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Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

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Thought Tweet #773.5

by Rick Baker
On Jul 3, 2013

Thought Tweet #773.5 Learn how Honey Boo Boo and the guys in those storage closets can help your business. Check Thought Behind The Tweet.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Of course, they can't help your business ... but don't let that dissuade you from filling in time watching them between all those excellent commercials.

Tags:

Humour | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich | Thought Tweets

Thought Tweet #772.5

by Rick Baker
On Jul 2, 2013

Thought Tweet #772.5 The U.S high school system has the lowest rating of G8 countries - on the bright side: they got Duck Dynasty. 

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Most business people spend more time watching 'Reality TV' than they spend educating themselves on how to do better business. This phenomenon is not limited to the U.S.A....it applies in Canada as well.

Tags:

Humour | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich | Thought Tweets

No Nonsense, Common Sense for Best Practice

by Rick Baker
On Jun 27, 2013

If you want to improve your company’s performance, you need to improve your leadership team.

If you want to improve your leadership team, you have to improve leadership people's actions.

If you want to improve people's actions, you must first change how they think.

If you want to change how people think, you must identify – precisely – the current thinking that is flawed and in need of change. Then, you must influence people in a way that causes them to want to change. And, you must help the people make the change.

Change is either possible or impossible.

Change is either easy or difficult.

Change is either simple or complex.

Change is either quick or slow.

It depends on the extent of change and the extent of the person’s desire to make that change.

It depends on the nature of the person’s Talents and the nature of the Tasks to be changed.

It depends on the person’s comfort…changes are only constructive when people are comfortable.

It depends on many other factors. Huge amounts of time could be dedicated to listing all those factors and creating strategies and tactics to deal with each and every one of them.

However, it is best to not blow change out of proportion. And, it is best to dwell on the things that work rather than the things that are broken.

It is best to limit the scope of change to 2 variables:

  1. How people are Thinking.
  2. How people are Taking Action.

People on Leadership Teams need to answer 2 questions:

  1. What sorts of Thinking generate high-quality performance?
  2. What sorts of Actions generate high-quality performance?

Then they need to challenge themselves: am I willing to think and do those things?

This process for change is definitely possible.

This process for change can be easy, simple, & quick.

In fact, if this process is not easy, simple, & quick then you have to accept the likelihood you have the wrong people on your leadership team.

***

If you want to improve your company’s performance, you need to improve your leadership team.

If you want to improve your leadership team, you have to improve leadership people's actions.

If you want to improve people's actions, you must first change how they think.

Tags:

Change: Creating Positive Change | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich

Thought Tweet #767

by Rick Baker
On Jun 25, 2013

Thought Tweet #767 We win when we improve Canadian businesses, one leader at a time.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

The Spirited Leaders process is thought-by-thought and task-by-task.

Tags:

Spirited Leaders | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich | Thought Tweets

Thought Tweet #763

by Rick Baker
On Jun 19, 2013

Thought Tweet #763 Procrastination is a lot like using a dentist's drill on your own teeth...

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

If you have some skill at it, and you use it right, then procrastination can be a very good tool and you can end up with a big healthy smile on your face. If you use it wrong then you can cause yourself a lot of pain and end up with a rotten taste in your mouth.

Related to this...

You can put procrastination on a reduced-negative-thinking diet.

Tags:

Humour | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich | Thought Tweets

Some thoughts about Delegation

by Rick Baker
On Jun 18, 2013

How To Delegate

 

Some thoughts:

With the overall corporate best interest in mind, who should do the task?

Consider ‘bang for the buck’: particularly, the impact on our key corporate goals.

Under Delegation, there are task donors and task recipients.

Task donors and Task recipients need to COMMUNICATE CLEARLY. 

Consider boss’s and subordinate’s views/likes/dislikes…

Rule of Thumb: for business-task delegation, one man’s trash isn’t generally another man’s treasure.

Rule of thumb [corollary]: leaders rarely assign unique tasks… is this task unique?

Consider fairness: the workload already on recipient employee’s plate, other staff’s plates, and your plate.

 

Delegation and Task Dimensions

[8 key task considerations]


Importance

Urgency

Time Requirement

 

Strengths

Efficiency

Effectiveness

Delegation

Office Morale

***

Step Back and think a bit more before you do it.

 

 

Tags:

Delegation & Decisions | Leaders' Thoughts | Thinking as in Think and Grow Rich

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