SeriousThought

10 Ways to Craft a Career That Will Stand the Test of Time

2011-09-28T01:06:00.000-07:00

What does it take to craft a career that is likely to stand the test of time? The Shift: the future of work is already here, a great deal about the five forces that will shape work and careers:

• ever greater globalization of innovation and talent;

• the development of ever more sophisticated connective technologies;

• profound changes in demography and longevity which will see many live until they are 100 and others live in regions where 40% of the population are over 50;

• broad societal forces that will see trust in institutions decrease and families become ever more re-arranged; and finally,

• the impact that carbon use and Co2 will have on how we think about our own consumption patterns.

Taking this rich cocktail of forces into consideration here are my 10 tips about skills, networks and choices.

1. Don't be fooled into walking into the future blindfolded. The more you know what's in store, the better able you will be to meet the challenges and really capitalize on your options. So keep abreast of the forces that are shaping work and careers in your part of the world and think about how they will impact on you and those you care for. Making wise choices will in the end come from your capacity to understand – don’t rely on governments of big business to make the choices for you.   

2. Learn to be virtual. We are entering a period of hyper technological advancements - avatars, holographs and telepresence are all just around the corner. If you are a young ‘digital native’ you are already connected to this – but if you are over 30 the chances are you are already behind on your understanding. Work will become more global and that means that increasingly you will be working with people in a virtual way – its crucial that you learn to embrace these developments and don't let yourself become obsolete through lack of technical savvy.

3. Search for the valuable skills. Think hard about the skill areas that are likely to be important in the future - for example sustainability, health and wellness, and design and social media are all likely to be areas where work will be created over the next decade. Also remember that jobs that involve working closely with people (chef, hairdresser, coach, physiotherapist) are unlikely to move to another country.  

4. Become a Master. Don't be fooled into spread your talents too thinly. Being a 'jack of all trades' will mean you are competing with millions of others around the world who are similar. Separate yourself from the crowd by really learning to master a skill or talent that you can develop with real depth. Be prepared to put your time and effort into honing these skills and talents.   

5. Be prepared to strike out on your own. There will always be work with big companies - but increasingly the real fun will come from setting up your own company. We are entering the age of the 'micro-entrepreneur' when ever decreasing costs of technology will significantly reduce the barriers to getting off the ground, and when talented people across the world will be connected and keen to work with each other.

6. Find your posse. To create valuable skills and knowledge you will need to quickly reach out to others who can help and advise you. This small 'posse' of like-minded and skilled people is a network that will be central to your really building speed and agility in your career. Don’t leave it too long to find and cultivate it.

7. Build the Big Ideas Crowd. The future is about innovation, and sometime your best, most innovative ideas will come as you talk and work with people who are completely different from you - perhaps they have a different mindset, or come from a different country - or are younger. It is this wide network, the 'big ideas crowd' that will be a crucial source of inspiration. Make sure that you don’t limit yourself to working only with those who are just like you.

8. Go beyond the family. Your career success will depend in part on your emotional well being and resilience. In a world of ever shifting relationships, it's important that you invest in developing deep restorative relationships with a couple of people - this is your 'regenerative community' and they are crucial to your well being and happiness. Make the investment as soon as you can and make an effort to maintain and build these relationships over decades.

9. Have the courage to make the hard choices. Your working life will be shaped by the shifting patterns of longevity (you are likely to live considerably longer than your parents) and demography (in many regions there will be a much higher proportion of people over 50). So you need a strategy for the long term. You have three hard choices: 1. Build a career that enables you to work longer (at least into your late 60's or early 70’s), 2. Be prepared (like the Chinese who save around 40% of their income) to save a significant proportion of your income throughout your working life, 3. Consider ways to reduce your consumption and live more simply. It does not matter which hard choice you make – but you are going to have to make at least one of them.

10. Become a producer rather than a simple consumer. And finally... the old deal at work: 'I work, to earn money, to buy stuff, that makes me happy' is rapidly becoming obsolete. Engaging in meaningful work where you can rapidly learn will become a priority (although fair pay will always be important). So think hard about sharing and great experiences rather than simply building your working life around consuming.

pluralistic ignorance

2011-08-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

This concept refers to people holding back from publicly stating a view because they believe others feel differently. The lack of shared information then sustains a false impression.

Consider the following typical situation. Three couples try to meet up for a social event - say dinner or theatre. Business and family commitments lead to many cancellations but eventually all can make it. But alas the meal is mediocre and the show a flop. It has taken a lot of effort and money to arrange the evening. So in order not to dampen morale and deter future possible events they all end the evening publicly saying how good the food was and how enchanting the play. To an outsider it looks like a great success. But each couple in the car, alone, soon confess their real reactions. The evening was an expensive flop. Another classic example comes from an early study on attitudes toward defence and disarmament among a national sample of voters.
Results showed that personally 70 per cent of these respondents favoured disarmament, even if it meant loss of income. However, only 38 per cent of them thought that others felt that way. Therefore, the dominant view supported disarmament but was not perceived as such.

Another example concerns what people said they intend to do with money received from income tax cuts. A poll conducted by telephone asked a national sample: 'If you received a tax cut, would you spend most of it or save most of it?' They were also asked: 'Do you think most people would spend more than they would save or save more than they would spend?' Over half (53%) said they would save more but believed less than a quarter (22%) would do likewise. Similarly only a third (33%) said they would spend more while believing two thirds - (66%) would do so.
Evidently, individuals intended to save their money in a considerably higher proportion than they believed others would. But, if those others are like themselves, the belief is greatly mistaken.

How does pluralistic ignorance operate in the office? Most of us feel constrained by a number of forces, from political correctness to threat of dismissal, in not saying what we think about a whole range of issues. Indeed, we are often compelled to say the opposite, thus ensuring pluralistic ignorance.

The results of climate surveys and 360-degree feedback can break the circle of ignorance. If, and only if, the respondent feels completely confident that their response really is anonymous do they feel secure enough to say what they think. Hence the shock for senior managers who, after years of biased feedback, get the truth of how others see them. The usual way of getting feedback through open appraisals and the like can encourage pluralistic ignorance. This is more frequently the case in secretive, non-communicative organisations where employees really have no idea what their colleagues truly think.
The shrewd manager can really exploit this phenomenon. If no one dares say they feel underpaid, neglected, abused, badly managed and the like, a new (or even long-standing) employee may feel they are the odd one out, they have strange perceptions, they are not normal. These managers may have discovered that any survey or attempt to find out (and dare publish) what the workforce really think opens up a can of worms. It empowers staff, unites them and builds a sense of community - often against the bad boss. So pluralistic ignorance can be bliss for the weak manager.

The whole business of pluralistic ignorance is a real worry for market researchers. It can lead their predictions to be terribly wrong.
And it can yield odd effects when people are poorly informed about what other people really do or think. What are people's real beliefs about both corporate and capital punishment? What do they really think about abortion or adultery? How will they vote in the next election?
All believe they are above average in intelligence. All believe that they are safer drivers than the next person. And by definition they are wrong.

But perhaps it is the problem of political correctness that has really stimulated pluralistic ignorance. People hold views about many issues they feel inhibited talking about. Sex, race, religion, disability, education..the PC Police are everywhere. For some it is like having the eyes of the Stasi at every turn. So they express the pc view while holding different views. And when they can be assured anonymity and confidentiality like in the ballot box, they let people know what they really think. And this can cause very big surprises and wreck predictions.

The price of political correctness may be pluralistic ignorance.

What is that quiet voice in me saying to me?

2011-08-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

Inside every single one of us is a still, small voice of wisdom. It's small because sometimes the voices of the world seem so loud. The still voice is always present, and if we pay attention, we can hear it.

This still, small voice is always giving us direction. It is absolutely the perfect signaling device for our aliveness, our health, our well being, and our ability to live life fully.

Most of us have been trained to ignore that little voice. We’ve been taught to use our logic. What we know is that the more we pay attention to that still, wise voice, the louder it gets, the more frequently we can hear it, and the better and easier our lives become.

Today is an opportunity for us to simply choose to pay attention. "What is that quiet voice in me saying to me?" Practice listening closely to the voice of the still, small wisdom within you.

What will you see?

2011-08-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

It was Newton who said this: "If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants."

Every one of us has giants in our lives. These might be people who have supported us or given us ideas. They might be people we have read about and studied. Perhaps we have been inspired by how they lived their lives, and what they faced and overcome.

Today, let’s recognize that every one of us has giants in our lives, minds and hearts who have been influential to us. Let’s let ourselves ask -- What would it mean to see further --To see further into opportunity, see further in a way of being of service, seeing in a way that we could love more? "If I have seen further it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." What will you see?

Your growth

2011-08-03T10:28:00.000-07:00

I once heard a great quote. It said that some people live ninety years, but most people live one year ninety times.

Whatever is in the fresh, green, growing edge of your becoming --what it is that you would like to explore, learn, be and do --let yourself play in ideas. Research it and study it.

Try a little bit each day to not just live the life you have lived before, but to let yourself come from the green growing edges of your own becoming...In the end, no matter how many years it is, they will have been full.

commitment

2011-08-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

There is a quote by WH Murray that says, "Until one is committed there is hesitancy, a chance pull back and always ineffectiveness. Once one is definitely committed then providence moves too."

Murray was a mountain climber. What he was speaking about was that because he was committed to climb the mountain, all sorts of things began to occur to support that very commitment. He would run into people who had information he would need, or walk by a store and notice supplies. All sorts of things --providence moves, too.

Once you make a decision to get well, one you make a decision to have more energy, once you make a decision to get really committed to anything, God helps you. But until you get committed, there is a chance for hesitancy.

Where is the hesitancy, wondering, doubt or fear that’s controlling your life? Go ahead, get committed, make a decision and let God help you.

Days are definitely beautiful

2011-08-03T10:21:00.000-07:00

Sometimes our lives can get so busy that we think that we don’t have time to get everything done and certainly don’t have time to pray or meditate.

That is exactly the time when we do need to pause, even for just twenty or thirty seconds. Take a deep breath. Gather yourself together and realize some appreciation for this life and you will see that your thinking is clear, your choices are stronger and you really do have the time that is required for everything you need to do.

Einstein was once asked to describe relativity. He said that an hour with the most beautiful girl in the world can feel like a minute, and a minute sitting on top of a very hot stove can feel like an hour. Today, even with one minute, it may not be a beautiful girl but it is a beautiful world.

Smile

2011-08-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

Would you be interested in trying out something that has been medically proven to absolutely improve your immune system and increase your positive brain chemistry, --the feel-good chemicals that move through our brain and help us think with more clarity?

If you could have better health, a happier mood and actually live a more productive life, would you be interested in knowing one thing you could do? It’s called smiling.

When you turn the corners of your mouth up, even in the absence of actually feeling happy about something but you smile anyway, they have proven now that this energy goes right up to the brain. It activates the brain and changes our perspective. It improves our immune system.

If your mouth is up or your mouth is down, so goes your day. The Balinese have known this for five thousand years. It’s part of their religion to keep a smile on your face. It’s like medicine. Let’s smile a whole bunch more today.

Happiness and Success

2011-07-27T04:19:00.000-07:00

Does happiness lead to success, or is it the other way around? It is certainly better to be happy at work. Happy workers are better paid, more likely to be helped by colleagues and receive better evaluations and appraisals. They tend to be life enhancing not heart sinking employers.

Happy people more frequently experience positive emotions: joy, enthusiasm, contentment. That's a good thing, certainly, but why should it lead to work success?

We know that happy people are more likely to be approach-oriented: they try new things. This allows them to broaden and build their intellectual, social and even physical resources. Not only do happy people try out more things but they feel they have more choice, more autonomy and more control at work. They also make better decisions and have more insight into themselves than those around them.

Happy people are better organisational citizens. They are more altruistic, conscientious and courteous. They put in extra effort, they are more co-operative and they volunteer more often. They spread goodwill, develop personal skills and make useful suggestions. Customers and co-workers benefit from happy workers.

Happy workers are more engaged and involved. And there is evidence they make their internal and external customers happy. They seem always to go above and beyond the call of duty. Happy optimistic workers persist longer on difficult tasks. They tend to rate their own performance and that of others more highly. Happiness liberates people's creative juices - it seems to enhance their originality and flexibility. They seem more energetic, curious and sociable.

Further, happy people don't do the negative stuff as frequently as unhappy people. They go absent less and complain less. They are more loyal and less likely to quit. They are more positive about change.

No wonder happy workers receive better ratings from their bosses. So they get on faster.

We know that the relationship between well-being and income is positive but small. Education is more strongly related to income. So happiness is more important at the low end of the pay scale.

