After spending some time discussing the challenge process this week, “5 Reasons employees aren’t sharing their ideas” caught my attention. As you read, think about what can encourage (or discourage) productive challenge in your team.

Bob Sutton responds to an article claiming brainstorming doesn’t work.

After speaking with a few folks about what driving creative destruction means on a personal level, someone suggested a “stop doing list.” “9 tasks to ax from your to-do list” has the same spirit to it — stop doing the things that aren’t productive for you.

“Luck and Serendipity” analyzes the role of luck in entrepreneurial activities.

“Managers are you telling too many stories? Be a little more messy” caught my attention this morning. I’ve not had a chance to watch the video connected to this story (though I’ve seen Tyler Cowen speak many times and was generally impressed).

I had a computer crash yesterday and lost most of the links I was saving to share with you this week. Instead of making an effort to re-create what I had, here are a few I’ve run across since the crash. Help me out by sharing some links with us in the comments.

The Mises Institute Blog points out a modern take on “I, Pencil.”

As a big fan of economic freedom (and liberty in general), I like seeing data/maps that help to quantify attributes of a free society. Here’s some maps about freedom of the press.

One study found “You’re the most creative when you’re at your groggiest.” Here’s the punchline, “Here’s the headline result: the students were much more successful at solving the insight problems when the time of testing coincided with their least optimal time of functioning.”

Have a great weekend!

Carpe Diem has a great example of “Creative Destruction” (that many of you are probably familiar with, but it adds more to the story).

David Dunning, the author of one of my favorite work-related books (Self-Insight), has co-authored a new study about “Why We’re Better At Predicting Other’s Behavior Than Our Own.” It’d be interesting to talk about the Human Action Model with Dunning to see what he thinks about predicting/explaining behavior using that mental model.

The Evil HR Lady tells us to “Hire Someone You Hate.” She admits in the comments that “hate” isnt’ the right word. As you read it, think about how is her advice consistent or inconsistent with our Guiding Principles. What caveats would you add to her advice?

I’ve been writing a paper about Abraham Maslow and the role of meaningful work in MBM. So, I perked up a bit when I read Management Craft’s article that asks, “What if leaders should NOT and CANNOT make work meaningful for others?” As you read, think about what MBM mental models may help us think through the advice from an MBM standpoint.

For those of you who made a resolution to work on your economic thinking mental models (seems reasonable to me!), check out Learn Liberty’s “Economic Thinking” learning path.

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Creative Destruction

What can we learn from Kim Jung Il about Management? Check out the Evil HR Lady’s post titled “Managers: Are you the Kim Jung Il of Your Company?” What connections (if any) do you see with MBM?

The annual “PNC – Christmas Price Index Express” was released earlier this month. I always get a kick out of this alternative way to look at how prices have changed over the years.

Have you ever wondered “Where do good ideas come from?” I enjoyed this RSA Animate clip about the book with the same title. It makes another strong case for freedom of speech’s role in societal progress.

Have safe and happy holidays. We’ll be back after the New Year. See you in 2012!

This is a late edition because several of these links are neat things from yesterday. I guess I’d rather be a day late than have you miss some of these stories.

First, a belated happy birthday to one of the major influences in MBM: Ludwig von Mises. The Mises Institute celebrated by reposting some articles outlining Mises’s contributions to economics and free market thought.

Yesterday was Coffee Day (as far as I am concerned, every day is coffee day). Here’s an article celebrating by looking at how/if coffee is related to productivity.

This article responds to research released this summer that shows up to half of people want to quit their jobs. It’s titled “Half of Your Team is About to Quit… 12 Things to Do About It.”

Again, I was a bit late in finding this story: “Vivid Stories Change Donor Behavior.” After hearing Andy discuss the Success Case Method yesterday, I remembered I’d read something about stories and went back to this blog. Do you see the Human Action Model at work in this article?

Have a safe and happy weekend!

In honor of the Economic Freedom of World Report release earlier this week, today’s links are all about economic freedom. (Here’s a reminder for those of you who want a refresher on economic freedom.)

