A comment was made in a recent meeting about program management I attended where there was a discussion about dealing with difficult customers, “People don’t perceive what effort it takes to meet their expectations. They only begin to understand when we add cost to their proposal.” Communication is inherently inefficient. There’s no way to know… Read More
At What Cost
When we go about our day-to-day activities, we can easily get lost in the repetitive, lackluster nature of things. We turn a lot of things in our daily lives into habits so we may accomplish more without using precious energy to think about our actions. Freeing energy to focus on more threatening things is the… Read More
Enjoying the Path
Recently, we decided to invest some of our most valuable resource, time, into connecting with a group we haven’t since we started the family project with the birth of our kids. After six to eight years and occasional attendance at the Taoist Tai Chi Society, we found a warm open reception. People were pleased at… Read More
Ask Why and Wonder
The other day while taking my son to the doctor’s office to check his ears for infection, he was gabbing away in the back seat. He was talking about what he observed passing by and what seemed like random memories or topics. He’s four years old so his brain is developing in earnest. I was… Read More
What’s your Mental Model?
Per Wikipedia: A mental model is an explanation of someone’s thought process about how something works in the real world. It is a representation of the surrounding world, the relationships between its various parts and a person’s intuitive perception about his or her own acts and their consequences. Mental models can help shape behavior and… Read More
Adjusting our Expectations
This week, my four-year old son was having some difficulties at school, but so were all the other kids. When I inquired with the care provider, I found there had been two substitute teachers, one care provider on vacation, and one provider moved on to another job. The result was a short staff and bringing… Read More
The Power of Listening
The other evening, I watched my four-year-old son start crying because his sister was too busy doing her own thing and not listening. My son adores his sister. He mimics her in all kinds of ways. He has also taken on her trait of talking up a storm. So, like his sister when he talks… Read More
Why Worry about what Others Think
I love it when my daughter reads my posts and comes to me with ideas of what to write about next. Earlier this week, she encouraged me to write about, “Not worrying about what people think about you. It only matters what you think about yourself. People can not force you to think differently about… Read More
Halftime before moving out
My wife shared an excellent article with our 8 year old daughter. It’s a halftime pep talk for a daughter turning 9 years old. It’s a reflection for both parents and kids. It’s a learning opportunity for both. Relative to the business of you, it embodies some of the fundamental principles of leading a valued… Read More
Do Things Before Expected
My eight year old daughter gets it. As she reads the posts of this blog, some of her comments not only surprise me but inspire new ways of communicating the principles of managing ourselves. The other evening she told me, “I like doing things before I get asked because I don’t like being asked to… Read More
Business of You 