TLDR – Kaizen If you think you can make something better (in your personal life, within a team or a collection of systems you work on, a process in your company), do it. What is it? “Kaizen” is made up of two Chinese characters: 改 kai = “change” + 善 zen = “good” – So kaizen …
Quick question: Got any really difficult people (perhaps a “brilliant asshole”) that you work with on a regular basis? Yeah, I thought so. Next question: Do you ever stop to thank them? Yeah, I thought so. Guess what, those Bengali tea boys/girls are a gift. They are not only helping …
It takes many different mindsets and behaviors to make a team hum. I am appreciating a view of collaborative behaviors developed by David Kantor (as part of his work on Structural Dynamics), and am finding it useful as a way to hold up a mirror to a team that is interested in understanding and improving their communication.
Years ago that I had a bit of fun on a train commute. Remember those? Trains, planes and automobiles to get to work… Mind you, I was in the “quiet car,” so it was not a raucous karaoke kind of fun. More inside-my-own-head kind of fun. I built a personal …
Interruptions Stink Let’s face it: Interruptions and distractions are definitely issues that tamper with productivity. It doesn’t matter these days if you’re in an collocated workspace environment, or remote. Teamwork and collaboration requires frequent communication. Yet we want to make sure that doesn’t derail our train of thought. So instead of going back …
