Turn up the heat without burning people out

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQpEhcnm-VXs44SLNvKqo__NuVTP5tROyR7uQKigW5MazCMhyphenhyphen3JOJKRI07AFtzhqrb8oxyHab69hC3jreX16LGXILK3WNn_FHnRvuLa9Pg_2LtqqgoCC2HaSr5DMP3k56RErUksXsDCtd/s1600/bigstock-An-image-of-food-burning-in-a--21055262.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUQpEhcnm-VXs44SLNvKqo__NuVTP5tROyR7uQKigW5MazCMhyphenhyphen3JOJKRI07AFtzhqrb8oxyHab69hC3jreX16LGXILK3WNn_FHnRvuLa9Pg_2LtqqgoCC2HaSr5DMP3k56RErUksXsDCtd/s320/bigstock-An-image-of-food-burning-in-a--21055262.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>My house reeks of burnt brownie. My eleven year old (mistakenly) thought that if 20 seconds made a brownie, ooey, gooey and delicious, that 2 minutes in the microwave would make it ooey-er gooey-er and delicious-er. He was wrong. It was inedible.<br /><br /><b>There are times we do this with each other. </b>If my students do well with a little stress, maybe if I up the stress for a bit longer, they will perform better.<br /><br /><br /><ul><li>If we do one practice test, maybe four or five will bring up the intensity level so they work even harder?</li></ul><br /><br /><ul><li>IF my staff gets that much done in an extended work day, maybe we should extend our work day more often and get more done?<br /></li><li>If one sharp remark gets that kind of response, maybe I'm being too nice and I should be more firm all the time? After all, don't I want them to jump when I speak?</li></ul><br /><br />And on and on.<br /><br />While sports teams can handle buzzer beaters, they couldn't physically play at that level the entire game. They aren't made to handle it.<br /><br />Brownies are awful and burnt if overcooked and humans become frazzled, upset, and unproductive if they are overworked.<br /><br />There is a fine line between the perfection that comes from a little heat and extra effort at the right time and burning the people and things you care about to a blackened, stinky, mess.<br /><br />Think about the balance required in cooking and realize that you need that same balance with managing and motivating. People don't mind you turning up the heat a little if they know there is a sweet reward at the end.<br /><br /><i>Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/" target="_blank">Big Stock</a>, you do not have permission to reuse without licensing from the website.</i>

Turn up the heat without burning people out

My house reeks of burnt brownie. My eleven year old (mistakenly) thought that if 20 seconds made a brownie, ooey, gooey and delicious, that ...

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