Articles in this series examine how a deluge of data can affect the way people think and behave.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
LjjSpeaks: On the air with Clarice Drew on WPRR in Grand Rapids
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Rob and Lynne re-create the cake cutting 25 years ago!
Begin forwarded message:
From: John Zimmerman <johnzim@me.com>
Date: August 28, 2010 7:25:18 PM EDT
To: Lynne Jarman-Johnson <ljj@thejjway.com>
Subject: Happy Anniversary
Sent from my iPhone
Friday, August 27, 2010
New York Times: Recharge your brain by unplugging technology! | Matt Richtel
Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime
By MATT RICHTEL
Published: August 24, 2010
Your Brain on Computers
Jim Wilson/The New York Times
Just another day at the gym.
As Ms. Bates multitasks, she is also churning her legs in fast loops on an elliptical machine in a downtown fitness center. She is in good company. In gyms and elsewhere, people use phones and other electronic devices to get work done — and as a reliable antidote to boredom.
Cellphones, which in the last few years have become full-fledged computers with high-speed Internet connections, let people relieve the tedium of exercising, the grocery store line, stoplights or lulls in the dinner conversation.
The technology makes the tiniest windows of time entertaining, and potentially productive. But scientists point to an unanticipated side effect: when people keep their brains busy with digital input, they are forfeiting downtime that could allow them to better learn and remember information, or come up with new ideas.
Ms. Bates, for example, might be clearer-headed if she went for a run outside, away from her devices, research suggests.
At the University of California, San Francisco, scientists have found that when rats have a new experience, like exploring an unfamiliar area, their brains show new patterns of activity. But only when the rats take a break from their exploration do they process those patterns in a way that seems to create a persistent memory of the experience.
The researchers suspect that the findings also apply to how humans learn.
“Almost certainly, downtime lets the brain go over experiences it’s had, solidify them and turn them into permanent long-term memories,” said Loren Frank, assistant professor in the department of physiology at the university, where he specializes in learning and memory. He said he believed that when the brain was constantly stimulated, “you prevent this learning process.”
At the University of Michigan, a study found that people learned significantly better after a walk in nature than after a walk in a dense urban environment, suggesting that processing a barrage of information leaves people fatigued.
Even though people feel entertained, even relaxed, when they multitask while exercising, or pass a moment at the bus stop by catching a quick video clip, they might be taxing their brains, scientists say.
“People think they’re refreshing themselves, but they’re fatiguing themselves,” said Marc Berman, a University of Michigan neuroscientist.
Regardless, there is now a whole industry of mobile software developers competing to help people scratch the entertainment itch. Flurry, a company that tracks the use of apps, has found that mobile games are typically played for 6.3 minutes, but that many are played for much shorter intervals. One popular game that involves stacking blocks gets played for 2.2 minutes on average.
Today’s game makers are trying to fill small bits of free time, said Sebastien de Halleux, a co-founder of PlayFish, a game company owned by the industry giant Electronic Arts.
“Instead of having long relaxing breaks, like taking two hours for lunch, we have a lot of these micro-moments,” he said. Game makers like Electronic Arts, he added, “have reinvented the game experience to fit into micro-moments.”
Many business people, of course, have good reason to be constantly checking their phones. But this can take a mental toll. Henry Chen, 26, a self-employed auto mechanic in San Francisco, has mixed feelings about his BlackBerry habits.
“I check it a lot, whenever there is downtime,” Mr. Chen said. Moments earlier, he was texting with a friend while he stood in line at a bagel shop; he stopped only when the woman behind the counter interrupted him to ask for his order.
Mr. Chen, who recently started his business, doesn’t want to miss a potential customer. Yet he says that since he upgraded his phone a year ago to a feature-rich BlackBerry, he can feel stressed out by what he described as internal pressure to constantly stay in contact.
“It’s become a demand. Not necessarily a demand of the customer, but a demand of my head,” he said. “I told my girlfriend that I’m more tired since I got this thing.”
