I could tell when my parents had overdosed on their favorite news channel. They said things like, “Kids these days…” Because I’m a bad, bad daughter, I used to ask, “Which kids? Can you name two or three? Do you mean our children?” (Their grandchildren.) “No, not our children,” they said. Their next favorite saying […]
How Can We Postpone Old (Age) Thinking and Create New Ideas? Read More »
International Happiness Day occurred this week. While I’m normally a fairly happy person, I cannot express how much I hate this holiday. I hate, hate, hate this holiday. Happiness puts too much pressure on people to be happy. When we’re happy, supposedly, we smile until our faces hurt. Or we’re jubilant and joyous all the
How Can We Create Alternatives to Happiness as Our “Best” Goal? Read More »
Last week, I took a fiction writing workshop in Las Vegas. It was five days of intense learning and writing. (I had a blast and can’t wait to take the next workshop.) The first time I took a writing workshop, I learned that I had trouble adjusting to the timezone. Add in the writing, and
How Can We Use the Knowing-Doing Gap to Help Us to Change? Read More »
Professionally, I work in the tech sector. Right now, when tech is making money hand over fist, many companies are laying people off. Not one here and one there, but significant percentages of people. In my experience, companies do need to make rapid-enough decisions about when to lay some people off to save the company
Who Benefits and Who Loses from Other People’s Actions or Decisions? Read More »
Last week, I had two major social interactions. First, I spoke at the Tech Leader Summit, which was great fun. I had a blast reconnecting with my colleagues and meeting new people. And I got to talk mostly about the Modern Management Made Easy books. A total win. My role was that of the expert. And my
How Comfortable Can You Be With Your Changing Role, Especially in a Social Setting? Read More »
At my instigation, Mark and I went to Norway last week to see the Northern Lights. We had a terrific time. (If you want to see just one image, go to the online version of the newsletter.) Mark found an accessible tour, so I saw the lights from two perspectives: standing in the cold—and sitting
When Do You Make Assumptions About Other People’s Abilities? 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 »
If you’re a word nerd as I am, you might already know this word: homeostasis. It means that after an event, we return to a relatively stable state of equilibrium. Then, I read a book that offered me a new word: allostasis. That word means we use our emotional resilience to find a new state
How Can We Learn to Look Forward to a New and Possibly Unknown State? Read More »