Humor: Advice for Graduates

As graduation season is upon us, I figured I'd throw my hat into the ring and offer up some advice for graduates about to enter the real world.

1.  Learn Chinese.  China owns us already.  You'll be a step ahead of the competition if you can speak their language.

Why Work Doesn't Happen at Work

Jason Fried takes a different approach to work productivity in this TEDTalk.  For many years he's asked people this question:  "Where do you go when you really need to get something done?"  Very rarely is the answer "at work."  For those who answered "at work," it was usually very early in the morning or late at night when no one was around.

Spare Me the Stretch Goals

Daniel Markovitz has a great article on the Harvard Business Review blog about stretch goals.  In my many different work experiences, stretch goals have rarely ever worked.  Most of the time, the carrot ends up being just too far ahead and is never reached.  Translation: Why bother. 

Career Passion Myth

Penelope Trunk has an interesting article on what she calls the career passion myth.  While I don't think the idea of happiness boiling down to engagement in what we do is earth shattering, I do think it gets brushed aside far too often. 
You've heard the phrase, "It's about the journey, not the destination."  Unfortunately, in our work lives (and quite possibly all other areas too), it's almost always about the end game only.  Finish the project, get the promotion, take on more responsibility, get that management role (or take on more staff).  It's great to have goals and add value to your organization, no doubt about it.  But do we ever stop to figure out if the work is the best fit for us?  Is the journey through the day-to-day working for us?

Facebook COO Leaves Work at 5:30?!

I did a double-take when I first read it!  A COO in the heart of Silicon Valley leaving work at 5:30 every day?!  Were pigs flying?  Was this the 7th sign?  Had hell frozen over?

It is VERY refreshing to see a prominent employee, especially one who works for a tech company no less, taking back her life.  I especially liked the way Sheryl emphasized this is something for men too, not just women.  Maybe one-by-one, we will begin to see more people doing the same.  It would be nice to begin to see the pendulum swinging in the other direction towards a more balanced life.

*** UPDATE:  I've seen a few more articles on this "big news."  Sooooooo sad that it's considered worthy of media coverage.  Here's a link to CNN's article:  http://bit.ly/I092nR

Bring Back the 40-hour Work Week

In a very detailed article, Sara Robinson of AlterNet presents many compelling points to bring back the 40-hour work week.  150 years of research proves that long hours at work kill profits, productivity and employees.  I totally agree with the point that most managers use a single, warped, easy-to-chart metric to measure passion:  a willingness to spend your entire life at work.

Entrepreneur vs. Work-Life Balance

Decent article in the WSJ about entrepreneurs' personal time getting the short shrift.  Some good points and some scary ones in the article.  I always say it's about setting expectations and boundaries.  If you don't, you can end up like two people in this story... one skipped a friend's wedding and another gained 30 pounds!  I really like the last line... "When you make time for yourself to be healthy, your business will thrive.  It's not a sacrifice.  It's a shift in attitude."  Well said.