2011
When group decision making goes wrong
Every time I am asked about decision making, I remember a mantra one of my earlier bosses use to chant all the time A company is not a democracy . Many modern managers have taken the completely opposing position of managing by consensus. Personally, I believe that there must a be balance in all things and this is no different. For those times when a group decision is required, when is the group too big? Marcia W Blenko, Michael C Mankins and Paul Rogers wrote an interesting piece called Decide & Deliver: 5 steps to Breakthrough Performance in Your organization .
How to build a real business partnership
Spend enough time in the business world and you will soon be overwhelmed by the number of useless and meaningless catch phrases. Most of the time, they are best described as verbal diarrhea. Many consider the term partnership (sometimes called strategic alliance) as one such term. Let me respectfully disagree. A well thought out partnership can yield huge synergies for both parties but it is a fickle and fragile creation. If you too are a believer in the value of partnershipsthen the next logical question is how do you make it work?
Cloud computing may be better for the environment
Open any business magazine and you will be bombarded with the words “Cloud Computing”. It is the buzzword of 2011 and something your company will likely consider for point solutions. In simple terms, cloud computing is computing on demand. Like electricity, you pay for what you use without having to worry about any of the back-end magic (hydro-electric dams, generators, transmission lines, etc). When you flip the switch, the service just works. Popular Cloud providers are Google (with their Google Apps), Microsoft (with their office 365), SalesForce.
Your project teams may be hiding problems and negative information
An interesting article was published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology Volume 41, Issue 2, pages 401 428, February 2011. It is clearly demonstrated that as a project get's closer to completion, decision makers are more likely to conceale problems that may jeapordize it. This interesting work was undertaken at George Washington University using undergraduate students. The crux of the analysis is that a 90% complete project meant that 81% of decision makers were likely to hide nagative information or problems.
Internet Addiction in teens can lead to higher Depression Risk
Today's entry focusses on an interesting article I read August 2010 about Internet addiction with teens. It showed that teens have a 2.5 percent higher risk of becoming depressed when addicted to the internet. An interesting quote from one of the researchers is : "The results of the study indicated that young people who use the Internet pathologically are most at risk of mental problems and would develop depression when they continue with that behavior." - lead researcher Lawrence T. Lam
The steps to achieving greatness
Regardless of your chosen field of expertise, you most likely want to be great at it. When coaching individuals, I am often asked “What takes someone from average to good to great?”. Putting aside your field-specific characteristics, there are some immutable laws of success that I want to share with you. The first golden rule comes from Stephen Covey’s book “7 habits of highly effective people” and is “start with the end in mind”. Regardless of how YOU define great, spend some time to think about it.
Real Twitter Usage Statistics
Edison Research/Arbitron Internet and Multimedia Series released an interesting report entitled “Twitter Usage in America: 2010”. What really sets this report apart is the fact that they spent 3 years collecting and tracking usage. The most interesting conclusion is the fact that “twitter is a broadcast channel” contrary to what many marketers believe. The majority of twitter users are lurkers and rarely post. The report is filled with useful and actionable information but some interesting highlights include: In 2 years, American’s awarness of twitter has increased from 5% to 87% Although the level of awareness of Twitter now matches that of Facebook, the latter has significantly more active users.
Corporate Fraud's shocking statistics
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACDE) published an interesting report in 2010 entitled "Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse". They break down their operational analysis into 3 distinct categories : Asset Misappropriations Corruption Schemes Financial Statement Fraud Interestingly, they were able to show correlation between the rank of the fraudster and the value of the fraud (aka the higher the rank, the higher the value of the fraud.) Numerically, a fraud perpetrated by an owner/general manager is usually 3x more costly than that perpetrated by a "
The impact of low cost competition
Think about how low cost competition has dramatically changed how we work, live and think. It is now common for many professionals to work thousands of miles away from home because of low cost airfare. We have seen doctors from eastern Europe holding part time jobs in the UK to fill the gap. Walmart's low prices have allowed millions to buy products that would otherwise be out of reach. Low prices have forced companies to rethink how they provide services. Forced optimization which could lead to huge new markets.
