Joy at Work Thinking
Written by Roxanne Brown
I'm struck by the more frequent, genuine kindness in language and actions today, especially at work. Checking on others. Showing real concern. Smiling wider at seeing someone appear on a video call. Space given on those calls to listen to what others are going through. ...
Written by Ed Cook
As we go further into the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of low-level anxiety is increasing. The end is uncertain. We may have much further to go. Although many have a low probability of danger from the virus, the very existence of a global pandemic coupled with consist...
Written by Roxanne Brown
Empathy became a popular word to use at work a few years ago. Have you thought about it lately?Â
I admit I can be a bit jaded about words that become popular in the workplace because I’ve seen them enter the vernacular with good intention, then end up being meaningless o...
Written by Ed Cook
As we all scramble because of the COVID-19 outbreak of the coronavirus to move to virtual work that means virtual meetings. Anything that has not gone well with our in-person meetings is going to go even more horribly with your virtual meetings. Every distraction, every unf...
Written by Ed Cook
With the coronavirus raging across the world and organizations asking people to stay home, we will all need to learn how to work better virtually. There are certainly practical tips for conducting a meeting virtually that you can review here. Also important in a virtual work...
Written by Ed Cook
The words coach and mentor are often used interchangeably making distinctions between them murky. This is unfortunate because the value of each can be tremendous for a person’s career, but where and how that value shows up is significant. Furthering the confusion, people ca...
Written by Ed Cook
The words leader and manager are often used interchangeably and with that, their individual meaning is lost. Â Peter Drucker and Warren Bennis are often quoted as saying:
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“Management is doing the things right and Leadership is doing the right thing.”  Â
It’s pithy and points t...
Written by Roxanne Brown
Early in my change career, my boss, my colleagues, and I were learning the art and science of change work by absorbing everything we could get our hands on. We poured over books together to see what we could glean that was relevant to our current business problems and a...
Written by Ed Cook
The amount of research on why Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) succeed or fail is voluminous but not particularly clear. M&A is often not successful. Early research focused on strategy and structural factors, but the results were mixed. More recently cultural factors are the foc...
Written by Ed Cook
While watching a symphony or orchestra or choir, I’ve often wondered what the value of a conductor is to the other musicians. Afterall other music groups seem to do fine without one. Rock bands, jazz groups, a cappella ensembles, all manage without a conductor. I got an inter...
Written by Roxanne Brown
In work, I often feel pressure to offer others a perspective or something else that may be valuable within just one conversation. That means giving something without attachment to whether or not it’s received as I intend. I recognize the limitations of that because I ca...
Written by Ed Cook
