Posted on March 5th, 2009 by Rebecca Bruns
This post regards consultant and author, Stever Robbins, (www.steverrobbins.com) who first caught my eye with his e-book on leadership, A Lot More Than Attitude (grab it from http://www.alotmorethanattitude.com because it won’t be there much longer.)
In his most recent newsletter, How to Stay Up When the Economy is Down: 5 Tips to Get You Started, Stever tells us about, “Happy for no Reason,” a best-seller written by his friend and author Marci Shimoff, now being released by New York Times in paperback. Read more…
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Filed under: Article, Passed On, Uncategorized
Posted on February 24th, 2009 by Rebecca Bruns
Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class and the director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, has given us some new terminology in a recent article in The Atlantic and in an interview last Monday on NPR’s “OnPoint” with Tom Ashboork.
A “talent-rich ecosystem” is one in which “well-educated professionals and creative workers (who) live together in dense ecosystems, interacting directly, generate ideas and turn them into products and services faster than talented people in other places can.” Phew! That means the mega-regions (such as the Boston-New York-Washington Corridor, the Char-Lanta Corridor, Greater Chicago, the Tor-Buff-Chester Corrider, Greater Tokyo, Europe’s Am-Brus-Twerp, and India’s Bangalore-Mumbai area) will become increasingly more attractive to talent. Look at that list of new names for mega regions. How swiftly the world is changing! Read more…
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Filed under: Book, Discussion, From Rebecca, Podcast, Recommended
Posted on February 23rd, 2009 by Rebecca Bruns
Last week I pointed you to an audio of David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, discussing Making It All Work, his newest book. In this post I point you to a video of the guts of his thinking. It is very east to digest. Good luck in getting Control and Perspective on your busy life. Book Brief: Making It All Work, by David Allen
AND, referring to our post “Does your team have the ‘Somehow’ virus?” (2/14/09) – I re-read Allen’s Getting Things Done or, simply, GTD last week. In it (pg. 244) I think he answers my question about how to deal with this kind of sloppy planning/commitment. The solution to “Somehow…” planning is integrating “What’s the next action?” into all meetings, planning sessions, and your own project thinking, because it immediately forces clarity, accountability, productivity, and empowerment.
Try it, you’ll like it! :-) In the next meeting after someone suggests an action, or as you end the discussion, end with, “So what’s the next action here?”
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Filed under: Book, Discussion, From Rebecca, Video
Posted on February 19th, 2009 by Rebecca Bruns
In our last post we talked about the psychodynamics of stress and change based upon an article in the Chicago Tribune (2/15/09) entitled “Your Emotional Stimulus Plan.” We suggested that leaders might assess their own personal dynamics in order to mobilize themselves and prepare to lead others as quickly as possible.
This post speculates as to what would be in a leadership stimulus plan. The government’s stimulus plan contains (roughly) tax breaks, extended benefits, and expenditures on ten major areas. This plan is intended to stimulate the economy. Without overdoing the metaphor, but taking cues from the economic stimulus plan, what might you do to stimulate leadership in your area? Read more…
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Filed under: Discussion
Posted on February 17th, 2009 by Rebecca Bruns
In Sunday’s Chicago Tribune (February 15, 2009), an article by reporter Barbara Mahany entitled “Your Emotional Stimulus Plan” led me to think about a “Leadership Stimulus Plan.”
We’re most definitely in the midst of “a detectable change in the internal or external environment” (Wikipedia’s definition of stimulus). This blog entry explores whether this is “something that rouses or incites [you] to activity” (Merriam-Webster’s definition of stimulus), and whether that activity will positively affect your leadership, your team, and/or your firm.
Mahany posits 6 key psychodynamics that relate to stress and change. She says we respond in varying degrees to the first three–anxiety, depression, and shame–and we employ to our advantage the last three–flexibility, creativity, and resiliency–also in varying degrees. We don’t view this as a linear progression, in which you’d have to go through anxiety, depression and shame in order to advance to flexibility, creativity, and resilience. Rather we see it as an inventory of dynamics that depend both upon natural-born tendencies and upon learned responses.
So we began to think about leaders… and what it would look like if leaders had a “stimulus plan.” It seems to us that resilience is the key to a leadership stimulus plan. Read more…
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Filed under: Article, Book, Discussion, From Rebecca, Podcast
Posted on February 14th, 2009 by Administrator
The question was raised recently about what makes the difference between a High Potential Team and a High Performance Team. Specifically, is there a Critical “X” Factor that takes a team from High Potential to High Performance? Or is it only a team’s functional process that makes the difference?
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Filed under: Discussion, From Rebecca
Posted on February 14th, 2009 by Administrator
Years ago one of the consultants I most admire, Steve Buchholz, author of Creating the High Performance Team, introduced the concept of “patient urgency” as an attitude that would benefit high performing teams. He taught that teams must convey a sense of urgency and yet be patient as well so as not to prematurely derail an effort that might necessitate more time, understanding, or ripening.
Steve was ahead of the curve. Read more…
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Filed under: Book, Recommended
Posted on February 14th, 2009 by Administrator
Is anyone else being driven batty by the confusing use of the two words “capability” and “competency?” Are they different or are they interchangeable? And, is it important?
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Filed under: Discussion, From Rebecca
Posted on February 14th, 2009 by Administrator
David Allen has an insightful podcast titled: “Getting Things Done.” This is a great introduction to David Allen himself, and to his book, Making It All Work. It’s about an hour long, but well worth the listen. Very motivating!
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Filed under: Podcast, Recommended
Posted on February 14th, 2009 by Administrator
There is a virulent strain of virus going around these days called the “Somehow…” virus. It is affecting individuals, teams, and entire firms without regard to size, location, industry, or performance.
Something has caught my attention lately. In the midst of action planning during a strategic planning workshop I heard, loud and clear, “Well, OK, I’ll do it… Somehow.” This is reluctance masquerading as commitment to a task.
Read more…
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Filed under: Discussion, From Rebecca
