of possible causes rather than direct analysis of actual causes.
Circular causes
Many causes are not linear but instead act in circles, much as births lead to population increase which leads to even more births. Understanding circularity allows you to get to the more pernicious problems that are, with linear analysis, difficult to detect.
Systemic cause
In systemic problems, the cause is found in the whole system, with the problem distributed across multiple related causes, all of which conspire together to cause the identified effect.
Cultural problems are often like this, with little bits of behavior adding together to form an overall dysfunction (this is also why cultural change often takes many years).
Vicious spirals and virtuous circles
Circular cause leads to exponential increases or decreases that are very difficult to interrupt. Thus when you are on a downward spiral (often called a 'vicious spiral'), the whole system feeds off itself. Thus loss of sales leads to cutbacks in costs which leads to loss of more sales. Notice also how the same spiral that takes things down can also take them up. Thus increased sales leads to an increase ability to invest in new product research.

Category: General

PeopleNology by Gregory Bodenhamer Ph D
Nollijy University Mechanicsburg Pa 17055
Translating PeopleNology Techniques
into Truck Driver Recruiting & Retention ResultsSocial and System Motor Freight Trucking Engineering
Write for FREE information; PeopleNology@hotmail.com

Publisher of PeopleNology Nollijy Leftovers Aunt Polly Nude Trucking Medicine The Royal Flush by Ph.D. Gregory Bodenhamer All Rights Reserved Motor Freight Trucking Expert Consulting Seminars
Working on the Truck Line

Curiosity of People
Royal Flush Truck Driver Retention
The Grand Swindle of Trucking Managers, Pay Packages and Mergers
Compliance Profit Service Growth Recruiting Retention Rewarding Recognition


Structural Analysis
Disciplines > Change Management > Diagnosing change > Structural Analysis
Organizational | Process | Motivational | Social | Physical | See also
There are many structures within an organization which influence people's behavior. 'Function follows form' is a relevant saying. If you can identify these structures and their effects, then you may better understand the current behavior of people.
You can also plan to change the structures as a part of creating people change. This can be a subtle method of creating change. Rather than announce change and create training, you simply change the structuring forces.
Organizational structure
The hierarchical organization with its 'scalar chain of command' is at the heart of most organizations. In the basic hierarchy, everyone has one manager. Other forms include matrices, where you may have two managers and team pools, where you may have a different manager for each project.
The effect of organizational structure is to focus people on the requirements set for them by their managers. Thus, if the managers are not properly focused or if they have personal issues that impinge upon their subordinates, those subordinates may well not be working to the best advantage of the company.
Organizations are often structured for ease of management rather than easy of delivery. Thus marketing people may work in the marketing department and so on, rather than product delivery teams. This can lead to 'functional silos' where people get distracted by local issues and can easily lose sight of the end customers.
Process structure
People work within processes, which may stretch across functions or be contained within them. When they have a process focus, then they will seek to follow the process as it is defined.
If the process is set up incorrectly, then they will merrily follow it into potentially destructive ways. This can be a 'safe' option, where, if they are blamed, they can claim to be 'only following the process.'
Motivational structure
There are deliberate structures in the organization that seek to motivate people. Typically, this is based on financial reward. A common saying is, 'Show me how I am paid and I will show you how I act.' People will thus act to maximize bonuses, even at the cost of customer satisfaction (as many sales people might admit).
Other benefits also motivate, including pensions, pay bands, ranking structures, and so on. Even the attention and praise of managers can distort behavior, as people spend ages on showy powerpoint presentations and seek to promote themselves over others.
Social structure
Overlaid across the organization is another invisible structure which is made up of the many and complex social relationships across the company. People can be friends, enemies, lovers and rivals, all of which will affect how they behave, not the least when they have the choice of helping one person over another.
Social leaders typically have more influence over others and are listened to more. There are also information structures, where info-hounds gather and selectively share knowledge. Social groups may form around sport and leisure activities as well as functional subjects.
Physical structure
The physical structure of the organization can have a very significant effect on the social structuring. When you sit near other people, you are more likely to be friends with them.
Communication is usually inversely proportional to distance. You will chat regularly with your next-door neighbor. You will say 'Hi' to people as you pass them in desks nearby. If you have to go to another floor, you may recognize people but not know their names. Another building, another site, another country -- all levels of separation increase psychological distance from other people.
Although technology can reduce communication distances, it has only a limited effect -- in the end, you just can't beat eyeballing other people.

Category: General