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A since deceased, highly-regarded fellow faculty member, Anthony (Tony) Athos, occasionally sat on a bench on a nice day at the Harvard Business School, apparently staring off into space. When asked what he was doing, ever the iconoclast, he would say, "Nothing." His colleagues, trained to admire and teach action, would walk away shaking their heads and asking each other, "Is he alright?" It is perhaps no coincidence that Tony often came up with some of the most profound insights at faculty meetings and informal gatherings. This story captures much of the sense of the responses to this month's question about why managers don't think deeply. The list of causes was much longer than the list of proposed responses. But in the process, some other questions were posed. Ben Kirk kicked off the list of reasons for the phenomenon when he commented, "… what rises to the top levels are very productive and very diligent individuals who tend not to … reflect and are extremely efficient at deploying other people's ideas," implying that this type of leader is not likely to understand, encourage, or recognize deep thinking in others. Adnan Younis added the possibility that "… managers are not trained for it." Dianne Jacobs cited the possibility that persisting assumptions borne out of success serve as "roadblocks to act on needed change" (proposed by those who engage in deep thinking?). Ulysses U. Pardey, whose comment triggered my recollection of Tony Athos, wrote that "Time-for-thinking is a special moment which can be resource consuming and an unsafe activity …" (Fortunately, Athos held a tenured position in an academic organization.) A number of comments alluded to the triumph of bureaucracies and large organizations over deep thinking. As Lorre Zuppan said, "I think Jeff Immelt's efforts to protect deep thinking reflect a nice sentiment but … If his team could carry the ball, would he need to announce that he's protecting it?" Tom Henkel was more succinct: "Ther

A cover letter gives you a chance to make a case for yourself, and cover everything you cannot express in your resume. It affords you an opportunity to come across as real people and explain your suitability for the desired position, to potential employers. Companies often look for thoughtfully written cover letters, as a method of screening applicants who lack the necessary skills or interest for the said position. Cover letter can thus form into a marketing vehicle for any prospective job seeker.

Multitasking often gives us the feeling of being productive, doing numerous things at once. But does it really works? Studies revealed multitasking can actually result in losing 20-30% of your productive time.

Employers often find it very difficult to close senior level positions through traditional job portals due to unavailability of suitable profiles

Employees are the backbone of any organization. Hiring right talent is the key to grow and expand your business. But often companies find it hard to lure talented candidates due to poor brand image, unattractive employee value proposition (EVP), lack of magnetic leadership etc. Here are few tips that may help companies to attract best talents.

Hiring the right employee is the key to business success. Organizations spend huge amount of time in looking, connecting and bringing on-board the right kind of talent. Losing and replacing an existing employee may cost companies both time and money. It is better that you identify these few early warning signs of an employee planning to quit.

Choosing a career is easy but to be sure of its existence in future is pretty difficult. If you look decades back from now, you must have noticed a number of careers that existed but have become obsolete now. However, there are certain careers that are likely to exist in coming years regardless of economic situation or changing business requirements.