Does the following sound familiar?

• Pete complains about everything and everybody all the time.

• John just made yet another provocative statement in what should have been a straightforward discussion.

• Bill seems to put others down all the time to make himself look better.

• Mike openly bends the truth to support his stance, no matter the subject is.

So many behaviors in the workplace – and far too many are an annoyance, disruption, or detriment. What motivates us to act in these ways? How can you get your arms around all this turbulence, deal with the issues, and still affect positive change? We need to put these negative behaviors in perspective first. —-

— *** ——-

Imagine a tree. At its extremity are hundreds of leaves. All are similar in shape, form, and function, yet all are distinctly different. Now trace a path along this great structure from the leaves all the way back to their source.

Start with the smallest of twigs and work your way progressively lower down the tree: from small twigs, to slightly bigger, to medium-sized, and on to larger, until you arrive at the core, the main trunk.

It is from this central point that every single part of the tree began its journey. It is also the location from which the source code of all those leaves at its extremities originated.

Now go back to the personalities we listed at the beginning of this section. Imagine the various personalities we meet in life and at the workplace as the leaves of a tree – each similar yet distinct, and all programmed from the same source code at the core of our minds.

What is the source code perpetuating all these similar behaviors in the workplace?…

…read on by getting your own copy of Men, Monkeys, and Management at http://managemonkeys.com/

The ability to produce a top notch, holistic, and fully complete document is a skill separating men from the monkeys.

How many people have you met–including yourself, which are capable of producing great documents? Work that is near perfect and 100% complete?

And I don’t just mean the ‘big stuff’ of document producing like focus/relevance, aesthetics/balance, a top-down delivery, and comprehensiveness–I also mean the little stuff like grammar, font consistency, checking yourself, accuracy, etc.

I can only count a dozen or so people capable of obtaining such high levels. It’s sadly true–but few people can produce great documents.

So how can you get better?

To start producing great documents you need to start right away (and as young as possible). Study and research good structure. Save good documents you run across for future reference.

Overcome your pride! Don’t fight people who offer suggestions. Be open and receptive–learn from others. Look at your work objectively.

Most of all work hard at it! You’ll be glad you did. Once you start to produce fine work, the world will notice and you’re life/job will become easier.