When faced with a request that we can’t, or won’t, support, the initial reaction is to simply say “no.” Sorry, but we can’t help you. The better, and more generous, approach is to change the question. If we can’t do exactly what was requested, then what can we do? It might not be exactly what …
There’s a simple question that can help us understand whether what we’re doing is making an impact. It isn’t the only question, but it’s certainly important. Would they miss me if I stopped? Whatever it is we’re providing, the question is the same. Does what we do make enough of an impact on the people …
We used to do everything without a cell phone. Now it feels scary to do anything. Even something as simple as taking my dog for a walk is uncomfortable. I feel disconnected. Exposed. But as I’ve made a conscious decision over the past few weeks to do more and more without my phone, I’ve started …
Having gone on at length about the various theoretical and practical elements of giving great service, about the value of clarity and a coherent structure, training and active measurement, I want to wrap up by reminding myself and everyone else that great service is still given – and will always be given – one customer …
The importance of ramp-down time is often overlooked. It’s great to be able to get “amped up” for a lift, but the entire workout is much less effective if you’re unable to quickly get back to baseline once the lift is done. The next set begins the moment the previous one ends. We can’t recover …
It’s clearly better to be winning at halftime, right? Maybe not. An interesting study found that, although basketball teams that are ahead by a significant margin at halftime do in-fact tend to win more often, the story isn’t quite as clear for close games. In fact, the researchers found that the team losing a very …
If a stranger hands you a free book with no explanation, do you read it? Of course not. Maybe you flip through the pages, look it up online, and try to make a decision about whether it’s worth your time. But anyone without massive amounts of time to spare wouldn’t blindly commit hours of their …
Sometimes we’re a pawn. We’re on the front line fighting and taking care of the day to day execution. We follow instruction knowing that we play a small, but important role. Other times we’re a bishop or a rook. We have one specific thing that we do very well, and we have to perform when …
There are no longer any great jobs where someone else tells you precisely what to do. Seth Godin, Linchpin -Brandon
In any endeavor, there are a few key characteristics that define success. Video games make this obvious for sports. Taking Madden as an example, each player is rated on a scale of 1-99 for various attributes (speed, agility, throwing power, stamina, awareness, etc.) and based on the weighted sum of these attributes, the game dictates …