My world on the web
When you can match your passion with a contribution to the world in some way or form, it becomes purposeful, meaningful, and worth the struggle. Keep scratching your itch and doing work that matters, even when you find your self in a place of doubt and frustration. It is worth it, not only for you, but for the countless others that will benefit.
Boston University professor Ellen Shell talks about her new book The Job on the latest episode of Recode Decode with Kara Swisher.
There are plenty of people with STEM skills. What social scientists have found just in recent years is what kids lack are what they call analytic skills. That is not problem-solving per se, but knowing what problems to solve.
Our focus should not be on job training, but instead training students to be able to learn on the job. This all feels a part of the move ‘back to basics‘.
Thereās a certain novelty, after decades at a legacy media company, in playing for the team thatās winning big.
People who climb the ladder don't want to hear that the ladder went nowhere.#
Playing for Team Human today: Susan Basterfield and Anthony Cabraal. Susan and Anthony share the open secrets of bottom-up collaboration as we celebrate the publication of Enspiralās book, Better Work Together. Itās a conversation about the power of working together, building on ideas āgood enough to try,ā and creating a space where itās āsafe to fail.ā
Looking for collaborative and participatory ways to create social change? Enspiral has collected and opened up its learnings for all to replicate.
Responding to a request for advice via blog post, instead of email.
Your reactions tell people more about your character than your actions
When all is said and done, the person who holds you back the most in your life and career isā¦ you
Once youāve got that PhD or have worked for Google, people arenāt asking for āthree years project management experienceā, and the like.
Perhaps Iām becoming middle-aged, but it seems that a lot of the problems with todayās society is that people donāt stand for anything other than individualism and whatever late-stage capitalism can offer them.
Thereās a reason I travel so much. Itās to meet new people, be exposed to ideas that might not always be shared online, and to experience places that open my mind. These days, we gain a competitive advantage by connecting the dots in new and novel ways. That depends, of course, on knowing where the dots are.
Not all strategies are for everyone. I like hearing tips and workflows from others but itās up to you to decide what will work for you.
In my new role I really had to think hard about what strategies I use to stay productive. This was working until I changed teams and subsequently work. Being a lot more collaborative and involving a centralised response system, I have tried (and failed) a number of strategies to make it all work for me. One approach was to create a Google Sheet, which was organise into categories and had a status column which allowed me to prioritise.
I liked this setup as it allowed me to easily change the statuses and add links to further information. The issue is that it involves a lot of doubling up between systems.
In the end, I am getting what needs to be done completed at the moment, but I am still looking for something more productive.
If no-oneās asking if you can help them out with something that you already specialise in, then itās going to be long, hard struggle to be seen as an expert, get gigs, and pay your mortgage.
We really only have threads ā threads of experience, threads that bind and that connect us. Human history ā our hopes, fears and traumas ā are just a blink of time on this planet of 4.5 billion years. So to me, this one connection, this one relationship that gave this one person joy and laughter and insight and tears is enough for me. Itās the reason Iām here. Itās what I do.
Much like the principles of building muscle mass ā the way your body repairs or replaces damaged muscle fibres after a workout by forming strong, new protein strands ā your mistakes do not you weaken you, they build you up. They solidify you. They give you emotional and mental muscle. Or at least they should. Because you have to own your mistakes. You have to claim them and allow that destruction/reconstruction process to take place. Itās incredibly empowering.
Own who you are:
At a certain point in this working life, you realise that there really is no place to hide. You either own ā completely own who you are, the nature and personality of your journalism and your understanding of what you are here to do ā or I think you fade away. When I started on radio in Melbourne in 2001, the legendary Jon Faine gave me two pieces of advice. He told me that daily flow radio āwas a marathon, not a sprintā, and he said that on air I had to be myself ā not some persona, not some projection, but relentlessly myself. The listeners would find me out in a trice if I was not.
And regularly take stock of where you are at:
If one thing has stood me in good stead over the last 28 years, it has been a deliberate decision to periodically sit down and take inventory of what Iām doing well, what I need to improve, where the gaps in my skillset and knowledge base are and how I need to fill them. Iād urge you to do it too. If it helps, find someone you know, admire and trust and who knows your work well and ask them to do this exercise with you. Never be afraid of self-scrutiny. Donāt wait for someone who doesnāt have your best interests at heart to point out your shortcomings ā get there first and do something about them.
This post is a reminder that so often there is more at play than we are often willing to recognise.
I think Americansā homes are designed for that ā theyāre designed in ways that encourage you to fill up the closets and garages and spare bedrooms with stuff. There are catalogs upon catalogs with products and websites upon websites with ideas of how to buy things and build things that transform rooms to your liking.
We have worked at home (and with great frequency, it feels, worked on the road) for about a decade now. And the typical home or apartment ā no matter its size or location ā isnāt really designed for that.
