Shipulski On Design

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If you have a reasonably good idea, someone will steal it, make it their own and take credit. No worries, this is what happens with reasonably good ideas. If you have a really good idea, you’ll have to explain it several times before anyone understands it. Then, once they understand, you’ll have to help them […]

When was the last time you taught someone a new method or technique? What was their reaction? How did it make you feel? Will you do it again? When was the last time you learned something new from a colleague? What was your reaction? What did you do so it would happen again? When was […]

I stand by my statement that trust is the most important element in business (see The Trust Network.) The Trust Network are the group of people who get the work done. They don’t do the work to get promoted, they just do the work because they like doing the work. They don’t take others’ credit […]

Trust is the most important element in business. It’s not organizational authority, it’s not alignment, it’s not execution, it’s not best practices, it’s not competitive advantage and it’s not intellectual property. It’s trust. Trust is more powerful than the organizational chart.  Don’t believe me? Draw the org chart and pretend the person at the top […]

If you want things to change, you have two options. You can incentivize change or you can move things out of the way that block change. The first way doesn’t work and the second one does.  For more details, click this link at it will take you to a post that describes Danny Kahneman’s thoughts […]

You could be a subtle leader if… You create the causes and conditions for others to shine. And when they shine, you give them the credit they’re due. You don’t have the title, but when the high-profile project hits a rough patch, you get called in to create the go-forward plan. One of your best […]

Doing new work takes gumption. But there are two problems with gumption. One, you’ve got to create it from within. Two, it takes a lot of energy to generate the gumption and to do that you’ve got to be physically fit and mentally grounded. Here are some words that may help. Move from self-judging to […]

We think we have more control than we really have.  We imagine an idealized future state and try desperately to push the organization in the direction of our imagination.  Add emotional energy, define a rational approach, provide the supporting rationale and everyone will see the light. Pure hubris. What if we took a different approach? […]

With this blog post, I’ve written a blog post every Wednesday night for eight years, with no misses and no repeats. It started while on vacation at a friend’s house where he suggested I write a blog. I had no idea what a blog was or how to write one. I didn’t know that a […]

It’s easy to complain about how things are going, especially when they’re not going well. But even with the best intentions, complaining doesn’t move the organization in a new direction.  Sometimes people complain to attract attention to an important issue. Sometimes it’s out of frustration, sometimes out of sadness and sometimes out of fear, but […]

If you had a choice to make an extra year’s salary or live an extra year, which would you choose? If you had a choice to make an extra month’s salary or live an extra month, make the same choice? What about the trade between a week’s pay and a week of life? Does anything […]