Focus on People, not Things

In order to get things done, I often take the attitude "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead."  That is an old WWII expression but very apt.  Unless it is a emergency where things must happen quickly, paying attention to people is really important to the success of

Mood Changing Questions

If you find a colleague who emanating very negative vibes or appears to be in a bad mood, try some of these questions or similar ones and wait and listen to the answers.  "So tell me what is great in you life?" "Tell me something good that happen to you recently.&q

Jim Saying #9 – I Should ……

When somebody says to you, "I should …………." what the person has added silently, "but I ain’t gonna."   The trouble with all of us is that we are "full of shoulds".  When I say this now and I catch myself, I dec

Jim Saying # 8 – Trying

Everyone who knows me knows that "trying" is a statement of bad intentions.  If you say you are going try means that you are not really intending to do it.  The simple example I use is I put a pencil on the table and ask the person to "try to pick it up".

Jim Saying # 7 – Golf and Life

Golf teaches us so many lessons about life.  That book "Chasing Daylight" talks about playing golf at the end of the day and trying to get the most of daylight as a metaphor for dying.  Stephen has a blog talking about this book.  However, for me, the key less

Jim Saying # 6 – What’s Good About Your Life

It is funny that how often advice or words of wisdom given to you in your personal life help in business.  Jim at one point started asking those around him: "What’s good about your life today?" And those of you who know Jim know he was always genuine in his intere

Jim’s Saying # 5 – What have you learned lately

I believe life is a journey, not a destination. We must always keep learning new things.  I think we all need to look at our journey periodically and check what new things we have learned recently.  I recall reading that people who have recovered from near death experiences

Harvey Saying #16 – Open Question

In doing interview to find out what is going on in an organization, Harvey had a really neat question that revealed some amazing responses.  This question would come near the end of the discussion and Harvey would say, "Is there any question I haven’t asked you that yo

Jim Saying # 3 – Security

When people talk to be about job security, I always say "your security is within yourself."  Not in your current job or project.  Today company loyalty is much less so the statement is even more relevant.  You cannot depend on your employer to always be there.

Gellman Hayward Get Together

So we had a great event, but so many were missing.  It was great to see some old faces.  I really liked seeing Paul Smith, what a great guy always with a smile. Hope everyone had fun.  Maybe if we can get some shots from Joe, we can put them up.