From the Author

Most of us crave certainty, but there’s precious little of it to be had. In the vast majority of situations, we are forced to make do instead with probabilities, guesses, trade-offs, and outright surprises. But this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Sometimes, giving up on certainty allows you to operate more spontaneously, with […]

I ran into an experienced, old-school IBM salesperson the other day and we talked about how she achieved all the success she racked up. In the course of our conversation, she said something intriguing to me that I’d like to pass along. I’m paraphrasing, of course, but essentially she told me: “We believed it wasn’t

There’s a lot to be said about making good decisions. In fact, I’ve been among those who have said some of it, for example, here, here, and here. But more recently, I was thinking about the well-known SWOT paradigm, in which you examine a situation from the point of view of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities,

The title here contains a little twist on conventional meaning. In literature and cinematic conflicts (like one of my favorites: The Maltese Falcon), you’ll encounter this phrase when someone in a stronger position enforces acceptance on someone in a weaker position – in other words: Whatever I dish out, “you’ll take it and like it.”

Human beings are complex, and any effort to improve ourselves has the potential to involve a good deal of that complexity. That’s one reason it’s impossible for me to tell you – individually – exactly where you can best improve your work or your life. But I can point out four personal characteristics you can

Every once in a while, you reach a point in your work and your life when it’s time to drill down to the bedrock of who you are and what you want to be. Once there, you can begin to build up a new plan, strategy, and commitment to help you arrive at the destinations

We’ve often heard of rising to “the 30,000 foot view” of what’s going on in a particular situation. It’s considered an excellent way to get out from under the details and pressures of immediate concerns. Elevating your perspective helps you see the overall factors and forces currently at play around you, as well as remember

I’m wary of expectations. In my experience, expectations have a way of setting firm boundaries around situations you are about to experience, and it’s far too easy for these expectations to be limiting factors. For example, if you go into a meeting expecting it to be a waste of time, you’re likely to find it

For many years, I’ve been feeling that the value and importance of well-directed personal efforts are significantly underappreciated. This light bulb first came on when I encountered the ideas of John Wooden, famed coach of UCLA basketball teams. His teams compiled an 80% won-lost record without him ever mentioning the concept of winning. His iconic

When I come across an idea that strikes me as smart, I try to remember it and – at least to some extent – incorporate it into how I run my life. Here are two of them: Consistent Improvement I’d like to get better. Maybe you would, too. The problem is this: improvement necessarily involves