Case Study:
Ken Osborne stared out the window, wondering what he could do to get things back on track. When he became head of the finance department of a state government agency, Osborne inherited a group of highly trained professionals who pursued their jobs with energy and enthusiasm. Everyone seemed to genuinely love coming to work every day. The tasks were sometimes mundane, but most employees liked the structured, routine nature of the work. In addition, the lively camaraderie of the group provided an element of fun and excitement that the work itself sometimes lacked.
Ken knew he'd had an easy time of things over the last couple of years - he had been able to focus his energies on maintaining relationships with other departments and agencies and completing the complex reports he had to turn in each month. The department had practically run itself. Until now. The problem was Larry Gibson, one of the department's best employees. Well-liked by everyone in the department, Gibson had been a key contributor to developing a new online accounting system, and Ken was counting on him to help with the implementation. But everything had changed after Gibson attended a professional development seminar at a prestigious university. Ken had expected him to come back even more fired up about work, but lately Larry was spending more time on his outside professional activities than he was on his job. "If only I'd paid more attention when all this began," Ken thought, as he recalled the day Larry asked him to sign his revised individual development plan. As he'd done in the past, Ken had simply chatted with Larry for a few minutes, glanced at the changes, and initialed the modification. Larry's revised plan included taking a more active role in the state accountant' society, which he argued would enhance his value to the agency as well as improve his own skills and professional