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 »
I read a terrific piece by Hannah Fry that women don’t excel at math because of sexism. Sexism! Not innate or learned ability. Sexism. When I was a kid, the culture “said” that women couldn’t do math. However, I had two immediate examples that women were great at math. My mom could remember duplicate bridge hands
How Can We Learn to Belong to New Communities? 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 »
When the pandemic started, I was fine—better than fine—staying home. I felt safe and secure. Mark did the grocery shopping and cooking, and we spent a ton of time together. All good stuff. I was happy with limited horizons. However, after I received my first booster, I wanted to go out—and I was still concerned.
When Do You Realize It’s Time to Expand Your Horizons? Read More »
I love shortcuts—especially if I’m not supposed to use them. Why can’t I avoid right-angle paths and use the hypotenuse instead? That saves me some time. Can I make my exercise easier? I can—and I too often lose the value of the exercise. So shortcuts aren’t always good or always bad. The context matters. Shortcuts
What Do You Gain or Lose with Shortcuts, Rules, and Laws? Read More »
On my other blog, I’ve been explaining that my WIP (Work in Progress) is way too high and what I’m doing about that. (Writers, this means all my work, not just my current writing project.) But I didn’t explain how my WIP got so high. I’m trying to fail to success. I learned about this
What Would It Take for You to Fail to Success? Read More »
When we were kids, we outgrew our clothing, sometimes at an alarming rate. (I vividly remember one summer when my older daughter needed a new pair of sneakers every three weeks.) Later, as we changed from childhood to our teenage years, we outgrew our interests. Some of us have outgrown jobs and found new jobs.
When Did You Last Outgrow a Friend—Which Allowed You to Create Your Better Life? Read More »
You want to change something—maybe a personal change or an organizational change. You’ve seen the headlines: “proven ways to lose weight!” or, in my context, “proven agile transformation success!” These people claim they have the One Right Way to succeed at something. They probably have succeeded—maybe even several times. They can explain the journey, from
What’s Your Context for Your Success In Solving This Problem? Read More »
When you were a child, your parents made all the decisions for how you lived. I distinctly remember thinking it was “so unfair” that I had to go to bed and not read more. Yes, I was one of those kids who read under the covers with a flashlight. Even as adults, we live in
How Do We Balance the Power to Make Decisions with Who Feels the Outcomes? Read More »
I have a new nonfiction book in the 2022 Write Stuff Storybundle this week (the bundle is only until March 10 or so). While you might not have heard of some of the writers, I’m sure you’ve heard of Lawrence Block. He’s a multi-award-winning mystery writer. His contribution to this bundle is a memoir. The
Longevity and Success: How and When Do You Choose to Show Up? Read More »