Blog
Improving Thinking Skills and Work Performance
How to Use the Pygmalion Effect for More Success
At a recent coaching session for senior managers, I was asked whether I heard of the Pygmalion effect and how it can be used to improve team performance. I have no idea what the Pygmalion effect is except that I remember watching My Fair Lady, a musical based on...
How to Enhance Your Working Memory and Remember More Effectively
Have you ever walked into a room to get something, and then realised that you have forgotten what you walked in to get? If that has happened to you before, you need to do something about your working memory. You need to enhance your working memory if you want to...
Emotional Baggage: Why It’s Time to Stop Carrying This With You
Are you still carrying with you things that are toxic? Are you still upset over how your boss treated you? Are you still angry at a manager who has already left years ago? Typically, in most workplaces, there are many people who carry this emotional baggage. If you...
Change Your Thoughts and You Change Your World
The idea that when you change your thoughts, you change your world, has been an area of interest to scientists, psychologists, philosophers and religious figures for years. Traditionally, while most philosophers and religious figures believe that your thoughts shape...
Does “Crossing Your Fingers and Hoping for the Best” Work?
When nothing works and you feel helpless, try crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. That's the advice one of my colleagues suggests I do since it has worked for her many times. So, does crossing your fingers and hoping for the best really work? "Crossing your...
Positive Brainwashing: Can It Improve Your Work Performance?
At lunch, a colleague raised an interesting question about "positive brainwashing". She asked whether we should do this. Should we brainwash our children to get them to do what we want? Should we brainwash colleagues and those that report to us so that their...
8 Things About Stress You Should Know
Lunching with friends can be a challenge. Especially when I hear about a classmate or a former colleague that has just passed away. When I asked what happened, I am often told that the cause was a heart attack brought on by stress. Nowadays, most of us live a...
Functional Fixedness: Break Free and Be More Creative
Last week, a friend asked me whether I heard of the term "functional fixedness". I recalled vaguely, many years back, a teacher telling me that functional fixedness could inhibit a person from arriving at the right conclusions. So, what is functional fixedness? I did...
How to Get Your Staff to Pay Attention
How many times have you told your children, your staff and your colleagues to "pay attention" and they don't? As a manager, consultant, or trainer, you need their attention so that you can pass them new information or instructions so that they can do their work....