Happy people do better in teams. They are more prone to co-operation than conflict and complaint. They are more often chosen and more highly regarded.

Some studies have tracked people over time to try to see what causal effect happiness and wellbeing has. Happy students felt they had fairer jobs interviews. They also felt more satisfied and supported by their boss and co-workers once they had landed a job. Happy people did not give up as easily, even in difficult, high turnover jobs such as insurance selling.

In one study over 13,000 students were asked to estimate their cheerfulness compared to their colleagues. Sixteen years later, when they were in their 30s, they were traced and their incomes recorded. And yes, cheerful students (particularly from high income parents) earned more.

All very well. But can you coach, counsel or teach happiness to enable greater job success and subsequent wealth? One of the most interesting identical twin separated at birth studies looked at the heritability of job satisfaction. Most of us presume job satisfaction is a function of pay and conditions, one's manager's competence etc., but in fact it was found to be 40% heritable. That is, their level of job satisfaction did not vary so much as a function of the job, but as a function of their personality.

But the good news is that it is 40% heritable. That means 60% of it can be environmentally determined. Economists, dismayed by the finding that wealth and happiness are only tangentially related have called for happiness lessons in school.

In the current jargon, children are to be given a quick shot of CBT: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. The idea is to inoculate them against negativity by encouraging them to think differently, to see things in a more positive light. To see the glass not only half full but easier to make more full.

CBT is not brain washing, but the aim are not that different. Heart-sinking, unhappy depressed people do tend to have a particular thinking style. They tend to interpret things that happen to them - both positive and negative - differently from happy people. They are prone to fatalism, to negativism and to a sense of helplessness. They are' can't do' not 'can do'

People can be made negative by circumstances. Toxic parents, toxic bosses, toxic organisations. They lead inevitably to negativity. But this attitude can be reversed. With care and concerted effort most people can be turned around. The incapable introvert poses more of a problem.

But things can be done to change the vicious to a virtuous cycle. And once on the upward spiral it is amazing how quickly the heart-sinking colleagues can become heart-warming.

Which One Are You?

2011-07-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

10 Best and Worst Bosses: Which One Are You?

We’ve all had bosses that we’ve either loved or hated. The boss who helped you get that promotion, or the one who clipped his toenails at his desk.

Some help us advance our career, while others seem to hold us back. Different leadership styles can lead to different results for each employee. But certain styles seem to be good or bad across the board, helping or hurting all employees with one fell swoop.

Check out these five worst and five best leadership styles and find out which one you are!

Worst: The Know-It-All

The Know-It-All has done everything you’ve done, but better and faster. Somehow, in the time that they’ve been in the workforce, they have managed to accomplish every feat known to the IT world. Regardless of your accomplishment, they will let you know how it could be done better.

Not only are they omnipotent, but they expect you to be all-knowing as well. The Know-It-All will assign a three-day task to be completed in one day. They will give you vague instructions and expect you to figure out what must be done. Or they will assign you an impossible task – one that not even they could perform – and demand it on their desk by the end of the week. The Know-It-All is all about pushing you to your limit to prove that they are smarter than you or to see if you can measure up.

Worst: The Hovercraft

You can almost hear the faint buzzing of The Hovercraft as it floats over your shoulder, watching your every move. Nothing can be left to your own devices. Even when The Hovercraft is away from the office, they will constantly check in to make sure everything is running smoothly. In The Hovercraft’s office, it’s 1984 and Big Brother is watching.

With The Hovercraft, everything must be double-checked. Second-guessing is second nature to this boss. Without their stamp of approval, no task is actually complete. The Hovercraft has trust issues that can only be cured by years of therapy.

Worst: The Best Friend

Work is just another reason to socialize for The Best Friend. They view their team as a circle of friends, whether their employees like it or not. No subject is off limits. They feel the need to share every detail of their life with the staff, as well as ask you personal questions about yours.

The Best Friend knows no personal boundaries. They are the boss that will give you a backrub while standing over your shoulder. Or who shares, in detail, their sexual exploits behind their closed office door. In essence, The Best Friend is just a sexual harassment suit waiting to happen.

Worst: The Ghost

You never see The Ghost, but their presence is everywhere in the office. The Ghost seems to have an infinite amount of vacation time, or is always on a business trip. But when the cat is away, the mice can’t play. The Ghost will haunt the office through e-mails and phone calls, making sure everyone has plenty to do in their absence.

The problem: It’s hard to get any work done when your boss isn’t there to answer questions. Can’t decide the best way to complete a task? Better figure it out. Have a personal issue with a coworker? Take it up with them. Need something signed or approved? Better hope they are near a phone or fax machine. By constantly being out of the office, The Ghost can accomplish their tasks without the nuisance of actually having to manage their team.

Worst: The Bully

It’s like the third grade school yard all over again, except this time The Bully isn’t after your lunch money, they are after your time and commitment. They aren’t interested in your problems or your opinions. The only thing The Bully wants is for you to work as hard as humanly possible and make them look good to upper management.

The Bully makes all team decisions, with little or no input from the rest of the staff. Their word is gospel, and to challenge them is to spit in the face of the company. And since The Bully seems like such an asset to the company – mostly due to all the work you put in – it’s futile to go around them. Working with The Bully always ends up being a lose-lose situation.

Best: The Cheerleader

The Cheerleader isn’t so much about teaching and training, but more about making you feel good about what you do. Did you make you finish your project ahead of time? Good job! Did you land that content partnership you’ve been eyeing? You’re awesome!

While this leadership style won’t propel your career, it does help motivate you to accomplish your goals. The Cheerleader knows that compliments make you feel successful and good about yourself. They are the carrot used to motivate you to accomplish what you want, and look toward loftier goals.

Best: The Teacher

The Teacher remembers the time when they were in your shoes, when they wished there was someone to show them the ropes. They take you under their wing and try to impart all the knowledge they wished they knew at that time.

There is never a stupid question to The Teacher. Everything is a learning experience. They are not one to grab the phone or mouse out of your hand and do it themselves. To The Teacher, the only way to learn is by doing. The ultimate goal is to see the pupil succeed, which makes the employees the number one priority.

Best: The Communicator

To this boss, there is no such thing as over-communicating. Every detail of the goals and objectives of their team is laid out for everyone. Every e-mail from upper management is forwarded to the entire team. The Communicator wants to make sure that their team is constantly in the loop.

The Communicator is always around to answer any questions you may have, and will always answer them as honestly as possible. They are always willing to have a heart-to-heart about work issues, but never about personal matters. And, of course, the office door is always open.

Best: The Enabler

The Enabler knows that you have the means to accomplish any task, you just may need some guidance to get there. Instead of spending all day with you like The Teacher, they are more likely to make a few suggestions to get you on your way, and then leave the rest up to you.

The Enabler’s favorite catch phrases are “Have you thought about doing this?” or “What about trying this?” Their suggestions are never commands, and they are completely comfortable with you taking the lead on any project, as well as the praise when it succeeds. They want you to succeed, but don’t feel the need to push to get you there.

Best: The Captain

To The Captain, his employees are his team. It’s essential that everyone works together toward the same goal. If there is a rift in the team, he’s the peacekeeper that swoops in to mend the wound. If the team succeeds, he credits every employee. But if the team loses, he takes the weight on his shoulders.

The Captain acts as the go-to player on the team. If something falls through the cracks, he is there to catch it. If someone calls in sick, he is there to fill in. If a last minute assignment pops up five minutes before quitting time, he will fall on the sword for the sake of his team. The Captain’s only goal as a manager is to make sure he is doing everything he can to make sure his team is running efficiently.

Time to waste?

2011-06-09T22:36:00.000-07:00

These days, no one can afford to waste time at work.

Thanks to widespread downsizing, workloads are piling up. Unfortunately, extra hours in the day are not.

Maximizing your time at work can mean the difference between leaving at a reasonable hour (i.e. holding onto your sanity) and staying late unnecessarily. You’ve got a life outside work. Don’t you want to live it?

There are countless ways you waste time on the job.

Sometimes, it’s unavoidable. Other times, it can be overcome with a minor shift in your approach. Either way, the first step to addressing time wasters is to identify them.

Here are the 10 most common time sucks and some tips on how to defeat them.

Culprit #1: Instant Messaging

While instant messaging can be a useful intra-office tool, its generally informal (and instant!) nature can also make it productivity’s worst enemy. How many times has a discussion about something work related quickly degenerated into a half-hour gossip session? And there’s always someone with a lot less to do who will tempt you into a chat marathon.

The solution: If you can’t disconnect completely, at least set your status to “Busy” for a good portion of the day. This will help deter frivolous chatter. If someone insists on bothering you with non-work related chit-chat, tell them (politely) that you are in the middle of something and ask if you can pick up the conversation another time (maybe during your lunch break?). Don’t feel bad about it – no one will fault you for your silence if you’ve got work to do. If they do, you probably don’t want to be chatting with them anyway.

Culprit #2: Over-Reliance on Email

We’ve all become addicted to email as a form of communication. It’s convenient. It’s also a great way to keep an electronic trail of your correspondence (helpful if you’re ever challenged on a decision or occurrence). But a lot of time is wasted on back and forth emails that would be more easily resolved as a verbal conversation. Don’t even get me started on the oh-so-common “reply-to-all” debacle.

The solution: If there’s something that needs to be discussed, opt for a face-to-face conversation. Is the person you need to speak to on the other coast? Call them. And if you still want a written record, write up a quick email after the conversation outlining where things left off and send to all relevant parties. On the surface it seems like more steps, but it can mean the difference between an hour of work and a two-day back and forth email discussion.

Culprit #3: Meandering Meetings

“Meetings about meetings.” You know the kind –- you get together for an hour and all you end up with is a list of what should be discussed in yet another meeting. Sure, meetings are an essential part of the workplace. But if run poorly, they can be a colossal waste of time.

The solution: Meetings should have a purpose; a set of tangible goals you want to accomplish. This should be realized by tackling a set agenda, which should be distributed to attendees before the meeting starts. Stay focused on the task at hand. If there are visual aides, have them set up and ready to go before the group enters the room. Finally, make sure you really need a meeting: if what you have to say can be just as easily shared in an email to the group, why get people up and away from their work?

Culprit #4: Short Gaps Between Meetings

Speaking of meetings, what about those 15-30 minute gaps between them? What do you ever really accomplish in that time? Usually, very little. Sure, it gives you a bit of time to decompress, but it also takes you in and out of meeting mode for no apparent reason. If you have several meetings a day, that limbo time can amount to a couple hours of waste.

The solution: Schedule your meetings back-to-back if you can; you’ll knock them out more efficiently. The time in between is better clumped together at some point in the day so it can be used for productive endeavors.

Culprit #5: Reacting to Interruptions

You’re in the middle of something when you get an “urgent” email. You reply, only to be accosted by a phone call shortly after. You hang up, only to be faced with yet another email that demands your response. And on and on. Before you know it, it’s 4pm and you still haven’t made a dent in what you’d started first thing this morning. Sound familiar? The average employee works for just 11 minutes before being distracted. No wonder we’re struggling to get things done.

The solution: It’s unavoidable – the hyper-connected workplace will throw constant interruptions at you. The trick is to learn how to react to them without taking away from the task at hand. If you’re busy, let your phone go to voicemail. Set aside three times a day where you manage your inbox. Of course, there are instances where an email demands an urgent reply. But more often than not, it doesn’t. Know the difference.

Culprit #6: Ineffective Multi-Tasking

Everyone likes to think they’re great at multi-tasking. And maybe you are. But there’s a limit to how many things you can do at once without taking away from the quality of your work and, ultimately, slowing down the process. Shifting between five different projects at once? You’re probably wasting your time.

The solution: Prioritize and then break up your day accordingly. It’s the key to successfully completing any project. Write down everything you hope to achieve and assign a set time to do so based on importance. Don’t move on to the next task until you’ve really completed the previous one. Not only will you do a better job when you’re focused, you’ll also force yourself to finish something within the time allotted.

Culprit #7: Disorganized Workspace

Your primary workspace might be the top of your desk, your desktop computer or most likely, a combination of the two. Either way, if it’s messy, you’ll end up wasting a lot of time looking for things.

The solution: A scattered workspace makes for a scattered mind. De-clutter, and you’ll manage your work more efficiently. Before you leave the office, clear your desk of cans, cups, food and paperwork. Use that file cabinet for something other than your box of saltines. Recycle paperwork you’re never going to use. And don’t add unnecessary items to your files – if you don’t need to print something out, don’t. Your company’s shared drive is perfectly capable of storing documents tidily.

Culprit #8: Personal Communications

In the olden days, it was a little harder to get in the way with personal correspondence at work. Today, you can be constantly connected to friends and family without anyone really noticing. It’s no longer a question of “Will I get caught?” so much as “How much time am I wasting?” If you’re checking Facebook religiously, G-Chatting with friends or responding to personal emails the same way you do professional ones, the answer is: a lot.

