How do you react when you feel confused--when those butterflies in your stomach signal something is off, but you're not clear exactly what or why? Do you view it as a problem or personal failure? Do you look for someone else to blame? Do you retreat to your desk, put your head down, and wait for the storm to pass? Chances are at some point you've reacted in all these ways, but none of them resolved the problem. The truth is that confusion is your opportunity-to learn from experience, improve communication, processes, and innovative problem-solving. And when you tweak your mindset to view it that way, you begin the creative process of finding your own and your organization's competitive edge. Power of Confusion shows you how. Based on the wisdom gained from more than forty years of management consulting to companies large and small, Power of Confusion offers essential insights on how to resolve crippling workplace confusion. Through vivid, real-life examples drawn from industries from banking to hotel management, Martin Stankard identifies the seven most damaging problems cause by career and workplace confusion and examines the best (and worst) practices for resolving them. With humor and empathy, Stankard illustrates classic management errors and describes simple but powerful fixes. In addition, the book's appendices provide rich details on how and when to deploy analytical tools, from skills assessment, questioning, root-cause and inter-relationship analysis, to navigating your career and forming effective process improvement teams. Here are some insights you will gain into solving confusing business problems: How do you find work you love -- rather than just work you are good at? What seven roles-including "plate breaker" help teams succeed? Why is magic not a management method? Why is committing random acts of improvement here and there a dead end while creating a management system for sustaining improvement yields high performance? In a business world where change is the only constant, Power of Confusion is your playbook for deploying proven strategies and tools to transform each instance of workplace dysfunction into your opportunity for learning and growth.
About the Author: Martin F. Stankard, Ph.D. Martin F. Stankard is an author, speaker and consultant on process improvement and performance excellence. Since 2005 Dr. Stankard has been a member of the Affiliated Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania's Organizational Dynamics Program and a Lecturer in Penn's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. At Penn he teaches graduate courses in Process Improvement, Leadership from Mid Organization, and the Power of Confusion. Previously, he developed and delivered management and professional seminars for Boston University, The American Society for Quality and the Massachusetts Quality Award as well as numerous private clients. In over 40 years of management consulting and executive coaching he has helped over 300 clients, including many leading banking, consumer credit, insurance, manufacturing, military, retailing, research and development organizations in the U.S. and internationally. Dr. Stankard served on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners for 1991 to 1993, 1999 and 2000 and formerly chaired ASQ's Banking Industry Committee. He helped organize the Massachusetts Quality Award and served on its Board of Directors for over 10 years. He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Business Ethics Foundation and is a member of several academic and professional societies. Until 2008, Dr. Stankard served as President of Productivity Development Group, Inc. where he developed and delivered executive seminars on Sponsoring Improvement, Baldrige Assessment, Group Facilitation Tools and Skills, Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement and Value Added Auditing. He has led training programs for over 7,000 management attendees, including courses given throughout the United States and in Canada, The Netherlands, Sweden, and The People's Republic of China. Before entering consulting, training and publishing, Dr. Stankard was a Lecturer in Statistics and Operations Research at the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, and on the staff of Wharton's Management Science Center. While at Penn, he earned a Ph.D. in Statistics and Operations Research, as well as an MBA in Industrial Management, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. In 2011 he was a member of the 16th cohort of the Harvard School of Public Health professional education program on Healthcare Outcomes Measurement.