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a32aa20cd0abc6f8107c3fb3f251919d	https://www.forbes.com/sites/toriutley/2016/02/26/leverage-these-4-principles-to-overcome-confusion-and-find-your-voice/	4 Guiding Principles To Navigate Confusion And Find Your Voice In The Workplace	4 Guiding Principles To Navigate Confusion And Find Your Voice In The Workplace We live in a society where the loudest, the most inventive and the wildly creative often get the first acknowledgment at the corporate table. In brainstorming sessions, those with ideas are seen as the golden ticket to increasing revenue and fostering an innovative breakthrough. Though this is often true, it can leave many without ideas struggling to find the seat where they add value. As a millennial professional, the first few years in the workforce can be difficult. Between gaps in knowledge or trying to grasp the complexities of corporate culture, it can leave many of us sitting silent. Despite these gaps, we can’t forget the unique traits we bring to this environment – our innovation, energy and ideas. Yet, when we don’t understand the landscape, our idea-filled minds can become silenced by confusion, grasping to understand the framework. To avoid shrinking into the crowd, many in this position speak up regardless of the quality of ideas they have to put forth. The pressure to make your presence known can clutter situations with unthoughtful ideas that are offered simply to make noise. Before you have something to say that truly adds value, slow down, back up and follow these steps to weed through confusion and find your voice. Learn When you can’t find any other value in a situation, remember that you’re learning. Without situations that leave you utterly and completely stumped, you’d never learn to push yourself into uncomfortable professional challenges. Chalk it up to learning, and absorb everything you can. Once you lay a solid foundation of knowledge, creativity will follow. Research Coupled with learning, doing your homework to grasp as much information as you can is a must. Take notes and then take them home and do your due diligence of thorough research. You may need to put in extra hours to fill in the knowledge gaps, but by doing so, you’ll get up to speed faster. React There comes a time when you must react. You must say something, and it’s important to say the right thing. Impulsive reactions rarely reap positive outcomes, especially when funneled by confusion and emotion. As you are learning, test the waters through your feedback and insights. Where are your professional ‘sweet spots’? Where is your team open to criticism and feedback? Slowly but surely, react and give your feedback, setting a foundational tone for your future as an idea generator. Grow Above all else, use overwhelming situations of the workplace to help you grow professionally. Observe what works best in acquainting yourself with a new situation or professional environment. The more you work on learning and managing ambiguity with poise, the better you’ll be at it in the future. Growth is essential to a healthy professional life. How you react and respond to confusion will pave the way for your professionalism when things finally click and you have ideas that add value to the conversation. When you are unsure of what to do or what to say, it can feel like you’re looking at a scatterplot. Just remember, in time you’ll feel as if you’re looking at an incredible image, connecting the dots one by one, day by day. By staying silent when appropriate, and speaking when you have valuable and thoughtful insight, you’ll set the tone for quality conversations, while finding your voice to add value.
349db35b7db1e6055b09913263a15011	https://www.forbes.com/sites/toriutley/2016/08/27/jeremy-cowart-the-purpose-hotel-and-what-it-takes-to-turn-an-idea-into-reality/	Jeremy Cowart, The Purpose Hotel And What It Takes To Turn An Idea Into Reality	Jeremy Cowart, The Purpose Hotel And What It Takes To Turn An Idea Into Reality Photo by Jeremy Cowart For many people, you’re lucky to have one idea; for some, maybe two. But if you’re Jeremy Cowart, you have somehow perfected the art of having not just any idea – but a great idea – and lots of them. Among the many endeavors Cowart has embarked upon to change the world, his most recent venture, The Purpose Hotel, has been getting a lot of buzz due to both its uniqueness and loftiness. It’s a lofty goal to want to change the world – but that’s exactly what Cowart is after. Creator and social activist alike, Cowart is both a renowned celebrity photographer and a well-known social entrepreneur, having launched numerous ventures including See University, Help Portrait and now The Purpose Hotel. In talking with Cowart about his journey, The Purpose Hotel and lessons on social entrepreneurship, he references the quote by author Mark Twain, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” Cowart says that for him this happened when he honed in on his purpose: to create and help people. The Purpose Hotel The latest idea to bring social good to the masses, in Cowart's mind, is a for-profit hotel designed to make an impact around the world, which, in his words, will allow you to “change the world while you sleep.” Like the name states, everything will have a purpose. When you stay in the hotel, your night’s stay will support a child in another country; when you upgrade your Wi-Fi, the proceeds will go to combat human trafficking; and artwork, television and many other amenities can be purchased to support causes or will be sourced directly from social enterprises – like blankets and soaps. The hotel will focus on social causes, including organizations like International Justice Mission, Compassion International, Charity: Water, Exile International, Thistle Farms and many