The solution: These days, employers understand that you may spend some time at work doing personal things (after all, you spend so much time there). Leave your personal correspondence for your lunch break. You can check your various accounts all at once, guilt-free. Be firm with your friends and family about contacting you during work hours –- if they’re not reaching out to you between nine and five, you’ll be a lot less tempted to check in. You’ll also have a better time overcoming Culprit #5.

Culprit #9: Web Surfing “Breaks”

You need to step away from what you’re working on so you search for reviews of that movie you’ve been dying to see. Before you know it, you’ve got six tabs open in your browser. You’re looking up concert tickets, shoes, today’s news and the etymology of a words. No need to ask where your afternoon went. Your browser history says it all.

The solution: Know your limits. If you’re tempted to look something up, wait until you’ve at least finished what you’re working on. Preferably, leave this type of search for your lunch break or the end of the work day. It’s just too easy to get sucked in when there’s endless information at your fingertips.

Culprit #10: Cigarette/Coffee Breaks

Everyone needs to step away from their desk every once in a while. In fact, it’s been said that taking breaks can often make you more productive. But if you’re going out for a smoke or a coffee run every half hour (sounds extreme, but not totally unrealistic), you’re reducing your productivity to the bare minimum by never really getting into the groove of your work.

The solution: It’s a good idea to look away from your computer every fifteen minutes or so. But when it comes to breaks outside the office, reserve them to three a day: one mid-morning, one at lunch time, and one in the afternoon. Taking your full lunch break is key. If you’re out of the office for a solid hour mid-day, you’ll feel less of a need to step out for smaller breaks. And you’ll be able to get into the work groove – and stay there! – more often.

Life A Mess?

2011-06-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

Life A Mess? Why Blame Your Job?

Bangalore: When life is at a crossroad where the conflict between life and your job deepens, who do you blame for? When your options are shrunk to your job, your family and yourself; who do you blame the mess in life for? Most people blame their jobs first, family second and themselves last.

According to a new study by Elizabeth M. Poposki, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology in the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, revealed that sixty-four percent of those surveyed blamed their work first for the conflicts in life. The study mainly focused on the individual incidents of work-family conflict and explored day-to-day experiences in attributing this type of blame.

While twenty-two percent blamed only their family role, five percent blamed external factors other than work or family for the conflict, and only six percent blamed themselves for the conflict. However, interestingly there were no gender differences in how blame was assigned.

People who chose external sources as the reason for life conflicts rather than blaming the conflict on themselves are likely to suffer from anger and frustration following the conflict. The researcher feels that anger and frustration at work are closely related to many negative workplace outcomes and preventing those will greatly help both the employee and the employer.

The order in which events were scheduled plays a big role while it comes to the reactions to the work-family conflict as the second event, whether work or family related, was more likely to be blamed than the first.

However, according to another survey by some psychologists at the Wright State University found that people who are unhappy with their life are unlikely to find satisfaction in their work. There is a positive relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction and revealed that the two are closely linked.

It's said that nearly 90 percent of American mothers and 95 percent of American fathers report work-family conflict. Being at a crucial phase where the middle-class Indian families are given the freedom to dream big as the country is emerging itself to be a leader, family-work conflict is a big challenge to the smooth go. The new age demands the educational and career aspirations of women while being introduced to the 'dual-earning couple' situation. This has resulted in radical changes in the Indian family environment where the normal function patter, activities, responsibilities and commitments have a different meaning. So it's high time that we seek options to tackle such conflicts so that a healthy work-life balance is maintained.

Often we are faced with such tough situations where we wonder who do we blame it for. So, who do you blame? and if you say you can successfully prevent such a situation, how you manage your wok-life balance?

Manager - Courage is also required

2011-05-15T01:30:00.000-07:00

What appears to be one of the barmier management training techniques involves people walking over hot coals. The "trick" of Hindu holy men can be done in anywhere. And the purpose and message of this potentially painful and dangerous act: management is really most about courage.
It is part of the same message that is at the heart of outdoor training. The idea is that management is as much about the heart as the head. That people need each other to survive, literally as you ford rivers and cross ravines. And also, as importantly, you learn more from experiential training than conceptual training.
Potholes work better than power point; mountains better than manuals; bush-walking better than breakout groups. There is a lot to learn in becoming a competent business manager: about strategy, technology, accounting and appraisal. One can even learn the soft skills necessary for counselling and negotiation. But there are a few things one does not learn in business school or in the boardroom: courage, balls, guts. Business courage is not that different from battle courage: it is surprising who does and does not manifest it, when and why.
Reading obituaries of courageous medal-holders, is not always clear what drove them to conspicuous acts of gallantry. Often they were motivated primarily by care of their fellow men more than hatred of the enemy. Occasionally it is about taking well-calculated risks. And sometimes it is more about luck.
There are at least three types of courage needed in business. The first is the courage to fail. It is the courage to try something new; to experiment; to buck the trend; to take risk. It takes confidence and self-belief. With failure comes humiliation, recrimination and a broken reputation.
For many managers the cost to themselves (let alone others) is simply too great. They may have a really good idea about product innovation, process re-engineering or even man-management, but the fear of getting it wrong means they do nothing. They let others win the prises.
Courage to fail and judicious risk assessment are not the same thing. One can make an excellent risk calculation but on the same data set some will and some will not act. Lack of courage may be the result of low confidence, a very conservative mentality, and pressure from home. Others go in for so much analysis (to be sure), it all ends in analysis paralysis with nothing being done.
The courage to fail is the courage to be first, to try something new, to be ahead of your time; to trust your instincts; to be creative, knowing it could all go very wrong.
Perhaps the most important and neglected courage is interpersonal courage. It's the sort of courage it takes to confront the employee with BO; or to make people redundant. More than assertiveness and counselling are involved here. It's the courage to deal with others' raw emotions; to say what needs to be said; to show compassion; even to be strong by being weak.
Appraisal systems fail because managers can't tell people their performance is average. Turnover gets out of hand because work-place bullies are not confronted or the aggressively hypochondriacal are not warned. The more intellectual the managers or the culture, the less comfortable they are around emotions of any sort.
The secretary to the CEO and the safety officer who discover they can exercise tremendous power over those more senior than they and block productive work. The attention-seeking neurotics who make sure all around them obey curious rules to make them happy. The backstabbing inadequates, angry for being "passed over", who in effect work to rule. The HR people whose personal counselling obsessions mean they are in effect doing a different (and inappropriate) job compared to the one they were hired for. They all need to be confronted: directly, quickly and fairly.
And you will be surprised at the number of captains-of-industry who can't face all that "emotional stuff". Some have favoured henchmen for the task, or henchwomen, as women often seem much better at this. Indeed, women always seem more interpersonally sensitive and courageous than men. Studies on dying patients have shown that it is not the clever (male) oncologists who unambiguously tell the patient their fate, but rather the (female) night nurses. Often female process consultants can say things to an all male board that no man can. That is emotional courage.
The third type of courage is moral courage: the courage to stand up for a set of moral beliefs when in the ethical quick sands of modern day business. Senior managers are confronted every day with moral dilemmas, challenges and temptation. It involves the courage to refuse a senior colleague appointing his/her spouse or children the job others are better suited to (nepotism). It involves setting a strict, open and reasonable policy on receiving gifts of all sorts and at all levels. The "fact-finding mission" may be as prone to bribery as a hamper at Christmas.
Often the hardest task is drawing the line in the mercurial world of business where so many appear to be disregarding the rules; bending the guidelines; ripping people off. It is the courage of Bonhoeffer or Wallenberg. It is the courage not to give into or turn a blind eye to wrong doing. It may be about little else than ensuring fairness.
But in the world of moral relativism, it is all too easy to remain silent. It takes courage for the parent to inform the social security that their excellent, caring but deceiving nanny is claiming unemployment benefit. It takes courage to take a real stand against the forces of darkness.

Curiously few companies have courage as a core competency. They may have ideas about assertiveness, negotiation and risk taking but courage is more than this. Churchill and Thatcher were courageous, but also difficult to deal with. It can make leaders seem fanatical and intolerant. And of course the line between courageous and pig headed is often fine.
But there remain many companies eternally grateful to the CEO who has all three aspects of courage mentioned above: to fail, to confront, to uphold principle. And it can be the most unlikely of people who do and don't manifest it. For some, they only take courage when the chips are really down, but for others it is a really enduring characteristic.

KARMA - You just can't avoid

2011-05-04T01:29:00.001-07:00

Numerology ......

The Karma number is not really of Western numerology but more a Vedic or Indian invention. You may not relate to the idea of having a karma number if you do not believe in reincarnation however it is an interesting exercise in numerology if you do subscribe to the concept.

The Karma number is supposed to tell you about the "baggage" you are carrying over from your last lifetime that is giving you lessons to learning in this lifetime. In this sense numerology can tell you what types of karma you are carrying over from a previous life. All you need to do is calculate your Karma number.

Your Karmic number is not calculated in any way that you may have been familiar with so far. It is figured out using fadic addition.

Technically the number is based on a Magic Square that incorporates your birth date numbers and the values.

The shortcut to calculating your Karma number is found by taking the month of your birth day, subtracting 1 and then reducing the number to a single digit.

For instance if your birth day is June 7, 1960 you would take the day of the month of your birth day and subtract 1. You would then reduce the result by fadic addition.

The calculation would be 7-1 = 6. If the person was born on June 17th you would reduce it like this: 17-1 =16 and 1+6 = 7. The Karma number values and their meanings are listed below.

Karma Number (0)

If you reduce to a zero then it is possible you are a new soul or one that has cleared up a lot of karmic debt in your past life. This current life is one where you get to start again with a clean slate.

Karma Number (1)

The lesson of this karma number is learning to be independent. You may start off this life by being very dependent on others, with the life lesson being that you need to stand on your own two feet. This might manifest as spending most of your life single or being very successful but alone.

Karma Number (2)

The karma of this life has to do with learning how to get along with others. You may have taken advantage of others in your past life and now it is payback time. You may find yourself saddled with the responsibility of taking care of someone who is dependent on you. You may also have to learn to be less skeptical and how to trust your intuition...

Karma Number (3)

You may have been frivolous, wasteful and guilty of not taking things seriously enough. You may have also taken credit for someone else's accomplishment or cheated to get to the top somehow. Your lesson in this life is to be balanced, serious and responsible.

Karma Number (4)

You may have been lazy in your past life so in this life you will be asked to fulfill your potential. You may have to work harder than most people just to make a living. Your karma requires you to be persistent; great riches are possible if you keep doing the right thing without complaint.

Karma Number (5)

You may have been an addict, wasteful or sexually over active in your last lifetime. Your lesson in this lifetime will be symbolized by situations that necessitate that you work hard and make sacrifices so you can get ahead later. You may also be dealing with health crisises that force you to stay on the straight and narrow.

Karma Number (6)

You are dealing with the karma of betraying or abandoning your family in a past lifetime. In this lifetime you may find yourself in the position of having to care for your family or take care of someone who is ill. You may also find it hard to strike out on your own and leave the family nest.

Karma Number (7)

You are dealing with the karma of failing to pay attention to the spiritual side of your life. You may have been too focused on money in your past life so in this life it may be more challenging for you to make money. You may be dealing with an illness or chronic problem that also tests your faith.

Karma Number (8)

You may have been in a position of power and abused it somehow in your past life. It is also possible you may have exploited others for financial gain. In this life you are doomed to be a follower.You will probably have to get by in this lifetime with less money than most and you will likely have to work hard to get ahead in
life.

Karma Number (9)

You are dealing with the karma of avoiding assisting or loving other people in a past life. Your lesson in this lifetime is to learn to be kind, compassionate and help others. You will probably start this life with great personal needs of your own, and will only progress in life once you learn how to be a teacher or a philanthropist in your own life.

As you can see this is not the usual way that numbers are calculated but it is interesting as the interpretations are
practically the opposite of what we would normally associate with these particular number values.

the name speaks everything ... even your success

2011-04-24T12:41:00.000-07:00

I don't know how many of us would believe but just for fun reading .. copied from article written by some expert on such subject...

Do you have trouble finishing what you start? Maybe that has
something to do with the "special letters" in your name.

Then a numerologist refers to the "special letters" in your name
they are usually referring to the "Cornerstone and Capstone"
letters in your first name.

The Cornerstone letter is the very first letter of your name and
the Capstone is the very last letter.

The first letter of your name reveals how and what you generate
things in life. The last letter of your name reveals your capacity
to "walk your talk" and become accomplished in life. For example
in the name Anne the Cornerstone letter is A and the Capstone
letter is E.

