I was having a conversation with a sales manager about how to train and develop his salespeople. After mapping out an effective curriculum, he paused and asked, “This is great for the motivated ones, but what about the people that are just lazy?” It’s an interesting question. But in the end, I think it’s the wrong one. I have yet to meet a person who is genuinely lazy: someone who has laziness as an inherent part of their personality. I have, however, met many, many individuals who exhibit lazy behaviors. Laziness is a symptom, not a disease. I’ve found there are three reasons why someone will act lazily: 1. Fear of the … [Read more...]
What’s Your Story – Craig Wortmann
Every once in a while you meet someone and you think "Why haven't we met earlier!?" Craig and I were actually introduced by a mutual friend and we share a similar outlook on how to be successful in business. And he knows his stuff - he's a professor at the University of Chicago (while not quite at the level of my alma mater Northwestern, it's still a pretty good school...). In fact, I knew that I would like his book right away because he used the term Luddite in the opening chapter of What's Your Story?. I thought I was the only person geeky enough to put that in a business book. Big Thought Stories are a powerful leadership tool that … [Read more...]
Boredom is Stupid
Drive – Daniel Pink
Quick note: Daniel wrote a blurb for Networking in the 21st Century, but I wrote this review over 4 years ago, so I'm not biased in it. Big Thought When it comes to motivation, there's a gap between what science knows and what business does. Our current business operating system – which is built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators - doesn't work and often does harm. We need an upgrade, and science shows the way. This new approach has 3 essential elements: 1)Autonomy...2)Mastery...3)Purpose. (right from Dan's recap on page 203 – thanks, Dan!) Ideas, Implications, and Questions I think that Drive has big implications for how … [Read more...]
Gamification Won’t Help Me Achieve My Real-World Destiny
Every few months I read another article on why gamification is the new tool to achieve success. Sometimes it's a social media dashboard that promises to make engaging with your network fun and easy. Or a smartphone app for creating better habits that will give you medals and awards for exercise or some other personal development goal. But they all claim to tap into the same psychology that makes video games so addictive and use that power for professional and personal change. But I'm not sold. Like many of my friends who grew up in the 80's and 90's, I'm a bit of video game nerd. OK, I'm a big video game nerd. From late-night … [Read more...]
Moving Past the Damming (and Damning) Power of Getting It Right
I've found that one of the biggest challenges for myself as an entrepreneur and creator is the desire to get things right. I know that it sounds a little backwards, but I've found that one of the best ways to not make forward progress is to worry about making sure your progress is the best it can be. Perfection Gets You Stuck Getting stuck because of this focus on perfection manifests in different ways for different people. For some it's analysis paralysis, where they keep accumulating more and more data instead of acting. For some it's constant revision and changes on their projects which prevent them from being released into the … [Read more...]
You Can’t Do Anything You Put Your Mind To
No matter how badly you want to, you can't do anything you put your mind to. Sorry. It's a dangerous myth that we often hear when we are children. We are told constantly that "you can do anything you put your mind to" as the moral of the story in sitcoms and Saturday morning cartoons (remember the G.I Joe "knowing is half the battle?). It's dangerous because it's untrue and it usually has the exact opposite effect that's intended. Before you get all huffy, know that I'm a huge proponent of personal growth and development; that's why I know this idea isn't true. No matter what happens, I'm not going to be able to slam-dunk a … [Read more...]