One of my favorite authors and thinkers is Nassim Nicholas Taleb. My first exposure was his 2007 book, Black Swan. According to Taleb, COVID-19 is an example of a white swan event, as it wasn’t in the realm of unrecognized exposures. I then read Fooled by Randomness (2001) and my favorite of the three, Anti-Fragile […]
This is a great time to get your creative juices flowing. Here is a link to a quick and fun book, with more than 100 questions to spur your creativity! Enjoy and let me know what ideas you come up with. Free download of the PDF, with no registration required! https://www.donphin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/A-to-Z-121217.pdf
I just finished a three-month odyssey of reading Ray Dalio’s book, The Principles. It is a 592-page distillation of all that he’s learned in his very successful career. For those of you not familiar with the man, he built the Bridgewater hedge fund into a multibillion-dollar operation and is himself a billionaire. Time said he […]
This is a great time of year to remember we are spiritual beings… having a work experience. How do we connect our spirituality with our work? A couple things come to mind. First of all, it means you look for the best in yourself and others. Am I looking for the best in me? Am […]
Over the years I’ve been asked to help train leaders on improving company culture. Companies are interested in this training because they believe it will produce more engage and productive employees. Before I can help a leadership team, I try to reach an understanding of what they mean by “culture.“ As you can imagine, get […]
I just read the 2019 EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER Global Report https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/aatuss191/files/2019-01/2019_Edelman_Trust_Barometer_Global_Report.pdf It is an interesting 65-page research report with implications for all executives. Trust is today’s business currency, especially when it comes to managing people. I believe the most fundamental shift in the workplace is The Death of Control. And, if you can’t control someone, […]
Today’s HR executive is being challenged to do more as a strategic partner. One of your best tools is the HR Scorecard. It can take many formats including graphs, tables, Powerpoints, timelines, etc. Let’s discuss how to measure what matters and what to do with the data and information obtained. Measure what matters. For example, […]
I’d like to share two quick stories. Years ago I was training the Palm Beach County Clerks Office executive team. The new Clerk, Sharon Bock, was intent on creating a world-class organization. One of my more interesting assignments from her was to attend a Six Sigma day as an observer. The 300 person management and […]
“Does coaching work? Yes. Good coaches provide a truly important service. They tell you the truth when no one else will.” Jack Welch, Former CEO of General Electric “To excel at the highest level – or any level, really – you need to believe in yourself, and hands down, one of the biggest contributors to […]
While at my sister’s house last week, I found myself watching Family Feud. The question that was asked is: “If your boss was a cooked egg, how would you describe him or her.” Here are the responses. Who wants to guess at what the last answer was?