Intelligent Disobedience
For many of us, obedience is automatic, especially when an order comes from a parent, boss or other authority figure. But we have learned that blind obedience can allow, even assist, evil.
Category: Office
Productivity Peaks and Valleys
Since you’re not a machine, you don’t run at optimum speed and efficiency all day. There are points in the day when you’re sharp, focused and energized, and points where you’re sluggish, mentally and physically. The key to success is working with these natural rhythms during your day, maximizing your peaks and resting during the valleys.
How to Sabotage Meetings Like a Pro
A fascinating article appeared in Fortune Magazine online this week. It describes a document issued during WWII and declassified in the 1970s. It had been published in 1944 by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, the agency that preceded the CIA. It remained buried in obscurity until a few years ago when a consultant named … Continue reading How to Sabotage Meetings Like a Pro
Be Late for Something Day is September 5 – oops.
The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who are on time, and those who are always late. Sociologists have actually studied lateness as it relates to cultures all over the world. Whole countries can be classified according to their perception of time and lateness. Traditionally, cultures are divided into monochronic (where time … Continue reading Be Late for Something Day is September 5 – oops.
Race Against the Machine
Technology is changing at such a rapid pace that some economists have predicted the “end of employment.” Computers are able to do many of the functions that humans used to perform, from security and crime fighting to journalism. (Many of the routine game summaries you read in the sports section are actually written by software … Continue reading Race Against the Machine
Are You a Team Player?
One of the most common phrases you’ll hear in a job interview is the ubiquitous “I’m a team player.” Like any personal quality, “team player” falls on a spectrum, but almost no one talks about it that way. This is one of those characteristics where one end of the spectrum is good and the other … Continue reading Are You a Team Player?
Your Own Worst Enemy
As a career coach, I’ve met people who couldn’t understand why they hadn’t achieved the success they thought they deserved. In some cases, they are sabotaging their own success. Are you making any of these career mistakes?
Punished by Rewards
The title says it all; everything you think you know about rewards is wrong. What Kohn calls “pop behaviorism” is ruining performance at home, in school, and at the office.
Resistance is Futile Part Two
Pink writes that both in sales and ordinary human interactions, people aren’t likely to be persuaded by your reasons. No matter how compelling your argument, they essentially must persuade themselves to buy, change, or take action.
Resistance is Futile – But So is Persuasion
Pink’s premise for To Sell is Human is that “Yes, one in nine Americans works in sales. But so do the other eight. Whether we’re employees pitching colleagues on a new idea, entrepreneurs enticing funders to invest, or parents and teachers cajoling children to study, we spend our days trying to move others. Like it or not, we’re all in sales now.”
