There are only three sources of motivation that get us to take action. Fear, discipline, or direct desire. Understanding this and being deliberate about it can enable you to build an environment where you and your people become more positively motivated and live lives free from fear. Only three sources of motivation The Three Sources of Motivation Understanding the basics of motivation, both in yourself, as well as in people you deal with, can help you be much more effective in accomplishing...
about 13 hours ago • 4 min read
Thinking that you are evaluating a situation rationally, whilst ignoring the emotional realities of how you are responding to the situation, and how those around you are responding to the situation, is not rational – it's just denial. You cannot be truly rational without being deeply emotional Let emotion cloud your judgement I grew up with, and carried for most of my life, the belief that I should not let emotions cloud my judgement. Over the past few years I have come to learn that when...
8 days ago • 2 min read
There are four reasons why non performance persists. Typically one is most prominent at any given time. Find yours. Fix it. Performance will improve. Measurement does not automatically become management Indicate Indicators point in a direction. If you are driving, and you switch on your indicator, it is to indicate to others that you plan to turn soon. If you see someone's indicators that are on, you take action appropriately, based on the information that they are going to turn. With...
15 days ago • 1 min read
If I had to choose one single metric that is the most significant indicator of any business's future success – it would be the ability of the business to attract, engage, retain, and grow the top talent in its industry. The Single Most Important Metric If you could choose only one Metric If you could implement only one single metric in your business, what would be the single most important metric that would determine whether your business will be successful into the future? Is it net profit,...
22 days ago • 3 min read
You can have conversations that improve your organisation's performance once a week. Or you can have them once a quarter. It all depends how fast you want to improve the performance of your business. Weekly or more. That's how often. In The Last 7 Days I have written a few articles over the past few weeks about performance management, how not to do it, and some ideas of how to think about it, and specific questions to ask that can help you do it better. But how often? Gallup has a telling...
29 days ago • 1 min read
If you want to improve business performance, then measure and respond to actual performance on what really matters, constantly. Here are some questions to help you do that. Ask These Questions Vast amounts of time and energy goes into cycles of defining, measuring, and managing individual performance in businesses. The assumption is that individual performance management processes will automatically translate into improved organisational performance. Unfortunately, research on this being the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
KPI. Everyone uses it. Key. Performance. Indicator. But have you actually thought about what is really Key, what would represent true Performance, and what it is actually Indicating? Key. Performance. Indicator. You need all three. Key. Performance. Indicators. You Need All Three You can measure almost anything these days. But more measurement does not necessarily mean better management. The term “Key Performance Indicator” consists of three words – and all three of those words matter. Key A...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Most business leaders recognise the need for implementing some kind of performance management process. The actual success rate of these is a bit spotty, though. Here are 13 ways to really screw this up. 13 Ways to Build a Badly Performing Business Read / Comment on this article on LinkedIn Disconnect Purpose from Reality If the purpose of measurement is to manage things that matter, then probably one of the worst ways you could try to do that, is to complete a document which is then discussed...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
You have to choose a few things, sacrifice everything else, and deal with the inevitable sense of loss that results. You can do anything. You cannot do everything. Read / Comment on this article on LinkedIn The loss that comes with tough choices You have to choose a few things, sacrifice everything else, and deal with the inevitable sense of loss that results. According to Jonathan, who writes The Money Blog, this is the single sentence that summarises the whole of Oliver Burkeman's book...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read