When working on a client project, the topic of scope creep comes up. This is when a discussion or sub-assignment emerges that wasn’t planned. The scope of the project has crept into something different. Often this creep takes up more time. Reducing the revenue from...
Yesterday, we explored how to use CliftonStrengths to shape the way you naturally approach tasks. What energizes you. What drains you. And what might keep you stuck. But awareness isn’t enough. You still have the list. The pressure. And the uncertainty of where to...
We’ve all been there. Staring at a massive to-do list, not knowing where to start. Everything feels urgent. Nothing feels doable. We close the folder. Or the notebook. Or just quietly panic. That’s to-do list paralysis. And it has less to do with laziness than we give...
Often when we set goals, the goal is not really the goal. Each goal is building to something larger. The ultimate goal. Sometimes we are aware of that goal. Sometimes we aren’t. Finding the Real Goal To understand the goal that our goals are laddering up to, we need...
My website has a program called WP-Optimize. Yesterday, I got an email that said, “updates have been made”. Specifically, “WP-Optimize – Clean, Compress, Cache”. As soon as a saw the message, I chuckled and thought about how this applies to life. I love finding...
Most of my life, I’ve used the term “forcing mechanism”. The situation might be when there was a presentation looming. The deadline forced me to figure out challenge that had been working in the background. I’ve been thinking about forcing mechanisms lately. There are...
I came across a post focused on planning for retirement. While the content related to focusing on your financial future was great, I also believe the concept can apply to all the areas of our wellbeing. The five areas of planning laid out in the article are strategic...
At the end of January, I had the opportunity to be a special awards judge for an Engineering Society of Detroit event where student teams of three designed sustainable cities. I was so impressed by the knowledge and ideas these young students presented. One thing all...
Several years ago, Gretchen Rubin selected the word infrastructure as her word of the year. Before that, the concept never really crossed my mind. Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational systems needed to operate businesses, cities, nations, and even...
We have made it to our last dimension of wellbeing – environmental. This does mean nature and outdoors. However, it also means the spaces in which we spend our time. Our rooms, desk at work, or even that corner of a coffee shop we choose every time. Having spaces we...
Job descriptions, resumes, and conversations at work are full of words focused on change in a fast paced environment. We hear things like we need people with “agility and flexibility” who can “deal with ambiguity”. These words can mean different things to different...
When we talk about the relationship between employers and employees, there is a focus on policy. Retirement plans, benefits, salary, hours, location where work is done, etc. There is less conversation about people. People are the ones making the decisions and doing...
A new co-working space opened in Detroit called The Creators Nest. I love the name. And the concept of the creator space. The founders, Adam & Stephanie Vaught developed the co-working space for creatives. A place where they could come and be inspired to do their...
Sometimes we just need an organizing day. Something has become overwhelming, and we need to get things back in order. This could be a physical space that has become cluttered or needs maintenance. This could be digital files where we can’t seem to find what we need....
What if we shifted our thinking about our goals at work? Instead, we could think of them as projects. With a project, we assess the current situation. We identify gaps between where we are and where we want to be. Roadblocks are discussed. Deliverables are split into...
In a prior post, I referenced some stats that suggested we spend 45 minutes a day hunting for files. The stat has been troubling me, yet I believe it could be true. My Story Organizing documents on my computer is something I’ve worked on for years. The process is...
When considering someone for a project, background and abilities have always been important. The “ability” being added to the skills list these days is agility. Team members need to be comfortable dealing with ambiguity. Able to quickly react to...
In a previous post, I covered different ways of journaling to find one that works for you. There is one type of journaling that wasn’t covered and deserves a post of its own. Work journaling. When looking at articles on work journals, there are several purposes....
A stat crossed my desk that suggested 50% of emails aren’t understood. 50% - really ??!! I did a bit of research and found this article. The article indicates that the words we use often land in ways we didn’t intend. A compliment turns sarcastic. A question turns...
Who is the “customer” of a meeting? This is an odd question. Meetings are scheduled. We attend. Presentations are reviewed. Conversations happen. Updates are discussed. Yet, why? For whom? Is the organizer the customer? What did the customer hope the meeting...
You might be thinking…. What is taxonomy? or How does this apply to work? The definition of taxonomy is the branch of science concerned with classification. Taxonomy can be used to organize and index knowledge. The “knowledge” can be anything. Stored documents....