Nov 15, 2022When You Have Too Many Ideas… Affinity AnalysisDo you remember the last time you tidied that bottom drawer or that overflowing cupboard that has accumulated years of random purchases? Most of us have some area of our lives that is simply too messy for words, a looming mound of stuff with no reason, rhyme, nor arrangement. …Team Tools8 min readTeam Tools8 min read
Sep 29, 2022The Magic of GoalsGoals are one of the neatest tricks humans ever devised. Just thinking about goals changes actions like few other tools, making people work harder, longer, and even enjoying their efforts more. All of this sounds like a magic wand, which seems to be why some people write so breathlessly about…Goals4 min readGoals4 min read
Sep 28, 2022Make Fear Your Super-PowerDo you remember sitting, wondering should you make that call? It may have been a call to a possible customer or business partner, a potential friend or lover, asking for a favour or giving an apology. Do you remember that tension between what might be and what might not? And…Fear Setting7 min readFear Setting7 min read
Sep 27, 2022Chunking to Conquer: Overcome Procrastination (Now!)Many of the deadlines in my life have prompted something close to terror, with every other concern overwhelmed by that point on the clock indicating when doom descends. And if you’re a perennial procrastinator, you know precisely how that feels and, like me, envy people like Douglas Adams who wrote…Goal Setting10 min readGoal Setting10 min read
Sep 27, 2022Failure Sucks: Seeing Goals ClearlyWe all know failing sucks, bigtime, but imagine a world where your every effort meant failure, every achievement made you a bigger failure, and even thinking about success felt like failure. It would suck so much it would become a great, big, black hole of failure. Welcome to the world…How Goals Work6 min readHow Goals Work6 min read
Sep 27, 2022What’s Wrong with Goal-Setting?Goals are one of the most useful tools we ever use, at once energising and helpful. At the same time, goals cause many, many problems, often producing the precise opposite of what’s intended. For example, think about riding a bicycle. Apart from balance, the biggest challenge in bike-riding is steering…Problems With Goals7 min readProblems With Goals7 min read
Aug 10, 2022The Hardest Questions, Part II: Making Surveys WorkIn The Hardest Questions, Part I: Why Surveys Usually Fail, I explained how easy it is for even highly-trained researchers to produce awful surveys. It’s often the questions, which can be pointless, biased, confusing, or even impossible to answer, but just as often are surveys that are so long that…8 min read8 min read
Aug 10, 2022The Hardest Questions, Part I: Why Surveys Usually FailWhether they’re used for concept testing, customer satisfaction, or staff engagement, surveys have long been an extremely useful business tool. There have been millions conducted since the first modern social surveys a couple of centuries ago, so you’d think people have had plenty of time to figure out the best…Surveys6 min readSurveys6 min read
Aug 4, 2022Brainstorming: The most over-rated, badly-used team tool ever (and how to make it work)For more than seventy years, brainstorming has loomed over groups whenever they need new, creative ideas, perhaps for solutions to problems or maybe opportunities for growth. Almost anyone in business, government, or education has experienced a brainstorming session, sometimes to their profit but more often resulting in a vague sense…Brainstorming5 min readBrainstorming5 min read
Mar 8, 2022The Most Useful Leadership Tool, Ever!Nominal Group Technique: The ancient yet always up-to-date team process Over the years I have trained thousands of team leaders and facilitators, ranging from school students to senior managers, working in education, industry, government, and community organisations. In all that experience, one of the best questions they ever asked was…Leadership Skills6 min readLeadership Skills6 min read
