By Clemens Rettich, on November 24th, 2011 
There is in the human soul a desire for reproducibility. Not reproduction, (we have that for sure!), but a need to reproduce things, perfectly and repeatably.
Traditional MBA programs are built on that desire; on the belief that the behaviours that constitute good management can be learned and repeated in any context. Those programs suggest, by making management a discipline, that if you get the basic skills down, you can manage a retail business or a bank or a restaurant, each with equal success.
The trouble is, it just isn’t true. But it seems that the desire to create . . . → Read More: A System or A Symphony?
By Clemens Rettich, on November 22nd, 2011 
The biggest misconception about improvisation is that it is all about making stuff up… that anything goes.
The reality is that good improvisation, whether it is jazz, classical Indian music, or improv theater, is always grounded in a strong set of rules and guiding principles.
A new improv game for business
The next time you are onboarding a new recruit, here’s a little improvisation I would like you to undertake. The rules:
Confirm that the candidate has the basic skills (and only the basic skills) required to do the job Present the candidate with the current written objectives for . . . → Read More: The Ultimate Business Improv
By Clemens Rettich, on November 10th, 2011 
Information theory. Physics. Classical music & jazz. Monastic orders. The sciences of the brain and cognition. Statistics and probability.
Business Fundamentals.
Rules.
Each of these disciplines have rules at the heart of them.
So why do I find myself constantly going back there to think and act out of the box? Isn’t getting out of the box, out of the rut, all about breaking the old rules?
No. This is a complete failure of insight. We are not boxed by rules. We are boxed by habits, instincts, and unexamined emotions. One prejudice creates a prison of a box more . . . → Read More: Back to the Middle to Get Outside
By Clemens Rettich, on November 8th, 2011 
Ideas are easy. Consistency is hard.
I think that one of the reasons I return to that epigram so often is because of my music training. The business world has much to learn from the musical world.
In music we keep going back to the fundamentals over and over again. You keep practicing all the time. Inspiration and creativity matter, but if you are a professional, it is your chops that really matter. No one expects to get it right the first time. You make mistakes, but you keep practicing until you don’t make mistakes any more. Yes originality . . . → Read More: Play it Again. And Again. And Again.
By Clemens Rettich, on November 1st, 2011 
We all procrastinate. But most of us are not procrastinators.
When was the last time you put off eating that ice cream because it was too much bother? How about finding all kinds of excuses not to cash in that cheque for 10K.
No?
How many of us pack the car in a flurry to hit the road and get to that fishing or camping spot before everyone else? Gardeners getting lost for hours in their gardens? Those of us who love to cook, unwinding in our kitchens, cooking 4-course meals?
Where are the procrastinators?
Every time I work . . . → Read More: There are No Procrastinators
By Clemens Rettich, on October 21st, 2011 
<Start Devil’s Advocacy>Caveat lector.
I hate the term time management.
You can’t manage time. The word manage has the Latin word for hand (manus) buried in it. So you get the sense of something you can get you hands on, manipulate, adjust, turn, alter, carve, or julienne. And you can’t do a single one of those things with time.
We all get a chunk of it doled out in the light, and a chunk in the dark. Some of us use clocks that divide those experiences into hours. 24 of them. And we all get the same chunks. Depending . . . → Read More: Why Time Management Is a Phrase That Should Burn
By Clemens Rettich, on October 18th, 2011 
It has become a truism that many of us are too busy.
My trouble is that every time I hear a pronouncement like that I feel my feet cleaving and two little bumps pushing through my skull just at the hairline. The urge to advocate for the devil becomes strong. For example, when I hear someone say we should all be seeking balance in our lives I get like that… but that’s another article.
So really, are we too busy? Too distracted? Have we lost something important that we once had?
Reading What Happened To Downtime? The Extinction Of . . . → Read More: Give it a Rest. Downtime and Productivity
By Clemens Rettich, on October 4th, 2011 
Engagement has become one of those nod your head buzzwords. We all suspect it’s a good thing, but most of us have no concrete understanding of what it means.
What engagement does means:
The feeling that we matter at work; that the unique skills and experience we bring to the team are valued, and would be missed if we weren’t there The deliberate act of engaging with employees to share their input and feedback to improve the organization. Done right, this leads back to #1!
The decades-long work by Marcus Buckingham and the Gallup organization have provided irrefutable evidence that the absence . . . → Read More: Tell Me I Matter & We Both Win
By Clemens Rettich, on August 13th, 2011 
What gives you the right to expect ‘more’ from your employees?
When you provide only the very basics on your side of the relationship as the employer how can you expect more than the very basics from your employees? If all you give me is money, all you get is my hands.
If you want my heart and my head, you’ll have to put yours in there too.
Brett Simons has written another excellent and thoughtful piece. This one explores Enabling Covenantal Relationships. As Brett writes:
“Unless and until you are willing to hold yourself accountable for performing your . . . → Read More: Will You Be Mine? The Employer As Covenant Partner
By Clemens Rettich, on August 8th, 2011 
Saying yes is a frame of mind. It is an approach to life, creativity, and leadership.
Say yes until you have to say no. In everything.
Even in sales, it is one of the oldest tricks in the book to get people into a “yes” mindset by warming them up with questions to which “yes” is the most likely answer:
“Hello, are you having a good day?” [good manners usually have us answering ‘yes’]
“Are you looking for a car today?” [of course, that is why we are on the lot]
“Are you . . . → Read More: Improv in the Cubicles: Yes Let’s!
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