July 23, 2024
The Best Time
July 5, 2024
Less or More
June 24, 2024
Actual Intelligence
June 2, 2024
Count the P's
May 21, 2024
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
May 3, 2024
How About Now?
There's never a good time to buy a new house. It's not the right time to have a baby. I'd be better to wait a bit longer and not take the gig. She will probably say no, so it's better I don't bother. We often look for reasons not to do something, which we discuss in greater detail in a future post, than just go for it.
April 17, 2024
What? Why? What?
Clutter makes us nervous and stressed. It can derail us from our goals. Clarity can help us find our baseline and silence some of that unnecessary noise.
To gain clarity, there are four questions you can ask yourself and your team.
1. What do you stand for?
2. What will you not do?
3. Why do you do what you do?
4. What won't you do?
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April 5, 2024
Technology and Other Human Things
We can cook a turkey in 15 minutes; send a text around the world with the press of a thumb; watch or listen to anything we want on our smartphones. We are so fortunate. And now we can have a computer create everything. Look at us doing stuff and things with gadgets and doohickeys. We are the coolest.
Media are consumed mostly when we're alone. We don't gather around and answer an email and we don't hover over Josh's phone when he's texting Susan. We may binge watch that show on that streaming platform with our partner. Once a year we may gather at a buddy's house to eat too much and watch the Super Bowl. The rest of the time we are on our devices researching, reading, texting, replying, and searching by ourselves.
Technology, they said, would improve our lives.
We can buy a car on the internet, learn about penguins on our mobile device, find the best sushi restaurant in Des Moines, and read about an awesome vacation someone else took while sitting on our couch.
Most of the time we are connecting with each other through all this supposed cool technology while we are by ourselves. I wrote this alone and you're probably reading it while you're alone. I have a friend who hasn't answered his phone in years. He'll respond to my texts almost immediately, but I don't dare suggest an actual conversation.
Technology, they said, would give us choices.
I remember a restaurant experience when the table next to us had six people all staring at their phones. Their meals arrived and phones weren't put away; they were placed beside plates and glanced at often. Their bill arrived and it looked like the dance of the smartphones as each of them transferred their amount to the one guy who tapped the server's machine to pay it in full.
Technology, as it turns out, has created more depression and less human interaction. We are checking our phones yet miss what that guy said about the thing. I got a text; it must be important. I'd better check my email; I may have missed something. What's on my smart device is clearly way more important than any of this human stuff.
I'm sure AI will solve it all.
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Emotional Fracture
- Globally, it is estimated that 5% of adults suffer from depression.
- Depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide.
- More women are affected by depression than men.
- Depression can lead to suicide.
- There is effective treatment for mild, moderate, and severe depression.
March 4, 2024
Fear Factory
In business, it's tough to be thrown into a new role when you may be good at the work but not as well versed at the people part. It’s easy to point to those who have handled leadership with grace but it's not a skill you learn in short order. And it can certainly be a balancing act when the company continually reminds you profit is the goal.
Fear can be why strong leadership is often as rare as great customer service.
February 19, 2024
Mindful Nothing
Andy Puddicombe is the co-founder of Headspace, a project that aims to demystify meditation and make it applicable to everyday life. He is a Clinical Meditation Consultant and former Buddhist monk.
For more than a decade, Andy’s meditation training took him all over the world. He became a fully ordained monk at a Tibetan Monastery in the Indian Himalayas. In his TEDTalk, Puddicombe explains the importance of making time to do nothing.
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February 3, 2024
Costa Rico or Costco?
I do wake up at 4am wondering if my life is fulfilled. It may not be the same time on the clock for you, but I'm going to guess I'm not alone. I worked with a guy early in my career who was instrumental in my professional development. He was awesome, in fact. And he passed away last year. He was about 15 years older than me and now I'm thinking about what will I do in the next decade and a half that will matter.
January 22, 2024
Tell Us a Story
January 9, 2024
Engineered Pasta
We seem to enjoy looking at things “on paper” but they get all wobbly when we add the human element and often it’s because we are unclear about the mandate. Often there is a struggle among conflicting agendas or someone comes in and plays the “I’m the boss” card. None of these scenarios are effective, productive, or long lasting business success models. However, sadly they are far too common.
But what happens when you ask a group of people to build a structure out of spaghetti, string, and a marshmallows?
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