Nonsense At Work

#587: Educated for farsighted success

Business, Kowledge/Information No Responses »

May 172012

I recently griped about business leaders who think it wise to save money by cutting back on training. Their lame excuse? It’s not worth training people if these newly improved employees up and leave to work somewhere else.

In the sane old business days, I worked for a company that paid my MBA tuition fees on the condition that I worked an additional two years for them. Before my contract ended, I was offered a much better job at another company.

My employer expected me to refund the balance of the fees. What was I to do? Nothing, as it turned out. An executive at the new company called his counterpart at the old company. They talked. Both agreed that it was worth investing in employees. Both agreed that sometimes they win and sometimes they lose. And both agreed that the real winner was the economy.

How civil. How farsighted. No wonder both companies were so successful.

You can also listen here to the radio version of Educated for farsighted success (10 most recent radio files)

#586: Understanding funny speak

Communication No Responses »

May 142012

Imagine you are visiting a foreign country. You know a smattering of the local lingo. What happens when you engage a native in conversation? Do you listen to hear or do you listen to understand?

Think about it. What happens to your listening style when you listen to someone with a weird accent? Do you focus on hearing or on understanding?

In normal encounters we tend to say ‘I hear you’. But when someone sounds a bit strange or when you are listening in a foreign tongue, then you are more likely to say ‘I understand you’.

When we listen in our comfort language, we tend to make word assumptions and jump ahead in sentence construction as the other person speaks. But when the verbal sounds are foreign, we focus our listening to understand what is said.

Now you know why I speak funny. Try it, if you want to be understood and not just heard.

You can also listen here to the radio version of Understanding funny speak (10 most recent radio files)

#585: Sinking training for all

Kowledge/Information, Leadership No Responses »

May 092012

You’ve heard the expression “a rising tide lifts all boats.” Although President Kennedy said it, he did not coin it.

And that’s what I want to talk about – coining it from someone else’s investment.

As you know, funding for education is shrinking because our dear political leaders don’t have the vision to see that cutting on education is cutting our collective future.

What you may not know is that many of our dear business leaders have been doing exactly that – saving money by cutting back on training. Their lame excuse? It’s not worth training people if these newly improved employees up and leave to work somewhere else.

So, here’s the clever strategy. Let’s all agree not to train anyone so that no one gets the benefit of a better educated workforce capable of earning more, spending more and lifting the economy for all of us.

Me? I think a sinking tide strands all ships. And rats.

You can also listen here to the radio version of Sinking training for all (10 most recent radio files)

#584: Wear smart to be smart

Motivation, Perception/Reality No Responses »

May 072012

Why do we have the idiom ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’? Because we do tend to judge a book by its outward appearance . . . and we judge men and women we meet by their coverings.

It gets worse. We even think that people who wear better coverings have better qualities. We assume them to be more professional and expect them to perform better, all else being equal.

Thanks to people in white coats, you can now practice the same trick on yourself. Researchers at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University have found that what you wear can change how you interact with your world and so influence how you perform. That is, as long as the clothing you wear has symbolic meaning, to you and to society, of better, richer, stronger, whatever.

But wait! Because others still judge you by your coverings, I suggest you wear something over that super hero outfit.

You can also listen here to the radio version of Wear smart to be smart (10 most recent radio files)

#583: Deciding to delay deciding

Effectiveness, Leadership No Responses »

May 032012

How exciting! We have many more months of public leaders flip-flopping, depending on whether they are addressing Mr Flippy or Mrs Floppy.

Why do leaders flip-flop? I can think of two main excuses. Only one is acceptable. When they make decisions based on information which later turns out to be incorrect or no longer applicable. Or when they won’t delay decisions that really don’t need to be made now.

Every leader must learn the skill of making decisions based on incomplete information. And then quickly learn what to do if the decisions turn out to be wrong.

I just wish that leaders will learn the really, really critical skill of knowing when to decide and when to delay deciding.

So, why don’t leaders learn this skill? Because there’s a visible difference between macho and wisdom. No macho leader will ever be wise enough to utter these words in public: “I don’t know . . . yet.”

You can also listen here to the radio version of Deciding to delay deciding (10 most recent radio files)

#582: Wise enough to stay stupid

Perception/Reality, Success No Responses »

Apr 302012

What is wisdom? If you don’t know, then you are obviously not wise enough. But don’t worry, if you live long enough you will be.

