Influencing and Problem Solving for Leaders and Others Mike Lehr's Blog

The Small Importance of Big Data

Posted on14 Aug 2014

Tagsexpectations, information technology, problem solving, The Economist, big data

Comments4

Many small things are critical to big data. Yet, as history shows, revolutionary uses will surprise us. Our imagination lags far behind technology’s possibilities. We...

Personality Types That Share Ads

Posted on11 Aug 2014

Tagsadvertising, extrovert, Harvard Business Review, LinkedIn, marketing, Personality, social media, status, peer-to-peer marketing, big data, Thales Teixeira, target marketing, egocentricity, viral ads

Comments1

I had asked a LinkedIn guru whether he knew of a way to filter profiles based on personality types. He replied, “No.” A marketing professional...

Book of Job, Favorite in Bible

Posted on07 Aug 2014

TagsBook of Job Quality-Quantity Analogy, quantity, quality, Inspiration (Series), empathy, analogy

Comments1

The Book of Job is my favorite in the Bible because despite Job’s many sufferings God’s love is better. Translating into nonsectarian and business perspectives;...

Better Forecaster of Future, Confidence or Prudence?

Posted on04 Aug 2014

TagsThe New Yorker, prudence, forecasting, Defence Research and Development Canada, Alan Barnes, David Mandel, Philip Tetlock, University of Pennsylvania, The Economist, Personality, James Surowiecki, future, confidence, competence, accountability

Comments2

Who’s better at forecasting, the confident or prudent? So far, the prudent seem to be winning confidently. More decisively, those most confident tend to be...

Attacking Relational Challenges in Group Interactions

Posted on31 Jul 2014

Tagsgroup interactions, Leveraging Group Interactions Series, question and answer, meetings, personalization, using names, relationships, rationale, presentation, personal, organizational culture, compliments

Comments4

When tapping group interactions to mold relationships and culture, the relational challenges center on groups naturally constraining individual expression. We frequently experience this in large...

Big Data, Big Personality Assessor

Posted on28 Jul 2014

Tags60 Minutes, CBS News, Thore Graepel, David Stillwell, Michal Kosinski, Jordan Robertson, Shannon Pettypiece, big data, healthcare, Facebook, Bloomberg Businessweek, Twitter, Real-time personality assessment, medical, information technology, information

Comments2

Imagine applying for a job. In addition, to all the necessary disclosures for background checks, references, credit reports, drug tests and personality assessments, there is...

Soft Tissues, Soft Skills, Hard Work

Posted on24 Jul 2014

Tagsbody analogy, training, soft skills, hard skills, analogy collection, Soft Tissue-Soft Skills Analogy

Comments4

The body has 206 bones. The number of skeleton muscles is in the 639-850 range depending on definition, not including though the heart muscle, smooth...

Customers Are #2

Posted on21 Jul 2014

Tagsorganizational culture, customers, employees, marketing, subconscious, emotional triggers, Centier Bank, Indiana, Indiana Bankers Association, Hoosier Banker

Comments0

Eighty percent of companies seem to emphasize the classic, “Customers are #1,” mantra. Far fewer emphasize an employee-centric one, “Employees are #1.” With the latter,...

Secret Keeping Stressful, Telling Inevitable

Posted on17 Jul 2014

Tagscommunication, dissent, Performance, talking cure, The Atlantic, venting, Sarah Yager

Comments0

As it turns out, we might be doing harm to those we tell secrets expecting them to keep. In her article, “Why You Can’t Keep...

Group Interactions, the Two Types and Their Ratio

Posted on14 Jul 2014

Tagsorganizational culture, Influence, management by walking around, presentation, press, relationships, spontaneous, teachable moment, TED Talks, group interactions, question and answer, Leveraging Group Interactions Series

Comments4

All group interactions (GI) are a blend of two types. The difference between the two is the amount of interaction between the audience and the...

Leadership, The Secret (Pt 9): Problems Defining & Studying

Posted on10 Jul 2014

Tagsdefinitions, health, leadership, Performance, Twitter, Leadership - The Secret Series, Greger Wikstand, Capgemini, Jaana Kuoppala, Anne Lamminpää, Juha Liira, Harri Vainio

Comments6

Greger Wikstand, a Capgemini consultant (plus much more), and I exchanged Tweets on my post, “Leadership, The Secret (Pt 6): Scientifically Unproven.” He asked me...

Problems with Science

Posted on07 Jul 2014

TagsInfluence, leadership, scientific, Scientific Method, subconscious, The Economist, University of California Santa Barbara, John Ioannidis, Stanford School of Medicine, PLOS Medicine, Jonathan Schooler, Practicing Safe Science Series

Comments0

The biggest problem with science are people, not only scientists but the people who fund, publish, cite and use it. As sharp as the scientific...

The Untold Secret of Best Practices

Posted on03 Jul 2014

TagsDownside of Best Practices, consensus, Julian Birkinshaw, security, relationships, process, London Business School, Harvard Business Review, decision-making process, organizational culture, certainty, best practices

Comments2

Processes trigger our emotions for security, for certainty. All too often processes become the end, not outcomes. Providers of all kinds, from hair treatments to...

Politeness as Dishonesty

Posted on30 Jun 2014

Tagsfeelings, honesty, innovation, The Economist, truth, politeness

Comments1

Politeness softens the edge on our feelings but does so at the cost of cutting a good understanding of where we stand. If doing this...

Group Interactions, Molding Relationships and Culture

Posted on26 Jun 2014

Tagsacknowledgement, compliments, organizational culture, emotions, face-to-face interactions, feelings, grapevine, group, rationale, relationship building techniques, Techniques, Thank You, group interactions, meetings, Leveraging Group Interactions Series

Comments4

Most times, we see group interactions (GI) as convenient communication tools. Typically, they appear as meetings, training sessions and other events. Except for possible networking...

Mike Lehr’s Blog

The Small Importance of Big Data

Book of Job, Favorite in Bible

Better Forecaster of Future, Confidence or Prudence?

Soft Tissues, Soft Skills, Hard Work

Customers Are #2

Secret Keeping Stressful, Telling Inevitable

Leadership, The Secret (Pt 9): Problems Defining & Studying

Problems with Science

The Untold Secret of Best Practices

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