Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Here is a tip for how to  think outside the box . Thanks to  Michael Kallet , author of,  Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills . To think outside the box, you have to acknowledge that the box is bound by your premise. You therefore have to push the box's sides and premise components to think outside of that. Use  what if  and  what other  questions to push on those boundaries and discover new ideas.

The next time you are looking for ideas for how to grow revenue, streamline processes and procedures and/or reduce expenses,  dig deep  within  your organization . Don't ask only your direct reports for their suggestions. Instead,  ask everyone at all levels . Some of the best ideas will come from your lower and mid-level employees who are interacting with your vendors, customers and co-workers every day in the very areas that, if improved, could make the most dramatic impact. Be sure to  acknowledge receipt of each idea . Keep everyone informed of the types of ideas you've received . Perhaps update them on a monthly basis. When you implement a suggestion,  recognize and reward the submitter , including possibly financially. Feel free to accept ideas anonymously. But, if employees know you are sincere about wanting their input, and witness you acting upon suggestions, most of your team members will be proud to tie their names to their ideas. Finally, if the...

Here is a tip for how to  think outside the box . Thanks to  Michael Kallet , author of,  Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills . To think outside the box, you have to acknowledge that the box is bound by your premise. You therefore have to push the box's sides and premise components to think outside of that. Use  what if  and  what other  questions to push on those boundaries and discover new ideas.

Here is a tip for how to think outside the box .  Thanks to  Michael Kallet , author of,  Think Smarter: Critical Thinking to Improve Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Skills . To think outside the box, you have to acknowledge that the box is bound by your premise. You therefore have to push the box's sides and premise components to think outside of that. Use  what if  and  what other  questions to push on those boundaries and discover new ideas.

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few  brainstorming sessions  each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these  five tips : Encourage  ALL  ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

Great ideas for your business can come at any time from anyone on your team. So, as a leader, be sure you dig deep for ideas, and provide an easy way for all employees to make suggestions. Did you know that the idea for the microwave oven came to the inventor, Percy L. Spencer, when a chocolate bar melted in his shirt pocket as he stood in front of a magnetron, the microwave tube used to power radar? Carl Magee invented the parking meter when back in 1932 the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce asked Magee to solve problems caused by all-day parkers in the downtown business district. To jump-start your idea sharing program, encourage employees to: Tell you the obstacles they encounter Share what they are hearing from satisfied and unhappy (or lost) customers Explain what they think your business can do better than the competition

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few  brainstorming sessions  each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these  five tips : Encourage  ALL  ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few  brainstorming sessions  each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these  five tips : Encourage  ALL  ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few  brainstorming sessions  each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these  five tips : Encourage  ALL  ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

Great ideas for your business can come at anytime from anyone on your team. So, as a leader, be sure you dig deep for ideas, and provide an easy way for all employees to make suggestions. Did you know that the idea for the microwave oven came to the inventor, Percy L. Spencer, when a chocolate bar melted in his shirt pocket as he stood in front of a magnetron, the microwave tube used to power radar? Carl Magee invented the parking meter when back in 1932 the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce asked Magee to solve problems caused by all-day parkers in the downtown business district. To jump-start your idea sharing program, encourage employees to: Tell you the obstacles they encounter Share what they are hearing from satisfied and unhappy (or lost) customers Explain what they think your business can do better than the competition

According to  Brian Cole Miller  in his book,  Quick Brainstorming Activities For Busy Managers , there are 50 ways to improve your brainstorming at your company or in your organization. My favorite is the  Paper Swap  brainstorming activity: A brainstorming technique where participants write their input on separate pieces of paper; then they swap papers and continue to add input. Miller provides 49 other techniques in his book (released by  Amacom last month), all of  which take  less than 15 minutes to complete . For all brainstorming sessions, Miller reminds leaders that you should: Focus on quantity not quality Don't allow criticism Encourage wild ideas Combine ideas for more ideas Miller also suggests that the best starting question for a brainstorming session is a  Focus Question  -- one that: Uses the participants' own language Is personal to the participants and not the organization Evokes responses with ima...

