Just because things aren’t perfect or someone isn’t happy doesn’t mean the work was a failure. Too often we let the attitude of our client dictate whether work was successful. And because they classify it as not meeting their expectations doesn’t mean it their expectations are reasonable. Failure is what we make of it. Don’t…
Temporarily Pigeonhole Yourself
You can either have a broad focus without going very deep into everything or you can specialize in a given area. The later is typically referred to as being pigeonholed into a subject area. I try very hard to become “the guy in that area.” But sometimes it can be extremely valuable to throw yourself…
Celebrate that Success
I love when colleagues reach milestones! There is nothing better than watching someone grow and excel. This week was one of those for a member of our team. On top of it, this client we’ve thrown her in on could just as easily chewed her up and spit her out. But this isn’t about her,…
Recursive thinking is the best way to design your office – #CRE
Recursiveness is a trait of looping back to the beginning and continually running through the loop. The issue of recursion is that it can feel like no progress is being made. But the value is that each time you go through the cycle you understand the previous result better. Studying the completed picture (post-completion) gives…
“Junior” Employees – #petpeeve
Junior anything. Either a person can do the work or they can’t. To throw an experience label on someone because of age or years of experience should never be part of an organization. One of the worst things that you can do is take a top young performer and constantly remind them that they are…
Creative Tension
As an organization, are all of the goals you set achievable? If the answer is yes, you should probably try resetting your target levels. The purpose of goals and metrics is not to achieve them, it’s to provide a target for improvement.
#CRE and the #Yahoo situation – it’s about culture!
I am finding the Yahoo having no work from home employees discussion curious – and likely just a media creation. To ask a question: which is more productive: Working in an office with others of my group. Normal functioning office where I am free to work with whomever as necessary. Politicized office where I sit…
Sometimes you have to let your team win
On long, grueling projects sometimes the small victories along the way are most critical not just for morale but for being able to show progress. If after every victory you immediately send the list of all the new things that need to be done your team never gets that opportunity to feel the victory. Victory…
Growing up in the Country was a Great Thing
I was born in the foothills of the Appalachian’s in Kentucky. It is one of the biggest advantages that I have over many of my peers and colleagues. The lessons tat I learned growing up there left me with a different basis of operations. Those that have lived in cities their entire lives (or stayed…
Customers and what they think they want.
This isn’t a post about how customers aren’t always right. No, this time is to make sure that the sales and development people in the world understand the motivations that customers bring to the table. There is a difference between a customer’s desires before they buy a product or service and after they have completed…