When evaluating work, “Good enough” is an interesting choice, as depending on the context, it could be necessary, an insult, an easy way out, and/or compassionate. Maybe the project is over-budget and past it’s due date. Good enough lets you ship and move on. Maybe the work is under par, […]
Category: fear
Appropriate Freakout
If someone brings up a potential worst-case scenario, potential product-killer, or other potentially terrible news, you can choose to react emotionally in the moment, or choose to embrace uncertainty. Sure, this probably won’t feel great, but it’s also a possible outcome that was as equally possible whether or not you […]
Good vs. Evil
If you choose to be moral, good, and fair, you’ll be in good company. If you’re going to be immoral, evil, and corrupt, you’re going to be competing against people who are also immoral, evil, and corrupt. Three things about this. If you’re going to be evil, there’s a slippery […]
Shots Vs. Tattoos
As a kid I used to be terrified of shots, mainly because they hurt. Now, I’m willing to get needles repeatedly jammed into my skin at high speeds for hours on end in the name of body art. Nothing about the level of pain really changed. It’s still tiny needles […]
Light and Shadow
There are many metaphors about light and shadow, but I think the most important one is the idea that for better or worse, both are necessary in life. Without shadow, you actually wouldn’t be able to perceive things in three dimensional space. Ask any visual artist and you’ll realize that […]
Superheroes and Superpowers
Superheroes are great escapist fantasy, as it allows us to escape from our current responsibility. When we’re looking at Superman trying to punch some giant alien who is trying to destroy us, we can dream of having his power – which also necessitates reconciling the fact we’re not bulletproof nor […]
Rewarding the Messenger
We often hear the phrase “Don’t shoot the messenger” and I feel like it’s not enough. While it’s true that many people are terrible at this in practice, we need to push for a culture where the harbinger of bad news is actually rewarded. After all, they’re the ones courageous […]
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. […]
The Illusion of Disaster
Many times we look at failure and see utter ruin. We’re homeless, starving, humiliated and abandoned by our friends and family. All from not having a project ship on time. Or getting fourth place in the Olympics. Fear has caused us to overemphasize the doom that awaits us failing, so […]
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 […]