Management Tip of the Day: Make Good Decisions Faster

A simple approach can help replace your slow deliberations with fast decisions. Try this framework: 

• Know your ultimate objective. The biggest hurdle to fast decisions is criteria overload. Of the seven or eight possible objectives you would love to meet, which one or two will make the biggest impact? Consider which stakeholder you least want to disappoint—which goal would they care about most?
• Get a second opinion. Asking one other person can broaden your frame of reference and help eliminate judgment errors. Plus, the act of explaining your situation anew often gives you fresh insights.
• Do something. Select one option while letting go of all the other "good" ones. No amount of deliberation can guarantee that you have identified the "right" option, but remember: The purpose of a decision is not choose perfectly, but to get you to the next decision.

Adapted from “Make Good Decisions Faster,” by Nick Tasler.

Management Tip of the Day: Take a Long Lunc

There’s a simple, old-fashioned practice that can make work more effective, engaging, and fun — long lunches. The idea of a leisurely lunch chatting with colleagues or clients might seem like something out of another era, but it has a place in modern office life too. Eating slowly has documented health benefits and having unplanned time with colleagues can help you forge deeper connections. Instead of scarfing down a sandwich at your desk or grabbing something on the go, make time for a longer lunch break. Even if you do it just once or twice a week, it can create stronger relationships with co-workers, and make you healthier and more productive. 

Adapted from “Old-School Business Practices Worth Bringing Back” by John Coleman.

7 Reasons I Dumped Facebook

http://news.yahoo.com/7-reasons-dumped-facebook-123200359.html

It’s official.  I’m off the Facebook grid.  Nobody offended me.  I didn’t have a bad experience.  While I’m not thrilled about the idea of Big Brother watching my every move, I’m not particularly paranoid about social media sharing.   Therefore, I’m sharing why I’m dumping Facebook and committing to Twitter and Instagram.

1)     Facebook sucks time from my life, and unlike money, time is a zero sum game (thanks to Laura Vanderkam for reminding us).  Without question, some of the time I spend on Facebook is edifying and life-giving.  For example, my good friend, Nick Selvi—a husband, father, teacher and musician—is stricken with stage four rectal cancer, and his Facebook page keeps me informed of the battle he and his family are waging.  I’ll miss that, but hopefully I’ll be a real friend and call and visit to support him.

2)     Most of my Facebook friends aren’t (actually friends).  They’re not enemies.  It’s not that I wish them ill, but for the majority of them, there’s a reason we don’t associate other than on Facebook.  For most, it’s not because of a geographic disparity or because they don’t have an email address or phone number—it’s because we’re simply not actual…friends.  (This makes me wonder if the reason I initially got on Facebook was actually a matter of pride.  “How many virtual friends can I assemble?”  I appreciated thereminder from Leo Babauta this week that comparing ourselves to others is an exercise in futility.)

3)     There are other (better) options for photo sharing.  Seeing my friends’ and family’s pictures, and sharing my own, is what I like most about Facebook.  A picture and a caption can generate a belly laugh or bring tears to my eyes.  I also know that it is the real-time exchange of family pics that likely inspired 90% of the grandparents who are on Facebook today—so I’m not going to leave them hanging.  Now instead of merely using Instagram to obscure my lack of photographic skill and then upload pictures on Facebook, I’ll simply use Instagram as my photo exchange medium, inviting only family and close friends to follow me there.

4)     Facebook brings out the worst in people.  How I didn’t quit Facebook during the last presidential campaign, I’ll never know.  The willingness of so many to spew half-baked punditry that almost assuredly alienates them from half of their friends—and convinces precisely no one of their opinion—boggles the mind!  Yes, these offenders are buoyed by the 10 Likes they get from the people who think similarly, but scores more harden their opinion in opposition and are likely offended in the process.  (If this point doesn’t resonate with you, you may be an offender.)

5)     I learn more on Twitter.  Twitter is to Facebook as a biography is to a novel.  I know there’s nothing wrong with reading fiction, but I confess that I (wrongly) feel a little guilty when I spend time reading something that didn’t (or won’t) actually happen.  I enjoy being on Twitter, much as I enjoy reading a good biography, but I’m allowed to feel like I’m better for having done so—that I’ve learned something beneficial.  Twitter is now my number one source for hard news and opinions I value, as well as a relational connecting point.  Twitter is more of a resource and less of a popularity contest.  And let’s face it, for all too many, Facebook is really closer to the intellectual or emotional equivalent of eating a tub of Ben & Jerry’s in one sitting.  (It’s not good for you.)

