When management keeps secrets: a tale of lost value
Dear upper management: don’t keep secrets from the employees on the ground! It’s so hard to do your job and stay productive when management is hiding the fact that hundreds of new employees are being added to the payroll (thus making compliance enforcement harder) and hiding who the real customers for their new products are.…
Employees who won’t comply
Dear employees: when your manager says to comply, listen. It’s much easier when everyone is able to work together as a team instead of working against each other. Employee compliance is a tough job at the best of times, and it’s even harder if the people who are supposed to be assisting you with compliance…
How to cope with a career-ending injury
It can happen to the worst of us: you’re running down the field doing the thing you love most, you jump up in the air, you land wrong, and then you find you can hardly walk. It’s especially annoying if it happens right before the big tournament you were going to participate in and your…
Why the Nashville Naked Mole Rats didn’t deserve the win
Yes, their defense was really impressive for a team playing savage. But the observer was a total incompetent who didn’t call ANY travels, even when someone had obviously taken a whole step. The Cuttlefish should have called everything they could. With such an incompetent observer, they could have even made calls when no rules were…
Prioritize customer voices by minimizing influence silos
We all know how it feels to be ensconced in an influence silo: ideation stagnates, synergy is unreachable, and nobody ever circles back around to CX! The solution is simple: stop moving sprint goalposts and get the ball rolling back to moving the needle. A common misconception is that best practice is to constantly alter…
Quality of life: goal or setback?
“Quality of life” has been a corporate buzzword recently, next to other useless neologisms like “work-life balance” and “employee morale.” Many managers have even been convinced that “quality of life” for employees is something admirable to aim for. But with even an elementary analysis of corporate productivity principles, it becomes obvious that these managers are…
Everyone should play Ultimate
You may have heard of Ultimate before. (Perhaps you’ve heard of “Ultimate Frisbee,” an inaccurate and copyright-protected name that only total newbies ever use.) It’s a wonderful sport, simple yet deeply engaging, which totally lives up to its name. Whether you’re looking to pick up a new hobby, you’re into serious exercise, you have a…
Methods for increasing employee productivity
Here are several of my top methods for increasing employee productivity when your department is having any kind of issues. Make sure they know who’s boss If your employees aren’t working hard enough, it may just be because you haven’t trained them well enough to know you’re in charge. I recommend making their responsibilities and…
Setting S.M.U.R.T. goals in the workplace
Do you have trouble setting goals in the workplace? Is your boss always on your back about your inability to clearly articulate what you’re doing in a sprint? Try setting S.M.U.R.T. goals! S: Specific Be specific about what you’re going to do. Don’t just say “work on security tech;” say “add wireless support to the…
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