Would you rather go to a meeting or a movie? In a random poll I conduct from time to time in painful meetings, the answer is always unanimously a movie. Why is that? Movies are more entertaining. They have more drama and action. They are more engaging. Meetings are dry, boring, too long, full of updates that could be sent out in emails, and filled with PowerPoint presentations that stun you into submission. ...
In a recent poll, 77 percent of Japanese workers said they expected their boss to have the answer to any of their questions, problems, and concerns that come up at work. That figure implies a work environment driven by facts and figures, with centralized decision making, little power for entry-level positions, and lots of bureaucracy. Conversely, 13 percent of Americans expected their boss to know it all. <p class="wp-caption-text"> Photo provided by: Marco Bellucci http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcobellucci/ </p> It means we don’t expect our boss to have all the answers. It means the big kahuna isn’t always the most qualified to attack a problem. It means he or she won’t necessarily the best path to follow when there is a fork in the road. ...
My friend and local Athens celebrity Caleb Troop facetiously told me he’d only follow me on Twitter if I’d provide value to him. He told me, “I want to learn something.” He’s totally right, but it doesn’t stop with tweets. <p class="wp-caption-text"> Photo provided by *clairity* http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairity/ </p>
Roughly one-fifth of Americans are smokers. Every time you walk behind one, enter a building where one is lighting up outside, or sit next to one on a bus, you notice. You smell them. They stand out. You can’t miss them. You can’t ignore them. They are unmistakable. It’s impossible for them to pass by without you noticing them. So why don’t you start smoking? ...
I want to go get a job in a profession I’m not really crazy about, suffer for eight to 10 years, and then I want to start my own business and do something I really love when I’m in a more difficult position to take chances, most likely when I have a spouse and kids. I ask a lot of people what they want to do with their lives. Most of the people I know who are planning on pursuing a career in the business field give me a response like the one above (at least that’s what I hear). ...
I’ve never had a perfect blog post. When I post something, I assume it’s perfect. Then I re-read it, scoff at the glaring errors, and hack away at it like I’m a rainforest tour guide. Reword. Re-edit. Follow up. And then it’s done. Until I find another error. Rinse and repeat. That’s what’s great about something dynamic like a blog—you can change it whenever you need to fix something. ...
Do you love everything you do each day? I hope you do, but it’s unlikely. Now, if you don’t love what you’re doing, why don’t you change it? You’ve only got 24 hours to make things happen each day, so why waste your time doing something you’re not passionate about? Is it because there’s an end in mind? If you hate school, do you suck it up because you think you need an education to get a “good” job (one that you might dislike even more than school, but that you go to because all the cool kids are doing it)? Or is it because someone told you the choice isn’t yours? ...
…when it comes to social media. Twitter is not __about your lunch. YouTube wasn’t designed to make you famous. LinkedIn isn’t for you to get a job. Are they used like that? Sure. You can also use books as paperweights, email for spamming, and food for overeating. But that’s not the intended purpose. In reality, however, when it comes to social media, it’s about everyone but you. ...
You have a ton of things to do today. You’ve got post-it notes up to your eyeballs. You have a prison tattoo of reminders all the way up your arm, and you’re losing track of what you tied the ribbons around your fingers for. I’ve been there. So, while it’s totally unlike me to do something so organized, I’ve become a list maker. It takes some getting used to, but I promise you’ll love it once you start. ...