ger’s greatest trick is making you think you’re standing up for yourself, that you’re finally taking control. It tells you that your outburst is justified, that your righteous fury is not only warranted but essential. It whispers in your ear: “You’re not being unreasonable. You’re being assertive.” But you’re not. You’re a grown person screaming at a parking meter. You look like a constipated gorilla trying to pass a watermelon. People are crossing the street to avoid you. And let’s…
at makes companies great? Gallup did research to find out -- real research. They surveyed 24 companies in 12 different industries measuring productivity, profitability, employee retention and customer satisfaction. They ended up looking at over 2500 business units and interviewed 105,000 employees. And what was the thing that made all the difference? Good managers. Now we’ve all had bad managers. Working for them is like being in a real-life version of “The Office,” but without the comfort of a camera…
doubt there’s a lot wrong with the modern workplace. Open-plan offices? It's like trying to work in the middle of a daycare. The cubicle? A solitary confinement cell decorated in dismal shades of practicality. And the meetings. Oh, the meetings. Time bends and distorts, leaving us trapped in an eternal now. The clock ticks so loudly you can hear the sound of your youth escaping. But this all pales in comparison to the challenge of work teams. Those glorious…
rategy. It's treated with a reverence usually reserved for sacred relics or the last slice of pizza. I love reading corporate strategy because I’m a big fan of fiction. Typically, it’s a phrasebook of jargon that could make a dictionary weep. It says nothing, offends no one, has no clear actions, and makes no hard decisions. It’s all “blue sky” vision. Rarely are challenges mentioned or any insight provided. It’s all mission, values, and lots of vague goals. And when…
ny consider the Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to be the greatest architectural masterpieces of the past century. But how the two got constructed are very, very different stories… The Guggenheim Bilbao came in on time and under budget. It turned Frank Gehry into one of the most esteemed living architects. Meanwhile, constructing the Sydney Opera House was a comedy of errors. It was scheduled to take five years to build. It took fourteen. It went 1400…
o wouldn’t like to have a few magic words that can warp reality? Shazam! Abracadabra! Hocus pocus! And then everything works out. We all yearn for a few elusive syllables that can produce linguistic sorcery but they seem about as easy to find as an original thought on Twitter. Well, believe it or not, it seems like there just might be a few magic words… In the 1970s, researchers from Harvard approached people using a copy machine and asked if…
just don’t take humor that seriously. Yeah, it makes us happier, but its effects are much, much more profound than you might guess. People who use humor to cope with stress have better immune systems, reduced risk of heart attack and stroke, experience less pain during dental work and live longer. Surgery patients who watched comedies needed 60% less pain medication. Heck, even anticipating humor has been shown to reduce stress. Humor improves your relationships. Surveys say it’s the second…
u’re authentic, humble, kind, and smart. You put your head down and work hard. And it is officially driving you nowhere with a full tank of gas. Meanwhile, the vile Decepticon in the next cubicle who has far more ambition and confidence than brains or work ethic is getting promoted. Apparently there has been an error in the records department at the universe’s Ministry of Fairness. Don’t hold your breath while waiting for karmic retribution. When it comes to the…
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