The Extraordinary Blog
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Brainstorming is a Waste of Time

BrainstormingPsychologist Adrian Furham, Phd, was quoted in the February Issue of the Oprah magazine, “The evidence from science suggests that businesspeople must be insane to use brainstorming groups….If you have talented and motivated people, they should be encouraged to work alone when creativity or efficiency is the highest priority.”

So is brainstorming a waste of time?

Yes…and no.

Here’s the “yes” part of the answer: I think businesspeople …



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What is the Gift You Bring to Your Team?

Many of you know that I serve as the immediate past president of the National Speakers Association.  One of my final duties is to chair the Nominations Committee – selecting the future leaders of the association.  This weekend, we interviewed ten people for five positions (with three incumbents in the running).  I firmly believe each of the candidates would serve our association well – but our challenge was to …

Posted February 6, 2012 in Communication, Decision Making, Participation


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Stop Beating that Dead Horse!

Have you ever had someone keep bringing up the same topic?  Like a dog with a bone, he just won’t give up?  Worse yet, the topic gains momentum, has been discussed to death, and the group just can’t let it go?  Not that I want to mix metaphors, but the group keeps beating the dead horse….

Naw, that doesn’t happen, does it?  Oh yeah.  It does.  That’s one (among many) …



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Teamwork: Talk It Through When You Get Stuck

Just the other day, a colleague of mine asked to meet me ostensibly to ask my advice about an upcoming client engagement.  Flattered that he would value my opinion, I agreed.  When we were done talking, I didn’t think I really added much – but it was immensely helpful for him to be able to talk it through.  By having to describe and explain his ideas to another human …

Posted January 23, 2012 in Communication, Decision Making, Participation


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Audience-Centered Seating for Your Presentations

You walk into the room and see a traditional seating set-up for your presentation.  Theater-style with two columns of chairs, with a path down the middle.  The overhead screen is at the front in the middle of the room.  Looks pretty good, right?

While typical for many meeting venues, and perhaps most comfortable for you, the presenter, meeting planner, or hotelier, it is NOT the best …



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Meeting Facilitation Defined.

It’s been 20 years since I started my business facilitating teams and training others to do what I do.  Back then, no one even knew how to spell “facilitator”, no less what a facilitator did!

As they say, we’ve come a long way, baby.  The root word, “facil” is latin for “make things easier”.  True enough, “Facilitator” is used all the time to describe anyone who “makes things easier”.

In the world of …



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Who’s the Tinker, Tailor, Soldier or Spy on your Team?

I love movies that make you think.  Where the dots are not connected for you…and you are challenged to solve the riddle.

My experience of the new movie, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is exactly that.  Set during the height of the Cold War, the former head of British Intelligence (simply named as “Control”) believed one of his direct reports was in fact a Russian agent – a mole – …

Posted January 17, 2012 in Conflict Resolution, Movies


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New Webinar Series – Vote Now On What Do You Want to Learn

You asked for it and now I’d like your help.  Based on client feedback, I decided to conduct a quarterly webinar to help you continue to develop your teams.  (See what happens when you do a little business planning?)  Beware of what you ask for as the 2012 Extraordinary Team Webinar Series is coming soon!

I intend to schedule a webinar in March, June, September, and August of this year.  As far as topics …



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The Short List of Presentation Bloggers

I was talking (virtually) to fellow blogger Vivek Singh about the plethora of blogs talking about presentation skills.  He and I contribute to this specific space in the blogosphere.  So does Andrew Dlugan who put together an amazing list of 118 fellow bloggers and Ian Griffin lists 43 bloggers plus 58 from his National Speakers Association buddies.

Alltop is …



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Set Your Goals for Success in the New Year

Joseph Sherren

‘Tis the season to make your new year’s resolutions.  If you have attended one of my sessions, you have heard me talk about how you can take control and improve your life significantly by deciding, articulating, recording and committing to your future in the form of written goals.

Research has shown that the probability of achieving your dreams of success and happiness increases significantly when you …

Posted January 2, 2012 in Clear Direction, Leadership