Here is a listing of all the letters in the alphabet to help you
interpret how your Cornerstone and Capstone letters affect you.

Remember that this method is used in your first or last names only.

A

Cornerstone: You are ambitious, independent and are a natural
leader. You know how to take charge.

Capstone: You know how to deliver on your promises. You have no
problem striking out on your own to get things done if necessary.

B

Cornerstone: You are emotional, insensitive and a bit shy. You
prefer that others take on leadership roles as for the most part
you dislike being accountable if things go wrong.

Capstone: Your projects and goals often go awry because you cannot
get past emotional hang ups enough to be effective. You take things
too personally and the ensuing conflict prevents things from
getting accomplished.

C

Cornerstone: You go on your gut feelings and often achieve your
goals simply because you have an intrinsic way of understanding
what people like and how things should be done. You are also not
afraid of initiating a big goal that involves the cooperation of a
lot of other people.

Capstone: You have a strong sense of humor and you learn from your
failures. You accomplish most of your goals simply because you are
so persistent and optimistic.

D

Cornerstone: You have no problem in initiating a goal but it has to
be a practical one. You believe in doing a lot of research to see
if something is viable before you plunge right in.

Capstone: You have the stamina, persistence and powers of
concentration to steel you through any difficulties. You almost
always succeed but when they don't, it is usually because you were
too rigid or stubborn somehow.

E

Cornerstone: You don't like to start anything and often when you do
it is on an impulse. You like to keep your options open at all
times.

Capstone: You feel you must be in charge at all times or a project
will not succeed. As you refuse to take advice from others, your
projects often fail.

F

Cornerstone: You are kind and understanding but you often do not
have the confidence to start anything on your own. You are most
comfortable being a helpful follower.

Capstone: Your tendency to be self-sacrificing and put others first
is often quite damaging to your own interests. Sometimes you
sabotage yourself because others see you as a gossip or a meddler.

G

Cornerstone: You are a visionary, methodical and organized
creatures who is not afraid to take on a big project. You believe
that anything is possible if the right team is put together.

Capstone: Most of your efforts result in success, fame or wealth.
The G last letter is evidence of someone very competent and
reliable.

H

Cornerstone: You do not fear taking risks in business or love
because you are a big believer in God or "gut instincts. "You tend
to be an entrepreneur and a loner that is not afraid to expect the
best.

Capstone: You often sabotage yourself because you think that you
can accommodate losses when you can't. You are only successful
half the time because you rely a lot on chance instead of the facts.

I

Cornerstone: You procrastinate a long time before embarking on any
project as it is very important to you how it will receive. You are
not a great leader because you are often too nervous to perform.

Capstone: You often fail to reach goals because you fail to express
yourself appropriately. You are also a bit accident prone and
forgetful which also prevents things from getting done.

J

Cornerstone: You have great ideas but have a hard time getting them
started. You procrastinate for ages while considering every angle
of how the project could fail.

Capstone: You are overwhelmed easily so you rarely follow through
on what you start. Depression or loss of confidence can also be a
problem - you need to constantly think of ways of motivating
yourself to keep going to get past this.

K

Cornerstone: You have a strong drive to be successful but your
people skills often make others less than willing to cooperate with
you. However if you can create a supportive team you are often
very successful.

Capstone: Your negative attitude and indecisiveness often leaves
you with a mutiny on your hands. Often your goals are too
idealistic to be practical enough to achieve - you fail to remember
that humans are fallible.

L

Cornerstone: You tend to intellectualize rather than do things so
it is hard for you to get things started. You rarely initiate
things because you are so indecisive.

Capstone: Your projects rarely get off the ground because you are
very emotional and prone to accidents. You avoid the responsibility
that comes with accomplishment and do not mind giving in to the
competition.

M

Cornerstone: You are the slow and steady wins the race type. You
are energetic and hardworking to the point of being a workaholic.

Capstone: Almost all of your projects result in success and
prosperity. Your projects also end up being key to the support of
others as well.

N

Cornerstone: You are intuitive, creative and love to brainstorm.
However you rarely find the money or resources to build something
that is great in life.

Capstone: You sometimes sabotage your own success by being rigid or
opinionated. Addicition or codependency can also be blocks to
success.

O

Cornerstone: You have the willpower, creativity and charisma to
get others to follow you and get things down. It also helps that
you are so patient and thorough when preparing yourself to meet a
goal.

Capstone: You are prone to paranoia which can make you mistrustful
of your team. You are also a very jealous individual that sometimes
is successful and not well liked simply because you cannot reign in
your competitive side.

P

Cornerstone: You are intelligent, knowledgeable and seem confident
but you have trouble getting things started. You can also be too
impatient to do research or wait for the foundations of an idea to
take root.

Capstone: You tend to distance yourself from the very people who
can help you succeed. A sense of self-importance also makes others
reluctant to support your endeavors.

Q

Cornerstone: You have the ability to attract money but often
squander it on the wrong things. You like to talk about getting a
big idea going more than you like to see it succeed.

Capstone: You are not easily understood because you have
compulsive behaviors that sometimes scare supportive types off.
You also will not follow through on a project if the success of it
will not be public somehow.

R

Cornerstone: You are intense, driven and can apply a lot of energy
to launching a project. You are willing to sacrifice you time and
energy to make things happen.

Capstone: You tend to exhaust yourself which results in mood swings
and other problems. Emotional issues often sabotage half of all
the things you start out trying to do.

S

Cornerstone: People are willing to work with you because you are so
charming and often handsome or beautiful as well. However you have
an impulsive nature and scattered nature that makes it hard for you
to get anything off the ground.

Capstone: Your emotional ups and downs tend to sabotage your
efforts every time. You are only successful if you reign in your
feelings and take your time before reacting or making decisions.

T

Cornerstone: You are an expansive, enthusiastic personality that
initiates things easily. You have the energy and abilities to
launch projects quickly and efficiently.

Capstone: You can be too aggressive which causes others to be
turned off your ideas or working with you. Many of your projects
are not followed through on, despite strong optimistic outlooks,
because an escalating personal drama almost always gets in the way.

U

Cornerstone: A shortage of money usually prevents you from setting
goals for your life in the first place. The U Cornerstone person
may also have problems with confidence and self-esteem.

Capstone: Despite disadvantages and setbacks, the U Capstone
person almost always makes it in life. They are brilliant when it
comes to being in the right place at the right time.

V

Cornerstone: You are insightful, intuitive but way too personal
when it comes to doing business. Your lack of objectivity makes it
hard for you to get cooperation from others so you can get things
started.

Capstone: Your projects rarely get off the ground because you can
be so hard to get along with. You are also much too impatient to
see results and often expect too much from others.

W

Cornerstone: You have determination, intuition and a strong sense
of purpose that allows you to launch projects quickly and
efficiently. You have the charisma necessary to make people want to
help you.

Capstone: Sometimes you don't make your goals because you take too
many shortcuts. However you almost always make your goals as long
as you are not too cheap and reward others for their contributions.

X

Cornerstone: You have a temperamental artistic personality that
easily buckles under pressure you rarely are able to get a project
going. You often also have problems raising capital for projects.

Capstone: Your excesses and addictive personality often cost you
great success. However you may actually become well known for being
a bit of a failure.

Y

Cornerstone: You only tend to start projects if you can do them all
by yourself and be the boss of it all every step of the way. You
are courage and stylish personality often helps you get projects
launched.

Capstone: Overwork and arrogance often sabotages your best
efforts. For you to succeed it is also very important not to be too
snobbish about who you work with, or too extravagant in your
expenses.

Z

Cornerstone: You are optimistic, dynamic and have a great talent
for organization. Your talent for understanding others helps you
get things done.

Capstone: Your perception and quick reflexes make you more
successful than most. If you do not succeed it is because you have
been impatient.

As you can see, reading "special letters" is a great way to come up
with a great variety of individual personality profiles. Perhaps it
can explain to you why some people seem to be able to follow
through on their projects while others can't.

Accountable for EVERYTHING , can you be responsible to change ANYTHING.

2011-04-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

When we discover something is going wrong in our lives we have two
choices. We can complain and blame, or change. I have learned not
to beat myself up when things go "wrong" because that creates a
very low vibration and by doing that I attract more of the same
thing. Instead I ask, "How can this serve me?" In other words, if
things did not turn out the way I wanted them to, I at least want
to pull one good thing out of the experience. So my focus is on
what I can take away from the experience that will help me next
time. Then I move on.

Remember, if you think your problems are "out there" then you will
continue to look "out there" for the solutions. Keep in mind that
if you blame someone else for your problems then THEY have to
change in order for you to have what you want and be happy. It
never works.

Too many people take the victim road and end up in a ditch. When
you PLAY the victim you FEED the victim and the universe sends you
more opportunities to be one.

Riches flow to those who are accountable. In fact, let's take
accountability to the next level. Let's talk about being
accountable for EVERY single thing in our lives. That's right - I
said everything - even when you are convinced it is not your
"fault". You will always experience the greatest results when you
become fully accountable. Only when you become accountable for
EVERYTHING can you be responsible to change ANYTHING.

Most attempts at brainstorming are not effective - adopt different approach

2011-03-14T04:11:00.000-07:00

Companies run on good ideas. From R&D groups seeking pipelines of innovative new products to ops teams probing for time-saving process improvements to CEOs searching for that next growth opportunity—all senior managers want to generate better and more creative ideas consistently in the teams they form, participate in, and manage.

Yet all senior managers, at some point, experience the pain of pursuing new ideas by way of traditional brainstorming sessions—still the most common method of using groups to generate ideas at companies around the world. The scene is familiar: a group of people, often chosen largely for political reasons, begins by listening passively as a moderator (often an outsider who knows little about your business) urges you to “Get creative!” and “Think outside the box!” and cheerfully reminds you that “There are no bad ideas!”

The result? Some attendees remain stone-faced throughout the day, others contribute sporadically, and a few loudly dominate the session with their pet ideas. Ideas pop up randomly—some intriguing, many preposterous—but because the session has no structure, little momentum builds around any of them. At session’s end, the group trundles off with a hazy idea of what, if anything, will happen next. “Now we can get back to real work,” some whisper.

It doesn’t have to be like this. We’ve led or observed 200 projects over the past decade at more than 150 companies in industries ranging from retailing and education to banking and communications. That experience has helped us develop a practical approach that captures the energy typically wasted in a traditional brainstorming session and steers it in a more productive direction. The trick is to leverage the way people actually think and work in creative problem-solving situations.

We call our approach “brainsteering,” and while it requires more preparation than traditional brainstorming, the results are worthwhile: better ideas in business situations as diverse as inventing new products and services, attracting new customers, designing more efficient business processes, or reducing costs, among others. The next time you assign one of your people to lead an idea generation effort—or decide to lead one yourself—you can significantly improve the odds of success by following the seven steps below.

1. Know your organization’s decision-making criteria

One reason good ideas hatched in corporate brainstorming sessions often go nowhere is that they are beyond the scope of what the organization would ever be willing to consider. “Think outside the box!” is an unhelpful exhortation if external circumstances or company policies create boxes that the organization truly must live within.

Managers hoping to spark creative thinking in their teams should therefore start by understanding (and in some cases shaping) the real criteria the company will use to make decisions about the resulting ideas. Are there any absolute restrictions or limitations, for example? A bank we know wasted a full day’s worth of brainstorming because the session’s best ideas all required changing IT systems. Yet senior management—unbeknownst to the workshop planners—had recently “locked down” the IT agenda for the next 18 months.

Likewise, what constitutes an acceptable idea? At a different, smarter bank, workshop planners collaborated with senior managers on a highly specific (and therefore highly valuable) definition tailored to meet immediate needs. Good ideas would require no more than $5,000 per branch in investment and would generate incremental profits quickly. Further, while three categories of ideas—new products, new sales approaches, and pricing changes—were welcome, senior management would balk at ideas that required new regulatory approvals. The result was a far more productive session delivering exactly what the company wanted: a fistful of ideas, in all three target categories, that were practical, affordable, and profitable within one fiscal year.

2. Ask the right questions

Decades of academic research shows that traditional, loosely structured brainstorming techniques (“Go for quantity—the greater the number of ideas, the greater the likelihood of winners!”) are inferior to approaches that provide more structure.¹ The best way we’ve found to provide it is to use questions as the platform for idea generation.

