I was part of a facilitated discussion for a charitable group, and the question posed to us was: How do we increase empathy? It was a diverse group of entrepreneurs, educators, and others (I include myself as an "other"). There were a lot of thought-provoking questions raised: How and when do you start teaching kids … Continue reading The gift of empathy
Author: Jonathan Mates
Redefining “better”
In Seth Godin's podcast Akimbo, he discusses the concept of being supple, or being resilient in a changing world. In the subsequent episode, he answers listener questions about the previous week. A filmmaker asks what he should do, given that much of the creation of pictures and videos has shifted away from experienced professionals to … Continue reading Redefining “better”
Write your mission statement
I've previously written about using mission statements as a clear declaration of your goals. While there are different formats for capturing this concept - guiding principles, core values, vision statements - they all allow you to refer to your true goal and redirect yourself when you start to drift. The important thing is to have … Continue reading Write your mission statement
The job of a boss
A friend recently complained to me about his supervisor. It's not that his supervisor was mean or abusive, but he didn't take action to develop or guide anyone on the team. The department was, subsequently, stuck in a rut that had lasted for years. You need a few things from your boss. Your boss should: … Continue reading The job of a boss
Goal vs game
There's a repeating conversation that goes like this: "Hey, did you know that we can charge extra for [fill in something that customers don't really want]?""Yeah, but wouldn't that be taking advantage of our customers? ""Well, maybe a little bit, but it will make us more money. And we need to make money to stay … Continue reading Goal vs game
Don’t let a good mistake go to waste
I was getting my internet connection fixed and a technician had to come out. He thought that the hardware needed to be swapped for a newer version, but before taking that somewhat drastic step, he decided to call central technical support and see if they could reset things. They tried, it still didn't work, and … Continue reading Don’t let a good mistake go to waste
How do we manifest the checklist?
I did two things last week which at first seemed unrelated. First, I finished reading the book The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande. Second, I attended a roundtable discussion on the topic of utilization management, with a focus on the history and use of pre-authorization. In The Checklist Manifesto, Gawande describes his quest to increase … Continue reading How do we manifest the checklist?
Red Goggles 