What Are They Really Doing?

While flying back from Paris a few days ago I paged through the US Airways magazine.  My eyes were immediately caught by the title of a short article, "Multitasking 101",  since I have written and spoken quite a bit about the ways in which multitasking leads to poorer performance. I...

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Peace of Mind Versus Useful Thinking

Just about everyone reading this has had the great fun filled experience of navigating airport security.  Those of us who navigate the gauntlet regularly all know how most of what we face is pure theater with minimal effect on flight safety.  If you don't believe this wait until you watch...

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Faster…

One of the defining characteristics of business these days is how fast things move.  Or maybe it's the way the rate of change keeps speeding up.  In any case, the world is racing along and you can either run faster to keep up or be left behind breathing the...

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Only Apples, No Other Fruit or Vegetables Allowed

I've been accused of being a bit crazy about my insistence that the most important thing for hiring people is to find people that are passionate about what you do.  No matter how good the skills, if they don't share the values and focus of the organization, you don't...

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The Value of the Arts

Occasionally I notice that everything that happens around me focuses on a single topic.  This confluence of events seems to be occurring right now...focused on how the arts can improve management skill.  Since I have always been a strong proponent of the value of liberal arts and fine arts...

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Leading To Failure

While reading the Wharton Magazine I was struck by a letter from David Fitzgerald, MD and Wharton MBA, called More on Deepwater.  He discussed his thoughts on one of the ways senior executives lead their companies to failure: "success-oriented schedule".  In Fitgerald's words "I've encountered these types of schedules...

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Fill In The Blanks

This morning in the Wall Street Journal, right on the front page, they had one of those stupid quotes where they blank out part of the word. Apparently this is to guard sensitive eyes from reading words that every single person reading the newspaper has seen, heard, and maybe...

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Words Really Are Important

There are quite a few people who don't seem to understand that the words you use can strengthen or weaken your message.  The way you say something and the way you express your ideas leads to the success of failure of your message.  The power...or lack of it...of your words drives...

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