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John also worked for a decade in a variety of human resources positions for a Fortune 100 corporation, where he served as an equal employment opportunity officer and manager of employment. Additionally, he has served on a variety of boards of directors for professional associations.
Programs With Brief Descriptions:
- "Get Weird!"
101 Innovative Ways to Make Your Company a Great Place to Work
In the spirit of his best-selling book,
“Get Weird!” there are 3 versions of this program which can be adapted to employee groups, business owners/executives or HR managers, and can run from a 60-minute keynote, up to a half-day workshop.
Every participant will get all 101 ideas in handout form, AND will learn the three universal truths behind the writing of this book, that are not in the book itself. With this knowledge, you will learn 1) how and why every manager must be a human resource manager, 2) how anyone can implement performance-based initiatives, even with limited time, money and authority, and 3) why getting weird is a timeless, priceless concept (i.e., because there is always a talent shortage).
If you like a no-nonsense, business-driven approach to human resources, then this is the program for you and your group. If you’ve read the book, you know John’s style is not only playful and pragmatic, but at times can even be controversial and irreverent. Skating to the edge without crossing the line, John will stimulate your thinking, eliminate excuses for innovating, provide a refreshing perspective on the world of work, and show how you and your people can Get Weird! for fun and profit!
- Weirdos in the Workplace!©
The New Normal...Thriving in The Age of the Individual
- Is body odor protected by freedom of religion?
- Which bathroom should a trans-sexual use?
- May an employee moonlight as a stripper?
- What if someone wears the same suit to work every day?
- Is it sexual harassment if I like it and take advantage of it?
Based on John Putzier’s newest book, “Weirdos in the Workplace. The New Normal...Thriving in The Age of the Individual (Financial Times Prentice Hall) this program answers these and many other thorny questions with astounding clarity and perhaps some controversy. From the bizarre to the brazen, there isn’t a workplace challenge that John Putzier hasn’t seen or solved.
What ever happened to the good old days, when people looked and acted normal, came to work every day, didn't rock the boat, and stayed until retirement? In a nutshell, the workplace is a microcosm of society, and the weirder society gets, the weirder the workplace gets. We have gone from the Age of the Organization Man (50-60’s) to the Age of Diversity (70’s-80’s) to the Age of the New Economy (90’s) and are racing full speed into the Age of the Individual (right now). Whoever said “there is no 'I' in team,” didn’t seem to notice that “there ain’t no ‘We’ either!” From “An Army of One” to reality and survivalTV, to professional sports, to politics, it’s the individual that reigns supreme.
Weirdisms for Thriving in The Age of the Individual:
- As goes the world, so goes the workplace.
- All workers are not created equal (nor should they be treated as such).
- Discrimination is good; Discrimination is right; Discrimination is necessary (based on value).
- The only “normal” people are the ones you don’t really know yet (everyone’s a potential weirdo).
- The more weirdos you hire, the fewer you have (perception is reality; weird can be the norm).
- The first step to capitalize on this phenomena is to recognize when weirdness is rooted in genius and rare talent, or when it’s just plain gross and goofy. Weirdness rooted in genius should be rewarded and encouraged, while those whose weirdness adds nothing of value need not be tolerated. There is a fine line between pushing the limits and going overboard, and this book tells you exactly where that is.
Think about it! What high-tech company wouldn’t offer every stock option it had for the next Einstein? What record label wouldn’t pay millions to sign the next Elvis? What art school wouldn’t give its left ear for the next Van Gogh? But would they know how to deal with them once they had them? All weirdos in their own right, but whose contributions to the world have been awesome.
Then there are the others. Those whose weirdness is just a drain and a distraction, and for the most part, do not have to be treated “equally.” In our hyper-politically-correct world of fairness and equality, we end up punishing winners, rewarding losers and institutionalizing mediocrity.
You will leave this session with practical tools for diagnosing any workplace behavioral challenge, and learn when and how to intervene. You will also learn what makes high-performing weirdos tick, and how to create a culture full of them.
