Offered without comment, courtesy of American Express Tumblr.
Til Next Time,
Michael
Maximizing Vacation
A topic I’m clearly passionate about: maximizing vacation. I’ve already shared my opinions and what I feel are important considerations on the subject (i.e. should you take all your vacation at once and blow it out or try to do more frequent/smaller excursions to get the best value), and I have been surprised to hear that more and more people actually agree.
Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal ran a lifestyle article on The Smartest Way to Take a Vacation. I think it is an extremely well-done piece. It blends science and psychology to put some real thought behind the best way to optimize your time off. Take a look and see for yourself!
Til Next Time,
Michael
The Case For: Eliminating Annual Performance Reviews
Breaking news (well, yesterday actually)! Accenture, one of the world’s foremost professional services firms, is getting rid of the annual performance review. I applaud this move and think it is truly a forward-thinking, momentous event for Corporate America. Congrats to them and I wish them well. Such a move will surely have its growing pains (How do you ladder? How do compensation reviews/raises work?), but I believe it will save tons of operational and system administration time. Wait and see, I suppose? Or pull the parachute and get over to Accenture if you’re in that industry ASAP?
Til Next Time,
Michael
Tragedy of the Commons
While I was not a Psychology major, and didn’t really even take too many behavioral science courses, it has recently become an interest of mine. Social experimentation through well-published authors like Malcolm Gladwell or Dan Ariely is something I find fascinating.
Which is why, when I stumbled onto this post about a Maryland Professor’s social experiment for extra credit on a final exam, I figured I had to share. I am not surprised in the least that only one class has ever gotten the credit. And that he surmises that class is likely an outlier. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people in Corporate America operate under similar principles… “What’s best for me” is (generally) always chosen over “what’s best for the group”, when all things are equal AND you’re allowed to be anonymous. And I don’t know that this is a bad thing. For me, it is kind of one of those “it is what it is” things. We are only human, and only so far removed from animals. It’s sort of just how we’ve all been programmed from tens of thousands of years of social existence. Perhaps we should just embrace it and figure out other ways to delight and engage the masses!
Til Next Time,
Michael
Infographic of the Day
Millennials + Work Life Balance
I have discussed work life balance previously, and do think that the concept or the idea (or in some cases – the facade that it seems to be for many) is a great conversation starter. I am of the opinion that work life balance is entirely up to the employee – and they are really the only ones with ultimate control over how their work and personal lives intertwine (if at all). I don’t accept excuses like “well this is the only job I can get and I just have to work 100 hours a week or else”. There’s more than one way to respond when you think someone has a loaded gun pointed at your head (Harvey Spector/Suits reference, anyone?).
Which is why I found this article on Work Life Balance for Millennials on Linked In fairly intriguing. Admittedly, I think the title is extremely deceiving and the main point is that there is a new generation of workers that much more make work revolve around personal rather than vice versa (which is how it persisted for many generations prior). Either way, though, it’s a good read and provides some surface-level insight into the work life balance in the millennial generation dilemma.
Til Next Time,
Michael
Happy Independence Day!
As I have stated before, July 4th may very well be my favorite holiday. I love the passion, love the patriotism, and love the unification of our nation around one sure truth – that we are still proud as ever to be American.
Enjoy, be safe, and God Bless America!
Til Next Time,
Michael
Infographic of the Day
7 Habits of Highly Effective Change Leaders
I found a great list of habits from Sandrine Provoost on LinkedIn which she states are shared by effective change leaders. As a change leader, myself, I can commiserate with a lot of these and wanted to pass along the set.
My favorite: Pour Champagne On It – this is so true. We are largely horrible at celebrating success because we’re all too damned concerned about moving on to the next thing. We always say we’ll do it, we’ll always get better at celebrating success. But at the end of the day – we never do. We never carve out time to kick back and relax. Shame on us for that. Shame on our executives for not forcing us to do it. This is one thing we SHOULD change. Immediately.
My least favorite: Practice Makes Perfect – this one hits a sore spot with me. I have an application that just migrated to Agile, and I know I should be embracing this concept much more. But the sheer horror of launching things with clear defects so that you can simply “learn from your mistakes” is too much for me to bear. Every time you put something out there that isn’t fully baked, your’e begging for those impacted by the change to shut down. And I’m in the position where I have to send out the “JK – LOL – This feature doesn’t really work!” emails. That whole getting shot because your’e the messenger thing is never fun… I do keep promising myself to let go a bit more though…
Til Next Time,
Michael
Travel Bloggers’ Hidden Gems
I know, I know… My blog has migrated nearly fully, now, to an ancillary travel blog under the guise of this otherwise great place where I will share all of my wisdom on who/what/when/where/how you can succeed in Corporate America. Sorry for that. I will get back to some real world opinions at some point. For now, though, it’s summer time. And I have the itch to travel.
Hence landing on this article the other day, and thinking I should share with you all… What are some of your hidden gems? I am a huge fan of the couple spots on the Yucatan that several bloggers shared here…
Til Next Time,
Michael