Best Advice I Ever Got – Page 22

Any control freaks out there?

Those of you who are willing to admit … or deserving … of wearing this crown have probably stumbled down the staircase more than once trying to exert your control over every fiber of the carpet beneath your feet.
Researchers have found that when test subjects are even subliminally exposed to the name of a person they believe is “controlling”, they unconsciously do the OPPOSITE of hard work. It seems that people value their freedom “so much so that even an unconscious memory of a controlling person stimulates a behavioral reaction.”
Combine this with The Productivity Paradox and the work done at Sony Pictures to focus more on employee energy management rather than time management, (more…)

The Misleading Meandering of Multitasking!

Many of you have seen my earlier posts - the Stanford research or the NY Times summary about how multitasking fails to increase our productivity ... the very enemy it's sworn to eliminate.In an HBR blog, Peter Bregman reports what he found when he did NOT multitask for a week…

Let the laymen set the deal!

Once in awhile, it’s nice to see your advice echoed in the halls from someone like Warren Buffett. Since my early investment and venture capital days, I have promoted the concept of a simple “terms sheet” to set down the deal terms between the companies involved, making sure that the businessmen understand the business issues first.
Your attorneys serve an valuable role but it’s invaluable for both sides to be very clear about the business objectives (more…)

Have a Truth Teller onBoard?

I'm a relentless advocate for outside board members in family businesses, in large part to divorce the value of objective business discussions from subjective family dynamics. I've seen a family member derail an important conversation because his baby brother ... some 30 years ago ... wrecked his bicycle. Jeff Bussgang,…

Email Overload. Really?

No news flash here ... except that many of us share the frustration over the relentless flood of email that washes ashore 24/7. There is a nugget somewhere in various ideas companies are trying to dam the waters, particularly with internal email. This Wall Street Journal article summarizes some of…

No Jerks Allowed!

Many of you have seen articles about this general theme recently – in part a function of "The No A**hole Rule" published last year by Dr. Robert Sutton of Stanford University. Lars Dalgaard, President of Success Factors, a company with whom I have an affiliate relationship, spoke recently about his…

Goldman Sachs -Not so fast!

Will Rogers was fond of saying, “Buy low, sell high … and if it doesn’t go up, don’t buy it!”
That’s a whimsical sentiment, but I wonder what’s in the air when I read about the alleged fraud by Goldman Sachs described in the civil complaint filed by the SEC, referenced in the recent article here. I wouldn’t jump to conclusions too quickly. In too many ways, this episode is reminiscent of earlier 1980s battles with Michael Milken. Notwithstanding Milken’s misdeeds, my vivid memory is that there were accredited investors and savvy buyers on both sides of those transactions perfectly capable of making independent decisions. Some of them were wrong and they lost money, but in virtually every case, they were well-equipped to make sound decisions … if they did their homework.
These challenges typically arise when people lose money … and there’s no question a lot has been lost. But, to assume that people who lose on one side of a transaction, are incapable of making prudent independent decisions and were sold a bill of goods , is the flawed argument that often pervade these matters. (more…)

Vol. 60: Creating a Responsible Culture

Last time, we discussed how to create a responsible culture where each individual accepts accountability for their actions and decisions.
In our discussion of this subject, we’ve ranged from the baseline of personal accountability to a broader organizational culture, to the battle-tested power of after action reviews.
So, if the power of an accountable organization is so obvious, why aren’t we all doing it?

Victimization has a stranglehold on American business

In “The Oz Principle,” a book by Craig Hickman (recently reissued in a revised and updated edition 10 years after its original publication), the overgrown roots of a victimization mentality is chronicled as one of the most corrosive forces in American business.
[pullquote]The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it.~ Lou Holtz[/pullquote]
Mr. Hickman pulls no punches in deriding the plight of victimization that he believes has a stranglehold on American industry.
How many of these lines have you heard during your business career?

* “That’s the way we’ve always done it.”
* “That’s not my department.”
* “Someone should have told me not to do that.”
* “Why didn’t you ask me?”
* “Nobody’s followed up on this. It can’t be that important.”

[pullquote]Victimization is a corrosive force in American business[/pullquote]
It’s fodder for a Saturday Night Live skit, isn’t it? (more…)

The Value of Checklists

Checklists? Those lists I prepare each day and don’t help me get everything done – don’t really need to know more about them … or do you mean those checklists that airline pilots use to keep me from getting killed? Now, those I like.

Some of you will remember an earlier post in the GTD context about the value of checklists. Now comes the book, The Checklist Manifesto, inspired by issues found in operating rooms but expanded to the many areas where simple checklists are invaluable.

Checklists couldn’t be simpler. (more…)