by David Ryback, Ph.D.

Our brain is a complex organ. The headline on how it works is that there is the old brain that deals primarily with emotions. The emerging news is the discovery of the importance of a small structure residing in both sides of the head - the amygdale - where we process new perceptions that might be threats, for example, all new people we meet, including new clients and customers. When the threat is great enough, we have “amygdale hijack,” when the threatening information goes directly to the amygdalae, short-circuiting the thinking frontal cortex and resulting in “thoughtless” or irrational impulsive reaction.

by Jeff Justice, CSP

Humor is a great teaching tool. Use it to make a point, not just to get a laugh. Maybe you’ve noticed that I’ve done that before. (And sometimes, not laughing at a bad joke actually gets people to remember even better!) If you rewrite an old joke to help make your point, that’s great. But if you just tell jokes to get a laugh, people often resist you. Even the best known comedians aren’t “on” all the time — they know we need a break.

by Bob Rausch, Ph.D.

You can be so excited about the challenges you face that you don’t take time to refuel your energy. In fact, you may believe there’s no need to refuel because you love what you’re doing. Then, over time, life isn’t as exciting as it once was and you don’t feel as enthusiastic as you did. People often ask me how long it takes before they’ll feel the effects of burnout. It varies from one person to the next, but the symptoms are almost always the same. The stress feels deeper, more overpowering, and at times uncontrollable. The slightest thing makes you angry or agitated. Feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt often arise. Your energy and determination for leading people seems to have vanished. 

In the video, shown below, I recall a very energetic client who was so excited about his challenges he actually began to burn out. As leaders, we are truly made for the tough times and big challenges, but we also need to be aware of our individual need to refuel our energy.

by Lakecia Carter, PMP

Have you ever been brought into a troubled project late in the game? Were you expected to save the day? As a PM, this can be stressful and intimidating. To some degree, it is an unfair expectation of the PM. Unfortunately, this is a still very common in many organizations. They start a project without a PM or someone without PM skills, and somewhere along the way, they realize they are in trouble. If you are the PM that gets the call, here are 3 things to keep top of mind:

by MaryGrace Allenchey, PMP

A menagerie can be defined as an unusual or varied group of people. This dictionary definition is easily applied to, and almost a synonym for project or program stakeholders.

by Waldo Waldman, Lt. Col. CSP

Three years into my eleven year Air Force flying career, my life changed when I almost died during a scuba diving trip in the Caribbean. Thirty feet under the water and exhausted from excessive use of my arms to swim, I inhaled a full lungful of water and had the most intense panic attack of my life. I literally thought I was going to die.

by Don Goewey

Most of us judge the content of mind wandering as useless if not downright stupid.  We tell ourselves to snap out of it.  Well, it’s time to reconsider that notion. The evidence is that our openness to this experience and its seemingly irrelevant content intensifies creativity by associating two ideas from different brain networks.  You’ll know when you’ve experience this; it’s comes on as that out of the blue moment and verbalizes in you as Ah Ha!

by Tricia Molloy

I like to take pictures, especially close-up flower shots like these from my garden. I take a lot of these.

by Mark Jankowski

by Chris Widener

Sounds too good to be true? It really isn't! In fact, studies show that after a certain amount of hours at work each week, the average worker hits diminishing returns for their labor.

Here are a couple of reasons this is true.