- Tapping Your Natural Weirdness!©
Re-discovering Your Creative Potential for Fun & Profit
Aren't creative people just born that way? The answer is "Yes! "
But, the good news is that everyone is born creative, including you. Tests have proven that the younger we are, the better we score in divergent thinking ability, and as we mature to adolescence and adulthood, our scores get lower and lower. It isn't aging; it's conditioning. And, it can be overcome!
This program will describe how living in a structured world, operating in "mental cruise control," and other factors contribute to our loss of creative thinking ability. You will learn how to regain your "natural" creativity by taking incremental steps to personal change.
In addition, you will learn the four phases of the creative process, and in which role you excel and prefer. With that knowledge, you will be able to form "whole brained innovation teams" in which all four phases can be successfully performed. Creativity without refinement and implementation is nothing more than a brainstorm.
After you learn how to overcome the barriers, and to tap your natural weirdness, you will be introduced to some truly creative problem-solving techniques that go well beyond brainstorming, such as:
- Whatiffing
- In Search of QWERTYUlOPs
- Creative Dissatisfaction
- The 2nd Right Answer
- Breaking the Mold
- The Idea Journal
...and others
Whether it's process improvement ideas, strategic planning, cost-reduction initiatives, creative customer service, or any other "new thinking" that's needed,, these tools and techniques will start you in the right direction.
If you are ready to be challenged in your thinking, your attitude, and your perception of the world, you are ready for this program.
- AIM To Be Weird! ©
Integrating Your Abilities, Your Interests and the Market To Become a Weirdo of Worth!
“The more you’re worth; the more you can be weird!”
That’s one of the axioms from John’s newest book, Weirdos in the Workplace! In other words, if you want to be yourself, be your best, AND get paid for it, you must find your unique niche in the world of work; to find the purpose for which you were put on this planet. Easier said than done? Maybe not!
After years of career counseling experience, John created a proven model of success that he has applied to hundreds of people’s career transitions. From a truck driver becoming a stockbroker, to a corporate executive driving a tour bus, he has personally witnessed people from all walks of life embracing new, more successful directions.
Even if you don’t make as dramatic a shift as the examples above, you can at least be yourself, i.e., to tap your natural weirdness. As organizations become more performance-driven, it stands to reason that if you are a performer, you will get some preference. That is not discrimination; it’s reality. This is reflected in what John calls the Weird: Worth Ratio resulting in one’s weirdness either terminated, tolerated,accommodated or even celebrated, and it’s up to you!
Granted, not all high-performers are weird; but they could be, and still be revered and richly rewarded. Classic examples from Einstein to Edison to Elvis exemplify the axiom that the more you’re worth; the more you can be weird. How about you? Are you worth enough to get away with being yourself?
This program can be tailored to any size and status of audience, and can run from a 60-minute motivational keynote, to a multiple-day workshop. The tools and techniques for self-assessment and performance improvement are pragmatic, powerful and personalized to the participant(s).
- The 99% Solution
Tools & Techniques to Succeed in a World Full of Weirdos
Have you noticed that the older you get, the more weirdos there are? Is it just your perception, or is it real? The answer is yes, yes and yes!
Believe it or not, 99% of people do NOT get out of bed in the morning and make a conscious decision to be a jerk. It just seems that way. Everyone behaves perfectly rationally from his/her own point of view, and you cannot change them. So, what can you do?
- Learn to choose your battles, and then leave no losers,
- Manage the consequences of your and their behavior,
- Get what you want, by giving them what they want (it’s free!), and
- Live in peace and prosperity!
In this program, you will learn:
- Why there are more and more difficult (weird) people to deal with every day
- What it means to live in the “Age of the Individual”
- The SEVEN Principles to survive and thrive in the Age of the Individual
- The FOUR HATS that everyone wears, and which one you tend to wear most
- How to LACE your way to get what you want from anyone, anytime, anyplace
- What to do about that other 1% for whom nothing else works
If you learn and practice the tools and techniques detailed in this program, there is no question that you will:
- Eliminate and prevent conflict with anyone you encounter from now on,
- Accomplish your goals in half the time, with the help of others,
- Learn something new every day from this day on (via the LACE technique), and
- Attain a renewed sense of peace with the world, and the weirdos in it.
