Sir Dave Brailsford, MBA, CBE, Team Principal, Team Sky and former Performance Director, Great Britain Cycling Team, gives top 5 tips for outperformance. His success is based on a theory of ‘marginal gains’ – significant improvement is obtained through a large number of marginal increases. 1. Recruit the best people that you can possibly find … Continued
Many organisations struggle to increase their employee engagement levels. Chances are many initiatives undertaken by these organisations are organisation wide and process driven. A different ‘give back’ initiative, a new cutomer service incentive scheme or even better food/desks/chairs/gym membership. Whilst we should not ignore the importance of such initiatives, I worry they lack the personal … Continued
65% of workers report that in the past 12 months they received no recognition for good work during the prior year (Gallup). Appreciation can be used strategically by supervisors to boost employee morale. Appreciating the best qualities in those with whom we work can help give them a boost, motivating them to persevere even when … Continued
An interesting blog at IDEO highlighting an experiment in client empathy ended up emphasising how the little things in life really matter. IDEO is a creative design company which is justifiably proud of their fantastic work culture. In their words ‘We provide the small things that enable the day to run smoothly so individuals can … Continued
Most performance management is ‘broken’ – it is administratively burdensome and often gets in the way of having an enlightened and honest conversation between the organisation and the employee. In a recent edition of the RSA journal entitled 21st Century Enlightenment, Lynda Gratton gave her view on the important issues of work in the 21st … Continued
“Jobs that exist today were invented to fulfil particular industrial and commercial purposes. Employers want recruits who will fit into existing organisations and systems whereas the young are now being educated to develop and express their individual personalities and no longer just to obey and conform…. Work has not yet been reconceived as a … Continued
In a recent edition of the RSA journal entitled 21st Century Enlightenment, Lynda Gratton and a number of other industrial academics, gave their view on the important issues of work in the 21st Century. Gratton talked about the ‘hollowing out of work’ which is a reshaping of the labour markets so that middle skill jobs … Continued
After another fascinating weekend at UEL learning about positive psychology applications – in the workplace, school and community – we have learnt how important it is to have a varied and engaging series of interventions to have real impact. This is because of the hedonic treadmill – people get ‘used to’ undertaking gratitude diaries, or … Continued
In Linda Gratton’s new book, The Shift: the future of work is already here, she talks about the forces that will shape work and careers in the future and what we should do to build a career that will stand the test of time. Her ten top tips are here: 1. Don’t be fooled into walking … Continued
As some of you may know, I’ve started an MSC in Applied Positive Psychology. As part of my reading I came across a very interesting piece of empirical research about goal setting. Of course, being a naive student I forget to footnote it! What was interesting about it was that the research found that the … Continued
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