FT Listen to Lucy

FT readers, I will miss you most of all

Tue, 25 Jul 2017 16:30:51 GMT

After 32 years, you are still an enigma, says Lucy Kellaway

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How I lost my 25-year battle against corporate claptrap

Tue, 18 Jul 2017 04:00:00 GMT

The exponential rise of guff in business shows no sign of abating, says Lucy Kellaway

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Apple's new grandiose office is for grown -ups

Thu, 06 Jul 2017 12:57:30 GMT

Apple's $5bn headquarters is the world’s most expensive office and Steve Jobs' last posthumous hurrah, says Lucy Kellaway

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Don't listen to prigs: profanity is glorious

Wed, 28 Jun 2017 15:56:33 GMT

Shock over swear words exposes some misplaced prudery, says Lucy Kellaway

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Let's have more 'womanterruption'

Mon, 19 Jun 2017 17:16:58 GMT

Interruptions help cut short boring discussions. So instead of making men interrupt less, women should be made to do it more, argues Lucy Kellaway.

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Why the most successful people just say no

Thu, 15 Jun 2017 12:56:36 GMT

The main difference between yes and no is that one is easy and the other hard, says Lucy Kellaway

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Paul Romer’s ‘and’ quota is a false economy

Wed, 07 Jun 2017 16:10:49 GMT

It was wrong to punish someone who tried to get his colleagues to write text that people might conceivably want to read, says Lucy Kellaway

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You heard it here first: hold fast to your antiques

Thu, 01 Jun 2017 16:58:00 GMT

The tables are turning on Ikea and the fashion for Skandi tat, says Lucy Kellaway. Image credit: Chris Tosic

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Amy the robot wants my job, but she's no match for me

Sun, 21 May 2017 09:00:00 GMT

Voice bot Experimental Amy might represent serious competition if what she produced was halfway decent, but it isn't, says Lucy Kellaway

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To say older workers lack energy is ageist and wrong

Wed, 17 May 2017 15:14:28 GMT

Modern fiftysomethings are perky, well-rested and free from domestic ties, says Lucy Kellaway. Image credit: Chris Tosic

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There is nothing cute about innumeracy

Wed, 10 May 2017 14:17:07 GMT

Abbott’s difficulty with a simple sum is evidence of a troubling assumption, says Lucy Kellaway

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Mondelez serves up 10 business clichés in one sentence

Wed, 03 May 2017 10:22:04 GMT

‘Breakthrough’ is so stale it makes me almost feel sorry for the author, says Lucy Kellaway. Image credit: Chris Tosic

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My speech was a car crash because I am too confident

Mon, 24 Apr 2017 14:47:46 GMT

Good intentions led to a tour de force of clangers, says Lucy Kellaway. Image credit: Chris Tosic

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Cheap ways to prevent executive burnout

Thu, 20 Apr 2017 16:25:05 GMT

Expensive ‘holistic’ leadership programmes do not solve anything, says Lucy Kellaway. Image credit: Chris Tosic

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A masterclass in calling bullshit

Tue, 11 Apr 2017 12:40:11 GMT

Puffed-up nonsense has been deemed worthy of academic study, says Lucy Kellaway.

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The dedicated office chatters are being forced out

Wed, 05 Apr 2017 13:14:45 GMT

Everyone will tell you they are too busy to talk — but it is not true, says Lucy Kellaway. Image credit: Chris Tosic

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Codes of conduct breach the principles of common sense

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 10:21:07 GMT

Like most humans, I am not naturally drawn to small print, says Lucy Kellaway

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Robert Kelly’s children remind us how pompous we are at work

Thu, 23 Mar 2017 17:38:24 GMT

Viral video of domestic mishap shows the artificiality of the professional self, says Lucy Kellaway

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How I help my children navigate their incredible life journeys

Thu, 16 Mar 2017 13:02:52 GMT

Unlike Angela Ahrendts, I am not ‘on 24/7’, say Lucy Kellaway.

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Why do we let Warren Buffett get away with sexism?

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 14:17:33 GMT

The Sage of Omaha tells old and unfunny jokes without recrimination, says Lucy Kellaway. Picture credit: Chris Tosic

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Death can bring your career back to life

Wed, 01 Mar 2017 16:14:41 GMT

A disrupter of habit, it stops the living in their tracks, says Lucy Kellaway

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Should you ever trade on past glories?

Wed, 22 Feb 2017 13:11:58 GMT

Telling others what you did before can be a sign of mediocrity, says Lucy Kellaway. Illustration by Chris Tosic

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Sexy and super bland: the rise of the office uniform

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 05:00:00 GMT

What people wear to work at investment banks, management consultancies and top law firms is ridiculous. Individualism is to be avoided at all costs, says Lucy Kellaway.

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How to ask for what you want — and get it every time

Wed, 08 Feb 2017 12:06:02 GMT

Start with please and thank you, then spoon on the flattery, says Lucy Kellaway. Image by Chris Tosic

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I am a difficult person at work and proud of it

Thu, 02 Feb 2017 16:48:34 GMT

In the workplace and in life, being troublesome can be useful, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Why is work making us miserable?

Wed, 25 Jan 2017 18:46:18 GMT

Office life is better than ever before, but dissatisfaction is rising, says Lucy Kellaway

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Writing clearly turns out to be not so easy after all

Wed, 18 Jan 2017 15:29:02 GMT

When handing out my annual guff awards last week I said clear language in business was perfectly possible if you tried hard enough. I now find it’s not as simple as that, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Lucy Kellaway’s jargon awards: corporate guff scales new heights

Tue, 10 Jan 2017 06:00:00 GMT

Contenders for 2016’s gong ranged from euphemistic to ‘plain moronic’, says Lucy Kellaway

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I’m leaving to become a teacher and I want you to join me

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 05:30:00 GMT

After 31 years at the Financial Times, Lucy Kellaway is leaving to set up Now Teach

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Skip the empathy, Mr Schultz, and focus on the coffee

Tue, 15 Nov 2016 15:22:06 GMT

Starbucks boss has no business sending a missive to staff to tell them how to be.

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My tips for overcoming a fear of public speaking

Tue, 08 Nov 2016 13:23:57 GMT

Remind yourself how awful most business leaders are: the bar is low, says Lucy Kellaway

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Silicon Valley's corporate culture is ageist

Tue, 01 Nov 2016 16:50:11 GMT

Faddish organisational trends that shut out older workers are in danger of spreading, says Lucy Kellaway

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Obama is right: being early has everything going for it

Tue, 25 Oct 2016 13:58:00 GMT

Time spent waiting is an opportunity to catch up with emails, reading and phone calls, says Lucy Kellaway

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Feedback on your dinner party chat will do you good

Wed, 19 Oct 2016 10:17:25 GMT

Just as with other skills, we benefit from clear and direct views that help us improve, says Lucy Kellaway

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Unisex loos are no refuge for a gossip

Wed, 12 Oct 2016 14:16:01 GMT

The rise of the gender-neutral toilet in the workplace is not an entirely good thing, says Lucy Kellaway

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Lessons in clarity from the world’s grumpiest boss

Thu, 06 Oct 2016 11:30:33 GMT

The Tiger Oil chief’s missives were rude, but his style was perfect, says Lucy Kellaway

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The bliss of being 396 miles from my lost smartphone

Tue, 27 Sep 2016 09:00:00 GMT

The aftermath of leaving my iPhone in a Washington DC taxi was frightening, shaming, then liberating, says Lucy Kellaway

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Wells Fargo’s wagonload of insincere regrets

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 04:00:00 GMT

After being taken for a ride, customers should bridle at the guff in the bank's apology advert, says Lucy Kellaway

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The plague of compulsory creativity may be dying out

Tue, 13 Sep 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Forget calling staff "imagineers" or "sandwich artists"; companies need more modest skills to evolve, says Lucy Kellaway

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Why it is fine to be ignorant of your company’s profit

Tue, 06 Sep 2016 12:11:11 GMT

Staff are more likely to be excited by a new vending machine and for good reason, says Lucy Kellaway

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Poolside working is no longer a sign of importance

Tue, 30 Aug 2016 14:48:13 GMT

Not being able to switch off is becoming seen for what it is — a sign of poor time management, says Lucy Kellaway

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Millennials ought to ignore career advice from BCG boss

Tue, 09 Aug 2016 09:00:00 GMT

Rich Lesser risks widening the gap between expectations and reality for twentysomethings, says Lucy Kellaway

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Female CEOs are fascinating, as Marissa Mayer knows

Tue, 02 Aug 2016 04:00:00 GMT

Despite the Yahoo chief’s ire, we will go on being interested until there are more women at the top.

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Holidaying CEOs flaunt latest way to brag

Tue, 26 Jul 2016 11:54:49 GMT

Now it is unacceptable to boast about spending, company bosses are turning to the summer reading list

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My ambition to look more like Theresa May in meetings

Mon, 18 Jul 2016 16:12:37 GMT

To appear exasperated but poised is as good as it gets, says Lucy Kellaway

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Say ‘I quit’ with the perfect resignation

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 12:48:52 GMT

Your departure offers a rare chance to voice what you like while everyone is listening, says Lucy Kellaway

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Carry on Post-Brexit, whether calm or not

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 12:16:54 GMT

The 10 minutes I debated high heels on the radio were the sanest I have had since the referendum, says Lucy Kellaway

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Why we are ruder at work than we are in the street

Tue, 28 Jun 2016 11:07:44 GMT

I did not set out to be uncivil to my colleagues. This is just how office life has become, says Lucy Kellaway

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The extraordinary rhetoric of Sir Philip Green

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 14:45:28 GMT

A hat trick of honesty, ignorance and blame: it is plain, simple — and insidious, says Lucy Kellaway

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We need smart products because we are stupid

Tue, 14 Jun 2016 14:46:46 GMT

Clever technology is bad for our brains, says Lucy Kellaway

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The sham democracy of chief executives on Twitter

Tue, 07 Jun 2016 11:14:25 GMT

A champion tweeter and receiver of thousands of likes may be the opposite of prolific, says Lucy Kellaway

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In search of the missing office minority — the over-fifties

Wed, 01 Jun 2016 11:18:26 GMT

HR departments will soon laugh at the fuss they made over keeping spoilt millennials happy, says Lucy Kellaway.

