Management Archives

Upstream Data-Driven Solutions: Strategies & Challenges

When you’re implementing change, what metrics should you monitor? How can you protect the process when data fails you? In Upstream, Dan Heath explains how people can intentionally foster an upstream mindset to effect real change. He recommends several ways you can implement upstream solutions in any context. One of these is using data to guide experimentation. Read more to learn about data-driven solutions and some challenges that come with the territory.

How Storytelling in Presentations Sets Up & Bolsters a Message

Do you give presentations at work? Are you ever called on to make a toast? Does your company have an origin story that needs to be told? Stories have an important place in presentations, whether you’re pitching an idea, introducing a product, or giving a lecture. In Unleash the Power of Storytelling, Rob Biesenbach provides practical advice for using storytelling in presentations, including your corporate story and even a toast or eulogy. Keep reading to learn how to engage an audience by using storytelling in presentations.

Moving Upstream: Dan Heath’s Advice for Real Solutions

Do you want to solve a major problem in your organization or in society at large? How can you intentionally foster an upstream mindset with those around you? In Upstream, business writer Dan Heath explains a strategy for focusing energy on proactive, long-term solutions: upstream problem-solving. He shares recommendations for implementing upstream solutions in any context, and he points out three roadblocks that are likely to be in your way. Continue reading for Heath’s advice for moving upstream along with an exercise to help you implement his ideas.

Dan Heath’s Upstream: Book Overview & Key Takeaways

Do you feel like you have endless fires to put out—in your personal life, at work, and in society as a whole? What if you could work at the root of the problem instead, preventing crises from happening altogether? In his book Upstream, Dan Heath explains how reactive solutions (for which we have a bias) aren’t nearly as effective as proactive, long-term solutions. He calls these upstream solutions, and he provides advice on how to implement this type of problem-solving. Keep reading for an overview of this book that aims to help you solve problems before they happen.

Quick Tips for Delegating: Unloading the Necessary But Trivial

Do you have too much to do? What’s the best way to go about getting help with tasks? You’re busy doing big, important stuff. A certain category of tasks keeps getting in your way: necessary but unimportant. The lawn needs mowing, but you’re too busy making a living. This is where task delegation might be the right solution for you. Keep reading for a few tips for delegating that will help you focus on what matters most to you.

Mental Health and Leadership: The Link You Wouldn’t Expect

What’s the connection between mental health and leadership? How does mental illness affect management skills? Many of us consider good mental health to be an important quality for leaders. However, in A First-Rate Madness, psychiatrist Nassir Ghaemi argues that mental illness can make leaders better fit to lead during a crisis. Let’s break down why Ghaemi believes good leadership depends on the state of your mental health.

A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi: Overview

What is A First-Rate Madness about? What are the main takeaways of the book? For years, abnormal mental health has influenced successful leadership decisions during critical times of war and conflict. In A First-Rate Madness, Nassir Ghaemi uncovers the pitfalls of being a mentally well leader and how mental health treatment affects leadership. Read below for a brief overview of Ghaemi’s A First-Rate Madness.

Big-Picture Thinking: The Top 3 Methods (+ Examples)

Do you consider yourself a big-picture thinker? Do you try to understand every problem or situation holistically? When we’re faced with a problem or a difficult decision, we tend to resort to our usual cause-and-effect, detail-oriented type of thinking. While this type of thinking is useful in some situations, it can obscure the bigger picture. As a result, the optimal solution may evade us because it lies outside the range of ideas where we are looking for it. With this in mind, here are three ways you can apply big-picture thinking to solve problems and make decisions.

How to Be a Great Manager: Guiding People & Decisions Well

Do you tend to micromanage people? How should the type of decision impact the way you make a decision? What’s the best way to win over your company’s leadership? Entrepreneur Tony Fadell’s book Build is part career encyclopedia and part memoir. He draws on his years of entrepreneurial and corporate leadership to provide insights that can help you manage people and decisions more effectively. Keep reading to learn Fadell’s advice on how to be a great manager, which can be valuable regardless of where you are on your career path.

2 Surprising Benefits of Depression for Leaders

Are there any benefits of depression? How does depression improve your perspective on difficult situations? Depression is a mental illness that most try to avoid. However, leaders may find some benefits of depression that help them handle critical moments with the right insights. Continue reading to learn how depression can help you, according to A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi.