It is only through the act of reflection that we are able to extract from an experience the lessons that can make your life easier and better.
Your Year-End Review
Becoming a Robot
Your employer has a secret fantasy: they wish you were a robot. But what if a robot can't do your job right now? Then expect your employer to use software tools and techniques to prod you to behave more like a robot and less like a human.
Remotely Right or Remotely Wrong?
In my last post, I discussed Airbnb's Work Anywhere Policy. In this post, I take a closer look at what light it sheds on law firm management.
Please End the Misery
It was a headline guaranteed to grab my attention: "Email is making us miserable." And the subtitle really hit home too: "In an attempt to work more effectively, we’ve accidentally deployed an inhumane way to collaborate." This is how Cal Newport began his recent article in The New Yorker on the misery of email. Work... Continue Reading →
Happy Year of the Ruminant
East Asians have just celebrated the lunar new year. While all of them use the Chinese character "yang" to name the animal symbol of the year, some translate yang differently. In Chinese, yang could mean goat, sheep or ram. We're told that it's likely that the ancient meaning in China was goat. The Vietnamese also... Continue Reading →
Happy and Productive New Year!
As we were heading to a festive New Year's Eve dinner, our cab driver asked (tongue in cheek) whether we wanted to go to Times Square. Our negative response was so emphatic that he had to laugh. Now don't get me wrong. I understand that for some folks their idea of a good time is... Continue Reading →
Find Your Focus
New Year, new beginnings. At this point in the calendar, the blogosphere is full of lots of advice for those of us who welcome the opportunity of a new beginning. Since I'd like to avoid here one of the besetting sins of bloggers (i.e., hypocrisy), I'm going to restrict myself to sharing advice that I'm... Continue Reading →
December’s Race to the Finish Line
We've got one month left until the end of the year, one month to close the books on 2011. If you're like me, you've got more on your To Do list than can possibly be done before year end. How does this happen? Most likely it's because that To Do list does not adequately take... Continue Reading →
Are You a Force Multiplier?
On most days, my To Do List seems longer than the Nile River. It contains everything from the quotidien (remember the milk!) to the critical -- tasks that trigger serious consequences. On days when it seems like I add two tasks for every one I complete, it can be tempting to focus on the noisiest... Continue Reading →
Resisting Temptation
"I can resist everything but temptation," Oscar Wilde once said. Nowadays, if you look around most offices, you'll discover lots of folks who appear to agree with Oscar Wilde. They spend time during regular business hours on Facebook, checking personal email, indulging in online shopping, or just surfing the web. In fact, it can seem... Continue Reading →
Above and Beyond KM 