“I believe that every right implies a responsibility, every opportunity, an obligation, every possession, a duty” (Nelson Rockefeller) I am sure that you have heard the words ‘that’s not my responsibility’ from people on countless occasions. Other forms of the same expression include “that is not my role”, “that’s not in my employment contract” or…
The temptation to set stretch targets to achieve company goals within a short period of time is indeed something that the most realistic of leaders cannot resist. There is, however, a certain limit to which such change initiatives can be actualised as real solutions, as most complex problems are hardly going to be solved within…
In the movie, Office Space – a comedy about work life in a typical 1990’s software company – the protagonist, Peter Gibbons, has eight different bosses. All of them, seemingly unaware of each other, make requests of his energy and time as they pass his desk. While the movie is most certainly a satire,…
It is easy to blame circumstances for a lack of success or at least give really plausible reasons for things not working out as planned. It is true sometimes that we feel like pawns, without any power, being manoeuvred strategically by a greater hand, often meaning that we lose our place on the chessboard. We…
Even the most proactive of people fall into the procrastination trap at some stage or the other. Important activities are sometimes substituted by pressing activities, the same of which don’t necessarily contribute to achieving one’s goals. Some people get really busy, but often with the unnecessary. Others, seemingly immobilised by fear or indecision, find alternative…
Stress is part of all of our lives. In fact, a little stress is good for one. A violin string in an un-stretched state can’t produce a note. Tightening it to an optimal tautness, however, the string produces the quality tone that it was designed for in the hands of a violinist. Likewise, some stress…
I am sure that you have heard those words from people on countless occasions. Other forms of the same expression include “that is not my role”, “that’s not in my employment contract” or “I can’t do everything in this organisation, you know”. People that use expressions like the above tend to pass the buck, make…
