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 »
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 …
Many of us think of leaders as people with titles, bestowed leadership. In my experience, we all have the possibility to exercise our leadership—and part of that is seeing that we have alternatives we can consider. So adaptable leadership means we need to generate options, which means we need to see the reality of our …
How Can You Incorporate Adaptability Into Your Leadership? Read More »
The US is voting next week, for what we call the “midterms.” We don’t change the entire government every four years—we stagger terms for each representative, senator, and governor. Much of the time, the voters want change. That means the President’s party tends to lose seats in the midterms. I also want change. But I’m …
Do You Plan to Vote for the Short or the Long Term? Read More »
The rapper formerly known as Kanye West conducted an anti-Semitic tirade a couple of weeks ago. (You can find it if you want to see it.) In his tirade, he bullied Jews. He thought he was untouchable. His licensing deals, his promoters, all of his business people—he thought his business collaborators would leave him alone …
How Do You Know It’s Time for You to Confront a Bully? Read More »
It’s the start of the Days of Awe, the time from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, where Jews introspect. We reflect on our lives last year and consider how we might live better next year. We pray that God writes our names and then seals us in the book of life. That’s all about change. …
Have you ever had a long-term disagreement with someone else? I’m going to discuss something small: when to take the garbage out for garbage day. (Talk about a first-world problem!) Our garbage day is Wednesday and nothing about our pickup is predictable. The current garbage company picks up the recycling and the actual garbage at …
What Would Have to Be True for That Outcome to Occur? Read More »