Here’s an interesting article in the Washington Post about why brain storming doesn’t work.

Evidence has long shown that getting a group of people to think individually about solutions, and then combining their ideas, can be more productive than getting them to think as a group. Some people are afraid of introducing radical ideas in front of a group and don’t speak up; in other cases, the group is either too small or too big to be effective.

Kohn and Smith believed the cause might be due to “cognitive fixation,” or the concept that, when exposed to group members’ ideas, people focused on those and blocked other types of ideas from taking hold.

 

{ 0 comments }

“Facing ever more demand, complexity and uncertainty, our initial response is to push ourselves harder and more relentlessly, without taking account of the costs we’re incurring.”

 

 

 

The antidote?

  1. Get enough sleep — all but a tiny percentage of us require at least 7-8 hours a night to feel fully rested.
  2. Take “renewal breaks” at least ever 90 minutes during the day.  Supposedly even breathing deeply for a minute a day can completely clear the body of cortisol.
  3. Do streneous exercise to push our heart rates into the aerobic and anaerobic zones at least 4x a week, for at least 20 minutes at a time.  Also train with weights at least twice a week.
  4. Just get up and walk around.  Studies show that sitting is REALLY bad for you.
  5. Emotionally, we need to feel safe, secure, and valued. Spend time moving between valuing, appreciation and taking care of others and taking care of ourselves. We need to regularly refuel ourselves with positive emotions just as much as we need to renew ourselves physically.

 

Is the Life You’re Living Worth the Price You’re Paying to Live It? – Tony Schwartz – Harvard Business Review.

{ 0 comments }

Goo.gl’s Awesome Easter Egg To Instantly Turn Any Link Into A QR Code

September 30, 2010

Earlier today, Google formally released Goo.gl, their URL-shortener, to the public. They’re calling it the “stablest, most secure, and fastest URL shortener on the web.” But it also may be the coolest thanks to an easter egg.As Google’s Matt Cutts’ just tweeted out, if you simply add “.qr” to the end of any goo.gl URL, [...]

Read the full article →

My Life As A CEO (And VC): Chief Psychologist

September 7, 2010

After reading Fred Wilson’s post about what a CEO does, I find Mark Suster’s guest post on TechCrunch. I’ve had a post in my head for months – maybe longer – about the role of a CEO. My primary role was “chief psychologist” and as I’ve learned over the past few years the same has [...]

Read the full article →

Seth Godin’s Simple five step plan for just about everyone and everything

May 25, 2010

The number of people you need to ask for permission keeps going down: 1. Go, make something happen. 2. Do work you’re proud of. 3. Treat people with respect. 4. Make big promises and keep them. 5. Ship it out the door. When in doubt, see #1. Seems simple and obvious right? Once again, I [...]

Read the full article →