Explainers Archives - NOBL Academy

What Does “Bring Your Whole Self to Work” Really Mean?

Many of us are limited by our work personas and wish we could be more authentic with our colleagues. Increasingly, we hear people advocate for bringing “our whole self” to work, but what are the limits of that advice and when is authenticity actually damaging to a team?

Explainers

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Psychological Safety (and Felt Safe Enough to Ask)

The most important factor in any high-performing team is psychological safety: that is, the feeling that it’s safe to take risks in front of the group. But how do you foster it?

Explainers

The Only Thing More Important Than Product/Market Fit

Product/market fit was a term coined by Marc Andreesen and defined as, “being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.” Culture/market fit is similar, yet even more foundational. Find yourself a healthy market, yes. Then develop a culture that can deliver product/market fit.

Explainers

What to Do When Teammates Don’t Share the Same Motivation

Individuals don’t have to share the same motivation to achieve a shared outcome, but they do need to trust that others are looking out for their interests.

Explainers

How to Make Risk Feel Less Risky—And Why It’s Essential for Success

We’re gonna go out on a limb here and say that you didn’t get to where you are without taking a risk. Maybe it was moving to a new city in pursuit of a job opportunity. Maybe it was volunteering to lead a project that had never been tried before. Or maybe it was saying “no” to a lucrative offer because it compromised your long-term goals.

Explainers

When Followers Don’t Follow

Even the most progressive leaders will find themselves on particularly hard days asking themselves, “Why doesn’t my team do what I need them to do?”

Explainers

Personality Tests Don’t Work, Here’s Why and The Alternatives

Personality tests, we think, help us understand ourselves better. But in reality, they are often a self-gratifying exercise that gets us no closer to understanding ourselves or others.

Explainers

The Futures of Work: Fixed vs Fluid

Regardless of what the airport bookstore shelves tell you, there is no single future of work. There are multiple organizational futures stretching out in front of every company, and the road best taken is dependent on the environment around you.

Explainers

How to Reduce Decision Fatigue

Every day, we are faced with decisions that can range from seemingly minute to hugely impactful. Making decisions as a group is complicated even further by the addition of different perspectives, personalities, and opinions, so it’s easy for decision making fatigue to set in.

Explainers

How to Avoid “Creative Entitlement”

Having only a small group of people within your organization that identify as “creative” can lead not only to cliques but it can also lead to rule avoidance and unethical behavior.