What I see in different shades of gray, from behind my reading glasses
Books, & links to all kinds of stuff I found interesting
Steven Pressfield inspires:
Even if we’re working a full-time job, waitressing, driving an Uber, juggling kids and ex-husbands and all the other heartaches and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, we’re in the same boat with many, many full-time, big-name professional artists and entrepreneurs.
‘No’ might be only two letters but it’s often the hardest thing to say. I’ve struggled with this more often than I care to admit. Scott Eblin has a few suggestions worth considering (& putting to practice).
Lots of folks are headed for a crash if they don’t master the art of answering the next request for their time and attention with something other than an unqualified, “yes.” In the interest of preserving your health, sanity and well-being, I’m offering ten things you can say besides, “Yes,” when someone asks you to attend their meeting, join their project or take on another commitment. Practicing these ten phrases and having them in your hip pocket to use when needed will enable you to collaborate with and support your colleagues without sinking yourself in the process.
Prof. Peter Childs course in Creative Thinking Techniques is available on Coursera. Doing this course along with my kids.
Douglas Hatcher shares three things to remember when stuck:
Watch the whole video here
Seth Godin offers a couple of alternative choices
There are two other choices, worth considering:
- Spend significantly more time than anyone else thinks is reasonable. Charge appropriately. Perhaps this will lead to an extraordinary outcome.
- Spend far less time than you’re supposed to, and invest that time into processes and alternatives and benefits that everyone else is overlooking.
Gorick Ng’s book “The Unspoken Rules” has some advice, excerpt in the HBR’s Working Knowledge:
unlocking the best career opportunities requires job seekers to achieve three Cs:
Competence. Prove that you can do the job well, and people will offer you more responsibility.
Commitment. Demonstrate that you are excited about your job, and people will invest in you.
Compatibility. Prove that you can get along with your teammates and managers, and people will want to work with you.
A fascinating conversation with the author of Influence.
https://omny.fm/shows/the-james-altucher-show/712-robert-cialdini
“Your book influence is so famous in Poland, my students think you’re dead”
Paul Graham on why to Write Simply:
Of course, fancy writing doesn’t just conceal ideas. It can also conceal the lack of them. That’s why some people write that way, to conceal the fact that they have nothing to say. Whereas writing simply keeps you honest. If you say nothing simply, it will be obvious to everyone, including you.
From the HBR’s archives, with the title “You Don’t Have to Be CEO to Be a Visionary Leader”
the relentless need for continual innovation in today’s operating climate may just give you the opportunity to promote new ideas from your own local experiences that can demonstrate potential for broader growth and even reinvention in your company
Paul Graham on why he asks questions – rather than voice his opinions – when someone who’s a domain expert comes up with crazy new ideas
Few understand how feeble new ideas look when they first appear. So if you want to have new ideas yourself, one of the most valuable things you can do is to learn what they look like when they’re born. Read about how new ideas happened, and try to get yourself into the heads of people at the time. How did things look to them, when the new idea was only half-finished, and even the person who had it was only half-convinced it was right?
But you don’t have to stop at history. You can observe big new ideas being born all around you right now. Just look for a reasonable domain expert proposing something that sounds wrong.