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What the ‘CV of failures’ really reveals about career setbacks

Tue, 24 May 2016 05:00:00 GMT

Not all rejections are equal and those followed by successes stop mattering at once, says Lucy Kellaway.

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The Siemens Healthineers song is a writhing, Spandex-clad horror

Tue, 17 May 2016 12:13:01 GMT

There is not a single example of a business putting its values to music without mass humiliation, says Lucy Kellaway.

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I want to get back on my bike despite the danger

Tue, 26 Apr 2016 12:26:59 GMT

The longer I suffer the commute, the more likely I will stop asking if it is mad to cycle, says Lucy Kellaway.

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My broken-arm method for getting more work done

Tue, 19 Apr 2016 16:49:51 GMT

Typing and using the mouse are so hard that I’ve had to pick a task and stick to it, says Lucy Kellaway

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Don’t blame millennials if you can’t hang on to them

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 10:09:09 GMT

Graduates are up against the widest gap between expectation and reality ever seen in the professions

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Ten rules for composing your LinkedIn summary

Wed, 06 Apr 2016 11:53:06 GMT

Hillary Clinton’s summary teaches two lessons in how not to do it: no jokes and stick to the point, says Lucy Kellaway

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Why we prefer nasty bosses to be horrible all the time

Wed, 30 Mar 2016 17:25:56 GMT

Predictability is boring and unglamorous in a world that reveres creativity and disruption, says Lucy Kellaway

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High heels and boxing gloves: a portrait of female professionals

Tue, 22 Mar 2016 10:00:00 GMT

A company wanting to show it values women at work uses images where they are not always gorgeous, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Email: the weapon wielded by the passive aggressive colleague

Tue, 15 Mar 2016 13:40:54 GMT

Whether it be silence or brevity, the medium is perfect for communicating quiet hostility, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Goldman boss’s marathon memo starts well but runs off course

Tue, 08 Mar 2016 12:49:44 GMT

What the banker was trying to tell demoralised junior colleagues is that careers are a long game, says Lucy Kellaway

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Booby-trapped breakfasts are a rotten way to choose staff

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 13:20:22 GMT

Trick-playing Schwab CEO was spot on in one thing at least — inviting job candidates to a restaurant, says Lucy Kellaway.

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I don’t want to change the world and nor should you

Tue, 23 Feb 2016 08:00:00 GMT

Companies wanting a higher purpose should simply produce things and jobs that people want

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The four lies a successful chief executive must always tell

Wed, 17 Feb 2016 15:16:27 GMT

Any sign of unhappiness or doubt is taken as tantamount to an admission you are unfit for the job, says Lucy Kellaway

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An old-school reply to an advertiser’s retro threat

Mon, 08 Feb 2016 15:31:36 GMT

Meg Whitman’s lieutenant was ‘disappointed’ with what I’d written. Here is my considered response, says Lucy Kellaway

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Boneheaded aphorisms from Davos’s windy summit

Tue, 02 Feb 2016 04:00:00 GMT

The World Economic Forum’s 36 best quotes are almost all dismal. But the idiots are not the speakers, says Lucy Kellaway.

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January is for cutting hours, not alcohol

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 11:00:00 GMT

In elite circles it is becoming vulgar to flaunt workaholism and that view may be spreading

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Deloitte chief’s new year memo is a classic in demotivation

Tue, 19 Jan 2016 17:48:42 GMT

After reading Punit Renjen's new year memo, anyone in possession of even a normal IQ would wonder why they were working there, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Office pranks are no laughing matter to younger workers

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 14:55:25 GMT

My generation couldn’t resist a spoof email but millennials can, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Time to get stoked by the year’s worst corporate guff

Mon, 04 Jan 2016 22:32:52 GMT

Many entries in the 2015 Golden Flannel Awards made the flesh creep as well as offending eye and ear, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Introducing Guffipedia, an outlet for all victims of BS

Tue, 15 Dec 2015 00:49:50 GMT

Lucy Kellaway unveils a repository for the worst jargon she's seen over the years — and appeals for fresh examples submitted by readers

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Stories are best for the Bible and in novels, not the C-suite

Tue, 08 Dec 2015 13:20:54 GMT

The fad for presenting your career or company as a ‘story’ has gone too far, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Why I love my office building despite coffee stains and mice

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 12:41:09 GMT

Just when designers are building better work spaces, people are losing the habit of working in them, writes Lucy Kellaway

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Feeling useless at your job is painful but ensures you never are

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 17:50:09 GMT

One problem of getting older is that your self-knowledge goes up but so does your complacency, says Lucy Kellaway

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There’s no place like Yahoo — and Marissa Mayer is right

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 04:21:04 GMT

The Yahoo chief’s move to make staff vow to stay is smart, just like ‘Wizard of Oz’ dress-up idea for management, says Lucy Kellaway.

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The boss crush phenomenon: random, brutal and outrageous

Tue, 10 Nov 2015 13:24:25 GMT

When executives fall for an employee and overpromote them, they ensure disaster, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Barclays boss needs to ditch his inexcusable focus on value

Tue, 03 Nov 2015 04:04:54 GMT

Jes Staley’s email to underlings starts well but fails on its use of the ‘v-word’, says Lucy Kellaway

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Divorce can galvanise a career as well as ruin it

Tue, 27 Oct 2015 21:12:53 GMT

When you have lost some financial security, every pay cheque becomes a cause of celebration, says Lucy Kellaway.

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My new rule of competition begins with a war on talent

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 21:50:00 GMT

It is disingenuous to refer to staff with the term because most people are merely average, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Spare yourself the loneliness of long-term home workers

Tue, 13 Oct 2015 04:00:00 GMT

We need to go to the office to convince ourselves that what we do has some purpose, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Hands up if you can say what your company’s values are

Tue, 06 Oct 2015 04:00:00 GMT

Seventeen of Britain’s 100 best companies get along fine without listing corporate traits, says Lucy Kellaway .

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Listen to brain surgeons, not bankers, for the truth on errors

Tue, 29 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMT

"UBS head should make clear that all can take risks but none may make light of mistakes," says Lucy Kellaway.

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Hot air from United Airlines will not dispel Newark nerves

Tue, 22 Sep 2015 04:00:00 GMT

On the one thing that customers would have liked to hear about, the new CEO’s letter is silent, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Am I a good parent? Don’t ask me — or UBS

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 09:20:00 GMT

The bank’s advertisements pose a difficult question — one Lucy Kellway has avoided asking herself for 24 years

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Time to hang up on the pointless conference call

Tue, 08 Sep 2015 09:50:00 GMT

A meeting where you are never sure who is talking yields a discussion of the lowest order, says Lucy Kellaway

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Competitive dinner parties reveal gender divide

Tue, 01 Sep 2015 12:33:00 GMT

This form of showing off is as vital as ever and women remain feeble at it, says Lucy Kellaway

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Amazon is at the head of an outbreak of good sense

Tue, 25 Aug 2015 09:00:00 GMT

Too many companies have started to talk as if being wrong were superior to being right, says Lucy Kellaway

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Hidden costs of hellish schemes for claiming expenses

Tue, 18 Aug 2015 15:10:00 GMT

The system appears to have been designed deliberately to cause me maximum pain, says Lucy Kellaway

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A blast of common sense frees staff from appraisals

Wed, 29 Jul 2015 17:25:00 GMT

Accenture’s decision to remove the annual performance review is welcome news, says Lucy Kellaway

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The ugly are vanishing but with them goes talent

Wed, 22 Jul 2015 14:39:00 GMT

The number of unattractive employees hired says a lot about the company, says Lucy Kellaway

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‘Wrong skillset’ excuse masks a coup at the top of Barclays

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 17:52:00 GMT

Never was there a more naked display of cunning in a Regulatory News Service announcement

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Microsoft mission statement: so many words, most of them empty

Tue, 07 Jul 2015 16:49:00 GMT

After a lot of posturing, Satya Nadella finally slips in two words that mean something — ‘tough choices’, says Lucy Kellaway

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The dismal narcissism of step-counters

Tue, 30 Jun 2015 15:53:00 GMT

There is nothing morally superior about walking a lot — the craze is head-bangingly boring, says Lucy Kellaway.

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The myth that ego can be left at the door

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 16:01:00 GMT

The ego that throws its weight around is the most tiresome. But the silent ego is most dangerous, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Why not giving a damn won’t stand in your way of success

Tue, 16 Jun 2015 17:08:00 GMT

Caring about our work has become a weird status symbol. But it can make us mad and unproductive, says Lucy Kellaway

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Why we should admit we love ‘hateful’ estate agents

Tue, 09 Jun 2015 17:15:00 GMT

Help is needed because even the sanest people become unhinged when buying and selling houses, says Lucy Kellaway.

