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Category: Book (Page 2 of 9)

Managing Workplace Diversities

21/11/2018 /

Workplace diversities like gender, age, social class, physical disability are always a crucial and diffuclt element for managers and human resources officers.

“Managing Workplace Diversity – a contemporary context” is a practical freebook that covers key issues in workplace diversity including contemporary concepts like the migrant worker, transgender issues, AIDS, etc. as a means of broadening our knowledge in this dynamic field of management.

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Image: Flickr – George A. Spiva Center for the Arts (CC BY 2.0)

 

6 High Performance Habits

17/10/2018 /

Many of us wish to reach success. What the definition of that is varies from person to person, but #1 New York Times Best Selling author Brandon Burchard has put together the 6 High Performance Habits that people that are considered successful generally share:

  • Seek clarity
  • Generate energy
  • Raise necessity
  • Increase productivity
  • Develop influence
  • Demonstrate courage

High Performance therefore seems to be the result of simply performing specific actions day in and day out: you have no more excuses! The book also includes a professional assessment to measure one’s own progress in reaching his or her goals.

 

 

Learning the Growth Mindset

03/10/2018 /

Ever heard of mindset? This word is becoming more and more common in the modern world because experts in many fields such as sports, parenting, business, school and relationships are becoming aware of the importance of mindset in facing life’s challenges. In her insightful book “Mindset: The new psychology of Success”, Carol Dweck talks about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset through real-life examples and then gives us the tools to apply a growth mindset in all aspects of our lives. Basically, people with a fixed mindset believe that you either have it or you don’t: natural talent is the only possible way to succeed. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that their talents can be developed (through hard work, successful strategies and input from others).
Many studies have shown that having a fixed mindset can help us to reach our goals and to do so with greater ease and enjoyment: we can actually appreciate the process of learning, regardless of the outcome.

Be sure to check out Dr. Dweck’s book, it is sure to give you a new perspective on how to go about life and how to interact with others, whether they be your children or you colleagues.

https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means

 

 

The Bus Metaphor

26/09/2018 /

The right people in the right seats on the bus: this is the metaphor from the first Jim Collins best-seller ‘Good to Great’. In that book – published in 2001 – the author identifies what leaders need to do, in order to see their teams and organizations excel. And he uses the power of an image to communicate the following concept.

According to Collins, leaders who are able to transform their organizations begin not by setting a direction, but by getting the right people on the bus – and the wrong people off the bus.

Actually great leaders understand the following three simple truths:

1. If you begin with “who,” rather than “what”, you can more easily adapt to a changing world.

2. If you have the right people on the bus, the problem of how to motivate and manage people largely goes away, because they will be self-motivated by the inner drive to produce the best results and to be part of creating something great.

3. If you have the wrong people, it doesn’t matter whether you discover the right direction; you still won’t have a great company.

Assembling the team is the first crucial point. Then a leader has to develop a vision (the direction of the bus), to remove obstacles to high performance (that is, maybe people are not exactly in the right seats and need to be assigned to the right role) and to help people with diverse talents and interests building trust in each other.

It is an hard work, but leaders need it to accomplish objectives with the right people.

Image source: http://bit.ly/16TU0QU

 

5 steps to “Thinking in New Boxes”

25/07/2018 /

We have all been told that thinking outside-the-box is often the secret to finding resolutive solutions to our problems. In a world that seems to be evolving faster and faster, it is imperative that we find ways to adapt ourselves and our businesses to new circumstances and new challenges.

But due to the way our mind works, it is often harder than expected to actually think out of the box. First of all, what box are we talking about? And second of all, if we get out of that box, where are we supposed to go.

This is precisely the problem that Alain Iny, BCG Associate Director, and Luc De Brabandere, BCG Senior Advisor, address in their book “Thinking in New Boxes: A New Paradigm for Business Creativity”.

They propose a new form of strategic creativity, which they defined “thinking in new boxes”, that helps people tap into their creativity while being sure of addressing the right questions.

We must come up with many new boxes, and then choose the most appropriate one to solve our problem.

The authors outline a 5-step approach to thinking in new boxes:

  1. Doubt Everything – Challenge your current perspectives. The way you are thinking right now could be preventing you from developing new solutions.
  2. Probe the possible – Maintain self-awareness while re-examining the world around you. Explore all options and be conscious of what is happening within and outside your environment.
  3. Diverge – Generate many new and exciting things, even if they seem absurd and opposing. Jot down even those ideas which are unpopular and unattractive. But always keep in the back of your mind the framed question that you began with.
  4. Converge – Evaluate and select the ideas that will drive breakthrough results.
  5. Reevaluate – No idea is a good idea forever. Embrace the change. Always reevaluate, relentlessly.

 

If you wish to learn more you can:

  • Watch Alain Iny’s TED talk: 

 

  • Watch Luc De Brabandere’s TED talk:

 

Drop Multitasking and focus on Time management

25/04/2018 /

Multitasking is defined as the ability to perform more than one task, or activity, over a short period of time. In today’s world, multitasking is becoming the norm in most offices and households. We’re always short on time so we figure that doing several things at once will help us get more done at the end of the day.

WRONG!

Our productivity actually goes down by 40% when multitasking, therefore eliminating any benefit we might have gained. This is because when we multitask, we are actually “switch-tasking”, which means quickly shifting our attention between multiple activities, constantly interrupting ourselves and losing our train of thought.

So what are some of the benefits of not multitasking?

  • Becoming more mindful of your surroundings and your experiences
  • Making big progress on challenging projects
  • Actually completing those projects in a shorter time
  • Reducing your stress levels

And here are some tips to avoid multitasking:

  • Switch off all interruptions
  • Shorten your deadlines so you can better focus on your project
  • Establish two kinds of office at hours to focus more:
    • Individual work hours – when all distractions are banned.
    • Open office hours – when people can have the opportunity to reach you and get your input on something.

Want to read more about the downfalls of multitasking? Here is a good book you might want to read!

“The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing it All” gets nothing done” – Dave Crenshaw
(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3346363-the-myth-of-multitasking)

 

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Image source: Pixabay (CC0)

Emotional Agility

11/04/2018 /

In this TED talk, psychologist Susan David introduces the concept of emotional agility: the ability to recognise and manage our thoughts and feelings for what they are, without judging them through the veil of preconceptions. Susan reminds us of the importance of detaching ourselves from our emotions so that they do not own us, but at the same time allowing ourselves to feel them. In fact, keeping emotions bottled up inside is one of the elements which can lead to depression in the longterm.

Being hooked to our emotions can cause distress and make us take irrational decisions. On the other hand, emotional agility can help people alleviate stress, reduce errors, tap into their creativity and improve their overall job performance.

If you wish to learn more about emotional agility I suggest reading the following article on the HBR or picking up a copy of Susan David’s book “Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, embrace change and thrive in work and life.”

HBR article: https://hbr.org/2013/11/emotional-agility

 

Become Mentally Strong People? Don’t do it!

04/01/2017 /

Are you afraid to be alone with your thoughts ? Do you usually expect immediate results from your committment? In this case, you have much to learn to become a mentally strong person and gain access to succes in life!

This is, at least, the opinion of Amy Morin, a psychotherapist, passionate about strategies for overcoming life’s inevitable challenges and author of “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do”, a best-selling book that is being translated into more than 20 languages. link

Mentally strong people don’t give away their power, don’t worry about pleasing everyone, don’t dwell on the past. In sum, they manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

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Image source: Flickr – TZA (CC BY-NC 2.0)

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