More opinion
Office politics when you're not in an office
Wayne Turmel
People who work remotely often view the absence of office politics as a real plus. But they’re wrong. Understanding organizational and inter-personal dynamics is a critical part of that thing called ‘work’.
Leadership Is a journey, not a destination
Ian C. Woodward
Whether you are a leader of today or tomorrow, thinking consciously about leadership is essential. Every context requires different talents and skills, so leaders must learn to adjust themselves along the way.
The human-machine symbiosis
Rod Collins
Machines are becoming more humanlike. But rather than posing a threat to mankind, could this reformulation of the human-machine symbiosis spark a renaissance of humanity?
Are you managing your boss?
Myra White
Your relationship with your boss requires careful management. You need to building a cooperative working relationship and understand their needs and working style if you're going to make it work.
Twelve ways to cure procrastination
Jurgen Wolff
The number one reason we often fail to achieve what we know in our hearts we could is procrastination. Here are a a variety of approaches to help you confront what can be a complicated beast.
Five remote team new year's resolutions
Wayne Turmel
The new year is a great time to ask some fundamental questions about how your project team works together and what needs to change. So here are five "resolutions" you should at least consider for your remote team.
What you say. What your customers think
Andy Hanselman
Have you ever stopped to think what glib scripted responses to customer enquiries say about your business? Perhaps you should try waiting in your own queues or dealing with your own call centre.
An evolutionary leap in human intelligence?
Rod Collins
Digital Transformation is arguably the most far-reaching socio-economic revolution in human history. But most of us remain blind to the real magnitude of the changes this will bring.
Resolutions and the blame game
Peter Vajda
This year, as every year, almost everyone who make New Year's resolutions will have given up or failed by Valentine's Day. And that's because we get stuck in a victim mentality that stops us following through on our intentions.
Is blockchain the future of IT?
Rod Collins
Because it extinguishes the ‘power of one’, blockchain is game-changing systems architecture that looks set to revolutionize the way we build IT systems.
Employing outsiders: a survival guide
Robert Kelsey
Outsiders can be a manager's worst nightmare. But misfits don't have to be disruptive workplace mavericks. Most are creative, crafty and brave. So rather than try to get rid of them, here’s how to understand what makes them tick and harness their talents.
Managing time in meetings
Wayne Turmel
Often when running a meeting - be it physical or virtual - we can get so focused on "getting everything done" in the allotted time slot that we forget to focus on what it is we're actually supposed to accomplish.
Preparing teams to lead innovative change
Henrik Bresman
Today’s fast-moving industries demand a new model of organisational change that rejects the top-down, linear process of the past in favour of a more democratised, inclusive and open-ended paradigm.
Hire for how they learn, not what they know
Max McKeown
Learning new things is at the heart of innovation. That's why how a person learns is far more important than what they know. So you need to hire people not for what they know now, but because they can adapt to the future.
The bad influence of aggressive bosses
Manfred Kets De Vries
Identifying with an aggressor is a basic strategy for human survival. But in the workplace, such behaviour is destructive and needs to be called out.
Words of mass disruption
Janet Howd
Unless we can start to discern truth from falsehood, the slow but persistent infiltration of spurious news will inevitably lead humanity down the road of serious physical consequences.
Learning is everywhere
Wayne Turmel
What you know now is good for now, but might be completely outdated by tomorrow. This means there's a constant need to learn new things - both formally and - increasingly - informally.
Digital transformation and the power of collective intelligence
Rod Collins
As hierarchies give way to networks in our digital future, we need to understand how collective intelligence works and how to harness it - as well as how to protect ourselves from its dark side.
Old dogs, new ideas
Duane Dike
It's no surprise that beginners learn quickly. But the idea that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks is terribly wrong. The age of that old dog does not determine his or her ability to learn.
Adaptive strain, adaptive change
Peter Vajda
People are often the greatest barrier to change, but without them, change can't happen. So handling the effect that change has on individuals is what really determines its success or failure.
Building trust remotely
Wayne Turmel
Trust is one of the biggest challenges to working remotely. Trusting the people your work with (and for) has never been easy. When you work remotely it's even tougher.
The best gift this Christmas
Wayne Turmel
Want to do something nice for your team this holiday season? How about helping them do nothing at all - or at the very least, a bit less - even if you have to enforce it strenuously.
The theory thing
Duane Dike
Management theories are constantly changing because our business world is in a state of eternal flux. So if business leaders can’t change their ways of thinking, they risk being left behind by the march of history.
Corporate heaven: the authentizotic organisation
Manfred Kets De Vries
We hear a lot about ‘purpose’ and ‘meaning’, but how can we create organisations where people find meaning in, and are captivated by, their work?
A whole new ballgame?
Wayne Turmel
Adopting remote teams might seem like a whole new ball game, but it’s the same game - just played on a slightly different field. The WHAT doesn’t really change, it's the HOW that's different.
Is communication the problem, or teamwork?
James M. Kerr
Sometimes we can get fooled into thinking that poor communication is a problem when it’s really a symptom of something much more profound: poor organizational design that undermines the ability of people to work in teams.
Digital transformation or digital destruction?
Rod Collins
Two fundamental issues need to be addressed if we want to avoid digital transformation going wrong and turning into digital destruction.
