All Bets Are Off: Business During Covid-19
There is always opportunity in crisis. This maxim seems mostly right, and often absolutely right, after the fact. During the crisis you are in a coping and reactive mode, as changes and new information bombard you. Today, dealing with Covid-19, is no exception—except perhaps it is. While it seems impossible to think ahead when new blazes start up every minute and you haven’t even been able to tackle the root cause of the fire, perhaps there are some small steps you can take.
So many organizations have been publicizing guidelines for how they will work with us during the coronavirus; what we should do and what they, as organizations, are doing to ensure our safety and well-being. Here at SmarterWisdom Consulting we have been discussing what we can share about our thinking with you on this important topic that might be useful.
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Decisions, Decisions (Part II)
Making a decision is hardly an infrequent occurrence, as was explored in Part I of this blog. Personally and professionally, most of us are engaged in making decisions regularly and frequently, on things both large and small. And yet, it appears, many decisions don’t produce the desired results. Why?
Normal logic would predict that, if we do something a lot, we get better at it. So with all of the experience we accumulate in making decisions on both individual and organizational matters, our failure to become more adept at it seems to fly in the face of logic. Fortunately, some smart people have put their minds to this quandry, and their research offers us some good theories about (1) why we make bad decisions, and (2) how we can make better ones.
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Inner Wisdom Personified: Jacinda Ardern
Watching this young, impassioned leader on the television and media made me think: how do you prepare for leadership, especially the kind of leadership needed more and more all over the world as instances of violence and terrorism plague us? Part of the test for a leader in any organization relates to their ability to handle crisis. And as our world becomes increasingly complex, institutions often call for more pastoral leadership that aims to bring people together; the community of an organization becomes so very important?
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Live Smartly: Poetry Brings Wisdom
Sadly, on January 17, the world lost Oliver, but obviously not her words. Published in 25 or so books, Oliver will be available to us all forever. As a lover of Oliver’s poetry, I scoured the Internet for articles and tributes to her and her work. I rather liked the one on forbes.com by Alyssa Wright, titled “Three Lessons Change Agents Can Learn From Mary Oliver's Life And Poetry.” Wright outlines how Oliver’s prose and poetry “capture the challenges we face in these trying times.” Oliver’s writing and Wright’s interpretation and analysis illustrate life lessons that apply to all aspects of our work, whatever it is.
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Decisions, Decisions (Part I)
From the time you get up in the morning, until the moment you slide into sleep at night, the ever-present task in our lives is making decisions. Research published in Psychology Today suggests that most of us make around 35,000 decisions a day. Can that be true?
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PURPOSE: Use Your Wisdom To Build A Team
Our session ended with a panel led by three New York school heads (from Hewitt, Trinity, and Friends Seminary) discussing seismic change from the head’s perspective. They put a great deal of emphasis on our need to seek and stay connected to purpose—even beyond individual mission and values where possible—helping families and students see the greater good and greater purpose beyond the daily pressures of grades, assignments, and next steps in their educational journey.
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We Have To Stop Meeting Like This...
When we ask employees about their least favorite activity at work, two items are the most frequently cited: ‘Performance Review’ holds runner-up status for most dreaded work task (given the nature of the activity, one can imagine the possible reasons for its positioning.) But way out front---consistently, year after year---the undisputed winner is ‘meetings.’ Staff meetings, in particular, are cited with undisguised contempt.
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