In the parking lot outside the bagel shop, others were filling up moments with their phones. While Eddie Umadhay, 59, a construction inspector, sat in his car waiting for his wife to grocery shop, he deleted old e-mail while listening to news on the radio. On a bench outside a coffee house, Ossie Gabriel, 44, a nurse practitioner, waited for a friend and checked e-mail “to kill time.”
Crossing the street from the grocery store to his car, David Alvarado pushed his 2-year-old daughter in a cart filled with shopping bags, his phone pressed to his ear.
He was talking to a colleague about work scheduling, noting that he wanted to steal a moment to make the call between paying for the groceries and driving.
“I wanted to take advantage of the little gap,” said Mr. Alvarado, 30, a facilities manager at a community center.
For many such people, the little digital asides come on top of heavy use of computers during the day. Take Ms. Bates, the exercising multitasker at the expansive Bakar Fitness and Recreation Center. She wakes up and peeks at her iPhone before she gets out of bed. At her job in advertising, she spends all day in front of her laptop.
But, far from wanting a break from screens when she exercises, she says she couldn’t possibly spend 55 minutes on the elliptical machine without “lots of things to do.” This includes relentless channel surfing.
“I switch constantly,” she said. “I can’t stand commercials. I have to flip around unless I’m watching ‘Project Runway’ or something I’m really into.”
Some researchers say that whatever downside there is to not resting the brain, it pales in comparison to the benefits technology can bring in motivating people to sweat.
“Exercise needs to be part of our lives in the sedentary world we’re immersed in. Anything that helps us move is beneficial,” said John J. Ratey, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School and author of “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.”
But all things being equal, Mr. Ratey said, he would prefer to see people do their workouts away from their devices: “There is more bang for your buck doing it outside, for your mood and working memory.”
Of the 70 cardio machines on the main floor at Bakar Fitness, 67 have televisions attached. Most of them also have iPod docks and displays showing workout performance, and a few have games, like a rope-climbing machine that shows an animated character climbing the rope while the live human does so too.
A few months ago, the cable TV went out and some patrons were apoplectic. “It was an uproar. People said: ‘That’s what we’re paying for,’ ” said Leeane Jensen, 28, the fitness manager.
At least one exerciser has a different take. Two stories up from the main floor, Peter Colley, 23, churns away on one of the several dozen elliptical machines without a TV. Instead, they are bathed in sunlight, looking out onto the pool and palm trees.
“I look at the wind on the trees. I watch the swimmers go back and forth,” Mr. Colley said. “I usually come here to clear my head.”
A version of this article appeared in print on August 25, 2010, on page B1 of the New York edition.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Harvard Business Review: Age of Planning to Retire is Growing Older | Gallup Poll
Planned Retirement Age Keeps Rising |
The proportion of working Americans expecting to retire at 65 or older has risen from 44% to 61% over the past decade and a half, while the number predicting retirement before 65 has fallen from 50% to 29%, according to Gallup. The reasons may be related to shifting views on the rewards of working, as well as on the shrinking value of 401(k)s, Gallup says. |
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
LjjSpeaks: If your temper gets the better of you, go one better. Apologize.
iPhone: 616.666.1969
Ljj@TheJjWay.com. Ljjohnson@grcc.edu
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Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
LjjSpeaks: Do we choose or do others choose for us?
Agree or disagree?
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Little Things Matter: 36 Things To Do In Less than 10 Seconds To Make You A Better Person | Todd Smith
Original Post: http://www.littlethingsmatter.com/blog/2010/05/03/36-ways-to-make-a-positive-impression-in-less-than-10-seconds/
There are literally hundreds if not thousands of little things we can do to raise the bar in our professional and personal lives. So many of these things are easy to do and can be accomplished in less than 10 seconds. They just require an intentional effort.
What is CRITICAL to understand is that your ultimate success, fulfillment and happiness will come from doing the little things that matter.
As entrepreneur and best selling author Harvey Mackay said, “Little things don’t mean a lot. They mean everything.”
Here is a short list of 36 things you can do in less than 10 seconds that will make you a better person, enhance your self-image and improve the quality of your life.
