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Making A Difference – Thoughts, Observations and Opinions
This is Dave Brock’s Blog.
It offers my views on a variety of business, sales, marketing, and leadership topic. My goal is to make a difference for you, the reader, in both your professional and personal lives.
Latest Posts
Top 11 Thing I Learned……
In doing some research on a project, I have run across a great blog, Product Management Tips By Gopal Shenoy. One of his posts from close to a year ago was entitled: “Top 11 things I learnt at Solidworks in the last 11 years!” It is a good post, I have included the major bullet items below, but read his blog, you will get a fuller appreciation for the 11 important points. Hiring is the most important thing you will do at work and always hire people smarter than you.A manager’s success is all about making his/her reports successful in […]
Advice With Scars On It….
….needs to be listened to! This is a very nice post on Michael Wade’s Execupundit.com. If something doesn’t feel right, don’t pretend that it is right. Be wary of wit at the expense of others. It has a habit of turning sour. There are times when one of the smartest things you can do is to lose an argument. One of the most dangerous moments in a meeting is when everyone agrees. There are no little slights. Don’t set higher standards for your secretary than you do for your chief executive officer. There are people who are wrong at the […]
Execution Is More Than A Bullet In PowerPoint
If it’s in a PowerPoint presentation, then it must be true. If it’s a strategy or action point, then count on it being executed! As ridiculous as those statements sound, I work with many people and organizations whose behavior would indicate they believe it to be true. Too often, it seems the PowerPoint presentation is an end in itself. Months later, in reviews, when I ask, what’s been done on an action item, I get blank stares. Strategy development and execution is tough. All of us know that it cannot be reduced to a series of bullet points. To be […]
Lessons Of Silence — What The Deaf Can Teach Us About Listening And Making Ourselves Heard
Bruno Khane has written a nice article in Strategy And Business. He sites research in which the deaf have developed certain communications skills that make them more effective than those who can hear. Some key points: 1. Look people in the eye.2. Don’t interrupt.3. Say what you mean, as simply as possible.4. When you don’t understand something, ask.5. Stay focused. Improving our ability to communicate is something we must continually do. These are great tips.
Renaissance Teams
“You can’t make a renaissance person anymore because of the range of what you would need to do is just impossible. But you could actually assemble a renaissance team.” Bruce Dau Interesting quote from Roger Martin’s Opposable Mind. Worth thinking about in building teams, encouraging collaboration, innovation and creativity.
Empty Your In Box—Increase Your Productivity
A few weeks ago, I read a time management tip about “emptying” your In Box (From Randy Pausch’s Time Management Seminar). I’d always used my In Box as a kind of memory jogger on different things, in addition to my to-do and follow-up lists. I decided to try Randy’s tip. It’s amazing, how well it has worked. I’ve noticed a tremendous increase in my productivity. I don’t go back to old messages, that I’ve read dozens of times before to remind myself what to do–after all I’ve already put the item in a to-do or follow-up. Why have another location […]