This month, the best business resources include a tool to take your productivity seriously; the chance to learn from Australia’s top tech leaders on how to build and maintain a high-functioning team; a podcast on failures; and a classic business book with lessons that have held true for close to 20 years.
The Handy Productivity Tool: BlockSite
Imagine a world full of distractions and delights that somehow take hold of you even when you should be working. Yep, that would be the internet. But there are tools that can help you focus on what counts, such as BlockSite, a free smartphone app and browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that does just what it claims: block websites, either by name or by category. The “Work Mode” rewards you with a short stray on the web between timed bursts of productivity.
The Podcast for Learning From Others’ Mistakes: Spectacular Failures
Spectacular Failures is a reminder of just how businesses, despite all the spreadsheets, are extremely human. This podcast scrutinises the steps highly successful businesses took toward their own downfalls – such as family infighting or patchy adherence to the law – but it offers more than unpleasant schadenfreude. Host Lauren Ober interviews personnel from the companies discussed, as well as industry experts, to provide a nuanced understanding of why decisions were made in particular conditions.
The Business Resource for Team Players: Atlassian Team Playbook
The unicorn Australian software company has provided a terrific free online tool to help build high-performing teams. The Atlassian Team Playbook recommends you start the process with its ‘health monitor’ exercise, where your team identifies areas where it’s ‘strong’, ‘struggling’ or ‘a little shaky’. Once that’s established, there are plenty of step-by-step resources (‘plays’) to help improve what needs work, such as clarifying responsibilities or embracing remote teamwork.
The Classic Business Book to Revisit: Good to Great
Jim Collins was inspired to write this 2001 bestseller when, after the release of his 1994 book, Built To Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, a consultant asked: “What about the vast majority of companies that wake up part way through life and realise that they’re good, but not great?”. Collins and his team then researched more than 1400 companies and identified how 11 of those made the leap to greatness – and sustained it – for at least 15 years. Collins wrote that “consensus decisions are often at odds with intelligent decisions'' and, famously, that “good is the enemy of great”.
The Eco-Friendly Sleeve: J.Burrows 14" Recycled Laptop Sleeve
This zippered sleeve is made entirely from recycled PET plastic bottles and the simple two-tone style is extremely chic. The J.Burrows range at Officeworks includes a number of other accessories in these environmentally-friendly fabrics, including backpacks and laptop bags.
