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 »
Today is a maintenance day at Chez Rothman. Our heating system has an error code, and we’re upgrading our wifi. So people are stomping around—and I’m very happy about that. What we’re doing today is “extra” maintenance—updating and upgrading. We do normal maintenance all the time. The cleaning people make our house sparkle once a
How Do You Manage to Notice When You Need Updates or Upgrades? Read More »
I love shortcuts—especially if I’m not supposed to use them. Why can’t I avoid right-angle paths and use the hypotenuse instead? That saves me some time. Can I make my exercise easier? I can—and I too often lose the value of the exercise. So shortcuts aren’t always good or always bad. The context matters. Shortcuts
What Do You Gain or Lose with Shortcuts, Rules, and Laws? Read More »
Have you ever been in a situation with too much light, smell, sound, or cold/warmth? Or you took a bite of something, expecting a subtle taste—and felt overwhelmed with the taste you got? That’s a sensory overload. We learn to filter out the “noise” from the signal when we feel sensory overload. And some of
What Filters Do You Use to Manage Sensory Overload? Read More »
Imagine this scenario: You have an opportunity to keep your current salary and work for an organization of somewhat doubtful integrity. Or, you have an opportunity to make orders of magnitude more money—but that organization has a reputation for human rights abuses. What do you choose? More money creates more freedom in your life, for
How Do You Choose Between What’s Right and Your Ability to Make Money? Read More »
Many of us search for our ability to “know” specific data. We want to know when the pandemic will end? When will the team finish their work? Or even when we will arrive at our destination? However, the farther out and the more specific we want that knowledge to be, the more it costs us
What If Ambiguity Was a Good Thing? Read More »
In our daily lives, we manage all kinds of risks. We fill up our cars with gas so we get to where we’re going. In addition, I’ve learned to check the maps before I leave. That’s because the map in my head has pruned several non-local roads because I barely drove anywhere during the pandemic.
How Do We Manage Risks Without Theater (the Illusion of Management)? Read More »
A close friend, Sue, is trying to hire a mid-career engineer. She had a lead on a great guy, who then dithered. He could not decide to leave. (I wrote a little thread on Twitter.) What kept him there? He felt as if he owed his team more work. (How to learn what he knew,
What Would It Take For You To Leave Work Every Day as If It’s Your Last Day? Read More »
When my older daughter was in high school, we battled often about her clothing. Her school had a dress code that said girls couldn’t wear spaghetti strap tops and their shirts had to cover their backs and bellies. I thought it was my role as her mother to fight that battle on behalf of the
Which Battles Do You Choose to Fight and When? Read More »
CAL Newsletter: How Do We Plan for Both Cascading Effects and Catastrophic Success? I learned new words this week for events I’ve seen many times: catastrophic effects and catastrophic success. I’m sure you’ve experienced catastrophic failure. Here’s an example that’s happened to me too often over my career: a disk drive fails, taking all my data with it. I
How Do We Plan for Both Cascading Effects and Catastrophic Success? Read More »