more. Supported causes will be both nonprofit and for-profit social enterprises alike, but no matter what, The Purpose Hotel will focus on helping. Even by operating as a for-profit business, the hotel will spur job creation and foster social innovation in unique, bold and courageous ways. Truly, Cowart is designing everything from the aspect of purpose. To some, it might look like The Purpose Hotel is disrupting the hotel industry – in which Cowart thinks he’s simply addressing a problem in the hotel experience. He states he isn’t after disruption – he simply had a realization in his experience of traveling to over 25 countries in his 15-year career, having stayed in all sorts of hotels. “I've seen it all, and I walk away from all them thinking, gosh, there's so much missing,” he says. “There’s so much potential to do more good. We're not looking to turn things over just to be fun and cool; we are looking to help people. This is not about a hotel, this is truly about people.” To get this idea off the ground, Cowart and The Purpose Hotel are currently nearing the completion of a $2 million Kickstarter campaign. Cowart states the Kickstarter is not the only option for funding, but the campaign allows the masses to participate. Everyday participation and generosity will grow the community of the hotel and will be means for celebration. Furthering the principle of community and participation, those who participate in the campaign at just a small pledge amount of $75 will be considered official cofounders of The Purpose Hotel. Cowart states bringing others to participate will fuel the atmosphere of the hotel – the environment will feel like a celebration, he states. Beautiful textures, colorful artwork, and embedded purpose and meaning throughout will celebrate the fact that people are being helped all over the world. “Just by choosing this hotel from the get-go, you’ve already helped; you’ve already done your part. Now that you’re at the hotel, we’re celebrating,” Cowart states. Photo Credit: Jeremy Cowart The Idea With The Purpose Hotel being a lofty goal and large endeavor, many can be left thinking: “How in the world did you think of this?” A question asked of many social entrepreneurs, it’s an interesting equation on what constitutes having “the idea” and then acting on it. Cowart recalls that four years ago in the summer of 2012 he was at a meeting in Los Angeles and was staying in a hotel. While walking down the hallway to his hotel room, he noticed the way rooms were referenced. For example, one that caught his eye said “Hello, my name is room 121.” He says this concept captured his attention and got him thinking about the redesign of something so simple. From there, Cowart recalls being stuck on this concept and thinking about application to his life – he travels all of the time, and sometimes traveling gets lonely. He started to wonder if lonely travelers could somehow start to feel connected to a larger story at their hotels. He recalls: What if when you walked into your room, you saw a child's face and their name above or below the room number? What if the room was giving a dollar or two dollars a night to that child? What if every room was sponsoring boys and girls all over the world who are in need, who are orphaned, etc.? Cowart says it was the concept that moved him. He began thinking about every aspect of the hotel and how he could bring purpose to the experience. Then I looked at the artwork on the walls, and like every hotel, it was just boring. It might be cool, but, I don't know, it never moves me. What if all the artwork was coming from my humanitarian artists and photographer friends? What if the artwork was for sale? What if my friends could make a living, could sell their work through the hotel? What if a percentage of that fee went to organizations like Exile International, where they're teaching kids how to do art therapy? Then I started thinking about the soaps and the shampoos coming from an organization like Thistle Farms, which pulls women out of hard, broken pasts and trains them to make candles and soaps and shampoos, bath oils, etc. For Cowart, it was the moment. He knew he was on to something and references this as a moment so overwhelming – but that in the blink of an eye, he saw it all. He could visualize the connections he could make, the marketing, the long-term goal, and he could even anticipate what it would be like to walk into the building. But like many entrepreneurs, Cowart also experienced moments of self-doubt and fear when it came to moving the idea into action. "There is no way that somebody like me, little artist guy, creative guy, forgetful ADD guy, could ever build a hotel chain. That's not possible,” Cowart remembers. For three years, Jeremy states he kept telling himself “no.” But in the fall of 2015, he started believing in himself and the idea again. He stated he simply started putting one foot in front of the other and talking to people he trusted. From there, he has gained a team including his long-time business manager, an assistant, a marketing team and many consultants. The Lessons For many social entrepreneurs, there may be similar stories of realization and purpose. Often, it is this realization that drives innovative minds to pursue an idea, many with the goal of making the world a better place. But changing the world and changing lives in a real way is not always an easy task. After that magical moment of having “the idea,” what do you do to move it forward? Though not everyone will embark into a $2 million Kickstarter campaign or start with an idea that must be bricks and mortar to be realized, there are several lessons in entrepreneurship that can be learned from Cowart's experience with The Purpose Hotel. Aside from believing in your idea and taking small actionable