Point Lookout
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Archive of Point Lookout for 2024

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A meeting that's probably a bit too largeComing March 20: Top Ten Ways to Make Meetings More Effective
Meetings are just about everybody's least favorite part of working in organizations. We can do much better if only we take a few simple steps to improve them. The big one: publish the agenda in advance. Here are nine other steps to improve meetings. Available here and by RSS on March 20.
An informal meeting in a loungeAnd on March 27: Allocating Action Items
From time to time in meetings we discover tasks that need doing. We call them "action items." And we use our list of open action items as a guide for tracking the work of the group. How we decide who gets what action item can sometimes affect our success. Available here and by RSS on March 27.

This page has links to articles from 2024. For other years:

March 13, 2024

The S.S. Eastland, in Cleveland, Ohio, around 1911On Anticipating Consequences
Much of what goes wrong when we change systems to improve them falls into a category we call unanticipated consequences. Even when we lack models that can project these results accurately, morphological analysis can help us avoid much misery.

March 6, 2024

Adolf Hitler greets Neville Chamberlain at the beginning of the Bad Godesberg meeting on 24 September 1938Six More Insights About Workplace Bullying
Some of the lore about dealing with bullies at work isn't just wrong — it's harmful. It's harmful in the sense that applying it intensifies the bullying. Here are six insights that might help when devising strategies for dealing with bullies at work. Example: Letting yourself be bullied is not a thing.

February 28, 2024

What most of us think of when we think of checklistsChecklists: Conventional or Auditable
Checklists help us remember the steps of complicated procedures, and the order in which we must execute them. The simplest form is the conventional checklist. But when we need a record of what we've done, we need an auditable checklist.

February 21, 2024

The results of a crash testRed Team Reviews of Uphill Briefings
In preparing for uphill briefings, briefers can benefit from preliminary reviews. When we review the briefing early in development, the briefing team can address vulnerabilities and exploit opportunities. A Red Team review is one style of preliminary review.

February 14, 2024

Walking a tightropeBriefing Uphill
Briefing small groups is a common occurrence for members of most organizations. Briefing executives is one of the more challenging forms of such exercises. Here are 14 guidelines for briefing uphill successfully.

February 7, 2024

A stone cairn that looks impossible to buildResponses to Outrageous Demands
From time to time, we might encounter a powerful person making outrageous demands, possibly accompanied by threats if we don't comply. At first, the choice seems to be between acceding to their demands or flat out refusing. There are other possibilities.

January 31, 2024

An example of erosion of a mountain in Death ValleyImprovement Bias
When we set about improving how our organizations do things, we expose ourselves to the risk of finding opportunities for improvement that offer very little improvement, while we overlook others that could make a real difference. Cognitive biases play a role.

January 24, 2024

A graphical representation of a strategic analysis tool known as the "SWOT Matrix"I Don't Know Where to Begin
Sometimes we find ourselves engaged in debate about how to approach solving a problem. When the delays and costs due to these debates exceed any possible benefit, consideration of the causes of these debates can dramatically improve group performance.

January 17, 2024

A waste container in a parkOn Miscommunication
Some sources of confusion in communications are difficult to detect. Because they escape our notice, they are also difficult to avoid. One example: words that mean different things in different contexts. Another: multiple negations involving prefixes.

January 10, 2024

Stela of Minnakht, chief of the Egyptian scribes, during the reign of Ay (c. 1321 BCE)Six Traps in Email or Text: II
Collaboration requires communication. For many, communicating often takes place in email and text message systems. But much of the effort expended in communication is dedicated to resolving confusions that we created for ourselves. Here are four examples.

January 3, 2024

An old-fashioned typewriterSix Traps in Email or Text: I
Most of us invest significant effort in communicating by email or any of the various forms of text messaging. Much of the effort is spent correcting confusions caused, in part, by a few traps. Knowing what those traps are can save much trouble.

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