Where we have been is in the past. We can explore it, but we can’t change it. Where we are is shaped by how we perceive current circumstances, and how we make sense of who we are and what flexibility and opportunity we have to shape our own destiny. Where we are going is a product of what we care about and value. And all of that depends on how we interpret our internal dialogue, and how we shape the messages that matter most.
Think about where you are. What you know. What you can do. And how you can do that. What was your journey? Was it planned? Was it an accident? Was it somewhere in between those two points? We start off life thinking that the most important question we have to answer is what we want to do when we grow up. Eventually, if we are doing it right, we figure out that the answer isn’t as clear, as coherent or even as relevant as we might actually hope.
Whether consultants or employees, we all have clients that we serve. We advise, advocate, support and sell. How we do that depends on our attitude and our orientation. It is shaped by how we show up in our work, and how we engage with those around us. We have a choice in that. And we forget that at our peril.
Email is without question our most popular—and most misused—means of communicating in the workplace. While success depends upon interacting well with the broad, complicated and all-too-intricate tapestry of humanity, we like to pretend that writing and text is as short-cut to doing so efficiently. Whereas every time we get it wrong and course correct (and that’s usually pretty often) we discover we’ve actually taken the long-and-by-no-means scenic route.
Managers must learn to delegate. If the mandate of a manager is to manage the activities of others, then the ability to delegate effectively is a necessary, even mandatory, skillset. To that end, we’ve glommed onto an effective methodology known as SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable and Time-bound). We learn to use it, once we…
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We like rules. Rules make life easier. Knowing that there is a right and wrong answer means that we can figure out how to be successful under all circumstances. The only problem is that life doesn’t actually work that way, particularly when engaging in politics and managing in the face of complexity and uncertainty. That’s not to say that there aren’t strategies that can help, but those strategies inherently require adaptation, a willingness to be flexible, and acceptance that the only right answer in any given situation is, “It depends.”
I read an enormous amount. But I have not, in recent years, read for the same purpose, with the same frequency or with the same degree of pleasure as I have in my past. I’ve resolved to do something about that. My exploration and rethinking of how, what, when and why I read.
I’ve long argued that organizational practices need to be adapted to an organization if they are going to be effective. They need to fit the culture, and make sense in the way that the organization works. But what happens when you do all the right things, push all the right buttons, and the practices don’t get used? A curious case study.
We talk about organizational culture a lot. We recognize that there are ways of working that are unique to individual organizations. That we need to learn those ways, and to understand “how things are done here.” We learn—sometimes the hard way—that we need to respect culture as we manage change. But what, exactly, is culture?…
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You know the feeling. You’ve got a mountain of work in front of you. Projects that are critical are falling by the wayside to make room for the latest dumpster-fire of urgency that landed on your desk. The merely important projects mock you from the depths of notebooks that go back years, reminding you of…
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