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I would rather shine shoes than be a banker

Thu, 28 May 2015 11:41:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway explains why wielding a can of boot polish and a brush can result in greater job satisfaction

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A harsh lesson from Tim Armstrong, AOL’s very unappealing boss

Tue, 19 May 2015 17:18:00 GMT

He is living proof that it is nonsense to argue that the most successful leaders are the humble ones, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Apps that stalk should at least be clever

Tue, 12 May 2015 17:19:00 GMT

Crystalknows uses public information to fake empathy but the real thing is more reliable, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Twitter chief’s six common crimes against the dictionary

Tue, 05 May 2015 16:21:00 GMT

It was not only the social media platform’s financial results that were lowering, says Lucy Kellaway.

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The mystery of billionaires’ long marriages

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 11:15:00 GMT

It is remarkable how many of the super-successful have stuck by their first spouse, says Lucy Kellaway.

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A 30-year work anniversary is a freak event to be cheered

Wed, 22 Apr 2015 16:33:00 GMT

We don’t approve of promiscuity in relationships, so why do we admire it in employment? asks Lucy Kellaway.

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Companies have their recruitment process upside down

Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:47:00 GMT

The senior and the self-important should jump through the same hoops as new graduates, says Lucy Kellaway

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The powerful effect of being remembered

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 15:05:00 GMT

The more someone can recall small talk at previous meetings, the more you like and trust them, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Your rudeness in reception may be used against you

Wed, 01 Apr 2015 11:06:00 GMT

How people arrive at and leave an office building provides rewarding insights for companies, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Motherhood is tough and intense but it is not a job

Thu, 26 Mar 2015 14:52:00 GMT

Parenting is hard work that requires well honed management skills, only you do not get paid for it, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Google CFO Pichette’s ‘I quit’ note is a classic in a dodgy genre

Tue, 17 Mar 2015 18:58:00 GMT

His Kilimanjaro-inspired resignation memo mixes work-life epiphany with pitch for job offers, says Lucy Kellaway

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Endless digital feedback will make us needy and unkind

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 15:47:00 GMT

Knowledge of how others rate us can be useful, but too much of it is unhealthy and confusing, says Lucy Kellaway

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What is worse than a blatant boast? The thirdpartybrag

Tue, 03 Mar 2015 17:34:00 GMT

The thirdpartybrag is a sort of boasting that needs exposing even more than the humblebrag as it is more widespread and more lethal, says Lucy Kellaway

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Why ‘lean in’ if laziness can be just as effective?

Tue, 24 Feb 2015 15:29:00 GMT

Hard work is harming not only sleepless executives but the companies that employ them too, writes Lucy Kellaway

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It is better to fire a wrong hire as fast as you can

Tue, 17 Feb 2015 17:55:00 GMT

If a mismatch is fundamental, there is no such thing as too quick, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Wells Fargo’s happy:grumpy ratio is no way to audit staff

Tue, 10 Feb 2015 17:00:00 GMT

There are better ways to gauge employee contentment than just asking, says Lucy Kellaway

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My solution to the anguish of unanswered emails

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 16:36:00 GMT

Not responding is a sane response to inbox overload but it breeds insanity on the other side, says Lucy Kellaway

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Should falling off my bicycle stop me from leaning in?

Tue, 27 Jan 2015 14:00:00 GMT

A black eye is not the best start for a non-exec director interview, says Lucy Kellaway

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How insecurity and preening kill corporate common sense

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 13:02:00 GMT

The fear of being found out is just one reason why the rot sets in but entrepreneurs offer hope, says Lucy Kellaway

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Facebook and the ‘daily average people’ formerly known as users

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 16:25:00 GMT

The company’s creation of a dedicated ‘empathy team’ does not amount to an emotional awakening, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Golden Flannel of the year award

Tue, 06 Jan 2015 14:01:00 GMT

Under Tim Cook’s leadership, Apple succumbed to drivel, says Lucy Kellaway

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Scheduling time at work to 'think' is a brainless idea

Mon, 22 Dec 2014 11:00:00 GMT

AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong’s directive — to spend one-tenth of each working week thinking — is in need of a rethink.

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Only judge a fulsome eulogy to a boss in the fullness of time

Tue, 16 Dec 2014 11:50:00 GMT

The Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger’s exit shows how our aversion to brown-nosing has got lost along the way

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After 15 years of practice, why are we still so awful at email?

Wed, 10 Dec 2014 16:53:00 GMT

Two new trends are emerging in greetings, both bad. Sign-offs are getting worse too, writes Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Overworked and uninspired – the misery of the middle manager

Tue, 02 Dec 2014 14:25:00 GMT

Few covet the job of middle manager, and who could blame them? says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

White collar eavesdropping will cure your itchy feet

Tue, 25 Nov 2014 13:35:00 GMT

We sometimes envy the trappings of other people’s jobs. But the work itself? Never, says Lucy Kellaway

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City bullyboys are as boorish as ever

Tue, 18 Nov 2014 14:56:00 GMT

The chatroom banter of the forex traders shows little has changed in the banking culture, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Losing the fear can be liberating - and dangerous

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 13:58:00 GMT

Work anxiety tends to decline with age, but watch out for the complacency catch, writes Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can coffee with strangers make you 10 per cent better?

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:30:00 GMT

Great ideas can sometimes come from a chat with the unlikeliest of people, says Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The CEO fad for extreme exercise has gone too far

Tue, 28 Oct 2014 12:15:00 GMT

Sport does not broaden an executive’s worldview. Virtually everything else does, writes Lucy Kellaway.

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Flirting for jobs

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 12:07:00 GMT

It's time to flirt with Tinder for a new approach to recruitment, says Lucy Kellaway

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Wanted: employees who are good at getting things done

Thu, 16 Oct 2014 17:57:00 GMT

Employers should specify ‘being conscientious’ as the top skill they are looking for, says Lucy Kellaway

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McKinsey’s manicures are a tacky way to nail recruits

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 11:58:00 GMT

Hiring events should not turn into hen nights, says Lucy Kellaway

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Looking into the future

Mon, 15 Sep 2014 15:03:00 GMT

McKinsey's predictions will come to nothing, says Lucy Kellaway

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Cool students are more toxic than rich ones

Mon, 08 Sep 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Taking drugs, getting drunk, smoking roll-ups help at being cool and are still just as bad for you, says Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Digital diaries are no match for our paper past

Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:45:00 GMT

Users of electronic calendars can take six times longer to scribble something down says Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why I would hire someone despite a typo in their CV

Tue, 26 Aug 2014 12:55:00 GMT

To exclude a job candidate simply because they have transposed two letters makes no sense, says Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

‘Hello there’: eight lessons from Microsoft’s awful job loss memo

Mon, 11 Aug 2014 11:30:00 GMT

Stephen Elop’s job-loss announcement is a case study in how not to write, think or lead, says Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sheryl Sandberg adds to the glut of non-apologies

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway suspects that the vast majority of office apologies, delivered by both sexes, are insincere

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Summer, sports and strategies for avoiding work

Tue, 01 Jul 2014 13:35:00 GMT

Shirking is necessary for survival and is a vital skill, not only in early July, but all year

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Diversity that makes everyone seem the same

Mon, 23 Jun 2014 10:00:00 GMT

A wide cross section brings with it the danger of falling within the narrow confines of groupthink

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Descent into drivel is a sign of Apple’s fall

Mon, 16 Jun 2014 16:08:00 GMT

The ugly words in an Apple job advertisement suggest the group has got too big to hang on to what once made it different

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It is dangerous to feel passion for your work

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 10:50:00 GMT

All the average employer wants is people who like their job and care about it.

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A lesson from kindergarten on executives’ bonuses

Tue, 03 Jun 2014 10:30:00 GMT

To reward bosses for working late or reading the briefing papers doesn’t seem quite right

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Jill Abramson's New York Times tattoo points way to wearable CVs

Mon, 19 May 2014 10:37:00 GMT

Why bother with introductions when you can tell your story on your forehead - or even your bottom?

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Banks should be more like the FT

Mon, 05 May 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says there is a need for a new investment bank that would sell itself on low pay

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We need new excuses for not replying to emails

Sun, 27 Apr 2014 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says technology is steadily ruining all the old favourites

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Nine to five: great way to make a living

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 06:00:00 GMT

Only a strict routine can stop our jobs silting up our lives, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My future as a middle-aged grad trainee

Mon, 21 Apr 2014 23:00:00 GMT

If I changed career now I would put my back into it like never before, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Think you work hard? Bet you don’t.

Sun, 30 Mar 2014 23:00:00 GMT

The disease of overwork is partly in our minds and it has a bearing on how stressed we feel

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In defence of sycophantic wage slaves

Tue, 25 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Luke Johnson is wrong. Flattery is crucial to survival in the corporate world and beyond

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My top tip: ignore all other top tips

Tue, 18 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says pieces of advice are positioning statements that tell the world about the values the issuer holds

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Public speaking and removing my jeans on stage

Tue, 11 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Your performance is only the half of it. The rest is down to the early dynamic with the audience, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you heard that gossip is good?

