The Recovering Engineer

JUNE 13, 2011

Sometimes, life gets messy — as shown by the picture of the living area in my home this morning. When I first walked through this area on my way to get a cup of coffee and some breakfast, I felt a bit stressed. My family was still asleep, and I had a full day of work planned in my home office. The mess felt a bit overwhelming and out of control. If you look carefully by the rocking chair near the middle of the picture, you will see an insulated coffee cup.

Seminar 271

Seminar Short-term Long-term Stress 271

The Recovering Engineer

JUNE 8, 2011

There are two musical instruments I would like to play. One is the saxophone and the other is the guitar. When I was in the fifth grade, my parents placed an order to rent a saxophone for the following school year so that I could join the band and learn to play. Over the summer, we moved to a different city where band started in fifth grade. I was out of sequence with the school system, and I wasn’t able to take private lessons.

Motivation 240

Motivation Tips Goal Learning-by-Doing 240

The Recovering Engineer

JUNE 15, 2011

A few months ago, I bought a guitar and started the process of learning to play. A few days ago, I wrote a post about what my motivation to purchase a guitar can teach leaders of all kinds. Today, I have another lesson drawn from my recent guitar playing endeavor for people of all ages and roles. First, the story behind the lesson. As my daughters and a friend of mine patiently teach me scales, chords, chord progressions, hand positions, and strumming patterns; I have learned to struggle through

FAQ 210

FAQ Hammer Learning-by-Doing Tips 210

The Recovering Engineer

JUNE 2, 2011

In previous posts, I have written about a model for understanding what motivates behavior and three clues you can use to find what motivates another person. Today, I’ll share some quick insights about what motivates people based on their DISC behavioral style. A person who has outgoing and task-oriented (Dominant) traits is often motivated by: Solving problems.

Motivation 200

Motivation Tips Teamwork Stress 200

The Recovering Engineer

JUNE 22, 2011

While forgiving often seems like something that you do for others, it is, in reality, something you do for yourself. Forgiving benefits the person who receives forgiveness, and it benefits the person who forgives even more. Many times, the person that has not received forgiveness has forgotten the event while the person who refuses to forgive continues to harbor anger and bitterness.

Article 153

Article Productivity Products 153

The Recovering Engineer

JUNE 16, 2011

I’m sitting in an airline lounge at LAX, and I’m reflecting a bit on my week as I wait to board a red-eye flight back to Indianapolis. I just finished co-facilitating a single day training session with my friend and colleague Kevin Eikenberry that was part of a longer four-day training program. As we spoke with the participants, we heard about some of the other skills they were learning, and we encouraged them to look for ways to integrate what we were teaching with content from othe

Airlines 188

Airlines Learning-by-Doing Skills Training 188