Why you should you allow working from home and how to do it right
What are the benefits of teleworking? Before we talk about how to do it properly, I want to take a minute and quickly brain dump some of the benefits of teleworking. Not every organization will identify with every one of the items on this list but you should be able to pick out a couple that are applicable to your reality. The environmental benefits Whether you believe in this point because of your commitment to the environment or simply because of the monetary savings it provides, this is a reality most organizations will highlight.
Empower your people to perform
Over the last couple of month, I have written many articles extolling the benefits of empowering your employees. In case you have not read them, the Coles Notes version of the concept is that you are no longer a manager but a coach. Your job is to train and support your people. Your success is determined by their success. So what should you do to ensure their success? Growth Most of your employees should be knowledge workers and they want a clear path for growth.
When should you confront a co-worker?
The Rule of 3 Over the years, I have had the opportunity to participate in many interesting activities, from parachuting and bungee jumping to traveling and trying new exotic cuisines. A long time ago, I learned a simple trick called the rule of three. The basic breakdown is: First time Just do the activity Second time Learn how to do it properly Third time Do it again to determine if you like or enjoy it In a professional setting This has served me well, and over the years I have started to use this for other aspects of my life.
Creating the paperfree work environment with Evernote
The Brilliant Idea The fine folks at Evernote came up with a brilliant idea. They created a hybrid cloud-based solution to store all your personal digital information, making it available everywhere, on any platform and completely searchable. I call their solution a hybrid-cloud solution because it is based on an offline-online model. All of your data is downloaded and available offline on their Windows, Mac and Linux clients. At the same time, it is available via their web interface or dozens of other mobile devices like Android, Iphone, Ipad, Nokia, RIM, etc.
Power Decision Making
I encourage all of you to write in and share you concerns and opinions about the business world. I also enjoy receiving requests for possible future articles. This entry is a response from one of my readers in Dubai. The request The reader wanted guidance on decision making. How to “make” a decision, how to defend it and what to do when it is wrong. The decision making process I have coached hundreds of people and decision making seems to stress out many of them.
An end to multitasking?
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“1200”]Image by John Ragai used under Creative Commons License [/caption] Many years ago, I got to the point where I felt overwhelmed by my jobs and all the tasks I had to perform. After a long search, I learned and implemented the concept of Getting Things Done promoted by David Allen. One of his beliefs is that a person cannot multi-task and he built his entire system around this one concept. He preaches undertaking tasks one at a time sequentially.
Rule 2 of delegation
QuickTip - Setting the right expectations Early on in my career, I was committed to perfection. Everything had to be done perfectly and methodically. Although the idea of perfection is admirable, you quickly realize that waiting for perfection often means you miss incredible opportunities. It is often better to get started on the right foot and get it done rather than aim for perfection and miss the bus. How does this apply to delegation? Simple, if you expect perfection from yourself, you will expect it from others.
Rule 1 of delegation
An important tenet of efficient and effective time management is the art of delegation. Anytime I talk about delegation with an executive, they either support it or avoid it like the plague. Their reaction is predicated on past experience. When delegating a task, executives often forget the first golden rule of delegation: training and communication. In order for the work to be performed to your satisfaction, you need to ensure that you communicate your requirements and expectations to the other person clearly and concisely.
When choice cuts into profits and margin
Until recently, most executives operated under the impression that consumers demand choice and lots of it. You could walk into any electronics store and see 5 different versions of the same computer system (each with only minute differences). But is this really what the modern, educated and busy consumer is demanding? Early this year, I read a research paper by Forrester Research (1) that discussed the experiential difference between the typical Personal Computer and the iPad. The author discusses the fact that the iPad has a “curated” experience.