The Learning Pit: Transforming Struggles into Success
The journey through the Learning Pit reveals how struggles can ignite personal and professional growth. Drawing from real-world examples in software engineering and team management, it underscores the transformative power of facing challenges head-on, advocating for resilience and adaptability in our rapidly changing world.
Unlocking the Power of Joy: How Finding Happiness at Work Can Transform Your Career and Life
Discover the joy of work! Learn how to find and create satisfaction and happiness in your job.
Give Better Feedback With One Simple Phrase
Want to give feedback that will improve others’ performance by at least 40%? All it takes is one phrase.
How to Become More Successful at Work
Building relationships, especially with a mentor and a sponsor, is key to the success of any person’s career or business. Soft touchpoints or frequent interactions are easy ways to establish them.
How to “Win” an Argument
Stop trying to win an argument the old fashioned way. Instead, try listening, staying open minded, being curious, asking genuine questions, finding common ground, and modeling confident humility. This behaviour is much more effective at getting people to rethink their position.
Why Employees Should Be Treated Like Clients
Looking to transform your workplace culture? Treat employees with the same care as clients.
The Compensation Challenge
Getting compensation right can be difficult and doing it wrong may have the opposite result than you anticipate. But if the process is data-driven and transparent, and everyone clearly understands how rewards are given, you are much more likely to have a happier, motivated workforce.
Repetition Makes Ideas Stick
Sometimes people need time to come around to new ideas. They get caught off-guard with a brand-new perspective. However, a first reaction isn’t necessarily the final one. Giving people time to process and reassess their previous views helps them move forward.
Eliminate the 5 Dysfunctions of Any Team
All successful teams must have five components - trust, healthy conflict, commitment, accountability and attention to results. Find out how to incorporate them into your team.
Build Community Through Performance Evaluations
Yearly performance evaluations can deteriorate the work environment, and negatively impact people’s growth, and their productivity. No one enjoys them.
But there is an alterative: The Performance Improvement Plan (PIP).
The Dark Side to Goal Planning
There are endless amounts of research that backs up the importance of setting goals. It motivates teams, guides action, and encourages persistence. However, there is also a dark side to goal setting. There are lots of things we need to be wary about when we set goals for ourselves and our teams.
Exceptional Hiring Practices
Finding the right team is essential to any organization or business, and the right hiring processes can make all the difference. It is also easier than you think.
Celebrate Small Wins
Celebrating the small victories you experience along the path to success can be life changing.
Job Crafting = Job Satisfaction
Avoid tedious routine at work and gain a sense of rejuvenation and purpose. All you need to do is “job craft”.
Do Carrots and Sticks work?
When stakes seem high and people aren’t producing, carrots and sticks often start to show up. But does it work?
If You Can’t Do, Teach
If you can’t do, you should teach. You learn best by teaching. Don’t overlook the opportunity that teaching can provide. It can make a big impact on you and others.
Why You Need a Coach
I have been a teacher for 17 years. In the first few years of work, my practice improved daily. However, after a few years, I noticed that my teaching plateaued. It wasn’t until I worked with an instructional coach that it really started to grow.
Why We Need to Add Goldilocks to Our Lives
To motivate people we need to assign Goldilocks Tasks - challenges that are neither overly difficult, nor overly simple. Finding that sweet spot brings joy and purpose into our lives.
Small Changes Can Make Big Differences
Friday night, date night! What a great way to end the week. Or so I thought…
How to Build Culture Like Oxford
The way Oxford differs - and excels - is in its purposeful creation of community. Yet, building community doesn’t have to be challenging. It also may be less about picking the right people and more about setting the necessary conditions for community to thrive.