Organizational Exercises

Ideal teamwork and the concepts of SCRUM

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I’ve talked to a number of companies about changing corporate habits. In the midst of one discussion, a friend and former colleague at L.L.Bean recommended a book about SCRUM. SCRUM business concepts started in silicon valley and are now crossing over into all sorts of new thinking.

Picture your next group project and…

Imagine redefining the concept of “team”

  • Each team is cross-functional, autonomous, empowered, and has a transcendent purpose.
  • Team members know their work is important to the company and is personally meaningful.
  • Each team has the necessary skills and mix of experience and thinking they need to solve issues they’re tasked with solving.
  • Hand-offs are limited or eliminated; keep the work with this one group rather than have separate teams develop individual parts and pass their work along, group to group.
  • Teams work without titles and no one is limited to one type of work on a team; you contribute anywhere you have strengths.
  • Each team has the direction, freedom, respect and authority to do things without asking permission.

Continue reading →

Getting to the BIG stuff

organizationalhabits Big project ideas, Building your personal brand, Business tips, Changing habits, Decision making, Finding your "why", Organizational Exercises, Productivity tips for work, Setting organizational priorities, Staying focused, Tips on using a planner, Working with your guides , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When you’re thinking of BIG things you’d like to do in this lifetime, block out some quiet time, do a little quiet breathing (in through your nose and out through your mouth helps you think more clearly!), and make a couple of lists.

  • List #1 is stuff you’re already working on that you want to do more of.
  • List #2 is stuff you’ve always thought of doing but have never dared start.
  • List #3 is an outrageous brainstorm list, weird stuff that is super compelling, that raises your energy just to think of it, and that you’ve never given much thought to – until maybe right now.

Set the lists aside and go about your day. These need to cook for a while. Continue reading →

The possibilities of tomorrow

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History is filled with facts which makes it really solid. When we look back, it seems like what happened was the only possibility, that what happened was inevitable.

But then there’s “today”. You look ahead. You wonder what will happen. And you know it’s not pre-ordained because there are so many potential threads. Tomorrow could take you south, or west, or north. It could be wild or calm. Big things could happen. Or nothing special could happen. Continue reading →

The importance of spending time alone

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An artist needs time to create. A writer needs time to work out a story. A musician needs time to play and to compose. A saint needs time to pray.

Alone-time lets you refill the pitcher of your life from all the little daily leaks and keeps your soul from running dry.

Such are the musing of Anne Morrow Lindbergh in Gift from the Sea. Anne was married to Charles Lindbergh and was a fellow aviator and accomplished author. She survived the abduction and murder of her first child, went on to have five more children, and outlived her famous husband by decades finally passing at the age of 94. Continue reading →

Make one New Year’s resolution

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Here are the top four New Year’s resolutions. How many of these have been on your make-and-break list?

  • Lose weight
  • Get organized
  • Spend less/save more
  • Enjoy life to the fullest

I’m not big on making New Year’s resolutions because I don’t like to waste time. Statistics say that only 8% of us stick to New Year’s resolutions. Why spend time wishing for something that doesn’t happen most of the time for most people?

But these are great goals! So what can you do to make a resolution stick this year? Continue reading →

Lessons from “Creative Week”

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The week between Christmas and New Year’s tends to be quiet for business, so I decided to christen this “Creative Week”. I have a number of projects I love to do that I don’t make a top priority – so they don’t get done. I thought this week could be rich for creative production – layered in with just two hours of work-work each day.

Normally, I set an intent for what I want to carry out, plan in time, and track what gets done – but that didn’t feel right for Creative Week. However, working on a complete whim was too big a challenge for a planner/tracker, so I brainstormed a list of creative stuff I wanted to get done. This included everything from running and meditation, to practicing the guitar, to making beaded bags, to reading, to writing for long periods of time. Continue reading →

Getting in the question habit

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I recently read a great study by psychologist Arthur Aron positing whether two strangers could fall in love simply by asking each other a series of 36 questions. The first 13 questions are about how we present ourselves. The next 13 are about what we dream of and what we value. The last 13 are about friendship, family, and partners.

And here’s the clincher. At the end of the 36 questions, the two strangers have to face each other and look into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes. Aron says 2 minutes doesn’t do it – that’s simply terrifying. It’s at 4 minutes that things start to happen. Continue reading →

The gift of presence

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I worked as a volunteer at the Center for Grieving Children for about five years. The Center is a place families go to help express their grief in a safe and kind setting. Families go on a specific night each week and each member of the family meets with an age-appropriate group. Families attend for as long as they want – which is sometimes a few weeks, and sometimes over a year.

love-really-countsOne adult who was in my group for a long time told me her time at the Center was the only time all week she was herself – the rest of the time she was faking it, even with her kids, trying to seem happy and “get over” the death of her husband.

Some weeks at the Center she had no words. Other weeks she was depressed. Sometimes her issues were the loss. Other times she needed to talk about how hard it was to suddenly be a single parent. And some weeks she was happy and didn’t feel guilty about expressing that. Continue reading →

Spend time with your senses

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If you’re looking for a way to decelerate for a few minutes, I’d highly recommend spending time with your senses. I work my way through some or all of these when I meditate.

Start with the senses you’re most familiar with, then work your way into the senses you don’t think about as often. That’s where the sensations really get interesting! Continue reading →