Abraham Lincoln famously said: "Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first 4 sharpening the axe" I'm a big fan of this quote, and I’ve used it over and over during my career – especially when planning large and complex initiatives. In essence, the quote refers to how much time you should spend planning versus executing a project. According to Lincoln, you should spend two-thirds of the time you have sharpening the axe (planning your project), and the remaining one-third of it ... Read More
The 3 Types of Responses to Questions: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Nearly every single response to every single question I’ve ever asked someone in a meeting, phone call or email can be classified under one of three categories: one’s good, the other’s bad, and the third’s ugly. The good is when someone answers the question first, and then gives additional information afterwards. The bad is when they do it the other way around. The ugly is when they never answer the question. Here’s a visual to explain the difference. Here’s an explanation of why you need to ... Read More
Japanese Perfection and Why You Need to be Specific in Your Requests
I’m reading a book called “Reframing Organizations” by Lee Bolman & Terrence Deal (Jossey-Bass, 2008) for an Organizational Behavior course I’m taking and I came across a hilarious section which refers to an encounter between two companies in the 1970s or 1980s. The first is an American company which needed ball bearings and the second is a Japanese plant that made them. Here’s what apparently happened: Although the book’s main point was more about the difference in company standards ... Read More
8 Interpretations of Silence when using Instant Messaging
I use Instant Messaging (IM) a lot in my job to manage my team and connect with friends. I love it because I have the unparalleled advantage of multi-tasking different conversations with so many people at once. Of course, it does have a few drawbacks, but overall, I still think it’s a valuable tool in the arsenal of online communication – particularly for couch managers. However, there is one pet peeve that most individuals share when using online chat: Silence I’m not referring to the natural ... Read More
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