There’s nothing wrong about recognizing hard work and celebrating success. Teams that withhold praise are hard to work with. However, I often feel that there is something disingenuous about leader-led mandatory cheerleading. I can think of a few explanations for why leaders mandate cheerleading for coworkers: You think your team is gullible and you want to payContinueContinue reading “Clap for Me (v.2)”
Author Archives: C.BS.Gore
The Octopus and the Man-0f-War
Looking for a solid decision-making analogy for a team embarking on highly complex work in a fluid, evolving environment? Why not try an octopus? Here’s what that might look like Octopuses have significant amounts of neurons positioned within their limbs. Each leg can process complicated sensory input and begin to interpret external stimuli. With these capabilities an octopus can begin to react aContinueContinue reading “The Octopus and the Man-0f-War”
Survivor Mindset
The goal of the CBS show Survivor is to Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. With physical, psychological, and political gamesmanship it can make for entertaining television. However, we’ve seen cases where people apply this mindset to their workplace. This introduces us to another of our installment on sicknesses; the survivor mindset.* The survivor mindset turns wit and political savvy from helpingContinueContinue reading “Survivor Mindset”
Well Executed Failure
I’d like to talk about how strategic is different from tactical. Before you go calling me Tactico-Strategicus, be warned that I differ in perspective with the tyrant in an important way. If you remember, the tyrant views tactical and strategic as a balance between near and long term plans. I’d rather distinguish strategic and tactical as occupying two different realms of thought.ContinueContinue reading “Well Executed Failure”
Corporate Politics
Election years aren’t the only politics out there. Corporate politics are an interesting sort of game. While oft-maligned, they are in many ways ingrained in everything that gets done in a large corporation. Certainly systems and checks can stop undue influence and limit personal bias, but those checks themselves are an indicator, not defeater of that department’s politicalContinueContinue reading “Corporate Politics”
Art of Being Effective: Confronting Confrontation
Confrontation amongst colleagues isn’t the transgression emotive legalists would have you believe. Nor is it license to abuse as the office trolls hope it will be. Instead, like any other interpersonal dynamic, it has it’s proper and balanced place in the work environment. I’d like to highlight two virtues that help people navigate the vices of legalism and license. Our first and most important virtueContinueContinue reading “Art of Being Effective: Confronting Confrontation”
This is Not a Starbucks Lid
The other day my morning coffee spilled all over my hand. Upon closer inspection, I found that the lid was a close, but not correct match for the cup. As to how this happened, I assume the catering company that runs my coffee shop repurposed lids from their other operation rather than buying the branded lids toContinueContinue reading “This is Not a Starbucks Lid”
Atlas Syndrome
This one is for the folks who routinely work during vacation and have trouble delegating work and feel ‘guilty’ taking off any time at all. It’s a pretty exciting syndrome to have, I like to call it Atlas Syndrome because at it’s root the patient believes themselves responsible for holding up the very heavens. Let’s be honest there are setsContinueContinue reading “Atlas Syndrome”
Ode to a Tyrant: Tactico-Strategicus
Kicking off our periodic series of odes to tyrants in business, Tactico-Strategicus boldly steps forth. With reckless abandon, this tyrant charges the line of other’s thought swiping down his adversaries. He will only allow to survive those ideas that have a ‘long-termishness’ or ‘future-statiness’ to them. He does this in service of the higher cause; strategy. Tactico-Strategicus isContinueContinue reading “Ode to a Tyrant: Tactico-Strategicus”
The Art of Being Effective: Narrowband Listening
People have a singular propensity to place complete confidence in their own brilliance and clarity of understanding. I recently experienced an example of this a few a few months ago. I was in attendance at an onboarding for a strategic project. The project could be considered similar in scope to IBM’s decision to divest themselves of their hardware business and bet billionsContinueContinue reading “The Art of Being Effective: Narrowband Listening”
Return on Intelligence 