Friday, 11 September 2020 … A long, long time ago two shoe-salesmen went to Africa. (I’m from Africa. I cannot resist repeating this story. Often.) Soon one wrote to his boss, “Coming home. People don’t wear shoes.” The other telegraphed his office, “Urgent. Send shoes. Huge untapped market.” Both were looking at the same market,…
Friday Trigger Qs
What did you not do that then interrupted your day?
Friday, 4 September 2020 … Do you know that one thing undone can interrupt your day or stall a project? Of course you know, because you have experienced it. We all have. You get well into your day and then that one thing that you forgot or left undone, messes up the rest of your…
What did you do wrong that you must remember?
Friday, 28 August 2020 … Did you know that an aircraft’s black box is bright orange? Did you know that the orange-black box records failure and over-writes success? And did you know that from a young age we are taught to do the opposite? Which is why today we still record our successes with pride…
What held your attention this week?
Friday, 21 August 2020 … The most difficult aspect of business life is dealing with the unexpected. Or so they say. My experience has taught me the opposite. The most difficult thing to manage is the expected. Let’s admit it. Business is boring. It’s the same nonsense over and over, day after day. It’s like…
Were you prejudiced this week?
Friday, 7 August 2020 … You are a cognitive miser. So am I. We all are. A cognitive miser is mentally lazy. We do the minimum amount of mental work we think necessary. To deal with the information overload, we use mental short-cuts and simple decision-making rules to rapidly make deductions and draw conclusions. The…
Did you go with the flow this week?
Friday, 31 July 2020 … Any Okay Boomer, and even not-so-okay Boomers, will remember the youthful excitement triggered by the mere thought of going with the flow. But a funny thing happened to Boomers on the way home from their particular Woodstock. They realized that Going With The Flow was only Step One. If we…
How would you like to be appraised?
Friday, 24 July 2020 … Like me, you probably grew up with “Treat others the way you want them to treat you.” When you became a manager you probably realized, like me, that others might not want to be treated the way you wish to be treated. And the more diverse your colleagues and subordinates,…
Did you engage in self-handicapping this week?
17 July 2020 … Have you every engaged in self-handicapping? Of course you have. We all do, sometimes. It’s a way of protecting our self-esteem and public image. How? By pointing out external factors that may or may not have caused our poor performance or failure. Why? Self-handicapping cannot prevent failure. But it can soften the…
What had you hot and bothered?
Friday, 10 July 2020 … It’s hot. And getting hotter. So they say. But there’s no agreement on why it’s getting hotter. Here’s what we all know and agree on. If you don’t do what you committed to do, you will feel hot and bothered. And the longer it bothers you, the hotter you will…
Where is your divine dream?
Next week is the 4th of July, a day to look forward to in the USA. So I ask you this Friday, not to look back, but to look forward. Let me explain why: There is a lot of fear about . . . whether you’re out and about or isolating at home. One way…