Getting Ahead or Slothing It
London is one of my favorite cities, but the service levels—except in the elite properties and in taxis—are horrible by American standards. At one point I was hosting a meeting and made it quite clear to the key managers that
Speed
Most people move too slowly. Achieving something imperfectly fast is far better than perfect and slow (and too late). Some of you may be thinking that you'd like your surgeon to be meticulous and take the time needed for a
Lines
I had to do quite a bit of driving on the interstate this week, and I marveled at how well heavy traffic at high speed moved by staying within the lane dividing lines. Most people signaled when they changed lanes,
The Not-So-Super Bowl
What you saw in the Super Bowl yesterday was absolute mediocrity. Two poor quarterback performances, unimaginative play calls, turnovers, just a mess. Yesterday, at least, a half-dozen other teams could have beaten either of the finalists. But the Broncos and Panthers
Outside In
I heard someone say recently he'd be "brief" and then make a paralyzingly long speech. I notice that the "delete" and "send" buttons are often adjacent on email software programs, meaning it's easy to inadvertently delete something you had intended
Just the Facts, Ma’am
That's what Jack Webb used to say on the famous police drama "Dragnet" as sergeant Joe Friday, who was just interested in the evidence, not opinion. The internet today provides access with great facility to billions of sources of information, opinion,
Are You Believing Your Own Lies?
Be careful about lying to yourself, because at some point you begin to believe it. If you keep saying you caught the winning pass in the championship game, while you were only on the bench, you will eventually think it's true.
Instant Expertise (Just Add Confidence)
Don't read others' ideas to try to generate your own expertise and thought leadership. Create your own, faster than instant coffee: One minute expertise creation: 1. Identify the area of expertise (10 seconds) 2. Create three key, provocative points (20 seconds) 3. Make two
Spiderweb
Do you sometimes feel as if you're not moving much, despite your best efforts? You're following advice, have plenty of energy, seemingly advancing—but you're never far from the same place? You're caught in the spiderweb of life. You have relationships—personal, professional,
Not To Do Lists
We become consumed with tasks rather than results, inputs rather than outputs, in our personal lives and our client work. People talk about (shudder) "a training" rather than an improvement. One of the invidious contributors to this dysfunctional phenomenon is the