“Why can’t we make more, and why can’t we make it sooner?” asked Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla of his manufacturing leader, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article.1 The article goes on to describe and praise Bourla’s demanding leadership style, a decided departure from the popular press on more gentle approaches to leadership.2 Pfizer’s…
You’ve probably seen the press and the hype about work from home and the amazing productivity that is accompanying these new work circumstances. But is it real? In a couple words: Probably not. While there may be elements that seem valid, there are other pieces that are suspect. Productivity is important to organizations, of course. But it’s also important to individuals. When people…
As a career coach, I spend a lot of time working with people on their productivity. You might not expect that, but productivity is actually a critically important skill both inside the workplace and out. When people tell me they have big goals—or even small ones—and they just can’t seem to make progress on them, I know it’s time to evaluate their productivity practices. Nine…
The modern concept of synergy was proposed by chemists. They discovered that every time they separated atoms or molecules from a complex compound, the behavior of the separate parts could never explain the behavior of all of them interconnected. For example, the chemical behaviors of isolated hydrogen (H2) and isolated oxygen (O2) do not offer any kind of information about the chemical behavior of…
If you are in a leadership position, you will need to build a team of diverse personalities and abilities. Even if you fly solo, you may have to occasionally work with freelancers or contractors. If you are in a leadership position, you will need to build a team of diverse personalities and abilities. Even if you fly solo, you may need to work with freelancers or contractors from time…