I’m not a die-hard fan, but I listen to a fair amount of Korean Pop music. I’m a bigger fan of Korean variety shows, which often feature these idols, as the trained singers are called, on the shows as guests. What I find so fascinating is that the idols will […]
Category: career
Integrity
Integrity is one of those things that really makes a huge difference. It’s hard to do, as often when the situation turns against you, it’s easy to rationalize why the rules should change, or not apply to you. Especially as a leader, it’s tempting to keep moving goalposts around so […]
Dragons
Dragons love to horde gold. They have huge treasure stashes and love shiny objects. They don’t really do anything with it – have you ever seen a dragon buying stuff at a market? They could distribute the gold to help society, or decide not to take the gold in the […]
The BoogeyMan
Decisions we make are often determined by fear. How do we not lose our job? What if I get ‘canceled’ if I say something with nuance? How can I avoid being targeted by my boss? We all have monsters in our closet that drives us to act from a defensive […]
Unicorns and Coelacanths
When hiring, we often look for unicorns – mythical employees who can do it all. But the problem with unicorns is that unicorns don’t exist. They’re fictional horned creatures that have never existed except in our imaginations and the world of Lisa Frank. Perhaps we should be hiring coelacanths instead. Coelacanths […]
The Day Job
People talk smack on day jobs. We’re enamored with people who can quit their jobs and do what they love. We celebrate brave entrepreneurs (those that have been successful in making lots of money). We write click-bait articles about celebrities that have fallen from stardom (note this language) and work a […]
Hustle, Hustle. Hustle?
American culture is thick with the notion that if you hustle hard enough, anything can be yours. There’s the 10,000 hour rule, where if you just spend enough time, you can be world class. 60 hour work weeks are seen as God-tier status, and all-nighters are humble-bragged about and worn […]
Media Matters
It’s tempting to dismiss television and film and video games and books and art as “just” entertainment. As things that don’t influence us, make us feel powerful emotions, or affect society at large. As much as we’d like to think we’re above advertising and marketing, we’re not. Especially with repeated […]
Gardening
Since moving to Pasadena, I’ve been much more successful at growing plants. Part of it is the weather and access to sun (my apartment in San Francisco was entirely shaded 24/7), but part of it is that I now take the time to research the plants I’m trying to grow, […]
Punch Me in the Face
On the surface, this title looks like an invitation. The words seem like an invitation to you to punch me in the face. Do you think I honestly mean it? If you’re a formal leader, are you creating spaces for people to tell you what they really think, or are […]