Three Essentials for Corporate Health

His bio states that he has run 38,000 miles in pursuit of good health. At age 76 he still exercises regularly and if you've seen him in person you can't help noticing that he has a physique that could make guys 20 years younger envious. It's obvious that during the 39 years since Dr. Kenneth Cooper introduced aerobics to the world he has followed his own advice with remarkable success.

Dr. Cooper states that regardless of what your driver's license tells you, your real physical age is determined by five factors. The first three relate to your physical fitness and are:

1. Endurance
2. Strength
3. Flexibility

As I looked at these monitors of physical health I realized they are telling indicators of an organization's age/health as well. Companies with a high capacity to endure, the strength to respond rather than react to change, and the flexibility to adapt to the unexpected generally display a level of overall agility and responsiveness that other more sedentary firms can't demonstrate. These companies are healthier and the have a longevity that was glaringly absent during the dot com craze a few years ago.

People develop endurance, strength, and flexibility by engaging in a systematic process of regular exercise. Companies with a high degree of vitality generally have a systematic method for solving problems, making decisions, and anticipating and planning for future challenges. Healthy companies demonstrate robust critical thinking abilities, deliberately developed over time.

Corporate health is no more an accident than physical health. When problem solving is not a process it is usually a problem. When problem solving becomes a process, it becomes much less of a problem.

Comments

[Steve Hernandez]

These three attributes, to me are the definition of stamina; a key ingredient to “healthy” employees. Some people have more of it than others. Some employees build it with experience. Developing a positive “been-there-done-that” mind set means that one understands the context of the business, and process to move forward. Learning a systematic approach to problem solving and then applying the process to real business issues builds stamina in individuals and organizations. The problem with dot.com type life cycles is that things move at such a fast pace, many individuals lose their stamina and those that had little end up leaving the organization (physically or mentally).

[Larry Looker]

The challenge is getting the old and obese keepers of the corporate culture to recognize the value of these attributes.

[Larry Looker]

The challenge is getting the old and obese keepers of the corporate culture to recognize the value of these attributes.

[Joe Jordan]

Steve and Larry--
You both bring value insights to the discussion. Thank you! Perhaps those with the kind of stamina Steve mentions can provide a positive model that the out-of-shape guardians Larry mentions will value and follow. Unfortunately, many organizations do not change until the pain of their current situation exceeds their discomfort with something new.