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:00:00 GMT

The true value of such morsels has nothing to do with the subject and is all to do with purveyor

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Big Brother can watch me work any day

Mon, 24 Feb 2014 13:25:00 GMT

So long as everyone knows they are being monitored and why, it is not such a bad idea

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Small talk makes a big difference

Mon, 24 Feb 2014 07:00:00 GMT

If you don’t chat, people don’t like you much. So if women keep quiet at work, it matters

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lessons in success from Eton and the Tiger Mother

Mon, 17 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Now we know why so many dyslexics and people who lost a parent young make it to the top

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Colleagues and bosses are not your family

Mon, 03 Feb 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says the idea that employees are part of one big, corporate family is delusional

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I want to put my whole workplace on a new diet

Mon, 27 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says she is ditching al desko lunches. Anticipation, ritual and smugness point the way ahead

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Cheer up, this is a golden age for office workers

Mon, 20 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

For privileged professionals at least, working life is better than it has ever been

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Men should stop losing sleep over their loss of face

Mon, 13 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

Women may be more resilient, as we don’t take minor slights as a heinous attack on our egos

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gongs for the year’s greatest guff

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 00:00:00 GMT

All winners of the 2013 Golden Flannel Awards are exceptional, original, giants of jargon

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Why hair is a feminist issue

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 14:15:00 GMT

The world’s most successful business women have impeccable hairdos.

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Views my own: five Twitter bio clichés to avoid

Wed, 11 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Laboured quirkiness is common and Stephen Fry may be to blame with his ‘Prince of Swimwear’

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I am 54 and a half – how old are you?

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Whenever I interview anyone, I do not consider I’ve done the job properly unless I slip in how old they are

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It is better to be a cokehead than a blockhead

Tue, 26 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says to eradicate those truly unsuited to office we need random checks on their level of knowledge

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ups and downs of taking the stairs

Mon, 18 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMT

If people used the stairs, we would be deprived of the office equivalent of behind the bike shed, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why it is very clever to pretend to be stupid

Tue, 12 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Disarm others, make them forget you are scarily powerful and lull them into liking you, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The bike test shows what I’m like at work

Tue, 05 Nov 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says bosses can learn much by watching a prospective employee on a bicycle

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nine valuable lessons from rubbish jobs

Wed, 30 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMT

A diet of drudgery in a takeaway might seem wholesome but it does open the eye to better things, says Lucy Kellaway

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Distraction beats doctors for back pain relief

Mon, 21 Oct 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Germany, strong enough to carry southern Europe on its back, stays home at the slightest twinge

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Competence beats confidence every time

Tue, 15 Oct 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says it’s all very well thinking we are good at what we do but it’s better to try to be good at it

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ryanair volte-face shows feedback is best given face-to-face

Mon, 07 Oct 2013 23:00:00 GMT

To bring about change, it is criticism delivered in person by random strangers that counts, says Lucy Kellaway

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Global business has led to greeting hell

Sun, 22 Sep 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says welcoming gestures require global regulation to spare us crushing embarrassment

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Compliments are always best made behind closed doors

Thu, 19 Sep 2013 10:00:00 GMT

On praise, the experts have got it wrong: it should almost never be given in public. It is a dangerous, corrosive substance that has a powerful and positive effect on the person it is aimed at but is better administered behind closed doors, says Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The shoe shop, the walkout and the online fallout

Thu, 12 Sep 2013 13:30:00 GMT

There is little to suggest that viral revenge leaves any lasting marks on target companies, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A cure for the pangs of cyber comparisons

Sun, 01 Sep 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says gauging yourself against others is a nasty drip-drip of poison into the bloodstream

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Working round the clock is a poor use of time

Wed, 28 Aug 2013 23:00:00 GMT

It is a mystery why the banks inflict a working day on employees that exhausts them, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What LinkedIn should learn from the Girl Guides

Thu, 22 Aug 2013 15:35:00 GMT

LinkedIn could learn something from the Girl Guides to prevent the skill inflation and sucking up that are rampant on the social network, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bezos is a disrupter, only not at home

Mon, 12 Aug 2013 23:00:00 GMT

The vitamins-socks-wife combo was not quite Watergate but hints at something slightly creepy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Abuse of language keeps going forward

Tue, 06 Aug 2013 15:00:00 GMT

Talking like a regular human being does not guarantee success

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With jobs, make sure it pays to play

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 23:00:00 GMT

To work for free means you value yourself at nothing, and that should make you feel bad indeed, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Words that warn you not to open an email

Thu, 18 Jul 2013 13:00:00 GMT

What is the most off-putting thing you can write in the subject line of an email? Lucy Kellaway has compiled a list, in ascending order of obnoxiousness.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How the Rolling Stones keep time on their side

Sun, 07 Jul 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says the stubbornly enduring group stays that way by flouting the rules in every success manual

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The buzz of hot-desking in a coffee shop

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 23:00:00 GMT

A ‘tall’ beige milk comes with unlimited table, chair and WiFi – but my back is killing me, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The New Lady of Threadneedle Street

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says the position of chief operating officer signals a sad succumbing to the language of corporate America

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A cup of tea may be the best way to engage employees

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:00:00 GMT

People may come to dislike their jobs a little less, but seldom learn to love them

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Wake up! Time for a good night’s sleep

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Sleeplessness is the biggest reason for me turning up crabby and inefficient in the mornings

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Clearing your email is no act of virtue

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 23:00:00 GMT

I have no folders, no system. That is because I don’t need one, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Graduates need a dose of reality

Mon, 27 May 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says students need not change the world – getting a job will be an achievement

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A meeting by any other name isn’t worth going to

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Calling it a summit, forum or ideas exchange doesn’t make a gathering any more important, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grades don’t make the grade at the office

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says her test shows that those with firsts are neither better nor worse than those with seconds

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Bad is the new good – except that it isn’t

Wed, 08 May 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says the craze for taking something we all think is bad and telling us that it’s good is crazy

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The business case for hiring the fat and the ugly

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Studies say the good looking are more successful but that is not a good way to recruit, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elevator gossip rarely rises above the dull

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says the average office worker never relaxes in the lift

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Worker bees should be left to bumble

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:00:00 GMT

All this stuff about employee engagement is nonsense says Lucy Kellaway

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When every day is April Fools' Day

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 01:00:00 GMT

How do you spot an April Fools' Day joke from the real thing?

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I’m still puzzling over my dream job

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says that a survey showing that teenagers in Britain want to pursue the ‘wrong’ careers was pointless

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facebook’s offices are too cool for women

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

In insisting on a chilly conference room, Mark Zuckerberg is exhibiting dotcom dogmatism, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Worrying over your worth has no value

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

No one complains about earning too much, says Lucy Kellaway

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Office propositions are no clear-cut issue

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Now is the time to break my silence and tell my story of being sexually harassed at work, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I can’t stop my cyber loafing

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says we need the equivalent of the stocks to persuade people to get off the net and get on with their work

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Finally I’ve found some good corporate guff

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

J&J’s ‘Our Credo’ got me excited. Alas, since it was written in 1943 there has been some slippage

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

End of the line for the landline

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The death of the old-style phone may help us individually but it loosens the bonds between us, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wanted: a user’s guide to every boss

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

If everybody knows what their manager’s little ways are, it is better all round, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If I outsourced my work, would you care?

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The only risk is that the boss gets wind of the arrangement and cuts out the middleman

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Take a stand on being more productive

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Last week I read a blog saying that sitting is the new smoking. It makes you fat and then it kills you. We must act, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bosses fail the 10-year-old test

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says that a CEO ought to be able to explain what he does in a way a child can grasp

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The first word in mangled meanings

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Bosses have been rampant in the world of bull, says the FT's Lucy Kellaway

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It’s time to stop stressing about stress

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

It is quite wrong to think about it as the enemy, says the FT's Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fatherhood is no degree in management

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says lessons learnt from family life can pay off at work

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Why I’m proud to have no Klout

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says it is a nonsense to boil down something as qualitative as influence into a single number

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heard the one about women at the office?

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

If laughter varies with gender, it varies even more with power, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Starbucks’ tea takeover is a grande of guff

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says the ubiquitous coffee chain cannot be forgiven for the way it grinds out its message

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marriages and jobs require work and love

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

When it comes to the quest for the perfect match, it helps to keep your expectations real, says Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Time-wasting tips have wasted my time

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway finds that apparently a game of ‘Angry Birds’ is good for us

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New workers want the same things we did

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:40:00 GMT

The world of work is supposed to have changed beyond recognition since I started out on a bank's graduate training programme three decades ago, but actually it hasn’t. For graduate trainees, nothing of any importance has changed at all.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Embrace the network effect

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says alumni connections are not a problem at all – in fact they are a thoroughly good thing.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The question with interviews is why we bother

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Study after study shows an interview is not much better than picking people at random.

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A rifle through my colleagues’ drawers

Sun, 30 Sep 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says it’s not just the objects that are telling – it’s the juxtaposition

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For creativity, forget the funky office

Wed, 26 Sep 2012 08:00:00 GMT

With design so overbearing at Google’s London HQ, the individual can’t get a look in, says the FT's Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Road test CEOs to avoid corporate crashes

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says that top executives should take an annual hubris test

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Good enough is better than perfection

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Anyone batty enough to aim for perfection in their work isn’t a force for good. Such obsession comes with a dark underside.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why I can’t ‘like’ Facebook popularity contest

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says the joke should be on the even more stupid people who voice their approval in their millions

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Why I’m inspired by the veteran Cosmo girl

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway discovers that Helen Gurley Brown had a great deal of exceedingly sensible, realistic things to say about work

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Jobs, motherhood and varieties of wrong

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 08:00:00 GMT

The FT's Lucy Kellaway says that there is no balance. It’s a continuous, fluid game of survival, the rules of which are unclear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London’s Olympics are a workers’ curse

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 08:00:00 GMT

To stage this festival of sporting competitiveness every other sort of competition is being stifled says the FT's Lucy Kellaway

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do we believe we get what we pay for?

