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Serving Up Productivity

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Authenticity – Doing What You Do Best – Is The Essence Of Productivity

“Go stand in line!”  That’s what the diminutive overwrought 20-something hostess at Coop’s Place said to the semi-inebriated patron pestering her to seat his party in the amazingly authentic low-country tavern we were dining at in the French Quarter of New Orleans last week.  (Pic at right).

Now, before you go all customer-service on me, understand that this guest had walked past the growing line on the sidewalk outside the door with two (count them: two) very clear signs on those doors with large black arrows pointing down the sidewalk and with the following printed on them – Stand at the end of the line.  If there’s no line, stand here until you’re seated.  The message was very clear.  If you want to eat here, stand in line.

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Live Simply, Work Passionately

Friday, August 19, 2011

Over the last eight months, I’ve been wrestling with a combination of Bright-Shiny-Objectisis and existential/professional angst.  The root of the problem was a sense of restlessness.  The restlessness arose from twelve years of involvement in Outdoorplay and seven years of QuietSpacing® efforts.   Done enough times, all things lose their luster. Such was the case with these two endeavors.

I kept getting distracted by new and exciting topics – simplicity, lifestyle choices, Tenkara fly fishing.  Instead of focusing on my core business of developing solid content to help my clients solve their time management struggles, I was drafting tables of contents for new books and making lists of authors to read and people to follow.

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Why Would Anyone Want to be Led by You?

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post written by Trever Cartwright.  Trever is co-founder of Coraggio Group, a Portland-based strategy and organizational change firm. You can reach Trever by calling 503-493-1452 or by email at trever@coraggiogroup.com. Visit his website at www.coraggiogroup.com

The year is half over. Many leaders and executive teams are taking their annual step back to do a deep-dive assessment of their organization’s progress against the goals and objectives of their strategic plans.

As part of your strategic progress review, consider including another area of assessment—one that will require a different kind of examination and be much more introspective in nature. Why not take some time to also consider how you’re progressing as a leader? It makes sense when you consider that an organization’s strategic performance is, in large part, a direct reflection of the effectiveness of the leader—and the leadership team—at the top.

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149-30-6: Big Focus Meets Little Focus

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

I achieved a milestone this week that I never thought would happen.  The only reason it did occur was because I took the advice of a number of people who have inspired me both recently and over the longer term.  Yes, I’m going to name names, and then I’m going to tell you what was achieved and, more importantly, what I’ve learned from the experience.  First, to the list of people who immediately come to mind as people who inspired me to embark on this particular effort:

Leo Babauta, creator of Zen Habits, who focuses on the very simple (and clear) ways to get things done.

Michael Perry, author of several books, Population 485 among them, who focuses on the very precise things that matter.

Ken Ammann, my best friend for 25 years, John Trujillo, my business partner and intrepid adventurer, and Tom Nitopi, my unwitting mentor and close friend, who all only know one direction – forward.

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