- What's IN With High-Performance Weirdos?©
INitiatives for Creating a High-Performance Organization in the Age of the Individual
Organizations must be able to make distinctions (i.e., discriminate) between weird behavior rooted in high-performance and that which is just annoying; but that is only the first step. A more proactive strategy is to learn how to actually "design" organizations around the common needs and values of high-performers in general. To create a self-sustaining culture that attracts, retains and motivates only the best and the brightest, you need to understand.
What's IN With High-Performers?
- INdividualism
- INdependence
- INformation
- INcentives
- INnovation
This is one of John's most requested sessions, because it takes the principles of his philosophies and translates them into actual workplace initiatives, and has been presented to such organizations as the Society for Human Resource Management, The High-Technology Council Conference on Human Capital, the Employment Management Association, and many others.
Within each of the five needs, John presents five INitiatives that are necessary to satisfy each need. So you will go away with a total of 25 concepts from which you can design your own culture of high-performance weirdos.
Like all of John's programs, this one is cutting-edge, pragmatic and to-the-point.
- But, That’s the Way We’ve Always Done It!©
Breaking the Barriers to Change & Innovation
To survive in today's world, you must be able to adapt to change.
But to succeed, you must be the one initiating it! This is just one of the many concepts addressed in this important program.
Human beings strive to be comfortable. That is why about 85% of the average person's day is habit. With so many unpredictable things thrust at us every day, we seek to create as much stability and predictability as we can.
We also have a lot of decisions to make every day. So again, in our quest for comfort, we become quick to judge and slow to change our minds. Judgmentalism is our way of having decisions already made.
Once we have established these patterns and paradigms, we try desperately to protect our "comfort zone." New ideas, process changes, reorganizations, mergers, new market expansions, and all the other realities of the world of work are "naturally" resisted by rationalizing the status quo.
This program will highlight these common barriers, and provide tools and techniques to overcome them. The three common barriers are:
- Structures & Patterns
- Judgmentalism
- Resistance to Change
Another important feature of this program is that the information is presented in a non-threatening and humorous manner. All of these behaviors are "normal" and "natural." In fact, they are learned, so therefore, they can be unlearned. The benefits of this learning has value both on and off the job. The more we are able to embrace and initiate change and be open to new ideas and different people, the more positive and productive we will be in all aspects of our daily lives.
This program is content-rich, highly interactive, entertaining and enlightening.
- 80/20 Recruiting©
The two faces of hiring: Commodity vs. Rare Talent
Discrimination is good! Discrimination is necessary! In the highly competitive world of technical and rare talent recruiting, one size does not fit all. For the majority of positions, where supply is not an issue, (about 80%), standard recruitment processes may be fine. But, for those free-agent, rare talent types who are screening you (the other 20%), the "process" not only isn’t good enough, but it may even be getting in your way (and theirs).
Many organizations work hard to increase the quantity of candidates while neglecting the quality issue. This is tantamount to treating a patient who is bleeding profusely by merely increasing the speed and flow of the transfusion.
The patient (or organization) will be kept alive temporarily, but will ultimately die in the process (and you will deplete your organization’s blood supply, i.e., money)
This program starts off with a review of the basic components of a "best practice" process, including the basic components and variables of any recruitment process (for the 80%). Even though we tend to obsess over why we can’t be more successful with the 20%, we first need to make sure our standard processes are as effective as possible.
Once the basics are handled, we will address the non-traditional and "beyond HR" approaches that are necessary to attract and hire the super stars. Everyone in the organization, and particularly your leadership, must be full time recruiters. It isn’t a job description; it’s a mindset. If your leaders do not have knowledge of and contact with the movers and shakers in their fields, you chose the wrong leaders. This is where recruitment becomes a "whole organization experience."
