[Early Spring 2015] The Envelope, Please

It’s a time of year when even the most distant observer notes that winners are separated from something referred to as losers. Who you are can be confused with what you’ve won (lately).

College bowl games, Super Bowl, Golden Globe, Writers Guild of America, Grammys, Oscars – all proclaiming who is/was hot, and maybe by inference, who is not.

Barack Obama got into the act with his January State of Union address noting that his campaigning days were over – eliciting cheers from Republicans – followed by a telling tally – “I should know because I’ve won both of them.Read the rest

[Life Back West] November 2011 – “My New Life”

Sometimes you see your future from a distance and approach it step by step as you would the Rockies from the plains below; you know the route, and how to travel it.
Jerry Mathers and Paul Sullivan
Leave it to Beaver – Image via Wikipedia

Other times, though, you realize that like that unfriendly cat who has suddenly decided to be friendly, it’s in your lap; what you’re staring at is your future that’s become your present.… Read the rest

The Talent Test: The Problem with “High Potentials”

The headline in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month blared “Employees with ‘High Potential’ Need to Know.

There’s just one problem. If you want to screw up talent, tell them they’ve got high potential – shorthand for they’ve been tapped and they’re great.

Why?

Research (Carol Dweck) shows that labeling folks doesn’t work to improve performance. In fact, labeling folks (“great,” “high-potential,” etc.Read the rest

(Mere) Talent Takes a Beating

Malcolm Gladwell had Sandy Nininger. I have March Madness. The results are the same.

Mere talent is taking a beating.

Gladwell’s writings – built in part on the work of people like Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth – have shown that raw talent – smarts as we like to say in the business world – is overrated.

Gladwell demonstrated in The Talent Myth that hiring by collegiate pedigree – shorthand for smart – gave us the Enron fiasco (with McKinsey & Co’s significant backing).… Read the rest

One Tournament: Many (Life) Lessons

I love US collegiate basketball’s March Madness. There are great games to be watched, and terrific lessons for everyone.

And I’ve got lots of company; as Vittorio Tafur noted in the San Francisco Chronicle, the next three weeks are “the most glorious, democratic, and addictive event in sports.”

And those tournament lessons are for you, and the lessons are for me.… Read the rest