Blog

Stress Is Hopelessness, Tension Is Potential

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 04-24-23

Stress is hopelessness Stress is better understood today, and in particular its impact on our physical health. In our worst vicious circles, stress about poor health can lead to even further decline in health.  Acknowledgement of stress is also now more acceptable, and not just a sign of weakness that

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3 Reasons To Kill The 60-Minute Meeting

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 04-10-23

On Forbes: 3 Reasons to Kill the 60-Minute Meeting Open Outlook or Google Calendar and start a new meeting. It will default to 60 minutes. One hour is the most common length for a business meeting. But that’s just wrong. It’s not wrong sometimes; it’s wrong all the time. We

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Working Genius Review

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 03-16-23

The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni is a thought-provoking and insightful guide to unlocking the potential of individuals and teams in the workplace. Lencioni, also known for books such as The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Death by Meeting, identifies six types of working geniuses that

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The Misunderstood Impact of Misaligned Perceptions of Your Abilities With Your Boss

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 02-07-23

The Misunderstood Impact of Misaligned Perceptions of Your Abilities With Your Boss …or, why it’s not about your risk of getting fired.    You might hear from your boss “you’re great, a rockstar, we have every faith in you, you’re going to go far, but…you could improve in these ways…”

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How To Do an Effective Personal Work Retreat

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 09-01-22

No matter what your profession, everyone should consider at some point in time a personal work retreat. For me, it is usually about research and writing. Certainly, almost all of People Solve Problems was written across multiple retreats up to the mountains. Bill Gates would take his “think weeks” away

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The Important Gap Between Observation and Perception

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 07-26-22

Whether in problem-solving, or broad lean behaviors, or seeing the customer as an entrepreneur, there is much articulated about the idea of going to see for yourself. There are many terms for it, such as “direct observation” that we articulated in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean, or Gemba commonly used

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Overdesign, Overprocessing, and Overly-Complex

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 07-19-22

It’s too complicated. I don’t understand. It doesn’t work. It’s not for me.  Whether launching a new product, or a new company initiative, these might be phrases that you’ve heard. It stems from overdesigning the solution. It shows up as the waste of over-processing, doing more than your customer requires

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Select the Third-Best Solution

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 05-18-22

Problem-solving is ultimately about developing solutions, or better said, implementing solutions that work. This means that what actually works is an important filter on all the potential solutions that we may become enamored with. I cam across this interesting quote, thanks to The Economist’s daily Espresso Briefing, from the inventor

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3 Under-Appreciated Lessons on Entrepreneurship

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 05-12-22

Recently I was giving a very, very brief speech at Lehigh University at an event with the Baker Institute honoring entrepreneurs and the teaching of entrepreneurship. It wasn’t originally meant to be a topic of any substance, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to speak to some students and

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Problem Solving With the Board of Directors

by Jamie Flinchbaugh on 02-23-22

Management teams run the company, and the board of directors provides governance and direction to do so. That seems simple enough to maintain some role clarity. A useful guiding phrase, repeated often by those with board experience, is “noses in, fingers out.” The meaning of that phrase is that you,

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