How Do We Incentivize High Performance? Profit v Purpose In this excerpt from his best selling book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us author Dan Pink shares some fascinating insights into the things that really motivate us at home and in the workplace. As Pink points out carrot and stick motivators may work for simple algorithmic tasks, but for more complex jobs that require creative thinking, studies show money is not an effective motivator. Interestingly, people engaged in these types of projects are more motivated by a sense
The Importance of Leaving a Good “Last” Impression “The characteristic of a great man is his power to leave a lasting impression on people he meets” – W. Churchill Ok, so we know first impressions are really important. And yes, of course we’ve all heard the saying, “you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” But what about “last impressions?” They matter too, don’t they? After all, if we were preparing to go to an important meeting we wouldn’t just brush the front of our hair
Do You Have To Be First To Win? There’s an awful lot of talk in business about the importance of being the “first to market” when launching a new product or service. The conventional wisdom being that if a company is first to market with a breakthrough technology they’ll wind up with a competitive advantage. This in turn will allow them to enjoy large margins and a monopoly-like status. Well, that sure sounds like a win, doesn’t it? But here’s the thing. Have you ever noticed that in real life
“Being honest is what counts. Making the ordinary extraordinary. If something is real for one person you’ve touched their life. Real life does that.” – Ricky Gervais Liked this funny guy’s serious take on his creative process. Have a look- Ricky Gervais (whose new Netflix series, Derek, debuts September 12) shares a story about an early creative turning point that forever informed the way he writes and works. (Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
On presenting: A Lesson from Lincoln. There’s a reason people fear making presentations. It’s hard! Really f-ing hard! Much harder than it looks, don’t you think? Sure, we’ve heard all the advice. Yet, if you’re like me, you still struggle to understand how to best convey your knowledge and expertise without boring the crowd with a data dump. You might also wonder, how do I convincingly sell an audience on my idea or motivate them to take action? And perhaps most of all, how do I do all this in
What if I told you 10 years from now your life would be exactly the same? Doubt you’d be happy. So, why are you afraid of change? Karen Salmansohn (via livintoinspire)
Know Your “Frenemy” Has this ever happened to you? You’ve pitched a prospective client on your services. The meeting ends and you walk out feeling great! You’re sure that you’ve nailed it! After all, you had great rapport with the prospect. They were engaged. They nodded in acknowledgement as you made your case for being the most experienced service provider in town. They were clearly impressed by your client list and references and, you’re proposed pricing is well within their budget. They are chomping at the bit! All that’s left
Wise words. A letter from Keith Haring to a fan
Beware of Being the “Affordable" Choice When pricing your product it can be really tempting to position yourself as the low-cost alternative in the market. After all the thinking goes, if your product’s price is more affordable this will drive traffic and even though you’re making less per item, you’ll be able to make up the difference on the volume sold. It’s a popular tact taken by many businesses mostly because it’s simple and straightforward and, you don’t need a lot of marketing “know how” to pull it off. However,
Making Someone Feel Important. “You is kind, you is smart, you is important.” – Kathryn Stockett, The Help I love this line from, The Help. It’s so simple, and powerful. Did you know that feeling that we’re respected; in essence that we matter is the one quality we humans crave most in our interactions with others? We want to feel that we’re important. You know, when you think about it, making people feel that they’re important or that they have value is really such an easy thing to deliver