I recently had the wonderful opportunity to be interviewed by the staff of Boston Voyager Magazine. The resulting story was published on May 15th, 2018; “Meet Ann Latham of Uncommon Clarity® in Southern NH“.
I know the earth is round and the sun rises and sets with our rotation. I picture the difference between my high sun and a sinking sun farther east every time my daughter calls from London on her way home from work and I’ve barely finished lunch. I picture the pre-dawn glow in Oregon every time I refrain from calling my sister before noon on the weekend. Time zones are an intriguing, but familiar, concept. But that did not prevent me from being blown away last week.
If you are blind to improvement opportunities, you will never improve. How blind are you? Let’s look at the evidence. Here are 10 signs that you can’t see the enormous opportunity before you to improve productivity, profits, and engagement:
Last weekend, I joined the students in Boston to March For Our Lives and protest the complete inaction of Congress to do anything about school shootings and assault rifles. Let’s leave the obvious debate aside for a minute
I don’t know anyone who wishes they got more email. Everyone gets too much. If you are tired of getting buried, follow these 6 steps.
I followed a conversation on social media recently where women were talking about the common habit, especially among women, of ending sentences in an uptick as if they were asking a question. There have been numerous articles about how this uptick makes women seem tentative, weak, and unsure of themselves. I agree with this interpretation? You don’t sound competent and trustworthy if you sound like you need reassurance every step of the way? You simply can’t speak with authority if every statement you make sounds like a question? This group, however, was defending the habit. They suggested the uptick was a sign of their collaborative nature. They even suggested that men would do well to follow suit.
A ‘lack of clarity’ sounds like something is just a little off. Like a lack of spice, where the perfect pinch would elevate an otherwise exquisite dish to greatness. Or a ‘lack of light.’ Not darkness. No, just not quite enough light to see really well. Just a little lacking. Everyone knows that light and darkness fall on a continuum. And we all have many shared words for describing positions along that continuum. Black of night, candlelight, twilight, bright and sunny, in the spotlight, and blinded by the light, to name a few. Each conjures an image distinct from the others and with a meaning shared by most people.
I recently had the pleasure of joining marketing strategy expert Linda J. Popky, president of Leverage2Market® Associates, on the Marketing Thought Leadership podcast. Our topic, “Let Me Make That Perfectly Clear: How Clarity Ties to Organizational Success,” covers some of my favorite topics and perennial questions: What is clarity? Why is it so uncommonly found in today’s organizations? How can clarity improve productivity, performance, and employee engagement? Why is it so important for marketers and other knowledge workers? Listen to this podcast. Podcast Transcript:
Massachusetts recently tried to make changes in state health care programs for retired civil servants. They had to back down when the retirees protested. The Governor, Charlie Baker, blamed a lack of communication. The Boston Public Schools recently tried to change school start times. They too had to back down following excessive protests. Once again, a lack of communication was cited as the culprit. This is stupid. This is the kind of thinking that leads to endless meetings where everyone is invited. Truth be told, no matter how many meetings you have, no matter how many people are allowed to have their say, and no matter how many explanations you distribute, you will have protests if you mess with people’s lives and expect communication to be the preventive medicine.