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 […]
It’s commencement season. Commencement speakers offer (hopefully) valuable insights. Parents watch with pride as their students walk across the stage to pick up their diplomas. And now, everyone’s life will change. In the case of high school graduations, many kids move away, and parents shoulder tuition payments. The family unit changes, too. My parents used
With the Benefit of Hindsight, How Do You Feel About Your Commencements Now? Read More »
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 »
For years, I’ve delivered talks or written articles for various outlets. I have a simple rule: If the outlet makes money from my speaking or writing, I should make money, too. That rule helps me decide which offers I take and which offers I decline. Recently, many outlets want me to deliver talks or write for
What Traps You Into Letting Others Take Advantage of You? 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 »
I recently gave a talk about how we can rethink our roadmaps and how to portray them. (See the Roadmap Personas deck if you want to see what I said.) One of the audience members asked what tool I recommended. I said I didn’t recommend any tool—not yet—because I’d offered alternative ways to create the
What Triggers You to Change Your Approach or Trusted Solution? Read More »
Many years ago, when I was a director of something at a long-ago company, our Best Customer had an outage at 8 or 9 in the evening. The customer called our senior management, who called me. “We have a Big Problem that you need to fix Right Now.” I received that message loud and clear.
When Solving Problems, Do We Consider Sleep as One of the Steps? Read More »
I keep hearing this phrase in the news: “Out of an abundance of caution…” Then the newscaster explains certain actions. Why not just talk about risk management? What’s wrong with discussing risk? Here’s my theory: the words “abundance of caution,” means all of these things: We think there’s a potential problem, but you don’t have
Why Do We Say “An Abundance of Caution” Instead of Risk Management? Read More »
By now, you’ve probably heard about various AI apps and how they’re coming for your jobs. Some of my colleagues love these apps and work with them. Other colleagues won’t touch them. I’m experimenting with ChatGPT for marketing copy. So far, it’s pretty good. But for my regular nonfiction or fiction writing or images? I’m
How Can We Remain Relevant When New Technology Threatens Our Jobs and Lives? Read More »