Month: April 2013

To Have Real Influence, Focus on a Great Outcome – Mark Goulston – Harvard Business Review:

When people paint a picture of a great outcome, they’re not trying "to persuade people to do something important." They’re trying to "positively influence them" to get them to a better place.

Great Innovators Think Laterally – Ian Gonsher and Deb Mills-Scofield – Harvard Business Review:

Often, when searching for a new way to understand a familiar idea, we look for its opposite. By doing this, we create a spectrum of possibilities between what it is and what it is not. This strategy is somewhat similar to what is often referred to as the Hegelian Dialectic, although Hegel himself probably never used this term, or its familiar formula: Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis: Thesis is a proposition about a prevalent paradigm; e.g. a horse and carriage; Antithesis is a counter proposition that opposes or negates the Thesis; e.g. the first generation of automobiles called "horseless carriages"; Synthesis emerges from the tension between the Thesis and the Antithesis, blending the opposing ideas without fully negating either of them completely; e.g. our modern understanding of the car.

Crucial Skills: Speaking Up about an Employee’s Body Odor:

Give the person the benefit of the doubt. We teach people who face a gap to ask themselves, "Why would a reasonable, rational, decent person act this way?" By asking that question, you avoid jumping to conclusions or making assumptions that can move you to make wrong diagnoses. It also prevents you from beginning your conversation in a way that says in essence, "I have held court in my head and found you guilty. Can we talk?" Such a beginning is not helpful and makes you part of the problem.

Don’t Read Email to Send Email – 99U:

Email can be a knowledge worker’s Siren. It beckons you forward with promises of exciting projects and gratifying announcements only to dash you against the rocks of busywork until your productive day has died a slow and agonizing death. Be like Odysseus and lash yourself to the mast.