Category: Difficult People & Teams
Impact or Control: Which Is Your Favourite?
The community project I’m involved with currently is steaming ahead now. Here’s something we just produced which I hope makes you smile:
The group psychology of all of this is fascinating, especially the extent to which we view ourselves as networked people or hierarchical people.
I suspect we’ll all do some of both… for instance, you may be feeling somewhat superior to others as you read this, thinking just how networked you are…
But as Brad Feld points out in his most Continue reading
A Tarantino Approach To Team Strategy
‘All the team needs to be involved, and it needs to be active. And we want every single person to contribute’
So requests a client, city analysts, intent on a retreat to build strategy.
Now I don’t know about you, but my best ideas usually come from a tight corner, so hiring three Mac Continue reading
The Olympics – Wot I Teeched
GE as Olympic sponsors kindly asked me to do a turn the other evening, on workshops I’ve run pre-Olympics for UK Sport.
As the audience were about to play some team games themselves, we ran it as an interactive session. Here’s what we tackled:
Scenario-Creating
What stories are running through individuals’ minds before competition – and how do they contribute to team Continue reading
How Can I Trust You If I Don’t Know What You Think?
Despite the cleaning up effects of technology, many of us these days work messy, relationship – wise.
We need to form partnerships and collaborations quickly – and make decisions as to how profitable, Continue reading
Why Trust Triggers May Be Your Missing Asset
People buzz a great deal these days about ‘partnerships’, ‘collaboration’ and ‘joint ventures’ – but to be nifty and effective about these, we have to get to trust each other – and quickly.
And do you ever get the feeling intuitively when you meet someone, that you can trust them – but that their behaviour signals are not helping convey this?
When we doubt each other, negotiations and deals take longer, we’ll hold back commitment and resource Continue reading
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Success
‘I’m at a cross-roads’ said my friend, when I bumped into him last week ‘my last project didn’t work at all, and I’m keeping our family going just with established consultancy I’ve had Continue reading
Is Advice becoming Your Dark Destroyer?
In Middle-earth on the web currently, where marvellous teachers with names like Guido and Korval advise on formatting. No wonder games-developers-turned-fantasy-writers dominate online book sales. They are the only folk who really know what’s going on.
Now if you earn your living from giving advice in one form or another, you’ll know this is a demanding activity. Here are some contradictions Continue reading
I Scratch Your Back – When the Heck are you gonna Scratch Mine?
Like everyone with a creative streak (most of us), I have loads of ideas. 1 in 10 of these works and makes some money. But several times a day that doesn’t stop me thinking ‘Good grief, this is a brilliant idea. It’ll change the world and make a fortune’
Now recently I’ve had several meetings Continue reading
When Your Boss Hacks Your Weakspot
Bosses can be like mothers, possessing an uncanny knack of identifying weakspots and how to drill into them, most painfully.
And our weakspots usually involve what we care most about being found out not to be.
In other words, weakspots almost always involve pride: the top quality in your self-image that you will defend Continue reading
Is the System Stealing Your Soul?
A salutary and short tale this week. A friend got a new job based on her success at winning funding for a project. The friend excelled at applying for funding, but she had few skills to run the project. But that did not deter the organization she worked for installing her at its head. She knew she was on a steep learning curve.
Early on she started to flounder. The organization, nominally an intelligent Continue reading