Research by Dr Igor Grossmann of the University of Waterloo, in Canada, has confirmed that we do tend to get wiser as we get older.

I’ve been telling my kids this ever since they arrived! The mere fact that I am older makes me wiser. And at this rate of aging, they’ll never catch up with me.

But, Dad, what is wisdom? Psychologists base it on how you reason. Do you aim to resolve conflict? Do you try to compromise? Do you recognize the limits of personal knowledge? Do you admit that problems could have more than one perspective? Do you appreciate that things may get worse before they get better?

Indeed, I am already wise enough to know that things may get worse, but still stupid enough to wait for better.

You can also listen here to the radio version of Wise enough to stay stupid (10 most recent radio files)

#581: The hostile failure of leadership

Leadership, Power No Responses »

Apr 252012

The typical organization is a hierarchy of imbalanced power, which makes it a perfect bully factory. Unless the leaders stop it. And most sensible leaders do prevent it because they know that corporate bullying makes your best people disappear.

But what if top leader is the bully? I once joined a company of really nice people, except for the guy at the top. Too late I realized that everyone worked so well together because they had a common enemy – their Great Leader.

This man was rather a short chappie, whereas his executives were less challenged in the height department. So how did he manage to bully bigger bosses? Think Napoleon! He wasn’t strong physically, but he was strong mentally. He understood that emotional and verbal bullying are often more effective.

Yet he did not understand that we lower down saw the hostile work environment as a failure of leadership – his leadership.

You can also listen here to the radio version of The hostile failure of leadership (10 most recent radio files)

#580: Let time expand to fit the masterful work

Effectiveness, Efficiency, Motivation No Responses »

Apr 232012

Would you spend 38 years of your life writing the biography of one man? Of course not! You’re not like Robert Caro. You are of the modern age, the efficiency age, the rush-rush-get-it-done-quickly, sound-bite, text message age.

You laugh at Parkinson’s Law which states that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Instead, you believe that work should shrink to fill the time you are willing to allocate to it.

That’s why I thank my stars for people who not only believe in getting the job done right, but are passionate about getting it done masterfully.

Believe it or not, doing something masterfully takes more than a tweet, even more than a week. It takes a willingness to let the time expand to fit the work.

So, who is Robert Caro? The very inefficient guy who has taken more than 38 years to write masterful books about President Lyndon Johnson.

You can also listen here to the radio version of Let time expand to fit the masterful work (10 most recent radio files)

#578: Enjoy a werewolf sandwich

Motivation No Responses »

Apr 192012

Have you heard Werewolves of London? No, no, not werewolves in London, but the Warren Zevon song.

As you know, a werewolf can change form from human to wolf and back again. The problem with these creatures is that they are not easily killed. That’s quite scary.

We humans are somewhat more mortal than werewolves. We die rather predictably. And unlike animals, we know that we will die; we just don’t know when, exactly. Another scary thought.

Mr Zevon was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. That meant that he had a rough idea of the time he had left in human form. When asked by David Letterman what he understood now knowing his end so starkly, Mr Zevon replied, “Just how much you’re supposed to enjoy every sandwich.”

Here’s what I suggest. Decide today what ingredients you want on your life-sandwich so that you will really, truly, enjoy your remaining time in human form.

You can also listen here to the radio version of Enjoy a Werewolf Sandwich (10 most recent radio files)

#579: Earn less to pay less

Nonsense No Responses »

Apr 162012

Tomorrow is tax day in the good old USA. By now you must have seen that silly headline asking ‘How Many Work Days Does It Take To Pay Your Taxes?’ Trust me, it is a silly question, because it is based on a flawed calculation. Yet the idea is intriguing.

If you think you are paying too much in tax, then the solution should be obvious. Earn less. Earning less comes with a bonus. To earn less, you must work less. Imagine that. You pay less tax, a lifelong dream, and you get more time off. What’s not to like?!

I’ll tell you what’s not to like! Crumbling infrastructure like potholed highways and collapsing bridges; slipping services like ineffective law enforcement and disappearing post offices; fading futures through eroding education and retreating retirements.

Consider that at your next tea party, which is another benefit of choosing to earn less.

You can also listen here to the radio version of Earn less to pay less (10 most recent radio files)

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