1. Make it a point to say the words ”I love you” to the people in your home every single day.
2. Offer a friendly authentic smile- a great smile radiates warmth, puts people at ease and makes you likable.
3. Make comfortable eye contact- your eyes send messages; establishing and maintaining eye contact with people demonstrates confidence, respect, and genuine interest.
4. Use someone’s name – everyone likes to hear and see his or her name.
5. Acknowledge people- smile and say hi to the people around you.
6. Express your appreciation- say “thank you” to everyone who does something for you even if they are paid to do it.
7. Be unselfish and put others first- it could be as simple as holding the door open for someone.
8. Offer a word of encouragement- sometimes this is all a person needs to build confidence and take the next big step. This is big!
9. Accept responsibility when you are wrong- it’s the sign of a person with character.
10. Be friendly- it lifts the attitude of others and is the #1 factor in being likable.
11. Maintain a positive mental attitude- your attitude is a choice and that choice is 100% within your control.
12. Be kind and considerate- to people you know as well as strangers.
13. Be like a dog and be the first to greet people- it helps new people entering the room feel more comfortable and demonstrates your interest in them.
14. Offer people you meet a warm greeting- this will set the tone for the entire encounter.
15. Say please- make it a habit to use the word please EVERY TIME you ask someone to do something for you even if they are paid to do it.
16. Get up and walk into the other room to speak to someone, rather than yelling.
17. Put the toilet seat down.
18. Turn your head and cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough.
19. Improve your body posture- poor posture is an indication of low self-esteem.
20. Say goodbye- make a good last impression.
21. Offer a proper handshake- a good, firm handshake demonstrates confidence and makes a good impression.
22. Give someone a hug- a hug is a sign that you really care for the other person.
23. Proof your email, text or post- this is an important component of portraying a professional online brand.
24. Click the LIKE button on someone’s Facebook post- it’s an easy way to demonstrate interest.
25. Turn off your phone in meetings- even though your phone may not make sounds, your eyes and attention will be diverted from the other people in attendance and your lack of attention demonstrates disrespect.
26. Repeat your phone number twice when leaving a voicemail- speaking slowly and repeating your phone number will make you stand out.
27. When scheduling appointments use the other person’s time zone- this avoids misunderstandings or missed opportunities.
28. Speak with life and energy in your voice- no one likes to be around people who are “dead, dull and lifeless.”
29. Walk with a bounce in your step- it’s evidence of an energetic attitude that ultimately leads to success.
30. Turn off the notifications that are bugging those around you.
31. Write things down- it prevents you from forgetting things that are important.
32. Say something positive to others about another person- reverse gossip.
33. Congratulate your opponent- good sportsmanship is evidence of leadership.
34. Introduce yourself- be proactive and introduce yourself to people whom you have never met.
35. Look for the good in others and tell them what you see- you have the ability to bring out the best in people, especially when they may not know it themselves.
36. Hold in that fart- the pain will go away in less than 10 seconds.
As you can see, each of these tips is easy to do. They don’t require any formal education or financial investment. We can begin to incorporate them into our lives this very minute. All we need is to be conscious of them and be willing to take 10 seconds to do them.
Let me encourage you to print out this list and put an asterisk beside the ones you are committed to working on. Track your results and see how you do.
This is just a small sampling of the things we can do in less than 10 seconds to make a positive impression on others. What are some other simple things we can do in less than 10 seconds? I look forward to reading them in the comments section below this post.
About the Author: Todd Smith is a successful entrepreneur of 29 years and founder of Little Things Matter. To receive Todd’s daily lessons, subscribe here.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Harvard Business Review: Do you diminish your team's work with your managing style?
Managing Yourself: Bringing Out the Best in Your People
Consider the senior vice president of marketing who, week after week, suggests new targets and campaigns for your team—forcing you to scurry to keep up with her thinking rather than think for yourself and contribute your own ideas. Or, the vice president of product development who, despite having more than 4,000 top-notch software engineers on staff, admits that he listens to only a couple of people at development meetings, claiming “no one else really has anything much to offer.” These leaders—we call them “diminishers”—underutilize people and leave creativity and talent on the table.
