Expand Your Mind: Holiday Potpourri
by Miki Saxon
It’s a holiday weekend, so I thought I’d offer you a variety from which to pick and choose.
First up is a good overview of the business and political crises that are either ignored or denied by the leading players.
Polls show that our business, political and financial systems, and the people who lead them, are seen as lacking in ethics, competence and respect. … We have a crisis of ethical culture in both the public and private sectors.
Chris O’Brien offers a thoughtful look at money, motivation and Silicon Valley, although what he says applies universally.
That money motivates us to do our best is the ultimate expression of faith in the free market. Challenging this orthodoxy is heresy.
Yet research overwhelmingly indicates not only that money is not an effective incentive for creativity and innovation — it actually may make performance worse.
Next is an interesting commentary by Donna Flagg that looks below the typical views of managing Gen X and Y.
But really, I fail to see how this is different from any other good, old-fashioned generation gap where the underlying issue is simply about a need to understand differences.
Next is more insight about your brain and the subject of daydreaming; if you don’t daydream you may find it surprising.
But now that researchers have been analyzing those stray thoughts, they’ve found daydreaming to be remarkably common — and often quite useful. A wandering mind can protect you from immediate perils and keep you on course toward long-term goals.
Finally, the comments are in on Harvard’s Jim Heskett’s most recent online discussion considering whether strategy, execution or culture had the greatest impact on a company’s success. It’s definitely worth reading, both the initial article and the comments.
Respondents who ventured to place weights on the determinants of success gave the nod to culture by a wide margin.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedroelcarvalho/2812091311/
