Most of us don’t have the luxury of working from home.  Most of us are still trapped in the cubicle farms or factory floors.  Of course that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.  But many times it is.  Besides all of the usual hassles and issues of working with others (to err is human!), there is something I think we overlook – noise. I was thinking about that today as I was having a hard time concentrating.  In my current consulting role I spend a lot of time in a cubicle.  Why?  Because sometimes there is no better way to ...

Even in the days of instant email, instant videos and instant oatmeal, some things are just too slow. this weekend I ordered a new mouse for my computer.  My old mouse, which I have owned for more than a decade, finally died.  So after much deliberation I finally settled on a Logitech G500.  I had considered a more expensive Logitech mouse, but decided it wasn’t worth the $30 or $40 difference. Well Amazon “knew” I was looking at mice and today sent me an email announcing a sale for ...

"All too often education actually acts as a form of aversion therapy, that what we're really teaching our children is to associate learning with work and to associate work with drudgery so that the remainder of their lives they will possibly never go near a book because they associate books with learning, learning with work and work with drudgery. Whereas after a hard day's toil, instead of relaxing with a book they'll be much more likely to sit down in front of an undemanding soap opera because this is obviously teaching them nothing, so it is not learning, so it ...

A while back we discussed the benefits of Realistic Job Previews.  Well not everyone works in industry and hires employees.  Sometimes what we really need to do is bring in volunteers.  This is the case for churches, political campaigns, community outreach and a wide variety of other activities. As anyone who's lead volunteers knows, one of the hardest things to do is keep them motivated and committed.  Part of this challenge comes from the volunteers themselves.  They lead busy, hectic lives with wives, boyfriends, kids, friends, work etc....  Sometimes the last thing they can ...

There is a reason books like the Purpose Driven Life and 7 Habits of Highly Effective People sell in huge numbers.  People want to understand why they are here.  They want to know what their purpose is.  They want to make a difference. No one grows up thinking, “if only I could be a failure.  Then my life would be complete.” Meaning is a life-long journey that we all strive for.  Some of us find it.  Some of us look for it our entire lives.  And some of us have given up a long, long time ago. So what does this mean for ...