by Jim Smelley | Aug 9, 2016 | Productivity
Last week was one of those non-stop weeks. There were a million little things that needed to be done: emails, responses, calendar invites, social media stuff, work stuff, personal stuff, lots (and lots) of stuff. And each one of these activities started another set of... 
by Parimal Patel | May 6, 2015 | Strategy
What is a strategy session? Is it a meeting of the minds where participants drum up and pontificate elaborate plans that are then distributed to teams to “scratch their heads” at as they try to execute? Unfortunately, in many cases, yes. These sessions or workshops... 
by Parimal Patel | Apr 22, 2015 | Collaboration
“I love argument, I love debate. I don’t expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that’s not their job.” – Margaret Thatcher Do debates help you think through a problem? Short answer: Yes, if approached with the right mindset. There are a... 
by Jim Smelley | Mar 16, 2015 | Culture, Innovation, Performance Management, Productivity
Recently, a guy I was supposed to meet showed up 15 minutes late to our 3:00 pm meeting, apologized for being late, and then said that this was his 11th meeting of the day. Eleven meetings by 3:00 pm. He said, “Sometimes I don’t even know what my job is here.” I... 
by Jim Smelley | Mar 3, 2015 | Culture, Innovation, Performance Management, Productivity, Talent Management
How pay for performance makes you dumber As you know, it is fashionable to offer pay for performance incentives to employees. You know, you do X and we will give you $Y at the end of the year. Incentive plans like this are especially common for executives and sales...