Kerploppi and Other Old Friends

My kids favorite book was Professor Wormbog’s Gloomy Kerploppus.

What did they love? the silly pictures? the way I did the voices of the various characters? or simply the comfort of snuggling and reading the same story over and over – completely predictable in an unpredictable world. As children we are naturally attracted to what interests us. We are open. Life is compelling and fun. Do you still feel that way?

Check out one of my favorite bloggers – Julien Smith -  his post 19 Thoughts on Finding Your Purpose. There’s a little something for everyone here. I particularly like…

“Go through your childhood and find what interested you. Combine those things and add a trend or two. Do it right and you’ll have a great business.”

What did you love as a kid? Do you still do it now?

If you can’t remember what you loved as a kid– think about how you can remember? Smells and sounds can be evocative so remember those childhood foods and songs and see if that helps. Ask someone who knew you then how they remember you.

What book, stuffed animal, cartoon, movie, friend, house, toy -do you remember? See what you can learn about yourself today.

As I kid I loved to read and write. I had a very difficult and unhappy childhood but I still remember sitting in an orange wing chair (oh the 70′s!) next to a window where birds chirped all day. Those books and that chair took me places where I felt safe. Now I look to find ways to help others “find their way.”

What did you love as a child and how might it help you be happier and more fulfilled today? You can do it!

Feedback: Electric, Real-Time, Nasty or True

I work with companies on multi-generational workplace issues  because I heard so many complaints about the “younger generation’s” poor “communication” skills. Gen Y employees may be different in many ways other from other generations; but that doesn’t mean they’re bad or wrong — they’re just different.

One common complaint I hear is that younger employees want to give and get “constant feedback.” Most of us oldsters are uncomfortable with this. Being stoics, we think everyone ought to just ‘get on with it.’

When Jimi Hendrix (my favorite musician of all time) burst onto the rock scene and created new sounds with his guitar…including standing in front of a wall of amplifiers.. many people thought it was awful… the rest of us… thought it was awesome. A new kind of musical sound was born… music to some… noise to others.

So it is with workplace feedback. Let me introduce you to Cleargears.com, take a quick video tour here. Conceptually, these tools allow your workforce to provide you (bossman or bosslady) with regular feedback and in turn, allows you to understand whether your feedback is being accepted and implemented. Wow – what a concept. Real time feedback. Making you uncomfortable? Get ready – this is the world is headed.

Take a look at Rypple.com; they call it social performance management–  “a web-based social performance management platform that replaces the traditional performance review with an easy and collaborative approach. People always know where they stand and are accountable for achieving their goals.” By the way… so are you.

Whatever the tool and no matter how you feel about providing feedback to your team, I suggest you figure out how to listen better. The future of your organization depends upon it. Remember the shark… survival goes to those who adapt.

Photo credit: Milt. Retirement and Financial Freedom

Embrace Disruption

I’ve decided there 3 kinds of people… those who are very afraid of change (about 25%), those who create and embrace change (about 25%) and those who are willing to change if they have to (um yeah, 50%).

Which are you? Be honest… the most important thing is to understand yourself and then build on your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses. Given that GenY (those born 1980-1995ish) will make up 50% of the workforce by 2014… you might consider how you’re going navigate this change regardless of your age and experience.

Hannah Morgan (the career Sherpa) and I have a fun, powerful workshop called, “Taming the Know it All , 4 Generations at Work.” We share our experience in helping organizations understand that people are comfortable communicating in a certain way..it could be leaning over the cubicle wall, or  by phone, email, text, etc. Most of us don’t think twice about what method would work best for the person we want to ‘talk’ to. Taking a moment to consider the “receiver” of the information can limit undue friction. A little thought and training can make a team more efficient, productive and cohesive.

In his blog, Embrace Disruption, Cory Stewart describes his journey; “In May 2012, I decided to make a change. I vowed to start accepting the chaotic nature of life, and embrace whatever challenges may come my way.” Cool Cory. I’m with you.

In his post titled, Digital Natives vs. Digital Immigrants, he wisely advises us to embrace inter-generational differences by ‘bending’, not dictating, focusing on balance and encouraging collective work.  If this sounds a little too kumbaya for you then you are probably one of those people who’s afraid to change.

