#214: Be a talker, not a fighter

Are you a talker or fighter? To get things done through others, do you persuade or do you instruct? Do you compel or do you convince?

Here’s why it matters: More than two hundred years ago Edmund Burke said that ‘a nation is not conquered which is perpetually to be conquered.’

In other words, if you rely mainly on force and fear, on the authority vested in your position, then you will end up having to rely on it again and again.

And you won’t be very successful.

According to a study quoted in a recent issue of the Economist magazine, military might has resolved fewer than 8% of conflicts over the past 15 years, whereas 92% of negotiations have succeeded.

The lesson for managers? Skillful negotiators are far more successful than bossy autocrats.

So, develop your personal power - become a talker, not a fighter.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#213: Please sleep at work

Oh, the lazy, hazy days of summer. The perfect time to sleep at work. You’ve never done that?

In the good old days when I had a regular job I napped at work. I was a bachelor then, but that’s not why I needed sleep. I knew napping improved my productivity.

Today many researchers and even a few companies agree. Taking a nap increases your performance. Good for you and good for your employer.

But note this: You don’t really have to spend money on frills like nap-rooms with sleep-pods to get the productivity benefits. The only change that is needed is a change in attitude, your attitude, to sleeping on the job.

Your people will always sleep on the job. It is up to you whether they waste their creativity on napping surreptitiously for their own benefit. Or whether they focus their creativity for your benefit because you support napping at work.

Now be quiet, I’m napping here.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#212: Too little management evolution

Dear Manager, every day now I read about companies dumping loads of employees at once in the quest for survival and profits.

Have you been told to fire a bunch at once? Well, relax, it’s not so hard. I have a few ideas for you:

• If you are technologically challenged, stick to the trusty old fax machine.
• To fire up to 1000 at once, use email.
• For more than 1000, use text messaging.
• To fire a number at the same place, stage a fake fire drill and when they’re all collected in the parking lot, fire them collectively.

Do these ideas work? Of course! They have been tried and tested by well known companies with the results published in 1983, 2001, 2003 and 2007 respectively.

Did you note the date line? Clearly, the hi-tech revolution has outstripped management evolution.

From fax to e-mail to text messaging to fake alarms - you’re fired.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#211: Single-minded multi-tasking

Have you heard the one about the Jack of all trades who became the master of none? You have? Then why are you still so keen on multi-tasking?

Multi-tasking does not work. Mmmaybe it does. What I mean is that multi-tasking does not work very well.

No, that’s still not right. Hang on, let me stop watching the news for a minute and focus on what I’m saying. Here goes. Multi-tasking works well enough if the outcomes of the different tasks that you are doing at once don’t matter much to you.

However, if the different outcomes do matter, then maybe you should give each task the single minded focus it deserves.

Single-minded focus can deliver two unexpected bonuses. Not only are you likely to get each task done quicker, you tend to produce better quality outcomes as well.

However, if outcomes don’t matter to you, then by all means, talk and drive at the same time.

Drat, now I’ve missed the news.


I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#110: The lack of power corrupts

Power corrupts. Or so we believe. And yet, it is feeling powerless which truly corrupts.

Why? Because people who feel powerless tend become dysfunctional.

Most organizations operate according to the notion that some people are paid to think and others are paid to do as they are told. This approach empowers managers to demand that workers shut up and listen.

And it empowers workers to stop thinking on the job and to do nothing unless instructed.

Don’t assume that it is up to the people in power to break this spell. Yes, society does expect responsible adults to help children improve their behavior. But workers are not children, they are not really powerless and they are equally responsible.

Workers are responsible adults away from work and are therefore quite capable of being responsible adults at work. As responsible adults they can choose not to be drawn into dysfunctional behavior triggered by power-corrupted managers.

Now that’s powerful!



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#209: Dump your training wheels

According to cycling boffins, it’s time for kids to dump their training wheels. Training wheels don’t teach balance; they simply stop you falling over.

Balance is a critical skill in cycling, but the tool designed to teach you that skill actually prevents you learning it. Why? Because it creates the illusion of balance.

This got me thinking about life. Don’t we use similar crutches to prop us up so that we can pretend to be balanced and in control?

Get rid of them. Balance does not matter. What matters is your ability to get up when you’ve lost your balance. Which you will, often, because...

Surely you know when you're glad is not when you're itchy or scrappy
And crying is never that bad if it means you can tell when you're happy
Yes, go for balance I say, but don't get upset at a tilt
It's all just part of the play, to be jilted or stilted or spilt



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#208: Risk of knowing more than the boss

Do you realize that knowing more than the boss could cost you that new job?

A friend, let’s call him Pete, recently told me that he knew exactly when the decision was made not to offer him the new job. Pete was having dinner as part of the interview process with the boss and another executive. The other executive was aware that Pete had once worked in the wine industry and so he asked Pete to select the wine. The problem was that the boss deemed himself to be the resident wine expert.

Pete was left with a simple choice. Order a good wine according to his expertise or an inferior wine to stroke the boss’s ego. Be dishonest to get the job or be true unto himself.

Years later the other executive acknowledge the reason why Pete did not get the job.

I drink a toast to you not being scared of hiring someone who knows more than you do.


I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#207: Optimists express gratitude

Children don’t seem to say ‘thank you’ any more in public. This worries me. Not because I worry about ‘values’, but because I worry about ‘expectations’.

Let me explain. There are two meanings to the word ‘expectations’. It can mean ‘looking forward to’ and it can mean ‘it is my due’.

Saying ‘thank you’ is a simple way of expressing gratitude. If you are often grateful, then you will develop the habit of looking forward to the next good thing to come to you so that you can express your thanks again.

But every time you don’t say ‘thank you’, you break the link between receiving and acknowledging. Soon you will have the habit of believing that receiving is your due. And then, when you don’t receive as expected, you feel resentment.

The one habit breeds optimists and the other breeds pessimists. I wonder, what habit have you developed? More importantly, what habit are you passing on to your children?


I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA