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Watching the latest Star Wars movie reminded me of the current mindset most businesses have about teams. The latest business catch phrase for teams is ‘balanced’ – as if that’s the best style for the team to be. In reality, your team must be constructed with the business environment and project goals in mind. If the diversity in the personalities of your team members is pulling the team apart instead of drawing them toward a common goal, understanding the Jedi as a team can hold valuable information for you. 

I’ve recently been using LinkedIn a lot more* and it is fair to say I've learned a lot (downloading connections was something I have been looking for, and reminders associated with a connection are great too).

Building a high performing team is tough, and getting the best performance out of people who don’t know each other well is tougher. The simple fact is this, if you want to increase your outcomes, you need to change how you work with your team and how your team works together.

Over the years you have worked with us on various projects and proposals. Here are six areas (and more than 10 projects) that you probably don’t know about.

Watching the latest Star Wars movie took me back to foundational ideas of team styles and team members. Each Star Wars character brought their own value to their team. So if you have ever felt that you are not a good fit for your team or that you don't have the same qualities as your colleagues, these classical characters hold valuable information for you.

So you’ve been watching our professional development videos on the fundamentals of understanding preferences and you’re wondering if there’s another level of development for this work. You know your preference, can identify the preferences of others, and you know how to work with others that have preferences that vary from your own. Well did you know that your personal style can help identify careers that suit your natural abilities and the activities that you enjoy?

In Australia, Christmas is a time for seeing family, having fun, eating heaps and doing it all outdoors – fun in the sun.

Of course, if you are a researcher all that has to be put to one side as you take annual leave to develop your latest and greatest research idea, grant, project (aside: yes, researchers take annual leave, but still write their grants. They truly are dedicated to the cause or perhaps chained to it, I am yet to work out which).

So, the innovation agenda has been released. If you’re not in business, university, or research you are probably wondering what it means for you. But, if innovation is about improving something with a new idea or procedure or to produce a product using a new or better way, it is essential our entire economy (not just parts of it) are involved to ensure diverse perspectives are brought to the problems we face. BUT TAFE (Technical and Further Education) and the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector more broadly are not mentioned once in the statement even though there are 10s, if not 100s organisations in this sector.