And if embracing disruption, thinking about changing my own attitude (one of the few things I CAN control) and being less stressed out are my goals then I’d better listen to Cory. He’s gonna help us make this work. Remember, its not about being right, it’s about being happy. Agree?

Image credit: simplysolo.com

The “Skate to Where the Puck’s Going To Be” Career Management Philosophy

Recently I came across an article titled, “7 Jobs You Never Heard of and Why They’re Awesome,” e.g. futurist, greensman (not keeping the putting green nice..) and parabolic expert. Do you think these sounds silly? Think again.

It might seem odd to remember elevator or telephone operators, but what about travel agents, department store clerks (try to find one these days) or assembly line workers. Ten years ago a fair number of people held these jobs.

Today a lot of people have titles that didn’t exist 10 years ago, e.g. Director of Inbound Marketing, Content Marketer, Java Developer, .net Developer or Internet Security expert, etc.. If you believe what Wayne Gretsky (aka the great one… hockey player) said, “Skate to where the puck’s going to be, not to where it has been…” and apply that to your career,  it’s possible that your next job could be something you’ve never even heard of.

If you were born after 1980… it’s very likely you will have a job that hasn’t even been invented yet (not to mention being actively engaged in creating new companies.)

When I speak to educators I remind them that it is their responsibility… along with business leaders… to find out what skills will be needed and to start today to create programs to prepare our future employees. And this is not just for young people! Boomers and Gen Xer’s need to change too.

Because if we, as Americans, don’t figure this out…someone else in the world will and if we think the economy is ugly now…

This is not the ‘responsibility’ of politicians and/or ‘someone else’. Each of us must be prepared. Consider the shark or crocodile– they’ve been around a long time while many other creatures have become extinct. Adapt or die.

Image credit:  Oldster’s view

Look, I Fell Down!

I’m fortunate to have 3 grandchildren under the age of 4 and yes, it’s as fun as everyone says.

There’s joy in watching them grow but there’s also a BIG LESSON. Here it is…

They fail… a lot. And they do it with a big smile. They fall down, the say words wrong, they make ridiculous observations about us…

How about us? When did learning become something SO serious. We get older and suddenly we have to be good at everything? If we have to learn something new we get impatient, even angry at ourselves for not:

learning fast enough/being smart enough/knowing how to do it and on and on.

If you aren’t “falling down” regularly, you are probably not learning very much. That’s why being a parent is an interesting journey. You are guaranteed to fail regularly (whether you realize it or not!)

Today, you have a choice. Learn something new, take a chance. I’m getting ready to learn a new kind of art. I’m a little freaked out. What if people tell me they don’t like it. What if the stuff looks ugly? This is what risk takers face everyday.

Write down the top 3 risks you are taking this week/month/year. You can tell if it’s a real risk if you feel like talking yourself out of doing it and you have all the reasons why you shouldn’t do it worked out in your head. So please, fall down, take that risk. Tell me about the risks you’re taking and I’ll keep you up to date about my art experiment. Everyday I’m talking myself out it so I know it’ll be worthwhile.

Photo credit: Zazzle.com

The Kids Are Lazy, Self Absorbed, Difficult

This is what I heard in 1969 when I sat with 150 other young people outside a public building to protest the war in Vietnam. My friends and loved ones were fighting and I felt I had to take action.

Whether I was right or wrong in my beliefs; I was speaking up. It was scary but  I felt it was important.

Today’s younger generation, Gen Y (aka Millenials b. 1980-2000) is also taking it to the streets. In the form of  The Occupy movement. The press criticizes them for:

- not having a clear agenda

- not really knowing what they want

- being lazy and protesting as a way to get out of work

When I saw this last minute prep list for today’s May Day protests, I thought about 1969 and what it would have been like to have websites to help prepare us and cell phones to take photos of abuses and communicate with friends. Some of this sounded very familiar…

- Know your rights: The ACLU has some good basic info on your legal right to protest here

Other items are heartening:

- Know how to identify legal observers: Observers from the National Lawyers Guild will be on the ground throughout the day.

You may or may not agree but they are speaking up. They are not lazy or self absorbed — they are fighting for their future.

Photo Credit: RedhatRob.com

Blogs, Frogs and Dogs

How many blogs do you read?

