Category: Efficiency

Too much information? No. Too little intention.

To understand how and why we experience information overload we need to recognize that the main reason we collect information is to influence ourselves and others. Not entirely unrelated is the fact that one of the most important factors in attaining happiness is having influence over others. Without it we lose our raison d’être. This is also essentially…

Why leaders are blind to the most important productivity opportunity of all

Email is the leading cause of preventable productivity loss in organizations today. Forbes Magazine (2008) Employees spend 1 to 3 or more hours per day managing email at 40-60% of capacity.  That means they typically lose 30-60 minutes PER DAY.   Not some.  All — even the ones who believe they are extremely productive. That means…

Can Collaboration Work?

We enter into collaborations assuming we’ll succeed as teamwork partners. Yet we rarely achieve true partnership: Because we listen uniquely and through biased filters we sometimes mistakenly presume intent or misconstrue what’s been said and agreed upon. Problem: Flawed assumptions, wasted time and relationship capital, and restricted scope. There is often not enough diversity to…

Hey Mr. Sales Director, George Trachilis is NOT nuts. Are you nuts?

One of your prime objectives as a sales director is to get your teams out of their inbox and in front of the customer as much as possible. I’m not knocking the importance of email, I’m just saying that you probably see a huge benefit to having your teams managing their inboxes at twice their…

Meetings: The Purpose, The Pain, The Possibility

As business folk, we hold meetings regularly. Yet often we don’t accomplish what we set out to achieve. Why? The Purpose Meetings are held to accomplish a specific, beneficial outcome requiring the attendance of the right people with the right agenda. The Problem/Pain Often we end up with miscommunication, wasted time, incomplete outcomes, misunderstanding, lack…

Is this you?

I’ve seen Hector (not his real name) wheeling his cart around Barcelona a few times. It’s massive. It must be extremely difficult to maneuver. One day I went up to him asked him if he really needed all of those things. He actually articulated an impressive defense. Does that remind you of anyone you know?…

Most salespeople completely blow their first newbiz meeting – including you

You land a meeting with a prospect that you’ve been researching for quite some time.  Then you make the same mistake that most sales people make:  you book an hour-long meeting at her office. What’s wrong with that?  Plenty.  The chances of converting that meeting into a sale are quite slim at this point.  So…