The Mercatus Center has a video showing how economic freedom has changed in the US since 1970. Scroll to the bottom of this article to see the quick clip.

Learn Liberty has a video clip of one of the authors of the Economic Freedom of the World Report explaining more about economic freedom.

Here’s a Forbes.com article with some charts and a video explaining more about this years’ Economic Freedom of the World Report.

I know there’s been lots of talk about the Economic Freedom of the World Report. Leave any related links you’ve found in the comments. Have a safe and happy weekend.

Andy’s post about economic freedom made me especially attuned to how else we might measure or think about human well-being. This article about “What Lipstick Can Tell Us About the Economy” has an interesting take. This article makes a point that “Time, not Stuff” may be a better way to think about human well-being.

I like “Why Efficiency Fanatics Are Wasting Their Time” not because I agree with every word in it. Instead, I like the idea of digging deeper, looking at secondary consequences and trying to figure out what we’re really doing. It reminded me of the quote by Abraham Maslow, “What is not worth doing is not worth doing well” (Maslow on Management, 19). Here are two more links along the lines of productivity: “The Uncluttered Mind” and “The Messed-up Paradigm of Long Hours.”

Here’s a cartoon with an opportunity cost lesson.

Have a safe and happy weekend!

Take a few minutes to read “Ridiculously Transparent” with an eye to what seems consistent and inconsistent with MBM. I found numerous MBM mental models and a concept from each dimension. My only caution is to keep in mind the importance of judgement. Many (not all) of their underlying principles seem in tune with MBM even if the practice isn’t something you always see at an MBM organization. While this company judged total transparency as the appropriate way to share knowledge, it isn’t the only way. You can imagine the different ways the underlying principle of knowledge sharing can manifest. We must always use our judgement on such issues.

Recently I’ve been slightly obsessed with finding pictures to help compare and contrast the level of human well-being in a free society versus an un-free society. After checking out this post about infrastructure spending, one of the comments led me to a great Flickr stream with pictures from North Korea. The pictures themselves are quite beautiful. Be sure to read the text underneath to better understand what you are seeing as I’m sure they were taken recently but the content looks like something from decades ago. If you have any suggestions for pictures, please leave links in the comments.

I read quite a bit this week but didn’t find much to pass along. Leave any links you found interesting in the comments. Have a safe and happy weekend!

Here are some “Fast Draw” clips about books I’d like to read. See Guy Kawasaki’s “Enchantment” hereand Sylvia Nasar’s “Grand Pursuit” here. After watching these clips, I more excited about “Grand Pursuit” and less excited about “Enchantment.” I like the emphasis on ideas and change in both clips.

“Why Don’t People Follow Procedures?” gives a few quick answers to the title question. However, it didn’t go beyond “there’s a flaw.” What does your experience tell you about why people don’t follow procedures? Using MBM, how might you consult with a manager who is having trouble with procedures?

Seth Godin has some ideas about “The Warning Signs of Defending the Status Quo.” His warning signs highlight several MBM mental models. As you read through them, see what mental models you can spot.

I tried to find some more compelling links but not much caught my eye this week. Help me out by leaving some links in the comments. Have a safe and  happy weekend!

Mark Perry had several post relevant to management this week. “Why BMW Picked South Carolina: No Auto Culture” pulls some good quotes out an article about how BMW looked 250 sites for their production facility and took culture into consideration. I don’t know if we’ve addressed the generation gap on this blog, but Perry links back the “Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2015.”

Here’s an interesting tid-bit related to human psychology: “False Confessions” (via BPS Research Digest). “It seems hard to imagine that anyone of sound mind would take the blame for something he did not do. But several researchers have found it surprisingly easy to make people fess up to invented misdemeanours.”

“Get Out and Learn” offers a few tips for things you can do right now from your desk to learn something new.

This blog is calling for reader thoughts about tacit knowledge. I know there are some huge Polanyi fans out there, so “go get ‘em.”

I just added My Flexible Pencil to my list of usual blog reading. There wasn’t one particular article that caught my attention this week. However, the site overall seems fascinating.

Have a safe and happy weekend!