6)     The presence of ads on Facebook is getting ridiculous.  I care more about you than the fact that you like Cherry Coke.  I certainly care more about you than whatever Facebook wants me to buy, and it seems like there are increasingly more ads every day.  Am I the only one who notices that?

7)     Less is more.  I’m on a mission to simplify life, to slow it down to a pace at which it can actually be consumed, not just tasted.  I don’t want to hide behind the ubiquitous, “I’m really busy” as a badge of honor.  I want a lower cost of living (not just financially) and a higher quality of life.  I want to limit the number of [things] that compete for my attention so that I can apply more attention to those [things] I care the most about.  Less is the new more.

Goodbye, Facebook.  Follow me on Twitter: @TimMaurer.

Is This Why TED Talks Seem So Convincing?

from: http://priceonomics.com/is-this-why-ted-talks-seem-so-convincing/

The speakers at TED conferences give the type of presentations that public speaking coaches use as examples of effective presentation skills. They open with arresting images or stories that engage the audience, speak clearly and passionately, and illustrate each of their points with concise evidence or examples.

TED Talks are also slick productions. The lighting is as well done as a rock concert’s, cameras film from a variety of angles to keep viewers visually engaged, and the length is never so long as to drain an audience’s attention span.

At the end of a TED talk, this author often feels inspired and enlightened, patting himself on the back for spending 10 minutes improving his mind instead of watching sitcom reruns. But according to a study performed by a group of psychologists, the degree to which a TED audience feels newly educated may be partly illusory - the result of showmanship as much as actual learning. 

In their study “Appearances Can Be Deceiving,” a team of psychologists had students watch recorded lectures explaining why Calico cats are almost always female. (It's essentially a genetics lesson, as the answer has to do with how the calico fur pattern is linked to X chromosomes.) One group saw a lecturer who presented with the skills of a TED speaker. The other watched the lecturer read haltingly from notes. 

Afterwards the students answered questions about how much they felt they had learned. As expected, students who had watched the lecturer with better presentation skills expected to remember more of the material, believed that they understood the material better, and rated their interest and motivation more highly than the students who watched the dud instructor. 

The twist came when the students took a test that investigated their memory and understanding of the Calico cats concept. The students who watched the skillful (or “fluent”) lecturer barely outperformed the students who watched the “disfluent speaker.” But they did much poorer than they expected to do, whereas the other group did about as well as they expected. 

The lesson to take away is probably not that presentation skills don’t matter in teaching. The study only looked at one concept of medium difficulty presented in a single recorded lecture. But it does suggest that the confidence and fluidity of a skillful presenter can lead us to be overconfident in our predictions of how much we learned and how easily we can understand the concept being explained. Implicitly, a savvy presentation sells you on the idea that you've learned a lot as much as it actually informs you.

So the next time you watch a TED Talk, ask yourself whether you can explain the concept clearly, and whether its logic holds up outside the nice lighting and well-timed applause. It’s all too easy to be carried away by a skillful presentation into believing that you’ve learned more than you really have.

Three Ways to Stop Procrastination

Procrastination may feel like the human condition, but it doesn’t have to. To get out of your own way and increase your productivity, try these three tactics:

• Set deadlines. Create a schedule with clear due dates for each task. Remind yourself by using visual cues: Set reminders in your calendar, add items to your to-do list, or put a sticky note on your computer screen.
• Ask for help. Ask a trusted colleague to review your work. Knowing that she’s expecting it can spur you to get started.
• Change your mind-set. Stop thinking of yourself as a procrastinator. See yourself — and talk about yourself with others — as someone who gets things done.

Adapted from the Guide to Getting the Right Work Done.

Read more: http://business.time.com/2012/10/19/three-ways-to-stop-procrastination/#ixzz2A2qshg00

Want to Read Faster? Stop Saying The Words in Your Head As You Read

When you read, do you hear the words in your mind or even subconsciously say them under your breath? Break this one habit, called subvocalization, and you can double or even triple your reading speed.

When you say the words as you read them, you can't read any faster than you can talk.

Spreeder, a web app that teaches speed reading, offers this tip to quiet the little voice in our heads that slows us down when we read: Keep your mouth occupied.

One simple way is to preoccupy your mouth. When you give your mouth something else to do while you read, you can disengage the speech mechanism in the brain, allowing what your read to go straight to your conscious awareness rather than being slowed down by your brain needing to figure out how to say the words first.

So chew some gum, hum, or eat lunch while reading and you may find yourself going through a ton of reading material like never before.

How to Read Faster by Eliminating Subvocalization | Spreeder

from Lifehackr (source)