The Power of Art, David Brooks, NYT: “The arts work on us at that deep level, the level that really matters. You give me somebody who disagrees with me on every issue, but who has a good heart — who has the ability to sympathize with others, participate in their woes, longings and dreams — well, I want to stay with that person all day. You give me a person who agrees with me on every particular, but who has a cold, resentful heart — well, I want nothing to do with him or her.”
Impression Management: “Most of us would like to impress the people we work with. But new research from Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Alexandra Feldberg finds that, for women managers, this aspiration can undermine performance.”
High Leverage activities: ” ‘moving the needle’ … has become one of these overused bits of business jargon you will hear in many organizations, used to describe work with a small yet noticeable impact. … it can be exhaustive and counterproductive for an individual to follow such a strategy.”
Elizabeth Gilbert: What to do when ideas come knocking.
Non-linear career paths are the future. Caroline Castrillion, writing in Forbes, echoes what I’m seeing among many of my colleagues. “While salary is important, workers are looking for more than just a paycheck. Increasingly, flexible and remote working options, work-life balance and career development opportunities are coming to the forefront. When people think about their ideal workplace, they want to feel valued, trusted and inspired. As a result, non-linear career paths that offer these types of benefits will become more common.”
Ted Bauer: Management is not intuitive “You think it’s about control and making sure people hit their targets, just like you hit yours to become promoted. The last thing most people think about when they become a manager is “Oh, I should give people more freedom.”
Leo Babauta on The practice of letting go of mental constructs
Staying in the game – a beautiful story.
Barnum effect – or the Forer statements – when people read generic statements they often believe them to be highly personal.
David Karpf on manufactured inevitability. Neil Postman wrote about this in Technopoly – the echoes are loud.