Jamie Notter Blog
More Evidence You’re Falling Behind
Everyone knows that the speed of change has gone through the roof these days, but that's not precisely what I'm talking about when I suggest you're falling behind. I'm talking about management. I don't think people realize that management--those assumptions we hold...
The Problem with Goals
Everyone knows that you have to set goals in order to be successful, right? There are data to back up that assertion. I don't remember the exact source now, but I remember hearing a study that saw a correlation with significantly higher salaries for people who had...
Spring is Coming
We had a particularly cold week last week here in the D.C. area--down into the low teens at night and highs in the 20s. That's not normal for this area, where high temperatures, even in January, average above 40 degrees. Fortunately, I work from home, so there were a...
If you find yourself in a hole…
...the first thing you do, is stop digging. Don't get in the way of your own progress. Your own behavior is actually the piece of the puzzle over which you have the most control, so take advantage of that. When faced with a problem, don't rush to evaluate all the...
New Year’s Resolution: Raise Your Standards
On the last day of 2014, I made the mistake of getting a prescription filled. I didn't intend to do it that day. That just happened to be the day I went to the doctor and he called it in to my local CVS. I showed up at the pharmacy a good six hours after it was called...
2014 Year End
I wasn't expecting 2014 to be a real transition year (I thought that's what I had last year, actually, when I went back out on my own), but as soon as Maddie and I decided to launch a joint consulting firm together (Culture That Works LLC), our new directions picked...
We Need Hierarchy
One of my idols is Gary Hamel, and he declared this year that bureaucracy must die. I'm sure he'll get a lot of support for that sentiment, since we have been hating bureaucracy since we invented the word (it has ALWAYS had a pejorative undertone), and we all have had...
The Power of Stickiness
In every blog related to business or leadership, you're going to find buzzwords, and mine is no exception. Culture, engagement, ownership--and even the very basics of leadership, change, and management--are all words that start to lose their meaning the more we talk...
Leadership 101: Confront What Is
There is a down side to this wonderful human brain that we all have in our heads, and that is that sometimes we can spend too much of our time living up there in our heads, and not down here in reality. This is particularly true when you face a challenge--a...