India and Juggling Elephants

Here's a review from the India Times:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Sunday_Specials/Book_Mark/Juggling_Elephants/articleshow/2495871.cms

Jay Leno-The Trapeze Artist

Jay Leno may not be an actual trapeze artist, but he can certainly relate to the following quote from Juggling Elephants about the trapeze act: Every team member is important and has to be fully engaged if the act is to be successful.

On The Tonight Show last week, Leno made the following statement: I've been working with these people for 20 years. Without them, I'm not funny. I'm a dead man. His comment was in response to the Writer's Guild strike. These writers are not the stars of the show. They are pretty much invisible to most people. Their job, however, is essential to the success of stars like Jay Leno and others. They write the material that makes them look good-and Leno recognizes their value.

Who are the performers in your circus who might need to be "thanked" or shown some additional appreciation today? You might want to take action BEFORE they decide to go on "strike" and paralyze one or more of the acts in your circus.

Even Wal-Mart Makes Changes To Its Lineup

When you think of Wal-Mart, you no doubt think of low prices, big stores, and a very successful business model. But even Wal-Mart recognizes that it must make changes to its lineup to get a standing ovation from shareholders, customers and employees.

In Time Magazine's article, Restoring Wal-Mart, CEO Scott Lee is quoted as saying , "You do more and more of the same thing and put more and more energy against the same activity, and the rate of improvement diminishes. So then do you put more resources against doing the same thing, or do you finally back up and say, 'You know what? The world's changed.'"

What is changing in your workplace, community or life that indicates you need to make a change in your lineup?

An Uplifting Comment from Down Under

We got an encouraging note from an executive in Queensland, Australia who picked up a copy of Juggling Elephants while traveling through the US since it is not yet available in Australia:

Having picked up a copy of the book when I was recently in the US, I think my senior managers would really appreciate the story. I'd like to order 15 copies.

Good to have the affirmation that the story has a universal appeal.

Pet Peeve Number 2 In The Office

The need for people in the office to "get their act together" when it comes to time management just got validated again based on an article on Yahoo.

A poll conducted by Harris Interactive found that the second biggest pet peeve (54% of respondents) in the office was poor time management of employees such as making personal phone calls at work or surfing the internet during work time. The top seven list was as follows:

• Gossip (60%)
• Poor time management (54%)
• Messiness in communal spaces (45%)
• Potent smells like perfume, food, smoke (42%)
• Loud noises such as speaker phones, loud talking or loud phone ring tones (41%)
• Overuse of electronic personal communications devices in meetings (28%)
• Misuse of e-mail (22%)

Who do you know in your office that needs to hear the message of Juggling Elephants?