transparency : Nan S. Russell

In the Scheme of Things: The House With Weeds

Posted on October 10, 2016 By Nan Russell 0 comments (comments closed)

As I write from an upstairs home office, I can see the weeds, each day appearing more robust than the day before. A variety of them abound — thick, tall ones reaching more than two feet, and pointy, prickly ones spreading as definitive tuffs across the yard. There are sticker bushes and vine-like crawlers fighting for space, too.

Every morning timed sprinklers nourish the weeds’ thirst and accelerate their growth. One enterprising weed even broke through the asphalt in front of the house to caress a white Subaru that hasn’t moved in months. There are people, decades younger than me, who live in the house. They emerge most days via car or motorcycle, zooming off as if in quick retreat.

The weeds weren’t there when we moved to this neighborhood a few months ago. Back then, the house didn’t (continue reading →)

Posted in: In the Scheme of Things | Tagged: In the Scheme of Things, life problems, Nan Russell, no perfect life, self-doubt, toxic relationships, transparency | Comments closed

Winning at Working: Simple Solutions

Posted on September 26, 2015 By Nan Russell 0 comments (comments closed)

On our first morning of vacation, we were pleased to find open tables when we arrived for breakfast at a popular and highly recommended café. With several people actively filling walk-up specialty coffee orders at the counter, it took several minutes to be acknowledged: “It’ll be about five minutes for a table since the waitress needs to catch up,” a person finally called out in our direction.

Fifteen minutes later we were seated; in another hour our order arrived. What we’d planned as a quick breakfast before heading out to explore the city and its museums turned into a morning event. Our “quick breakfast” took 109 minutes, during which time we were never offered a beverage refill or given a courtesy acknowledgement about why the delays to order, receive food, get the check, and pay the bill.

Since breakfast is commonly a more speedily served and eaten meal, the slowness and customer-abandonment in this highly rated café was at first a surprise and then an annoyance. When the waitress finally brought our check, she (continue reading →)

Posted in: Winning at Working | Tagged: collaboraion, communication, customer focus, Nan Russell, performance trust, service, teamwork, transparency, Winning at Working | Comments closed

Winning at Working: Workplace Ladder Fuel

Posted on July 24, 2014 By Nan Russell 0 comments (comments closed)

Maybe you received an email seeking applicants as paid mystery shoppers in your area, or offering cash in exchange for filling out online surveys. Or you heard theaters used subliminal advertising to increase sales of popcorn and soft drinks. Maybe it was the “send old shoes, get a new one free” Nike promotion that caught your attention, or the discovery that you can cure disease by drinking four glasses of water every morning.

The fact that these are all false didn’t stop thousands of people from forwarding them, repeating them, or believing them. Two of these even made it into the top 25 “hottest urban legends” on snopes.com. Likewise, the fact that office grapevines are filled with false information, speculation, innuendo, and gossip doesn’t stop people from using rumor to fuel distrust, reinforce silo building, or enhance “us” versus “them” thinking.

This workplace ladder fuel can devastate motivation and destroy (continue reading →)

Posted in: Winning at Working | Tagged: gossip, mistrust, Nan Russell, open dialogue, transparency, Winning at Working; workplace rumors | Comments closed

transparency

In the Scheme of Things: The House With Weeds

Winning at Working: Simple Solutions

Winning at Working: Workplace Ladder Fuel

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