I’ve had several interesting conversations with people over the past few weeks about how useful they feel at work. They feel as if their management treats them as commodities: “You do this work and we will pay you and give you health insurance.” That’s a transactional way to think about work. However, useful work requires […]
How Can We Know if We’re Doing Useful Work? Read More »
I’ve been learning a ton lately, all about how people work, writing, and publishing. Yes, I know a lot about how people work already, but people seem to want to use AI and other tools in ways that I think are unwise. Since these people think AI is helping them, I need to understand why
How Do You Manage To Want to Keep Learning? Read More »
This is Johanna Rothman’s January 2025 Create an Adaptable Life Newsletter. The unsubscribe link is at the bottom of this email. In general, I like structure in much of my life. I eat the same (or very similar) breakfasts and lunches every day. I extend that structure to my clothing. If you watch my YouTube
How Do Rules or Structure Help You Decide Which Decisions to Make? 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 »
As a consultant, I work with people who have plenty of problems. (No one calls a consultant when things are going well.) Many of these nice people feel as if they should be able to find a simple and direct solution to their problems. Simple and direct solutions assume we know enough about the risks
How Can We Move from Craving Simple Direct Solutions to Adapting with Experiments? Read More »
Last week on Mastodon, my friend and colleague GeePaw Hill wrote: “Music — art — is not a promise of perfection. It is a promise of effort, of risk, of commitment, to an unreachable ideal. Pablo Casals, in his 80s, asked why he practices every day. “Because I think I’m getting better.” If you create
How Often Do You Embrace the Joy of Practice, Not the Outcome? Read More »
At this time of year, many of us give and receive presents. I hope your gifting experiences were delightful. But we don’t just give each other—and ourselves—gifts at one time during the year. We often give ourselves gifts throughout the year. And while there are some physical things I would like to receive, I more
Which of Your Past Presents Do You Want to Keep and Which to Discard? 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 »
If you’re like me, you have plenty of improvement goals. I have personal, professional, and office-cleanup goals. (Since my office appears to be a perennial mess, I count that as a separate and very subsidiary goal.) I often use the compounding effect to make those improvements. The compounding effect works very well for money. Put
How Can You Use the Compounding Effect to Achieve What You Want? 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 »