Archive for July, 2009

Ladd on Gladwell

Friday, July 31st, 2009

Local Indianapolis blogger Parke Ladd recently cited popular author Malcolm Gladwell. Their joint insights on work are right on target.

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Job Description Prison

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Local HR firm C&S Consulting recently published a blog post about job descriptions. Unfortunately, these documents tend to cause problems rather than establish useful parameters for work.

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Making Groups Smarter

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

The term priming refers to the tendency of a stimulus to influence the response to a later stimulus. That’s a fancy way of saying that just being aware of something can totally change our thinking.

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Taking on Lean Six Sigma

Monday, July 27th, 2009

People often ask us if we use popular change management techniques like Lean Manufacturing or Six Sigma. The answer is definitely no, but not for the reasons you might think.

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Touch It, Want It

Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Many retail stores warn customers that “if you break it, you buy it.” But it turns out there’s an even better reason to keep products out in the open—handling something makes you feel like you own it.

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Peter Principle: Scientific Fact?

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

An old business joke insists that people in an organization are “promoted to the level of their own incompetence.” A new study says that this principle may actually be true.

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Productivity + Satisfaction = Results

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Slaughter Development’s belief in methodology engineering is based around a simple formula: productivity + satisfaction = results. Review the slides from a recent presentation on this topic at the Indiana Business Fair.

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Workday Advice, Not Tips

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Usually, productivity advice appears in the form of direct suggestions that seem impossible to implement. An article by Deborah Hildebrand of Office Arrow, however, contains some profound ideas.

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The Failed Methodology of Bonuses

Saturday, July 18th, 2009

Often, the best source for new ideas in an organization are the employees themselves. But according to author Matthew May, management should never give rewards for innovation.

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Productivity at blogINDIANA

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Attention Hoosiers! Writing a blog and spending your time judiciously can be compatible. Learn more about it at blogINDIANA, August 13th-15th.

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