applied know how
Management consultant Peter Drucker wrote a column for the WSJ in 1993, as General Motors, Xerox, Sears and IBM lost their clear business advantage. He sought to identify reasons why.
The article, which found five deadly sins in common with these corporate declines, is an interesting one, please read the descriptions and don’t be turned off by the subtitles.
Drucker’s fifth deadly sin is
— The last of the deadly sins is feeding problems and starving opportunities.… Read more
You know the drill, you’re called in by the Boss, and he’s nice… you know somethings up.
And it is, you now have a huge project that needs to be done quickly, impossibly quickly.
I’ve been in these situations before and I’ve talked to others who have managed to pull together big projects impossibly quickly, and here’s what we have learned to complete that urgent important huge project before the deadline- seven simple steps to success.… Read more
I am a morning person, I always aimed to get to work early, before anyone else, and considered the first hour at work precious. It was a time for me to think and plan, to consider and reflect, before the rest of the team came to work and started bombarding me with e-mails, requests, questions, meetings, reports… work.
I believe one of the reasons I was successful was that I took this first hour as my time to step back from the day to day and reflect how I could be most useful for that day or that week.. … Read more
With the start of a new year our thoughts naturally are drawn to a review of the last year and what we hope to achieve in the new.
We consider some resolutions, and I have a post on forming new habits. But the converse of that is stopping BAD habits. If you can change your behaviour to dispense with those habits you no longer desire.… Read more
I often hear new managers give their team members the advice that they should act “more professionally”. I am always curious what they specifically mean by this.
I have done it myself and been guilty of un-actionable feedback.
Here’s my take on what acting professionally means to me.
1. Pay attention to the cultural norms in your organisation, and follow them.… Read more