life

Nonsense At Work

James McIntosh — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:41:55 -0400

How to regain respect:

As we drift towards Labor Day, I plead, yes, plead that business leaders out there will apply Emmanuel Kant’s categorical imperative:

Here it is: What would happen if every one behaved the way you do?

If you think that the outcome would be negative, then obviously you should not behave that way. For example, what would happen if every one lied? That’s right. You couldn’t trust anyone. So, don’t lie. Ever.

Nonsense At Work

James McIntosh — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:22:14 -0400

Management By Wondering About:

August is the month when real managers go on vacation while juniors hold the fort. It is also when a lot of MBWA takes place.

No, no, not management by walking around. That’s so seventies.

I’m talking about management by wondering about. You know what I mean. You’re lying in the sun somewhere when you start wondering about the office. Are they coping without you? Are they messing up? Are they missing you?

Time, Inc's Former Editor on the Future of the Magazine

Chris Dannen — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:45:51 -0400

Over the last three decades Jim Gaines has served as editor in chief of Time, Life and People magazines, as well as the corporate editor of Time, Inc. Today, August 11, is his sixty-second birthday--but unlike many of the print veterans that are his peers, Gaines has not stuck his head in the pulp and ignored the event horizon of print journalism. Nor has he retired. He has instead grafted his experience to a Web magazine startup called Flyp.

What Success is. Or Isn't! by Ted Eleftheriou

Ted Eleftheriou — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:31:54 -0400

Two short stories for you today.

First Story:

New Earthly Extremophile Bacteria Could Live on Mars

Kit Eaton — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:16:40 -0500

A new type of extremophile life has been discovered in Chile that may help us recognize what life on Mars may look like--and that will undoubtedly help in the search for discovering that life, should it exist.

Nonsense At Work

James McIntosh — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:29:04 -0500

Cut out play acting:

Here’s what I dislike about the movie industry. Their ability to shout ‘cut!’ and do it all over again. I’m jealous of that.

Imagine having the power to shout ‘cut!’ and to do it over and over until you get it right. Now that’s the way to deal with your miss-takes. Did you catch that? Miss takes.

Did You Miss It?

Joe Raasch — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:26:26 -0500

When approached to be part of the team that writes for FastCompany about Work/Life balance I thought, "what a great opportunity!" and added the project to my schedule. I was directed to post once a week, on Friday.

I did not post last Friday. Part happenstance, part intentional. No post here from me.

Did you notice? I did not hear from readers, bloggers or the folks at FastCompany.

Huh.

Where Were You Today?

Joe Raasch — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:22:06 -0500

In the retailing business, today is Black Friday, the first official day of the Holiday Shopping Season. Did you shop today?

I did not shop today. The only dollars we spent were on the standard 4-month checkup for our baby. All is well.

That said, there appears to be tremendous pressure to shop:

Modeling

Joe Raasch — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 08:57:28 -0500

As a leader of people, you're in the spotlight, on the proverbial (modeling) "runway" more than you know...maybe more than you like. But it is part of the job.

When you speak to your team about work/life balance, what does that look like? Not sound like, but look like? You may say, "people are our greatest asset" or "I believe we should be able to strike a reasonable balance between work and our families". Are these smart Leadership 101 platitudes or do you, in our heart of hearts, believe it to be true? True enough to follow the intent yourself...

Give Some, Get Some

Joe Raasch — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:22:25 -0500

Where Do You Eat?

Joe Raasch — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:58:28 -0500

Many of us are at our happiest and most productive when we're doing tasks we love. This could be at home, at work, at the gym, drinking coffee at the corner shop. If you spend some time thinking about it, there is something that you do that really feels like it exists just for you to do it.

When times get a bit stressed, focusing on these greatest tasks can help you create room for the less desirable, but necessary, work that doesn't excite you.

Equity, Not Equal - Is it that scary?

Joe Raasch — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:33:30 -0400

For anyone reading blog posts in this section of FastCompany, it is readily apparent that "Work/life balance" takes a variety of forms, explanations, perceptions and meaning. As I have written before, I do not believe that work/life balance means "50-50". Balance is flexible in that some days I work 18 hours, other work days I take off (like today's vacation day!). That's balance for me. In the spirit of Halloween (that was an easy pun), I am going to address a scary topic: the difference between equal and equitable.

Just A Little More May Be Too Much

Joe Raasch — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:16:24 -0400

My wife's former college roommate and her family (husband, two children) are in town from Chicago. It is great to have the opportunity to spend the weekend with them!

