Holly's Blogs

Get More Done – Interrupt Your Interruptions

Constant interruptions reduce focus and effectiveness. Learn how the human brain handles interruptions (poorly) and how to work more effectively by stemming their flow.

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Smart Classrooms, Smarter Students: AI Avatars Changing Education Dynamics

Image source Hey pals! Let’s have a conversation about how our classrooms are getting super smart with DEEPBRAIN AI avatars. These avatars are like super-smart computer buddies who are making our learning time way better! DEEP BRAIN AI avatars are like magical friends in our class. They help our teachers teach in a super cool…

Key Competencies That Any Business Leader Should Know Inside And Out

Effective leadership is the cornerstone of any thriving business. A leader’s role is multifaceted, requiring a diverse set of skills to navigate the challenges of today’s dynamic business environment. This article delves into five critical competencies that are indispensable for any business leader, shedding light on their importance and offering insights into how they can…

The Competitive Edge: Employee Rights and Talent Attraction

The battlefield for top-tier talent is no place for the faint-hearted. It demands enticing perks and brand prestige and a deep, demonstrable commitment to employee rights. Companies at the forefront know this secret: the brightest candidates seek a workplace where rights aren’t merely respected—they are celebrated. This realisation isn’t a light bulb moment; it’s a strategy…

Most Asked Questions By Small Business Owners

Launching and scaling a small business comes with no shortage of questions and uncertainties. Here we tackle some of the most frequent queries entrepreneurs have relating to legalities, marketing, technology, hiring, accounting and more. How Do I Choose The Right Business Structure? Factors like tax treatment, liability, investment needs and record-keeping determine ideal structures. Most…

Top Tips For Successfully Expanding Your Business’s Product Offering

image source Expanding your business’s product offering is more than adding items to your inventory. It’s a strategic move that requires careful planning, market understanding, and customer-centricity. This comprehensive guide will explore the top tips for successfully expanding your business’s product offering. Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting, these insights will pave the…

How Does A Clean Office Affect Employee Productivity

Image Source Imagine walking into your office first thing in the morning, the sight of stacked papers, overflowing waste bins, and coffee stains on your desk meets your eyes. For most of us, this visual clutter creates an unconscious distraction that sets a negative tone for the day. In contrast, entering an organised, clean workspace…

Strategic Agility – 3 keys to getting clear in ambiguity

In today’s hyper-paced and chaotic world, few things are more important to success than the ability to respond quickly to sudden changes in external forces, market conditions, or customer needs. Whether the disruption comes from a pandemic, the introduction of a new technology, a new competitor that nobody saw coming, or drastic changes in economic…

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Why We Need Adversity

Are you feeling like everything is out of control; like you can’t imagine a successful future right now; like the wheels keep falling off the bus over and over again; like the other shoe is about to drop… When the going gets tough, the tough get going. It’s an old cliché. And like most clichés,…

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Beating Your Biases: How to Become Your Own Devil’s Advocate

In our culture, the word “bias” holds a decidedly negative connotation. Not surprising considering the definition of the word: prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair. Nobody wants to be considered prejudiced or unfair. As business leaders striving to lead our organizations to success,…

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Is Your “Smart” Phone Making You 25% Dumber?

According to a recent study, the answer is yes. In fact, it’s doing it to all of us – even when we consciously ignore our phones. Today’s smart phones have become such an integral part of our daily lives that most of us feel uncomfortable without them. More than just a portable tool for talking…

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Rearrange Your Brain to Win

As business leaders, we have many tools at our disposal to produce the results our organizations need to win. As the world moves at an ever faster pace and the demands placed on today’s leaders increase, I’m convinced the most important tool is developing an elite brain. By elite brain, I don’t necessarily mean being…

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Are You Productive or Just Busy?

In our fast-paced world we’re all busy, to the point where we spend time we swear we don’t have to complain about how busy we are. At the same time, “busy-ness” feels good because it seems like we’re getting stuff done. The question is, are we getting done what we need to get done day…

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How To Fail At Cultural Change

According to the human capital research firm I4CP, more than half of the surveyed companies had recently or are currently undergoing a major cultural change. Unfortunately, less than 15% rated the change initiative as highly successful and only 1 in 25 said the venture was very highly successful. Not exactly what I would call a…

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GBG: The Positive Acronym that Works

OMG! Acronyms – the practice of abbreviating words or short phrases using the initial letters of each word – have been around hundreds or thousands of years, depending on who you believe. As often happens, there are multiple sources on the Internet about the origin and early use of acronyms, and none of them agree. One…

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Solo-Tasking to Win

  Many moons ago I wrote a blog about the dangers of multi-tasking – how it robs us of our creativity, makes us less efficient, and raises our stress levels. At the time, the business world was starting to recognize that the constant digital interruptions from email, cell phones and social media were not simplifying…

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Balancing the Big Picture and the Details

By Holly G. Green, CEO, The Human Factor, Inc. Every business needs two very different types of people to succeed over the long term or people with two, often contrary skill sets – big-picture thinkers and those who focus on the details. Big picture people live at the 30,000-foot level, constantly exploring possibilities and potential to…

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Building a Culture of Accountability

    Imagine a business where the right things consistently get done on time, most of the time (nobody’s perfect). Where people regularly follow up on what they say they’re going to do. Where everyone in the organization – from senior leadership to front-line employees – are expected to uphold commitments to each other and to…

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Is Winning a Secret in Your Organization?

It feels really good  to win – in business as well as sports and almost any other endeavor. We all know winning when we see it or feel it. It’s that moment of excitement and exhilaration. It’s the urge to jump in the air and pump our fists; to give high-fives to our teammates. It’s…

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Have You Done Your 1st Quarter Checkup?

Spring has sprung (according to the calendar, anyway) and April is upon us.  For those who operate according to the calendar year, that means it’s time for an end-of-quarter checkup in regard to the strategic plan. More specifically, it means we should begin asking questions like:  Are we making progress towards the goal? Is it…

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Get More Done – Interrupt Your Interruptions

If you’re feeling the need for more peace and quiet these days, you’re not alone. One of the latest trends sweeping the business world is the “pod” – a small, free-standing soundproof space that can comfortably hold one or two people.  If you look around, you’ll notice them sprouting up in offices, airports and other…

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What You Can Learn from Playing With Your Brain

The human brain is a remarkable organ. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I’m a big proponent of playing with it. First of all, it’s a lot of fun. The human brain is inquisitive by nature, and it enjoys finding answers and solving problems. This is especially true with ‘brain teasers,’ questions that are…

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How To Fail At Cultural Change

In my previous blog, I noted that 56% of the organizations that participated in a survey by I4CP, a human capital research firm, reported recently or currently undergoing a major cultural change. What I didn’t mention was that less than 15% rated the change initiative as highly successful (12.2%) or very highly successful (2.5%). Nearly…

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Building a Winning Employment Brand:How to Recruit, Engage and Retain Top Talent in a Talent-Scarce World

Every once in a while I happen across a thought leadership piece that causes me to pause and think, “Wow, these folks really get it!” A recent white paper titled “The 2019 Hiring Guide” did just that.  We included it in our last newsletter and since I know most of you are struggling with this,…

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Get More Done – Interrupt Your Interruptions

If you’re feeling the need for more peace and quiet these days, you’re not alone. One of the latest trends sweeping the business world is the “pod” – a small, free-standing soundproof space that can comfortably hold one or two people.  If you look around, you’ll notice them sprouting up in offices, airports and other public…

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