The Billion Dollar Drop-out
It is widely recognized that the U.S. and the world have moved towards a knowledge-based economy—one where knowledge and technology are vital to economic growth. Knowledge, of course, is embodied in human beings and thus the use of the term “human capital,” which...
Is it the student or the system that is failing?
A March, 2008 editorial in the Houston Chronicle title "Back to School" once again focused the light of truth on the problems of educating our children. And like thousands of other studies and billions of dollars spent on them, the conclusion is the same: “Houston, we...
Cowboy Campout offers nearby retreats
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Debra Ford, 281-415-0673 debra@fordandcompany.com COWBOY CHIC RETREAT OFFERS NEARBY ESCAPE Montgomery, Texas…For would-be cowboys and cowgirls or just plain city folk looking for a 2-day retreat from the city life, Cowboy Campout offers...
Why is Communication Such a Difficult Concept?
Did the cave man have it right? I am always amazed at the number of seminars, workshops and articles I see about how to improve the one tool most basic to interaction with others - communication. One would think that once caveman and cave woman developed past the...
Building Trusting Relationships
About 10 or so years ago I found myself mired by my own personal crisis. “These things can’t be happening to me. I am not supposed to be in this situation.” My world growing up said that if you went to school and got a job, everything would be ok. But after 3...
The Mystical Power of the Horse
Throughout history the horse has been given almost mystical powers. Books, poems, songs, and statues all attest to their power to influence our lives. Anyone who has ever spent much time around them can relate some special moment where a horse has had a significant...
The Price of Success
"Success is like anything worthwhile. It has a price. You have to pay the price to win and you have to pay the price to get to the point where success is possible. Most important, you must pay the price to stay there." ~Vince Lombardi I just love motivational...
Cowboy Solution Featured in the Houston Chronicle
Conroe's cowboy conductor Don Hutson believes there are similarities in working with horses and musicians By TARA DOOLEY Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle Dec. 16, 2010, 4:29PM Training horses and conducting an orchestra have more in common than one might think.At...
Successful & Sustainable Training
How successful are your current training programs? To find out why many training programs don’t deliver the intended results it is best to define what success looks like. Successful and sustainable training must result in the participant’s ability to comprehend and...
Is a Joint Venture in Your Future?
In a global economy, more and more joint ventures will be created. According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, “joint ventures and alliances can deliver more shareholder value than mergers & acquisitions can.” However, the same article goes on to say...
Leadership Starts at the Beginning
There really aren't many things that separate great organizations or great teams from good ones. Most companies create viable organizations, re-organize when needed, plan, execute and repeat as necessary. If one looks hard enough it's easy to recognize similar...
The Peril of the Orange Cone
I was eye ball to eye ball with her when I noticed what kind eyes she had. Honestly I hadn’t thought much about the personality of this horse until finishing up half of my personal leadership training and discussing the differences between personality and character....
Building High Performance Culture
For over ten years now, The Cowboy Solution has worked with groups from all over the world helping them build better teams with its unique experiential leadership programs. Working with horses outdoors, brings abstract concepts to bear so that fresh thinking and new...
Should we stop measuring training ROI?
A recent LinkedIn Organizational Development discussion group posed the question, “Should we stop measuring Training ROI?” While that is a good question, there are two questions one might ask first. Is there a well-defined expectation for success, and is the training...
Does trust matter anymore?
One doesn't have to look far in any direction be it political, corporate, or community to see that trust is at an all-time low. According to the latest CNN poll, just 13% of Americans agree that the U.S. government "can be trusted to do what is right always or...
The Value of Values
If someone stopped you in the company elevator en route to an interview and inquired about your organization’s core values what would you say? Would you be able to cite your mission or corporate value structure? What if they asked you to give examples of those...
The World Has Changed – Have You
Somebody once famously said—"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do sir?” For the record, it was not the famous economist John Maynard Keynes who made this statement. A similar quote, also erroneously attributed to Mr. Keynes, goes like this: “When my...
Spend your efforts on building teams not on team building!
There is an old saying that a camel is the result of a committee trying to create a horse. All the parts are there, and it serves a purpose. However, it cannot effectively perform the functions of the original design. Whether it is because of growth, managed change,...