At the other extreme are leaders who, as capable as they are, care less about flaunting their own IQs and more about fostering a culture of intelligence in their organizations. Under the leadership of these “multipliers,” employees don’t just feel smarter, they become smarter. One example is K.R. Sridhar, a renowned scientist and the CEO of Bloom Energy, a green-tech firm. Sridhar recruits elite talent but is careful not to cultivate prima donnas, who might dominate the team’s thinking. When one of his star scientists began relentlessly pushing his own ideas, even handing Sridhar an ultimatum, the CEO chose to place his bets on the team, even though his decision might jeopardize the next product launch. After the loss of this seemingly critical player, the rest of the team rallied, quickly learned new technologies, and successfully hit the release date.
Although working for multipliers like Sridhar feels great, these leaders aren’t feel-good types; they have a hard edge. They expect stellar performance from employees and drive individuals to achieve extraordinary results.
How do we know this? Several years ago, we embarked on a study to answer the following questions: What are the differences between leaders who multiply intelligence among their employees and those who diminish it, and what impact do they have on the organization? We interviewed senior professionals in industries in which organizational intelligence is a competitive advantage—for instance, IT, health care, and biotech. We asked them to identify two leaders they’d encountered in their careers: one they felt had diminished their intelligence and capabilities and one who had multiplied them. We then studied more than 150 of those selected leaders in more than 35 companies, spanning four continents. We conducted intensive 360-degree analyses of many of these leaders’ behaviors and practices.
We found several critical differences in mind-set between the two types of leaders. The diminisher’s view of intelligence is based on elitism, scarcity, and stasis: That is, you won’t find high levels of brainpower everywhere, in everyone, and if your employees don’t get it now, they never will. The multiplier’s view, meanwhile, is much less cut-and-dried. This type of manager believes smarts are ever evolving and can be cultivated. The critical question for these leaders is not “Is this person smart?” but rather “In what ways is this person smart?” The job, as the multiplier sees it, is to bring the right people together in an environment that unleashes their best thinking—and then stay out of the way.
Getting the most from your team is important all the time; but when the economy is weak, it’s even more critical. You can’t solve talent problems by throwing money at them, swapping in “better” talent at higher salaries. No doubt your employees are stretched tight, but many of your top performers would probably admit to feeling underutilized. Their workloads may be at capacity, but they’re sitting on a stockpile of untapped—or, even worse, thwarted—ideas, skills, and interests.
So while you may think you can’t ask for more from your people in these tumultuous times, it turns out you can. But only if you are willing to shift the responsibility for thinking from yourself to your employees. Our research suggests you can get much more from your team (even twice as much), without adding resources or overhead, if you lead like a multiplier—something you can achieve no matter where you are on the spectrum of leadership styles.
Today's Management Tip was adapted from "Bringing Out the Best in Your People" by Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown. |
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
FastCompany: Iris Scanners - the EYES have it - will "Little Brothers" allow it? The future is now!
Iris Scanners Create the Most Secure City in the World, Welcome Big Brother
BY AUSTIN CARRTodayMonday, August 16, 2010
SmartBrief on Leadership: Unlimited Paid Time Off?! No Strings Attached?!!! Yes Really!!!
Unlimited Vacation Time Not A Dream For Some
Rosemary O'Neill's employees weren't sure whether to believe her when she announced a change in vacation policy early this year.
"When I said, 'Unlimited paid leave, no strings attached,' there was a moment of, 'Are you punking us? Is this a joke?' " O'Neill says.
It was not a joke. O'Neill and her husband, Ted, own Social Strata, a small social media outfit in Seattle. Their business has joined a tiny but growing group: For the first time this year, 1 percent of U.S. businesses say they offer unlimited paid vacation.
For the O'Neills, the change started with an effort to help an employee in crisis. Their financial officer was struggling to care for a badly injured husband while also keeping up with her work. The O'Neills talked about letting her take off whatever time she needed. After all, she was a hard worker, and they trusted her. Then, they realized that was the case with all of their 10 employees.
