Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
Sometimes saying “no” is tough, even when there are all sorts of good reasons to do so. But if you are always saying “yes” to things you can’t or won’t be able to do, you’re setting yourself up for failure or dodgy performance downstream.
There are three areas where it makes sense for you to say no; 1) things that you should not do; 2) things that you can’t do; and 3) things that you prefer not to do.… Read the rest
The subject of the call with the pharma CEO was not new territory for either one of us: the non-executive chairman of his company’s board wanted to micromanage and get deeply involved when he had the time or interest, and would go missing in action when the heavy or unpleasant work (like letting the founder know he was off the board of directors) came around.… Read the rest
My doctor Michael Sdao practices what he terms “evidence-based” medicine: he puts his faith primarily in approaches and procedures that have been validated by substantiated research. While it’s not necessarily the most daring of approaches, in the main the outcomes (knock on wood) have been pretty good.
Organizations, on the other hand, are pretty hit and miss as it pertains to using human capital systems and processes that have been validated by evidence based research.… Read the rest
The holy grail of management development programs is being able to assess skills, and predict who will – and who won’t – succeed. The hits and misses of what it takes line the walls: IQ and schools attended have become big misses, perseverance in trying and “grit” have become big hits. While work by researchers such as Carol Dweck, K.… Read the rest
Signs of a slow recovery abound which should mean that some form of job uptick will occur. While it’s pretty clear that a rising economic tide will not lift all ships – some jobs, for example, are likely lost forever – the 18-month logjam in the job market appears to be breaking up.
The question for many, as people start to take new jobs with other companies, and their jobs and other jobs as well start to open up, is easy: Stay or go?… Read the rest
While the exact formula for what makes someone successful in work over a period of time is still cloudy, the outlines through research are taking shape. Those outlines can begin to inform who you hire, who you work with, and – if you’re prone to introspection – what your own personal profile looks like.
These trends and factors didn’t just pop-up today: in some cases, as in the importance of emotional intelligence, they’ve been building for decades as the old control and command models of management gave way to greater teamwork and collaboration norms.… Read the rest