The ambiguity of talent We use the word talent to connote skill or expertise. Often, we mean an individual with intrinsic aptitudes toward a thing. Whether it be athletics or mathematics, it’s someone with unusual ability. Organizational recruiters look for specific aptitudes in potential employees. We perceive these capacities as our own, as our property […]
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The end of work Ever since the Industrial Revolution, futurists have been forecasting the end of work. Recently, journalist Derek Thompson wrote in The Atlantic Monthly about the imminence of widespread joblessness. He used the perspective of Youngstown, Ohio. Youngstown boasted one of the more prosperous economies in the country, mostly due to the flourishing
Number 12 Brady A friend from church gave me Brady’s Pro Ball 2014 shirt several weeks ago. The shirt sits in proud display in our hallway. It is brought out when a friend with an interest in football visits. Or sometimes those with no interest. Joe, giver of the shirt, joined us for one of
Creativity is something most of us cannot get enough of, right? Because each day we are placed in situations requiring us to be inventive, imaginative, innovative. Whether a stay- at- home- mom, engineer, salesperson, mechanic, or a writer, we are immersed in situations which require imaginative responses. Angry customers, bored kids, touchy husbands and new
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The value of critics In a recent post, I talked about the cost of a scathing review I received from an anonymous reviewer. I did not mention that this was a review I solicited as in paid for. The cost I spoke about wasn’t the money, it was the denunciation, the rebukes…the heat in my
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Watching the unfair calls on Lebron James during the second game of the final NBA playoffs helped when I received a scathing review of my first novel. A little anyway. We’ve been told that life isn’t fair since we were small tykes. But does it help when three flagrant fouls in front of the referee
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Remember Big Hairy Audacious Goals? Made famous a couple of decades ago by management and leadership gurus like Tom Peters, BHAG stands for big, hairy, audacious goals. I was reminded of my love hate relationship with goals by Dan Pink while listening to a podcast of his speech to the 2014 graduating class of Northwestern
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Pete Carroll as a Coach of writers or supplier of 5 writing lessons is not well known. For good reason because football coaches don’t teach others how to write, they teach others how to play football. And yet Carroll’s coaching philosophy, one which landed him and the Seattle Seahawks into two successive Super Bowls, is
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Strange word, deadline: Sounds somber even grim. Of late, I’ve been thinking about goals, targets, and yes, deadlines and mind games. I need to complete my latest book. Mostly because those who know I’m working on it are asking, ‘When will you finish the next book?’ Simple question, right? Not loaded with animosity, simply curiosity.
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Why should I listen to you? “Why should I listen to you?” was a rhetorical question asked and answered a few decades ago when I decided to stop watching the news. Initially, my reason was a simple one. I lived alone with my first Doberman during the time of a series of home invasions in
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