Work Samples

White paper (Green Cleaning in Schools, Search Engine Optimized, Written by Karen Paul Holmes)

Brochure Sorry link not working right now (Written by Karen Paul Holmes, who also consulted on design and concept)

Web site (Copy written by Karen Paul Holmes)

Article on divorce in Huffington Post

OneSource green cleaning direct mail piece (a collaboration between OneSource marketing and Simply Communicated).

Writing Sample 

A book review of Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team 

Just for fun...

Staying Up Late Reading a Page Turner

By Karen Paul Holmes

A Harlequin Romance? Puh-lease. Stephen King’s latest? No way (big sissy). Pat Conroy’s sequel to The Prince of Tides? I wish.

No, it was a business book that kept me up until 1:00 a.m. I wouldn’t believe it myself, but there you have it. Patrick Lencioni wrote The Five Dysfunctions of a Team as a “leadership fable.” He tells a fictional story of a new CEO trying to get her executives to work as a team. He does this in short chapters, each ending with a cliffhanger. Now I can’t wait for the movie.

In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, the author allows the reader to “sit in” on three realistic off-site executive team meetings conducted by the fictional CEO. You then watch as, over time, some of the team members “get it” and some get fired. For me, the fable format helped me understand and remember the concepts, whereas most business books put me to sleep.

The story makes up about 80% of this quick-reading 225-page book. The remainder contains a team assessment questionnaire and suggestions for understanding and overcoming the five dysfunctions.

The five team dysfunctions in most critical order are:

1. absence of trust
2. fear of conflict
3. lack of commitment
4. avoidance of accountability
5. inattention to results

Correspondingly, you’ll know that these dysfunctions exist in your team if you notice these red flags.

1. invulnerability: When team members don’t admit to their weaknesses, a foundation of trust becomes impossible.
2. artificial harmony: If members hold back opinions and honest concerns, the team can’t work through their issues.
3. ambiguity: Not establishing a clear set of goals means that the team hasn’t made a commitment to succeed.
4. low standards: Goals can’t be met if team members don’t hold each other accountable for delivering.
5. status and ego: Members’ egos and personal agendas get in the way of achieving team results.

On the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek best-seller lists, the book has helped executives such as New York Life’s Phillip J. Hildebrand. As quoted on the back cover, he declares the book “thought-provoking, insightful and rich with ideas” and says, “I’ve used it with my team and it works!” Author Lencioni is president of The Table Group, a management consulting firm near San Francisco. The company offers an online team assessment tool and personalized analysis for $34 per participant (see tablegroup.com). Lencioni’s other books, also written as leadership fables, are The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, The Five Temptations of a CEO and the just released, Death by Meeting.

Oh boy, put on a pot of tea and jump into your jammies . . .