I log my word count every day. Not all writers do, but that helps me see my patterns. Unsurprisingly, I have weekly, monthly, and yearly patterns. Those patterns depend on what I’m writing, my emotional and physical health, and my office presence. I broke all my patterns in November. That’s because we had an international […]
How Do You See Your More or Less Useful Patterns Change Over Time? Read More »
I finished a book a couple of weeks ago. Except, it was only close, not completely done. A couple of days later, I thought I nailed it! Again, I was close but not quite done. Another day or so later, this time I really nailed it. Yes, you know the punch line! Almost—but there were
How Many “Once I…” Experiences Do You Need to Be Satisfied? Read More »
Do you feel as if the various world events happen faster than you can understand them? I do. That means I start with assumptions and strongly held convictions—even if it turns out I’m wrong. I don’t like to be wrong—and I suspect you don’t either. That’s why I’m considering how I can change my reaction
How Can We Balance Our Assumptions and Convictions to Start With Empathy? Read More »
I feel as if the world is on fire—or is a half-step away from being on fire. The terrorist attack in Israel, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and the subsequent terrorist threats across the world. Then there’s our politics in the US. The less said on that, the better. A dear friend and colleague will
How Can You Succeed When the World Challenges Your Problem Solving and Resilience? Read More »
When my children were small, they (often!) complained that I wasn’t fair. I wasn’t fair in so many ways: when they compared themselves to their friends, to each other, and to “everyone else.” That’s because our values were different from all those other people’s. And I’m pretty sure that when they got old enough to
Do We Need to Choose Between Fair and Equal? Read More »
I learned a lot about my mental models last week. That’s when several people asked me “obvious” questions about specific software tools. I hope I was reasonable when I answered. But I assumed they exhibited learned helplessness. Wasn’t the answer obvious to everyone? Clearly not. Then, this week, I did exactly the same thing. Twice.
When Is the Problem Not Learned Helplessness or Confusion But Our Mental Models? Read More »
Long ago, in a company that no longer exists, my managers asked me to “stretch the truth” to a customer. I refused. One of them threatened me with the loss of my job. They didn’t fire me that day, and I left soon thereafter. I didn’t have trouble doing the right thing because I’d already
How Can We Make it Easy to do the Right Thing? Read More »
This morning, my husband Mark, strode into the bedroom while I was getting dressed. “Our dishwasher is broken! It’s not emptying the water!! I had to empty it by hand!!!” “I’m sorry the dishwasher wants to make your life miserable,” I said. “I pushed and nudged you to put everything into the dishwasher and stop
When Do You Reframe Challenges with Humor? Read More »
While I did not attend, my high school reunion was this past week. Luckily, I got to see many of the pictures on Facebook—the old high school pictures and what people look like today. We all had a ridiculous amount of hair back then—and most of us have less now. Maybe for the men, it
Which Best Days Are Behind, Current, or Ahead of You? Read More »
Most of us have been in a position where we feel as if “we’ve been here before”—even if we know we haven’t. Sometimes, we smell something or hear something, but we feel as if we’ve been here before. There’s a name for that: deja vu. But sometimes, we feel as if this thing—that maybe we’ve
How Have You Used Vuja De to Support Your Creativity? Read More »