Anders Ericsson found that truly world class performers invested more time in deliberate practice (see his seminal paper) than their less successful peers. Anders defined deliberate practice as: “repeated experiences in which the individual can attend to the critical aspects of the situation and incrementally improve her or his performance in response to knowledge of results, feedback, or both from a teacher.” The importance of feedback […]
Category Archives: leadership
January
17
What you could learn from ‘Team Genius’ by Rich Kalgaard and Michael Malone (2015, 250 pages)
posted by Max
How did the team that designed and delivered the US’s first ever fighter jet (P-80 Shooting Star) do it in less 143 days? In their book ‘Team Genius’ Rich and Michael suggest that there are five things contribute to team effectiveness. Stay as small as possible, and stick to optimum group sizes. That is 7±2, […]
January
15
Leadership hack 018 – direction is more important than speed
posted by Max
As a leader, you have limited resources. Your time and energy are finite, and so you must put these scarce resources into what really matters. It is very easy not to look up, not to step back and see the wider picture, or what Heifetz call’s ‘getting onto the balcony‘. ‘Getting onto the balcony’ […]
January
15
Leadership hack 018 – direction is more important than speed
posted by Max
As a leader, you have limited resources. Your time and energy are finite, and so you must put these scarce resources into what really matters. It is very easy not to look up, not to step back and see the wider picture, or what Heifetz call’s ‘getting onto the balcony‘. ‘Getting onto the balcony’ […]
January
07
Leadership hack 019 – The one thing you can do to make the most of 2017
posted by Max
2016 was a tough year for most of us. How was it for you? More importantly, what can you learn from it? I try to take two weeks off at Christmas. This time off allows me to decompress and remind my wife and daughter what I look like, and also see my wider family. I also […]
November
11
Leadership hack 016 – what 80/20 actually means
posted by Max
5There is much advice out there ‘don’t boil the ocean‘ or be ‘80/20‘. A lot of people think that this means just do 80% of the work. Few understand its true meaning that you should only focus on the very small, but very significant 20% of the work which creates 80% of the impact. Understanding that […]
November
06
Leadership hack 015 – there are three ways to get people to do something
posted by Max
When you want somebody to do something, you have three choices: Rely on altruism by appealing to their better nature Threaten adverse consequences if they don’t do it Re-frame the request to highlight mutual benefit Each of these approaches has advantages and drawbacks, and the effectiveness of each will differ with context. Altruism is incredibly powerful, but you need a […]
October
28
Leadership hack – 014 asking questions is more powerful than telling people what to do
posted by Max
Evidence suggest that if you tell people exactly what to do, they will be less motivated, less likely to improvise if things go wrong and you will experience poorer results – see The Human Side Of Enterprise, published in 1960! So, if you are not going to tell people exactly what to do, how do […]
September
30
Leadership hack 011 – Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men (and women)
posted by Max
We have rules for a reason. They keep us safe. You would not get onto a flight if you knew that the pilot was going ignore the aviation air rules during takeoff or landing. However, what if something happens, something that is not in the rule book? Or what happens if someone else breaks the rules? […]
September
28
What you could learn from ‘Leading Quietly’ by Joseph Badaracco (2002,181 pages)
posted by Max
How do you change an organisation from within? Some would propose heroics, battling hard to bring about the change needed. Others suggest that success lies in a quieter form of influence. Joseph is part of a growing body of academics and practitioner that suggest that leaders should avoid the ‘hero’ option, and seek to change people […]
September
27
What you could learn from ‘Leadership BS’ by Jerry Pfeffer (2015, 220 pages)
posted by Max
While leadership is difficult to define (see here), good leadership is hard to miss. Like beauty, good leadership is subjective, depending as much on the observer and context, as much as it depends on the leader. In the book, Jeffrey takes on the five pillars of current leadership: modesty, authenticity, telling the truth, trust and […]
August
26
Leadership hack – 005 giving clear direction
posted by Max
Why are we surprised when a piece of work comes back and it was not what we were expecting? There are two possible reasons. The first is that the person you asked to do the work did not understand what was expected of them. The second is that the person you asked lacked the skill […]
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