I spoke with a treasured colleague, Alex, a couple of weeks ago. He told me he was so busy he couldn’t “find” the time to write. I asked about his family and the house. No, everyone’s okay. Cooking, cleaning, kids—all good. He’s not working out any more than usual. I then asked this question: “How […]
Do You Offer Your Attention to People Who Deserve It? Read More »
Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open this week. Why? Because she would have to meet with the media right after her play. This is a big deal. She’s one of the top tennis players in the world. I suspect that she’s a big draw for the television rights. Naomi asked for what she wanted.
When and How Do You Ask for What You Want? Read More »
I read Daniel Steinberg’s newsletter about Small Big Thinking. He wrote about small things that appear big. And big things that appear small. In my experience, those small big things tend to be irritants. For instance, I have a pair of perfectly good sneakers that don’t stay tied. There’s something wrong with the shoelaces. I
What Do You Forget to Notice? Read More »
Think back to before the pandemic. How well did you create a difference between the time you spent at work, home, and for yourself? Now, think about where you are now. Where would you say you are now with your time at work, home, and for yourself? Before the pandemic, my days look a lot
What Does Work/Life Balance Mean to You? Read More »
As a consultant, I regularly work with managers who want predictability. To get that predictability, they want to remove “all” of the risk. They do a lot of up-front planning and estimation. They try to predict how things will go. Then, “Something Happens.” That Something requires adaptability and resilience to manage the risk. Some of
What’s Your Tolerance for Risk vs Resilience? Read More »
When I was a kid, I went to summer camp. I loved it. In the last week, I would say to myself, “This is the last Monday. How can I make this my best Monday?” I decided on one thing and did that. Those last weeks were my best weeks. A couple of years went
How Can You Use Your Projected Last Moment to Create a Great Present Moment? Read More »
Now that I’ve had my vaccinations, I’m ready to renew myself. I miss seeing people, locally and worldwide. However, I definitely do not want to work and live the way I did before. Instead, I want to take this time to renew (and maybe reinvent), starting with my thinking. Of course, I looked up the
How Will You Renew Yourself? Read More »
I spoke with a job-seeker the other day. He needs a new job. He feels as if he made some bad choices for previous positions. Those (bad) choices weigh him down. He’s not sure he has anything to offer a new company. Here’s what he told me about his experience: Several years of experience as
How Do You Work to Increase Your Self-Esteem? Read More »
I try to give people the benefit of the doubt in email or online. We can’t see the other person’s facial expressions. Or hear the music in the language. However, I flip the Bozo bit when I receive a message from someone as I did this morning on LinkedIn: Based on your profile, we think
What Causes You to Flip the Bozo Bit on Someone? Read More »
We often talk about “spending” time. I often think about spending in two ways: To expend, as in energy. To exchange some value for something else. For example, I spend money in exchange for goods or services. I’m not so sure I like the idea of “spending” time. I can’t ever get another second of
Do You Think About Spending or Investing Time? Read More »