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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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STOP THE PRESSES! #4

by Rick Baker
On Apr 23, 2010
You are the CEO.
 
For some strange reason a loud voice declared “STOP THE PRESSES” and everything at your operation, all the people and all the machines, came to a screeching halt.
 
But, you were unscathed.
 
So you took some time to rest and relax. Then, after doing that for a while, you became bored and you asked yourself:
 
"How should I get things back on track?"
 
"How should I re-start the people and re-start the presses?"
 
“What are the right things to do?”
 
As you stopped to think, ideas started to come to you…
 
***
 
Wouldn’t it be great if We Are Idea Leaders after we re-start our operation.
 
How might we go about making sure that happens?
 
What if…
 
  • What if our people always work to revitalize self-confidence so we always
    Empower Decision-Making …that would help
  • What if we know with certainty ideas are a key ingredient for success and
    we Inspire Creativity …that would help
  • What if our people are convinced prosperity happens with new things so
    we Promote Emergent Change …that would help
***
 
You gave these things deep thought, creating plans for Empowering Decision-Making, Inspiring Creativity, and Promoting Emergent Change so you and your people will with confidence be able to say We Are Idea Leaders.
 
You wrote out your plans for these things so you could share them when the time was right.
 
You made a commitment to yourself…these things would be in place when you re-start your people and you re-start your presses.
 
You decided to sleep on it and see if any more ideas came to you.
 
To be continued…

Tags:

Entrepreneur Thinking

STOP THE PRESSES! #3

by Rick Baker
On Apr 22, 2010
You are the CEO.
 
For some strange reason a loud voice declared “STOP THE PRESSES” and everything at your operation, all the people and all the machines, came to a screeching halt.
 
But, you were unscathed.
 
So you took some time to rest and relax. Then, after doing that for a while, you became bored and you asked yourself:
 
"How should I get things back on track?"
 
"How should I re-start the people and re-start the presses?"
 
“What are the right things to do?”
 
As you stopped to think, ideas started to come to you…
 
***
 
Wouldn’t it be great if We Truly Connect With People after we re-start our
operation.
 
How might we go about making sure that happens?
 
What if…
 
  • What if our people commit to understanding themselves and others
    and Make Networking a Career Goal…that would help
  • What if our people feel generous about going all those extra miles
    and Commit to Delivering Value First …that would help
  • What if we refuse to let policy or process get in our way and we
    Guarantee We Will Get Things Done Right …that would help
***
 
You gave these things deep thought, creating plans for Making Networking a Career Goal, Committing to Delivering Value First, and Guaranteeing You Will Get Things Done Right so you and your people will be able to honestly say We Truly Connect With People.
 
You wrote out your plans for these things so you could share them when the time was right.
 
You made a commitment to yourself…these things would be in place when you re-start your people and you re-start your presses.
 
You decided to sleep on it and see if any more ideas came to you.
 
To be continued…

Tags:

Entrepreneur Thinking

STOP THE PRESSES! #2

by Rick Baker
On Apr 21, 2010
You are the CEO.
 
For some strange reason a loud voice declared "STOP THE PRESSES" and everything at your operation, all the people and all the machines, came to a screeching halt.
 
But, you were unscathed.
 
So you took some time to rest and relax. Then, after doing that for a while, you became bored and you asked yourself:
 
"How should I get things back on track?"
 
"How should I re-start the people and re-start the presses?"
 
"What are the right things to do?"
 
As you stopped to think, ideas started to come to you…
 
***
Wouldn't it be great if We Enjoy the Time We Spend at Our Workplace after we
re-start our operation.
 
How might we go about making sure that happens?
 
What if…
  • What if our workplace has a 'hassle-free' atmosphere where
    winners Share the Right Culture…that would help
  • What if our people understand one another's talents and we
    Make the Most of Our People's Strengths…that would help
  • What if we ensure stress levels are under control and we
    Maintain an Appreciation of Humour…that would help
***
 
You gave these things deep thought, creating plans for Sharing the Right Culture, Making the Most of Your People's Strengths, and Maintaining an Appreciation of Humour so you and your people will Enjoy the Time You Spend at Your Workplace.
 
You wrote out your plans for these things so you could share them when the time was right.
 
You made a commitment to yourself…these things would be in place when you re-start your people and you re-start your presses.
 
You decided to sleep on it and see if any more ideas came to you.
 
To be continued…

Tags:

Entrepreneur Thinking

STOP THE PRESSES! #1

by Rick Baker
On Apr 20, 2010
You are the CEO.
 
Imagine you are at work at your plant.
 