steps, Cowart offers the following: Consult your family and spouse; involve them on the journey as you pursue your ideas. Gather a group of mentors related to the idea or business; ask for coaching, support and advice. Build a team including the manager of day-to-day operations and get them involved early. Set up operating procedures for managing money so the project can be stabilized and built as it grows. Ensure you have enough cash on hand to survive the first year of startup. Beyond these actionable steps social entrepreneurs and other entrepreneurs can follow, Cowart states that as the visionary, it’s important to make sure your vision remains aligned. He suggests reading or looking at things daily that inspire you and also setting up a process that allows you to stay creative and hone in on your craft. Aside from that? “Search for people who think outside of the box and simply inspire you,” he states. “This will sustain you during the long haul, the period when burnout inevitably creeps in, when you get bored or tired or aren’t loving your original dream.” No matter how seemingly big an idea is – or how small you feel as an entrepreneur or innovator – you do have the power to change the world. One diligent step at a time, connecting the dots from idea to action is not just a dream, but reality, when you work hard and believe in yourself. Cowart also adds, “I think some people genuinely believe that because of my successes, I have everything figured out – but I’m in the same boat as everyone else. Each day finds me hustling and working harder than ever.” Above all else, Cowart has found his purpose – creating and helping. He adds that, of course, this comes second to his family and his faith. When asked, “Why a hotel?” he says, “The hotel is the ultimate, in my opinion, of doing both [creating and helping] at the same time. It's helping people all over the world. It's helping people in endless kinds of ways, locally, domestically and internationally. It's creating in multiple kinds of ways. A team and I are going to collaborate with artists, photographers, painters, interior designers, architects, technology designers, projection artists. It's going to be ridiculous how many ways there are to create and to help people, and to serve.” For all entrepreneurs or visionaries with an idea to help change the world, having a ridiculous amount of ways to create, serve and help people seems like an incredible dream. For entrepreneurs like Cowart, a dream is not enough – and it shouldn’t be for anyone else with an idea to change the world. Instead of being caught up in fear or listing out every reason why a lofty goal of world change isn’t possible, sometimes we must simply look in the face of the ordinary and have the courage to wonder, “Is something missing here?” And then go find what is missing, and fulfill it.
c15837747f81482f9cfbc6fecff961b2	https://www.forbes.com/sites/toriutley/2017/03/22/10-consumer-products-focused-on-combatting-the-global-water-crisis/	10 Consumer Products Fighting The Global Water Crisis	10 Consumer Products Fighting The Global Water Crisis World Water Day 2017 Unsplash, Abigail Kennan It’s World Water Day – a national day commemorating the fight many have embarked upon to make clean, safe, accessible drinking water a reality for millions around the world. According to The Water Project, more than 700 million people lack safe drinking water or do not live in a close distance to water worldwide. The water crisis is a massive problem, but one many have committed to solving through innovation. In 2015, the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals list a lofty goal – by 2030 everyone will have access to safe drinking water around the world. Although there is a long road ahead, the UN and global nonprofits are making important strides to ensure this happens. Yet, nonprofits and governmental initiatives are no longer the only parties in the fight to provide water to those in need. In recent years, there has been an uprising of social enterprises and products with a purpose – those that aim to create goods that people will love while making a tangible impact in the lives of others. To join in the movement of World Water Day and beyond, the following products are making a difference: Sevenly The advocacy and apparel company creates trendy tees that support specific charities – including clean water access and sanitation, partnering with Water.org for World Water Day. To date, the company has raised over $4.7M for charities across the globe. Janji By creating performance running apparel, Janji not only focuses on designing a great product for runners, but 10% of every sale goes to clean water projects from construction to maintenance and more. Bottle Bright Powered by company, Hydropak, Bottle Bright provides sanitation tablets that are eco-friendly to help people more thoroughly clean their drinking containers. With every purchase, the same amount of product is sent to those around the world in need of safe, clean drinking water. Everly For every pouch of Everly’s all natural, low sugar drink mixes, one pouch of rehydration salts is donated through ColaLife, helping mothers and their children in Zambia get lifesaving nutrients when they need it most. Jonas Umbrellas When’s the last time you knew your umbrella purchase made a difference? With Jonas Umbrellas, every time a limited edition umbrella is purchased, funds help build water wells for schools in Uganda. Hand in Hand Soaps For every bar of Hand in Hand Soap purchased, one bar of soap is donated so someone in need. Now hitting the shelves of retailers like Target, Hand in Hand recently launched a clean water initiative – in addition to providing hygiene through soap, the company is committed to building wells for clean water access around the world. Conscious