Saturday 24 November 2012

A Slap in the Face

Maneesh Sethi wrote on his blog that he hired a "slapper" to smack him in the face whenever he logged onto Facebook while working and boasted that it increased his productivity by four times.

Of course, Sethi must have diagnosed the fact that accessing Facebook was causing him to lose productivity.  His solution was drastic ... but imaginative.

Think what you might do to create a metaphorical slap in the face for yourself.

Saturday 17 November 2012

A formula for innovation


Thomas Friedman suggests that “big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary.”

So, think about what you are doing to recognise both necessity and 'new' solutions.

You have to recognise them before your competitors do.


Saturday 10 November 2012

Short Term Thinking

Often we are encouraged to take a long term view of our business ... to think strategically.

Yet, often we DO need to think short-term ... to decide what we have to achieve this week .. or today.

More small businesses go bust because they think too big, too soon ... and the do not have the working capital to finance their grand (long term) plans.

So keep one eye on today ... and one eye on tomorrow ... and you've got a chance of surviving long enough to grow and proposer.

Saturday 3 November 2012

Snake Oil


If you read lots of press releases ... as I do (yes, I know I should 'get a life'), you soon realise that just about everything is claimed to improve productivity.

Most often such 'stories' relate to what is termed 'personal productivity' ... the kind of 'productivity' that is aided by powernapping, reminder software, crystals, copper bracelets, iPads, honey ... you get the picture.

These claims are accompanied by details of a survey or study ... which almost always is based on a self-selecting constituency.  Again, you know the kind of thing. "60% of people say eating chocolate mod-morning helps productivity" says the President of the Chocolate-Eating Guild after a survey of members.

So, if you do see a claim about productivity, check out the credentials of any study ... and, even then, keep you tongue in your cheek and your money in your pocket.

EvanCarmichael.com