"My husband said, 'Well, why don't we just do it for everybody!' "
That was a Friday. They called a Monday morning meeting, and, as Rosemary puts it, dropped the bombshell. O'Neill says the new policy aims to go far beyond just letting employees spend August on the beach.
"People have lives," she says. "We want them to be able to, I don't know, take a pottery class or go to their child's play or help a relative who's sick."
World at Work, a human resources group, has been polling businesses about benefits practices since 2002. This year, for the first time ever, 1 percent of companies report that they offer unlimited paid leave.
"Everybody's a doubter, like, 'That can't really be true!' " says Brian Lenz, Social Strata's senior software engineer. He says friends still can't believe he's got it so good.
One of the biggest changes he sees as a result of the policy is that if co-workers are sick now, they're more likely to actually take a sick day, since it no longer cuts into a set chunk of paid time off. Lenz was also grateful for the new policy when he became a father in February.
"I took six weeks off for that," Lenz says. "So that was a real blessing just to be able to have that time with my wife and daughter, that bonding experience."
Why the uptick in unlimited paid leave now? Studies have long shown that — believe it or not — such flexibility actually makes workers more productive and engaged. But Lenny Sanicola, with the human resources group World at Work, which surveys company benefits, suspects something more. Sanicola notes that with all the perks being cut during the recession, vacation time has held its own.
"Perhaps not being able to provide other rewards," he says, "some companies said as long as the work gets done and the productivity that we are looking for is achieved, you don't have to track your time and you can take unlimited leave."
Of course, Sanicola says this is limited to white-collar professionals. He's never heard of it for hourly employees; you can imagine a factory shutting down without a steady stream of workers. In fact, the U.S. is alone in the industrialized world in that millions of mainly low-wage workers have no paid vacation at all.
Some critics worry that in a culture of workaholics, unlimited vacation might really mean no vacation; that without a specified time to be "off" employees might feel pressure to always be "on."
"I personally am enthusiastic about my job," says Steve Swasey, vice president for corporate communications, "and I don't mind checking my BlackBerry when I'm climbing ruins in Guatemala and Honduras, which I've done."
But Swasey says Netflix does not require its workers do that. He calls traditional vacation, in fact the whole 9-to-5 workday, a "relic of the industrial age." Swasey says Netflix values workers who can manage their own time.
"We have engineers who work pretty much around the clock because that's the way they work," Swasey says. "And then they take two months to go visit family in India. We have people who never take a vacation for three years and then take a 90-day trip someplace. But they've earned it."
At Social Strata, vacation season hasn't changed as dramatically as you might imagine. People must still manage time off around deadlines and work that needs to get done. Rosemary O'Neill says no one seems to be taking off much more time than last year. That is, almost no one.
"Well," she says with a laugh, "I took a longer vacation than normal!"
After years of devoting themselves to their business, O'Neill and her husband took their three young children on a monthlong, cross-country road trip. She says she hopes it will inspire employees to set off on their own adventures.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Denise Austin: Simple Steps for Living Stress Free! (It's Friday - That Is A Start!)
Original Post: morningstretch@newsletters.deniseaustin.com
Simple Steps
Live Stress-Free!
Had a run-in with your boss or a fight with your sister — and can't stop thinking about it? Are you overloaded with projects at work and errands at home? Our lives are jam-packed with stress — and that can take a toll on our body and health. Long-term uncontrolled stress can cause chronic conditions like high blood pressure, headaches, and ulcers. Stress can also weaken your body's natural defenses so you're likely to get sick more often.
You don't have to live with stress! There are so many simple ways to cut stress and take back control of your life.
- Say no! If you don't have time for or can't realistically accomplish someone's request without straining yourself, do not agree to it. In most cases, people will understand that you need to put yourself first. If you can't say no to your boss, for example, try not to take on more than you know you can handle.
- Set priorities. We don't always have the luxury of saying no to daily tasks, so stay organized by making a list of everything you need to do. Prioritize your list so you can take care of the most vital items first.
- Stay positive! Stress is not inevitable; it's the way your body reacts to the situation you're in, so it's completely controllable. Keep yourself calm by maintaining a positive attitude. It helps to choose an inspiriting mantra that you can repeat to yourself or image that you can visualize.
