Lighten up

Anyone see this article on MSNBC today? It’s about the benefit of humor in the workplace (and the host of issues surrounding offensive jokes). Years ago, when I worked at the School of Management at North Park University, I worked for a wonderful retired Air Force Colonel who, among other things, taught strategic mangement classes and [...]

Productive Anger

“A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.” – Winston Churchill
“Speak when you are angry – and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” – Dr. Laurence J. Peter
I had the pleasure of catching up with an old coworker this past weekend. While we mostly talked about our personal lives, [...]

Standards of excellence

Today I hopped in the car to travel between buildings for a meeting and caught all of two minutes of Pastor Greg Laurie’s talk about Daniel in the lions’ den. Daniel is a really interesting guy, isn’t he? He’s a Jewish exile, but he’s got a killer job, working as a right-hand man for Darius, [...]

An ambitious week

What comes to your mind when you think of having an ambitious week? Making a huge sale? Taking charge of a major project? Putting in long hours to get ahead of your upcoming work? Applying for a new position that has more responsibility and pays a little more? I don’t know about you, but some [...]

Forks, Fat and Fruit

Well after nearly two weeks of traveling, I’m finally back at home. Last week, the family and I went on a very enjoyable vacation and I spent the early part of this week in Chicago and Milwaukee. And what have I got to show for all of that travel? About four pounds.
I should have known [...]

Permission to learn

 
Yesterday I mentioned how much I love Harvard Business Review, and I was reminded of how true that is today after reading Amy Edmonson’s article, The Competitive Imperative of Learning, in this month’s issue. Her article contrasts those organizations focused soley on executing business strategies and those that execute with a conscious desire to learn [...]

Better aisles

 

Happy Monday – I hope you had a blessed holiday weekend! I had a great one because it was thoroughly relaxing, and I even managed to read a book in-between hanging out with the wife and kids. I confess, though, it wasn’t a business book. Is it just me, or is reading business books slightly less fun than most [...]

A different take on workaholism

As a die-hard hockey fan, I can’t believe that I’m about to confess this, but I really enjoy watching the show So You Think You Can Dance with my wife. I’m just catching up on last week’s episodes (because, ironically, I’ve been working a lot). Last night, I watched this really interesting routine done to illustrate the [...]

The Nouwen Challenge, pt. 3 (rocks and pebbles)

Howdy. I’ve not gotten a chance to blog since early last week thanks to a crazy, crazy work life at work. I’m afraid that it’s going to be that way for a few months – bummer. For those of you following or participating in the Nouwen challenge, I must admit that it’s had a rocky start [...]