I could tell when my parents had overdosed on their favorite news channel. They said things like, “Kids these days…” Because I’m a bad, bad daughter, I used to ask, “Which kids? Can you name two or three? Do you mean our children?” (Their grandchildren.) “No, not our children,” they said. Their next favorite saying […]
How Can We Postpone Old (Age) Thinking and Create New Ideas? Read More »
In the past few weeks, I’ve read several nonfiction books that promote how women can improve their standing in the world, to create more parity. That’s great, but the writers surprised me. That content was not part of the title or the blurb—and that’s not why I chose to read the book. I’ve also listened
How Should We Confront a Lack of Fairness to Make the World a Better Place? Read More »
I was working on visualizations of cycle time for my other blog (how long each item of work takes over time). That’s when I realized I needed to create a conditional formula in my spreadsheet. Conditional formulas are if statements. With my software background, I think in if statements. (If then, else other.) So, I
What Makes You Feel Smart and What Makes You Feel Less Smart? Read More »
So many of us see just one problem, and therefore one solution. Sometimes, our mental models or filters prevent us from seeing alternative solutions. But sometimes, I think it’s literally how we see the problem that limits our mental models. If we can’t see the problem in all its glory, how can we possibly offer
How Many Lenses Can You Access to See Problems and Solutions? Read More »
When my younger daughter was in high school, her principal continually invited us to events. He thought we would “build community” with “meaningful connections” that way. But I already went to high school. And the last thing I wanted—maybe not the very last, but close to it—was to return to high school. My daughter could
When and How Should We Build Community to Connect With Each Other? Read More »
In general, I’m willing to extend a fair amount of trust to other people. For example, when driving, I trust other drivers to stay in their lane. However, when drivers swerve all over the road, I stop extending that trust in an instant—those drivers broke trust with me. That’s because they broke the social contract
How Can We Clarify the Social Contract, Trust, and Betrayal? Read More »
Many people tell me they want to write more often, But they have trouble building and maintaining a consistent writing habit. One person said, “I want some of your magic dust.” A consistent writing habit does not require magic dust. However, it does require a writing habit, and possibly a streak. Too few people know
How Can We Make it Easy to Maintain Our Streaks or Habits? Read More »
International Happiness Day occurred this week. While I’m normally a fairly happy person, I cannot express how much I hate this holiday. I hate, hate, hate this holiday. Happiness puts too much pressure on people to be happy. When we’re happy, supposedly, we smile until our faces hurt. Or we’re jubilant and joyous all the
How Can We Create Alternatives to Happiness as Our “Best” Goal? Read More »
Salespeople have an infamous mantra, “Always be closing.” That phrase has several meanings: Close the sale for the salesperson. Close the options for the buyer, so they don’t continue to look for alternatives. High-integrity sales work well for both the buyer and the salesperson. But notice that there’s no adaptability there. The situation closes. Instead
Three Secrets to Make “Always Be Changing” Our Personal Focus Read More »
Some people think leadership is the act of saying, “Come this way.” They think the leader is solely responsible for setting the goal and the direction. Worse, they might think the leader is the person who tells people what to do and how to do it. True, parents do that with children, especially when the
What Does Leadership Mean to You? Read More »