April 2011
27 posts
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Does Free Work = Slavery?
This article (“Unpaid jobs: The new normal?”) is getting a lot of heated discussion and opinion in the comments. The writer discusses the growing trend of companies using free labor to get things done and the high competition that can exist for even these positions. Should people have to work long hours in the crucial departments that make a company run (marketing, accounting, etc) and...
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“Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity. Why would you...”
– Will Smith (Actor)
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The Veggie Principle
When you were a kid, your mom made you eat vegetables and other new foods. Not only did she know that it would be good for you nutritionally, but there was chance you’d actually like it. Your taste buds weren’t developed enough yet, plus you really didn’t know what you liked anyways.
Hobbies, interests, and things you are “into” are a lot like this. Most of us...
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Create a Holiday
Yesterday was Earth Day. Last Saturday was Record Store Day. We have special days all the time to get together with people who believe what we believe, have an experience that gives us a strong sense of community, and even buy stuff sometimes.
I love the tv show LOST. What if there was a special LOST day each year? LOST fans in each city could rewatch favorite episodes, debate time travel at the...
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First Impressions
Combining elements from American Idol, The Sing-Off, and America’s Got Talent, NBC’s newest music-based show called The Voice brings a new twist to popular reality talent shows. Contestants take stage, but instead of the typical “all-eyes-watching-every-move-you make” approach, the four celebrity judges (Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee-Lo Green, and Adam Levine of...
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Turn an LOL Into a Great Big OMG
Prediction: In the next few years, there will be a movement of people, lead by teachers, who will propose having “social norms” courses (how to interact with people) in classrooms.
This movement will be prompted by two causes:
1.) Due to the wide spread use of cell phones, texting, Facebook, and online social interaction, students growing up with technology all around them are...
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“…inventing a job is better than finding a job.”
– Douglas Urbanski (playing Larry Summers in The Social Network)
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Fixing A Hole
I have some holes in my resume and skill set. I don’t know much about the technical side of video. I’m only slightly knowledgeable in HTML. There are still a lot of social platforms I haven’t even used yet.
Instead of letting these things limit the kind of work or jobs I can get, I can choose to fix them. There are ample opportunities for you and I to access experts who could...
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How to Make a List of Jobs You Care About
Yesterday, I talked about a new way to look at job searching - start by finding places you care about. But how do you make a list?
Here’s a short list of suggestions of how to find places you could care about working at:
- What places do you regularly visit in your area and enjoy the vibe? The people who work there? The product/service?
- Think about places you have read about in local...
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Changing the Way We Look For Jobs
Here are two very different ways that people search for jobs:
1.) Start with want ads, Craigslist, Monster.com, and other job listings places. Browsing lists of jobs in your city or state that fall into categories and industries the searcher has worked in before. Apply for those jobs that you feel interested in and qualified for hoping for an interview.
2.) Thinking about which companies,...
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Today, I Rested
Instead of visiting my to-do list or working on a big task today (which I often still do on weekends), I took the day to slow down.
Recharge.
Relax.
Breathe deep.
Its obviously good for your body to catch up after you’ve been working hard for a long time, but its also hugely advantageous for your mind. While I love to continuously engage with new concepts, ideas, debates, stories, and...
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Money Down the Drain
When I was catching up on The Office today, Hulu gave me the choice to watch a long video (about 2.5 minutes) before my show or have commercial breaks. Obviously, I picked the longer video at the front end so I could just enjoy the show straight through. While Hulu is providing a great feature for users, this has to be mostly money down the drain for advertisers. Since most people probably...
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Interchangeable Parts
One of the most unhelpful things I learned in college was how to write a resume. Most bosses throw a resume in the trash after looking at it for less than 10 seconds, so the worst thing you can do is have that happen. To maximize your chances of getting a job and avoid the “circular file bin,” this is how you should format, design, and write it. Sure, the people who were teaching me...
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The First 2 Seconds
Blink is currently blowing my mind. More to come…
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Common Language
One of the best parts of sharing books with friends and coworkers is the gained ability to use common language with them once you have both read the work. After both people have read through the book (or article or blog post), a mutual understanding of it can allow deeper levels of discussion. Using short phrases loaded with meaning like “flip the funnel,” “the golden...
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Your Search Results
Do you ever search for your name on Google? Everyone has at least once, probably mostly out of curiosity. For a lot of people, the first results are their Facebook profiles, but after that, the results can get a bit odd sometimes. There may even be stuff out there you had forgotten about.
Over the past few years, I’ve really come to realize the importance of being mindful of the Google...
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One Step at a Time
What small step are you going to take this week towards becoming more __________ ?
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Let's Give Them Something To Talk About
My favorite section of Gary Vaynerchuk’s newest book The Thank You Economy is titled Shock and Awe. Gary talks about what one hotel group is doing to blow away their customers with one-of-a-kind experiences. The employees of Joie de Vivre Hotels (literally “the joy of life”) look for opportunities to create over-the-top experiences for the guests based on why they might be...
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The Irony of Light Bulb Moments
Aha! I’ve got it!
We often wait eagerly for our own light bulb moment when all becomes clear. We’ll have a split-second realization of how to put the pieces together. Our invention/business idea/book concept will be so rich and complete that there will be no way to deny its immanent impact in the marketplace and world. A “light bulb moment!”
Thomas Edison is cringing.
...
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“I am not overly impressed by the great names and reputations of those who might...”
– Thomas Edison
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Systematic Creativity
We’ve all heard “light-bulb moment” stories. A then-unknown inventor/businessman/writer has a sudden epiphany in which he or she realizes in a moment a brilliant idea that will go on to define their life. These geniuses are rare and while we all would love to emulate them, we realize that creativity and unique ideas are reserved for certain people.
In the book Made to Stick,...
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Show Others What You Do
I was driving the other day and noticed a fairly average looking work van that advertised on the side that it was the property of an office and home cleaning company. The vehicle was filthy. Now I understand that it’s the end of messy spring, but if you were in the cleaning business, wouldn’t it make sense to try to make your trucks look strikingly clean? Not just clean, but...
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Skillshare
“Learning is not a product of schooling but the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” —Albert Einstein
I just ran across the new site Skillshare yesterday. Skillshare is a place to “learn anything from anyone” and aims to be a place to connect people to a wide variety of learning. Why should learning be limited to just the classroom we all grew up in? The site wants to expand...
