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You are here: Home / 2010 / Archives for February 2010

Archives for February 2010

Study: Employees With Flexible Hours Work Harder, More Satisfied

February 12, 2010 by Matt Perman

Here.

Filed Under: Job Design

The 11 Categories of Churchill's Paperwork

February 12, 2010 by Matt Perman

Often, some of the best ideas come from just hearing how other people do things. So I found it illuminating to read about the categories that Churchill divided his incoming paperwork into in Churchill on Leadership.

Seeing this illustrates how it can be helpful to pre-sort things before tackling them (whether electronic or physical). Here are his categories:

  1. Top of the box (most important or urgent)
  2. Foreign office telegrams
  3. Service telegrams
  4. Periodical returns (regular reports he had requested)
  5. Parliamentary questions
  6. For signature
  7. To see
  8. General Ismay (reports from chief of staff)
  9. Answers other (other people besides Ismay)
  10. Ecclesiastical
  11. Weekend (low priority items to get to on the weekend)

Filed Under: Workflow

Yes

February 12, 2010 by Matt Perman

“Every great accomplishment of mankind has been preceded by an extended period, often over many years, of concentrated effort.”
– Earl Nightingale

Filed Under: f Execute

Keith Ferrazzi's TED Report

February 11, 2010 by Matt Perman

Keith Ferrazzi posts some quick notes from a few talks at this year’s TED, which is going on now.

Filed Under: 6 - Culture

Review of Linchpin

February 11, 2010 by Matt Perman

Glenn Brooke has a good review of Seth Godin’s latest book Linchpin.

Filed Under: Career Success, Work

Fast Company on Conquering Your Email Inbox

February 11, 2010 by Matt Perman

A short, quick overview of some of the concepts.

Filed Under: Email

Instead of Seeking to Control Workers, Aim to Liberate Them

February 11, 2010 by Matt Perman

That was Jack Welch’s aim when he was at GE, and he was right. Here’s how he put it (quoted in The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make):

“The old organization was built on control, but the world has changed. The world is moving at such a pace that control has become a limitation. It slows you down. You’ve got to balance freedom with some control, but you’ve got to have more freedom than you ever dreamed of.”

Filed Under: a Management Style

Microsoft's Creative Destruction

February 10, 2010 by Matt Perman

Justin Taylor hits some of the highlights from a recent NYT op-ed by a former Microsfoft VP who tries to answer that question.

One of the main reasons is: “the company routinely manages to frustrate the efforts of its visionary thinkers.”

Filed Under: 4 - Management

Classic Business Writing Blunders

February 10, 2010 by Matt Perman

This is a helpful, short video on the top 5 business writing blunders. (Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a way to embed it.)

Filed Under: Writing

Patrick Lencioni's New Book Now Available

February 10, 2010 by Matt Perman

Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty

Here’s the summary from Amazon:

Written in the same dynamic style as his previous bestsellers including The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Lencioni illustrates the principles of inspiring client loyalty through a fascinating business fable. He explains the theory of vulnerability in depth and presents concrete steps for putting it to work in any organization. The story follows a small consulting firm, Lighthouse Partners, which often beats out big-name competitors for top clients. One such competitor buys out Lighthouse and learns important lessons about what it means to provide value to its clients.

I’ve Lencioni to be extremely helpful and have mentioned him a lot on this blog. His other books include The Three Signs of a Miserable Job: A Fable for Managers and Silos, Politics and Turf Wars: A Leadership Fable About Destroying the Barriers That Turn Colleagues Into Competitors.

You can watch Lencioni talk about his new book. Also, here is a short Q&A with him from the Amazon page:

Q: Why do you use the term naked and where does it come from?
A: Naked consulting is a term that refers to the idea of being vulnerable with clients, being completely open and honest with no sense of pretense or cover. The concept comes from the approach that we adopted more than a decade ago to work with our clients at The Table Group. We help CEOs and their teams build healthy organizations, and we found that by being completely transparent and vulnerable with clients, we built levels of trust and loyalty that blew us away.

Q: What makes naked service different from the way most people provide service?
A: So many service providers and consultants feel the need to demonstrate that they have the right answers and that they don’t make mistakes. Not only do clients see this as inauthentic, they often feel that they are being condescended to and manipulated. We’ve found that what clients really want is honesty and humility.

Q: What are the three fears?
A: People spend most of their lives trying to avoid awkward and painful situations –which is why it is no surprise that we are all susceptible to the three fears that sabotage client loyalty. They include:

1) Fear of Losing the Business – No service provider wants to lose clients or revenue. Interestingly, it is this very notion that prevents many service providers from having the difficult conversations that actually build greater loyalty and trust. Clients want to know that their service providers are more interested in helping succeed in business than protecting their revenue source.

2) Fear of Being Embarrassed – This fear is rooted in pride. No one likes to publicly make mistakes, endure scrutiny or be embarrassed. Naked service providers are willing to ask questions and make suggestions even if those questions and suggestions turn out to be laughably wrong. Clients trust naked service providers because they know that they will not hold back their ideas, hide their mistakes, or edit themselves to save face.

3) Fear of Being Inferior – Similar to the previous fear, this one is rooted in ego. Fear of being inferior is not about being intellectually wrong (as in Fear of being Embarrassed) it is about preserving social standing with the client. Naked service providers are able to overcome the need to feel important in the eyes of their client and basically do whatever a client needs to help the client improve – even if that calls for the service provider to be overlooked or temporarily looked down upon.

Q: What is the impact of naked service on a firm’s bottom line?
A: Consulting or service firms that practice the naked approach will find it easier to retain clients through greater trust and loyalty. That is the first and most obvious benefit. But they’ll also be able to attract clients better because naked service begins before a client actually becomes a client. It allows firms to be more open, more generous and less desperate in the sales process, and creates great differentiation from more traditional sales approaches. Finally, firms that practice the naked approach will attract and retain the right kind of consultants and professionals who yearn for an honest, natural way of working, both with clients and with one another.

Filed Under: 4 - Management

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What’s Best Next exists to help you achieve greater impact with your time and energy — and in a gospel-centered way.

We help you do work that changes the world. We believe this is possible when you reflect the gospel in your work. So here you’ll find resources and training to help you lead, create, and get things done. To do work that matters, and do it better — for the glory of God and flourishing of society.

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About Matt Perman

Matt Perman started What’s Best Next in 2008 as a blog on God-centered productivity. It has now become an organization dedicated to helping you do work that matters.

Matt is the author of What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done and a frequent speaker on leadership and productivity from a gospel-driven perspective. He has led the website teams at Desiring God and Made to Flourish, and is now director of career development at The King’s College NYC. He lives in Manhattan.

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