Step Through Conscious Step’s ‘socks with a purpose,’ every time a water-focused pair of socks is purchased, the organization donates to Water.org to help advance the clean water movement. MudLOVE Partnered with nonprofit Water For Good, this pottery company provides products from mugs, bands and necklaces that provide one week of clean water for someone in need with every purchase. LifeStraw This product removes 99.9% of waterborne bacteria and creates safe drinking water out of dirty water sources – a perfect solution for those who love the outdoors. Through the company’s “Follow the Liters” program, every purchase of a LifeStraw funds safe drinking water for a child in need for an entire school year. Jerry Bottle Focused on impact, Jerry Bottle offers reusable water bottles for consumers and donates 100% of all profits to fund water projects around the world. Beyond these consumer products, innovation has also been focused directly on solving problems in countries where water scarcity remains an issue. From products like Wello, Day One Response, to the Drinkable Book, entrepreneurs are leveraging the power of innovation to both provide funding for water charities, as well as create lifesaving products for people facing this crisis every day. There are many other organizations and products that infuse purpose with profit. What are some of your favorite products combatting the water crisis on #WorldWaterDay?
7c1e6399d5105a9490bde85c3e81b3e9	https://www.forbes.com/sites/toriutley/2017/05/30/how-one-company-normalized-mental-health-and-encouraged-employees-to-ask-for-help/	How EY Is Tackling Stigma And Promoting Mental Health For Employees	How EY Is Tackling Stigma And Promoting Mental Health For Employees Photo Credit: StockSnap IO StockSnap IO According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in four adults experience mental illness every year. Yet, due to a variety of factors including stigma and lack of services, many do not receive the care they need. In turn, this greatly impacts the workforce, resulting in loss of productivity due to mental health-related absences, staff turnover and lack of job satisfaction. But thankfully, companies are putting more effort into building appropriate mental health dialogue and services in the workplace. Employers are turning talk into action and are developing programs, services and top-down examples of acceptance and empowerment for those seeking help. For business consulting firm, EY, formerly Ernst & Young, their latest mental health program launched out of asking the simple question: Are you okay? The program – officially titled “r u ok?” – is an effort to end the stigma that surrounds mental health while connecting employees to existing resources within the organization. The program incorporates employee champions, cross-country presentations, virtual events, e-learning curriculums, peer-to-peer connections and follow-up services, like EY Assist, EY’s EAP program. Since launching the program in October 2016, the company has already seen great success, says Dr. Sandra Turner, the leader of the “r u ok?” program. Turner states that within the first three months, there was a 30.2% increase in calls to the EY Assist line pertaining to mental health. In addition to the increase in employees reaching out for help, the “r u ok?” program has generated more than 49,000 touchpoints among US employees, including more than 23,000 articles read; 21,000 website hits; 1,000+ events attended; 781 e-learnings completed and more than 1,000 EY Assist consults. But most important to the “r u ok?” program remains the ability to impact their employees’ well-being and ability to connect to resources. In a testimony from one “r u ok?” participant and EY employee, "I began to realize I have an enormous amount of support at this firm and they could even help me think when I couldn't,” he shares. “I think being asked "are you okay?" was something for me that was truly life-changing." According to Turner, “Success has come from leadership speaking to, and supporting, mental health care. They’ve given permission for people to come forward, and as they do, we have resources they can plug into.” Beyond the program itself, Turner says one of the most critical aspects to the success of EAP and mental health offerings at EY has been the overall culture of diversity and inclusion. “We need to have the right culture – one where people trust that coming forward about their struggle with mental health will not affect their job.” Turner shares that EY has a long-standing mission of developing an inclusive culture. Because of this, people trust what their leadership is saying and know they will be met with respect, confidentiality and care from their superiors and beyond. Now nearing nine months since the program’s inception, Turner shares they have added goals to keep making “r u ok?” a success, including increasing the number of people getting help, offering additional resources and continuing internal and external collaboration to build upon early learnings. For companies seeking to implement similar programs, Turner shares that collaboration is essential. “When we began designing the program, we had everyone at the table – human resources, diversity and inclusion, the communications team and more,” Turner shares. Outside of EY, the program has collaborated with NAMI and other notable mental health partners to share learnings and help other organizations offer similar services for their employees – a central focus for the firm moving forward. “Our mission is to build a better working world,” Turner shares. “The “r u ok?” program fits within our mission and our purpose of accomplishing that. We’re doing something for our own people, but we want our learnings to be available for other companies and workplaces."
