Category Archives: Personal Skills

Successful Intelligence – R. J. Sternberg – book review

Successful Intelligence: how practical and creative intelligence determine success in life by Robert J. Sternberg (NY: Penguin Putnam, 1997) (download a PDF of this book review whitepaper) Throughout my life I have been interested in intelligence, mine and that of … Continue reading

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“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

In today’s New York Times Warren Buffett writes about why he is buying American equities. He includes the following epigram: “A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” Here … Continue reading

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Podcast: Managing for Weakness – a mis-management myth

Shifting your focus from weaknesses to strengths is a powerful step towards being personally more effective and building a more effective organization.

This podcast is based on an earlier blog posting: “Managing for Weakness – a mis-management myth”. This … Continue reading

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Managing for Weakness – a mis-management myth

The Myth Managers spend a lot of time worrying about the weaknesses of their employees. “If only I could get her to perform better we would have a really great team.” And countless more along that line. Companies have performance … Continue reading

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Seize Your Time – gaining control over Too Much Information – Podcast

Seize time of your own by gaining control over Too Much Information.

The podcast is 5 minutes 10 seconds long. This is a podcast based on an earlier blog entry of the same title.

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Seize Your Time – gaining control over Too Much Information

I have written a number of other postings about time management.  I always start off with the true, but worn, observation that time is the one element of business (life, too) that can not be purchased, borrowed, or inventoried. It … Continue reading

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It’s Always Your Fault – taking responsibility for personnel

Attracting, selecting, training and mentoring, and pruning human resources are among the most important tasks a manager confronts. Almost everyone agrees that, at the top level of organizations, managers need to be devoting a significant portion of their time addressing … Continue reading

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Seize Your Time: the breakthrough first step in time management

A breakthrough first step in time management to become a more effective manager. PODCAST

The podcast is 6 minutes 14 seconds long. Transcript of the podcast (download PDF)

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Job Shops, TPS, and Intuition

Recent work with a client brought home to me again the interplay of TPS (Toyota Production system) and intuition. We were working on developing a job scheduling system in a classic job shop environment. We had worked out a rough … Continue reading

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Building a Positive Culture – the no jerk zone

A very common question from managers is, “How do I build a positive, supportive, productive culture in my company?” This seems like a very abstract objective until you face up to some of the negative behaviors that can be found … Continue reading

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