Have you ever felt so angry about something a colleague did that you wanted to punch the person—but you were still clearheaded enough to know that such a move would reverse the direction of your career path? There are better alternatives to clobbering a coworker. Read on for productive ways to simmer down.

Many software practices rely on setting target numbers for the team to hit. But when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. People start gaming the system by changing their behavior in such a way to favorably adjust the measure in order to achieve the target. Don't get hung up on metrics.

You may think that overperforming would ingratiate you to your customers. But customers don't always want you to go above and beyond—often, they just want what they asked for. Don't fall for this common misconception. The trick to customer satisfaction is delivering just what they want—and good communication.