Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
The are teams – start up teams, executive leadership teams, project teams – that work. And there are teams that don’t. Here’s how you can get the former, and avoid the latter.
The difference between the two is not so much in who is on the team and who is not, but how the teams are formed and how they go about their business.… Read the rest
The art of the good, strong start is something that many of us should master, but few of us seldom do.
Why? Probably because it’s a little like that set of occasions (weddings, funerals, baptisms and bar/bas mitzvahs etc.) that happen enough to notice but seldom enough to avoid generating a best practice mindset.
Many schools – like my son’s grade school Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera – have the practice down to a fine art, in part because the start happens on a regular basis, they believe it’s important to do it right, and if you’re smart enough to do it well it can form a foundation for a host of activities and programs to follow.… 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
Many of us live a life where there is too much going on in too little time; it happens at work, at home, and any other shred of life that’s left. But like many things, it doesn’t have to be that way, and there are a least four ways to make a change.
One element that does make life better is serendipity, but it doesn’t run on a schedule.… Read the rest
You work hard, try to do the right thing, and frequently put the interests of others ahead of your own. You’re a good guy. But does that mean you’ll be a success?
“Nice guys finish last” is an adage we all know, and it suggests that not only do nice people do poorly in the competitive world of things sports and corporations, but apparently can even finish badly in the dating game.… 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