Author Archives: ven00kat

#153 When does work “happen?”

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Everyone I know dreads those long meetings. The ones where there is a lot of talk and no conclusions. Lots of statements are made, best classified as “motherhood and apple pie.” Conflict averse discussions take place. No decisions and taken. No clarity is achieved.

Things get done when a “project” is initiated. With a definite goals, start and end date, and constraints, a project is an excellent leading indicator of whether work will get done.

The workplace is full of projects, some are small (can someone please refill the coffee machine?) and some are large (how about we buy that company?) Many projects are not called a “project” (hiring an employee).

The key benefits of projects is that they have goals, deliverables, milestones, and roadmaps. In short, you’ll have clarity on what needs to happen and by when.

Not every project will succeed, but without a project, nothing will get done. You can start a project prematurely, so be sure to organize a kick off. If there is no sponsor, alignment, and commitment, then you don’t have a project.

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#152 The root of all ills in the workplace

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As I was idly thumbing through the latest copy of The Economist, I wondered why there is so much pain and suffering in the world. The Buddha has provided some reasons, but I was interested in a more practical answer.

There is no dearth of knowledge, talent, and resources in this world. Unless a problem has too much unknown about it (cure for cancer, travel to distant planets, and <insert your favorite bugbear here>), it can be solved handily with the capabilities we have today.

Then what is the problem? I was reminded of Pogo’s words, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The human factor makes problems hard to define, hard to accept, hard to communicate, unpredictable, and just plan difficult. No amount of studying, learning, frameworks, tools, and techniques will work unless this fact is understood, and dealt with.

So when you come to work, be in the moment, go with the flow, commit yourself, and don’t let success or failure be your concern. In short, demonstrate leadership behaviors.

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