Getting Employee Buy-In for Organizational Change

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Getting Employee Buy-In for Organizational Change   Although change is never easy, how leaders approach it makes a significant difference to whether it’s embraced or rejected. By addressing the organizational buy-in context, it’s much easier to move past resistance and stagnation, because your path forward will be shaped by realities rather than banalities. The most successful organizations do this by addressing six components of culture: legitimacy, ownership, relevance, attainability, authenticity, and impartiality. Continued here

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All 7 Mysterious 'Honkai: Star Rail' Aeons, Explained   Even video games can’t escape the gods. The world of Honkai: Star Rail revolves around beings called Aeons, powerful, god-like entities that represent different schools of thought. They appear throughout different points of the Trailblazer’s journey, sometimes causing havoc or granting them abilities. Even the now-defunct Aeons sometimes pop up in Herta’s Simulated Universe.These seven Aeons also represent the seven Paths that the game currently has for its characters. Here’s what we know about each of these mysterious beings. Continued here

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6 Reasons We Make Bad Decisions, and What to Do About Them   Consistently making good decisions is arguably the most important habit we can develop, especially at work. But some things are detrimental to good decision-making. When you have to make an important decision, be on the lookout for decision fatigue. Our ability to perform mental tasks and make decisions wears thin when it’s repeatedly exerted. Decision-making effectiveness suffers by up to 40% when we focus on two cognitive tasks at the same time. So when you need to make important decisions, carve out and commit to several blocks of time during the day to focus deeply on the task at hand. Emotions, especially during moments of peak anger and happiness, can also hinder our ability to make good decisions. Pay attention to your emotional state, and resist the temptation to respond to people or make decisions while you’re emotionally keyed up. Practice walking away from the computer or putting the phone down, and return to the task at hand when you’re able to think more clearly and calmly. Continued here

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State Legislatures Go Rogue   Two Black legislators are expelled, then a trans lawmaker is censured. The political scientist Jacob Grumbach explains why state legislatures are making anti-democratic moves—and why the national culture wars seem to dominate even the most local politics. The contributing writer Joshua Yaffa offers a tribute to his friend and fellow Russia reporter Evan Gershkovich, the first American journalist imprisoned for espionage by Russia since the Cold War. Yaffa and Gershkovich met after Gershkovich arrived in Moscow in 2017, and they grew close in the years that followed. “Evan was not sanguine or Pollyannaish or naïve about the context in which he was working,” Yaffa tells Remnick. “He understood this was a very different Russia than the one he had arrived to.” And the staff writer Burkhard Bilger, who grew up in a German family in Oklahoma, is out with a new book chronicling his years-long quest to understand his family’s Nazi ties. He talks with Sabine Bode, a journalist who encourages Germans who were children during the Second World War to speak about their unacknowledged trauma.Two Black legislators are expelled, then a trans lawmaker is censured. The political scientist Jacob Grumbach explains why state legislatures are making anti-democratic moves. Continued here

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If You Want To Lead, Master This Skill   If you’ve ever asked a senior leader or a mentor what it takes to rise to the C-suite, their answer has most likely included “executive presence” in addition to timing, experience, network, and confidence. Author Sylvia Ann Hewitt describes it as “the missing link between merit and success,” and a combination of self-confidence, poise, and authenticity that impacts your ability to inspire confidence in others to believe in and follow you. Continued here

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12 of the best TV shows to watch this May   No, this is nothing to do with the people making sure the US president has running water. "White House Plumbers" was the nickname given to the bungling team of operatives who were supposed to secretly protect Richard Nixon's presidency by stemming leaks. One of their operations was bugging the Democratic National Committee offices at the Watergate complex, an undertaking that backfired so spectacularly that the suffix "-gate" is used to this day to indicate a scandal. There have been numerous dramas about this and just last year, a Starz show Gaslit featured some of these events. HBO Max has gone the satirical route with a script from the writers of Veep. The five-part series stars Justin Theroux and Woody Harrelson as G Gordon Liddy and E Howard Hunt, the hapless pair who accidentally brought down the president they were trying to protect. White House Plumbers premieres 1 May on HBO Max in the US, and soon on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK Continued here

