By now, you’ve probably heard about various AI apps and how they’re coming for your jobs. Some of my colleagues love these apps and work with them. Other colleagues won’t touch them. I’m experimenting with ChatGPT for marketing copy. So far, it’s pretty good. But for my regular nonfiction or fiction writing or images? I’m […]
How Can We Remain Relevant When New Technology Threatens Our Jobs and Lives? Read More »
A couple of weeks ago, Mark was traveling, so I cooked dinners for myself. Because of my vertigo, I plan what to cook and when. One of my favorite dinners is baked-and-then-broiled salmon with roasted veggies. Since we roast the veggies with garlic and olive oil, we need to stir the veggies partway through the
How Can You Decide It’s Time to Retire & Replace Old Tools, Such as Spoons? Read More »
My husband, Mark, momentarily lost his keys this morning. Except, it wasn’t just a moment—it was about five minutes. He planned to load several items into the car, return to the house to kiss me goodbye, and then leave. Except, he was stuck on Step 1, loading items into the car. We have other car
When Do You Assist, Support, or Inflict Help? Read More »
I spent the last four days in a fiction writing workshop. If I take a narrow perspective, I “failed” with my writing. (It was a fantasy caper workshop with two genres: second-world fantasy and caper.) My failure? I did not include nearly enough setting in my writing. That’s where the writer explains where we are—and
How Do You React When a Learning Experience Clarifies How Far You Still Have To Go Read More »
Today is a maintenance day at Chez Rothman. Our heating system has an error code, and we’re upgrading our wifi. So people are stomping around—and I’m very happy about that. What we’re doing today is “extra” maintenance—updating and upgrading. We do normal maintenance all the time. The cleaning people make our house sparkle once a
How Do You Manage to Notice When You Need Updates or Upgrades? Read More »
Many of my colleagues are busy creating resolutions, in preparation for the new year. They think those resolutions will help them create better lives. Maybe, although I’ve never succeeded with resolutions. Instead of resolutions, I’ve suggested before that we create watchwords for ourselves. Those watchwords create some guidance for our actions. But this year, I
Can You Resolve to Rethink About How You Think About Change? Read More »
Many of my colleagues are in the midst of change. Some people are looking for new jobs. Some writers are looking for places that will buy their stories. Others are considering consulting. All these people have something in common—they want to take that first step. Except, many of them stop before they do. Instead of
How Can You Know You’re Good Enough to Take That First Step? Read More »
I’ve participated in two panels in the past few weeks: one about agile approaches and the other about management. In each case, my fellow panelists echoed each other for several questions, thinking alike. I did not. Not only did I disagree with the other panelists—I explained my claims with data. I thought differently. And because
Great Minds: When Do We Gain from Thinking Alike or Differently? Read More »
Yesterday was “Giving Tuesday” in the United States. If we have the means to give, charities ask us for donations. (One of my favorite charities is the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation. That’s their link to Giving Tuesday, which lasts for ten days. Even I can count, and that’s more than one day.) That’s all about your
What Does Being Generous Cost Us? Read More »
I read a terrific piece by Hannah Fry that women don’t excel at math because of sexism. Sexism! Not innate or learned ability. Sexism. When I was a kid, the culture “said” that women couldn’t do math. However, I had two immediate examples that women were great at math. My mom could remember duplicate bridge hands
How Can We Learn to Belong to New Communities? Read More »