Tonight, on #hrhappyhour @SteveBose and @HR_Minion hosted, and Grant McCracken appeared. This post is not about him, nor is it about his book Chief Culture Officer. He was an intelligent, and engaging guest, and after perusing his book on Amazon.com I’m convinced he has his thumb on the pulse of how to shape, mold, and transform the internal and external organization culture. Cold cultures, and toxic cultures will kill the life blood of the company, its employees, and bury its bodies in the Chapter 11 graveyard.

Oh @HRMargo you are so harsh, right? Or am I? As an organization development professional, the study and practice of analyzing corporate cultures has been my playground for the better part of 15 years. As such, I’ve transitioned into the social media HR , Recruiting and Marketing communities.

I tweeted during #hrhappyhour that I want to write a book Where CQ meets EQ. Your Corporate Quotient interfaces intimately with your employees collective Emotional Quotient. I wonder if a statistically valid multi-rater instrument exists to measure your company’s C.Q.? Oh sure, there’s organizational effectiveness instruments, there’s corporate culture evaluation instruments, there’s software that will cuisinart your numbers, and spit them out into a fine Julianne numbers salad. There are so many wealthy consultancies doing just that. Some are very good. Some are very bad. There’s nothing that smells fishier than spurious data.

On the other hand, I question how many organizations take the time to do the math? I question how many companies have a chief culture officer? Grant, I think you could fill a thimble with the numbers of companies who would even think to have such a position let alone support one. How many cultures have taken their temperature, realized they had a fever, and did an about face? Not enough, I contend.

I might buy Mr.McCracken’s book out of curiosity, just to see if he says anything I don’t already know about organizational culture and change. I enjoyed hearing what he said tonight on Steve and Shauna’s show. What I find even more compelling is that he has a background in anthropology (admittedly my favorite undergraduate course). What I did not understand, jokingly, is why a Chief Culture Officer would call into one of America’s most powerful and popular blogtalkradio shows using a cell phone with the whistling wind whizzing through his voice as whispering background noise? He said it was the Empire State Building in the background. I didn't know whether to hit the root cellar like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, or put Grant McCracken in a sound proof room.

I laughed so hard, I almost swallowed my chewing gum. Background noise is a blogtalkradio no-no, but who am I to talk? A few months past, area code 513 was almost banned from the show because I had my radio and computer playing the show. When Steve Boese took my call, he couldn’t hear me. Dead Air: the worst blogtalkradio show no-no ever. So I laugh when people make similar errors. Area code 513 made a comeback with the help of Jennifer McClure, Eric Winegardner, Benjamin McCall and Steve Browne, and we won the coveted #hrhappyhour Best HR City in The US award (only because we are positively relentless tweeters and callers) and the fact that #513Rocks (which was our hashtag to win influence others to support us.)

Thursdays are my favorite night of the week because of that show. But now Monday’s are my favorite blogtalkradio show evening because @Shenee_Rutt and I started our own show: Compassionate HR. Our bi-weekly show will reveal the volunteer journeys our fellow HR, and Social Media professionals have executed. The passionate tales of steward leadership are sure to warm your heart. Our next show will feature what HR and Social Media are doing to help the plight of Haiti. Are my days in O.D. over? Yes, in a way, but the lessons and the spirit of organizational effectiveness, and improvement will live on in my soul forever. Now about that book:

You have to admit the title is catchy: Where CQ Meets EQ. I’m a recovering OD professional who dreams about metrics, charts and graphs. I wake up early sometimes wondering where I left my flip chart only to realize I don’t have a seminar to lead. I do not miss those days. I do not miss sweating to find the perfect pumps, the tailored suit and the stellar pearls to top off the look. I’m so NOT corporate. I don’t think I ever was. I’m too entrepreneurial.

My career trajectory is the reverse of most people. I’m still a research geek. I always will be, I’m also obsessed with analytics and organizational intelligence, which is why I’ve signed up to take the AIRS course to become a Certified Internet Researcher. Mostly recruiters, and sourcers take this course. Whether I use my new social media and internet research Intel to recruit or develop social media blueprints remains to be seen.

I love the social media marketing gig I currently have. There might even be an opportunity to do niche recruiting. I’m intensely interested in recruiting and sourcing and I have been since October 2009. Recruiters rock my world. I follow them around on twitter like a baby duckling. I read their blogs, I listen to their blogradio shows. Many of them are now both my advisors and my friends. I’m sure of one thing: I absolutely insist on loving my work. Khalil Gibran once said, “work is love made manifest,” and it is in that spirit I bid you good day.

Your Twitter Pal,
@HRMargo