We’re at the halfway mark of Lifehack’s 12 Days of Giveaways holiday promotion and it’s been a great success so far. We’ve received plenty of entries with some great comments for each — it’s too bad we can only choose a limited amount of winners. That said, there are still giveaways coming each weekday until…

How can we get what we want? The book Simpleology contains five laws to help you get what you want: The Law of Straight Lines: The shortest path between two points is a straight line. If you want to get a particular result, take the fastest and most direct route. Don’t add any…

Most people recognize a champion only when he steps up the podium, but he actually has become a champion far before it. In fact, he has become a champion years before that glorious moment. Why? Because to reach that moment, first and foremost he has to become a champion in his daily life. He has…

Ever gone into a performance review, had to deliver a speech or make a sales pitch and become more concerned about what the reviewer was going to say or write than what was in the presentation? It can be like going to the dentist for a root canal. This is a tough area, but it…

Maybe this sounds a silly question, but it’s not. We live in a business society dominated by demands for ever greater performance. Yet until we’re clear what performance is, focusing on it will produce only confusion and frustration. “Simple,” some people say. “Performance is getting the job done. Producing the result that you aimed at. Nothing…

Your best friend loves playing baseball. He’s good at it and looks likely to make it to near-professional level one day. You’re a total klutz at the game. You don’t enjoy it, but you keep trying because your friend is so keen. He does his best to help you, but however hard you try, you…

Everyone would like to think a little faster or more clearly. Sometimes we forget to take care of our brain. Ririan offers 22 tips for improving your brain performance. It’s simple, your brain is at the center of everything you do, all you feel and think, and every nuance of how you relate to people. It’s…

Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere. – Glenn Turner We all worry. The same wonderful tools our brain uses to imagine new innovations and solve complex problems, also has a habit of looking for trouble – even when it may not exist. Mid-terms, budget overruns, bug…

I have two topics this week: the present-day obsession with clinging grimly to the status quo, when we have rarely needed change and entrepreneurial flair so much; and the obnoxious jerks whose presence in leadership positions disfigures too many organizations. These topics are linked by a recurring theme: the way that Hamburger Management—that dismal system…

Henry at Binary Dollar did an article on his view to ace a performance review. Some of the points are pretty positive: Make a list of specific things you’ve done. Use numbers. Have at least one “above and beyond” story. Don’t forget the things your manager doesn’t know about. Like Use numbers is a good tip – be specific and…

I’ve been thinking and writing quite a lot this week about Hamburger Management: the type of management approach that is based on always doing whatever is quickest, simplest and (above all) cheapest. Hamburger Managers provide the kind of leadership that is best described as: “Never mind the quality, look how fast it goes and how…

When you write an article on a topic, it’s traditional to start with the problem, explain the causes next, then move into offering a solution. On the Slow Leadership site this week, I took things more or less in the opposite order, starting on Monday with part of the solution, giving my views on…

Despite all of mankind’s technological progress, some patterns seem rooted in human behavior. One of these is the tendency to grab for short-term gains and ignore the longer-term consequences, even when those are almost entirely predictable. This attitude has been illustrated this week by the announcement from the Ford Motor Company of still more lay-offs, plant…

Over at Slow Leadership, this week has been all about using your time. I don’t set out to give each week’s postings a single theme, but sometimes it happens that way. It began with considering the relationship between time, action and thought in a posting I called Taking Your Time. Some people…

There’s a common saying that human beings were given two ears (and two eyes), but only one mouth to show that they should listen (and look) at least twice as much as they speak. I think that for managers and leaders that ratio is far too low. Looking and listening should happen maybe ten or…