I get excited all the time: During Steelers games (well maybe not this year).  When I get a new idea.  When I read a book.  When I think something cool's about to happen. If you talk to most people they will tell you excitement is a good thing.  We want our clients to be excited by our products.  We want our audiences to be excited by our words.  I want you to be excited about this blog. But sometimes excitement is the enemy.  Sometimes enthusiasm kills. How you ask?  Because when we get excited we can often lose our way.  We run blindly ...

There is a new controversy in Cincinnati, which is where I live.  Perhaps the word controversy is too strong.  But there is movement afoot on the "dissatisfied people of America" front.  Who are the?  Well if you read the news you will quickly discover that they are everyone. Let me explain... In Cincinnati a group of people who don't believe that a god exists have placed a billboard reading, "Don't believe in God? You are not alone." Don't panic.  This isn't a post about whether you should believe in ...

"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 ...

The last year has been particularly hard on people.  The economy has been stagnant at best, and in a free fall at worst.  Now there's rumors of a recovery under way.  I don't know if that's true or not.  That's for economists to debate. But for the people directly impacted by the economy this has been a painful time.  Downsizing often brings health problems (headaches, physical illness, sleeping issues) and emotional problems (depression, anger, stress). Many people turn to alcohol and drugs ...

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 ...