Every day, you’re in a position to say “yes” or “no” to people. Doesn’t matter what you do for a living – someone is always requesting something of you: Customers want you to cut them a special deal Employees make difficult requests of their managers Kids plead, “Just one more story, Mom!” at bedtime A…
Personal Effectiveness
Multitasking and Its Effect on Productivity
Ever since I discovered research by Chabris and Simon on the ineffectiveness of multitasking, I’ve been like a dog with a bone on uncovering its harmful effects. According to the infographic The Perils of Multitasking by OnlineCollege.org, there are numerous studies that have explored the detriments of trying to do more than one thing at…
Pitching Your Idea – 5 Ways to Make It Stick
S’mores and memorable ideas – both are sticky Today is National S’mores Day, a day to honor the gooey confection that’s a staple of summertime campfires all around our nation. The stickiness of s’mores is part of their charm—when eating them you have free license to lick your fingers! “Stickiness” is a business concept too….
Noisy at Work? Reduce Stress with Silence.
Back in the day, when I lived in Chicago, loud noises were all around me. The elevated train rumbled by my brownstone apartment, rattling the windows. Sirens were a never-ending presence. It was the cacophony of a big city. To “get away from it all” I would return to my small hometown in Michigan for the weekend….
Failure – It’s All in Your Head
Did you know that failure is a good thing? That’s right – learning to fail is a skill that savvy workplace professionals should cultivate, because failure helps you build resiliency. There’s a key distinction between people who give up and those who push through set-backs: how they view their situation. For decades, Stanford professor and…