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few  brainstorming sessions  each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these  five tips : Encourage  ALL  ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

The next time you are looking for ideas for how to grow revenue, streamline processes and procedures and/or reduce expenses,  dig deep  within  your organization . Don't ask only your direct reports for their suggestions. Instead,  ask everyone at all levels . Some of the best ideas will come from your lower and mid-level employees who are interacting with your vendors, customers and co-workers every day in the very areas that, if improved, could make the most dramatic impact. Be sure to  acknowledge receipt of each idea . Keep everyone informed of the types of ideas you've received . Perhaps update them on a monthly basis. When you implement a suggestion,  recognize and reward the submitter , including possibly financially. Feel free to accept ideas anonymously. But, if employees know you are sincere about wanting their input, and witness you acting upon suggestions, most of your team members will be proud to tie their names to their ide...

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few  brainstorming sessions  each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these  five tips : Encourage  ALL  ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few  brainstorming sessions  each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these  five tips : Encourage  ALL  ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

The next time you are looking for ideas for how to grow revenue, streamline processes and procedures and/or reduce expenses,  dig deep  within  your organization . Don't ask only your direct reports for their suggestions. Instead,  ask everyone at all levels . Some of the best ideas will come from your lower and mid-level employees who are interacting with your vendors, customers and co-workers every day in the very areas that, if improved, could make the most dramatic impact. Be sure to  acknowledge receipt of each idea . Keep everyone informed of the types of ideas you've received . Perhaps update them on a monthly basis. When you implement a suggestion,  recognize and reward the submitter , including possibly financially. Feel free to accept ideas anonymously. But, if employees know you are sincere about wanting their input, and witness you acting upon suggestions, most of your team members will be proud to tie their names to their ide...

According to  Brian Cole Miller  in his book,  Quick Brainstorming Activities For Busy Manager s , there are 50 ways to improve your brainstorming at your company or in your organization. My favorite is the  Paper Swap  brainstorming activity: A brainstorming technique where participants write their input on separate pieces of paper; then they swap papers and continue to add input. Miller provides 49 other techniques in his book,  all of  which take  less than 15 minutes to complete . For all brainstorming sessions, Miller reminds leaders that you should : Focus on quantity not quality Don't allow criticism Encourage wild ideas Combine ideas for more ideas Brian Cole Miller Miller also suggests that the best starting question for a brainstorming session is a  Focus Question  -- one that: Uses the participants' own language Is personal to the participants and not the organization Evokes responses with imagery ...

In their new book, How Excellent Companies Avoid Dumb Things , co-authors Neil Smith and Patricia O'Connell list 20 excuses commonly heard in companies for reasons why new business transformation ideas are not considered. The authors recommend eliminating these 20 excuses from your vocabulary : Our company is well run; there are no opportunities. We're inefficient, but my department is not the problem. The issue is support function and allocations, not my costs. Our problem is revenues, not how we do things. We have tried that before. We are already doing that. My boss/theCEO/legal will never agree to that. That won't save money or increase revenues. That would cost too much to implement. No one in the industry is doing that. We will lose customers if we do that. Anything that takes time away from serving my customers will hurt us. But we are unique. No one really understands what we do. I don't have time to think about that. We don't have the...

Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few brainstorming sessions each year, as well. And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these five tips : Encourage ALL ideas. Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested. Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful. Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming. Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.

According to Brian Cole Miller in his new book, Quick Brainstorming Activities For Busy Managers , there are 50 ways to improve your brainstorming at your company or in your organization. My favorite is the Paper Swap brainstorming activity: A brainstorming technique where participants write their input on separate pieces of paper; then they swap papers and continue to add input. Miller provides 49 other techniques in his book (released by Amacom last month), all of which take less than 15 minutes to complete .  For all brainstorming sessions, Miller reminds leaders that you should: Focus on quantity not quality Don't allow criticism Encourage wild ideas Combine ideas for more ideas Miller also suggests that the best starting question for a brainstorming session is a Focus Question -- one that: Uses the participants' own language Is personal to the participants and not the organization Evokes responses with imagery This is a must-read book for any ...