What is the real cost of email?

Tom Cochran  believes that email is the most abused method of communication in every office environment. And the widespread perception that it has no incremental cost is chronically damaging workplace efficiency. According to Tom, the challenge we are facing isn't an aversion to technology, but change. I think that sums it up very well.

Tom suggests there is an entrenched level of comfort with email, making it habitual and a communications crutch. We have to take a holistic view and see email as one of many channels for collaboration. Adopt a breadth of tools to connect people, teach them the appropriate use of each and encourage smarter use of the right technology.

I also find that an open office environment creates less of a dependency on email as "literally" walls come down and teams naturally collaborate.

More here: Email Is Not Free - Tom Cochran - Harvard Business Review.

How to get ahead.I disagree.

This is a very disturbing article from Harvard Business Review. Here is one tidbit.

First, remember "A-B-D" — always be disagreeable:

People who are disagreeable earn more than people who are agreeable, and the gap is biggest among men, according to an analysis of four surveys spanning almost 20 years. Men who are significantly less agreeable than average earn 18.31% more than men who are significantly more agreeable than average, while the comparable figure for women is 5.47%, says the study, led by Beth A. Livingston of Cornell. Men's disagreeable behavior "conforms to expectations of 'masculine' behavior," the authors say.

via Ouch: A Year's Worth of Occasionally Disturbing Research on How to Get Ahead - Andrew O’Connell - Harvard Business Review.

From there, a long list of pretty disagreeable items continue. I kept looking for something redeeming. Nothing. Hmmm. If this is the list of what to do, I object.

Are the number-cruncher days numbered?

OK, full disclosure. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree. Yes, I went the Liberal Arts route in college. This can be an asset when puzzling through complex or ambiguous situations; innovating; communicating; and understanding the customer through the power of “observation and psychology—the stuff of poets and novelists.” Yes, I also write poetry. :)

Do you have a Liberal Arts degree? Has it helped you in the business world?

Nobody is saying that numbers-crunchers’ days are numbered. But the idea that having people with a strong background in the humanities—what Peter Drucker termed “Management as a Liberal Art”—can provide companies with a great advantage is gaining some real momentum.

via Drucker’s Lost Art of Management | The Drucker Exchange.

As a great leader, do you pay attention to politics?

Linda A. Hill and Kent Lineback, authors of "Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader," describe the three types of networks you need to succeed. Harvard Business Review video with Linda A. Hill, the Wallace Brett Donham Professor Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Kent Lineback who has spent many years as a manager and an executive in business and government.

A very honest conversation about politics in organizations and why it is important not to ignore it. You may be a CIO or a part of the C-Suite, a VP, a Director, a manager or team player. Should you ignore the politics of relationships?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGdRyPN3IRk&feature=g-vrec

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