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:00:00 GMT

More expensive does not necessarily mean better, says Lucy Kellaway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Burberry chief’s top mix of brand and bunkum

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 09:00:00 GMT

The FT's Lucy Kellaway says that Angela Ahrendts’ language meets the most important criterion for jargon – it is utterly impenetrable.

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Ball boys demonstrate power of training

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:00:00 GMT

Wimbledon’s teenage volunteer training has produced strong results, says Lucy Kellaway

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Don’t aim for the top unless you feel lucky

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 23:00:00 GMT

We can study Bill Gates all we like but we’re not going to end up where he is, says the FT's Lucy Kellaway

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The thin line between thick skin and complacency

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 23:00:00 GMT

It is a CEO’s job to take things very personally, says the FT's Lucy Kellaway

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A dose of dullness is good for business

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Being boring is no barrier to great leadership, says the FT's Lucy Kellaway

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Manual work holds the key to spiritual bliss

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Upholstery has shown Lucy Kellaway that losing yourself is a far better idea than finding yourself

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Small mistakes attract the biggest trouble

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway on why smart people will always make stupid errors

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Beware the wild management consultants

Wed, 23 May 2012 23:00:00 GMT

The story of Bain and the buffalo makes one question business travel says Lucy Kellaway

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My logo obsession is more than a game

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway discovers that our stock of brands is so ingrained that they have become part of who we are

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Flattery will get you what you want

Tue, 08 May 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway argues that facts have little traction in the art of persuasion

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Affiliations matter more than achievement

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway on why the ambitious should go for prestige every time

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Break bad habits and you’ll deliver profits

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:00:00 GMT

No amount of huddles will crack Royal Mail’s rubber band problem, says the FT's Lucy Kellaway

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The female of the species is more scary than the male

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 23:00:00 GMT

Successful women are more frightening than men, says the FT's Lucy Kellaway

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Online life can teach us about the office

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellway on whether virtual working might one day happen properly

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The perils of parting shots

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Why listening to departing employees is foolish

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Office tittle-tattle makes having a job a pleasure

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The thing that is killing the finest sort of gossip is the internet: email, Facebook and Twitter.

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Women’s inequality isn’t what it used to be

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Everything I see at work (apart from surveys) tells me that there are more women doing better and having a better time.

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Meetings of minds are effectively a tool for dulling them

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:25:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway on why working alone is the best way to get things done

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The fine art of penning your own ‘brief bio’

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway on her eight rules for this trickiest of literary genres

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UBS’s silly menu leaves a bad taste

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

It is time to worry when companies write witless things and then hand them to their customers, says Lucy Kellaway

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If you have to reject me, tell me straight

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

No one appreciates hollow good wishes from someone who is telling them to shove off, says Lucy Kellaway

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If you want adult behaviour, treat people like babies

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:52:00 GMT

Lloyds bank has found a new way of saving money. It has banned all staff from travelling on the third week of every month. If this is a good idea, a similar system should be deployed for all the other ways in which We Are Not Wise with our time, says Lucy Kellaway.

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The 2011 guff awards

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:30:00 GMT

The judging is now complete and Lucy Kellaway is ready to announce the winners of her annual business jargon awards.

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Social networks upend office etiquette

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

What is acceptable and what is shameless? The answer is that no one has the foggiest – we are all making it up as we go along, says Lucy Kellaway

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Money’s too tight to mention if you have lots of it

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

It is surprisingly hard to be good at having money – harder than acquiring it in the first place. The perfect amount of money is when you hardly have to think about it at all, says Lucy Kellaway

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We all deserve to be told the terrible truth

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

‘Protected conversations’ between employees and bosses are a good idea but they won’t make any difference in practice, says Lucy Kellaway

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A guide to life in the fast cycle lane

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Thinking strategically about your life isn’t necessarily such a great idea, says Lucy Kellaway

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Stick to the rules and abusing your colleagues is OK

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

So long as top people in the City are continuing to behave in an uncivilised fashion, the world as we know it isn’t coming to an end, says Lucy Kellaway

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Copying, the mother of the best inventions

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

No one seems interested in teaching us how to get better at mimicry, despite it being the key to success, says Lucy Kellaway

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Management guff lands in China

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

When the guff germ arrives big time in China, my prediction is that they will be better at dealing with it than westerners, says Lucy Kellaway.

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BlackBerry blackout left me happily unlinked

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Most email messages are exceedingly stupid, and none more so than the ones that arrive from LinkedIn, says Lucy Kellaway

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Everyone benefits from a beast in the boardroom

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:00:00 GMT

All companies need someone on board who stirs things up and couldn’t care less what people think, just don’t confuse it with ego, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Forget doing the ‘math’ and stick to proper English

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 23:00:00 GMT

All sorts of things are just plain wrong when translated from maths to business talk, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Pretenders to power are the most dangerous

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Power may corrupt, but absolute power corrupts much less than partial power – as too many lower down the pecking order show, says Lucy Kellaway

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My cure for an outbreak of weak excuse tendency

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:31:00 GMT

Sufferers from WET aren’t skiving or lying; they just have an inadequate notion of what it means to be reliable, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Bartz flubs her lines as she leaves the Yahoo stage

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:07:00 GMT

The sacking of Carol Bartz last week made theatre of the most superior kind. Watching the former chief executive of Yahoo go down spitting obscenities was exhilarating in an immediate sort of way, says Lucy Kellaway

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Do teddies have a place in the boardroom?

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:33:00 GMT

Research from an expert in ethics at Harvard University suggests people behave better when teddy bears are in the room, says Lucy Kellaway

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Chief Googler’s ‘amazing’ clichés are dull and void

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:19:00 GMT

Larry Page’s thinking on his decision to spend $12.5bn on some mobile handsets, patents and set-top boxes is woolly at best, says Lucy Kellway.

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Age-old bonds make the office tick

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Is working with people of different ages really a problem?

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Six little words and one very big question

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 23:00:00 GMT

What keeps you in your job? What would your six-word answer be?

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Anti-PowerPoint revolutionaries unite

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 13:24:00 GMT

The ubiquitous piece of software can leave one feeling grumpy and passive and in no frame of mind for proper work, says Lucy Kellaway

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Unrequited love and corporate idiocy

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:40:00 GMT

When the new head of Tesco in the UK said he wanted staff to love customers, I followed up by visiting my local store, says Lucy Kellaway

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Cheers to those with a glass half-empty

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:25:00 GMT

In business, optimism is good and pessimism bad. Optimists have a monopoly on success, on happiness and even on longevity. Pessimists, with their long faces and dark thoughts are pariahs, thought fit for nothing in the gung-ho corporate world except possibly careers in journalism (where bad news is good news). Otherwise, they have a choice between the couch, the closet or the comedy circuit.

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You’ve got mail but you need to get your life back

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:35:00 GMT

Everyone agrees that we spend too much of our lives e-mailing. Everyone agrees that the answer is to write fewer, shorter, clearer messages. Everyone has known this for years. Yet instead of getting better, the problem goes on getting worse.

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A need to please can get you into trouble

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 09:12:00 GMT

Two different women, both of them up to their eyes in different sorts of trouble, last week put forward the same excuse to explain lapses in their behaviour. Each said she was suffering from a new debilitating condition – a compulsion to please people.

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Path to happiness runs through the office

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 23:00:00 GMT

It is a terrific relief to find that the true path to happiness involves doing what most of us do most of the time, whether we like it or not – work

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E-mail contract is not worth the kilobytes

Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Legal disclaimers on e-mails are not only unenforced but unenforceable – making one wonder why they are so popular

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The wonders worked by womanhood

Sat, 28 May 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Lagarde is right to play the female card – this is the best time there has been to be a woman with talent, charm, and an appetite for advancement, says Lucy Kellaway

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Despite the offer, I won’t fill in for DSK

Wed, 25 May 2011 10:57:00 GMT

I don’t like the idea of deputising for someone who was sorting out the financial crisis and might have been president of France, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Must I remember my kids’ ages just to log on?

Wed, 11 May 2011 15:14:00 GMT

In the early days of computers I never forgot my password because the top secret word I’d chosen was ‘Kellaway’, which I found could be effortlessly recalled even in the most fraught moments, says Lucy Kellaway.

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The dull names of those who rose

Wed, 04 May 2011 14:30:00 GMT

Research shows that with CEOs overwhelmingly having boring first names, the drearier the moniker, the greater the success – and that diversity is bunkum says Lucy Kellaway.

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Drivel is in the detail with CEO pay

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:00:00 GMT

The reams of justification for executive remuneration are mind-numbing and likely to make one succumb through sheer weariness, says Lucy Kellaway.

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You might be a genius but I wouldn’t tell you so

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:16:00 GMT

Even though I prefer to have genius status granted for big things, I’m prepared to accept it for any achievement at all, even for pressing send on my computer, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Tablets to cure our smartphone sicknesses

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:28:00 GMT

Last Monday, when Kerry McCarthy MP got up to speak in the House of Commons she made history – not for the words she spoke, but for reading them off her iPad.

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Writing is on the wall for ‘customer care’

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:15:00 GMT

A letter posted on a lavatory wall to amuse with its verbosity highlights the deficiencies of another missive by a virtuoso at apology – and guff.

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China rekindles fondness for western ways

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:50:00 GMT

In accepting the invitation to go on a debating tour, I had expected to return with a mind full of management ideas and a suitcase full of rip-off handbags.

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Business leaders are worse than they think

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:30:00 GMT

When it comes to describing their dark sides, leaders feel bound by one rule: any weakness is perfectly admissible, so long as it is really a strength.

