Category: work

  • (re)start tiny

    (re)start tiny

    In 2009 I knew I needed a change of role and perspective at work, but not what exactly that need pointed to. I found a lot of inspiration in Tama Kieves, who among other things was incredibly, deliciously great at saying wise things in few words. I am… not. So I attended a workshop weekend…

  • sucking at something is the first step

    sucking at something is the first step

    During the holidays, my partner gifted me this sweet notebook that makes me think “Workers of the the world, unite!” Right? This repurposed book cover would have suited something from the WPA, Marx or Trotsky. Or maybe Che Guevara – check out the mustache on the dude second row center. I love this thing. My…

  • meaning is an everyone problem

    A common reaction when I tell people what I do for a living [After “So you travel around the world doing trust falls?”] is that it must be nice to be able to afford to care about how much you like work. It’s true, I mostly deal in the problems of white collar workers –…

  • aim for good

    aim for good

    I heard this idea at a coaching conference a year or so ago (thus my vague attribution – I don’t actually remember who said it), in a talk about powerful questions. Coaches spend most of their time listening and understanding, and use questions to help spark insight. What do you think happens when a coach…

  • bad workplaces are depressing

    A few months ago, Gallup published a survey that shows us disengagement at work makes people depressed and sick. But what is this engagement thing, and why does its lack make us feel so lousy? I’m suspicious of talk about “engagement”. It seems, more than anything, to get used to shift the focus of organizational…

  • slightly positive change in reviewing “performance”

    My intuition (fed with years of management science & motivational theory) says that adapting the conventional annual review notion as Atlassian recently announced they’re doing) won’t make a significant difference in employee morale or motivation. It’s still good to see someone noting that their GE-inspired system of “pay for performance” is utterly demotivating and more-or-less…

  • a nice work space example

    The folk at 37 Signals (if you’re a PM, you might know them for Basecamp) have a new office. It looks, on a shaky handheld video, like a nice space. They’re doing with the new space what everyone should start doing: making exterior walls and windows open for working spaces, not conference rooms or offices.…