In chapter three of Quiet, Susan Cain tells us “Collaboration Kills Creativity.” The notion that working in teams can sometimes stifle innovation has been making the rounds for a while now, and Cain provides a brilliant explanation of the phenomenon and what to do about it. She calls it the danger of the “New Groupthink:” … Read more
Feelings play a role in every decision we make. We humans love to think of ourselves as fully logical and rational at our best, but we are wired to have emotions. And I’m glad we are. But, it’s also true that I don’t always make my best decisions when I’m emotionally charged. I can put … Read more
I once thought I was reassuring my employer’s one tech person when I told her, “I’m pretty savvy, so I installed my own printer driver updates. You can skip my computer.” To my surprise, she responded, “Okay this time, but please don’t let anybody know. Knowledge is power, and I need to make sure my … Read more
I’ve always loved the coaching flowchart from “Coaching for Improved Work Performance.” When someone you lead has a performance issue, this flowchart will help you pinpoint the problem. But if you want a question to get closer to the truth more quickly, here’s a deceptively simple one: Is this a willingness gap or a knowledge … Read more
I wrote about The Inner Game in last week’s post. Here’s one concept which bears further exploration. The “work triangle” has three components: Performance, Learning, and Enjoyment. Gallwey’s premise is that we achieve our best work when Performance, Enjoyment, and Learning are balanced. But most organizational cultures focus on Performance to a major degree. What … Read more
“Normal” is such a relative term which encompasses a broad spectrum. Since the start of this pandemic, the phrase “new normal” has been used everywhere for just about every situation. The idea is that the pre-pandemic world was “normal,” and the current pandemic situation is the “new normal.” But post-pandemic life will, of course, go … Read more
If we’ve been in a room together, I have subjected you to this photo. I use it to demonstrate the maturity levels model and to serve as an analogy for how workplace annoyances and performance shortfalls affect our mindset and behaviors. In this article, there is talk of “descriptive norms,” the notion that our context … Read more
I’ve just started reading Multipliers by Liz Wiseman. I love books with a clear vision which are a combination of hard research and practical application. What Wiseman has done in this book is compare leaders who multiply talent with those who diminish talent. It’s not a general book about leadership; instead, it’s a deep dive … Read more
We’ve all been in a situation where we’ve wanted to merge into an adjacent lane on the interstate. We do our due diligence by checking our mirrors and being aware of our surroundings. When we see the coast is clear, we begin to merge. Then we swing back into our original lane as the horn … Read more
Have you ever been in a conflict situation where you feel your heart rate increase, sweat lines your brow, and your whole body wants to go into fight or flight mode? Yeah, we all have. Dr. Gottman refers to this as emotional flooding. When you feel emotionally flooded, especially with the same person repeatedly, the … Read more