In practice, this means building your workshop around a series of “right questions” that your team will explore in small groups during a series of idea generation sessions (more about these later). The trick is to identify questions with two characteristics. First, they should force your participants to take a new and unfamiliar perspective. Why? Because whenever you look for new ways to attack an old problem—whether it’s lowering your company’s operating costs or buying your spouse a birthday gift—you naturally gravitate toward thinking patterns and ideas that worked in the past. Research shows that, over time, you’ll come up with fewer good ideas, despite increased effort. Changing your participants’ perspective will shake up their thinking. (For more on how to do this, see our upcoming article “Sparking creativity in teams: An executive’s guide,” to be published in April on mckinseyquarterly.com.) The second characteristic of a right question is that it limits the conceptual space your team will explore, without being so restrictive that it forces particular answers or outcomes.

It’s easier to show such questions in practice than to describe them in theory. A consumer electronics company looking to develop new products might start with questions such as “What’s the biggest avoidable hassle our customers endure?” and “Who uses our product in ways we never expected?” By contrast, a health insurance provider looking to cut costs might ask, “What complexity do we plan for daily that, if eliminated, would change the way we operate?” and “In which areas is the efficiency of a given department ‘trapped’ by outdated restrictions placed on it by company policies?”²

In our experience, it’s best to come up with 15 to 20 such questions for a typical workshop attended by about 20 people. Choose the questions carefully, as they will form the heart of your workshop—your participants will be discussing them intensively in small subgroups during a series of sessions.

3. Choose the right people

The rule here is simple: pick people who can answer the questions you’re asking. As obvious as this sounds, it’s not what happens in many traditional brainstorming sessions, where participants are often chosen with less regard for their specific knowledge than for their prominence on the org chart.

Instead, choose participants with firsthand, “in the trenches” knowledge, as a catalog retailer client of ours did for a brainsteering workshop on improving bad-debt collections. (The company had extended credit directly to some customers). During the workshop, when participants were discussing the question “What’s changed in our operating environment since we last redesigned our processes?” a frontline collections manager remarked, “Well, death has become the new bankruptcy.”

A few people laughed knowingly, but the senior managers in the room were perplexed. On further discussion, the story became clear. In years past, some customers who fell behind on their payments would falsely claim bankruptcy when speaking with a collections rep, figuring that the company wouldn’t pursue the matter because of the legal headaches involved. More recently, a better gambit had emerged: unscrupulous borrowers instructed household members to tell the agent they had died—a tactic that halted collections efforts quickly, since reps were uncomfortable pressing the issue.

While this certainly wasn’t the largest problem the collectors faced, the line manager’s presence in the workshop had uncovered an opportunity. A different line manager in the workshop proposed what became the solution: instructing the reps to sensitively, but firmly, question the recipient of the call for more specific information if the rep suspected a ruse. Dishonest borrowers would invariably hang up if asked to identify themselves or to provide other basic information, and the collections efforts could continue.

4. Divide and conquer

To ensure fruitful discussions like the one the catalog retailer generated, don’t have your participants hold one continuous, rambling discussion among the entire group for several hours. Instead, have them conduct multiple, discrete, highly focused idea generation sessions among subgroups of three to five people—no fewer, no more. Each subgroup should focus on a single question for a full 30 minutes. Why three to five people? The social norm in groups of this size is to speak up, whereas the norm in a larger group is to stay quiet.

When you assign people to subgroups, it’s important to isolate “idea crushers” in their own subgroup. These people are otherwise suitable for the workshop but, intentionally or not, prevent others from suggesting good ideas. They come in three varieties: bosses, “big mouths,” and subject matter experts.

The boss’s presence, which often makes people hesitant to express unproven ideas, is particularly damaging if participants span multiple organizational levels. (“Speak up in front of my boss’s boss? No, thanks!”) Big mouths take up air time, intimidate the less confident, and give everyone else an excuse to be lazy. Subject matter experts can squelch new ideas because everyone defers to their presumed superior wisdom, even if they are biased or have incomplete knowledge of the issue at hand.

By quarantining the idea crushers—and violating the old brainstorming adage that a melting pot of personalities is ideal—you’ll free the other subgroups to think more creatively. Your idea crushers will still be productive; after all, they won’t stop each other from speaking up.

Finally, take the 15 to 20 questions you prepared earlier and divide them among the subgroups—about 5 questions each, since it’s unproductive and too time consuming to have all subgroups answer every question. Whenever possible, assign a specific question to the subgroup you consider best equipped to handle it.

5. On your mark, get set, go!

After your participants arrive, but before the division into subgroups, orient them so that your expectations about what they will—and won’t—accomplish are clear. Remember, your team is accustomed to traditional brainstorming, where the flow of ideas is fast, furious, and ultimately shallow.

Today, however, each subgroup will thoughtfully consider and discuss a single question for a half hour. No other idea from any source—no matter how good—should be mentioned during a subgroup’s individual session. Tell participants that if anyone thinks of a “silver bullet” solution that’s outside the scope of discussion, they should write it down and share it later.

Prepare your participants for the likelihood that when a subgroup attacks a question, it might generate only two or three worthy ideas. Knowing that probability in advance will prevent participants from becoming discouraged as they build up the creative muscles necessary to think in this new way. The going can feel slow at first, so reassure participants that by the end of the day, after all the subgroups have met several times, there will be no shortage of good ideas.

Also, whenever possible, share “signpost examples” before the start of each session—real questions previous groups used, along with success stories, to motivate participants and show them how a question-based approach can help.

One last warning: no matter how clever your participants, no matter how insightful your questions, the first five minutes of any subgroup’s brainsteering session may feel like typical brainstorming as people test their pet ideas or rattle off superficial new ones. But participants should persevere. Better thinking soon emerges as the subgroups try to improve shallow ideas while sticking to the assigned questions.

6. Wrap it up

By day’s end, a typical subgroup has produced perhaps 15 interesting ideas for further exploration. You’ve been running multiple subgroups simultaneously, so your 20-person team has collectively generated up to 60 ideas. What now?

One thing not to do is have the full group choose the best ideas from the pile, as is common in traditional brainstorming. In our experience, your attendees won’t always have an executive-level understanding of the criteria and considerations that must go into prioritizing ideas for actual investment. The experience of picking winners can also be demotivating, particularly if the real decision makers overrule the group’s favorite choices later.

Instead, have each subgroup privately narrow its own list of ideas to a top few and then share all the leading ideas with the full group to motivate and inspire participants. But the full group shouldn’t pick a winner. Rather, close the workshop on a high note that participants won’t expect if they’re veterans of traditional brainstorming: describe to them exactly what steps will be taken to choose the winning ideas and how they will learn about the final decisions.

7. Follow up quickly

Decisions and other follow-up activities should be quick and thorough. Of course, we’re not suggesting that uninformed or insufficiently researched conclusions should be reached about ideas dreamed up only hours earlier. But the odds that concrete action will result from an idea generation exercise tend to decline quickly as time passes and momentum fades.

The president, provost, and department heads of a US university, for example, announced before a brainsteering workshop that a full staff meeting would be held the morning after it to discuss the various cost-savings ideas it had generated. At the meeting, the senior leaders sorted ideas into four buckets: move immediately to implementation planning, decide today to implement at the closest appropriate time (say, the beginning of the next academic year), assign a group to research the idea further, or reject right away. This process went smoothly because the team that ran the idea generation workshop had done the work up front to understand the criteria senior leaders would use to judge its work. The university began moving ahead on more than a dozen ideas that would ultimately save millions of dollars.

To close the loop with participants, the university made sure to communicate the results of the decisions quickly to everyone involved, even when an idea was rejected. While it might seem demoralizing to share bad news with a team, we find that doing so actually has the opposite effect. Participants are often desperate for feedback and eager for indications that they have at least been heard. By respectfully explaining why certain ideas were rejected, you can help team members produce better ideas next time. In our experience, they will participate next time, often more eagerly than ever.

Traditional brainstorming is fast, furious, and ultimately shallow. By scrapping these traditional techniques for a more focused, question-based approach, senior managers can consistently coax better ideas from their teams.

U need to be specialist in this crowded Job market

2011-02-13T04:57:00.001-08:00

Employers are looking for specialists or subject matter experts yet most job seekers and those looking to move up are positioning themselves as generalists. This is a problem.

If I pick the last 10 applications that went through the recruitment system, I am confident that the resumes attached to 9 of them will have an executive summary section which includes a laundry list of skills that positions the applicant as a generalist. If I call the hiring manager of the job and grind them about what they are really looking for, they will eventually admit that the right candidate is the person who excels at...and then list some specific skill set.

Positioning yourself as a generalist washes you out and does not speak to the need of the employer. I know why we do this, some of the motivation is a hangover from a time when our resumes were printed on paper. The remainder of the motivation is that we feel pressured to include as much as we can in our resume to ensure that we are not overlooked.

From the short term perspective, the difficulty resides in deciphering what the employers needs are so you can position your skills that address those needs. From a long term perspective it is a bit easier. Decide today what you would like to be known for. If you could pick a topic in your industry to become a subject matter specialist, what would it be? Once you have nailed it down, begin to blog on that subject, read, study and become that subject matter expert.

An interesting side effect of being a subject matter expert is that people assume you have good generalist skills if you are a specialist. You will rarely lose by positioning yourself as a specific subject specialist.

Do You Collaborate With Finance ? On Purchase

2010-12-28T04:37:00.001-08:00

Agreeing on Cost Savings Reporting Standards. When procurement departments use the term "cost savings," they are often referring to price reductions. When CFO's hear the term "cost savings," they often expect to see a reduction of expenses from the previous year's income statement to the current year's. Not every price reduction is reflected on the income statement like that and, as a result, some CFO's doubt Procurement's cost savings claims. By agreeing with Finance on standards and using the income statement to "keep score," Procurement's cost savings reporting will be more believable.

Considering The Downsides of Certain Cash Flow Strategies. As credit became harder to get in recent years, organizations sought ways to hold onto cash longer. One way was for CFO's to insist on extending supplier payment terms to 90 or more days. That improves cash flow, but Procurement sees consequences that Finance may not: supplier relationships being strained, suppliers raising prices to compensate for slower cash receipt, or even having fewer suppliers willing to do business with the organization. By collaborating, Procurement and Finance can construct a more balanced cash strategy.

Determining a Balanced Inventory Approach. One line on a balance sheet that CFO's watch to evaluate performance is inventory. CFO's generally don't like high inventory. They feel that using cash to procure items that sit idly on the shelf is wasting the opportunity to invest that cash in activities that will provide a return on investment. However, Procurement knows the operational realities of inventory: many organizations need it to make sales and continue operating through unexpected events like a spike in demand or an interruption in supply. Again, Procurement-Finance collaboration can help by identifying the inventory needed to balance operational continuity and working capital strategies.

Considering Supply Market Forces When Setting Financial Goals. Finance sets expense goals. If these expenses involve commodity purchases, Finance may not have the same awareness that Procurement does with regard to how commodity prices fluctuate. By Procurement and Finance collaborating, the organization can avoid setting unrealistic financial goals that will harm them later.

What Are You Doing To Keep Procurement Ethical?

2010-12-28T04:32:00.000-08:00

It would be great the front pages of newspapers featured the procurement profession for the fine work that is done within it. Sadly, most news coverage of procurement comes when something unethical has happened.

You don't want your organization to be covered for a procurement ethics lapse. So, how do you ensure that your organization's procurement ethics are upheld? It starts with having these five components in place:

1. An ethics policy. An ethics dispute should never be the result of a difference of opinion between the procurement department and a company employee. Every organization should have a written policy making it clear what top management considers ethical and what it considers unethical. If you don't have an ethics policy, don't wait for an ethics dispute to arise to realize that you need one!

2. Ethics training. The great part about having an ethics policy is that the rules are in tangible, indisputable form. The unfortunate part is that no one reads ethics policies! Supplement an ethics policy with procurement ethics training for anyone who is involved with the purchase of products or services and/or who meets with suppliers.

3. An ethics ombudsman. Some organizations appoint an ethics ombudsman - a person in the organization with whom an employee can confidentially communicate any real or perceived ethical violations. Because it is difficult to confront internal customers who may be more "politically powerful," having an ethics ombudsman can make procurement employees more comfortable in revealing behaviors of questionable ethics.

4. A process with checks and balances. Every major procurement should require management review to confirm that all guidelines were followed and that no ethical violations have occurred or will occur.

5. Audits. Periodically, audits should be performed to verify that all procurement activities were conducted ethically and in accordance with procedures. Audits also serve as a deterrent to future unethical behavior.

Can A Negotiation Checklist Improve Your Results?

2010-12-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

As we teach in our online course "Powerful Negotiation For Successful Buying," preparing for a negotiation is critical for success. Though not intended as a substitute for learning how to prepare or actually preparing, this checklist can guide your preparation for great results.

