Category: Tips & Opinions

15-minute cities:  This is a term I have recently become familiar with due to a conversation with a friend. It is an interesting comment and warrants some research, but is it feasible in Canada with its vastness? Not everyone works within a 15-minute walking or biking distance… If you are unaware of what a 15-minute […]

Firefighting:  Too high of a percentage of businesses operate at this level. What does it take to go from being reactive (fighting fires) to being more proactive? Obviously there are certain steps that will have to be followed in order to accomplish this. You can’t go from being reactive to proactive overnight – it will […]

Take things for granted:  Often we wait till the last minute or too late to tell people how much we appreciate them. We wait until either someone is on their death bed to tell them or we wait until their funeral and tell others how much we loved someone, how much they impacted our lives, […]

Root Cause:  In both our personal and business lives, this is something that is often disregarded. Think of it as a tree – which is where the term comes from in my opinion… Throughout our life, it is easy to look at signs or symptoms rather than the root cause. However, dealing with branches will […]

Being Thankful: We tend to do this once a year on Thanksgiving – go around the table and say what you are thankful for. However, we should be doing it on a more regular basis. We should take time every day and think of one thing we are thankful for.  Just one.  You could do […]

Knowledge Share:  A lot of people feel more secure in their position, if they keep the information to themselves – they feel it is a type of job security. They could be right in their thinking. However, if you are away, quit or are sick for a long period of time, how does it help […]

Honesty:  On a scale of 1-10, what level of honesty would you put yourself at with others? With yourself? I call it one degree off… It only takes a moment to slip into that one degree – a quick, simple, easy white lie and then you’re in it. One degree off starts out that way, […]

Mentoring:  When people retire or move, do you take advantage of the knowledge that they have gained and give them ample time to train the next employee. Many employers lose out on knowledge sharing when people walk out the door after many years of service. Granted the new or chosen employee for the position will […]

Doing What’s Right:  It may not always be easy but you will benefit more in the long run. I have always said – I have to do what I can live with as I have to look at myself in the mirror every morning.  Being able to look myself in the eye is important to […]

Exit Interview:  Many companies do not perform this simple but very useful task. An exit interview can give you interesting feedback, if the employee that is leaving feels safe enough to be truly honest about their reason for departure. Collecting feedback as to why people leave your organization can be very helpful in making different […]

Addiction:  A touchy subject for most. This word means many things to many different people. Some understand it to some point, some embrace it, some defend it, some deny it and others enable it. Nevertheless, this word and the action behind it, has consumed people, has destroyed people, has hurt people, has (you finish this […]

One bad apple:  This is an age old expression and still holds true to this day. The bad apples metaphor originated as a warning of the corrupting influence of one corrupt or sinful person on a group: that “one bad apple can spoil the barrel”. Excerpt taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_apples#:~:text=The%20bad%20apples%20metaphor%20originated,apple%20can%20spoil%20the%20barrel%22. This is something that definitely happens […]