Roll the dice
Blogger James Bishop got over procrastination by itemizing 12 possible tasks for the day, rolling some dice, and immediately starting work on the number that came up. The task happened to be one he had avoided for weeks; by the end of the day, with this straight-ahead approach, he had completed more tasks than expected. Experiment Detail
Go for the chair
Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, says judges are lawyers who take a cut in pay and assume a largely thankless task because in the legal profession being a judge is considered the highest form of public service. He argues that we need to persuade business executives they must adopt the same spirit about serving as board chairs. Harvard Business School blogs
‘Pink purse’ effect
Colour consultant Leslie Harrington describes a marketing phenomenon called “pink purse syndrome,” when a retailer puts an eye-catching pink purse in the window to catch the customer’s eye, even though the consumer comes in and buys a less-flashy black bag. She cites Volkswagen’s billboard ad for its new Beetle as another example; it shows a neon-green version, even though most customers buy black or silver ones. Inc.com
Brainstorm aids
Blogger Abhijeet Mukherjee recommends the following software for brainstorming exercises: Mind (free and professional versions), FreeMind (free), MindMeister (Web-based, with a free version that lacks some features, or a premium or business version), and Mind42 (free, no frills, online tool). Little Dumb Man
