Today, many people feel muzzled at work. Opinions about anything controversial are no longer accepted. Conversations are mitigated to the point that everyone assumes most people think and believe the same way or the opposite way. This is dangerous. We need sincere dialogue with each other to understand other points of view.
Work from home (WFH) and recent events will create a mass exodus from some large cities over the next two years. American cities are going to decline post pandemic. “The great American city” has lost the battle for the hearts and minds of residents. Once the place of opportunity, many have become too expensive and now too dangerous. WFH has become the superhighway for residents to make a move to locations that offer a better cost of living as well as safety for families.
Universities will be a casualty of Covid-19. Many will not survive the wake of this virus. Essential skills will dominate formal education post pandemic. Was a shift to skills over education already in place? Have universities priced themselves out of reach? Have some colleges become a political echo chamber for a contracting audience? Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) has been espousing the decline in education value for years.
Nosey Rhino loves talking sheep. He talks sheep about everyone and everything. For Nosey Rhino, analogies clarify roles to help understand how humans position themselves among others. Nosey Rhino loves to judge people because they are the most interesting animals. He maintains a curious perspective on people and the crazy things they do. Let’s take a look.
Metacognition is thinking about what we are thinking about. If we can be aware of what we are thinking about, we can choose what to actually think about. Or can we? Do we have a choice about what we spend brain time on? Can we make a literal choice on how we consume mental energy?
I am working diligently to inform my followers about the lessons we can gain from this once in a lifetime experience. No matter what we face, there is always opportunity to be earned for someone willing to learn. We can complain about reality or look for ways to adapt and thrive. Thriving, I have discovered, accompanies those who have a healthy network of people who know them.
We can still win this! Consider this your halftime pep talk. There is a significant polarization among attitudes toward 2020. This year sucks. We need a 2020 do-over. I am so over 2020. Blah, blah, blah. If you have mentally checked out over 2020, it is time to rethink opportunity. Winning takes talent, hard work, and luck. Luck somehow seems to find those that work hard. Winning repeatedly takes character. Giving up is easy. Quitting when times are tough can become a habit and a way of life.
Humans are highly social people, and we need interaction with others to perform optimally. Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success”. As we reopen the economy and the workplace, some leaders are considering WFH as the ideal strategy to reduce cost and offer employees more flexibility. For some people, in rare cases, this might work satisfactorily. However, for most workplaces, this portends disaster for employee engagement and productivity.
It is convenient for people to blame current events on the decay of humanity. It is tempting to see darkness and dwell on the lack of optimism. Reports of rioting and looting are like a horrible train wreck that we cannot stop watching. We can dwell on this negativity and allow it to stain our view of people, or we can look for the beauty in people. Gandhi said we must not lose faith in humanity.
I broke the rules. I’m guilty. I attended a funeral. I hugged the widow who was married for 42 years, and I shook the hand of a son that lost his dad. I hugged a grandson that plays baseball with my son. He just lost his grandfather who he lived with until his death. I know I broke social distancing rules but I couldn’t help it. I guess I stink at this new reality. My need to show love overwhelmed my fear of this virus.
I can see clearly now the rain is gone. These immortal words by the great Jimmy Cliff resonate with me and the hundreds of supervisors I have shared this powerful insight about leadership. The truth is, most supervisors still believe in and adopt the approach for control rather than influence. It is not their fault. We have been using the same model for management since the early 1900s. This carrot and the stick methodology is management 1.0. What if there is a better way? What if there is an easier way? What if there is a more powerful way to get desired behaviors from your teams? Enter choice architecture.
We are now in a race after two months of lockdown. What does a competitive advantage look like? Those who know “get it” and those who don’t, well this writing is for you. The pandemic has disrupted the economy and companies are racing back to the front of the field. Think of a major accident in a stock car race. We have been under the caution flag for over two months. This is a tremendous opportunity to reset the competitive field in any business sector. This is a chance to win the race. The harder your business has been hit, the bigger the opportunity.
His information is both provocative and engaging. His speeches can be an emotional roller-coaster with the audience laughing one minute and holding back tears the next. Energy and passion are the two most common words used to describe John Grubbs as a speaker and trainer.
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PSST, CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? WE CAN'T...
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