So, you think you have an engaged workforce?

Top this. Today's NY Times profiles* the staff at Halloween Adventure store in the East Village.

See if your staff are this engaged. If they are, then you can make it...anywhere.

* (Should be a blog-friendly link.)

An economy of haves and have-nots

per2 articles on the same day reiterate the growing divide in our country between the haves and the have-nots.

Haves: Millionares Upbeat About the Economy. (INC magazine.)

Based on a poll of 615 men and women with an average annual income of $302,500 and a net worth of $3.3 million, the wealthiest 10 percent of U.S. households have a more optimistic outlook on the economy

Have-nots: Living Paycheck to Paycheck Gets Harder (AP/Yahoo News)

"The reality of hunger is right here," said the Rev. Melony Samuels, director of The BedStuy Campaign against Hunger, a church-affiliated food pantry in Brooklyn.

The pantry scrambled to feed 5,000 new families over the past 12 months, up almost 70 percent from 3,000 the year before.

A house divided cannot stand. Until now, the sentiment has been that a great divide in income levels defines a 3rd world economy, not ours. When the divide appears insurmountable that's when real problems begin to manifest from the frustration and desperation for a better life seen, but unachievable.

Do you people need to spy on each other?

There's an interesting article in the LA Times recently. Inquiry Opens into Passing of Secret Files. According to the article, a Marine Gunnery Sargeant is on trial for allegedly taking the classified military files from Camp Pendleton and the U.S. Northern Command, which tracks domestic terrorism activity.

And he passed them to...member(s) of the LA County Sheriffs Department who were responsible for analyzing sensitive intelligence data. Same team, different department. Same goals, different departments. There's no evidence of financial gain, no evidence of foreign powers involvement.

Imagine the same situation existed in your organization. Information was being hoarded by one department to the detriment and risk of the performance of another department. Jobs were at risk as a result from the breakdown of cooperation and trust, the lack of responsiveness and the inability to communicate/coordinate/collaborate for shared goals. A lone ranger comes in and begins to share sacred data between departments, with those with proven backgrounds of integrity, service, innovation, dedication. They do it for the organization's performance with no personal gain realized.

What would you do? Would you fire 'em all? Would you suspend them? Would you congratulate them for their leadership in breaking down unproductive walls within your company and expediting its success?

What would you do?

Link from FAS