The air and light in my tropical hotel room this week reminded me of a morning long ago when I noticed a foot-wide, solid black stripe on the wall behind the bed that wasn’t there the night before. It was a stripe in horrifying motion. Like a rainbow, it traveled down the wall and into my little sister’s secret pot-o-gold on the nightstand – a three week supply of candy to protect her sweet tooth from anticipated deprivation while traveling with our ultra frugal and pragmatic parents in Mexico. I hurled the little leather purse into the bathtub and washed ten thousand ants down the drain, much to my sister’s distress over the candy and the purse. Sometimes that is exactly what you need to do in your organization. Too often, people lack the resolve to throw the purse into the bathtub despite swarming evidence a foot wide and ten thousand deep.
Both sons-in-law were quite taken aback when I made a comment one day about not being judgmental. I have no memory of the context, but I certainly remember the incident! It was almost as jolting as the time my husband, a.k.a my mixed doubles partner, yelled “That’s the third time!” But that’s another story. I asked these shocked young men to give me examples. They did and I was both in agreement and relieved with the evidence presented. Judgmental I was! But a clear distinction was in order!
We are all concerned over our productivity; the 24/7 work-life created by the electronic era has challenges us to strike a balance between our jobs and our personal life. It might not be easy, but it can be at least easier if you attend, listen and practice the techniques Ann Latham will provide at our February dinner meeting. DATE: February 13, 2014 PROGRAM: 5:30 –7:00 P.M. DINNER: 7:15 P.M. REGISTRATION: 5:00 – 5:30 P.M. PLACE: Yankee Pedlar Inn 1866 Northampton Street (Rte. 5) Holyoke, MA 10102 Personal productivity is the difference between those who excel and the also-rans. Some make things happen in remarkably little time. Others work hard but are always behind. Furthermore, your company productivity is only as strong as the productivity of your employees. In this fast-paced one hour presentation, you will learn:
The most productive people in the world can be brought to their unproductive knees by the environment in which they work. It is happening every day in most every company. You know it. You’ve lived it. Here is your chance to do something about it! PMAWNE members are invited to a special complimentary breakfast on February 18th at the Delaney House. (Act now. Limited seating! See below.) At this breakfast, Ann will reveal the top organizational obstacles to productivity, help you identify those most applicable to your organization, and discuss steps to take for dramatic timesaving improvements across the organization.
Cash for Kidneys in the Wall Street Journal today reminded me of the book “Never Let Me Go” by Kazuo Ishiguro. Excellent book. Complicated question.
The Polar Vortex set record lows across a good chunk of the nation over the last several days. From Colorado to Michigan to NYC to North Carolina to Texas. In many cases, the new records blew the old ones away. Predictably, I heard many seize the opportunity to sneer at the concept of global warming. “This ought to put a stop to all the talk of global warming.” But they are wrong. They are confusing weather and climate.
Mention income inequality and many explode and rail against various methods of redistributing wealth – taxing the rich, raising the minimum wage, extending unemployment benefits, the Affordable Care act, expanding social programs. Every one of those ideas has countless enemies and so the debate goes nowhere. People who dislike arguments shut down. Those with strong opinions about any of the above are beyond listening to anyone else. Let’s add some clarity.
If I were to help you dramatically increase your productivity, how would you know it? What metrics would you expect to improve? When thinking about productivity, most people immediately think of three types of metrics: Production metrics – such as throughput, rework, and units per hour Sales metrics – such as sales, length of sales cycle, and conversion rates Financial metrics – such as return-on-assets, account receivable days, and margins Nothing wrong with these, but think about all the productivity that is not being measured by these and similar metrics. Think about all the executives, managers, and staff who aren’t selling or directly involved in moving product one step closer to the shipping dock all day long. How are you measuring their productivity?