Before you start your day, write down the key things that you must get done today. Whilst, inevitably, no day has ever gone exactly according to plan, if you're suitably prepped at the beginning of the day, if you've written down a reasonable number of key tasks or objectives (more than a couple is generally unreasonable) and if you are not prepared to rest until those key things are done, how much more likely are you to actually do them, even if one or two of them might be perceived as unpalatable?

I've just received an email asking me what the point is of my regular "Normal People" stories. In particular, I was taken to task in relation to last week's story: "What's the purpose of repeating a story about a couple of obviously deranged people?"

The point is that they may appear to be deranged, but, in fact, they're very normal. And that is the point of recounting the episode. Normal people - and, for the most part, that includes you and me - don't know how to behave themselves because they are not attentive to what best needs to be said and done at any particular moment in time.

My fellow travellers obviously loved each other at some point. But, evidently, love's "first bloom" had faded - as it does for everyone and everything. Think about it: when you got into bed with your nearest and dearest last night, was it as exciting as the first time you got that close and personal? The ooomph wears off!

The normal mind is wired to pay no attention to anything that is no longer novel. We behave on auto-pilot. And, if there's nobody around to tell us that our behaviour is out of order, then we'll merrily keep on behaving that way. The point is, we should be mindful enough to tell ourselves. And that's the point of the "Normal People" stories.

Today's reflection goes hand-in-hand with the left-hand column's piece on so-called normal people. Over the years, I've had cause to do far too much work in the field of conflict management. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't want the work! What I'm saying is that what passes for normal behaviour is, all too often, totally unacceptable... of should be.

If you'd like to know my solution for dealing with conflict, here it is: nip it in the bud! Conflict management should be preventative rather than curative. Unfortunately, by the time an organization gets in touch with me, the opportunity to nip it in the bud has long passed. And, as a result, something more drastic is called for. Very often that "something more drastic" has to be approached in a very subtle manner. But, at the end of the day, it involves calling a spade a spade! There are behaviours that simply should not be tolerated.

Unfortunately, the human condition has enabled us develop a high degree of resilience. This is often proferred as a good thing - surely it's part of the armoury that goes with "survival of the fittest" (even though that phrase actually means something else in terms of the evolutionary process!). But the big downside of resilience is that we'll put up with almost anything before we get up off our ass, get out of our (clearly uncomfortable) comfort zone and do the necessary.

What is the necessary? And wouldn't life be so much simpler if the necessary were done early on? The necessary is simple: you need to be mindful enough to notice when somebody else is behaving mindlessly. If you are appropriately mindful, not only will you notice what's going on, you'll be man-enough, or woman-enough, to point out the evil of mindlessness.

The interesting thing for me - with eighteen years under my belt as a self-employed consultant and twelve years prior to that in senior management - is that leadership teams that agree some simple groundrules on what is and is not appropriate behaviour have far more success in dealing with the potential for mindless behaviour, before it ever gets to the point that some firefighter needs to be called in to quell the flames of festering conflict.

In other words, if you're aware enough in advance to know what's going on, you'll be mindful enough to ensure that what's going on is the right thing to be going on!!!