All in Careers
George Martin is often referred to as The Fifth Beatle for the contributions he made to the band’s recording process.
Without question, the core of their creative genius came from the four band members themselves, but there’s no doubt he facilitated and enabled their creativity in very real, very direct ways. From the classical instrumentation we hear in so many of their songs to pushing the technical envelope with the technology available to them at the time.
I was struck by a paragraph in The New York Times “The Morning” briefing today that spoke to the alarming decline in life expectancy in the US in recent years:
“For many, daily life lacks the structure, status and meaning that it once had, as the Princeton University economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton have explained.
This month's podcasts deal with matters of culture.
In today's episode, I discuss the problem of apathy - that is, when apathy arises in an organization, then we're all in trouble. The only solution - for everyone - is to engage.
I have this hypothesis that we get more worried about the competition when we’re not actually focused on being something.
What I mean by that is that, when our business or product doesn’t have a defined mission or overarching goal, when we’re not focused on moving towards becoming, then we tend to become fixated on what others in our space are doing.
If you were to ask me what the most valuable part of my education was from a decade in Management Consulting, I’d tell you it was the ability to craft a story. That is, putting together a slide deck or telling a message that was logical, coherent and that clearly communicated its central message.
As I learned when I left Consulting, that’s not a widely available skill. It’s a bit of a rarity, actually, but it’s critical to the success of any initiative.
This month's podcasts deal with matters of culture.
In today's episode, I speak to the value of assessing cultural fit when we're bringing new people into our teams, and when we're evaluating the long term impact of existing team members. It's not easy and it's tempting to look at hard metrics, but these soft ones can be the most critical to our success.
There’s no worse feeling than being in the midst of a difficult situation and feeling helpless, not being able to do anything about it. The result is the noise in our heads that is anxiety.
But difficult situations are difficult for two reasons: lack of comprehension and lack of perceived control.
Inspiration can come from many different sources. Depending on our interests and affinities, we might look to sports personalities, musicians, business executives, politicians, artists or some other professional(s) in some other field(s) altogether.
We may even look to different people at different stages of our lives - whoever made an impact (and I define that broadly) at that specific point in time, for whatever specific reason.
This months podcast deals with matters of culture.
In today's episode, I speak to the Sumo concept of Hinkaku - that is, how being a champion is about more than tangible measures of performance. It also has to do with how we behave.
I don’t know if there’s a single maxim by which we should live our lives. Life’s too complex for that, but there’s probably a few that are useful.
I do know that, in general, any advice that encourages us to think before we make a life choice is likely to be on point. I came across one such maxim recently:
This month's topics focus on personal war stories and observations.
In today's episode, I talk about an experience I had with the late, great Professor C.K. Prahalad when I was at Ross Business School, and specifically what it taught me about actually being clear about what we want, versus chasing some idea of what we think we want.
In one of the final scenes of the 1994 movie, ChungKing Express, the character “Cop 663” is at a Hong Kong bar called California, waiting for Faye, a girl he met while she’s been working at her cousin’s takeaway shop.
He’s been recovering from a break up and Faye, who’s trying to figure out who she is and what she wants in life, becomes enamored with him as he stops by every night for something to eat or drink. It's an unspoken (and somewhat strange) flirtation, until he finally asks her out on a date, asking her to meet him at California at 8 pm the next night, to which she agrees.
This month's topics focus on personal war stories and observations.
In today's episode, I talk about the time I turned down the chance to see Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls. Which is enough of a story in and of itself, but it's really a lesson in the need for balance, compartmentalization and looking out for yourself.
Beating the dealer. It’s the eternal quest.
How do I upset the odds? How do I move the needle to get what I want?
At its core, it’s really a desire to remain in control, to stay relevant. But it’s worth remembering what game we’re trying to play as well.
Culture, in all its forms, plays such a strong role in our lives that, for the most part, we don’t really even pay attention to it or realize it.
It’s formed through years of experience, understanding and shared experiences. This is the case at home, in our communities, with our friends and with our colleagues at work.
In fact, Trevor Noah once referred to culture as “an operating system that you have, that you didn’t even realize you had”. That captures it perfectly for me.
This month's topics focus on personal war stories and observations.
Today's episode focuses on the importance of being able to work with people as the route to our success - as well as the sheer difficulty of learning (and mastering) how to do so.
How do you choose a headliner?
If James Taylor and Jackson Browne go on tour together (which they’re doing) and it’s billed as a “co-headlined” show, is it really a co-headline?
Or if Sting and Peter Gabriel toured together (which they did), and that was billed a co-headlined show, is that really a co-headline, or is it really tilted towards one of those artists?
This month's topics focus on personal war stories and observations.
Today's episode discusses how, in our quest for 'more', we’ve confused learning, knowledge and credibility with degrees, diplomas and doctorates. We need a reset in our collective thinking and biases on the subject of education.
Bruce Lee’s philosophy when it came to learning was that there was no single best way to learn.
He didn’t prescribe to the idea of fixed patterns and approaches to education, rather he believed that real education is unique to the individual. It comes from absorbing what’s helpful (in your own judgement) rejecting what’s not and then defining your own ‘truth’, your own path forward.
This month's topics focus on personal war stories and observations.
Today's episode focuses on career management and specifically the fact that we cannot outsource our career management to others within our organizations, no matter how good or strong they might be.