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Pen and paper: the forgotten management tool

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:06:00 GMT

Last week I went out for a pizza with a man I hadn’t seen for a while. The bill was low; I picked it up. Two days later, a small, cream envelope arrived on my doormat. Inside was a folded piece of paper on which he had written a short note saying how much he had enjoyed the occasion.

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Female quotas would target the wrong women

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 12:18:00 GMT

If you are listening to this during office hours on Monday, you can think of me sitting at a large table engaged in deep discussion about dividends, internal controls and appetites for risk. With me will be my fellow directors of a FTSE 100 company, 11 of us in all: nine men and two women.

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America’s Next Top Student

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:39:00 GMT

She is beautiful, rich and famous. She has two television shows, one of which is named after her. She’s got her own foundation that helps deprived girls. She’s been to bed with Barack Obama. She is taking a course at Harvard Business School on how to be an entrepreneur.

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Talk like a loser and you might win

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:25:00 GMT

When I watched Tim Armstrong on CNN last week talking about the brilliance of his decision to buy the Huffington Post, I found I didn’t believe a word he was saying.

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Two banks, a conman and a homeless bloke

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:33:00 GMT

Last week, there were two stories in the papers about bankers being taken for a ride by conmen and nutters. Both tales were profoundly enjoyable: seeing investment bankers with egg on their faces is always cheering. They were also enjoyably profound, making one question what bankers get up to all day and which talents are needed to perform those tasks well.

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A good employer offers more than Botox

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 15:36:00 GMT

Last week, Fortune magazine published its latest survey of the 100 best companies to work for in the US. As I have never worked at any of them I can’t offer first hand corroboration of the rankings – though in 1981 I did try to get a job at Boston Consulting Group (rated number two in the Fortune list), but was rejected after letting slip in an interview that I had no idea what a learning curve was.

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Pointless conditions should not apply

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:03:00 GMT

I was sitting on a train coming back to London after a board meeting in Cardiff. Life felt good: the meeting had ended a bit earlier than I’d feared and I was just getting stuck into a gin and tonic and a packet of Quavers when the ticket inspector came round. I handed her my ticket, which she pronounced not valid.

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Finnish lesson on principles for Goldman

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 12:39:00 GMT

Lloyd Blankfein is in need of advice on the principles of business. Fortunately, I have just the man to give it to him: Hannu Penttilä, a Finnish shopkeeper who runs a chain of department stores.

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My awards for management guff

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:33:00 GMT

At the beginning of every year I hand out prizes to companies and individuals who have shown the greatest flair in butchering the English language or in talking through their hats during the previous 12 months.

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Better to waste time at the office

Wed, 05 Jan 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Even though it’s a weekday and during working hours, I’m in bed. The reason for such slovenliness is that I’m not feeling my best. Too unwell to feel like getting up, yet not so unwell that I can’t move my fingers over a keyboard.

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Two memos divided by understanding

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 17:45:00 GMT

This week I’ve decided to focus on two things that are always popular at this time of year. Layoffs and stand-up rows.

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A glimpse of ambassadorial life

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:28:00 GMT

Last Monday I had a delightful lunch with the turkey ambassador. He didn’t appear to know anything much about Ankara or care whether Turkey joined the European Union, but seemed more interested in what people eat for Christmas. He was the chef, Marco Pierre White, who had just been given the title by Bernard Matthews, the biggest British turkey producer, and was therefore flying the flag of the battery bird.

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Better to save face than look in the mirror

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 12:00:00 GMT

At a party last week I met a man who told me he had just lost his job. I commiserated, but he said it was OK, he was well out of it. He explained that his boss was a fool who could not cope with having an underling who was far brighter and more charismatic than him. The man looked perfectly cheerful and reassured me that his pay-off had been large, and the move was his employer’s loss.

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Breaking the glass ceiling at home

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:45:00 GMT

On the front of Wednesday’s Financial Times was a picture of Kate Middleton smiling adoringly at the future king of England and giving every impression of delight over her new job as the nation’s foremost corporate wife.

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Don’t give hiring a moment’s notice

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 12:18:00 GMT

Wearing socks on the outside of your shoes makes you less likely to slip on icy paths.Promoting people at random makes companies more efficient.These two hypotheses were among the winners of this year’s Ig Nobel prizes – handed out by Improbable Research, an organisation set up to promote academic work that makes you laugh, then think.

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Being happy is a serious handicap

Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:00:00 GMT

There is a teenage boy I know who worries me quite a lot. He was born to a good family with plenty of money. He is extroverted and optimistic; people appear to like him. He’s relatively easy on the eye and reasonably bright. His health is good and he can kick, hit and catch balls of various shapes and sizes. He does not smoke, or take drugs, or do any more binge drinking than the next person.

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The thief, his victim and the company laptop

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 22:14:00 GMT

The only problem with losing stuff is not that harm is done, it is that people fear that harm will be done and the loss does not look pretty in the papers, says Lucy Kellaway

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Glass ceiling in management drivel is broken

Sun, 24 Oct 2010 19:47:00 GMT

It is usually men who talk more management nonsense, but Lucy Kellaway finds they are no longer the only ones capable of talking guff

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Listening to customers can be bad business

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Management accepting humiliation in order to satisfy customers seems like a good thing but Gap’s climbdown on its new logo is feeble, says Lucy Kellaway

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We need more CEOs willing to speak out

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Everyone lives in mortal dread of getting into trouble – CEOs are all shacked up together in a glass house in which no stones ever get thrown, says Lucy Kellaway

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Power posing and flattery beat an MBA any day

Sat, 02 Oct 2010 23:00:00 GMT

To make it, you simply have to fake it, according to Lucy Kellaway

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Time to spit out more praise for Apple

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 23:00:00 GMT

The exchange between Steve Jobs and Chelsea Isaacs prompts Lucy Kellaway to congratulate him on his clarity, tetchiness and for being completely in the right

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Words to describe the glory of Apple

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:56:00 GMT

Like most Brits, I find success in others pretty hard to cope with. When that success is combined with good looks, I can’t tolerate it at all.Apple’s continued glory eats away at me like a maggot at my core.

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Why CEOs cry all the way to the bank

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 10:30:00 GMT

Bob Diamond is full of energy and enthusiasm. He likes taking risks. He is determined: he knows what he wants and goes for it. He is fearless, cheerfully taking on a job he has little experience of. He speaks (relatively) simply. He has been known to throw tantrums. He is greedy and always wants more.I’ve never met him, but on the strength of what I’ve been reading about him I’m absolutely confident that he’s going to make an excellent new chief at Barclays. This is because he accords perfectly with a brand new theory of leadership that is surprising, radical, yet utterly compelling. This theory says that the best CEOs are just like toddlers.

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Twitter is no way to manage a smelly mess

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:23:00 GMT

On the bank holiday weekend, the political satirist Armando Iannucci was driving along the M40 to spend a couple of days in Snowdonia and stopped off at a Starbucks on the way. As he is a man who likes to record all his thoughts on Twitter, he dispatched this message to his 80,000 followers: “Still surprised that, despite their market dominance, Starbucks haven’t eliminated the slight smell of lavatory you get as you enter.”

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Personal life has invaded the office

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:56:00 GMT

Over the past decade there has been a steady onward march of objects, activities and emotions from hearth to cubicle, so there is now almost nothing left that belongs entirely at home.

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Antidote to the dreariness of modern life

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 11:00:00 GMT

Last night I did what I always do when I am feeling jaded - I got out my boxed-set of Mad Men and immersed myself in the hedonistic, glamorous world of Maddison Avenue in the 1960s, when all women were a 38 triple-D cup, all men drank scotch from lunchtime till bedtime, everyone chain-smoked and fornicated whenever they got the chance.

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Why financiers are leaders in drivel

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:00:00 GMT

The e-mail was waiting for me on my return from holiday, just as I knew it would be. Shortly before I went away, I had written a column in which I had borrowed not merely someone else’s idea but his very words. At the time I thought I’d get away with it, but in the middle of the night had woken in a sweat. In the age of the internet, plagiarists nearly always get punished.

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Nice dud is key to office harmony

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:55:00 GMT

Last Tuesday, during the final assembly of the year at my daughter’s school, pupils said goodbye to a teacher who was being elbowed out. Miss T was famous for her feebleness at imparting knowledge; the new broom of a head had decided it would make more sense to give the job to someone who could teach instead.

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It’s time to sack job appraisals

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:59:00 GMT

Last week an e-mail went round the office touting for suggestions on ways to improve our performance appraisal system. My suggestion is dead easy and dirt cheap: get rid of the whole thing and replace it with nothing at all.

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Don’t just dress down on Fridays

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:26:00 GMT

In Britain they are cutting about a million jobs. In France, they have axed the Bastille Day garden party. All governments are looking for ways big and small to cut spending. But there is a better way that no one has yet considered: cut Fridays.

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It is time for the gender gap to be kicked into touch?

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:13:00 GMT

The only difference between male and female managers, says Lucy, is that women are less confident and more hung up on approval.

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BP has become the company we all love to hate

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:44:00 GMT

It's not just Americans or lefties or environmentalists who now hate BP. Everyone else seems to as well.

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A self-help guide for Sir Terry Leahy

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:00:00 GMT

Lucy's list of key "don'ts" for a retiring chief executive

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Principles for living we could all do without

Sun, 23 May 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Lucy on Bridgewater chief, Ray Dalio, and the list of his top 300 rules for life.

