Performance Evaluations and Grade Inflation
I recently bought a new car. As I was about to drive off the lot, the salesperson said, “In a few days, you’ll receive an email with a survey to rate my performance today. If you don’t give me a...
View Article#NoManagers
Interesting: “On June 20th 2013, we decided that our 4-day work week at Treehouse wasn’t insane enough so we went further: We removed all Managers… We give all employees 100% control of their time and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tip: Use Google to Display a Break Timer
Teaching a class and need a countdown timer to display remaining break time? In the past, I’ve used Microsoft’s (formerly SysInternals’) free ZoomIt utility, whose primary function is to enlarge...
View ArticleSuccession Planning
Imagine that you’re an auto mechanic. After working as a mechanic for many years, you take a job training other mechanics. You get to work in the field you love and the trainees seem to like you. Life...
View ArticleHow to Be an Effective Trainer
Recently, a colleague of mine started a new job. For the past several years, she had been a corporate learning and development manager; now, for the first time, she would be responsible for training IT...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monica vs. Phoebe
Imagine two teams: The first (“Team Monica”) begins a project with a kickoff meeting, followed by meetings with stakeholders and subject-matter experts, and a recurring weekly meeting to discuss...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Art of Storytelling
This week I attended a workshop in San Francisco called The Art of Storytelling with McSweeney’s. The course description promised that I would learn “How to craft persuasive stories for a variety of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Blog Update
It all started with a tweet.Last summer, a colleague asked for recommendations of WordPress alternatives; I replied with a link to this article. At the time, I had been running this site on Movable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Most Corporate Training Sucks
Good morning, and welcome to Acme Widgets Sales Training. I’m Becca, your trainer; over the next 8 hours, you will learn all about Acme Widgets and how to sell them.[Slide 1 (of 147): About me] First...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Debbie Reynolds Story
When I was very young, my family went to a theater to see the MGM epic, How the West Was Won. It’s a long film (2 hours, 44 minutes), so it included an intermission.As we were leaving the theater, my...
View Article