The Business Perspective Chart, or the BPC, is one of our very favorite training tools at Zingerman’s. Why do we love it so much? It provides framing and context for how our business operates and why, and it gives us a common language to use when talking about the business. This is especially helpful when […]
Howard Erlich, from whose writings I’ve learned a lot over the years, once offered this insightful advice to organizational leaders: “I think we might issue a slip of paper to all collective members. On it I would write ‘diffuse power’ and ‘empower everyone.’” Last week I wrote about the latter. Here, I’d like to share […]
There’s a musician whose work I like who records under the moniker “honey the witch.” In her piece “when the world ends,” she sings the line, “what a strange time it is to be alive.” That’s an understatement if I ever heard one. But if strengths lead to weaknesses—and weaknesses, in turn, can later courteously […]
“We pride ourselves on the level of service we provide to our customers.” Most, if not all, companies will say something along these lines with regard to the value they place on giving great service to their customers. They’ll mention a focus on customer service in job interviews, on their website, or maybe even on […]
One of the most common themes of the last six months is how different things are going to be after the pandemic. I keep hearing how we need new thinking to get out of the current situation. But the interesting thing to me is that there’s more than enough insightful old thinking already out there to help […]
Back when I began the work on this project a couple years ago, I can honestly say that I knew next to nothing about humility. Beyond a general understanding of what the word meant, and that it was probably a good thing to have, I wouldn’t have had much to say about why it would […]
As I write, we’re in the process of putting the final touches on the first-ever “Zingerman’s Statement of Beliefs.” We’re working on getting them printed so we can give copies to our staff, and so those of you who want to can buy one as well. I’ll write more about why I believe the “Statement […]
In Part II of our Guide to Open Book Management (you can read Part I to explore what Open Book is and where it came from here!), we invite you to consider why your business might want to consider Open Book Management (OBM) as a way to run the business. You’ll soon see that there’s […]
Explore how the gentle art of humility can bring out our humanness, elevate organizational effectiveness, enhance leadership, and enrich quality of life. Zingerman’s Founding Partner and CEO, Ari Weinzweig, distills his key learnings from a two-year-long inquiry into humility in his latest pamphlet, Humility: A Humble, Anarchistic Inquiry. Humility, Ari suggests, is subtle, but significant. […]
Malcolm Gladwell said, “Once you don’t start at the beginning, your life just gets so much easier.” Why not, then, use the end as the beginning? It’s an oft-used tactic for writers and filmmakers, so why not try it in our lives? When we know how the story winds up, we will most likely alter […]
The security of the familiar in our lives has quickly been overpowered by uncertainty and concerns around safety, rendering many of the ways we regularly do business either much more difficult or, sometimes, even prohibited altogether. Perhaps you experienced a few, if not all of these shifts: adapting work schedules to accommodate new needs at […]
Think for a moment about your company’s mission statement, vision of success, and core values. Do you have a clear idea of each? If not, not to worry – many, if not most, successful businesses have been doing just fine without formally defining them. But there can be tremendous value in taking the time to […]
This new 4-part workshop series combines one of ZingTrain’s longest-running workshops, Living Servant Leadership, with three newer offerings, all geared towards providing practical, immediately-applicable tools, techniques, and perspectives to support leaders in developing and evolving their skills.
This series will be offered both virtually and in-person at our training space in Ann Arbor, MI! Choose what will work best for you.
