Blog

April 28, 2017

Greg Thomas

The Evolution of the Watercooler

The Watercooler still exists – the forum for idle chitchat that really serves no purpose except to highlight the ups and downs of company politics. We might not physically gather around it anymore and instead do so virtually in Facebook, Twitter, SLACK and other tools that allow us to spend the day messaging on such topics. It’s hard to resist that swirling vortex of negative energy and sometimes we don’t even know we have succumbed to it until it is too late. But there is a way out. The next time you feel it happening, record how long you spent in

April 27, 2017

Greg Thomas

The Anatomy of a Good Quote

It motivates you. It reminds you what you should be doing. It makes you smile. It provides a connection between you and everyone else looking at it. Or perhaps it does nothing at all and you simply keep scrolling on by on your feed du jour. Maybe you are sick and tired of quotes and all you want to do is turn them off, never to see them again. But if something so small has the power to embolden, push, strengthen, empower and connect with you on such a profound level, in the span of 10 seconds perhaps the problem isn’t

April 26, 2017

Greg Thomas

From Presenting to Storytelling

I’ve been toying with this idea for almost 6 months now and finally completed a Slideshare presentation on why I think we (all of us) need to start looking at transitioning from delivering presentations in our work to delivering stories. It sounds simple, but a quick glance at the last presentation you gave might yield a different story (no pun intended) where the intended output was more facts and presentation (i.e., firehose) and less connection and message (i.e., have a drink from the garden hose). Here are my thoughts on this this topic – How to Become a Great Storyteller

April 25, 2017

Greg Thomas

You Need to Shake Up Your Game

Pick your sport of choice today, now find your favourite athlete. Now watch them, watch them closely – watch what they do when they are on offense, what they do when they are defense, watch how they react to the plays coming at them, watch how they run the plays with the rest of their team. What do you notice?  What do they all have in common across any sport? They don’t do the same thing over and over and over again.  Sure one might have a great jump shot, but it doesn’t mean they don’t try for the layups to

April 24, 2017

Greg Thomas

Clean Out the Clutter

Whether it’s the physical or mental – when we work in clutter – we never achieve our best work. Think of an athlete, a soccer player, trying to pass on a field littered with garbage – they can’t setup a pass because the ball keeps bouncing off of a garbage can and going the wrong way. Now think of your office, books and manuals strewn around the floor and on your desk while you try to focus on what is in front of you?  It’s a little hard when you have 17 sticky notes around your monitor with things you