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Rebuilding SWOT: Turning Threats into Opportunities

Posted on 05/27/2014 by ·
Rebuilding SWOT: Turning Threats into Opportunities by Laura Stack #productivity #execution #leadership

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." -- Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister. You may find it hard to believe, given its powerhouse status now, but the music recording industry came very close to dying before it ever got started. The potential for recording music became obvious immediately after Thomas Edison perfected his phonograph in 1887; in fact, Edison founded one of the very first recording companies. But many performers and managers viewed the technology as a threat to their traditional business model. If fans could purchase recordings of their favorite performers' music, they argued, no one would come to their concerts when the performers came to town. We all know how accurate that prediction turned … [Read more...]

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Challenging Your Best: Dealing Proactively with the Bright But Bored

Posted on 05/22/2014 by ·
Dealing Proactively with the Bright But Bored by Laura Stack #productivity

"We must accept life for what it actually is -- a challenge to our quality without which we should never know of what stuff we are made, or grow to our full stature." -- Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist. America has enshrined the concept that we're all created equal into the very foundations of our culture. As such, there’s also “the American Way,” which has unwritten ground rules around certain benchmarks of education, work ethic, intelligence, and drive. However, these expectations of equality doesn’t mean we're all the same, though many people misinterpret it that way. Certainly, some people are unequal, in the sense their average is a notch above the mean. You probably fall into this class yourself, since you’re reading this article. I didn’t say that as an attempt at … [Read more...]

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Getting it Right the First Time: The Art of Communicating Expectations

Posted on 05/20/2014 by ·
Getting it Right the First Time: The Art of Communicating Expectations by Laura Stack #productivity #leadership

"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright. In general, people like to talk more than they like to listen. This causes enough problems in the normal course of human affairs, but in the workplace, poor communication can result in a loss of time and money. Consider this minor example. A technical writer explains to his editor that the client wants to use an archaic spelling for a specific word on a report's cover. Nevertheless, she changes it to the accepted modern spelling. The report goes to the printer, and 400 copies come back perfect -bound. The client rejects the report because of the spelling of that one word, and the company that prepared the report not only has to deal with the embarrassment, … [Read more...]

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With a Nod to the Graduate: What They Don’t Teach You in Business School

Posted on 05/15/2014 by ·
With a Nod to the Graduate: What They Don't Teach You in Business School by Laura Stack #productivity

"The business schools reward difficult complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective." -- Warren Buffett, American businessman and billionaire. I received my MBA in 1991 and can safely say I didn’t learn most of what I needed to know today. As valuable as a business degree is—and it had better be, at a cost of $100,000+ for a top-notch MBA—much of the business theory doesn’t apply to my world today. Business school is like classroom training: it provides you with the frameworks, ideas, research, awareness, and tools to ideally deal with the situations you encounter in the business arena. But it can't prepare you for “the real world” and the practical application of doing it behaviorally. In fact, you're meant to figure out quite a bit on your own. … [Read more...]

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Who’s Up Next? The Value of Succession Planning

Posted on 05/13/2014 by ·
Who's Up Next? The Value of Succession Planning by Laura Stack

One aspect of leadership that’s often overlooked is succession planning—the process of providing for future leadership in an organization. Few of us bother to think about what will happen after we've exited the scene, and frankly, many leaders don't care. But succession planning is crucial to any organization's long-term success. Some companies that have been around for centuries, such as Lowenbrau and the Hudson's Bay Company, have excellent succession planning traditions in place, which is in no small part a reason they have lasted for so many generations. As practiced in the modern business arena, this process essentially boils down to "buy or build." Either you hire proven leadership from outside as needed, or you cultivate new leadership from within. The second option provides … [Read more...]

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Workplace Conflict: Some Surprising Benefits of Office Friction

Posted on 05/08/2014 by ·
Workplace Conflict: Some Surprising Benefits of Office Friction by Laura Stack

"Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means." -- Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States. Many workplace leaders consider conflict between employees a dangerous thing, and it’s no wonder. We've all seen the results of clashing personalities and company politics: distraction, discontent, resentment, gossip, lost jobs, resignations, and other productivity killers. As a result, some managers go to great lengths to avoid conflict. But overcompensation can prove equally dangerous when it devolves into complacency, or worse, groupthink—where everyone thinks alike and disagreement can't or won't be tolerated. "Yes men" have doomed more than one company, especially when the groupthink became tinged with arrogance (think Enron). For a … [Read more...]

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The Teamwork Triangle

Posted on 05/06/2014 by ·
The Teamwork Triangle by Laura Stack #productivity

Building a reliable workplace team requires you to guide loyalty and productivity through a careful process. To help team members learn to work together effectively and fruitfully, I propose a three-point Teamwork Triangle: 1. Mutual trust and respect. Everyone must trust the other team members to do their jobs, respectfully considering their opinions, ideas, skills, and talents. When a software designer points out something won't work because the team lacks the right hardware, don't brush off their concerns. Buy what you need or modify your plans. 2. Results. If you can't achieve your goals, nothing else matters. Who cares how great your code-monkey is if he never delivers his work on time to the writer who produces your technical manuals? Sure, spring into action, staying flexible … [Read more...]

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Horseshoes and Hand Grenades: Why Good Enough Usually Is Good Enough

Posted on 05/01/2014 by ·
Horseshoes and Hand Grenades: Why Good Enough Usually Is Good Enough by Laura Stack #productivity

Perfection is a lofty goal, but it rarely happens in the day-to-day workplace. And why should it? In most things, striving for perfection represents a waste of resources better used elsewhere. No one really expects you and your team to do everything exactly right every single time. Most of the time, good enough really is good enough—as long as you achieve the minimum requirements necessary and maintain your forward momentum. While you do owe yourself, your team, and your organization a consistently high level of performance, there's a certain point in all everyday tasks where attention to detail turns to perfectionism and, worse, to micromanagement. Both practices inevitably stall productivity. Exceptions to the Rule Admittedly, some tasks require a higher standard. When it's … [Read more...]

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Guest Post: Three Communication Tips Every Leader Should Use

Posted on 04/29/2014 by ·
Joe McCormack Headshot

Brief breakthroughs can come at any time. “I wish I knew how important brevity was for me 30 years ago.” That’s a powerful confession to hear from an accomplished Fortune 500 professional. I had just wrapped up a “Brief Leadership” seminar with a group of manufacturing managers and one of their senior leaders pulled me aside afterward. I thought he was going to thank me or ask a follow-up question. “I just can’t help myself with words,” he lamented. I was floored by his candor. Recognizing that his successful career, nearing its end, had been filled with constant falling into temptation to over-explain, he confided to me that his default mode was to dump on his subordinates and give them lengthy lectures. He was looking me straight in the eye, completely serious and … [Read more...]

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Four Ways to Make Your Business Trips More Productive

Posted on 04/24/2014 by ·
Four Ways to Make Your Business Trips More Productive by Laura Stack #Productivity

As long as there have been business travelers, we've struggled to make our travel time more productive. At one time this involved little more than reading and annotating paperwork, so little could be done while on the move. A bit more was possible with access to a telephone in a hotel, but not much more. The electronics revolution changed all that. With smartphones, laptops, and WiFi, there's no excuse not to be productive while on the go. That said, you can tweak your productivity higher with a few logical preparations before you even step out the door. Try these tips: 1. Prepare well in advance. When you return from a trip, prepare for the next. Unpack your back and refill toiletries as necessary. Reorganize your spare cables for your electronics and recharge as necessary. Pack a … [Read more...]

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