I don’t know about you, but a lot of people see me as nerdy and geeky. Growing up, the labels intimidated and debilitated me. Athletes seemed to get more attention and respect. I associated doing well in science and math with being made fun of. Since I did well in those subjects I hid my ability and didn’t make a show of it. When I started college I took a[…] Keep reading →
Here’s another post in my Genius Business Idea series one day after the first. This one came during the same homework assignment as yesterday’s, I hope indicating great ideas can come quickly. Like many ideas, this one also came from personal experience. For all I know, such a profession already exists, but I don’t know about it so I’m writing it up anyway. The unmet need If you’ve had your[…] Keep reading →
I haven’t posted something for my Genius Business Idea series in a while. I thought of this when I also did a homework assignment I assigned my students in the class I’m teaching at NYU. The unmet need Many people are choosing to take vacations from work without leaving their home towns, which they’re calling “staycations.” They cost less money and take less planning while still giving people a chance[…] Keep reading →
A longtime reader and friend told me a way he put together to make himself feel better, going back to my 2009 post, “Less, please“. He said “You know how I get to feel better when I’m feeling down? You have your burpees and SIDCHAs. I do my Joshua Spodek Ten. Whenever I feel down, I set a goal of getting rid of ten things.” He described that he had[…] Keep reading →
How to up-lead After my leadership seminars, someone always says “This material is great. I can see how it will improve my life. I’m starting to implement it. But you know who could really use it? My boss!” Most of my clients who have problems at work wish they could change their bosses, a process I call up-leading or up-managing. Come to think of it, our success developing up-leading skills[…] Keep reading →
On another forum I got into a dialog about the mental models of introversion and extroversion I found relevant, given my posts here. My goal on treating the mental model of the one-dimensional introversion-extroversion is deeper than examining this one mental model. It’s to show how much people can confuse mental models with actual observations. Without that confusion you can reject models that inhibit you. They see the mental models[…] Keep reading →
If you read this page, you know I consider the government’s spying one of the greatest threats to freedom we face. Even wars we enter with some intent to stop some day, but I don’t see anyone who wants to increase the spying acknowledging any intent to scale it back. It looks to me a one-way increase in the executive branch’s power at the expense of the other two branches’,[…] Keep reading →
[This post is part of a series on Communication Skills Exercises for Business and Life. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view the series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] Has an interviewer ever begun a question with “Can you tell me a time when …” or asked you about your experience? Such questions arise in job interviews,[…] Keep reading →
[This post is part of a series on Cold Showers. If you don’t see a Table of Contents to the left, click here to view that series, where you’ll get more value than reading just this post.] What is creative avoidance? You know the feeling, or rather the mental chatter. The scene: Some time ago you told yourself you would do something challenging. Maybe going to the gym, talking to[…] Keep reading →