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When the FSA came calling

Sun, 16 May 2010 23:00:00 GMT

A summons to a 90-minute interview with the financial regulator sends Lucy reeling through the five stages of grief

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It's the little things we should fret about

Sat, 08 May 2010 23:00:00 GMT

One of the comedies of working life is pretending to care about the big things, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Fabulous Fab is far scarier than you think

Sat, 01 May 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Is Fabrice Tourre one of the most boastful men in the world, or is the Goldman Sachs trader a man who looks dispassionately at himself and is well aware of his weaknesses?

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Ash cloud helped productivity

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 23:00:00 GMT

It was miraculous what the volcano did to conferences, meetings and business trips.

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The joys of long service

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Does 25 years at this paper make me a disgrace, asks Lucy Kellaway

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My first law of success: a big lucky break

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Most successful people have had big lucky breaks at birth and a succession of smaller ones thereafter

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Generation game plays out on Facebook

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The gap between the Facebook/non-Facebook generation is wider than the gap between previous generations.

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You can’t always get what you want

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

The current trend of using rock bands as models for business school study is deeply flawed.

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Why feedback forms leave me fed up

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The problem with feedback? The wrong questions are asked at the wrong time to people who generally are in no frame of mind to answer them properly. But spontaneous feedback can be a good thing.

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A corporate calendar that is so last year

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

‘A client a day’ makes no sense at all, especially in a business where people often work with the same client for months on end, says Lucy Kellaway

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Why insensitive bosses make more sense

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

This is the single most sensible word I’ve seen on the flabby subject of leadership in at least a decade, says Lucy Kellaway

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My new motto: Nomina Rutrum Rutrum

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Latin gives oomph, partly because it lends an air of learning but also because most people have to look it up, says Lucy Kellaway

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Memory doesn’t matter when you have the net

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The only essential things to remember are one’s computer login, pin number and the names of a few workmates, says Lucy Kellaway

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Clooney won’t do in business

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

I can think of three possible explanations why in mainstream corporate life in the UK and the US, the ugly mug rules, says Lucy Kellaway

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My proven formula for cheerfulness

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

The most depressing day of the year is upon us. But Lucy Kellaway says she has found a better way to keep up morale than the motivational gurus

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Why forecasters should stick to the weather

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Cold air has been blowing out of the Arctic, and hot air has been blowing out of the mouths of business forecasters, says Lucy Kellaway

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Good year for management guff

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT

Even in bad times, some can still push the envelope and go the extra mile when it comes to talking bull, says Lucy Kellaway

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Tomes to make you groan

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

There is no shortage of bad business books, but Lucy Kellaway feels that giving them as ironic presents to bankers would be irresponsible

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Give office idiocy Dada treatment

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I come across a lot of angry people in the course of my work, writes Lucy Kellaway. They take exception to anodyne things written by me.

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Rebels who look ridiculous

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT

A bright tie, red socks, a flash of crimson in the lining of a suit – these attempts to stand out in the office smack of desperation, says Lucy Kellaway

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How to land on your feet when speaking in public

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

What Lucy and J-Lo have in common; and how to avoid boring your audience when speaking in public

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When too much information harms the office

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Staff are responding to overload by not digesting anything. No one reads e-mails any more – except from the boss, writes Lucy Kellaway

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The return of managerial bone-headedness

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

The bear market in bull may be over but the bear market in courage is not. Fear and paranoia are even more a part of corporate life, argues Lucy Kellaway

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For better or for worse, but not for work

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

To allow husbands and wives to co-work has always been a bad idea financially, socially, practically and emotionally, says Lucy Kellaway

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When a longer working life is good for us all

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Work is a bit like taking exercise. It can be boring and stressful while you are doing it but it is preferable to not working, says Lucy Kellaway

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Why ‘chillaxing’ isn’t cool

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Chilling is seen by today’s children as the natural order of things. However, taking it easy in the office is not a good idea, says Lucy Kellaway

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Taboo or not taboo? Some new office guidelines

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

A search for the sacrosanct subjects of the workplace was almost fruitless as most of the old strictures at work are on the way out, but there are still some no-go areas, says Lucy Kellaway

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The perils of opening your medicine cabinet at work

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Gordon Brown’s questioning over whether he takes pills to cope with the pressure reveals the new taboo in the workplace, says Lucy Kellaway

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How to be a top female boss

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Anna Wintour's longevity in the fashion industry and hard-nosed approach provide a useful model for women executives

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Drug dealers are perfect gurus in a recession

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

With their ruthlessness and brilliance at managing cash flow, hustlers such as the reformed 50 Cent can provide useful lessons to executives, says Lucy Kellaway

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Letting the office go to the dogs

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Bring your dog to work day may uncover some uncomfortable office truths, says Lucy Kellaway

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Wash away management’s verbal germs

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:00:00 GMT

In my book, cleanliness is not next to godliness. Necessary up to a point, but quite dull, and not something that deserves a place in management literature.

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Women in the boardroom

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT

After decades of discussing women in the boardroom we should have gained enough confidence to go post-PC, argues Lucy Kellaway

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Take it easy about ageing

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

As contemporaries seemed to have stopped playing the obsessive game of age comparison - its time to join them, says Lucy Kellaway

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The missed trick in the new pay reality

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

With employees paid to stay at home, the relationships between work and leisure, and money and no money are breaking down, says Lucy Kellaway

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Underdog tale sheds light on pushy parenting

Mon, 18 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT

It does one good to fail in a small way. It means one then has to work hard to catch up, and that one may have a fresher way of doing things, says Lucy Kellaway

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How a thief gave me 10 reasons to be grateful

Mon, 11 May 2009 04:00:00 GMT

It was a great morale boost that this time I was victim rather than perpetrator, and people have been astoundingly sympathetic, says Lucy Kellaway

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How to take safe revenge on the boss

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway says anti-boss rage is more in vogue than it has ever been in her lifetime. She watches the display with alternate surges of glee and discomfort

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When chore-chore means war-war

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The trick is not for husbands and wives to get to a 50:50 share when doing the housework. It is to stop counting and to stop minding, says Lucy Kellaway

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Career counsellors should find a new job

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The whole idea of advice is hopeless: the best tests in the world would not help, as there is no formula for matching round pegs to round holes, writes Lucy Kellaway

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Work is the subject songwriters are labouring to avoid

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Work has been overlooked in pop lyrics: there are office novels, office sitcoms and office movies, but almost no office songs, writes Lucy Kellaway

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There is a Fred Goodwin or Dick Fuld in all of us

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:00:00 GMT

There are many theories about the mess we are in, but it is simply what you get when you take human beings and put them in an organisation, says Lucy Kellaway

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Lord Lucan and the vanished charm of desks

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:00:00 GMT

What has happened to the office desk over the past few hundred years tells of the fall of the craftsman and the rise of Ikea but it also says much about what has happened to the penpusher and office worker, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Management metaphors are out for the count

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I have seen an article that marks the first evidence from the management guff industry that a soft approach is finally on its way out and a hard one is on its way in.

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Welcome back, semicolon; cu l8r, informality

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

The pendulum has swung away from slouchy language towards correct usage of punctuation in emails, helped by the recession.

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Stay smart and pull your socks up

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

To survive this economic downturn we need to smarten up and buckle down. We really need to get some work under our belts.

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My new guilt as a selfish working mother

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

An idea about the happiness of happiness that had given me solace these last two years has been rudely overturned by the conclusions of a report, says Lucy Kellaway.

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I have fallen into recession web of fear

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Through blogs, websites and e-mails the economic ills of the world are fed to us on a drip all day long, multiplying troubles everywhere, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Nothing to fear from your inner child

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

I dare say the US president hoped his words would resonate beyond the toy cupboard and sweetie jar, but even so they are feeble advice, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Memories of my $10m trading blunder

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

The first episode of a business reality television programme rammed home the message that being a trader is the worst job in the world. But it is in reality TV that Gordon Brown could really make his mark in hard times, says Lucy Kellaway.

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A cool reaction to colleagues' colds

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway finds she has little time for those who abandon work for their beds because of a cold, despite the chill wind of recession blowing outside

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Twaddle thrives amid the turmoil

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway laments that management twaddle and gobbledygook haven't faded away with the recession

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Expect to get dirty when a name is mud

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 05:00:00 GMT

If your occupation involves making off with money from investors, then it is proper the name Made-off reflects that. There is a fine tradition at work here.

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Money is the new secret of a happy job

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:00:00 GMT

When your job is at risk and your savings are a shadow of their former selves, the search for meaning at work becomes meaningless in itself, says Lucy Kellaway

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A risky hug in recessionary times

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 05:00:00 GMT

In the cause of research for a novel, Lucy Kellaway explores the world of internet adultery, and finds that, as the market for banking jobs goes cold, the market for adultery is getting hotter.

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The worst since 1929?

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Newspaper articles in these tumultuous, fatal, not-seen-since-the-Great-Depression times are so tightly packed with cliche that it is hard to do anything other than join in, says Lucy Kellaway. But she says we must be careful not to overstate things.

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A supercalifragilistic answer

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT

If bankers want to understand the global financial crisis, what better way, Lucy Kellaway suggests, than to watch classic film Mary Poppins. They will find a film, she says, that manages to be 'soothing, perspicacious and upbeat all at once.' Time to listen to your inner chimney sweep.

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Flatulence is no longer tolerated

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT

As the global financial crisis deepens, Lucy Kellaway says the glory days of the management bullshit industry are well and truly over. But she admits the return of sense may not be entirely welcome.

