This is Johanna Rothman’s December 2024 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. I’m doing my version of planning for next year. I set not more than three big, overarching goals. Then, I develop tactics I can use—but I do not have to use—to accomplish that goal. […]
Which Essential Questions Will Help You Start Next Year Right? Read More »
This is Johanna’s November 2024 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. Many of my professional colleagues and dear friends are in chaos right now. They can’t seem to find jobs. No company or hiring manager seems to want what these people have to offer. This is
How to Pivot When Too Few People Want What You Have to Offer Read More »
We’ve all had terrible disappointments in our lives, personal, professional, and societal. Somehow, most of us find ways to live with the personal disappointments. I’m not going to discuss those because I’m not a therapist. Professionally, I’ve experienced several project-based disappointments. We either didn’t deliver what the customer wanted or we didn’t deliver it when
How to Acknowledge Our Disappointment and Decide How to Restart Read More »
(Warning: this post discusses the upcoming US Presidential election.) Our identities mean we identify with many possible different tribes. By tribe, I mean a particular affinity group. I have professional tribes, such as software people, managers, and consultants. Personally, I have my family tribe and my position in that tribe. I also have social tribes,
How Much of a Hold Do Your Various Tribes Have on You? Read More »
How often do you notice inconsistencies? We are human, so we are all inconsistent at times. But the more often I see these inconsistencies, the more they confuse me or make little sense to me. In fact, they confuse me so much, that this is my fourth attempt to write this post. Sigh. I suspect
What Confuses You or Makes Little or No Sense to You? Read More »
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Every so often, the three indicators of low self-esteem rise up and kick us in the guts. That happened to me a couple of weeks ago. That’s when I spent a week in Las Vegas. I participated in an Anthology workshop where I experienced fear, uncertainty, and doubt—along with the reality—of
How Can We Move from Low Self Esteem to Recognizing Reality? Read More »
This is the August 2024 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter, from Johanna Rothman. The Unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. I’ve heard about a “level playing field” for many years. First, it was in school, where supposedly “everyone” had the same opportunities. If everyone has the same start, supposedly it’s up to
When Does a Level Playing Field Make Sense & When Should We Create It? Read More »
One of my rollator wheels broke this past week. After a few days of frantic searching, the vendor who sold me the rollator found replacement wheels. (I also have generic wheels coming, that might or might not fit.) I’m on another freaking change journey. While this change journey is relatively small, it’s significant. I have
How Can We Embrace the Change Journey Instead of Wanting the Direct Route? Read More »
In the agile community, we have the idea of “Yesterday’s Weather.” That means that what happened yesterday is roughly what will happen today and maybe tomorrow. (We expect small or no Foreign Elements. See Where Are You In Your Changes? for more details about the Satir Change Model.) As assumptions go, that’s reasonable for progress. However,
What Would It Take for Us to Embrace Continual Change? Read More »
We moved into this house ten years ago, so Things Are Breaking. Our garage door sounded sick a couple of months ago, but I’ve learned to wait until the spring breaks before fixing it. The Last Responsible Moment for fixing occurs after the spring breaks. (Very few garage door people will replace the spring before
When Do We Realize the Last Responsible Moment Whooshed By? Read More »