Successful people don’t have 7 habits. More like 70. Or 700. The reason they’re successful is they have more good habits than bad. Just as great athletes or musicians train for muscle memory, so too great leaders train for behaviour memory. Almost all behaviour is habit based. Especially when stress…
148. Are you in a Routine?
Delaying immediate gratification is what differentiates adults from children. It also separates strong leaders from weak. Routines and repetition are vital for effective leadership. All the goal setting, action, communication, measuring and sweat in the world count for nothing if not repeated. You don’t teach your subconscious mind anything by…
147. How do you treat Distractions?
I once worked in a team that set new priorities every week. Our leader regularly used their weekends to come up with fresh ideas and send out detailed directions, often followed by high energy discussions on Monday morning. Those same directions would often be swamped by new ones the following…
146. Where’s the Mess?
It can be tempting to walk around something that’s not working. Especially if it’s not your something. A broken chair, a dirty bathroom, an argument between colleagues, a project thats late. The funny thing is that a single event, say a waiter drops a plate of food in a restaurant,…
145. Why get organized?
Discipline is boring. That’s exactly why it’s useful. If you only want stimulation and excitement, you won’t get much done. We all have to do boring and repetitive things to stay alive and to prosper. In the end we do the interesting things better because we spend time on the…
94. Are you Lucky?
I worked with a group of people once who each pooled $5 every week to buy lottery tickets. They were happy talking and dreaming about what they would do if they won, but they never won the big one. They hoped they’d get lucky, but never did. It’s true that…
79. The Agile contradiction
We all want to be Agile. Why not? Who doesn’t want to be flexible, fast & responsive? If you value flexibility & speed, why not apply it to everything? Create a new silver bullet and give it a name. Call it “Agile”. The trouble is that righteous adjectives can become…
9. Practice makes Perfect
There are 2 things that Mozart and Messi have in common. Both showed genius from an early age. Both also worked and sweated and practiced for years before the world saw that talent. A professional orchestra musician practices 2-3 hours a day minimum, plus actual performances of course. No professional…