Middlefocus

You know that busy supermarket moment when you decide which check-out queue to join? That happened me a while back. The almost full car park that greeted me on arrival was a sure sign that there would be a lengthy wait. Still I had a list, needed the stuff and joined the fray. Picking the check-out The supermarket I use most has a long line of checkouts and I've noticed that the longest queues seem to be the ones nearest the exit. Further along the line, away from the exit, queues are a bit shorter so I tend to aim for one of those spots. I noticed on this visit that one of the operators was chatting to her customers as she scanned their purchases. That queue seemed to be moving fairly quickly so I joined it. Sure enough. She smiled, talked to kids in the line and engaged their frazzled parents. Here's the thing though, she worked smoothly, organising the throughput of items and slowing from time to time to match the shoppers' bagging pace. The result was that paym...

Needing some extra keys the other day, I called in to a nearby mall to get some cut. The kiosk, Timpson, supplies keys, does shoe repairs and provides other services. The person in charge was friendly, keen to please and offered a money off deal. He then handed me this simple thank you note. I don't recall any service providing me with that before. Sure, you'll see it on a till receipt but nothing quite so upfront as this. The thank you note included some commonly asked questions about the business. Is it a franchise? No, their outlets are run by colleagues trusted to serve customers in the way they think best. The note goes on...the bosses don't make the rules round here. That's fresh. Then, in response to the question, Do colleagues get their birthday off? Apparently so and they say it's a great way to say thank you to colleagues. Reading on, we learn a little bit about this family business... Father, the Chairman and son, the Chief Executive before tu...

Couldn't resist taking this picture. We had arrived at Cairnryan, Scotland and were waiting in the queue to board the evening ferry to Belfast. The satnav was still on and I noticed that we were out of road. Now there's a metaphor - out of road. Sometimes when we run out of road, reach the edge, it can feel as if there's nowhere to go but back. This road, the Belfast way, continues on the other side of the North Channel and heads for home. Next time I feel like I've reached the end of the road, I'll be checking for a bridge, tunnel or ferry. With or without a satnav.

It has happened to me several times along my career and I wonder if it has happened to you. "It" is a feeling that you just don't seem to be part of the interaction, closely followed by a sense that you might as well not be there. For some people "It" happens at meetings when the good idea you have just suggested does not get heard and then, when it resurfaces later, someone else gets the credit.  It happens when you get the impression your top executives and managers don't know who you are and could care less!  You feel invisible and it hurts. The good news is that you are not invisible and there are things that you can do straight away to make your presence felt. More about that shortly.  And those hurt feelings?  These suggest to me that you probably are a competent and reliable worker and are a bit annoyed that these qualities are not being affirmed in your workplace by people you like, want to get on with and maybe even want to impress. The...

Do you use Google+ ?  I've had it for a while now and didn't really get into it until a few days ago. When it first appeared you had to be given an invite to join up and so I wasn't one of those early adopters. However, I am rapidly becoming a fan. This morning, last night and yesterday I managed to set up a profile and my middlefocus page. I have linked Blogger to Plus and if it works then this post should automatically appear on my stream and webpage. Seriously. They have made the technology transparent and all that was needed was a bit of patience. What really impresses me though are the vast numbers of internauts out there who blog and post with show-hows.  I just wanted this post to go to them and say thank you for sharing,.  I'll be followng you and adding you to circles.

Reading across some blogs recently it is noticeable that the issue of how often to post is exercising the minds of writers. Some have decided to reduce the number of weekly posts to three and supplementing them with micro blogs on Twitter. The advantages of this are that the blog still retains prominence while readers get a little more space. The big advantage though is that the writer can concentrate on delivering a better quality post. Less is more. It strikes me that while some are reducing to three well-crafted posts a week, I'll be upping the pace to go someway to meeting them. The new wireless keyboard and mouse combo is working well, Blogsy still delivers the magic on the iPad and the thoughts keep flowing. So I am aiming for two a week on this blog and a weekly post on each of my other two. The trick will not only be in increasing frequency but improving quality. Hold me to it, won't you? Posted with Blogsy

The driver side wing mirror on my car has a vertical split designed to widen the field of rear view vision and minimise blind spots. It's not 100% foolproof and sometimes other cars travelling alongside can remain hidden. Ever had that experience? Get it once or twice and we quickly learn to make other checks before an important manoeuvre such as a change of direction; it can be dangerous to rely on a single viewpoint. Workplaces these days often call for decisive actions from middle leaders navigating busy roads ahead. Although speed is of the essence it is still wise to take the time to check and signal our intentions to others likely to be affected by our actions. We don't have the advantage of a split lens to compensate for our blind spots but we should be aware of those we have. Checking blind spots might mean that we enlist the support of others to critique our latest good idea, pointing out plusses and minuses in our direction of travel. Checking and checking wit...

My bookshelves are squeezed tight with all sorts of books. Of the non-fiction variety, apart from text books, the majority relate to personal and organisational improvement. Books bristling with brilliant ideas, sometimes opposed to one another. For example one advocates extensive to-do lists another says forget them. The trick is to try out the ideas for oneself and apply them to one's current situation. I love books that make me think; for me the best "improvement" books are those which stimulate that thinking and leave me to get on with it. Mark Twain once observed that the person who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the person who cannot read them. I know people have preferred ways of taking in information but it often surprises me that for many people their experience of the Classics is based on film or television. In the world of effectiveness literature, a variation on Twain's point might be that the person who doesn't apply the ...