A leader forced to utilize “hamburger management” is like a cordon bleu chef told to work as a short-order cook and produce nothing but hamburgers with french fries every day. Any organization that uses this approach is like a diner who eats nothing else. The first becomes bored, frustrated and disillusioned; the second becomes sick…

Ric Edelman, a financial planner, suggests a list of financial/legal documents that you need to keep and what you can shred. He categorizes into five groups: originals you rarely need, originals you sometimes need, other documents, tax documents and investment documents. He suggests for each document on What to Keep, Where to Store, and When…

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about why people do things, and what they have in mind when they ask others to act in a particular way. It’s common to find that what people say is the reasoning behind their actions or requests isn’t the real motivation for either. I may do or say…

When people speak about the soul — outside of a purely religious context — they’re usually referring to the qualities of something (or someone) that they see as fundamental to its identity. The word “soul” is shorthand for the innermost, truest or most obviously unique nature of whatever or whoever they are referring to. Used in…

I’ve got this crazy notion that comes partly from living in a space that is basically one big giant room (a loft). The house has been a little messy lately, and no matter what we do, it’s just not coming back to a state of “organized” lately. So I’ve got this thought. Bear with me…

This week, I’ve been thinking a great deal about what counts as a “civilized” corporate and workplace culture. That’s because I’m deep into the editing process with my new book, Slow Leadership: How to Civilize Your Workplace, which will be published this Fall. The more I think about it, the more is seems to me that much of corporate America — much of the Western corporate world, if it comes to that — has taken a large step backwards in recent years in providing truly civilized working conditions.

Problems with the balance between the demands of profit-driven corporations and peoples’ need to live a satisfying life won’t be cured by policy statements and procedure manuals. That isn’t where the causes lie. They’re inside peoples’ heads.

Not unlike my earlier post, “Editing Your Life,” I’m still obsessing over the ideas of cutting to make space for things that matter. Let’s talk about that in your house. I’ll admit that there’s a recurring theme to this post: DONATE THINGS. THROW THINGS OUT. If you’re the ultimate pack rat, skip this post…

A civilized workplace is one where people have the time and freedom to do their jobs to the best of their ability. No one is bullied or hassled by some boss high on ego and testosterone. Leaders trust their subordinates to do what they’re paid to do; and subordinates trust their leaders to act with their interests in mind as well as the firm’s profits (and the executives’ stock options).

Warning: Your Mileage May Vary on this specific post. Consider this an open idea, or a hack in progress. I work best when I thread my professional efforts and my personal projects together in the same space. I might have a window open on the computer and in it, I’m defining a process flow for a…

The folks at Success Begins Today have created an interesting little project they’re calling The Walleteer. It started out as a realization of how much of the mental load the secretaries were pulling, and turned into a neat way to organize one’s life. You can create one in five minutes and be on your way…

Business Week has an article about Homeshoring, a new trend in taking jobs that were originally slated for Bangalore and shipping them to Boise, instead. Hiring people who need or want flexible schedules in an at-home setting gives groups such as stay-at-home parents or people with disabilities a way to earn money for their skills…

This bit came in from Julie Morgenstern’s May newsletter, on using a Time Map. This could be useful to you. FYI, Julie Morgenstern is a professional organizer and has several books on time and space organization, all of which I’ve found to be really useful, so I highly recommend them. A blurb from the

Office politics cannot be avoided, however many people regard them with distaste and try to avoid getting involved. But there is a way to make them civilized.

No doubt about it, some people have a gift for organization. Me? I was behind the door when that gift was handed out. Be that as it may, even the organization-challenged can learn new habits and organizational skills for a greater degree of order and efficiency. While home organization comes to…