Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
2014 is calling. Yes, you.
The words it uses – “bonus,” “performance review,” “promotion” – may be different but the results are the same.
Time to up your game and/or up the game of your team.
Time to get started. If you haven’t been “campaigning” now is the time to start.
And every day counts.
It’s also time to realize that your boss – and anyone else who informs things that benefit you like pay, bonuses, and promotions – are prone to a series of cognitive biases.… Read the rest
Everyone loves a good story.
And it turns out that being thoughtful about how you tell your story – whether you’re a startup, job candidate, or an established company – can make all the difference between success and something closer to failure.
Peter Gruber should know. Gruber is the highly successful former chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment who along the way ran Columbia Pictures at age 30, produced Batman, and taught for decades at UCLA.… Read the rest
I’m a guy, my son’s a guy, and I inherently like guys (and women too): so take this post not as a bash at males, but rather one of those 80% rules (e.g. applies 80% of the time, misses and is off the remainder 20% of the time) that hopefully informs what you do with the information.
Here’s the trouble: men are overconfident.… Read the rest
I think Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath is a really good book. Most of the Heath brother’s content is great, both in their book, as well as in their monthly column for Fast Company. But even Babe Ruth stuck out, and their interviewing advice in Fast Company – Hold the Interview: Why it may be wiser to hire people without meeting them – is a real stinker.… Read the rest
The conversation with fellow grade-school parent Amy Eliot at the bus stop this morning could have been anywhere about any company or organization: it just happened to be about the grade school our kids attend. The lessons on what works apply to all.
There is no shortage of good research and study on change and how to accelerate it. Rossabeth Moss Kanter, author of Change Masters is a great place to start for contemporary work.… Read the rest
As a senior at Tigard High School, the Prom Queen was selected by a canned food competition between the three high school classes. The goal was to incent students to both show school spirit and bring in canned foods for people who were less fortunate and needed the food to eat to live.
Both competitive and adventuresome sorts, my class’ winning solution was to tin-cup class members for cash, and then ditch school to go buy canned foods at discount retailers that sold marred (but perfectly eatable) canned goods at a discount.… Read the rest