#155: Why resolutions don’t stick

Today is for making resolutions. Tomorrow is for sticking to them. Making a resolution is the easy part. Making it stick is not. Why?

Consider the meaning of the word ‘resolution’. The word ‘resolution’ means ‘separation into components’, ‘causing discord to pass into concord’, ‘boldness or firmness of purpose’, ‘solving of problem or question’.

In other words, you must understand the components of your resolution; remove discord that prevents your commitment; be bold in your action; and learn to solve problems that crop up. There you have it, the wheel of success again: understand, commit, do and learn.

Keep in mind that a resolution is a choice about how you will behave from now on. Resolutions tend to be about virtuous conduct, about behaving better. This could be why they don’t stick.

A resolution to behave badly might stick more easily!



I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#154: Time to look back

Good grief! It’s the end of 2007. What happened to it? If you look back you will see that it has turned into history.

But be careful looking back. Looking back is hindsight. Hindsight might be interesting, but it has to do with the past, with what is gone. Hindsight is only useful if it helps you to create a better future.

Where do you plan to spend the rest of your life? In the future, not in the past. Don’t spend your time re-living your history. You cannot create the what-should-have-been that you now see so clearly in looking back.

Rather, use your history to see how life happens to you. If you understand how your life is likely to unfold, then it can help you create a better what-can-be. But you must act on this understanding, because it is through living that you gain experience.

And experience is hindsight with enough bite to influence the future.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#153: After the Big Day

Pity poor Santa. He and his team of elves are forced to work harder and harder every year because every year there are more children to please. And every year they must wait in suspense for that one Big Day to learn whether their performance was good enough.

Sound familiar? Yes, it is your average corporate performance appraisal system. Every year you are expected to do more and more with less, but you are only told once a year whether you were good enough during the year.

Your boss expects your performance to be one of continuous improvement. Yet, she doesn’t understand why you need to know how you are doing while you are still doing it, while you can still change the result.

Dear Boss, let me explain. It is easy to change history in the making, but it is impossible to change history after the Big Day. Just ask Santa.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#152: The mentor’s dilemma

This festive season you might have to show a child how to ride a bicycle. Beware, it’s not that easy.

When you ride a bike you have no conscious awareness of your skill in balancing-pedaling-steering-breaking and your conscious mind is free to focus on other things. However, when asked to explain how you do it, you must make your unconscious skill conscious. Now you must figure out how much of what you know will be relevant or helpful to someone else.

Welcome to the mentor’s dilemma.

Being masterful at something does not mean that you know how to teach what it takes become masterful. It means that you have mastered all the nonsense that stops you performing well. This is why the best way to mentor is simply to share what has worked for you.

Remember, being a master enables you to mentor others. It does not entitle you to master it over others



I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#151: Money does not motivate

It’s the season to be jolly and to hand out bonuses. Go ahead, but don’t expect bonuses to motivate your employees. Money does not motivate. Frederick Herzberg made that clear more than 50 years ago.

His research into job attitudes uncovered two sets of factors. Those that lead to job satisfaction he called motivators. Those that create job unhappiness he called hygiene factors, because, like personal hygiene, they create issues when absent. Hygiene factors don’t create satisfaction, they prevent unhappiness on the job.

Here’s the interesting bit from his research: money in the form of a good salary does not motivate; but the absence of money demotivates.

You don’t agree? How long did you feel motivated by your last salary increase? A week? Two weeks? And then, no doubt, you returned to your old nonsense.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#150: Be quick to admit that you don’t know

When does real learning happen? Real learning begins when you admit that you don’t know. This is not as obvious as it sounds, because often we simply don’t know that we don’t know.

It’s like a child learning to ride a bicycle. At first, she does not want your help. She believes that she can do it, because other kids make it look so easy. But every time she tries, she falls over. Soon, through her tears, she will admit that she does not know how. Now the teaching and the learning can begin.

The same applies to you as an adult. For real learning to happen, something must make you admit that you don’t know. This is the critical moment, because in admitting that you don’t know, you open yourself to new ideas, to weird concepts and to help from unexpected sources.

The sooner you admit that you don’t know, the sooner you will know that you know.



I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

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I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

#149: The empty desk - part 2

Last Monday I told you about two CEOs and one empty desk. Another visible difference between them was their egos.

Both had strong egos, but showed their egos very differently: The one had his ego on constant display as a means of bolstering his power, the other restrained his ego without losing his power.

The one glared at people because he believed that they were there to serve him. (It was even common knowledge that any executive traveling with this CEO was expected to carry the CEO’s luggage.) The other CEO smiled a lot and demonstrated that he was there to support his executives in running their businesses.

The one CEO empowered others; the other used others to empower himself to the extent that when he died unexpectedly not one of his executives were ready to take over. The top job went to a senior executive who had been mentored by the CEO with the empty desk.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#148: Your path matters

People are often surprised when I say that your path matters. Let me explain why it matters.

Your path is your chosen journey through life. The problem is that there is not only one path for you, but many. Some paths can touch you emotionally, but only one path can touch you spiritually. This is the one that holds your heart, the reason it is called your path. And that is why you must find it.

When the work you do every day does not feel like work, then you have probably found your path. When you work for the sheer joy of doing it, then you are on your path.

You cannot change your ultimate destination, but you can choose how you get there. It is this freedom to choose which gives your path its meaning, its significance, and its majesty.

Walking your path matters because then you are rewarded for doing what you love. How magical.

I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#147: The empty desk - part 1

I once worked for a shipping line which merged with a group that included hotels and gambling resorts. As you can imagine when conservative shipping meets liberal gambling, the two CEOs had very different leadership styles.

Their desks showed just how different. The shipping CEO’s desk was hidden under heaps of reports and documents. The other CEO’s desk was bare.

People at the shipping line believed that their man would become the CEO of the merged group, because everybody knew that the other CEO ‘never did any work’, as demonstrated by his empty desk.

They did not understand the meaning of the empty desk. It demonstrated a unique leadership style: visit the chiefs of the different business units constantly, ensure that they are performing and offer help if they are not.

Who got the top job? The CEO who hated to delegate. I leave you to guess what happened when he died unexpectedly.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am

#146: Be clear for your success

John Lennon sang that life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. Yes, life does have a habit of not unfolding according to your schedule and dictates. Especially at work.

On top of that, as you change (which you will) your idea of what success means to you changes as well. All this makes ongoing success tricky, unless you are happy to change, unless you are prepared to adjust, unless you are willing to improve.

Actually, the tricky bit is not your willingness to improve. The tricky bit is understanding what it means to improve. Many of us have been taught that ‘learning to improve’ simply means getting better at what we are already doing.

But in an ever-changing world, that is not enough. Instead, you should learn to get better at clarifying what you mean by life-success and then get better at staying purposeful in terms of your clarity.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2007 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am