NonsenseAtWork

When I was a kid, the build-up to Christmas was long and slow. Nowadays it just seems to arrive. No slow build-up. No bubbling anticipation.

How do I fire thee? Let me count the ways. (Sorry, Elizabeth Barret Browning.) By now you have surely heard of the 900 employees fired via Zoom. Well, it's a management trend encouraged by technology advances, nothing more.

It's true. Every cloud has a silver lining. Here's another. Working from home and mandated social distancing have curtailed the stupid notion of fun at work. And hopefully killed that oxymoron, the festive office party, once and for all.

During my early years in the USA, I often made cultural blunders. One of my first offenses was to wonder why anyone would drive around in a chicken coop.

It’s almost that formal time to give thanks and you know what I’m thinking?

If anything, isolation increased the need for a little gossip. Real, fake, or in between. (You thought Instant Messaging during group video calls was for serious communication?)

How do you know when the time is right to make a decision?

If you plan to make change happen, who should you influence?

Here’s a game that will help you practice your focus on what matters.

Do you have an open Zoom policy? Or an open Teams policy? Or an open Virtual policy? Okay, that last one makes little sense. Working from home has taught us we shouldn’t risk an open webcam policy.

Do you want to know why you struggle to be promoted? In one word, laziness. No, not your laziness. (Well, maybe yours, but let’s ignore that for a moment.)

There are two basic ways to motivate followers. Make them stretch or make them reach.

Believe it or not, I did not play soccer (or football) in my younger days. I played rugby. I liked it because, whenever I touched the ball, I had fourteen muscled guys backing me up.

Do you find it more difficult to adapt and change as you age? Blame it on time.

The other morning I was stuck behind a big yellow bus. I had to stop three times before I got away. Life, it seemed, wanted me to slow down and smell the fumes.

We seem to have a knack for kidding ourselves that a holiday is as good as a vacation. 

Be warned, this piece is meant to irritate you on Labor Day (in the USA and maybe elsewhere with the “u” laboured back into labor).

Let's change how we look at change to see if we can change our attitude toward change.

If at first you don’t succeed, trying again and again might be mere stubbornness.

Some time ago a friend told me that she is now deliberately without intentions. Confused, I asked her to clarify.

Thanks to Murphy, we know that if something can go wrong, it will. But that does not mean we should help Murphy.

If you always do the same thing in the same situation, then you are being consistent. But what if the situation has changed? Or new facts emerge?

Oh, these lazy, hazy days of summer. The perfect time to sleep at work. You’ve never done that?

Do you think that seeing is believing? Don’t.

Were you taught that life is a struggle? Of course you were. And so was I. We heard adults say silly things like “no pain, no gain.” And “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.”