Month: February 2016

When criticism should be praise

I was reviewing a presentation today when I felt disturbed by the specifics of an example. The example was helping people look at the contents of a very large text file on a computer. At first glance the file appeared empty. That seemed like a bad example, why not have some contents to scroll through? Then, I realized, at the…

Being reasonable about negative reviews of your business

People have to realize that the majority of consumers aren’t scouring twitter to read every flippant, irrational tirade. And even if they are, they won’t automatically indict the business. We have to put the problem into perspective. There are sites that can impact customer perception, sites like yelp and trip advisor. It’s important to know what percentage of customers are…

The past is as uncertain as the future.

Surely you can relate to the notion that the future is mysterious. This is troubling to many of us, in the form of anxiety. Part of the unease with uncertainty is a false sense of certainty about the past. It’s as if after something happens, we are no longer uncertain about it. But, ask yourself, what did you do a…

Control is illusory

Inquiring about how we can control other people is often the wrong pursuit. In searching for ways to manage others, we fail to realize that we don’t really have control over our own actions. When is the last time you commanded your body to go to sleep? You don’t, you lie down and wait to fall asleep. You don’t flip…

How to foster engagement

Hold people accountable to results, not effort. What to do (results), not how to do it (effort). For example, a cable internet company, effort would be swapping out a customer’s modem for a new one. Results would be restoring the customer’s internet access. Trust develops naturally when people deliver results. A person that repeatedly restores customer internet access is going…

How to help employees with personal problems

Dealing with personal issues boils down to conflict resolution 101. If there isn’t a clash in helping, don’t fabricate a problem. Just help out, there’s no better way to build mutual loyalty. People won’t forget how gracious you were when a loved one passed away. There aren’t personal issues and work issues, there are just issues. Don’t ignore or avoid…

Influence others by influencing yourself

Last week, someone asked how best to change other people’s future behavior. The important question is, what is your goal in changing someone else? Often, we can change ourselves faster than anyone else. For example, if you have a way of working that gives you confidence in a successful outcome, you might be inclined to get other people to do…

Feedback leads to indolence

It’s never a good idea to wait until the last minute to get feedback. But, that doesn’t mean immediate feedback is a universal good. Jonathan recently started to explore medium format cameras. He picked up an analog version, the type where he has to take a roll of film in to be developed. The feedback loop, as you can imagine,…

Using familiarity to your advantage

When we say “I like Mexican food” and “I dislike Chinese food” what we’re really saying is “I’m familiar with Mexican food and I’m not familiar with Chinese food.” Familiarity is often what we mean when we indicate preferences. Knowing this, if there’s something that you don’t like that you think might be beneficial to like, you can engineer your…