Rodger Dean Duncan's Blog, page 14
May 11, 2020
An Upside To Hard Times: Innovation Blossoms
MacGyver, you probably thought, was a television show from 30 years ago. And it was. But MacGyver is also a verb, now officially recognized as such by the Oxford English Dictionary.
The title character from the TV series was a secret agent who always managed to improvise his way out of critical situations. MacGyvers extraordinary knack for unconventional problem solving made for good entertainment.
It also affected the colloquial American English lexicon. Today, to MacGyver a...
May 4, 2020
Culture Issues at Work? They’re Likely Fixable
For some people, culture is little more than soft and fuzzy stuff like beanbag seats and foosball tables in the employee lounge.
But its much more than that. An organizations culture includes all the values and rulesboth written and unwrittenthat affect peoples behaviors. It includes the way people interact, how they make decisions, how they deal with conflict, how they solve problems. Culture dictates how people challenge the status quoif, in fact, challenging the status quo is even...
April 28, 2020
Why Love and Discipline Are Key to Effective Leadership
Late every year its college footballs championship bowl season. One more chance for the players to strut their stuff. And another round of post-game interviews with the coaches.
Soaked in celebratory Gatorade, the coaches often sound as though they use the same crib sheet of clichés: Our guys came to play. We managed to overcome adversity.
The post-game interviews have a strange sense of sameness. But then what should we expect when the questionslike How does it feel to win the big...
April 24, 2020
Great Ideas on How to Argue Better. No Kidding
Do you sometimes disagree with even your best friends? Of course you do. But you work through the issues, possibly even joking about the divergent viewpoints. Then you move on to another topic. No harm, no foul.
But what about disagreeing with someone who is not a best friend? Heres where it can get tricky. And heres where you might need the most help.
Thats where Buster Benson comes in. Hes the author of Why Are We Yelling? The Art of Productive Disagreement.
In the first part of my...
April 22, 2020
‘Well, Excu-u-use Me!’ Why Can’t We Just Get Along?
Well, Excu-u-use Me!
That catchphrase, popularized in the 1970s by Steve Martin, was part of some of the funniest comedy routines of the time.
Unfortunately, that phrase now captures the touchiness of current-day culture. It seems that no comment is immune from attack, no opinion is safe from an onslaught of ridicule.
Consider the contrived outrage at the television ad for Peloton, maker of exercise equipment. The ad featured a husband who dared to give his already slim wife a...
April 21, 2020
Are You a Parent? Then You’re a Leader
Parents represent the last stand of the amateur. Yet the very future of our world depends on the quality of their leadership.
Yes, leadership.
As a health pandemic encircles the globe, literally billions of parents find themselves in lockdown with their children. Sure, the economic damage to jobs and family incomes is real. But with it comes a renewed appreciation for teachers, church workers, coaches and others who contribute to the care and upbringing of our children.
Still,...
March 27, 2020
Hate Networking? Then Change Your Inner-monologue
Quick question: Would you rather get a root canal than schmooze with a roomful of strangers?
If you hesitated for even a second in considering that choice, you must not enjoy networking.
Join the crowd.
Networking may be one of your least favorite activities. But getting past your apprehensions and doing it right can work wonders for your business and for your career.
And its not about collecting contacts. Its about planting relationships.
No one understands this better than Devora...
Conflict Pulling You Down? You Can Break the Pattern
Unresolved conflict is a primary cause of poor performance, poor relationships, and poor health.
The good news is that you can do something about it.
Dr. Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler offers some common senseand workablestrategies for dealing productively with conflict situations. She the author of Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life.
In previous parts of this conversation we discussed ways to identify and replace harmful habits (see Steeped In...
March 2, 2020
How to Handle ‘Irreconcilable Differences’
Even in the best of relationships and work environments, conflict is inevitable. Rather than hunker down and make things worse, we can adopt a set of skills that produce better results for everyone involved.
That’s the approach of Dr. Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler, author of Optimal Outcomes: Free Yourself from Conflict at Work, at Home, and in Life.
In the first part of this conversation we discussed ways to notice our conflict habits that get us into trouble (see “Steeped In Conflict?...
February 27, 2020
Steeped in Conflict? Here’s How to Break Free
An eye for an eye, it’s been said, will only make the whole world blind.
Unfortunately, some people didn’t get the memo. The result is turmoil, conflict, broken relationships, and missed opportunities.
Dr. Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler has a better way. At Columbia University she teaches a popular course on conflict freedom. It focuses on ways to liberate yourself from conflict, even when other people don’t cooperate.
Her interest in freeing people from conflict arose from her own family...
