I think we’ve all had moments when an ‘obvious’ idea is unreasonable, but inexplicably supported by others. “Obviously, we should create an engagement committee to handle the day to day for the financial governance committee. Engagement is a key driver of our financial results.” “Good point Drake, I’d hate to be someone who doesn’t support engagement or committees” Ideas can be soContinueContinue reading “Cult of the Obvious”
Tag Archives: interpersonal
Subtitles
One of the challenges with being a business practitioner and a philosopher is that your imagination sometimes takes over during meetings. The other day I was in a meeting with executives who were discussing a very complex problem. I started to notice a disparity between what everyone was saying and what they were communicating. Because one can only listen toContinueContinue reading “Subtitles”
Your Help is a Hindrance
Have you ever been on a project where it feels as though someone is unwittingly playing defense against a successful outcome. Either they are doing things that actively run counter to the group or are doing things poorly that require others to pick up their slack. I do not mean those who are trying toContinueContinue reading “Your Help is a Hindrance”
The Demand of the Norm
In business there is an effect similar to gravity. A business’s history and culture acquires a mass of its own over time. That mass perpetuates the values and norms of the business. In large organizations the mass of its history becomes a monolith by many names “what we’ve always done,” “the right thing,” “what we learned last time,””weContinueContinue reading “The Demand of the Norm”
Clap for Me (v.2)
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)”
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”
Ask a Damn Question
Early philosophers made a big deal of separating “true belief” from “knowledge”. The spiritual father of this distinction would have to be Socrates as a character in the Dialogues of Plato. He constantly harps on about how knowing a good deed is different from knowing why it is good. He believes strongly in the valueContinueContinue reading “Ask a Damn Question”
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”
The Deep and Inescapable Descent
There are times when a cause is lost. Knowing how and when to bail are sometimes more valuable than knowing what could possibly be done to fix the problem. I am reminded as I currently watch the NBA finals of the look people have in their eye when they see their own failure laid bareContinueContinue reading “The Deep and Inescapable Descent”
Return on Intelligence 