Merriam-Webster ascribes roughly 3 definitions to the word “vanity”: conceit, emptiness (or meaninglessness), and a piece of furniture to assist in grooming. Congratulations then to Klout, which has simultaneously managed to fit these disparate criteria in one offering. Continue reading →
Category / business
If it were common sense…
…wouldn’t it be practiced more commonly? I’m justifying some posting on what may seem to be mundane or insanely self-evident subjects. I console myself that a genius like Benjamin Franklin had similar compulsions.
So next up: calendaring. Not rocket science, right? Find a time and place and just meet the person. But now, with our increasingly complicated forms of connecting and communicating, this is evolving into an increasingly painful process. Continue reading →
Make (or take) the meeting
When you are growing either your business or your career (and increasingly, the two are inextricably linked), it’s tempting to focus your time on activities that directly lead to either revenue or job opportunities. The Sirens of Dwindling Bandwidth and The Refrain of Anxious Spouses can easily drive you to flee exploratory, undefined activities, viewing them as luxuries you simply cannot afford.
But these open-ended activities are precisely the things you should be doing. In fact, the greater the degree of turmoil, flux and transition your company (or you) are in, the greater “allocation” you should make to pursuits that may not yield obvious outcomes at the outset.
This is because phases of transition bring ambiguity with them as part of the territory. You are creating a new market or product that doesn’t exist…or you are writing a job description for something you (nor anyone) has done before. Therefore, it’s time to create rather than transact. And creativity requires exploration of things – and people – who know what you don’t. Continue reading →