Learn how to do financial reporting! It’s something I suck at (for now!), and it’s not the work I typically do. Every transaction matters! Every single one. Everything, in some way, becomes accounted for now or in the future. A useful idea at or outside of work.Ability to create and keep trust and deploy compassion are forms of undervalued human capital. That’s not an entirely new idea — so many people talk about “soft skills.” I don’t think there’s anything soft about trust — it’s hard work. What you see is not all there is.
Music, like most works of innovations, is iterative. One way to define culture is a set of norms and behaviors defined and enforced by a group. There are groups, of people, who have created music cultures — such as the multi-dimensional jazz. Jazz gets passed down from generation to generation through media and education. That’s one dimension — depth.Jazz also gets moved across the globe. The people of the world have made the form theirs. That’s another dimension — breadth. When our ideas and our work spread, those who receive value from our work will desire to make it their own. They will desire for our work to assimilate into or complement their culture. It’s easy to spread an idea. It’s better when those that interact with our work, make it their own. Inspiration from “5 Minutes That will Make You Love South African Jazz” via Tyler Cowen.
Getting upset over spilled milk.… and everything that is its equivalent.
When people used to dress up for job interviews, they would “dress for success.” Shoes, power outfits, and all of the accessories required to signal to the interviewer that you “deserved” the role. Now most interviews are done digitally. It’s rare that I hear about people having in-person interviews — unless applying local. Culturally, how do we signal in a digital world? Our interviewer is not aware that we might be wearing shorts underneath our well-spec’d tops. They might not know that we have sneakers on instead of nice shoes. Our interviewer might be dressed the same. How we signal changes. We must demonstrate who we are through our words and how we engage in a 2D space that is the “Zoom” interview. 2D connection comes from investing more time to get know people before the questions start. Spending more time learning about how people spend their time on the weekends. Spending more time working on creative problems to solve. The level and quality of the expression of our humanity increases (perhaps exponentially) in proportion to the amount technology integrates with our lives.
From Henry Oliver, author of “Second Act”:
Five ways to talent spot late bloomers1. Look for people who have been successful in the past.2. Look for people with secret lives.3. Look for the people who don’t fit in.4. Look for loners and those who are happy to change their context.5. Put up a beacon.🧵— Henry Oliver (@HenryEOliver) May 29, 2024
Sometimes….The amount of temperance and methodicalness ought to increase proportionate to the amount of reactivity someone wants you to express.Example:Action: Highly reactive person comes to you and demands your immediate attention and action. Reaction: You demonstrate more temperance and more method as you seek to understand what’s happening and what’s being asked of you. Note of CautionSituational awareness and context matter. If someone is yelling to run because there’s a fire in the building, that’s not the moment to stop and wonder.
First blog post.Life has shaped you into the person you are at this moment. You can leverage who you are to make a change in the world. The change you seek to make can help others do more and be more than they thought possible. Simple right? If so, how is it that we get lost in our “why” or our “reason” to live?Written August 26, 2019. Life changed dramatically. I look back and laugh. I’m thankful I’m here now.
About five and a half years ago, I wrote about gifts and risk.Honesty is a gift. It’s in short supply and high demand. Paradoxically, I wonder if it’s a gift we really want.“No, I don’t want to play your gig. I don’t like the people you pick to play with.” That’s an honest reply a musician might give to a band leader. That reply (almost) certainly gives that mad musician a bad reputation. “I am unable to accept your gig. Thanks for thinking of me. You might find some musicians on this Facebook group…”. That response is value-adding and may give you the musician a positive reputation. Honesty appears to be a net positive when combined with kindness and tact.
Remembering “the reason to live.”Today, I challenge you to not only be the change you seek to make but be a reason that someone ended their day happier and more fulfilled. … continuing the thought.If work is energy transferred by a force; and,If energy is the ability to do work; and,If energy cannot be created out of nothing but rather it’s transferred; and,If the passage of time is the movement of disorder to order; therefore,Is our reason to live our need to transfer our energy into work thereby stepping ourselves closer and closer to our ordered future selves? And if that’s true, that means that all work we create, must be work that matters — we have a finite amount of energy to spare.
You are wrong to think it’s a good thing to tell people they’re wrong.It doesn’t feel right telling you that. And I imagine it doesn’t feel right telling anybody that. Instead, I notice that people’s face light up when I say: “Thanks for your idea. Have you considered this better way?”Discovery is more fun than disappointment.