The #1 Killer of “One Team, One Goal!”

 “I can sum up all our problems in a few words: ‘silos and butt-covering.’”

QBQ! The Question Behind the Question

A good author doesn’t date stories or quotes in his books because doing so gives the reader or audience member a built-in objection. They might think, Hmm, old. Must not be relevant anymore.

In this case, though, knowing that an executive made the statement above to me in the mid 1990’s might actually help. You might think, Huh, I see nothing has changed!

That is, you could think that if you work for an organization …

The #1 Tactic for Less Stress, Greater Joy, and a Happier Life

Having written several books and training guides, I am fascinated—sometimes frustrated—by typos.

I’ve wanted to scream, HOW DID I MISS THAT!?!? I even wrote a piece about one critical typo here.

So, in search of typo knowledge, I found a piece by Marianne Worley titled, The Truth About Typos and Why You Keep Missing Them.

When I read her insight below, I thought … well, I’ll tell you what I thought after you read her comment:

5 Questions About Quitting

I just finished a novel where a rookie cop was the heroine. Throughout the book, as scary people tried to do her harm, she kept herself going by repeating a phrase she’d learned as a child:

No medals for quitters!

Quitter. Ouch. Who wants to be called one of … those!? Doesn’t “quitter” just drip with negativity?

Lazy! Unreliable! Untrustworthy! Bum! Sloth!

Are these people bums and sloths?

Imagine a World Where Everyone …

As lunch ended, the HR executive of a well-known, Denver-based “fast casual” restaurant chain looked me dead in the eye and said, “John, I promise to read QBQ! and call you in two weeks.”

He didn’t.

Didn’t read the book, or make the call.

So I followed up. It’s what salespeople do—and I’ve done it since 1986.

4 Words: Which One Best Describes … You?

During the process of hiring me to speak at his banking institution’s August event in Minneapolis, my client shared this: 

“John, I know your QBQ! message of personal accountability is perfect for our organization because so much comes down to one’s personal brand.”

When I asked Pat (an executive who saw me speak in 2012) to expand, he offered this scenario:

JUST199WORDS: Work Is Not a Party, But …

I learned this in my Cornell psychology class: A child’s play is her work.

So 11-month-old granddaughter, McKenna, is hard at work above.

Curious, when you are at work, do you “play”?

Outstanding people have careers not “jobs” because they find joy in work. They feel happiness as they toil. They don’t …