Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
Ask any priest, competitive athlete like Michael Jordan, or experienced traveler.
Rituals done with intent bring meaning to life.
They also work, doing things like boosting performance and making things go better.
Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton noted in Scientific American that “investigations by psychologists have revealed intriguing new results demonstrating that rituals can have a causal impact on people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.… Read the rest
Excellence is in fashion. And excellence is what everyone wants to hire.
Consider two examples:
I could blame my grumpy reaction to this last set of rainy days in San Francisco, but I won’t. Instead I’ll attribute to the type of “nice graphics first, let’s think about what it means later” approach that pops up every once and a while. And a case of bad career advice.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers is running something called Personal Brand Week. Their web page has a cute set of five name tags, conveniently corresponding to the five days of a traditional workweek and arranged in ascending order, foundations first.… Read the rest
We live in a world of spin: from embellished resumes to downright lies, people seem to have forgotten truth with their honesty manners. It’s hard to know if it’s always been this way, or if it’s changed over time. Certainly George Washington, whose birthday was celebrated last week as a US Federal holiday, would be appalled. George, as the legend goes, was the young man who voluntarily told his father that he had chopped down a cherry tree rather than lie about it.… 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
This is the second in a series of three posts dealing with “brand.” A piece on employment brands in general proceeded it and some company employment brand examples and how-to’s will follow. As someone who’s been in the people (and teams) coaching business for over 25 years, and also been directly responsible for hiring thousands of people through roles running large staffing / recruiting operations, I have a pretty good idea why some firms recruit well (and others don’t), and how people can take their best foot forward as either a job candidate or consultant / vendor.… Read the rest