… a technique that allows people to iterate on ideas without using harsh or judgmental language. While used typically in teams and on the ideas of others, plussing works equally well on one’s own ideas - when one’s self critic can be particularly vocal.
Today, most organizations, including a university’s IT organization, structure their work through a set of teams. Other examples include professional sports teams with their structure, their practice day-after-day of plays they may execute in the game, and a surgical team that performs the same procedure, for example, hip replacement, under tightly controlled conditions, perhaps multiple times, day after day.
… it’s really not an option
Today, in the United States some four out of every five individuals age 5 and older have some type of cell phone. And, most of these have sufficient functionality to be called smartphones. This is in stark contrast to the time when I was growing up in a small rural southeast Texas town.
Steven Westlund is the author of today’s Tuesday Reading. He is the Director of Enterprise Applications Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. His essay first appeared as a leadership program reflection earlier this year. [Steve may be reached at swestlund@wustl.edu.]
Kristin Wong, a Los Angeles journalist and writer, who contributes to the New York Times and other publications, found herself approached by a stranger at a grocery store asking if she needed help. He had heard her talking to herself out loud, in public. She had grown so comfortable with talking out loud to herself that she didn’t realize what she was doing.
Every organization has hidden leaders. They’re everywhere. They consistently step up to deal with client problems, with intractable issues, with extra effort to meet an unusual request from a key client, etc. We often don’t think of such individuals as leaders, after all they don’t have a positional title that would signify that they are a leader. However, they are key to the success of the organization.
Last spring I spoke at my undergraduate college, Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, at their 2017 Undergraduate Research EXPO. As I reflected on the Tuesday Reading to begin the 2017-2018 Academic Year, it occurred to me that a version of my remarks there, which ultimately focused on continuing to learn, was an appropriate way to begin the year.
Google “morning ritual” and you’ll find hundreds of suggested rituals. Some are focused on the time before you begin your workday, others have elements for how you structure your day, still others for dealing with particular types of events in your day, etc. One I found that particularly caught my attention was “3 Secrets to Having a Better Morning,” from Eric Barker, author of Barking Up the Wrong Tree.”
