Vignettes

The Future of Childhood Arguments

The Future of Childhood Arguments

This is ridiculous, I know. But how AI (Artificial Intelligence) will change our kids’ childhood experiences is terrifying and exciting to think about. The internet was one thing, and VR was an entirely different thing. But AI advancements in all areas of life are happening at lightning speed, and what that means for lived and worked experiences is, well, terrifying and exciting…and most certainly, unknown.

Learning: AI is changing (or about to change) everything – it’s probably best to learn as much as possible while we can.

References and Resources

The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman; Type: Book

Does this resonate with you? How has AI changed your work and/or life? Or how do you see it changing your work and/or life? We’d love to hear from you.

Fixed Mindset – For the Win

Fixed Mindset – For the Win

I am a huge fan of Carol Dweck, and you can too. The opposite of a Fixed Mindset is a Growth Mindset – and it’s what, it seems, every company is looking for in their candidate pool. Job Posting after Job Posting will include a Growth Mindset or some variation of it as a requirement. A Growth Mindset is one that is flexible and willing to learn, and it’s what we all should aim for because we are not dead.

Learning: No one is too old to learn. I admire someone willing to learn continually at any career stage.

References and Resources

Mindset: How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential by Dr. Carol Dweck; Type: Book

What habits help you ensure a Growth Mindset? We’d love to hear from you.

And You Get A Meeting

And You Get A Meeting

We all know this person. We might even be this person. If you know someone who constantly schedules meetings for things that can easily be handled over email – please send them this link.

This is a particularly vanilla perspective, as most people wouldn’t say they love meetings. And yet, according to Microsoft, from 2020-2022, we saw an increase of 3x in time spent in meetings. We can stop this trend by adding some scrutiny around meetings.

Learning: Let’s make it okay to say “NO” to meeting invites that don’t have agendas and/or pre-reads. Agendas and Pre-reads help in 2 ways: 1) They provide a clear structure and mandate prep work by the meeting scheduler, and 2) Your audience can fully participate: Introverts, for example, think to speak and need time to process information.

References and Resources

The No. 1 workplace distraction that kills productivity, according to Microsoft by Morgan Smith/CNBC; Type: Article

Will AI Fix Work? by Microsoft WorkLab; Type: Annual Report

Does this resonate with you? Have you figured out how to handle the onslaught of perpetual meetings? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

You Can Lead A Horse To…

You Can Lead A Horse To…

The phrase “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink” isn’t strictly a business phrase – it dates back to the 12th century but does seem to get used often. It is usually intended to mean that you can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to do. As a leader, if you are struggling with individuals on the team refusing the water, the best option is to start drinking the water yourself. I’m blowing up this metaphor, but hopefully, you get this idea. This assumes that what y’all are trying to do is aligned with the core values of the Organization and the individuals.

Conclusion: If you want someone on your team to do something, you must be willing to do it yourself.

References and Resources

You can lead a horse to water by Grammarist; Type: Article

Does this resonate with you? Have you ever experienced this level of resistance to something? We’d love to hear from you.

Note: Header Image provided by AI (Adobe Firefly)

Some Things Aren’t Better With More Drums

Some Things Aren’t Better With More Drums

True Story. We had a Company All-Hands somewhere in Las Vegas, and every employee was handed a bongo drum on the morning of the second day. The goal was to learn a beat and play in some synchronized fashion – I think this was to teach us that we all play a part in the symphony of our Company’s success. However, about 2 minutes in, you could see that loud banging was probably not what most people needed at that moment. A nap and some ibuprofen were probably better suited for them. However, everyone survived, and we had a great year, so maybe the bongos worked.

Challenge: Don’t drink at Company events; if you do – drink…it…slowly. You never know what the next morning’s team-building activity might be.

