Tag: trust

It does

FabrizioLeave a comment

I wish I could say that cutting corners does not work, but it does.

I wish I could say that being mean to others, shouting, and badmouthing them does not work, but it does.

I wish I could say that underpaying employees and pursuing loops to avoid taxes does not work, but it does.

I wish I could say that hiding, pretending to work, faking a smile does not work, but it does.

I wish I could say that being bossy and controlling does not work, but it does.

I wish I could say that dumping trash in the environment, not caring about the community, avoiding regulations does not work, but it does.

I wish I could say that not acknowledging your mistakes does not work, but it does.

The point is, what does “work” mean to you? What is success? Are you happy with the way you carry out your business, your hobby, your profession?

Also, how would you expect others to behave when you are on the receiving end?

Comfortable

FabrizioLeave a comment

Change is hard, complaining is easy.

That’s why we default to the latter when things get tough. For as much as we are unsatisfied with the current situation, it is a situation we know, we are familiar with, we understand. By complaining, we keep it under some sort of control and we normalize it.

Complaining is not bad per se. It can help us look inside and understand what it is we do not like. Of course, the problem starts when complaining becomes a constant state. We complain about work, the boss, about our relationships, the kids, our friends, our family, the government. That’s when we need to find the courage to get out of the comfortable spiral and actually do change.

It usually goes, change yourself first, then try to change the situation.

Not the other way around.

The more, the less

FabrizioLeave a comment

The more people are asked to give opinions on a project, the more urgent it is and the less important it is.

The more people are cc’ed in an email thread, the more urgent it is and the less important it is.

The more reviews and approvals a piece of work needs, the more urgent it is and the less important it is.

The more involvement in a project from upper management and executive team, the more urgent it is and the less important it is.

The more a decision is changed (in a short span of time), the more urgent it is and the less important it is.

Urgent is about fear, uncertainty, stress, distraction, pretense.

Important is about strategy, focus, long-term, doing, control.

When something is important, set the stage and clear the way. If you are doing your job right, somebody will own it and see to it till the final step.

Digest

FabrizioLeave a comment

If you lead a team, you typically have 30-minute (minimum) weekly meetings where you do most of the talking and then go around the room.

Why not trying a weekly digest instead?

You send it out once a week.

You share key decisions from management and executive team.

You highlight important messages (from internal communication systems) that are relevant to your team and that might have been missed.

You update on your main focus for the week and praise people’s achievement from the previous week (you should be able to get that from a project management tool).

You add a personal touch, a story from your weekend, something you have learned, a practice you are developing.

Would that be a time saver?