The biggest source of conflict on diverse teams
David Livermore
Clashing expectations are the main source of conflict in almost any relationship. And nowhere is that more true than on diverse teams, where intercultural challenges mean that the potential for misalignment is even greater.
Your team members aren’t pawns in a chess game
Wayne Turmel
Project management and team leadership are often viewed as chess games. But there’s one important difference. Those pieces on the chess board aren’t human. Your team members are - and they need to be treated accordingly.
Intelligence?
Duane Dike
What exactly is intelligence? Is it something measured by an IQ test? Or should we also consider more subtle traits like humor, the ability to figure things out or storytelling?
Getting stuck in
Mike France
One of the big advantages of being a smaller, more agile business, is that senior management can get stuck in with their employees during busy periods. So perhaps its time more executives spent less time in the boardroom and more in the dispatch room
Recent Podcasts
And some more
How automation will rescue middle management
Quy Huy
Far from fearing the rise of AI, we should view automation as an opportunity to liberate managers to focus on things that AI can’t emulate - emotion and empathy.
Five simple, curmudgeonly email rules
Wayne Turmel
Many things in life are necessary but annoying - especially email. So here are five simple things everyone can do with their emails that will help make everyone less generally cranky:
Confessions of an ENFP lion-otter hybrid
Wayne Turmel
I have officially taken every personality profile known to man. Other than telling me that I'm an ENFP, Independent-Working Blue-Green Lion-Otter hybrid, the one thing they have in common is unanimous agreement that I DO have a personality.
Employing outsiders: a survival guide
Robert Kelsey
Outsiders can be a manager's worst nightmare. But misfits don't have to be disruptive workplace mavericks. Most are creative, crafty and brave. So rather than try to get rid of them, here’s how to understand what makes them tick and harness their talents.
Charlottesville, Google, and why some need CQ more than others
David Livermore
Cultural intelligence is about how the 7 billion human beings on this planet get along together. So whether it's at home or at work, we all need CQ. But some of us need it much more than others.
Why empathy makes for stronger organisations
Manfred Kets De Vries
The ability of executives to see themselves from the outside and others from the inside, plays an important role in effective team formation.
Horizontal leadership and the spaces in between
Michael Jones
Horizontal leaders don’t just think outside the box, they think outside the building, seeking answers and opportunities in the ill-defined, ambiguous spaces at the boundaries of sectors, disciplines and capabilities.
Getting virtual meetings to start on time
Wayne Turmel
Why do webmeetings always seem to start late? While there’s no silver bullet that will solve the problem, there are some simple things you can do to help your odds of starting (and finishing) on time.
Ideas are fragile (handle with care)
Max McKeown
Which kind of ideas culture do you have? If someone in your organisation has an idea, is it welcomed? Or has hierarchy and history conspired to disconnect the part that thinks from the part that does, making innovation impossible?
And still more...
Leadership, innovation and the future
Duane Dike
Leaders are critical to innovative thinking. Great ideas don't emerge from companies whose leaders try to control and micromanage. Innovation only thrives in organizations whose members are free to think and express themselves.
Quantum physics and quarky behavior
Kieran Hearty
If you want to understand some of the less acceptable aspects of human nature the answer may lie in quantum physics. And the same ‘quarkiness’ that explains bad behavior can also be used to energize and motivate those around us.
It's the little things, stupid
Wayne Turmel
For most of us, the big things - like the global economy - are out of our control. So let's turn off the news for a while and focus on the little things that happen at work that make so many managers lives far more complicated than they need to be.
Nobody is smarter or faster than everybody
Rod Collins
The myth of the individual hero is just that: a myth. The smartest organizations aren't those with the smartest elite individuals, but those that understand that their most valuable asset is the collective intelligence of their people.
We all need proper vacations
Peter Vajda
We've said it before and we'll say it again. Everyone needs a proper holiday. Taking real time out from work is a non-negotiable necessity if we're to to maintain a healthy mind, body and soul.
Strategic change is all in the timing
Quy Huy
Large organisations have many different heartbeats, and change managers need to listen to them all in order to align the pace and rhythm of their change intervention with their desired outcomes.
Everyday leadership
Duane Dike
Over the years, I’ve lost count of the number of leadership theories and styles that I’ve studied, practiced and discarded. What all this has taught me is that leadership is a complicated puzzle - and that the best solution is to keep things simple.
Don't use technology as an excuse for bad management
Wayne Turmel
When it comes to managing a remote team, technology is not a communication problem. So stop blaming the tools if you chose the wrong one for the wrong reason.
The truth about change
Peter Vajda
The reason change so often fails is that we resist letting go of old ideas and beliefs. But you cannot change and remain the same. Change means the letting go of the old and encouraging something new to develop. And that's as true for organizations as it is for individuals.
Why wisdom can't be taught
Manfred Kets De Vries
Intelligence and wisdom are quite different things. But while wisdom requires education, education does not necessarily make people wise. So how can we expedite the road to wisdom?
Turning around a dysfunctional team
Matt Jenkins
Bringing together a group of smart, creative and driven people doesn’t mean they’ll instantly work in sync. In fact, three-quarters of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional in one way or another. Here are some ways to address that.
What every company should learn from United Airlines
Rod Collins
In a hyper-connected world, everyone in an organization should remember they work for their customers, not their bosses. Companies never go out of business because they lose their bosses. They only disappear when they lose their customers.
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