Whitepapers

Around the world, managers continue to worry about the productivity of their unexpectedly-remote workforce. With household distractions like children, pets, laundry, entertainment, and cooking, it may feel impossible to stay focused on work during business hours, so companies apply more and more pressure to maintain efficiency. However, it’s not underperformance that leadership…

Time management is one of the most common issues in the way of productivity under normal circumstances. But we are operating in strange times. Working from home automatically comes with its own additional time management challenges under regular circumstances. But we are all dealing with time management on top of the undeniably chaotic events that are unfolding due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “An…

When it comes to serious decisions in business or in life, this mental quirk can set us up for catastrophic failure unless we actively work to keep it in check. Imagine this: You’re heading for the cashier at your local bookstore when you pass a display selling coffee mugs for $5. There’s only one left, sporting an image of your favorite celebrity, but you’re not willing to spend…

“If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it,” Albert Einstein said. Those were wise words, but from what I have observed, most organizations don’t heed them when tackling innovation projects. Indeed, when developing new products, processes, or even businesses, most companies aren’t sufficiently rigorous…

Most people assume that what it takes to be a great problem solver is simply raw intelligence. However, while intelligence helps, it’s not the only important element. Research done in the 1990s at Bell Labs, one of the most innovative research institutions on the planet, showcases this principle clearly. They identified the most productive scientists in the labs, whom they called “Stars,”…