I listened to Marcus Blankenship’s podcast Finding Career Opportunities Through Experimentation with Josh Doody. During the podcast, Marcus said something like this (I’m paraphrasing): “I wonder which was the problem: the decision or the outcome?” I thought that was a wonderful frame for how we might think about decisions. I don’t always differentiate between the …
What’s the Problem: the Decision or the Outcome? Read More »
We all practice being ready for our plans. For shopping, I make a list and decide in advance how I’ll pay. For travel, I plan when to make all the reservations and how I’ll get from one place to another. When I leave the house, I make sure to gather everything I need, especially now …
I’m gathering my data from this past year to prepare for my strategy for next year. I gather quantitative data about books, workshops, talks, and more. I assess my feelings as I finished my various work—the qualitative data. And, I note what I didn’t do. I gather this data every quarter. I actually note what …
I’ve been following the issues and the punishments in the college admissions scandal. If you’re not based in the US, you might have missed this. The idea is that wealthy parents bribed and cheated their children’s way into elite schools. I’m not going to discuss the scandal itself. This post is about understanding the culture …
Early in my career, IBM dominated the computer landscape. They had the big mainframes. There were some alternatives, such as Xerox. I used a Xerox Sigma 6 in school. (I didn’t use punch cards until I started to work!) Later, they missed the minicomputer phase. There were two big competitors, Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) and …
I had a difficult time seeing a site on my iPad. I grumbled about it to Mark. I said, “They must have changed the font.” He replied, “Is your screen dirty?” I took his advice and cleaned both my glasses and my iPad. It was better, but I still had trouble seeing the site. They …
Too often, I hear the word “just” when modifying a feeling. “Can’t you just shake it off?” Or, “Can’t you just move on?” Or, “Can you just go along with what I want?” Every single one of those “justs” are about ignoring what the other person feels. If you’re on the receiving end of these …
We have problems in our lives. Sometimes, we can fix those problems. Sometimes, we cope with those problems. Sometimes, we manage those problems. And, some problems might appear to have no solution—now or ever. We need to reframe these problems so we can determine how to proceed. Some problems are easy to fix when we …
A comment on When Do You Make Time to Think? got me thinking about books. I am a big, big reader. On vacation, I can easily read two, sometimes three books a day. Not on vacation, I only read a couple of books a week. I skim much of the non-fiction, so maybe I actually …
Everyone is crazy-busy. Too many of us multitask, listening to a book or podcast when we walk or drive, focusing and pushing through on specific work, making the “most” of our time. When do we make time to think? Do we ever? I asked myself this very question last week. I had—for me—a long drive …