Identify the primary supplier to negotiate with.
Identify your second-best option in case you cannot reach agreement with your primary supplier.
Determine the format (i.e., face-to-face, phone, etc.) and location of your negotiation sessions.
Invite the primary supplier to negotiate and learn who the supplier's principal negotiator is.
Ensure/insist that the supplier assigns a negotiator with decision-making authority.
Assess your leverage over the supplier.
Determine your overall negotiation strategy (e.g., hardball, collaborative, etc.).
Identify all the terms that you will negotiate.
Set targets and least acceptable alternatives for each term.
Determine your negotiation tactics (e.g., threatening to use another supplier, emphasizing the benefits to the supplier of doing business with you, etc.).
Decide what to concede if necessary to reach agreement.
Develop a timeline for the negotiation process.
Identify the risks to achieving your terms, timeline, and other goals and plan to mitigate those risks.
Develop and share internally a communications plan stating who must be updated on negotiation progress and what information they must keep confidential.
Review notes from previous negotiations, courses, etc. for tips for success.
Anticipate your supplier's reaction to each tactic.
Create an agenda for the negotiation and practice.
Start the negotiation confidently.
Document agreements made and share with the supplier throughout the negotiation process to ensure that no misunderstandings later derail a negotiation in which you have invested much time.
Self-assess after each negotiation session and adjust strategy and tactics if necessary.
At the end of the negotiation, help the supplier feel positive about the new relationship rather than feeling like it lost the negotiation.

What Does A Compliant Proposal Look Like? On Purchase

2010-12-28T04:23:00.001-08:00

Proposals can contain a lot of information and are the basis on which procurement decisions are made. So you must evaluate them carefully for compliance with your requirements. Use the following checklist to simplify your proposal evaluations and ensure that a supplier is worthy of being considered.

Did the supplier:

Submit its proposal on time?
Confirm its ability to comply with the specification or provide an acceptable specification?
Answer all required questions?
Provide pricing in the proper currency and unit of measure?
Refrain from charging "over-and-above" fees?
Confirm its ability to provide the required quantity?
Confirm its ability to deliver to, or perform at, the desired location(s)?
Confirm its acceptance of the specified payment terms or propose acceptable payment terms?
Confirm its ability to comply with the specified freight terms or propose acceptable freight terms?
Confirm its ability to comply with the specified delivery/performance dates or lead time or propose acceptable delivery/performance dates or lead time?
Confirm its ability to comply with the specified warranty or propose an acceptable warranty?
Refrain from taking exception to your contract terms?
Provide financial statements?
Provide a cost breakdown?
Offer value creating or cost saving ideas?
Comply with proposal expiration date requirements?
Provide the information necessary to be set up in the purchasing system?
Provide evidence of any required certifications?
Provide any required samples?
Demonstrate that it has the capacity to handle the additional work if awarded your business?

How Do You Prioritize Supplier Selection Criteria?

2010-12-28T04:12:00.001-08:00

You should use a Sourcing Hierarchy of Constraints & Criteria (SHoCC) for every major sourcing process you lead. Let’s get an idea on SHoCC by defining its components.

Criteria are attributes that a buying organization values in its arrangements with suppliers. There are eight common supplier selection criteria, in no formal order:

1. Cost

2. Quality & Safety

3. Delivery

4. Service

5. Social Responsibility

6. Convenience/Simplicity

7. Risk

8. Agility

Depending on the situation, you may use them as-is, use more or fewer, or use a different combination of eight.

Often, sourcing team members will want some criteria to be treated as constraints - unbreakable rules in the supplier selection process. Examples of constraints include: there can only be one supplier, we must select the low bidder, delivery must be within six weeks, etc.

Your job as leader of the sourcing team is to determine whether the proposed constraint is a truly warranted constraint or simply an important criterion. You can do so by asking questions like "If we had to choose between (a) having the best quality for all items by using two suppliers and (b) having the best quality for only half the items by using one supplier, would we still insist on using one supplier?" or "If we could save 34% by accepting a seven week lead time instead, would we choose to save the money or would we still need to insist on the six week lead time?" The fewer constraints, the more flexibility the team has in its decision-making.

After agreeing on the constraints and criteria, the sourcing team must agree on a hierarchy - an order of these attributes from most important to least important, with constraints preceding criteria. In most cases, supplier offerings will differ and there will be tradeoffs involving the criteria: you may get a better price from one supplier (cost) but that supplier insists on contract terms less favorable to you (risk). Creating a SHoCC in advance will help your sourcing team remain focused on what's most important to make a balanced decision.

Do Your Internal Customers Consider You Ethical?

2010-12-28T03:55:00.003-08:00

There are few things that cause purchasing professionals to worry more than the topic of ethics. And this is understandable.

Even when cross-functional teams are formed to ensure organizational buy-in of sourcing decisions, some internal customers end up unhappy with supplier selections. This unhappiness sometimes motivates the most bitter of them to - correctly or incorrectly - question the ethics of the purchasing department.

The following circumstances can serve as reasons why internal customers may make accusations that the purchasing department has behaved unethically:

1. A purchasing team member accepted a gift - perhaps even a low-value item like a pen - from a supplier.

2. A purchasing team member has a personal or financial relationship with a supplier or an employee of a supplier.

3. A purchasing team member owns a supplier's stock.

4. A purchasing team member mixes business and entertainment with a supplier, for example discussing business over a meal or a round of golf.

5. In a competitive bidding situation, the purchasing team provided certain information to one supplier that was not provided to other suppliers.

6. The purchasing team did not provide transparency for a supplier selection, including failing to internally share selection criteria, proposal details, and the rationale for the decision.

7. The supplier selection criteria used was different than the criteria noted in the RFP/tender.

Now, that is not to say that all of these circumstances are inherently unethical. However, it is important to understand how these circumstances look "through the eyes of the customer."

So, you should evaluate whether any of these circumstances occur in your organization. If they do, you need to either eliminate and prevent these circumstances or educate your internal customers as to how the circumstances can exist without ethical standards being violated.

Can Cost Savings Ratios Make Reporting Easier?

2010-12-28T03:48:00.000-08:00

Reporting cost savings is easiest when you negotiate a lower price and buy the same quantity of goods or services from one year to the next. Then, your cost savings is equal to the reduction in spend.

Things get a little trickier when volume changes. For example, if you paid $10 for an item last year and bought 100,000 units and you pay $8 this year and will buy 150,000 units, your spend will actually increase to $1,200,000 from $1,000,000 despite a price reduction. In these cases, you have to communicate your savings on a per unit basis: "we saved $2 per unit."

But it becomes even more difficult when both volume and the exact composition of a category of goods or services changes. Airline travel is a good example because the number of flights, destinations, number of days in advance tickets are purchased, and other factors will change from one year to the next.

How do you report cost savings in these types of categories? "There's just no good way to do apples-to-apples based on a total spend," Instead, cost savings ratios to be a solution.

For airline travel, using a cost savings ratio such as cents per mile flown and striving for a year-over-year reduction in this ratio. But this type of cost savings ratio is not just limited to airline travel.

"For something like office supplies, again you're rarely ever going to buy the same market basket of goods from one year to the next," But if you can calculate office supply spend by…employee, it's a nice way to demonstrate that [you] were spending $50.00 per employee last year and now that number has gotten down to $47.50 this year."

So rather than tracking the spend on every single pen or line item - especially when items are routinely discontinued - you can use cost savings ratios to demonstrate your contribution.

It is by coming up with these interesting ratios and these different ways to demonstrate savings that people will start to believe what you are doing."

Don't Miss your Life

2010-11-15T04:34:00.000-08:00

Now it’s become important, no way to ignore any more

Why Leisure Time is Essential for Well-Being

There’s no shortage of excuses to keep you from enjoying your life to the fullest. Most of the time they work because you’ve been taught to believe that play and leisure are good-for-nothing slacking. When you get a free moment, what pops into your head? "Get busy!" The research shows that the more active leisure life you have, the happier you are. But getting around all the obstacles to your life can be tricky -- exhaustion, guilt, hectic schedule with the kids. It takes a different skill-set than we’re used to and more planning. You need leisure skills, the tools of life intelligence. Here are 11 ways to activate those skills and start living your extraordinary life.

Don't Be a Spectator -- Participate!

We’re raised to be spectators, and too often we spend our time staring at screens, day and night. But the real magic is in interactive experiences. They make us happier than material thing; they are the experiences that can't be compared to someone else’s. So instead of just watching Dancing with the Stars, sign up for a ballroom dance class, or have a spontaneous dance party with your kids. You’ll be on your way to a more memorable life.

Guilt is a Waste of Time

If you feel guilty for not working until 8p.m. every night or you feel bad using your vacation days, stop. Psychologists say work-related guilt falls in the “unreal” guilt category. It’s simply a projected anxiety and a manipulation by others. You haven’t harmed anyone physically. Your guilt is telling you there’s no value in leisure time. Don’t buy it. Make a conscious choice such as, “I’m not going in the office on Saturday because staying healthy and spending time with my family is a priority. I’ll finish my work on Monday.” Your decision can set you free from the guilt.

If you're a mom, remember the kids will be fine if dad or grandma looks after them while you get a little break. Your health and vitality depend on quality refueling. You won’t have nearly the energy and patience for family challenges if you’re at your wit's end. The guilt is telling you’re not entitled to have a life. Don’t buy it. It’s bogus.

Push Through the Blues

Sometimes moods can hold your life hostage. We cycle through ups and downs every day. When you get home from work, or have spent all day chasing after the kids, your mood is likely to be funky. Ignore it. It’s momentary -- and a life-killer. Negative moods are momentary. Visualize the state you want to be in and start moving your attitude in that direction. Play with your kids or dog, go for a run or pop in a workout DVD to get into the right frame of mind.

Leave Your Comfort Zone

Trying something new is always a little scary. Don’t worry about looking a fool. Fools have more fun, because they’re learning new things. That’s what your brain wants: engagement, not comfort. Adults are petrified of someone realizing that they don’t know everything there is to know. That keeps you in the bunker. Break out with sublime foolishness.

Seek Long term Gratification

Choose gratification over short term pleasures. Most of the time we go for the pleasures -- food, sex, shopping. It’s over in a flash, with no lasting dividend. When you go for things that allow you to grow, like taking up a new sport, mentoring a child or helping others, you expend more effort but earn long-lasting gratification. That's what satisfies your core needs.

Be a Life-Taster

You increase your odds of finding a passion by trying many different activities -- dancing, hiking, pottery, kickball. If you've got young kids, see if there's an online course you can take or find an activity you can do at home when the kids are napping, like painting, writing or yoga. Think of it as life-tasting, like wine-tasting without the hangover. There’s no judgment needed. You’re just sampling.

Make Time for Play

Turn off the work mindset, with its emphasis on productivity and busy-ness, and switch on the intrinsic play mind, the one that requires no purpose or outcome to justify its desires. Find an activity you want to try and do it for the inherent fun, learning, or challenge -- not for some external payoff.

Practice Makes Passion

You don’t find a passion from across the room. You have to be in it for a while to develop the competence for it to become a passion. Stick with it. Go for the learning, not the perfection. Be a lifelong learner. Enjoy the practice of whatever you’re doing and feel good that you’re a little less bad than the last time. When the passion kicks in, you can add hours of joy to your week.

Happy People are Initiators

Don’t wait for life to happen. You have to make it happen. You’re the entertainment director of your life. Dig through activity listings on the Web and in local papers, follow up on your curiosities. If you've got kids, go online after they've gone to bed and find a fun activity to do this week. Plan your vacation three months in advance. Ask a friend to get together. Bring the kids. Just the social connection can help buffer your stress.

Ignore the Usual Excuses

Don’t fall back on the no-money, no-partner default. You can find free activity classes at the local park or dance lessons for $15. It doesn’t matter if you go alone, because the activity itself will supply a social network that Facebook could never match: real folks, enjoying themselves together in play, where everyone is on an equal footing. There’s no better way to meet people than through a shared passion.

If you've got a family, improvise small outings. You don’t have to spend a lot of money. Local parks and colleges are great places to find cheap, fun things to do for the whole family. Try a yoga class or a picnic with a Frisbee.

Be Positive (or Fake It!)

This is one of the real secrets of the universe. Positive affect is the body language of happiness, a buoyant and optimistic spirit transmitted by facial expression, tone of voice, and demeanor. When you have it, the world wants in. This state leads to more fun, friendships and even success. If you don’t have positive affect, fake it, and within a few minutes of putting it into action, you will have it for real.

Things Not to Say to Your Boss as long as working

2010-10-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

“Think before you speak” is always a good policy, and in the workplace the maxim could be further refined to “think before you blurt out something to your boss that could hurt your career.” We checked in with some bosses, and came up with this list of 15 phrases bosses definitely don’t want to hear:

1. “I’m only doing this job for the money.”