Imagine your plant’s alarm sirens scream and a larger-than-life voice blares through your loudspeaker:
 
"STOP THE PRESSES!"
 
Imagine you look up at your large clock, the white one with the black hands, high up on the wall of your production area. The clock ever so slowly ticks one more second then it stops.
 
All your machines groan and screech as they halt their work…the whole place is silent.
 
As in one of those sci-fi movies we see advertised on TV, all your people stand frozen in time.
 
That is, every person but you.
 
You are unscathed.
 
You are able to walk about…in the calm, still, and eerie silence.
 
Once the surprise wears off your next reaction, of course, is...
 
“Finally…some time to rest and relax!”
 
You do that.
 
You rest. You relax.
 
After some time, you are refreshed and invigorated: so, the joy of all that rest and relaxation wears off.
 
You get really bored and you begin to think.
 
You wonder..."How can I get things back on track?"
 
How can I re-start this business of mine?"
 
And, recognizing you are under absolutely no pressure from anyone or anything, your mind takes it one step farther.
 
You don’t just ask yourself "How can I get things back on track?"
 
You ask yourself:
 
"How should I get things back on track?"
 
"How should I re-start the people and re-start the presses?"
 
“What are the right things to do?”
 
As you focus your thoughts and envision the future, ideas start to come to you…
 
To be continued…

Tags:

Entrepreneur Thinking

Executive BrainSmarts

by Rick Baker
On Apr 15, 2010
I had the pleasure of visiting with Dr. Lorie Saxby last week.
 
Lorie co-authored Secrets from the BRAINSharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance, (2010).
 
Lorie provided an autographed copy of her book, which now has a place in my little but growing library of author-signed books.
link to Lorie’s website
http://www.workingbrainassociates.com

Secrets from the BRAINSharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance provides a fresh new way to think about the behaviour and performance we experience in our workplaces.
 
The book has a top-notch design. It provides reader-friendly explanations of the brain and how our brains, specifically the frontal lobes of our brains, operate and influence our behaviour. Many examples of both good and not-so-good behaviour - ie, the real-life things we are all familiar with – are provided. The straightforward examples allow us to quickly grasp the authors’ points. And, I appreciated the balance between good behaviour and not-so-good behaviour.
 
Of most importance, Secrets from the BRAINSharpen Your Thinking, Power Your Performance provides help for those who want to perform better and/or help other people perform better.
 
And, isn’t that exactly what business leaders want to do!
 
The authors created Executive BrainSmarts. In summary, Executive BrainSmarts is a tool to help us understand and improve behaviour.
 
Here is an excerpt from the book…
“To this end, we have identified seven key frontal lobe executive cognitive
functions that are particularly relevant to optimal work performance and
productivity. We call these 'Executive BrainSmarts.'”
 
While I will list the 7 functions – focus, initiate, plan, organize, shift, monitor, and regulate - I recommend reading the entire book to understand the relationship between these functions…all of which is summarized in an excellent way in Figure 3: Executive BrainSmarts Paradigm.
 
I found Figure 3 so helpful I photocopied and enlarged it so I can post a copy in my office and carry a copy in my notebook.
 
I intend to re-read this book. It expands my thinking about ‘CHANGING FOR THE BETTER: Good Habits, Bad Habits, and New Things’. The book has triggered several ideas already and I believe more ideas will come with each reading.
 
 
More on Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things in future blogs

Building A Quality Attitude

by Rick Baker
On Apr 13, 2010
Most people know the importance of having a good, positive attitude. Many people talk about it. Some argue with the words like ‘positive mental attitude’…for example Gitomer talks about the ‘YES Attitude’.
 
Link to Gitomer – YES Attitude
http://tinyurl.com/4zrgfl
 
No matter what we call it, we all know we are better off when we have it...so, I like it when people tell us how to go about developing a positive metal attitude.
 
I recently listened to the CD version of Nido Qubein’s ‘How to Position Yourself for Success’.
 
 
Nido Qubein presents a helpful summary for Building a Quality Attitude:
  1. have a positive mental outlook about situations, people and ourselves
  2. associate with people committed to excellence
  3. study the lives and actions of great people, read good books, etc
  4. focus on long-range goals, nothing motivates like achievement
  5. always know what you are going to do next (To Do lists help), set yourself up for easy beginnings...leave a half-completed sentence on your typewriter, lay out your clothes, do a pleasant task first thing in the morning
  6. put real meaning into your life...give everything you've got to everything you do...every minute
  7. adopt a Can Do vocabulary
More about attitude in future blogs…

Tags:

Attitude: Creating Positive Attitude

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.