The Next Management Stars: Divergence Generation
Fortune Magazine is currently doing an issue on Leadership with the usual flavor of 10 Best Companies For
Leaders and How to be a Great Leader. Although I don’t think there is any significance to Fortune doing these articles now, beyond it being a yearly topic, it is timely for me. …
Charm in Business
This is a simple observation post.
I was watching a show called Nothing But Trailers on HDNet and it featured a movie with Jeff Goldblum called Fay Grim. The commentary talked about Jeff Goldblum as a dancer in the movie, but not in
the literal sense. In the sense that his co-actors can play off him. This interaction is special in acting and it is in the business world as well. …
Risk Aversion
I’ve commented before about how I think the US isn’t taking many risks anymore. Ideas like going to the moon and building an interstate road system are no where near the horizon. I
wonder if the collective attitude of the US has changed to the point where only focusing on the failure is the norm? And the repercussion is that only guaranteed successes are attempted. …
Finding Perception
Clear off a table. If possible, find a needle. Maybe you have some thread with a needle attached to it. Now find a nickel. Finally, find a stack of Post It notes. Place all three on the
table and stand directly above it. When you look down at it you have a line, a circle, and a square. All very simple. This is just like a 2 dimensional representation, as if you drew each of them on
a piece of paper. Now point the needle at the edge of the table. Bend down to the edge of the table to where your eye level is even with the table. Look at the needle. It is no longer a line, it is a
point – a small circle. …
Metrics Equal Accountability?
I’ve always been suspicious of directly correlating metrics with compensation or performance reviews. This flies in the face of the cliché “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” and perhaps a little of the six sigma that goes along with it. It isn’t the idea of metrics that I am bothered by, more so, the complication of it. If my job was routine enough to just count widgets then I know I wouldn’t enjoy the job and wouldn’t stick around long enough to actually see the widgets counted. I know I’m oversimplifying this, but bear with me, to express my point, I need to. I’m a believer in thought. I feel like if someone just watched me at work, they would think I’m not a busy person. I don’t file papers or constantly attend meetings. I often get information in, review it, consider it, put it aside, and leave it for a day or two. I then come back to it after absorbing it and think of ways to apply it. Maybe I am just a slow analyzer? But if the decision was easy to begin with, then I might be wrong for the job. The other element I am infusing is some sort of creativity to the information. I think at times that this is over doing it, but at other times, I think I come up with something truly unique and novel. I have coworkers and friends that are baffled by the angles I take at times. It usually get a laugh, but it is different.
Type of Genius
I live in Charlotte, NC. We haven’t had much rain in a long time and the area is in a drought. Because of this, I haven’t mowed my lawn in several weeks. For some of that time, the grass was just dead. But recently we got a little rain and it greened back up some and required a trim. When I mow the lawn I like to listen to audio books. I feel like it passes the time better. So last night I went to audible.com and looked for some cheap and interesting audible books to listen to. I found one by Daniel Pink. It is a live recording of a speaking engagement. It is about an hour long. So today while I mowed the lawn I listened to Daniel Pink speak.
All Kinds of Advice
The other day I was clearing out my working space. I changed jobs and the group I used to work for needs the space I was in. Fair enough. So I sat in that cubicle for about 4 years. I tend to be a pack rat. I keep everything. What caught my eye were all [...]
Team
The San Antonio Spurs won the 2007 NBA Championship. It is their fourth title since the NBA had a lock out prior to the 1999 season. The team isn’t guided by someone that dominates statistically. The team dominates by having no single strength or weakness. They do everything very well, not great, but that is the point. Add all those very goods up and you get great. That is also why they are enduring team. There isn’t a counter scheme for the scheme they run. You simply have to outplay them. What is meant by that is exemplified by Shaquille O’Neal and the Lakers. The team won three championships from 2000-2002. But in 2004, the team was exploited by a Pistons team that knew how to counter the moves the Lakers made. The Pistons had answers for O’Neal by defending him with Ben Wallace. Kobe Bryant did very well to pick up the slack, but that turned the team into a one dimensional one that never got going (this problem persists for them).
Motivating Work
There is a saying that goes “I work to live, not live to work” and what that implies is that there are more important things in that person’s life than work. It is a reasonable statement. It also hints that the person isn’t completely fulfilled, in a professional sense, with the work being performed.
In the ultra competitive environment of today’s world there is great focus on math and science programs, with engineering being an output. The US is often criticized for falling behind the rest of the world in those areas. Tests prove that out. However, I rarely read about …
Self-Determination Theory
In the June ’07 issue of Men’s Health magazine is an anticle by Tom McGrath called “Unleash Your Potential.” It focuses on the subject of people that are self motivated and how that translates to their success. Since it is a men’s fitness magazine the subject leans toward hitting the gym and being active. What really hit me is this line “… The more self-determined we are – that is, the more we’re doing what we want to do and aren’t being forced to do – the happier and more successful we tend to be.” That says a lot. It …