No boss wants to hear that your sole motivation for showing up is your paycheck. She may know that money is your motivation, and you may know she knows, but it’s still better left unsaid.

2. “I’m broke/in debt/one step away from bankruptcy.”

Your financial woes are not your boss’s concern. Period.

3. “I’m going to quit after I (fill in the blank).”

No matter how noble your future plans are -- you may be saving to start your own company or go to grad school, for example -- it’s usually best to keep those plans to yourself or to refer to them only vaguely. If your boss knows there is a definite end date to your employment, she may start to shop around for your replacement before you are ready to leave.

4. “I partied a little too hard last night.”

Buck up and get through the day with some ibuprofen, extra undereye concealer and coffee. But don’t share the sordid details of your night on the town with your boss. He’s just as likely to react with (unspoken) disdain as sympathy.

5. “It’s not my fault.”

Are you a whiny 8-year-old or a take-charge professional? Assume responsibility and take steps to fix a problem that you did, in fact, create. And if you are being wrongly blamed for a problem, saying “let’s get to the bottom of this” or “what can we do to make it right?” is much more effective than saying “it’s not my fault.”

6. “I’m bored/this job is boring.”

Didn’t your mother ever tell you that only boring people get bored? If you’re constantly twiddling your thumbs, ask for extra work and be as specific as you can. And if you’re busy but think your assigned tasks are less-than-stimulating, start strategizing about how you can get the job you want, either within your company or elsewhere.

7. “My job is too easy.”

Sure, you may think a monkey could do your job. But don’t give your boss any ideas -- your company could probably pay a monkey less than it pays you.

8. “I can’t work with so and so. I hate him.”

Involving your boss in personality conflicts should always be your last resort. So unless you are being threatened, scapegoated, encouraged to participate in unethical behavior, or your colleague or customer is engaged in other egregious workplace conduct, try to work it out between yourselves first.

9. “I can’t do that because of my other job.”
In your boss’s mind, a second job is not a valid excuse for why you can’t stay late, work extra hours or finish a project on time. She may question your priorities, and rightly so.

10. “Oh my Gawd! How did you do this job before the Internet/text messaging/Skype?”

Although not a cardinal workplace sin, making your boss feel old will not score you any points.

11. Sigh. Grimace. Eye roll. Wretching noises.

Actions can speak louder than words. A poker face and silence are golden when you’re displeased with your boss.

12. “Do it yourself!”

No need for explanation. Just never say this. Ever.

13. “It’s always been done this way.”

You don’t want to gain a reputation as an inflexible dinosaur, so keep an open mind about how you do your work. And if you’re convinced that a new way of doing things is going to harm your company, present your case without using “because that’s the way we’ve always done it” to support your position.

14. “Let me set you up with...”

Avoid the urge to play matchmaker for your single boss. The potential benefit is far outweighed by the potential risk. For that matter, any socializing with your boss (even something as simple as friending him on Facebook) can cause you to share too much information, so consider limiting social interactions entirely.

15. “Sorry, I must have drifted off.”
C’mon, wake up! If you’re caught with your eyes closed, feign deep concentration rather than admit you were dozing.

What is your KPI ?

2010-09-26T05:31:00.000-07:00

Scot Adams creator of the popular comic strip Dilbert has a simple but useful strategy of personal success: you can either choose to hyper-specialize and become the best in the world (top 1%) at doing one very specific thing, or you can try to become very good (top 25%) in as many different areas as possible, which you then can use in combination. The latter strategy is far easier, and is often more effective: by improving your skills in a few different but related areas, you increase your versatility and rarity, making your particular combination of skills more uniquely valuable.

If you’re interested in improving the quality of your life and work, there are the 12 primary areas of Core Human Skill you should focus on developing

Information-Assimilation how to find, consume, and comprehend information and identify what’s most important in the face of a problem or challenge. A person who is highly skilled in Information-Assimilation is able to process information quickly and apply it to the situation at hand, with consistently high levels of comprehension and retention.

Writing how to communicate thoughts and ideas in written form clearly and concisely. A person who is highly skilled in Writing is able to convey information to others briefly and simply, as well as use writing to persuade and influence.

Speaking how to communicate thoughts and ideas to others clearly, concisely, and with confidence. A person who is highly skilled in Speaking is able to communicate individually or in front of a group of people in an engaging manner, with little visible evidence of tension or stress.

Mathematics how to accurately use concepts from arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, and statistics to analyze and solve common problems. A person who is highly skilled in Mathematics is able to use numbers, ratios, and equations to gain insight into present circumstances and potential future scenarios.

Decision-Making how to identify critical issues, prioritize, focus energy/effort, recognize fallacies, avoid common errors, and handle ambiguity. A person who is highly skilled in Decision-Making is able to weigh available information and come to a supportable conclusion, without falling prey to common reasoning mistakes and cognitive bias.

Rapport how to interact with other people in a way that encourages them to like, trust, and respect you. A person who is highly skilled in Rapport is able to build productive, mutually-beneficial relationships with a wide variety of people in a way that influences their perceptions and opinions.

Conflict-Resolution .... how to anticipate potential sources of conflict and resolve disagreements when they occur. A person who is highly skilled in Conflict-Resolution is able to anticipate potential sources of conflict and counteract unproductive emotions, both individually and in groups.

Scenario-Generation ... how to create, clarify, evaluate, and communicate a possible future scenario that assists in decision-making, either for yourself or another person. A person who is highly skilled in Scenario Generation is able to envision possible future events, identify likely tradeoffs, and suggest multiple options that will result in the achievement of an objective.

Planning .... how to identify the necessary next steps to achieve an objective, account for dependencies, and prepare for the unknown and inevitable change via the use of contingencies. A person who is highly skilled in Planning is able to examine available resources, anticipate potential issues and risks, and propose new / better paths as more information becomes known.

Self-Awareness .... how to accurately perceive and influence your own internal states and emotions, including effective management of limited energy, willpower, and focus. A person who is highly skilled in Self-Awareness is able to recognize what physical and emotional state they’re currently experiencing, utilize or compensate for their current state, and intentionally elicit / reinforce preferred states.

Interrelation .... how to recognize, understand, and make use of key features of systems and relationships, including cause-and-effect, second and third-order effects, constraints, and feedback loops. A person who is highly skilled in Interrelation is able to identify the most important factors in a system, explore how they affect each other, and improve systems without provoking undesired consequences.

Skill Acquisition how to go about learning a desired skill in a way that results in competence by finding and utilizing available resources, deconstructing complex processes, and actively experimenting with potential approaches. A person who is highly skilled in Skill Acquisition is able to continually improve their skills in any field through deliberate practice, observation, and intentional experimentation.

Take a moment to imagine all of the things you’d be able to accomplish if you improved your skills to the point where you ranked in the top 25% of the human population in each of these areas. How developed are your skills now, and which of these areas could, if improved, help you accomplish what you’re trying to achieve?

Most of us are not aware of our strength and no clear idea how to hone that skill to reach that slot. Some management school do teach us on those skills but almost all are failure. The successful people are not successful as because they have good education but the instinct that is completely their own and it’s nurtured by them only. No school could teach that ... as simple as that...

FUTURE JOBS

2010-09-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

Survival is importtant and it's become more and more important ... Boss we are in a difficult situation... the so called kerani class ( white collar workforce) wake up....

Despite the conventional job market shrinking and many still remaining unemployed there are certain jobs in which openings are being created and which are seen to be most relevant in light of the changing global environment.

The ability to understand recent “trends” and to spot mark their direction is a key driver in obtaining and retaining sustainable jobs in the current market.

Trends are being determined by the rapidly changing needs and demands of the society, our way and pace of life and in particular by the need to save time, reduce cost, do things faster, make things easier to use, improve safety and reliability and to lessen the impact on the environment.

Technological advancement has a direct impact on labour intensive markets where revolutions in technology are leading to rapid changes in career demands and are resulting in the jobs of many becoming obsolete overnight. However, experts suggest that certain traditional businesses which are skill dependent, service oriented and require a personalized touch will continue to remain in high demand such as high end custom jewelry design, restaurants, delivery services, hair salons, personal hygiene parlors, construction and development, carpentry, plumbing, electrical works, dentists, doctors, lawyers, financial advisors and analysts, manpower and management consultants and regulatory and compliance officers. The need for such professionals is said to remain stable over the next few years.

Another major trend which will be impacting the job market is the changing demographic of the ageing population in Asia and Europe where a significant number of countries face severe population ageing within the next twenty years in that, the largest population group will be of those over 65 and the average age will be approaching 50. This will directly affect industries such as health care and nursing homes, medical advancement and pharmaceutical R & D, health and fitness, cosmetology and in particular the study and advancement of beauty enhancement and age defying products and techniques and insurance.

Physicians, nurses and veterinarians at nursing homes and hospitals as well as personal care aides, physical therapy assistants, veterinary technicians and pharmacy assistants will be in increasing demand (The Street). For those of the elderly who continue to remain healthy, entertainment, leisure and enrichment institutions will be getting busier with more and more wishing to lead a more fulfilling and satisfying retired life.

Additionally, with finite energy resources and a rise in fuel costs and thus the rise in costs of production and manufacturing, the recycling and energy conservation sector is likely to see a boom. Recycling and energy conservation will become a need of the hour for economic reasons rather than environmental ones. Exploitation of alternative energy sources whilst moving away from finite energy sources is already on the horizon with new industries taking root in solar and wind power generation techniques.

In light of such, the key to survival seems to be constant self improvement and innovation, spotting the right trends and updating and developing your personal skill set accordingly whilst at all times striving to be the best at what you do in order to be retained within professions which are people hungry and fiercely competitive.

How Much Does A Stock out Cost Your Organization?

2010-09-08T04:14:00.000-07:00

It is no secret that companies have been keeping their inventories extremely "lean" in an effort to contain costs in the unstable economy of the past three years. But when sales are lost, there is a such thing as "too lean."

I was recently reminded of this when I went to have my car tires replaced and my preferred retailer was out of my size of tires and couldn't get them in before my state inspection was due to expire. So, I had to buy another set of tires from this retailer's competitor.

Tires aren't cheap - I spent about $700. I wondered if the tire retailer's headquarters is calculating the cost of its stockouts in order to realize the need to improve its inventory levels.

Calculating the cost of stockouts can be done using a formula

like this:
CS = (NDOS x AUSPD x PPU) + CC
Where,
CS = Cost of a Stock out

NDOS = Number of Days Out of Stock
AUSPD = Average Units Sold Per Day
PPU = Price Per Unit (some use Profit Per Unit)
CC = Cost of Consequences

Cost of Consequences generally will apply only to stock outs of raw materials or subassemblies, not finished goods. These consequences includes costs associated with a production line that has been idled or must be switched over to accommodate another process due to the stock out. They can also include penalties payable to customers for failure to deliver on time.

Most experts agree that carrying costs - the downside of having extra inventory - are 18 - 35% of an item's value for a year. This translates to 0.05% to 0.1% per day. Though profit margins are certainly tight in this economy, getting a sale is many times more profitable than avoiding inventory carrying costs.

The moral of the story is that, when it comes to inventory levels, be lean. But don't be too lean. Stock outs negatively impact your organization's revenue and put money in its competitors' pockets.

ERA OF DEVELOPERS

2010-09-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

IT’S DEFINITELY AHEAD OF IT”S TIME THINKING, HOWEVER WORTH TO GIVE A DEFiNITE THOUGHT.

THE MAJOR PRODUCTIVITY GAINS OF LATE 1990S AND EARLY 2000S WERE POWERED BY THE SPREAD OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY THROUGHOUT ORGANIZATIONS OF ALL SIZES. AND IT MADE IT PROFESSIONALS INVALUABLE. HOWEVER, THE TECHNOLOGY WORLD REMAINS IN THE MIDST OF A RELENTLESS TRANSFORMATION AND THE CHANGES SWEEPING THE INDUSTRY OVER THE NEXT DECADE WILL MAKE DEVELOPERS, NOT IT PROS, THE NEW SUPERSTARS.

WE SHOULDN’T FORGET THAT THE INNOVATIONS WE NOW TAKE FOR GRANTED HAVE STREAMLINED BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMERCE IN BIG WAY. I’M TALKING ABOUT PCS ON EVERY DESK, COMPUTER NETWORKS FOR FILE AND PRINTER SHARING, EMAIL, SHARED CALENDARS, AND ULTIMATELY THE WEB . THESE INNOVATIONS GAVE A TURBO BOOST TO EXISTING COMPANIES AND SPAWNED THE RISE OF NIMBLE NEW COMPANIES THAT WERE ABLE TO RUN CIRCLES AROUND THE INCUMBENTS IN MANY INDUSTRIES.

