This is definitely one that’s better to watch on video. Click here, 5 mins, with captions.
Have you seen the show Ted Lasso? You should. Warms the coldest heart, and it’s funny. And…we can find lessons in there about how we can make our own workplaces better.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here – 5 mins with captions.
Ever had a leader that changed your life? A teacher, a coach, a manager? Would you like to be able to make that sort of difference?
What’s needed is simple, but not easy – the combination of Standards and Devotion that Frances Frei and Anne Morriss write about in their book Unleashed, which you should read.
So, what are we talking about?
Standards are as it sounds – the performance we want out of people. The level they are supposed to meet.
Devotion is about how much we care for another. Their wellbeing, their success, whether they are OK.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here, 6 mins with captions.
If you’ve been with me for a while, chances are I’ve run through this with you. The purpose of this is to put it all in the one spot.
This is about understanding the focussing point required to get any system (any system) to work better. And by ‘better’, I mean better for customers, better for those working in it, and better for the bank balance and purpose of the organisation too.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here – 4 mins with captions.
What makes it hard to get stuff done at work? Interruptions.
And even if you’re not constantly looking at email (or some other interruption device you’ve installed like Slack), there’s an awareness of a constantly building-up bunch of stuff coming towards you…so the urge to check is strong.
Some companies are deliberately doing something about this, and one that stands out to me is the software company Basecamp which is run by Jason Friend and David Heinemeier Hansson, who look like this:
Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here – 4 mins with captions.
I went paintballing once. Thought it would be fun – I’d played a lot of sport, am pretty coordinated, I like reading about war…
And it sucked.
The whistle goes, I attempted to move…POP…..POP….POP and I’m out.
Regroup, go again, POP…..POP….POP and I’m out.
You know what I needed?
Some sort of sergeant. Some sort of person who could yell at me
“Thompson, over there…NOW”.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video rather than read? Click here – 4 mins, with captions.
I was on my oldest child’s school excursion to Old Tailem Town recently (which, by the way, is pretty freaky, which is why the kids love it…)
As I watched the teachers do their (awesome) thing with us bunch of volunteer helpers, the thought occurred to me that what we have here is a great example of how the Team Leader role works.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here – 4 mins with captions.
“Empowerment”. We’re into it. And why not? It’s a good thing. A condition of being OK is ‘agency’, which means being able to take actions that make a difference. To have some sort of power. To be ‘empowered’.
Unfortunately, a decree of “YOU ARE NOW EMPOWERED” combined with matching posters and distribution of keep-cups with catchy slogans is not going to be enough.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here – 5 mins with captions.
The Team Leader role. Called lots of things – sometimes ‘Team Leader’, older-school names are ‘Supervisor’ and ‘Leading Hand’, modern names are ‘Coordinator’.
Then we have the Manager role. Sometimes called that, often now called ‘Team Leader’ because management has apparently become evil, and in the US this role can be called ‘Supervisor’.
And before you get started on ‘hierarchy is bad’, remember that most of us work in hierarchies, and it remains the optimal structure in many situations.
If it’s run well. Which is what this is about.
Read more…Why read when you can watch on video? Click here – 5 mins, with captions.
You can increase the throughput of your show hugely with one simple change.
For real life.
But don’t take my word for it, let’s turn to one of the total gurus – Eli Goldratt.
As part of the brilliant Goldratt Satellite Program, which you can still buy and watch the legend himself (I’m not associated with it BTW), he tells the story about the maintenance area of the Israeli Air Force.
Read more…Prefer to watch on video than read? Click here, 4 mins with captions.
When playing poker, or more importantly in my life with my three kids, when playing Uno, it’s important to hold your cards close to your chest.
We see the same in organisations – managers holding their cards close. I call it playing Manager Poker.
It’s no good.
Read more…