LESSONS FOR
Organizations
A Guide to Build Organizations, Transform Culture, & Inspire Performance
Howard’s Gift is a collection of lessons that have been adopted by organizations and embraced by individuals.
It is a timeless resource for the C-suite to the new professional — from the graduating student to the mid-career inflection point. Here you will find samples of content featured in Howard’s Gift that has enabled organizations to reimagine themselves, adopt entrepreneurial thinking, and become employers of choice.
Some of the many organizations that have benefited from Howard’s Gift:
DON’T
REWARD
RESULTS
RESULTS = PERFORMANCE + LUCK
PERFORMANCE = SKILL + EFFORT
Everyone can control skill and effort. One can’t account for luck - either good or bad. The accepted way of rewarding people is based on their results. But, if you think deeply about it, often one’s performance is only part of an outcome: the situation itself - with the wind blowing at one’s back or pushing them backwards - is the “X” factor in an outcome.
By accounting for luck, one can identify and reward what is actually controllable, which is a persona’s performance.
VALUE WHAT’S
DIFFICULT
NOT WHAT’S LARGE
The more responsibility, the more you get paid. It’s the age-old equation to define compensation. But should it be?
Someone with a large team at a thriving organization is often running a “well-oiled machine.” Contrast this with someone in a similar role at a start up or a leaner organization with far fewer resources or talent.
What actually requires more skill and effort: something that happens to be large — or accomplishing something that is truly hard with fewer resources?
CULTURAL
ZOMBIES
VAMPIRES
HYPOS
STARS
Every organization of every type entails culture.
Organizations are living, breathing, evolving collections of people. Being explicit about what one values, how it operates, and the intangible “feel” of being a part of it is a critical leadership decision – one more often overlooked than not. Culture, in many ways, trumps strategy. Without the right one, you’re cooked.
Cultural vampires threaten healthy cultures. Stars reinforce positive ones. Do you know the difference?
Continue the story.
Howard’s Gift is not just a book. It’s a philosophy and community. Inspired by almost 20 years of collaboration and the reception to Howard’s Gift, Howard and Eric founded a company named Pravi – an innovative firm that helps organizations grow and employees reach their full potential.
Pravi capitalizes on uncommon wisdom from Howard, Eric, its two other co founders - entrepreneurs Al Pizzica and Yann Borgstedt - and an extraordinary collection of thought leaders from the world’s top universities and most innovative organizations.
The future of work is here. Pravi helps organizations develop strategies to successfully navigate it; attract, retain, & optimize human capital; and generate revenue. You’ve never met a company like Pravi before.
