A billion years ago (I might be exaggerating a bit), I sat at a computer, stumped. My boss had assigned me this challenging project three days before a customer visit. I had just one day remaining. I had a green-and-white listing of the code next to me on my left, and my diet soda on
How Do You Prepare to Work Hard and Be Effective? Read More »
I continue to see more senior leaders who want everyone to return to the office because they think people were more productive then. However, these same companies have a ton of data that they are actually more productive when people work from their desired location. The data doesn’t deter these leaders from wanting what they
How Many Other Ways Can You Get What You Want? Read More »
I bet you’ve heard this career and retirement advice, “Follow your passion!” (Complete with the exclamation mark!) It’s great advice—but only under certain conditions: You’ve experimented or experienced enough to have and therefore choose a passion. You know what living with this passion as your work would feel like. You are sure you will never
I was at a writing workshop this past week, writing a ton of fiction. We don’t “critique” each other’s stories in this writing workshop. Only the instructor can offer us feedback. Yet, we all struggled with how to judge whether our stories or writing were “good.” Writing is not about “goodness.” We can all use
How Can You Use What’s Remarkable About You to Create an Even Better Life? Read More »
Fred, A sixty-ish colleague, said, “My son is so overloaded at work. But he refuses to work overtime. He says it compromises his ideals. Is overtime something Millenials don’t do?” I asked, “When do you think it’s okay to work overtime?” Fred said, “Whenever the company needs me to work overtime.” “How many days do
When and for How Long Do You Choose to Compromise? Read More »
A dear friend received bad health news. He can learn to manage his health challenges, but he will never return to his previous great health. Now that he has a diagnosis, he’s getting both the medication and various therapies to support his journey to becoming okay. However, some members of his family think that “being
What Meaning Do You Make When You Hear “Things Will Be Okay?” Read More »
In the last decade of her life, my mother-in-law talked a lot about having a purpose. Not so much for herself, but that she wanted her children and grandchildren to all have a sense of purpose. She was convinced that our purpose would guide us to good decisions. I agree with her. But, for me,
How Can We Use Purpose and Meaning to Improve Our Adaptability? 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 »
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 »