In addition, you will be introduced to new tools to screen for the soft stuff (which becomes the big stuff), to ensure that you are hiring more than a skill set, but a personality that will fit both the job and the culture of your organization. More and more progressive organizations are realizing the importance of personal style as much as skill in filling cultures as well as positions. Skills are enablers of success; but attitudes are the motivators!
We will demonstrate a concept called "Role Behavior Analysis" in which you will actually analyze pieces of positions to later compare to a Personal Profile of candidates for personal fit. Using a software system, you can merge these two pieces of information for increased screening success as well as to improve retention by identifying training and development needs thereafter (to stop the bleeding!).
- Team Dynamics At Work© A Series of Team Building & Effectiveness Workshops
Team building is an evolutionary process which cannot be accomplished through generic programs. Training and development in teamwork must be tailored to your organization, based upon where you are now, your culture, your objectives, and other key factors specific to your people. A lot has been learned over the past decade about team efforts.
That is why FirStep, Inc., has taken the best from the years of learning and experience in team dynamics and created a virtual menu of modules which can be tailored to any company and completed in any time frame or budget. Here's the "top ten" menu:
The FirStep in Team Building and Team Dynamics
- Stages of Team Development
- Qualities of High-Performing Teams
- Stages of the Change Process
- Stages of Personal and Team Competence
- Assessing and Building Effective Innovation Teams
- The Nature of Group Norms
- Group Decision Making and Consensus Building
- The Good and the Bad of Group Cohesiveness
- Nuts & Bolts for Conducting Effective, Productive Meetings ...and many more
These modules can be combined or modified to any format, but are generally most effective when conducted in 2-4 hour segments.
- Tough Times Test the True Character
of Today's Organizations!
In times of uncertainty and belt-tightening, it is refreshing to know that in every crisis there is an opportunity, and it is within your organization right now. This program digs deep beneath John Putzier's best-selling book, "Get Weird! 101 Innovative Ways to Make Your Company a Great Place to Work" and uncovers the underlying universal truths that are the litmus test for any organization.
Universal Truth #1: It Ain't the Money, Honey!
Weak managers always use money as an excuse for their ineffectiveness and/or lack of creative management. If your managers complain that "you just can't afford to keep good people anymore" they are probably right. There isn't enough money in any budget to get a super-star to work for a jerk. What matters to high-performers is the answer to the question, "What's it like to work here?" And that is determined in large part by the boss-subordinate relationship.
Universal Truth #2: Every Manager Must Be a Human Resource Manager.
Human Resources can hire super stars, but non-HR managers must be responsible for the motivation, retention, recognition, performance management and all the other day-to-day "human resource" activities. And again, these activities are not budget-dependent. There are numerous examples in "Get Weird!" of great, innovative ways that managers can improve communication, rewards, and other "motivation and retention" strategies without spending money, forming committees or begging for approvals.
Universal Truth #3: There is ALWAYS a Talent Shortage!
Regardless of the economic times, there is always a talent shortage. Tiger Woods does not have a resume. Michael Jordan is not posted on Monster.com. If your organization wants the best and the brightest, you are going to have to make go where no others have gone. You cannot choose who applies to work for you. You can only choose from those who do. What determines who wants to work for you is your reputation, your image, your character, and that is communicated through your recruitment strategies, your orientation process and all the other PR activities in which you engage to find and hire "talent."
Client Testimonials:
"It was super! We need someone to make us laugh like this at least once a month! What a break from 'normal' programs. John always does a great job. His programs should be mandatory!"
-- SAE International
"Thank you so much for your dynamic presentation! People felt that your after-dinner program was the best they've ever heard! Your sense of humor and kind consideration of Murphy's Law made the evening more relaxed."
-- B. C. Mental Health Association
"A special thank you! Your evaluations were overwhelmingly positive with many participants stating that you were 'one of the best speakers they have ever heard!' You have a unique talent for being able to combine content and humor effectively-a perfect combination for an 'after-dinner' speaker!"
-- Virginia Polytechnic Institute
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