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Productivity Archives
February 13, 2008
Turning Knowledge Into Wisdom
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Productivity
Adweek's Brian Morrissey wrote a feature in the February 4 print issue titled "The New Gold Standard." He argues why data--and the ability to use it--will change the way we do everything. Key insights, as highlighed in the article itself, include:
- Madison Avenue should look to Wall Street to understand the future of advertising.
- Those who find a way to turn "knowledge" into "wisdom" will end up ahead.
- As consumers catch on to the value of their data, expect them to want a cut.
The above three takeaways are all you need to know about this article--they capture it perfectly.
I've written before about this never ending tension between creative guts and number crunchers, so the real jewel for me in Morrissey's piece was the idea of those who can figure out how to turn knowledge into wisdom will end up winning.
This is a real challenge for Personality™ because I think we have tons of knowledge we're sitting on. Whether it's data, books or brains, we know a lot about what we do. Of course we have even more to learn, but the real genius of what we do will come as we continue to channel and focus our knowledge into wisdom.
As Alfred Lord Tennyson said, “Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.”
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January 3, 2007
Mashing Relational Connections
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Productivity
Several weeks ago it was my turn to lead the team during our weekly Reflection time. Each week one of us is assigned to lead the rest of the team through a 30 minute reflection about a pre-assigned topic. My topic for this particular week was "relationship."
So I cut up little pieces of paper (about the size of playing cards) and wrote a different word on each one. Play, homeless, dirty, desk, magazine were among the dozens of different words. I gave each person five words (one word per paper--five different pieces of paper each).
Continue reading "Mashing Relational Connections"
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June 22, 2005
Get Away: Idea Vacation
Posted by Brad Abare | Filed under: Productivity
Recently, the entire Personality™ staff took a full day away from the office and spent it a few miles south of here on the coast in a muggy motel meeting room. The atmosphere was distant from the daily, yet conducive to creativity. We intentionally brainstormed our agenda at the beginning of the morning, which got everybody on the same page real quick. We were able to tackle our top five brainstormed priorities, which meant everything from our structure to our future were discussed.
Our last "big idea" day like this was just over a year ago, and from that meeting came several ideas that are just now being realized which is exciting! Many companies and departments do stuff like this, but many more probably don't do them enough if at all.
Besides work, what's stopping your team from getting away?
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May 31, 2005
Setting Goals
Posted by Ken Erickson | Filed under: Productivity
My wife and I are looking into the house market (which has now topped the half a million mark here in L.A.—like we have that kind of cash sitting around), and received in the mail "Strategies for Success: The 8 Steps to Successful Goal Setting" from the Realtor. Funny, because that very day I just read about goal setting in my Guerilla Marketing book. Huh.
But it makes a lot of sense, there's quite a bit we can all accomplish from this task of goal setting. Here's the how-to:
- Identify the goal and write it down.
- Set a deadline for completion.
- Identify the obstacles.
- Name some people, groups or organizations that can help you.
- List the skills necessary to succeed.
- Write a plan of action.
- Visualize the end result.
- List the benefits for accomplishing this goal.
As Guerilla Marketing says, keep your goals specific, focused and measurable.
And as I say, "Believe in your goals. Believe in yourself." Anything is possible, maybe even a house in L.A.
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April 23, 2005
Office Distractions Drop IQ
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks | Filed under: Productivity
The distraction of office communications like e-mail, phone calls, and text messages can drop a person's IQ by 10 points. That's equivalent to missing an entire night's sleep and almost double the 4-point drop caused by marijuana. According to the study the mental gymnastics required to constantly jump to the next interruption takes its toll on a person's ability to be productive.
Managing those interruptions is probably the best way to cope. Force yourself to only check and answer e-mail during certain times of the day. Phone and text messages are a little harder to avoid, but there is a reason for voice mail. Use it and save your sanity. Literally.
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February 11, 2005
Smart Leadership
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks | Filed under: Productivity
Check out the free 18-page PDF "How to Manage Smart People" for tips on being a better leader and getting the most out of your team.
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February 4, 2005
Avoiding Burnout
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks | Filed under: Productivity
No one likes a stressed personality. Here are some helpful tips for managing stress and avoiding burnout.
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