Harvard Business Review

Don’t Let Perfection Be the Enemy of Productivity

Summary.   Perfectionism is often driven by striving for excellence, but it can be self-sabotaging. There are three big mistakes that tend to kill perfectionists’ productivity. First, they are often unable to designate any decision as unimportant which prevents them from quick action or delegation. Second, they feel morally obligated to overdeliver. Third, they rigidly cling to…

Harvard Business Review

How Timeboxing Works and Why It Will Make You More Productive

Summary.   In a recent survey of 100 productivity hacks, timeboxing — migrating to-do lists into calendars — was ranked the most useful. Timeboxing can give you a much greater sense of control over your workday. You decide what to do and when to do it, block out all distractions for that timeboxed period, and get it…

Harvard Business Review

How to Design an Agenda for an Effective Meeting

Summary.   To prevent holding a meeting in which participants are unprepared, veer off-track, or waste the team’s time, you should create an effective meeting agenda that sets clear expectations for what needs to occur before and during the meeting. Seek input from your team members to ensure the agenda reflects their needs and keeps them engaged….

Harvard Business Review

High-Performing Teams Need Psychological Safety: Here’s How to Create It

Summary. The highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychological safety — the belief that you won’t be punished when you make a mistake. Studies show that psychological safety allows for moderate risk-taking, speaking your mind, creativity, and sticking your neck out without fear of having it cut off — just the types of behavior…

Want to Achieve Real Improvement? Stop Blaming the People!

Want to Achieve Real Improvement? Stop Blaming the People!

Fixing broken processes is the better choice for increased productivity and a more engaged workforce. “A bad system will beat a good person every time.” Dr. W. Edwards Deming One of my favorite quotes from Dr. Deming is, “A bad system will beat a good person every time.” This is one of the many lessons…