Duty To Others

"A sense of duty is useful in work but offensive in personal relations.  People wish to be liked, not to be endured with patient resignation."

Bertrand Russell

19th century British philosopher

But since personal relations are important in business, how do you separate the two?

You don't.

Duties can be accomplished without "enduring" those you perform them for, patient resignation or not.

I Promise . . .

"Words pay no debts."

William Shakespeare

16th century British poet/playwright

Your promises to do specific things by a specific time are a form of debt.

Try not to default too often.

Planning: What Yogi Thinks

"It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

Yogi Berra Philosopher, Baseball Player

Actually Yogi, making predictions is easy; the hard part is making ones that come true and for that reason most managers don't like to be asked what they think will happen.

Predictions.

They live at the heart of every business plan which in terms of outcome is, from the day it is completed, a failed attempt to see the future. Managers are asked to commit to what they will do, timing, cost and expected outcome and because they assume someone will look at how things turn out, they don't want to do it.

So change what people think the business plan is about.

Let them know that their commitments are expected to evolve and that the ultimate review of their performance will be based on their ability to react and change as conditions around them change.

Do you plan for the future or are you simply a part of it?