“Be careful the environment you choose, for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.”

 Clement Stone

Replacing the Reprimand

No one likes getting a reprimand and only sadists enjoy delivering them. “Your people can take the truth, not the load. Replace the reprimand with a question” says Vistage Speaker Tom Foster who shares some simple but effective substitutes for reprimands (Tom also has a daily blog of great management tips).

Our Friend Approaches Retirement

If there is one device that will be associated with the Baby Boom Generation it will be the Personal Computer. A few boomers (most notably Jobs and Gates) drove most of this innovation. Very few of us (or even them) would have predicted at the outset that it would assume its current form and function. Former PC World columnist and PBS Technology consultant X. Cringely brings four decades of watching this world to a brief and personal retrospective of one of history’s more important technology, business and technology stories.

While you’re on his blog, if you have an interest in the business of technology, check out his quick analysis of the pending irrelevance of Intel.

Values: Does Saying it Make it So?

People advertise their values in various ways and for various reasons. Now it appears that displaying a quotation regarding virtue can prevent bad behavior in others. This very brief Harvard Business Review article recaps the effect on behavior by publicly posting a quote that reflects your values. What’s on your desk?

Similarly Dr. Dan Ariely, James B. Duke Professor of Psychology at Duke University and author of The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty has done extensive research on why (almost) all of us cheat and steal. His 7^th lesson on dishonesty, that honesty is a state of mind, set the stage for Dr. Desai’s findings in his research. Dr. Ariely noted that when given a chance to easily cheat during a psychological experiment, a significant portion of those taking the tests cheated. Others were asked to try to recall the Ten Commandments before the test, and in that group no one cheated. Check out Dr. Ariely’s 7 lessons in dishonesty as reported several years ago in Time Magazine. Also, check out his blog.

Do you frequently remind your team of the values that are important to you and your company? Should you?

If Oil, Ergo Stocks?

Since the start of the year the financial press seems obsessed with oil and stock and the perceived correlation in the prices thereof. In a 3 minute Wesbury 101 video, economist Brian Wesbury says put down the newspaper and look to the history books for the real deal on oil and stocks.