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Is it important that your employees feel empowered? What are the benefits of enacting empowerment in the workplace? We’ll look at examples of empowerment in the workplace and explore why empowered employees can make your company more successful.
Brenda Zimmerman and Sholom Glouberman, who study complexity, defined three kinds of problems: simple, complicated, and complex. What’s the difference? Particularly, what’s the difference between complicated problems and complex problems? A complex problem is a problem that has many variables and for which the outcome is uncertain. An example of a complex problem is raising a child. You learn from raising one child, but the next child may require a different approach. We’ll look at the nature of complex problems, how they differ from complicated problems, and how to solve complex problems in the workplace.
What is a submittal schedule? Why is it crucial that engineers and contractors use them? What can the rest of us learn from the submittal schedule about how to work efficiently? A submittal schedule is a type of checklist that specifies when people need to communicate, about what, and with whom. The submittal schedule typically dictates that various experts speak to each other on specific dates regarding progress in specific areas, as well as who needed to share, or submit, information before the next steps can proceed. We’ll look at how the need for submittal schedules in contracting arose and
In The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle.” Why is this the greatest victory? How can you be victorious over your enemy if there’s no battle? We’ll cover how preemptive strikes are the key to the best kind of victory and why the easy victory is actually the greatest victory.
In The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, “To know your enemy, you must become your enemy.” What does Tzu mean by that? How do you become your enemy? We’ll cover 17 strategies for reading your enemy so well that you practically become your enemy. Learn what signs to look for.
What was the Warring States Period? What can it teach us about battle tactics? The Warring States Period, or Era of Warring States, was a period between around 480 B.C.E. to around 246 B.C.E. During this era, various Chinese dynasties were at war, including the Wei, Zhou, Han, and Qi. The Qi eventually won control of the area. We’ll cover how the warring states formed alliances during this period and what we can learn from their turmoil.
Chapter 5 explores the Cover and Move strategy. On a battlefield, Cover and Move allows a team to work together to reach a destination: One group provides cover — keeping an eye out and having weapons ready to ward off enemies — as the other group advances forward. Then they switch roles, essentially leapfrogging forward, until they reach their destination. This may not appear to have much relevance outside a war zone, but the principle of Cover and Move is teamwork. The entire team must work together, supporting and protecting each other, for everyone’s safety and success. Everyone on the
You can be the best leader in the world, but you’re still human and you simply can’t do everything yourself. Decentralized Command is a form of delegating that allows leaders to stay focused on their unique job — leading the overall team in pursuit of the larger goal — by allowing each junior leader and team member under them to carry out her own unique job.
It seems counterintuitive that exercising discipline in turn gives you freedom, but, as with all of the dichotomies described above, this requires balance. If you are strategic and deliberate, you can create a regimented approach that ultimately gives you more freedom.
Overview of Law #48: Assume Formlessness Be flexible, fluid, and unpredictable — formless — so your opponents can’t get a fix on you and figure out how to respond. When you look and behave in conventional ways that your enemy can grasp, you’re easy to attack. Assume formlessness and change constantly to suit ever-changing circumstances and needs.