It is important for me to keep a clean and uncluttered kitchen. My wife and I cook a lot and having things spotless and organized greatly increases the efficiency and enjoyment of the time I spend in my kitchen. Each item has its proper place that is intentionally chosen based upon when it's needed and how it's used. ...
The past few weeks have been difficult at my day job. Many operational and management issues have hit at the same time and I find myself reacting and managing several large problems and unplanned deliveries simultaneously. The effect of these issues is that I'm not performing at a high level any longer. Without consciously realizing it, I've slipped into a mode of being reactive, and delivering things "just-in-time". In short, I'm surviving but not thriving.
I am a big fan of instrumental soundtracks that I can listen to as background music while working. If you look at some of my favorites soundtracks (exceptional works like The Rock, Inception, or Gladiator) they are most likely composed by Hans Zimmer. Hans Zimmer is amazing, and one of the the most prolific composers in movie-making today. He is in his late 50s and already has 100+ titles to his credit (and shows no signs of slowing down). And not only is Zimmer producing a lot, most of them are of exceptional quality, either nominated for or winning many awards.
It takes an exceptional kind of leader to work with underperforming organizations and to inject energy into a downtrodden workforce. Creating positive energy is not the same as [driving ability][driving] or simply pushing an organization to achieve results. Generating positive energy is a subtle art that when done well, can lead to long-term success.
During the course of the workday, some people's needs naturally have a higher priority than others. For example, if my boss comes up to me and says, "Mitch, I need the updated project report by 11:00 tomorrow" then I will make sure I listen to that request and ensure I deliver the needed report on time.
However, what happens when my boss is standing in a noisy crowd of people around me and I can't hear her request? Or worse yet, what if there are so many people in the crowd that I don't even notice my boss is standing there, asking for something?
I tell you what happens: my boss is upset that I didn't deliver.
I believe that deep-down, humans have a natural tendency towards laziness. I don't think this is true because we are bad people, but because throughout our evolution we developed a biological need to conserve energy in an environment where food was scarce. Today most of us live, work and play in a land of plenty. Think about how difficult it is to choose the option where you know you will need to expend more energy.
Do yourself and your co-workers a favor. Before you schedule your next meeting, spend a few minutes to write an agenda in the invitation for that meeting. Just because Outlook, Notes, and Google Calendar (or your preferred calendar app) will let you schedule a meeting without anything in the notes field, doesn't mean it is okay to do so.
It sounds deceptively simple, but by spending 3 - 5 minutes writing out an agenda you are doing several things that will make your meetings more productive.
There is a large river in the state of Iowa where I grew up. Many years ago, I was invited to go boating on that river with my university friends. The part of the river that they chose was perfect for boating; it was calm and wide, and flowed strongly downstream.
The interesting thing about boating on a river (instead of a lake, ocean or other large body of water) is that you have two real options and one non-decision option. You can choose to start the boat's motor and drive upstream against the current. Or, you can turn the boat around and drive downstream with the current. If you choose to do nothing (by turning the boat's motor off or leaving it in idle), then you are effectively choosing to go downstream, at the same speed as everything else that's floating in the river.
Image credit: hobbydumpy used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License
Frodo: the timid, young hobbit from the Shire whose future holds great adventures, unbeknown to him.
Gandalf: the older wizard whose experience and wisdom give him the ability to see potential where others cannot, and who avoids mistakes younger people do not even know they are making.
When I sat down and asked myself how I should start this series on management strategies and leadership, I realized where I start depends on the individual experience level of each reader. Depending on whether you are Frodo or Gandalf, or somewhere in between, there are leadership topics that may be mind-blowingly new or boring and old.
I am so excited to join with you to kick off the new softuary.net blog! This website is something I have been looking forward to and the content has been simmering in the back of my mind for many years.
