Monthly Archives: October 2012

Always remember the media wants to sell ads

on October 31, 2012 in Blog, Nature

I watched the news about the hurricane approaching. They had me scared. During the storm I went for a walk. People were out in shorts, T-shirts, and flip-flops. They were walking their dogs, no problem. I’m sure the storm was worse in some places. I just logged on and haven’t had the chance to read much news and I hear there was a lot of damage. But I know the[…] Keep reading →

No power? No complaints.

on October 30, 2012 in Blog, Nature

My rule for posting has been not to miss a day. In the words of my friend who started me writing If you miss one day, you can miss two. If you miss two, it’s all over. Words to live by. Our habits define a big part of who we are. I hope people don’t mind my back-posting today. Downtown Manhattan is without power, water, internet, etc. The hallways and[…] Keep reading →

Measuring costs of disasters, modeling your world, and accounting

on October 29, 2012 in Blog, Nature

A hurricane or tropical storm is hovering in the Atlantic soon to hit the east coast, including my home in New York City. I keep seeing predictions of the size of the damages from however the storm affects us. You see similar predictions of the size of how many things affect us — people estimate, say, how much money in productivity traffic delays cause us and things like that. I[…] Keep reading →

Social challenges can be harder than technical

on October 28, 2012 in Blog, Leadership

When I was younger and studied physics when I thought of the Egyptian pyramids I would wonder at how they overcame the engineering challenges — how did they get the big rocks to the top, how did they measure the angles accurately enough, and so on. As I got older, worked in larger teams with more intricate teamwork, and led teams my sense of marvel shifted from overcoming engineering challenges[…] Keep reading →

The simple pleasures of home

on October 27, 2012 in Blog

My five months in Shanghai have been my longest time away from home in a long time — probably since my year in Paris about twenty years ago. And I was even home for a week in August. I could write a lot about what I like about home, but I’ll keep it simple with the top few. Sleeping in my own bed Mom’s home cooking for Thanksgiving Nieces and[…] Keep reading →

Know your self-talk, lead others

on October 26, 2012 in Awareness, Blog, Leadership

The past few posts talked about using self-talk to lead yourself. Today I’ll mention a few things about leading others by influencing their self-talk. To me, influencing someone’s self-talk feels easier than changing their beliefs, but the effect is roughly the same. Trying to change other people’s beliefs sounds hard, especially if you can’t change your own beliefs. It’s easier when you realize some simple things about how others have[…] Keep reading →

Know your self-talk, know yourself, part 2

on October 25, 2012 in Awareness, Blog, Leadership, Tips

Knowing your self-talk lets you change how you perceive and influence your world more than almost anything. That knowledge helps you understand and influence how your team members, peers, bosses, and so on perceive their worlds. It’s a powerful lever. Your beliefs affect how you perceive your world. Everything you observe gets filtered through your beliefs. If you think Bob is a jerk, you will filter everything you see about[…] Keep reading →

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