Work, success and meaning at every stage of your career
I am a person who is almost never bored. I have an active mind and plenty of projects and plans to keep myself occupied. I’m also a voracious reader, so there’s always something new being planted in my brain. Nope – never bored. But now I’m thinking that might not be a good thing. Nicola … Continue reading On Being Bored
Blogger Phil Agnew wrote a great post about Steve Jobs’s ability to persuade. He writes of Jobs: “His ability to convince billions of people to buy his products at premium prices was no coincidence.” One of the techniques Jobs used so effectively was “The Labor Illusion.” The labor illusion suggests that when people witness the effort and … Continue reading The Labor Illusion
(This is a reprint of a post from 2015.) I attended a national conference in 2015 and had the great pleasure of hearing Victor Hwang speak. At the time he was CEO of T2 Venture Creation, a Silicon Valley firm that builds startup companies and designs the ecosystems that foster entrepreneurial innovation. He’s also the author … Continue reading Be a Weed
Here’s another take on this weird, endless, awful year: let’s consider it a gap year. Seth Godin writes that many students are considering taking a gap year, delaying starting or continuing college until things return to normal – or as close to it as we can get. But Godin says the gap year is a … Continue reading Our National Gap Year
A healthy sense of curiosity is what separates a great worker from an uninspired drone. If you’re looking for a spark to light up your company, consider looking for curious people.
Hwang uses the metaphor of the rainforest to talk about innovation and creativity, and he starts by comparing it to the plantation, where crops are raised like a business.
If you think of your career goals as a problem to be solved, then creativity would be a wonderful asset to have. Indeed, being considered “creative” has a wonderful ring to it and beings up all kinds of positive associations. Yet only a small percentage of people would describe themselves as creative. Why?
Your Work, Your Way 