How to get organized at work

How to get organized at work

I’ve probably worked with 1,500 different people in various jobs I’ve had. I could count maybe 4 that ever spent a second thinking about how to get organized at work. The common way most people approach the concept of ‘how… Continue Reading

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How to be strategic about responding to work e-mails

Responding to work e-mails

E-mail, at least to me, is a total boondoggle. Responding to work e-mails is an even bigger boondoggle. Let’s start with a couple of basics: There are no established ‘norms’ on how to handle e-mail E-mail represents work, but it’s often not actually… Continue Reading

Future of Work: Judger questions vs. learner questions

Learner questions vs. judger questions

What’s a judger question? What’s a learner question? Let me give this to Fast Company to explain: Learner questions facilitate progress by expanding options, while judger questions impede progress by limiting perspectives. The idea of judger questions and learner questions are massively… Continue Reading

A hidden key to 2016 strategy planning

Strategy Planning

Hopefully you’ve already done some 2016 strategy planning for whatever size business you work at or run — because, you know, we’re halfway through Month II of the year at this point — but even if you have, you can… Continue Reading

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Please stop listing your core values. You’re missing the point.

Core Values List

There are a lot of tremendously fraught things about the idea of “company culture” or “mission statements” or “visioning” or whatnot. By my count, the No. 1 most-fraught thing is that often (read: almost all the time), the ‘values’ of… Continue Reading

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Growth and innovation come from the customer

Growth and innovation come from the customer

Here’s an interview with a marketing professor (Tim Calkins) at Kellogg/Northwestern where he’s discussing innovation and products and revenue growth and all that good stuff. Here’s a money quote: It’s not enough just to look for opportunities and innovations and new… Continue Reading

What if we let employees design their own jobs?

What if employees designed their own jobs?

Let’s start with these points, OK? The hiring process isn’t the most amazing thing at most companies Job descriptions are often not fully indicative of what the person will actually do A lot of people exist at work and don’t… Continue Reading

The definitive time equation to remember at work

Work and time management

This is primarily going to be anecdotal — i.e. based on people I’ve worked with, my friends have worked with, etc. If you want some science on people having problems balancing and understanding time (especially at work), you can read this or… Continue Reading