Thoughts on people, teams, organizations, communities, effectiveness and success
Four data points hit my brain this week. All intersected at the same point.
Choose you!
Point 1: Seth Godin started the theme with a blog post titled Reject the tyranny of being picked; pick yourself.
His point? Don’t succumb to the fantasy that gatekeepers (his word) like book publishers, record producers, and HR recruiters will choose you. … Read the rest
Malcolm Gladwell had Sandy Nininger. I have March Madness. The results are the same.
Mere talent is taking a beating.
Gladwell’s writings – built in part on the work of people like Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth – have shown that raw talent – smarts as we like to say in the business world – is overrated.
Gladwell demonstrated in The Talent Myth that hiring by collegiate pedigree – shorthand for smart – gave us the Enron fiasco (with McKinsey & Co’s significant backing).… Read the rest
When I found Mattuccui’s to catch a March Madness game on a big screen, I knew it would be a “make do” – and a reminder for all of us.
The bar was tucked on a side road just down the street in San Anselmo from where my 8 yo son was having a late morning brithday party for his friend Spencer Hao.… Read the rest
There is the regular stuff that gets you fired; this is about the dumb stuff.
First the regular stuff that causes you and your job to go different ways: position different than advertised, working relationship with boss or key clients never really worked out, company reorganization, you were too good in your role (and it scared people), you were not very good in your job (and it also scared people), somebody senior just didn’t like you, someone bought somebody else (and your job went away) or your company went out of business.… Read the rest
There are lots of ways to make a good first impression.
Here are some ways – all which happened recently – to make make a bad first, second, and continuing impression.
Every job candidate’s dream is to have several job prospects that meet your job specs and simultaneously produce offers when you’re ready to make a decision.
Sometimes it really does work out that way; most of the time it doesn’t. And what you’re left with, as the anonymous poster on Quora this morning noted, is a “way to extend a job offer” so they can see what other offers surface?… Read the rest