Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
It never ceases to be an interesting world in which we work.
Job titles have morphed (inflated would be another word) as companies have paid in title to augment what formerly would have been paid in compensation, or have countered the title inflation of their competition – like Dr. Seuss’ Butter Battle War – with inflated titles of their own.
Sometimes the best (and hardest) lessons you learn are when you’re a child. They can also happen when you’re a parent of a child.
In both situations the best you hope for is that everyone comes out learning something from which they can grow. Your wish, in effect, is that it’s the silver lining that gets explored, not just the hard edges and rough lessons of the dark cloud that envelopes it.… Read the rest
Motivation comes in many forms, and knowing what motivates the people you work with can make all the difference from “has done” to “has been.”
Pay, or as the HR people like to say, compensation, has turned out not to be the end-all-be-all for motivational purposes. As Dan Pink has ably exposed in his latest book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (and TED presentation here) research demonstrates that money in certain situations degrades, not improves, performance.… Read the rest
It’s a common challenge; how do you talk about what you’ve done if you’ve done well without sounding like the jerk down the hall who everyone calls a cleetus maggot?
In a world where Cheat Your Way to the Top seems to be a common workplace theme song, being accurate and correctly portraying yourself and your accomplishments is critical for getting your fair due.… Read the rest
Stanford University professor Bob Sutton, whose work I admire, authored the book “The No Assholes Rule.” Good book, great topic, and some wonderful thoughts about how to work with and / or avoid workplace assholes.
Unfortunately the “rule” doesn’t work in most firms. And even while asshole behavior is corrosive and cancerous to the effectiveness of most companies, here’s why jerks and assholes will continue to exist in the workplace.… Read the rest
The line from former US President Harry Truman, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” came to mind immediately.
“Would I do a reference call with my prospective new boss?” my former colleague “Kim” asked.
Though Kim had worked for three years at a division of a major US company, her potential new boss in a sister division wanted to talk with employment references from before her time with the current firm.… Read the rest