Do you know what an RSS feed is?

If not, think of it as an inbox. A virtual inbox where you send information that you want to read later on. Google reader is a good tool (RSS)  for managing electronic information.

I send the posts from about 40 different blogs to my reader and at night when I’m watching TV — I scan through my inbox. Would I rather be reading something else? Yes, often I would, but this is what I need to do to stay in business.

If you’re a job seeker… how are you adding value to your network? Are you synthesizing information? Are you a producer of content not just a consumer?

Not sure which blogs to read?  How many civil engineering blogs do you think there are? well, here’s the top 50!  and here are the top 10 dog blogs…  and top 10 science blogs. Read as many as you can, be interested and interesting.

My point is… get used to getting your information from a real time resource like blogs, twitter, ning groups, etc.

If we are going to be effective at work, model appropriate change behavior for our children and proactively manage our personal growth– we need to change and fast.  Like taking vitamins for our health, we better learn to absorb new information everyday.

Photo credit: Mylotphotos.com

Balance Yourself Not Your “Work/Life”

When I was a young mother (back in the last century), there was a lot of talk about work/life balance and how “women” needed to work harder to ‘find’ it. The only thing I needed to find was a few hours sleep and someone else to plan dinner and drive the kids all over the place.

It’s better today because both men and women are looking to balance their responsibilities and my observation is that they are doing a fine job. Their bosses and workaholic colleagues might disagree but the truth is, they understand that it’s about balancing themselves — not their work/life. They only have one life and work, family, play, learning are all part of it.

If you look at the younger generation and think they don’t get it… take a look in the mirror. My friend Hannah Morgan (Career Sherpa) was telling me about “helicopter” parents. These parents who think it’s perfectly ok to go to a career fair with their college senior! A College CAREER FAIR!

My kids would barely let me review their college applications never mind go with them to a job interview. Michael Jackson wrote these great lyrics from The Man In The Mirror—”Take A Look At Yourself, And Make A Change”. Yes, please.

Photo credit: Believe in you

Stop Using Facebook

I’m a capitalist and an entrepreneur and respect people who start businesses.

What I don’t like are businesses that take advantage of customers. In the world of Free (think Facebook (FB), Google, Twitter, etc.) are services really free?

I have been teaching social media for about 3 years and have heard 100′s of FB stories. Some heart warming (“I keep in touch with my grandchildren”), others disturbing:  lost job opportunities, stalking, loss of privacy and being fired. If only people had thought a little about what they were sharing, many of these terrible circumstances could have been prevented.

In reading the post, “The Facebook Hiatus”, the author deactivated his account because he spent more time reading “status updates than books.” Beyond the issue of time, are you aware of how, how often and with whom FB shares your data?

“Unlike other big corporations, (FB) doesn’t have an inventory of gadgets or cars; its product is personal data — yours and mine, ” says Lori Andrews in, Facebook is Using You.

As FB goes public, we’ll see even more exploitation due to sagging ad revenue. Ads will now be inserted into your news feed and on log out pages.

I know you love FB. All your friends are there. I don’t really expect you to stop using Facebook, I just want you to think before you post.

Photo credit: Inkstainedknuckles.com

Be Bold and Great Forces Will Assist You

Each of us has something important to do in this life.

I believe that with all my heart.

When I say important, I don’t mean big… I mean significant. These are 2 very different things. The cool part is that each of us gets to find it. No one else can tell us what it is.

Some of us will find it and rise to the occasion and many of us will recognize it but will let fear or judgement keep us from it.

We can learn a lot about living today from,  the Top 5 Regrets of Dying People.

1) Be true to yourself. This in itself is an act of courage.

2) Don’t work so much. (Millenials already get this and we Baby Boomers criticize them for it instead of understanding their point.)

3) Express your feelings. I know it’s hard, but there are substantial rewards for saying things that you feel deeply.

4) Stay in touch with friends.

5) Give yourself permission to be happy. Even though the pain of changing seems to outweigh whatever we fear we’re facing, we continue to do the same things over and over. Be brave and be happy.

If you don’t know what is holding you back, talk to someone. Reason things out. Avoid gossip and criticism. These are just ways to hide from yourself.

Truly great people don’t think less of themselves… they think of themselves less.

Photo credit: One step at a time