Altruistic Manipulation?

Before the holiday season is over, I'd like to share a video that left me with mixed feelings. I've always been a big fan of the work of Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield of Vital Smarts, the organization that has given us Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, Influencer and Change Anything. Their work has provided a myriad of powerful tools to improve communication and bring about behavioral change.

Leverage

Here’s a quiz:

It’s Monday morning and your current to do list is two columns long. Do you…

…knock off the 5 things you know you can get done before your conference call in an hour (What my colleague Christine calls low hanging fruit) or

…create a plan to address the big challenge you’ve been putting off because it seems so daunting?

Of course, the answer isn’t clear cut.

Your Brain on Purpose

Here’s an interesting fact: At least 11 million bits of information enter our brain through our senses each second. Our conscious mind, however, only seems able to process 50 bits of information per second. Most of what enters our brain happens outside our awareness. Rock and Schwartz note that in a world with so many distractions, a big challenge is our ability to focus sufficient attention on any one idea.

Three Dreaded Words

I recently had an interaction with someone close to me that resulted in some deep reflection. In order to protect the innocent, I’ve created a hypothetical scenario that captures the gist of the interaction.

You’re in the kitchen at work, eating your lunch, minding your own business. A colleague with whom you are close hurries into the kitchen and rushes over to you. In a loud voice, he says the three dreaded words: “Why did you…”

Enhancing Teamwork in Dispersed Settings

How is it possible to form strong teams when the people you’re leading work in different buildings, different parts of the country and even on different continents? Such teams may rarely, if ever, interact with one another physically. Communication may take place, at best, via video-conference and, at worst, merely via email.

We all have stories about the missteps that happen when we can’t pick up on voice tone and body language. Recent neuroscience research reinforces possible  consequences of the reduction or elimination of physical interaction among team members.

Bother

“Bother”: What a great word.  When used as a noun it means “effort, worry or difficulty.” Interestingly, the origins of the word bother are “noise or chatter.” That’s exactly how I experience bother. Life can be going very well, yet if I feel bothered, a pall is cast over what otherwise might be happy, even joyful, times.