I'm in San Francisco today at QCon where I gave a talk in the Being Agile track called Teamwork Is An Individual Skill: How to Build Any Team Any Time. Earlier posts about QCon should show up below in the Related Posts section. I promised attendees that I'd post my slides here, so here they are: avery-buildanyteam1.

My Cranky Middle Manager interview is posted. Wayne Turmel, the host of the hit Cranky Middle Manager podcast, interviews me about the Responsibility Redefined™ framework and what middle managers can do to be more successful. You can listen or download the podcast here: The Cranky Middle Manager #145 Responsibility Redefined with Christopher Avery I love Wayne's own crankiness, a perfect...

I appreciate Steven List's blog post on my session Monday afternoon at Agile 2007. I like what he captured as the essence -- that responsibility derives from self while accountability comes from without. Music to my ears.

At the Cutter Summit yesterday morning, the opening keynoter Rob Austin, professor at Harvard Business School, presented his research on innovation, the theme of this year's summit. He's interested in the space in-between creativity research that looks at the individual make-up, and creative environments research that looks at how to create spaces where people will innovate. Rob and his team...

The March 2007 issue of Modern Plastics magazine recognizes Partnerwerks client ATEK Plastics for their amazing four-year turn-around story in which Responsibility Redefined played a role in re-building the culture and focusing both leadership and plant employees on a powerful language for continuous improvement. Responsibility Redefined leveraged ATEK's efforts in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, internal collaboration, as well as customer...

What do you learn about personal responsibility from reading the newspaper? The answer might make you change your mind about requiring your kids to keep up with current events! Twice in recent weeks I've asked groups of professionals to scour major daily newspapers for articles, columns, and editorials reflecting on the topic of responsibility. The first time was in our...

Thanks to the graciousness of the people at Heartland, you can listen to my VisionHolder Call interview with Craig Neal. It's 57 minutes long and probes the essence of my work in TeamWisdom and Responsibility Redefined. Here's the MP3 file. Craig conducted one of the better interviews I've experienced. His brilliant format includes a Q&A period where Craig allows audience...

Two reasons for this post: First, to let you know that I'll be a guest of Crag Neal and the Heartland Circle this Tuesday evening from 7-8PM Central on their VisionHolder series. Information and link to register. Even if you are reading this post well after the fact, you should be able to access the archive of the call. Craig...

In her blog this week professional writer Liz Strauss says to look at your plan everyday and decide what doesn't need doing. Hear hear. Well said Liz. I like your words of wisdom, and I think I'll tag this as a Responsibility Redefined sighting. I'll add your blog feed to my list so I can stay up with your writing...

Responsibility eTip for December 2006 Nick* was a long-time cherished supplier to APLUS, my client organization celebrating 60 years in business (and record growth, profit, and morale) at a luncheon yesterday. "Yes, we offer quality, price, and on-time delivery, but everyone competes on those"  said Nick. "What makes our business relationship  uniquely successful is how each party steps up to and takes responsibility...