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Pillars of Resilient Digital Transformation - SPONSORED CONTENT FROM Red Hat   The acceleration of digital transformation because of the pandemic recast the position of the chief information officer (CIO) to that of a big-picture strategist. From ensuring ongoing alignment of IT and business demands to leading the transition to full digital enablement, the CIO role requires expert proficiency in a broad range of both technology and management skills. Continued here

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Chukwudi Iwuji Explains the High Evolutionary, 'Guardians of the Galaxy 3's "Grandiose" Villain   In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Marvel Cinematic Universe fans finally get to meet the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). The character has been a recurring Marvel Comics antagonist ever since he was first created back in the mid-1960s and, in many ways, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s version of the High Evolutionary isn’t all that different from his comic book counterpart. On both the page and the big screen, for instance, the character is a brilliant, vain scientist who is obsessed with understanding and mastering the complex mysteries of genetics and evolution.Despite all these similarities, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 does make one major change to the High Evolutionary. Specifically, it’s revealed that it was the High Evolutionary who conducted the torturous experiments on Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) that turned the cantankerous superhero into who he is today. Over the course of its runtime, the film follows Rocket and the High Evolutionary as their traumatic connection leads them both toward an inevitable reunion. Continued here

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Ginni Thomas to Be Listed on New York Stock Exchange   NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—Capping several quarters of robust profit growth, Ginni Thomas has announced that she will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Investors are expected to snap up shares in Thomas, who is believed to be the first spouse of a Supreme Court Justice also to be a major corporation. Continued here

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Bruce McCall's “Safe Travels”   Bruce McCall, the artist behind the cover for the May 15, 2023, issue, died on May 5th, at the age of eighty-seven. McCall, who insisted upon chewing his beloved Groucho Marx cigars long after a taste for tobacco stopped being even remotely acceptable, was a dear friend and a poet at heart. His artistic sensibility was formed far beyond the strictures of art school, first in the stark and frigid landscape of Ontario, then in the stark and frigid world of Madison Avenue advertising. His work as an ad man lent him an extraordinary drawing fluency and speed, and a knack for copywriting—his paintings are often filled with a droll humor splayed across billboards and signs. Ardor for the shining mirage of Detroit, Michigan—on the other side of Lake St. Clair—never left his heart. He loved cars, and drove everywhere in congested Manhattan traffic long after most everyone else had opted for public transportation.McCall contributed more than eighty covers (this is his eighty-third) and about as many Shouts & Murmurs columns. "Bruce was a genius," the New Yorker editor Susan Morrison said. "He alchemized his misanthropy into joyously anarchic paintings and drawings and pieces of writing. He often felt (needlessly) that he got short shrift as a writer, but I was always excited when my inbox contained a message from him, which would generally begin: 'Please read this submission and laugh your goddamn head off.' He was a first-class pal. For a curmudgeon, he was always happy to see you." Continued here

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Sustainability and Privacy Innovations Deepen Consumer Trust in Europe - SPONSORED CONTENT FROM Mastercard   When the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted by the European Union (EU) in April 2016, it was a watershed moment for consumer trust in terms of privacy issues involving personal data. Six years later, in June 2022, EU legislators attempted to do the same thing for consumer trust when it comes to the buying public’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns by passing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), mandating more transparency from midsize and large companies on these issues. Continued here

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Star Wars Theory Reveals How an Iconic Sith Frenemy Could Return Again   Of all the big name drops in the Ahsoka trailer, the biggest wasn’t the name of a character, but of a book. Ahsoka is set to face off against her old foe, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and in the trailer she calls him the “Heir to the Empire,” the title of Timothy Zahn’s iconic Star Wars novel. This has led fans to wonder just how closely Ahsoka will follow Thrawn’s original introduction. The now non-canonical book’s plot has some eerie similarities to the current canon, and that could mean the reintroduction of one of the most notorious baddies in Star Wars. Continued here