THESE 1990S INNOVATIONS MADE NEARLY ALL ORGANIZATIONS DEEPLY DEPENDENT ON NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THEY HIRED IT PROFESSIONALS IN DROVES IN ORDER TO TROUBLESHOOT PROBLEMS, TRAIN EMPLOYEES HOW TO USE THE NEW DIGITAL TOOLS, AND TO “KEEP THE WORLD RUNNING,” AS IT WERE.

BUT THAT REVOLUTION IS OVER. THE TECHNOLOGIES ARE DEPLOYED. THE USERS ARE TRAINED. THE DATA CENTERS ARE BUILT. IN RECENT YEARS, NO NEW IT INNOVATIONS HAVE ARISEN THAT CAN TRANSFORM BUSINESSES THE WAY CORPORATE NETWORKS OR EMAIL GROUPWARE OR THE WEB DID A DECADE AGO. NEARLY EVERYTHING IT IS DOING NOW IS TWEAKING AND INCREMENTAL UPGRADES TO EXISTING TECHNOLOGIES.

WORSE, THE NEW TECH TRENDS THAT ARE ARISING OFTEN ADAPT AND ITERATE FASTER THAN TRADITIONAL IT DEPARTMENTS CAN HANDLE. TAKE WEB APPLICATIONS AND SMARTPHONES FOR EXAMPLE. THE PRODUCT AND UPGRADE LIFE CYCLES ARE SO SHORT THAT IT’S TIME-TESTED PROCEDURES (TEST, HARDEN, AND DEPLOY) LEAVE IT IN A POSITION OF ROLLING OUT STUFF THAT IS ALREADY OUTDATED BY THE TIME THEY RUBBER-STAMP IT FOR EMPLOYEE USE.

THAT’S WHY MANY EMPLOYEES HAVE STARTED USING THEIR OWN LAPTOPS, SMARTPHONES, AND WEB APPS TO GET WORK DONE — SOMETIMES CLANDESTINELY — AND IT’S WHY MANY COMPANIES HAVE REDUCED THE SIZE OF THEIR IT DEPARTMENTS. SOME, SUCH AS AUTHOR NICHOLAS CARR, HAVE EVEN PREDICTED THE DEMISE OF IT ALTOGETHER.

SOME RECENT SURVEY VERDICT WAS MIXED, WITH HALF THINKING IT WILL CONTINUE TO SHRINK AND THE OTHER HALF THINKING ALL BOATS WILL RISE AS TECHNOLOGY BECOMES EVEN MORE EMBEDDED IN MODERN ORGANIZATIONS.

I TEND TO SIDE WITH THE SHRINKERS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW INDUSTRIES SUCH AS HEALTH CARE THAT HAVE TRADITIONALLY LAGGED IN IT INNOVATION AND ARE NOW QUICKLY CATCHING UP (A PHENOMENON BORNE OUT IN THE COMMENTS FROM THE CIO JURY POLL). BUT, THAT WON’T LAST FOREVER.

WHY? MANY COMPUTER PRODUCTS HAVE BECOME SO CHEAP THAT IT’S OFTEN EASIER TO REPLACE THAN TO REPAIR. PLUS, IT SERVICES HAVE BECOME HIGHLY COMMODITIZED. THERE ARE PLENTY OF TECHNICIANS AND ADMINISTRATORS TO FILL UP THE LABOR POOL (UNLIKE THE IT LABOR SHORTAGE A DECADE AGO), AND THERE ARE PLENTY OF CONSULTANTS WHO CAN FILL IN THE GAPS WHEN NEEDED. THE REALLY GOOD IT PROFESSIONALS WILL STILL COST YOU A PRETTY PENNY, BUT THEY’RE WORTH IT BECAUSE THEY CAN MAKE YOUR ORGANIZATION MORE EFFICIENT OR INNOVATIVE, OR BOTH.

THE OTHER FACTOR IS EXPECTATIONS. NOW THAT WORKERS HAVE BEEN USING THIS STUFF FOR OVER A DECADE, THEY JUST EXPECT IT TO WORK. THERE’S LESS TOLERANCE THAN EVER FOR DOWNTIME OR BUGGY SYSTEMS, ESPECIALLY WHEN COMPANIES HAVE OUTSOURCED IT TO SERVICE PROVIDERS WHO PROMISE BEST-OF-BREED EXPERTS ON THE CLOCK 24/7/365. BUT, EVEN WHEN COMPANIES HAVE AN EXPENSIVE IN-HOUSE IT DEPARTMENT THAT HAS BEEN HIRED TO MAKE EVERYTHING RUN LIKE CLOCKWORK, THEY DON’T TOLERATE INTERRUPTIONS.

IT IS NOW A UTILITY. AND INCREASINGLY, IT’S JUST A UTILITY THAT GETS YOU TO YOUR APPS

APPLICATIONS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN KING — TO AN EXTENT. IT WAS APPS THAT DECIDED THE WINNER OF THE PC WARS OF THE 1980S, EMPOWERING IBM AND THEN MICROSOFT TO VICTORIES OVER APPLE.

BUT TODAY’S APP ENVIRONMENT IS DIFFERENT. IT’S FASTER. IT’S MORE INCREMENTAL. IT’S MULTI-PLATFORM. IT’S MORE DEVICE-AGNOSTIC. AND IT’S SHIFTING MORE OF THE POWER IN THE TECH INDUSTRY AWAY FROM THOSE WHO DEPLOY AND SUPPORT APPS TO THOSE WHO BUILD THEM. OH, AND DID I MENTION THAT IT’S EASIER TO GET STARTED, SO THERE’S ALSO A LOT MORE COMPETITION?

THIS NEW APP MODEL BEGAN IN SMARTPHONES, WITH THE APP STORE FOR APPLE’S MOBILE OS, BUT IT HAS SPREAD TO OTHER MOBILE PLATFORMS SUCH AS ANDROID AND MORE RECENTLY TO NETBOOKS AND TABLETS AS WELL. AND IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE IT SPREADS TO DESKTOP, WEB, AND ENTERPRISE APPS, WHICH WILL EACH GET THEIR OWN NUANCED VERSIONS OF APP STORES.

IT WILL BE ESPECIALLY INTERESTING TO SEE HOW WELL REALLY BIG SOFTWARE PACKAGES CAN ADAPT AND GET MORE MODULAR, AND POSSIBLY EMBRACE OPEN STANDARDS SO THAT DATA CAN FLOW MORE EASILY BETWEEN BEST-OF-BREED APPS AND MODULES. BUT, HOWEVER IT PLAYS OUT, THE MOMENTUM BEHIND THIS APP MODEL IS TOO GREAT FOR IT NOT TO AFFECT TRADITIONAL SOFTWARE PACKAGES AND SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION METHODS.

IT’S A SIMPLE EQUATION. WHEN THERE’S LESS TECH SUPPORT, THERE’S A LOT MORE EMPHASIS ON APPS THAT JUST WORK. AND THE NEW APP MODEL FORCES DEVELOPERS TO MAKE APPS THAT CAN DELIVER IMMEDIATE VALUE TO USERS, OTHERWISE THEY’LL GET PASSED OVER FOR THE NEXT APP.

THIS BREEDS A SURVIVAL-OF-THE-FITTEST ENVIRONMENT FOR DEVELOPERS, BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BE A DEVELOPER.

IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPERS HAVE TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDEPENDENCE AND CREATIVITY. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPERS AND SMALL TEAMS OF DEVELOPERS (SOMETIMES IN CONCERT WITH DESIGNERS AND PROJECT MANAGERS) CAN NOW BUILD MINI EMPIRES FOR THEMSELVES, THANKS TO THE MICROPAYMENT SYSTEMS THAT ALLOW ONE DEVELOPER WITH A PAYPAL ACCOUNT TO HAVE VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO START A CONSULTING BUSINESS.

INDUSTRIOUS DEVELOPERS CAN EVEN WORK FOR A BIG COMPANY OR AN APP DEVELOPMENT TEAM AS A DAY JOB AND THEN MOONLIGHT AS AN INDEPENDENT DEVELOPER WITH A FEW OF HIS OR HER OWN APPS THAT CAN POTENTIALLY GENERATE RESIDUAL INCOME. MEANWHILE, EXPERIENCED APP DEVELOPERS CAN FREELANCE FOR MULTIPLE CLIENTS AND BUILD A SMALL CONSULTANCY BY HELPING BUSINESSES OF ALL SIZES GET INTO THE APP GAME.

FOR THESE DEVELOPERS, LOCATION MATTERS LESS THAN EVER, TOO. A DEVELOPER WITH EMAIL, A SKYPE ACCOUNT, AND A HALF-DECENT WEB PORTFOLIO CAN TYPICALLY FIND PRETTY GOOD WORK, EVEN FROM CLIENTS IN REMOTE LOCATIONS. PLUS, THE TOOLS FOR TEAM COLLABORATION OVER THE WEB ARE GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME AND WILL CONTINUE TO BREAK DOWN GEOGRAPHIC BARRIERS.

THE DEMAND FOR DEVELOPERS IS INCREASING BECAUSE EVERYONE WANTS AN APP NOW — FROM TARGET TO ALLSTATE TO JOE’S GARAGE DOWN THE STREET. THEY STARTED WITH MOBILE BUT WE SHOULD EXPECT THIS TO SPREAD TO TABLETS, DESKTOP WIDGETS, AND EVENTUALLY TVS (ONCE PLATFORMS LIKE ANDROID AND IOS GET EMBEDDED IN THE LIVING ROOM EXPERIENCE). HAVING A MULTI-PLATFORM APP STRATEGY WILL BECOME STANDARD PROCEDURE FOR NEW COMPANIES THE WAY HAVING A WEBSITE IS TODAY.

THE SWEEPING CHANGES IN THE TECH INDUSTRY WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE UNPREDICTABLE CONSEQUENCES AND WILL PRODUCE NEW SETS OF WINNERS AND LOSERS. TRADITIONAL IT ROLES ARE NOT GOING TO GO AWAY, BUT THEY WILL BE UNDER INCREASED PRESSURE AND ARE LIKELY TO BECOME MORE CONCENTRATED IN SERVICE PROVIDERS. AT THE SAME TIME, DEVELOPERS ARE ABOUT TO STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT. THIS IS GOING TO BE THEIR DECADE.

David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization | Video on TED.com

2010-08-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

David McCandless: The beauty of data visualization | Video on TED.com

Tricks to be a powerful ( The Boss)

2010-08-24T00:38:00.000-07:00

It would be some handy tools if you are power hungry and practical

Tricks for taking charge

Stanford University management professor Bob Sutton says it’s an illusion that the boss is truly in control, and suggests seven “tricks” for enhancing that perception:

1. Talk more than others, but not the whole time. At least in Western countries, people who talk first and most are seen as leaders—the blabbermouth theory. But if you talk the whole time, people will find you a bully, a bore, or both.

2. Interrupt occasionally—and don’t let others interrupt you too much. You can augment your power by winning “interruption wars” at key junctures in meetings.

3. Cross your arms when you talk. When people make this gesture, they persist longer and generate more solutions while working on difficult tasks. By crossing your arms, you send yourself a message to crank up the grit and confidence—but crossing them too often and intensely can make you look inaccessible and unfriendly.

4. Use positive self-talk. People who make encouraging statements to themselves enjoy higher self-esteem and performance. The most effective such talk focuses on encouraging yourself (“you’ve done this before”) and applying specific strategies (“lean hard, now”).

5. Try a flash of anger occasionally. The strategic use of outbursts, snarling looks, and hand gestures such as pointing and jabbing generates an aura of competence in small doses with proper precautions. But spewing out constant venom undermines your authority and earns you a well-deserved reputation as a jerk.

6. If you aren’t sure whether to sit or to stand, stand. This point is especially crucial for a new boss. Standing up signals that you are in charge and encourages others to accept your authority. Whether you sit or stand, place yourself at the head of the table.

7. Surrender some power or status, but make sure everyone knows that you did so freely. One of the most effective ways to show that you are both powerful and benevolent is to take a status symbol for yourself and give it to others. A CEO I work with had a huge corner office, but when he became aware of a space crunch, he moved to a much smaller space so that four employees could share the big one.

Tumi na thakle-Bong Connection

2010-08-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

dingulo mor sonar khachay (Lopamudra)

2010-08-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

mon bhabonare ki haoyaye matalo

2010-08-16T12:50:00.000-07:00

pagla haoa.. bong connection

2010-08-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Pherari Mon - Antaheen OST [HQ]

2010-08-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

PHERARI MON FROM ANTAHEEN (FULL SONG)

2010-08-16T12:35:00.000-07:00