THE MAGIC IS IN THE PEOPLE

"You can design, create, and build the most wonderful place in the world but it takes people to make the dream a reality."

Walt Disney, 20th century American entrepreneur.

Something to remember the next time you are part of a discussion of how to reduce or eliminate the need for human intervention.

TIME TO RETRAIN?

"The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people."

Karl Marx (1818-1883) German philosopher/political economist.

This will come as no surprise if you know anything about the economic views of Mr. Marx.

But if true does an increase in "useless people" have to be the inevitable byproduct of innovation?

It doesn't.

History is full of examples of innovation leading to retraining workers to do jobs, which previously did not exist.

If you are a worker whose talents no longer fit the job market, focus on retraining.

Better jobs await you. 

YOUR RULE IS NOT ABSOLUTE

"Those that rule must hear and be deaf, must see and be blind."

German proverb

Management rules but success only comes from the willing participation of those told what to do. 

Lose that and you do not rule.

WHAT YOU MUST DO, WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO

"Medicine is my lawful wife and literature my mistress; when I get tired of one, I spend the night with the other."

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) Russian author.

So many unhappy at work.

We recreate to offset the time spent doing what we must rather than what we like, often without the option of deciding when we will do either of them.

One third of your life will be spent working; do your best to insure the majority of that time will be enjoyable.

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

"It is the first of all problems for a man to find out what kind of work he is to do in this universe."

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) British historian/essayist

Arguably the biggest of all problems because if you get that wrong, all else that follows will only be worse.

Choose your career carefully.

NOW I UNDERSTAND WHY I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU

"It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering, and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun."

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) British novelist

At the root of this poetic paragraph is the challenge we all face attempting to deal with each other.

Remember this the next time you look across the conference room table at your co-workers.

AND ANOTHER THING!

"I find the pain of a little censure, even when it is unfounded, is more acute than the pleasure of much praise."

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Third president of the United States

It's like that for most of us.

Note to management: You do need to criticize employees who are not performing as expected, but do so carefully with much consideration.

The effects on them and their work may be exactly the opposite of what you hope for and expect.

THAT IS SICK

"Never find fault with the absent."

Unknown

And yet we do don't we?

We go to work sick, concerned that others will think we are faking.

We wonder whether those who stay home sick really are.

SOME BUT NOT ALL OF WHAT YOU KNOW

"Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time."

Chinese proverb

Graham Nash told us, "Teach your children well", however that doesn't mean all or only what you know.

Substitute "employees" for "children" and the thought applies equally as well.

EMPLOYEES: THE COMPANY IMAGE

"Choose your wife as you wish your children to be."

Proverb

A slight but critical suggested edit, "Choose your wife or husband as you wish your children to be."

In business, choose your employees as you wish your company to be known.

There is no company beyond its employees.

TRUE FOR PEOPLE AS WELL

"Neither have they hearts to stay, nor wit enough to run away."

Samuel Butler

17th century British poet/satirist

When it comes to careers this is true for way too many people, and, as a result, the source of much professional and personal unhappiness.

If you are not happy with what you do, create a plan to become happy.

Leaving things as they are should not be considered a viable option.

VOCATIONAL HAZARDS

"Look around the inhabited world; how few know their own good, or knowing it, pursue."

John Dryden 

17th century British poet/dramatist/critic

Many of us become whatever comes along first, whatever "pays the bills".

Since we often then spend a lifetime doing whatever that is, shouldn't our first job be doing the best job we can deciding what our job will be?

As difficult as it is important to do.

Crazy Or Eccentric: A Very Thin Line Of Difference

"The world thinks eccentricity in great things is genius, but in small things, only crazy."

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

19th century British politician

And since most great things begin as small things, the task of every manager is to determine which they are dealing with before it is apparent.

The Emotional Light

"There can be no transforming darkness into light and apathy into movement without emotion."

Carl Gustav Jung

Late 19th/early 20th century Swiss psychiatrist/psychologist

Emotionless effort gets you nowhere worth going; you need emotional effort to achieve most any goal worth achieving.

Prepare Now For The Next Economic Tsunami

"There is an enormous number of managers who have retired on the job."

Peter F. Drucker

American writer/educator/business consultant

One good thing about the severity of the recent recession is that it eliminated a lot of unproductive labor and management along with, no doubt, some productive people as well.

That's the downside to tsunamis, both literal and figurative ones.

If you're standing when one approaches you may well not be after it's passed over you.

However unlike the real wave, during difficult economic times there is some judgement about who stays and who goes.

The more productive you are the better chance you have of surviving.

Expecting? What?

"We love to expect, and when expectation is either disappointment or gratified, we want to be expecting again."

Samuel Johnson

18th century British author

Anticipation is often better than having what is anticipated.

How do you use that to your advantage in business?

How do you deal with it when you can't?

What Am I Laughing At?

"Levity is often less foolish and gravity less wise than each of them appears."

Charles Caleb Colton

18th century British clergyman

Jokes about the company you work for can serve two purposes.

They can make you laugh and they can point you towards what needs to change.

It's no laughing matter if all you do is laugh.

Who Owns You?

"So free we seem, so fettered we are."

Robert Browning

19th century British poet

How true whether you work for yourself or someone else.

We all owe someone something.

How Can I Help You?

"Masters who sacrifice for servants will receive the gift of loyalty."

Proverb

If you've never thought about what you should do for those who report to you, you should.

If not for them, for yourself.

Always Right?

"He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill."

Edmund Burke

18th century British political writer

If your direct reports never do this, if your peers always accept your positions, how will you know you're right?