Learning that humans only recently developed the concept of extinction. Much of the West, for example, believed in a Great Chain of Being, spontaneous generation, and a biblical flood. That perspective suggests that many past behaviors we consider unconscionable may have seemed even humane then, like walking up to a rhinoceros and shooting it in the head. If you can’t imagine it going extinct because new ones will form, how[…] Keep reading →

I’m commenting on threads on the environment in various social media outlets, partly to participate, partly to practice. First-time posts new ideas and views often provoke argument and criticism, so I find it useful to refine my thoughts. My goals with new ideas is to help lead based on one of my definitions of leadership: to help people do what they wanted but couldn’t figure out how to. I think[…] Keep reading →

Some researchers have responded to flaws in terms like obesity and measures like body mass index. BMI, for example, doesn’t differentiate between weight from fat versus muscle. They created the term overfat, meaning “excess body fat sufficient to impair health.” Unlike BMI, it doesn’t count very muscular people, who may show high BMIs without being obese. It does count people with excess fat but little enough muscle for their BMI[…] Keep reading →

Remember how enthusiastic Caspar sounded at the end of the first episode? He made doing his commitment sound so easy. Well, sometimes it is, but not always. He emailed me to postpone, saying he hadn’t done as much as he expected. I asked him to consider sharing his actual experience, not a romanticized version of it. This podcast isn’t supposed to say changing your beliefs and habits is easy, but[…] Keep reading →

I don’t remember the last time I wrote a poem. A group I spoke to recently gave me a book of poems on the environment, pictured below, and I didn’t have the presence of mind to decline it, as I try to with most material gifts. Reading it led me to think in poetry, or to try to express myself with it. I’d feel vulnerable sharing with the public something[…] Keep reading →

People say they value diversity. Business school leadership classes taught me that diversity of opinions in decision-making processes led to better outcomes, though the diversity introduced into that process produced divisive conflict. I didn’t ask the professors for the research they based their teaching on, but it’s consistent with my experience. But there is a greater issue than that conflict. I suggest to people things like, “If you want diversity,[…] Keep reading →

Christina Canters of the Stand Out Get Noticed podcast hosted me for the first time in a couple years in “Initiative: How To Bring Your Passions and Ideas To Life with Joshua Spodek.” Listen to the conversation. From the podcast page: Do you want to start a project but don’t have any ideas? Or maybe you have so many ideas you don’t know which one to pick? In this episode,[…] Keep reading →

Sorry for the sad post, but my computer problems endure. I hope the water evaporates so my keyboard works again as I unexpectedly search for a new computer. I’d like to say I’m enjoying my day or two of escape from screens, but I’m ending up doing little things here and there, like meeting people for scheduled video chats. Logging in using only a mouse means taking longer than I’d[…] Keep reading →

People often ask how to help someone who feels burned out in the face of opportunity. Do you push through or move on to potential opportunity? I wrote the following to a mom who said her son seemed burned out pursuing a physics PhD. I was there about 20 years ago. Also about five years later when my company nearly went bankrupt (I’ll put her question below): I have a[…] Keep reading →