Not much is allowed in Wembley © David CurranWe're suspicious of people who don't abide by the rules.
They're no team players. It's hard to accomplish something together. They cop out when the going gets tough. They're evasive They don't address any issues. They're cheating, lying and betraying, from dusk 'till dawn.
Really?
Brick wall © Les ChatfieldWhy are Projects so hard? Why do we fail here so often, even in workplaces featuring thorough planning and highly disciplined execution?
We do not fail despite, but because of these. We believe that turning a project into a success is like baking a pizza, while in fact, it resembles much more creating a pizza recipe.
Why? In our projects, we're not into producing identical results from identical ingredients. Every project is unique - it is like research & development, not like production. In R & D, diversity of results is what we strive for. In production, diversity is our worst enemy. We should be aware of this, however, we're making the same 4 mistakes, over and over again: » Read more
No Entry sign 1 © Melodi TSaying No isn't as destructive as you may think. Actually, saying No means you've already said Yes to something else. By saying No, we're setting limits, to protect that something. But even when you're willing to protect your interests: for many people, No (not Sorry) seems to be the hardest word.
So you finally said No… and … oh my, somebody becomes manipulative and tries to undermine your decision. It's time to act in self-defense. Below, you'll find a toolbox for self assertion (not a weapons' arsenal, though): If you learn to set limits, how to stay polite and still get respect, you'll not just feel better but actually develop your self further. Plus, you'll gain more time for your interests. Let's have a look at 22 proven strategies how to say No: » Read more
Stephen R. Covey's «The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People» isn't a quick read. It doesn't want to be either. For Covey, success is based on habitual formation of the character - comparable to the cycle of sowing and harvesting and about as time-consuming.
In this eight-part series, I'm going to present the key concepts of the book and what I've learned from them. This is Part 4 of the series.
[Note: If you happen to be a follower of David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD), the chapter discussed in this posting provides some interesting ideas on weekly reviews and on how to prioritize your next steps.]
An overview of the series can be found here.
It is easier to learn management than to learn leadership. Leadership is about developing an inner compass, whereas management is about going into the direction suggested by that compass. Leadership is about being effective (knowing and reaching your goals, at all), management is about reaching your goals as efficiently as possible. Covey uses the ladder analogy: » Read more
Flourescent Highlighter pens 1 © Craig JewellHow can we be expected to handle priorities if Wikipedia doesn't even define what a «priority» is?
Priorities come in so many flavors: top priorities; priorities A, B or C; urgent or important priorities. Yet they seem to be so elusive that the Wiktionary, too, just tells us: «priority (plural priorities) - 1. An item's relative importance. …».
Obviously, they are meant to help us. In David Allen's Getting Things Done (GTD) method, they're one criterion out of four that we use to determine what to tackle next from our list of next actions. David summarized the issue once on his » Read more
