Letters from Peter Scholtes.
Letters: Nov 2005 | April 2003 | Jun 2001 | August 2000 | April 2000
April 2003Dear Friends,
It's been a long time since I last wrote to you - that letter was before the 9-11 tragedy. As I'm writing this, we seem to be in the final stages of the Iraq war. We are living - as the Chinese proverb goes - "in interesting times." I've attached some thoughts.
I am glad to say that I am enjoying my retirement, living in downtown Madison with very frequent visits from family and friends, including my lively granddaughters, five-year-old Sophie Jo and almost three year old Lilah. Peg's store, Capitol Kids, has moved to the Capitol Square and she often meets old friends who stop by to shop or visit.
Though I am not able to work, I do continue to have stimulating opportunities with occasional University of Wisconsin classes, an Edgewood College class with Barb Hummel's students, and most recently, a great week with Joyce Orsini's Deming Scholars Program. These classes of willing learners are an inspiration to me.
Although it has been five years since the Leader's Handbook was published, it still continues to do well and I still hear from people who like it and find it useful in their work. I am especially pleased that Kelly Allan's group has continued to build on my work through the development of more "Performance without Appraisal" business tools.
As many of you know, Tom Coens recently died. He and co-author Mary Jenkins made an invaluable contribution with their book "Abolishing Performance Appraisals". Shortly before he died I was pleased to able to join with others writing inscriptions to Tom in a copy of his newly published book. As an attorney, his courage to challenge the idea of performance appraisals is especially commendable. Thankfully, he left us with his writings and ideas. He will be missed.
I will not be writing regular letters any more, but Kelly and Lara assure me that if I need to say something, I can have a spot in their e-mail letters. Find out how to stay in touch by reading on.
I wish you joy in your work. I wish us all peace.
Peter Scholtes
=== A note from Kelly Allan Associates Ltd.: ===
Friends:
Because of Peter's retirement, this is the last letter we will be sending on his behalf. Should you wish to keep in touch, we invite you to go to www.kellyallan.com and join our email list for quarterly updates on organizational change, learning, and tools - and Peter's occasional shenanigans. (Also, as our own means of improving organizational effectiveness, we've updated our website. It's a work in progress - suggestions welcome!)
Lara Lebeiko
Kelly Allan Associates, Ltd.
P.S. Also attached is a recently published article that developed out of our work with Peter on "Performance without Appraisal" models and business tools. We hope you'll enjoy it!