Often, we label people who are not team players “difficult.” Sometimes it’s definitely warranted-if they’re not fulfilling their job descriptions and/or pushing off their responsibilities to others. But how often are we considering whether or not the problem isn’t the “difficult” person, but in our own requests? “Just a quick […]
Category: career
Invisible Costs
It’s easy to track expenses that are obvious expenditures. Salary costs, program licensing fees, the manufacturing cost of your new product, or the training cost of upskilling a manager. It’s harder to track things like how much it costs you to run an all-hands meeting every week, or how much […]
The Worst Piece in Your Portfolio
In the visual art world, there’s a saying that you’ll get hired by the worst piece in your portfolio. What this means is not that the person hiring is going to fall in love with your worst piece – it means that you’re going to be judged by the weakest […]
Agency
Sometimes it can feel like we don’t have any agency at work, especially if we’re not high up on the organizational chart. You might even be pushing upwards against your manager, trying to make things better but being thwarted at every turn. But remember that you do have agency – […]
Level Setting
I like to think of skill acquisition and progression like levels in a video game. If you’re a level ten at something, you’re in the best of the world, and you’re likely celebrated and/or paid for it. If you’re a level one, you’re just starting out and have very little […]
Blueprints
Blueprints are great for constructing a building that works for when the blueprint was drawn, but if circumstances and times change, the blueprint quickly becomes obsolete. Especially in uncertain times, we want clear, tested, de-risked answers to life. And why wouldn’t we? If you could have the exact blueprint to […]
Easy Vs Effective
Easy and Effective often seem mutually exclusive. This isn’t not always the case, as sometimes easy solutions can also be effective. That said, you need to make sure when you’re choosing a solution that you prioritize Effective over Easy.
Skills Can Be Learned
The problem isn’t that people don’t believe that skills can be learned. The problem is that people don’t realize that a lot of things that we assume are natural talents are actually skills. Drawing and painting? Music? Dance? Charisma? Entrepreneurship? Trust? Leadership? These are all things that most people think […]
Autonomy and Responsibility
Often, we clamor about how we want more autonomy, freedom, and the ability to make our own calls. When we get it, often we’re suddenly hit with the responsibility that comes with that autonomy. The two are intertwined. They come together, and with freedom comes the responsibility of owning both […]
“Political” Posts on LinkedIn
You might not want to talk about things like racism, sexism, fatphobia, lookism, classism, homophobia, ableism, or transphobia on LinkedIn. You might say that LinkedIn is for networking, professionalism, and focusing on business opportunities. Why, in your mind, aren’t any of these things appropriate for networking, professionalism, and business opportunities? […]