Finding value in ourselves humanizes business. I’ve been discussing applying business principles to an individual’s life with a few colleagues. Of interest is some individuals think that business dehumanizes. I ask Why? Business is the exchange of value between organizations, organizations and individuals as well as individuals and individuals. To dehumanize is to deprive of human… Read More
Kids are Awesome
Dropping my daughter off at martial arts after dark, my 4-year-old son said from the back seat, “All the lights have lines.” It took me a good 5 minutes before I realized what he was saying. He was squinting his eyes to diffract the lights in the night through his eye lashes. I was such… Read More
Thoughts Passing
There is a style of meditation that has no focus. If thoughts arise, we are to let them go all the while maintaining a very specific posture. Depending on the posture we maintain it may be difficult to hold for any significant length of time due to the core strength and flexibility required. The thing… Read More
Enriching Feedback
Without feedback, we can not be objective about our own work. With feedback, our work becomes more. It broadens. It deepens. It grows and takes on meaning beyond our limited perspective. When we receive, orient ourselves to, and incorporate feedback we enrich the product of our activities. It’s not just about work. This applies… Read More
Threshold Identity
Our identity constantly evolves with increased change during periods we pass through a threshold. I’ve been working at a growing company for years. We have reached a point of diminished returns on our efforts to grow and change. We maintain instead of improve. We look at the bottom line instead of the whole picture. Our metrics… Read More
Self Relation
How we relate to ourselves directly affects how we interact with others and our environment. Today, I had the pleasure of receiving some quick feedback from a friend of mine on the manuscript for A Valued Life, Managing the Business of You. I haven’t had the chance to go through Steve’s notes, but after a… Read More
Poor Timing
Timing our actions to address deficiencies as soon as they are perceived is more effective than waiting until we think a problem exists. The difficulty is in the perceptions of those that lead, including our leadership of our own lives. Today, I had an executive “help” me with the backlog we have in inspection. This… Read More
Our System
We are living systems. “Living systems are open systems; closed systems are non-living systems. Point: if we don’t communicate with the outside world – to gain information for knowledge and understanding as well as matter and energy for sustenance – we die out to become non-discerning and uninteresting part of that world.” What are… Read More
Feedback
Improvement requires feedback. Adjusting our course to achieve our objectives requires feedback. Efficient acquisition of our targets requires feedback. I recently submitted my manuscript for A Valued Life, Managing the Business of You to a content editor. It’s not easy to hear how someone doesn’t understand the premise of what the business of you… Read More
Life Enrichment
The business of you is all about enriching your own life through our interactions with others, for-profit-businesses as well as our environment. In an age where there is a veritable cornucopia of information on self-improvement, management, leadership, business and positive psychology, we need an idea to bring all of these tools together. That idea is… Read More
Business of You 