Logo of MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching.

Compliments of Laurent Assouad via Flickr

Morgenstern (2009) urges us to fight the tendency to immediately check e-mail first thing in the morning, and instead spend the time “master planning” our day.

It’s important to establish set times (three or four per day) to check e-mail correspondence. Maltz (1960) argues “…while many run-of-the mill executives permit continuous interruptions by phone, intercom, or walk-ins while they are meeting with someone or reviewing important information, the most successful executives I know tolerate no such chaos” (p. 112). Closing your e-mail provider (as opposed to simply minimizing it) will prevent the constant back ground “ding” that alerts you to incoming mail. Turn the page…

Share |

Logo of MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching.

Compliments of Crashworks via Flickr

“Provide a great work environment and treat each other with dignity and respect” [Starbucks mission statement].

Some revere Nicolo Machiavelli’s teachings, particularly in U.S. culture where individualism is seen as virtuous. Recently his tenets have been resurrected in The New Machiavelli, in which Powell puts a modern spin on Machiavelli’s self-serving ideas.

Individuals who make it “the Machiavellian way” provide a frightening glimpse into the mind of corporate mania, as Ringer explains in his book Winning through Intimidation: “Intimidation is the root to earning and receiving big money. I therefore decided that intimidation would be my first order of business; it would be the key to my usable philosophy” (Ringer, 1974). People like Ringer extol clawing as a method to obtain corporate goodies, a theme reinforced by Harmer in New Paths to God: “A motto for today is ‘look out for #1,’ that is first to think about ourselves and our interests. Our culture has spawned so much fear and anger that even the simplest acts of kindness go undone out of concern for the consequences” (Harmer, 2002). Turn the page…

Share |