The Company Policy Handbook

File under "Office Info"

[companypolicyhandbook]

Forget To-Do Lists. You Really Need a 'Got Done' List

Most digital productivity tools focus on what you have yet to do, but never celebrate what you've accomplished.

Nice rethinking on this. Lot’s of applications for generating that “tell us how you spend your time” in a more positive way. 

[companypolicyhandbook]

Sharing of tacit knowledge is most important aspect of mentorship, study finds

“When mentors excel in transferring tacit knowledge, their protégés achieve two to four times greater success than similarly talented students of mentors who convey regimented knowledge but not tacit know-how, the researchers found. Protégé success was determined by whether they won a scientific prize of their own during their career, were elected to the National Academy of Sciences or were in the top 25% of citations for their field.The most successful protégés also were more likely to pioneer their own research topics, rather than follow in their mentors’ research path. This finding contradicts the popular belief that the most successful protégés will be those who carry on their mentors’ already successful work.“

[companypolicyhandbook]

Get Things Done With Smaller Teams

By creating smaller, more agile teams, managers can facilitate collaboration and efficiency.

[companypolicyhandbook]

Ten Human Skills for the Future of Work

These core strengths are key not only for building and leading effective teams, but for thriving in the constantly evolving workplace.

[manifestsoul]

[companypolicyhandbook]

Leadership Lessons from the Dancing Guy

This is possibly the best three-minute demonstration of anything I’ve ever seen. Derek Sivers takes a shaky video of a lone dancing guy at a music festival and turns it into a lesson about leadership.

From the amazing kottke.org

[companypolicyhandbook]

Why being smart is not enough — the social skills and structures of tackling complexity

“Just as with any innovation project, there is no one ‘best’ way of doing things when it comes to working together to address complex issues. In general though, the approaches seem to include a very strong focus on building trusted relationships; they recognise dialogue, conversation and working with tensions as key skills; and they have a format or structure that enables emergence.”

[companypolicyhandbook]

Leadership and Team Building Advice From the Marines | Art of Manliness

All of us are a part of teams at work and in our community. Even our families are teams. And most of us serve as both members and leaders of these teams.

Brett from The Art Of Manliness and Eric Kapitulik have really interesting take on leadership, mission, and what putting in the work means. Lots and lots of takeaways...

[companypolicyhandbook]

How to have great meetings, according to 200 scientific studies

Too many meetings are poorly run—what research says about getting it right.

Nice summary of the basics. 

[companypolicyhandbook]

The Pitfalls of Life Hacking Culture | The Art of Manliness

Hacking culture tells us that shortcuts are the way to success. What if that wasn't the true path, though?

Interesting reexamination. 

[companypolicyhandbook]

Zebras Fix What Unicorns Break – Jennifer, Mara, Astrid & Aniyia – Medium

Magical thinking drives the startup economy — but we need a strong dose of reality.

[companypolicyhandbook]

Fake Love’s Layne Braunstein: To Survive the Future, Be Upgradable

The creative studio founder says it’s important to think of ‘innovator’ as more than just a line in your bio.

[companypolicyhandbook]

Stop using the office mugs

Don't use the office mugs—or the office forks, for that matter.

“A small 1997 University of Arizona study of the mugs in one campus office found that bacterial counts on the cups was actually higher after they were wiped with the office dish towel than before. The smelly, constantly damp sponge found in many communal kitchens is a hotbed of bacteria; the chances your office sponge is being regularly, properly cleaned are slim. And even if adequate supplies are provided, communal mug hygiene is only assured if every colleague who uses one thoroughly cleans it upon return... “

[companypolicyhandbook]

Now is the time to implement the flipped workplace at scale

Among its many benefits? Protection from robots.

“When it comes to designing the future of work, we are at a crossroads. On one hand, with unemployment at multi-decade lows and the gig economy creating opportunities for up to 75 million Americans, the time has finally come where a lot of us can choose to spend our time however we want to. Consequently, 93% of CEOs recognize they need to change their strategy for attracting and retaining talent.“

[companypolicyhandbook]

The Gender Wage Gap At Every Age, Visualized

One thing is clear: It doesn't get better with time.

[companypolicyhandbook]

Library Rules: How to make an open office plan work

They’re mostly terrible, but there’s room for smart choices.

[companypolicyhandbook]

Let’s bring back the Sabbath as a radical act against ‘total work’ – William R Black | Aeon Ideas

Don’t become your own pharaoh: The Sabbath is the most radical commandment in a time of total work