Today I don’t have any witty metaphors to offer – just a plea to take gender equity seriously. Read the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap report for 2020. Believe women. Donate to causes like the Asian Women’s Shelter, Black Girls Code, or consider making a microloan to a female entrepreneur […]
Category: culture building
Max and Min
The math holds up in that if you want to make a difference, improve your weakest link. It makes sense to focus on your mins, not your maximums. But when it comes to people, if you’re not celebrating every individual’s superpowers, then they’re not going to be producing their maximum, […]
Granola
Teams are very much like granola. You might not like eating oats or nuts on their own (like myself), or you might not be into dried fruit chunks and honey because all of the sugar. That said, each component has its own nutritional benefits and downsides, but the magic of […]
Dosage
When scientists talk about the effects of chemicals in your body dosage is always part of the conversation. Dosage requires nuance and specificity, as “a lot” is too ambiguous. With some compounds, like those found in foxglove, the difference of .125 grams can push digitalis from safe usage into a […]
Being Labeled Difficult
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 […]
Uncomfortable Conversations
Conversations around things like racial justice, reproductive rights, feminism, or fat phobia might be uncomfortable for you. Often we silence ourselves and opt out of these conversations because of a lot of different reasons. We might feel ignorant about the subject, or be wary of accidentally causing harm to someone. […]
Enrollment
Changing someone’s mind is incredibly difficult if they’re not already open to changing it. We often try brute-force intellectual attacks with a barrage of facts, and when that doesn’t work, we start humiliating them when it is exposed that they’re not probably operating off of truth. While giving people the […]
Fear or Love?
When we choose to respond to something, there is a choice to be made. We can choose to act from a place of fear, scarcity, and a zero-sum game where if someone else wins, you lose. This choice is one of selfishness, pain, and insecurity. Alternatively, we can choose to […]
A Valentine’s Day Hate Crime
Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s an uptick in violence and harassment against Asian/Americans. It’s not surprising to me, given that my younger brother was assaulted walking home from school after 9/11 with shouts of “remember Pearl Harbor,” an entire generation of my family was shipped off to internment […]
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 – […]