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The 60 Cheapest, Coolest Products With Near-Perfect Reviews on Amazon   It doesn’t matter how many people have recommended a product to me; the first place I always scroll to is the product reviews. They can make a world of difference when you’re shopping online, as they’ll tell you all the nitty-gritty details about the items. But if you don’t have time to read through all that customer feedback, that’s not a problem, because I’ve gathered 60 of the cheapest, coolest products on Amazon that have near-perfect reviews. From collapsible camping lanterns to quirky fidget toys, you’ll find a little something for everybody down below. But if you want to see more, then you’ll just have to keep scrolling. Continued here

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Why the CEO Shouldn't Also Be the Board Chair   Recent debacles at Boeing, WeWork, and Facebook illustrate why organizations should be wary of giving the CEO job and the board chair job to one person. These cases also confirm what the authors have learned from interviews with accomplished tech industry CEOs, board chairs, investors and founders: As a leadership practice, the Two Job – One Person model can deny the organization talent at the top and lead to blind spots that undermine the organization’s ability to manage risks. Continued here

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Rethinking Infrastructure to Spur Sustainability Efforts - SPONSORED CONTENT FROM Panasonic   Sustainability has become essential to meeting critical world goals such as reversing the climate crisis, ending poverty, reducing inequalities, and providing affordable and clean energy. To elicit change and achieve these goals, companies, governments, and society as a whole must collaborate and transform the infrastructure around them—including the physical and organizational structures, resources, and facilities that influence the way people live, work, and move from place to place. Continued here

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10 Years Ago, Marvel Dared to Deal with Consequences. It Never Did Again.   Stakes don’t matter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At least, not anymore. Not when there’s an alternate version of a beloved character who can live on after their death and world-shattering events are mostly glossed over.But once upon a time, consequences meant something. An alien invasion could be so traumatizing it leaves one of Earth’s mightiest heroes with debilitating PTSD. A professional snub made by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) could come back to haunt him in deadly ways. And the shards of metal embedded in Iron Man’s chest would forever remind him of his company’s bloody legacy, especially whenever the old, dull pain flares up again. Continued here

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Your Strategy Needs a Story   Business strategy is usually born of a highly rational process, grounded in facts and analysis. Storytelling, often associated with fiction and entertainment, may seem like the antithesis of strategy. But the two are not incompatible. A clever strategy on paper is only the starting point for engaging those who will implement it. Strategies must also be communicated and understood — and they must motivate action. Through stories, mere facts and information are turned into a shared mental model of how the business works and where it is heading. Knowing how to construct such a strategy story as a shared, and evolvable mental model can not only improve implementation but also greatly increase a company’s rate of learning, which can be a key source for competitive advantage in today’s fast-paced world. Continued here

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'Rings of Power' Season 2 Is in Trouble. Let a Sitcom Creator Explain How.   In a Variety story published Thursday, Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series The Rings of Power is still filming its second season amid the ongoing strike by the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA). This should worry Tolkien fans. Not having writers on set, or even the liberty to make changes to scripts on set, can be a real hindrance to the quality of the work. As Variety confirms, the ongoing production of Rings of Power is adhering to WGA strike rules, which forbids its showrunners “and any other writer-producers” from engaging “in any writing-based duties” while the strike continues. This includes “making creative decisions on set.” Continued here

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The Most Important Sci-Fi Movie of the Century Gets One Thing Right About Nuclear Fusion   Is Iron Man's arc reactor possible in real life? Experts weigh in on the sci-fi movie's premise.In 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had its first rousing success with the release of Iron Man. In the movie, billionaire Tony Stark is wounded in a weapons demonstration gone awry — leading him to create an arc reactor to keep his heart alive. It’s a pocket-sized version of a device his company, Stark Industries, had worked on in the hopes of revolutionizing the energy industry. Continued here