Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. This commonly-used phrase reminds us that, no matter how far away a deadline is, we always seem to be rushed to complete the task. Some even cite it as evidence that setting impossibly short deadlines is good for efficiency. While most of us are…
If writing were illegal I’d be in prison. I can’t not write. It’s a compulsion. — David Baldacci For most, writing isn’t a lucrative profession; it’s a passion. According to Meredith Maran, “one million manuscripts are currently searching for a U.S. publisher. One percent of these will get the nod.” But publishing a book isn’t…
All I really need to know I learned from Dr. Seuss. With apologies to Robert Fulghum, Dr. Seuss has more life-long lessons than kindergarten. Here are some of my favorites: The best way to learn and expand your horizons is to try new things. I do not like green eggs and ham! I do not…
Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. -George S. Patton Motivational quotes like that can be inspirational but not very practical. Intellectually we know bad times eventually come to an end. But why is it that some people seem to bounce back more quickly than others? The authors of Stronger: Develop the…
Why are there seven days in the week? No, this isn’t a question that a curious 10-year old asked me. Instead it was the late-night group musing on a recent work trip. After an extended back and forth, we collectively chose the answer provided by an astrology fan among us: The days of the week…
You don’t win by predicting the future; you win by getting the odds right. I heard this provocative quote at a recent conference. As far as I could tell, the speaker was trying to make the point that you don’t need an accurate forecast of the future. Instead you understand the probability of different events…
One of my management principles is “passion for the mission is not optional.” To me, it’s critical that people believe in what we’re doing. In fact, I think the whole team believing in the mission is more important than having the exact right skills on the team. Culture eats strategy and passion beats talent. In…
Research shows we can’t trust our own memories. Many of us probably think our individual experiences (sights, sounds, and feelings) are saved intact in our brains. A loose analogy might be a video camera recording everything it sees to a flash drive. When the time comes to remember something, we just play it back from…
I’m a big believer that culture eats strategy so I’ve been planning to read the book Fish Can’t See Water for a while. When it got to the top of my reading queue earlier this summer, I started researching the authors Kai Hammerich and Richard D. Lewis. As happens more often than I might like to…
Dutch psychologist Aldert Vrij can tell if you’re lying. Vrij has published more than 500 articles on using verbal and non-verbal cues for lie detection. His book Detecting Lies and Deceit: Pitfalls and Opportunities has been called “the most comprehensive review of deception to date.” At more than 500 pages, it’s not only comprehensive, it’s…