Reading Time: < 1 minWith the rise of AI and robotics, the need to “train” a person is fading quickly. Jobs that can be easily trained are quickly being replaced by machines, while jobs that require deeper insights and skill continue to grow. Sol Price, the founder of Price Club (which became Costco) said it simply: “You train an […]
Leadership
Principles before methods
Reading Time: 2 minThere are a lot of easy ways to put things in the wrong order. For example, if you start working on tactics before you unpack the overall strategy, you’re likely to have a bad time. Similarly, Josh Kaufman shares a quote in “The Personal MBA” from Ralph Waldo Emerson that compares methods and principles: “As […]
Leadership is serving those in your charge, not being in charge
Reading Time: 2 minA few years ago Marie Forleo interviewed Simon Sinek on her podcast and they discussed “The Environment Good Leaders Create“. It was a short (12 min) fascinating discussion, and you can listen to it here. Here are a few things that I pulled from it: “Most leaders think leadership is about being in charge. No, […]
You should interrupt others, but just a little bit
Reading Time: 2 minI kind of enjoy when I’m reading a book and it seems to contradict what I’ve read in another book. This happened recently while reading “The JOLT Effect“, followed by “The Charisma Myth“. Both are great books, but they seem to offer competing advice about interrupting others. From the JOLT Effect and some thoughts on […]
Present with Word, not PowerPoint
Reading Time: 1 minPowerPoint (and Keynote and Google Slides) can be a powerful tool, but it’s very often misused. Beyond just presentations, I’ve seen it used to design layouts and even create logos. However, it can be even worse when people use it to avoid having to really think through an issue. In the book “Working Backwards” about […]
It’s not a game show
Reading Time: 2 minThe need to have instant answers, particularly in a business setting, is a strange thing. While companies need to move forward, taking a few minutes to find the right solution shouldn’t be a problem. I see similar with political candidates. While I expect them to be well-informed on various aspects of their role, if they […]
Metcalfe’s Law for staff?
Reading Time: < 1 minMetcalfe’s Law, coined by Robert Metcalfe in 1980, says that: “the financial value or influence of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of connected users of the system: In other words, as you add more people to a network (like a phone system or Facebook), the value of that network […]
I haven’t heard anybody complain
Reading Time: < 1 minHearing complaints from your customers can be a good thing. While we ideally don’t want to hear any because we’re doing a great job, complaints can be a great way to improve your systems for the next person. However, a lack of complaints doesn’t mean you’re doing things perfectly — you may just be not […]
2D versus 3D content in meetings
Reading Time: 2 minOne eye-opening insight from Juliet Funt’s book “A Minute to Think” was her concept of 2D versus 3D content when it comes to communication. More specifically, she shared the problems that arise when we mix the two up and use the wrong form of communication for the type of content that we need to share […]
Blameless Postmortems
Reading Time: < 1 minThe idea of a “postmortem” is something we try to do after every major project. We look back at how things went, be glad about what went well, and work on things to improve for the next one. The key to a solid postmortem, and to leading a solid team, is to focus on the […]