This month we have eight (and a half) posts, podcasts and videos that focus on effectiveness, whether through shaping culture to make the biggest impact on your organization, or shaping your strategy to accomplish your mission on a larger scale than you ever thought possible.
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1. Post: Want to Cut Your Work Hours in Half? Create an A/B Schedule
This post from Fast Company sings the praises of designing your schedule as a set of blocks. These blocks can be any length of time that works best for you (days, hours, weeks, etc.) Also known as context-switching, this method focuses all your energy on one thing per block so you get more done in less time without feeling drained by the end of your day.
2. Podcast: Studying Failure
You've heard failure is a great teacher, but how exactly do we learn all we can from it? This episode from the EntreLeadership podcast examines a real-world example to illustrate practical ways to dig deep into failure to uncover patterns. These patterns will tell you what's standing between you and success. 45 minutes
3. Video: How to Kill Your Charity (Yes, That's a Good Thing)
This TEDx Seattle (yeah!) talk outlines how nonprofits can accomplish more by recognizing that charity is the means, not the end. Eric Stowe, founder and director of the nonprofit Splash, demonstrates how we can achieve our mission by narrowing our focus, leveraging the methods of successful businesses, collaborating locally to cover more ground and, at the right time, letting go.
4. Post: How Do You Turn Around the Culture of a 130,000-Person Company? Ask Satya Nadella
Culture is of unequivocal importance in the success of our businesses. This post from Quartz at Work examines the cultural shift that took place under Satya Nadella at Microsoft and how he did it. (FYI, Microsoft's stock price then tripled inside of five years).
4b. Post: What Went Right Under Satya Nadella?
Since we're on the subject, another thing to consider about Microsoft is how it lagged behind after its first huge success (personal computing), missed the next big thing (smart phones) and still managed to spring back. This post examines how successful businesses often limit themselves and how they can overcome their own limitations.
5. Video: How Can We Improve Communication in the Workplace?
Human nature affects how and what people hear, see or get from our most carefully crafted communications. This video from the Chicago Booth School of Business examines how to improve communications in your business by considering the strengths and limitations of different tools of communication, as well as the importance of context and the personal background of your recipient. 32 minutes
6. Post: How People Are Ghosting Their Employers
The BBC reports on the growing phenomenon of ghosting (disappearing) from jobs without a word and offers methods to prevent it — building relationships with employees before you need to hire, for example, or making sure your hiring process is quick and efficient.
7. Podcast: Retirement — Expect the Unexpected
If you retired in the '90s, you would not have thought to factor in things like smartphone upgrades or data plans. Whether retirement is just around the corner or somewhere on the horizon, unforeseen developments are almost guaranteed. This episode of the Wealth Curve Talk podcast examines how to maximize your earned income now in order to prepare for retirement in a future you can not predict. 29 minutes
8. Video: Think Fast, Talk Smart — Communication Techniques
From Stanford Graduate School of Business, this is an hour of interactive instruction on how to speak better. It teaches simple exercises and tools that help you focus, fight nerves, and structure what you're saying as you're saying it. 1 hour
What does "next level" mean for your business?
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