Does this resonate with you? Have you ever been involved in some team-building activities that probably weren’t the best ideas in hindsight? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Never Look Them in the Eyes

Never Look Them in the Eyes

There are so many presentation mistakes that can happen. In my experience, I had the slides on an auto-timer somehow (flipping one slide to the next every 15 seconds), rendering my clicker thingy useless, and it felt like I was wrestling a bear on stage. My talk track and slides were out of sync the entire presentation. At one point, I even said, “This is just like my nightmare last night…(looked down)…except I have clothes on…so that’s good.” So believe me when I say this: if you present – know your content because you never know what can happen. Do not read your slides, and don’t make people read lengthy ones, either. If you need help, please pick up any book from Garr Reynolds or Nancy Duarte.

Learning: If you are assigned to present to others (and need a slide deck), know your slides and content well enough not to read off them.

Does this resonate with you? Have you ever fallen asleep at a presentation (or wish you had)? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Unlimited PTO

Unlimited PTO

Unlimited PTO seems like a great idea, and if it is, in fact, Unlimited, it is. I have a slightly cynical view on this topic because Unlimited PTO was a solution to the Business problem of carrying over PTO on a balance sheet. And, studies have shown that it’s resulted in less time off for employees. In short, the idea was not born out of the employees’ needs and has not benefited them. It does have potential, however. If you are a manager or leader, you must ensure your team takes time off (for their mental health). If you are an individual contributor, it is your responsibility to take time off. For both parties, it is best to be clear on what that looks like and how the work gets done to make it happen.

Learning: If you are interviewing for a new job and the company offers “Unlimited PTO,” it’s worth a moment for you to ask what the average person in your role would take. If the answer is “Unlimited,” then you move on as you are asking for easily quantifiable data. If you have a current job, plan out your time at the beginning of the year and discuss it with your manager.

References and Resources

Unlimited vacation seems like a dream. Here’s why it’s not as great as it sounds by Jo Constantz and Bloomberg; Type: Article

Avoid the Hidden Costs of Unused Paid Time Off by Ian Cook/Visier; Type: Article

Does this resonate with you? What are your thoughts on “Unlimited PTO”? We’d love to hear from you.

Make Sales, Not War

Make Sales, Not War

Have you ever noticed how violent the language in Sales is? Kevin murdered it…just killed it this quarter. We’re going to annihilate the competition. And so on. Such violent rhetoric has been around for a while, and not just in sales – in 2011, Steve Jobs declared a “holy war” against Google. In the 90s, the Big Consulting firms recruited like this: “We hire two kinds of people — hunters and skinners. Hunters bring in the kill, and skinners turn the kill into food.” We can change. We should take a stab at change. Don’t you think?

Learning: Competition is healthy, as is a desire to win, but do we really have to kill each other to ensure market dominance? We are talking about Marketing technology, NOT a Tom Clancy novel.

References and Resources

The Violence in Your Business Language Diminishes You and Your Company from Moshe Engelberg/Inc; Type: Article

New study reveals the powerful and bizarre effects of using violent rhetoric at work from JD Harrison/Washington Post; Type: Article

Does this resonate with you? Have you seen any change in Sales language away from violence? We’d love to hear from you.

No, No, Not Your Baby

No, No, Not Your Baby

“Your Baby is Ugly” is an unbelievably strange business phrase that essentially means, “Your tool or application that you are so proud of is pretty bad.” It’s a strange one. What makes it even stranger is that it’s really only used in the context of someone proudly showcasing their ability to make the hard choices, as in, “I’m not afraid to call our baby ugly.”

Learning: Can we all agree that Babies should be off-limits to business jargon? Especially if bathwater is involved or it involves a baby’s qualitative features. Some business jargon is better than others but try (please) to avoid this one.

References and Resources

Calling Their Baby “Ugly” by Operational Excellence Society; Type: Article

Does this resonate with you? Have you ever heard someone actually use this phrase? If so, we’d love to hear from you.

Focus Is Every…

Focus Is Every…

There is a lot of noise in the working world. Managing the onslaught, from Slack to Teams to Email to Texts to everything else, is critical. Below are three ways to control the noise and boost productivity.

  • Time Blocking: Set aside two times daily for updates and reprioritize.
  • Turn off notifications to limit distractions.
  • Focus on essential tasks first.

Learning: Distractions block your quality and productivity – Limit them and control them (as best you can).

Have you figured out how to manage the noise? If so, we’d love to hear from you.