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This novel approach to the chief's role is pure fiction

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:00:00 GMT

What chief executives could learn from reading novels

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Why salaries are the final taboo

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT

The global movement to end salary secrecy is flawed, says Lucy Kellaway. It is relative, not actual, pay levels that determine happiness, and sometimes it is better not to know

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Advice for ex-bankers with long positions in Mars bars

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Should we be sickened at the news of formerly well-paid Lehman bankers jostling with their vending cards for the last Mars Bars? Lucy Kellaway asks just what kind of character is needed to survive the financial meltdown and to find another job.

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Teen troublemakers and business parents

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT

If you are a business leader your children can screw up as much as they like without harming your career prospects at all, says Lucy Kellaway

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The pen is mightier...

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Lucy Kellaway goes back to school with a brand new pen lid, which offers a lifetime of pleasure - putting modern gadgets to shame

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The City lawyer, the intern and the strip club

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT

You don't need to be a lawyer to know that strip club, summer intern and clumsy pass all up to trouble, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Dying wish to spend more time in the office

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Thinking about death generally encourages people to come up with dodgy philosophies about life, says Lucy Kellway. The best way of living is not to think of death at all

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A strange kind of capitalism

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, set a 'lousy' example by turning down a pay rise, says Lucy Kellaway. For a capitalist economy to work, we all need to believe that more money is a good thing.

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My guide to snoopology

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Easily the most satisfying job I've done in two dozen years as a journalist was writing a series of articles describing the offices of famous chief executives. For a brief period, I was allowed to indulge my natural nosiness - and get paid for it.

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Board battles won on playing fields

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Nearly half of the chief executives of Britain's biggest companies have gained awards for their prowess in the field of sport, says Lucy Kellaway.

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Shock of BPC: before personal computers

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT

To mark the retirement of Bill Gates, inventor of Windows, Lucy Kellaway decides to turn off her computer and Blackberry, and write and think with a fountain pen. Can she survive?

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When complaining to wrong person is right

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

One might think that the American purposeful complaint is better than pointless bellyaching, but in fact both can prove to be highly enjoyable.

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A bouquet of office barbs

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT

I have been out collecting a botanical array of dangerous workplace blooms, words that can spoil our day, our week - or our career.

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Letter-writing chiefs: you're fired

Fri, 23 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

I am running a competition in which a chief executive has to woo his customers with a letter. My finalists are Vikram Pandit and Johnnie Boden.

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Marriage demands due diligence

Sun, 18 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Being in love is like being on drugs. Do we let people who are off their heads on cocaine make important decisions? Of course not.

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Aim low to find meaning at work

Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

The only answer to the growing problem of worker unhappiness is to stop trying to find a solution and get on with what you do.

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Decade's spaced-out legacy in business

Mon, 05 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Even though in offices 1968 did not happen until about 1988, the ideas of the 1960s still affect how we behave and think at work.

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We'll never know how women would run the world

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

In truth we don't have the foggiest idea what life would be like if women ran the show. So far we have only isolated, untypical examples.

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If there were no losers, we wouldn't have any winners

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Win-win? Instead of pretending that everything is a win, the good leader needs to get better about wining and losing

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Give managers the 'nanny test'

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

It isn't easy to keep a person happy in a job that is poorly paid and involves much wiping of bottoms. Managing a nanny is management at its most extreme.

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On my own monetary matters, nuttiness kicks in

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Knowing the difference between personal fiscal prudence and being a spendthrift is one thing. But being able to keep a tight rein on your personal spending is quite another.

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Seven type's of rot

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

'Your call is important to us'... Lucy Kellaway provides a rot analysis of business talk, looking at phrases that mean the opposite of what they pretend to mean.

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Trapped workers develop a line in doodling

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 04:00:00 GMT

It is wrong to see doodling as something to do when bored. Instead, it is what we do when we are forced to listen to someone else.

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Put an end to the trauma of the telephone

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:00:00 GMT

E-mail is much derided for interrupting our day's work, but it is as nothing when compared to the noisy, intrusive, brutal phone.

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Green holiday that makes me see red

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The National Trust gave its 5,000 employees a leap day holiday - but they had to spend time making their own homes more environmentally friendly. Should companies force us to be charitable?

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Rekindling a 25-year bond

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

At the annual get-together of the alumni of JPMorgan I realised that part of my life may have been weird but it was not an irrelevance, says Lucy Kellaway

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Happiness is finding your inner receptionist

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

When we were young we had something to prove. As we grow older, we realise that just as few doors are open to us as when we were young.

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Unpolished exchanges put soul into shopping

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT

A local shoe mender has unknowingly supplied me with all the delightful things that large service companies are striving in vain to provide.

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Accenture's next champion of waffle words

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

An e-mail from Accenture's group chief executive is troubling because it shows top people write jargon even when they think no clients are looking.

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Indulgence is no way to manage a bleating luvvie

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

Artists are no different to any other profession; they need to be managed too, so they can go on getting better. Lucy Kellaway delves into the business-like approach that financier Guy Hands plans to take with musicians at EMI, and asks: should you be prepared to discipline a creative at the risk of losing them?

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Bonuses for the incorrigibly childish

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

The granting of investment bank bonuses is a ruinously expensive, tiring and highly political game in which almost everyone emerges a loser. Here's how the game works.

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A New Year's resolution that will last

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT

What do workplace experts and coaches tell us about making new year resolutions? And can Lucy find one she can keep?

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A year of breakthrough thinking from top twaddlists

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Lucy gives out her 2007 awards for management nonsense

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Keep marriage counsellors out of the office

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT

At work I'm a pussycat, compliant and pathetically keen to please. At home I am a tyrant, brooking no opposition from anyone. So why do people think there are parralels between good marriages and good colleagues?

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Express your anger - it is all the rage

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT

For me work is one long rage opportunity - starting with the fact that the machine that dispenses hot water for tea is on the blink.

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Leaders in need of a good idea

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 05:00:00 GMT

The title 'thought leader' offends for several reasons. And when the term is used there is usually no sign of any thinking or leading going on

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The headhunters' disease

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Saying anything that makes any sense at all is enough to disqualify one from joining what practitioners call the 'executive search space'

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Secret science of persuasion

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Has Lucy been getting it wrong for 600 columns? A US professor in psychology and marketing has explained how some campaigns can work, including plying your audience with caffeine

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Reasons for being miserable at work

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT

The three things that really make most workers unhappy are actually rather basic - they are the work, the people and the general environment

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The battle is lost, going forward

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Going backward: how the phrase 'going forward' has infected business conversation

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Reasons for effing and blinding

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT

This column is about strong language, which explains why it contains some. Swearing can be useful in the office, but there are some rules you should follow.

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Strap on the sensors and step out into the future

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Imagine a brave new world where electronic tagging of employees brings the study of management out of the dark ages. Lucy Kellaway peeks into a frightening future as scientists strive to answer why some companies and managers are so good - and others so bad.

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The joy of fresh stationery, gossip and lattes with lids

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT

A new theory of happiness says the only reliable pleasures in life are the small ones. So what small pleasures can you find in an office?

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A word in your ear

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Listening is really easy - any old fool can do it - so it can't therefore be a key skill for CEOs, argues Lucy Kellaway. So why do so many business leaders go on about it?

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Why lies can save your office blushes

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT

The problem with being truthful about missing work is the reason can be embarrassing or implausible.

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The real reason why there are fewer women at the top

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT

The glass ceiling or labyrinth fall short of explaining why women don't make it to the top. Perhaps, argues Lucy Kellaway, women should look at themselves.

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Take a bracing dip in September's overflowing in-box

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Long ago, before e-mail, the return from holiday was a leisurely thing

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We are not family

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 04:00:00 GMT

'We' doesn't imply teamwork or even people who like each other. It is just the mundane experience of office life

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Fleeting pleasures of August without the A-team

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 04:00:00 GMT

There are many reasons to be happy in the office in August - but needless e-mails from control freaks on holiday isn't one of them.

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Just say No to the new managerial cult of Yes

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

For people in any position of authority the ability to say no is the most important skill there is.

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Some uncharitable thoughts on millionaire generosity

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Being generous as a millionaire doesn't make you different to the middle classes, says Lucy Kellaway. An act of true generosity is a rare event whether you are a millionaire or not.

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Today's punishment is meted out with politesse

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

A corporate bollocking just isn't the same as it used to be: PR people have taken over and emotion has been outlawed.

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I've found the worst employee handbook ever

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Forty-one years ago, chairman Mao distributed 900m copies of The Little Red Book to the people of China. A couple of weeks ago, Deloitte distributed thousands of copies of The Little Blue Book of Strategy to its US employees. Apart from the difference in colour, the two books have much in common

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Put real business on TV and I'll reach for the remote

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Business telly, so the newspapers tell us, is 'the new rock and roll'. While it isn't exactly cool, it is increasingly popular. But is it really about business?

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Google will make recruits less frugal with the truth

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Lucy sees reasons for cheer in the new 'world without secrets'

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Motivational memos must make their message clear

Mon, 11 Jun 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Lucy asks 'what is the worst motivational memo ever?'

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Private parties and shameless schmoozing

Mon, 21 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT

The crossover of business and private parties creates problems for the guest. It is helpful to know which sort of do you are at, so you can behave accordingly, says Lucy Kellaway

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Leisurely retirement? Think again

Mon, 14 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT

When it comes to retirement, are you Buffet, Gates or potato?

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The ups and downs of the daily grind

Tue, 08 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Do you work well when you are miserable? Are happy workers the most productive? This week, Lucy keeps a diary to see how her moods affect her work.

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Tone down the hatred and retain your dignity

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

This week, Lucy looks at rage, pettiness and rivalry between companies.

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