Many, many sins have been committed in the name of “team building.” All too often we associate team building exercises with awkward, superficial and embarrassing interactions. And much of what is done simply doesn’t work. Team building is often irrelevant, but building the team is critical.
Deadlines Are Not Our Friends
Deadlines are the organizational tool of choice in assigning work. And for some of us, they are a necessary motivator of getting work done. At the same time, they are often tools of petty tyranny that keep us from doing our best work.
Exercising Agency: What To Do When Politics Gets In The Way
Politics is a challenging concept. We tend to view the term ‘organizational politics’ negatively, often seeing it as competitive, antagonistic, manipulative and dysfunctional. Certainly organizational politics can be all of these things, but it doesn’t have to be.
Exercising Agency: What To Do When Process Gets In The Way
While most organizations claim to have formal processes for project initiation, in a large number of instances these do not lead to better initiation decisions. The challenge is what to do when faced with ineffective process.
Meetings, Bloody Meetings
We are notoriously bad at meeting. Which is a fascinating comment, when you get down to it, considering the incredible amount of time that we actually spend in meetings. It’s rarely a case of “another day, another meeting.” It’s a case of, “another day, another fully packed string of appointments.” That said, there are no […]