In a previous blog post, I talked about the 3 pillars of business - Visibility, Connection, Delivery.

But where does engagement fit? Aren’t connection and engagement the same thing? I get this question a lot...and it’s absolutely critical to your business that you not only understand the distinction between them, but that you also develop your strategies and actions with these distinctions in mind.

If you haven’t got a good sense of the basic 3 Pillars of Business, I would suggest that you start your reading there, and then come back here for more learning. Today’s post is dealing only with Connection and Engagement.

Last week, Brian presented his seminar, 'Using a Strategic Approach to Drive Success from Your Business Plan,' at the annual conference of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC in Kelowna.

We routinely speak on small business strategy and differentiation.  If you would like to book us to speak at your next conference, seminar or general meeting, please contact us today.

Most people do all their best work in their head. A flash of brilliance, a stroke of genius, an ah-ha moment...and that’s where it stops. What happens to those little hints of Einstein? Where do they go?

In a nutshell, they evaporate. Poof! Gone forever. Never to be reclaimed. Doesn’t that just drive you crazy!!

So I have a strategy. It took me a few years to realize the significance of actually writing it down. I know the idea of writing down your thoughts isn’t new. It’s been around a long time, and the habit of journaling has been touted as a Success Habit by almost all truly Successful People. Once you write it down, it becomes real.

I recently came across an interesting blog post by preeminent business author, Seth Godin (of ‘Purple Cow’ fame), on increasing efficiency in small businesses.

He advises that by having a technical expert watch you work for an hour (someone who is intimately familiar with basic, commonly used business software and tools), they will be able to make recommendations that will make you more efficient, and that these efficiencies will more than pay for the services of the expert within a week.

How are people truly motivated? In this “RSAnimation”, writer Dan Pink discusses the science behind motivation and incentives; the findings might just surprise you. A graduate from Yale Law School and former chief speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore, Pink has written extensively about business, technology and the changing workplace.

Research has shown that we humans cannot be as endlessly manipulated as is often assumed. What this means to our topic - motivation - and its application in the management world, is that simply throwing more money at people as an incentive, will not necessarily translate into better performance or results. Incentives only work with rudimentary mechanical skills. As soon as tasks involve cognitive skills, the incentive reward system has the opposite effect. How can that be?