We had planned on their arrival Friday morning. They called from the road and were able to make it up early, Thursday evening. At 7pm. Now we had just a few hours to prepare our house for four guests. Yikes!

Ebb and Flow

Joe Raasch — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:20:31 -0400

EBB

Crisis

Joe Raasch — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:23:41 -0400

"In times of crisis, give help first, then advice."

Seems like a simple, easy to follow quote. Ever catch yourself giving advice first?

Here is an example:

Your friend routinely skips breakfast. By 1pm each day, he is ravenously hungry. You stop by his office to ask a question and there he is, eating pretzels by the handful. He starts to choke, and is visibly scared.

You could:

Life Happens

Joe Raasch — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:05:16 -0400

I was awake early this past Friday morning. Among the many things I had to do was write this post, prepare for an afternoon of interviews for our new Research Director and follow up on a list of items for a major new project that we just launched.

I got up, walked the dog, came home, started up some coffee and noticed that we had a message on the phone. It was my Mom. Calling at 6:20am. I returned the call. My Dad had passed away during the night. He had been sick for some time and was in the hospital. Surprised and not surprised at the same time.

Use It or Lose It

Joe Raasch — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:06:53 -0400

Today I am on vacation. Not "working from home" or "away from the office" - and then still checking my voicemail and BlackBerry. No, I am truly away...from...work. And it isn't easy.

When is the last time you did this? Were you able to truly unplug and be 100% in the day, away?

Vacation Time

Schedules Matter with Insane Work Rules

Joe Raasch — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:33:45 -0400

Guess what? Baby time isn't as freewheeling as we thought. Without a consistent daily schedule, babies get overstimulated, cranky and don't sleep much at night...when we want to sleep.

The same can happen at work. i am sure you've set up a great schedule for today. Then, work happens, clients call, you spill coffee on yourself, your computer locks up, etc. So if you can't stay to a schedule, what do you do?

Try this proven method of getting a good day's work out of a not-so-good day:

Go Away - I am Busy!

Joe Raasch — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:19:44 -0400

The first week of school in any school district is a busy, chaotic time. It is also joyful. We have close to 40,000 students coming back to our 70+ schools and programs. This particular school opening week, Sept 2-5 of 2008, is historic. There are buildings to clean, over 2,000 bus routes to get right, meals to plan, classrooms to ready - all for the students.

Oh, and did I mention the epublican National Convention is in town too?
We have 158 separate bus routes affected by the event.

Put Me In Coach!

Joe Raasch — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:09:22 -0400

“Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield..”

That’s a line from a 1985 song by John Fogerty titled, “Centerfield.” In US baseball, the position of centerfield is one of the hardest to master. The position requires fast legs, a good ability to catch and a strong arm to throw all the way to home plate; as well as strategic knowledge of the possible plays and potential hits by the other team.

Choosing Work Before It Chooses You

ROI or NOT.

seamus fitzpatrick — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:00:07 -0400

I recently received a response to a note I sent to a colleague of mine who works for a Fortune 50 company now. He heads up their research. I worked with him at Harris Interactive (http://www.harrisinteractive.com) where he designed a Media Measurement tool, which was able to determine Return on Investment based upon media spending down to the T.

ROI.... Everybody says they want it, but few get it

seamus fitzpatrick — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:51:55 -0400

100% Present

Joe Raasch — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:01:23 -0400

The easy stuff is hard.

Today marks my first week back at work after two weeks paternity leave. Day one, not so bad. My boss reminded me that a great way to balance work and home is to be “100% present” wherever I am.

This “100% present” concept was a great approach on Monday. I didn’t miss my 16-day old daughter much at all and was thrilled to be back at the office. Day two, not so much. The reality of disrupted sleep cycles, the joyous responsibility of parenthood and a very tired wife caught up to me quite fast.

What is Work/Life Balance?

Joe Raasch — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:56:28 -0400

I am writing this post in my home office, dressed comfortably in shorts and a t-shirt. My daughter, Annaliese, was born just 13 days ago, July 26th. I am taking two weeks off to stay home with her and my wife, Dawn. These past two weeks have been incredible, joyous and amazing!

100% All About You - Get Lost in Your World For FREE!

Eric Moore — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:20:55 -0400

Ever dream of being in your own little world, having fun your way, getting into the things that are important to you, or just flat out getting lost in your world?

The truth is, we all wish that we could do this or do that at one time or another, but sometimes life just get's too hectic for us. So, we eventually lose sight of who we are and what is important to us.