The other day I received an email from a complete stranger, asking for advice on a business plan: “Dear Mr. Wood,” he blurted forth. “I saw your name blah blah blah and I have this wonderful idea blah blah could you please take some time to review and give me feedback blah blah.” Like most of you, I am quite busy and under intense pressure at work. As a result, I have become fairly adept at a handy management trick known as filtering, which, in... Read more
I was cleaning out the basement last weekend when I turned my attention to an old file cabinet perched in a dark corner, minding its own business. In the frenzy of my purging rampage, I decided this guy’s number was up and began tossing its outdated contents into the trash. Eventually I came across one particularly wrinkled and faded folder that simply said, “Goals.” “What’s this crap?” I thought to myself, opening it to reveal a vaguely familiar series of neatly hand-written pages. It was written over twenty... Read more
I once worked with an organization that was not quite as focused as it should have been. Their returns were on a long, slow decline, and nobody was sure what to do. After we clarified the company’s vision and three strategic priorities, I asked the President how many of the projects and initiatives throughout the organization were actually aligned with those few corporate priorities. He wasn’t so sure. We quickly scoured through every crevice of the organization, asking managers to... Read more
I have been thinking lately about excellence. Not just at work, but in every area of my life — as a Christian, husband, father, friend, volunteer, Starbucks customer… Do I truly aspire to excellence in the work I do? In the relationships I have? I guess this sudden conviction is a result of the convergence of many different coincidental situations, conversations, and readings that ultimately leads one to hear that “still small voice.” Or, in my case it is more... Read more
The head of security, Fred, poked his head into my office the other day and asked if I was busy. “Uh…well, I’m going to lunch,” I said. It was 12:15, and my stomach was growling. Fred doesn’t usually show up around here in the executive suite, so it seemed a little suspicious. But, whatever. Maybe he was looking for a lunch date. He stood there at my office door, looking awkwardly down at the floor while pawing his foot into the carpet,... Read more
There is this gentlemen – I’ll call him Ray Smith- who was a prominent business owner in the region. He was well known, not just for his company and the products it sold, but also for their charitable works. Ray had even set up a special non-profit entity for the specific purpose of funneling his company’s profits into missions-oriented and disaster relief projects. One day I was chatting with an entrepreneurial friend of mine whose business was taking off like a... Read more
My friend, a high-level manager at a financial services firm, confided he felt as if he were leading a double-life. Not in a sordid, creepy way, involving drugs or scandal or Liza Minnelli cabaret impersonations by night. Rather, he complained that his “work” persona and his “home” persona had grown distinctly separate over the years, and it made him sad. I suppose it’s a common ailment among up and coming managers as they learn the corporate game—how to play the part in order to live... Read more
A colleague of mine, an older, distinguished gentleman, has this habit of trying to predict and finish my sentences. For instance, when I start a conversation, he’ll interject these vocal micro-blips while I’m speaking, as if he was just about to say the exact same thing. Me: “We were on the verge of closing the Colosco deal, but the hurdle rate was..” Rob: “too-“ Me: “um – a little higher than the buyer…” Rob: “Fi-“ Me: “uh, than the buyer was thinking, so our numbers... Read more
Strategy consultant Dorie Clark wrote an intriguing post a couple years ago at Harvard Business Review blogs presenting somewhat of an anti-outlook for New Year’s goal-setting. Instead of promoting typical professional stretch-goal tips, she made suggestions for things to stop doing, in order to become more focused and productive. Her red lighted list of things to stop doing included such helpful recommendations as “Responding Like a Trained Monkey to emails” (#1), and “Reading Annoying Things” (#3) (like, this blog, for instance!). Although making a Not-To-Do list can... Read more
Have you ever been in a meeting, minding your own business, maybe thinking about what you might want to have for dinner that night, when suddenly you realize all eyes have turned on you looking for an opinion? Except that you have no idea what they were just talking about? It’s not that you weren’t paying attention. No, you really were trying to follow the conversation. It’s just that, well, perhaps you are new to the project. And these people have been throwing around... Read more
Shrinking the Camel
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