- Burn off your stress! Go for a brisk walk or bike ride, or lift weights to let off some steam. Exercise causes the body to release endorphins — chemicals that help you feel better — which help reduce your stress level.
- Practice deep breathing. When we get stressed out, our breathing tends to speed up. So take a break and sit somewhere comfortable and quiet to focus on taking deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Playing soft music can enhance the calming effect.
- Treat yourself! If you had an unusually stressful day or just finished a big, stressful project, go ahead and reward yourself! Not with food, of course, but with something that will help you relax. How about a pedicure or massage, a long bubble bath, or a great book you can curl up with?
- Reach out to others. We can't do it all alone, so don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. A co-worker or supervisor may be able to shed light on a work problem, while your spouse or kids can pitch in to help with household stresses. Even if you must take care of some task or problem yourself, it still helps to talk it over with a friend.
There's no reason to be bogged down by stress for another day. There are seven stress-busting strategies here — put one of them to work every day in the coming week!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Harvard Business Review Daily Stat: How many homes are now CELL only phones?
A Quarter of U.S. Households Are Cell-Only |
24.5% of U.S. households are cellphone-only, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 1.8 percentage points, according to the National Health Interview Survey. Young people, renters, roommates, and lower-income individuals are the most likely to be cell-only users. |
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
SmartBrief on Leadership: Make "Sound" Decisions - Not "Sound Bite" Decisions
Aspiring Managers: Learn to Think Past the Sound Bite
By Steve Tobak | August 9, 2010
We live and work in a fast-paced, media-overload, high-stress world. And while the Internet offers almost limitless viewpoints and data points on pretty much everything you can think of, who’s got time to wade through all those gigabytes and terabytes? So, like it or not, we’re adapting by basing more and more decisions on sound bites and summaries and less and less on deep analysis.
That’s all well and good for your average everyday employee, but for managers and leaders that customers and investors count on to make smart, well-informed decisions, it’s not so good. So if your sites are set on moving up the corporate ladder, as opposed to hanging around the ground floor forever, listen up.
Come to think of it, I’m not all that concerned about those who’ve been around a while. Sure, you’re learning to adapt to this brave new world of quick fixes and instant gratification, but you’re probably set enough in your ways to avoid succumbing to what I like to call ADD decision-making.
I am concerned, however, with the up-and-comers, mostly Generation Yers, who not only grew up in that environment but whose brains are more or less wired that way. I’m concerned that they’re not going to be very effective decision-makers. I’m concerned about their ability to become the managers and leaders of tomorrow.
Now, when I talk about decisions, I’m not talking about the garden variety, like what color background to use in a Powerpoint pitch or when to phase in a new product design. I’m talking about critical management decisions that can affect the success of a product, a key customer relationship, perhaps even the future of a company, not to mention the livelihood and wealth of thousands of employees and shareholders.
Because when you’re in the hot seat, you can’t be making those kinds of calls by skimming the surface. Sure, a gut feel here and there isn’t just okay; it’s a gift and a big part of business success. But most critical business decisions do call for in-depth analysis of some sort, and you’ve got to have a reasonable attention span to pull it off.
In fact, I’ve often noted that a key attribute of successful executives is their ability to digest large amounts of data from lots of sources and use that to formulate new ideas and make smart decisions that aren’t just unique, but oftentimes fly in the face of conventional wisdom. And they don’t do that by listening to the short version of the story.
Look at it this way. Have you noticed that lately our views are becoming more and more bifurcated? Left versus right, Wall Street versus Main Street, capitalism is the American way or greed incarnate. Even Stanford researchers - you know, those really smart innovative folks - post right here on BNET about what it means to be a good boss versus a bad boss. What the heck does that even mean?
That sort of sound-bite thinking is all well and good for riling up comments and page views on a blog, selling books, or getting TV ratings. But the more that way of thinking becomes the way you think and behave at work, the more of an ADD decision-maker you become. And if you’re up for a management job or promotion against someone who doesn’t suffer from that deficiency, you’re going to lose.