Work That Works

Principle #3Using The Language Of GraceWords Are Powerful

The Language of Grace is not just words. It's an empowering and effective tool that creates behavioral changes. It starts with your making a conscious effort to choose different language patterns that emphasize positive thoughts and outcomes and then encouraging everyone else to do the same. As your workers become more fluent in this language, thinking patterns in the workplace begin to change. Eventually, these evolve into behavioral changes and an energized corporate climate.

The Quiet Engineer

Kärcher is a family-owned company and the world's leading provider of efficient cleaning systems. Kärcher bases its reputation on top performance, innovation, and quality, so there is a constant drive to upgrade and improve its products.

A Kärcher engineer sent us an email saying his team had been struggling with a manufacturing issue they had not been able to solve. Their usual approach at Kärcher is to hold intense conversations and move on, but in this case their meetings had not been productive.

The team leader had been trained in Emergenetics, but as someone with a preference for Analytical thinking, he had been skeptical during the seminar and only had given it his perfunctory attention. In desperation, he decided to revisit what he had learned.

Realizing that he had made an oversight, the team leader reviewed the ...