Lessons Of Silence --- What The Deaf Can Teach Us About Listening And Making Ourselves Heard

Bruno Khane has written a nice article in Strategy And Business. He sites research in which the deaf have developed certain communications skills that make them more effective than those who can hear. Some key points:

1. Look people in the eye.
2. Don't interrupt.
3. Say what you mean, as simply as possible.
4. When you don't understand something, ask.
5. Stay focused.

Improving our ability to communicate is something we must continually do. These are great tips.

Renaissance Teams

"You can't make a renaissance person anymore because of the range of what you would need to do is just impossible. But you could actually assemble a renaissance team." Bruce Dau

Interesting quote from Roger Martin's Opposable Mind. Worth thinking about in building teams, encouraging collaboration, innovation and creativity.

Empty Your In Box---Increase Your Productivity

A few weeks ago, I read a time management tip about "emptying" your In Box (From Randy Pausch's Time Management Seminar). I'd always used my In Box as a kind of memory jogger on different things, in addition to my to-do and follow-up lists. I decided to try Randy's tip. It's amazing, how well it has worked. I've noticed a tremendous increase in my productivity. I don't go back to old messages, that I've read dozens of times before to remind myself what to do--after all I've already put the item in a to-do or follow-up. Why have another location to confuse and slow me down?

Randy, thanks for a great but simple tip. It's made a big difference for me. Try it.

On the other hand you might remember:

• One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries."--A.A. Milne,author of "Winnie-the-Pooh"

Globalization---Imposing Our Standards

We work with many organizations in globalization. One of the most common things we encounter is the tendency for the organization to impose its standards and norms on its customers and partners in other regions. American companies want to impose the American ways of doing business wherever they are--Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa. Likewise, companies in other regions do the same thing in entering new geographies.

This is a sure formula for failure. To be successful, we need to understand the norms and standards of the region or country and adapt for success. This does not mean sacrificing an organization's value system, ethics. or other important things. It does mean being open to different ways of doing things and recognizing that nothing is black and white.

Today's Wall Street Journal has a fascinating article on the experience of one venture capital organization in doing business in China. It provides good lessons for any organization seeking to move into new geographies. The article is: Building Trust, Chinese Style.