Tony Schwartz recently touched a nerve by suggesting that we could achieve more at work by working a little less. If slowing down generally isn't the answer, is there a better way for companies to create a workflow suited to humans, with all their limitations?
Do you have someone at work who consistently triggers you? Takes credit for your work? Wastes time with trivial issues? Acts like a know-it-all? Constantly criticizes? Each of us has a lens through which we see the world, but we have the power to view the world through other lenses. There are three worth trying on when you find yourself defaulting to negative emotions.
Great employers must shift the focus from trying to get more out of people, to investing more in them by addressing their four core needs--physical, emotional, mental and spiritual--so they're freed, fueled and inspired to bring the best of themselves to work every day. Here's a 12-step plan to getting it done.
What toll does it take, over time, if you get too little sleep; skip breakfast or settle for something unhealthy; struggle with a relentlessly challenging commute; attend meeting after meeting with no breaks in between...
The greater the performance demand, the greater the need for intermittent renewal. It's just common sense. If you're spending down more energy than usual, you need to refuel yourself more than usual.
A senior executive at a Fortune 50 company recently invited my company in to help his team better manage the overwhelming demand he believed was taking a toll on their productivity and their satisfaction.
I was sitting last week with my older daughter Kate in a restaurant in Ashland, Oregon, as she described the extraordinary experience she's had as the assistant director of The Pirates of Penzance at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival during the past three months.
Think for a moment of the last time you felt triggered -- pushed into negative emotions by someone or something. Here, for example, are several of my triggers: feeling taken advantage of, not getting a response to an email I've sent to someone, and not being acknowledged for good work I've done.
Most everyone I meet feels pulled in more directions than ever, expected to work longer hours, and asked to get more done. But in these same audiences, there are also a handful of people who are getting things done, and somehow still managing to have a life.