df8ce9e7078baa74ae77e72e621b666c	https://www.forbes.com/sites/toriutley/2017/06/20/how-three-millennial-entrepreneurs-created-a-messenger-bot-to-help-refugees/	How Three Millennial Entrepreneurs Created A Messenger Bot To Help Refugees	How Three Millennial Entrepreneurs Created A Messenger Bot To Help Refugees StockSnap IO StockSnap IO In the midst of an escalating refugee crisis, citizens oceans away from conflict are often left feeling helpless, wondering how to support those on the frontlines. And while there are numerous aid organizations worthy of philanthropy, for bilingual individuals around the world, there’s a new way to offer help and translation services to refugees and aid workers in the midst of crisis. Meet Tarjimly. Tarjimly is a Facebook Messenger bot that launched late January 2017. The bot instantly connects translators around the world to refugees, nonprofit organizations and immigrants in need of communication support. According to UNHCR, there are more than 22.5 million refugees worldwide. “Communication is one of the biggest problems refugees face whether they’re stuck in limbo in camps, navigating a route to safety, or resettling into a new home,” shares cofounder Atif Javed. “They struggle to communicate everyday things, but sometimes they need help in life-or-death scenarios. It’s unacceptable for people to suffer, or even die, because of communication. Existing translation tools are robotic, inaccurate, and not nuanced enough in so many of these circumstances.” For Javed, his experience and passion to solve this problem comes from his time working for tech companies like Tesla, Apple, NASA, and as Oracle’s youngest product manager in company history. Now a data product manager at AJ+, he shares, “I realized I can have data for people clicking a button, but nothing for people dying in refugee camps.” It was this realization, along with the Muslim ban, that spurred the creation of Tarjimly. The Tarjimly cofounders prepare to launch the Messenger bot in January 2017. Tarjimly The Tarjimly team includes millennial co-founders and MIT graduates Atif Javed; Aziz Alghunaim, a full-stack software engineer; and Abubakar Abid, a now-Ph.D. candidate at Stanford University in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Javed states that following graduation, the three friends, all devout Muslim Americans, realized something needed to be done. “We stepped into the world with growing hate towards our faith, an unending refugee crisis, and an emboldened wave of xenophobia in our country,” says Javed. Tarjimly’s bot technology uses sophisticated routing algorithms using implicit and explicit feedback – a level of sophistication that Javed states would cost traditional organizations millions of dollars to create. Yet, through a team with the right experience and a personal connection to the issue, Tarjimly is getting ready to scale the technology through partnerships with more than 15 organizations around the world. Providing translation services through volunteers alone, Tarjimly has already recruited more than 2,200 volunteers who have signed up, following a test to assess fluency, to provide support to refugees, medical staff, aid workers, and legal aids in the midst of both day-to-day and crisis situations. “Tarjimly helps refugees, humanitarian workers, and average people, like you and I, who want to do more than just post on Facebook or donate money. It allows us to tangibly connect and help people translate text, images, documents, and audio notes via Messenger, an app that refugees are already using,” says Javed. The decision to launch Tarjimly on the Facebook Messenger platform was strategic – meeting refugees and aid workers through an existing platform they’re familiar with. It’s this strategic move that keeps the team focused on reaching as many people as possible, and this April, Facebook’s team took note. David Marcus, the VP of Facebook Messenger, shared at F8 how Tarjimly used Messenger to provide translation services for Murad, a volunteer translator from Morocco, who was helping a family resettle in San Diego. According to Javed, “Our mission is to put a translator in the pocket of every person in need by building the future of person-to-person translation. Our vision is a world where refugees are no longer statistics in our minds, but real people that we talk to and help every single day.” Tarjimly allows refugees, immigrants and aid workers to access translation services through a... [+] Messenger bot. Tarjimly According to Javed, this is just the start for Tarjimly. As a technology company, the goal is to become the new standard for translation services by empowering a person-to-person translation in as many languages as possible. The company is currently focusing on Arabic, Farsi and Pashto as it launches the service for refugees, though Javed says that moving forward, the goal is to incorporate as many languages as possible into Tarjimly’s infrastructure. In the future, the team hopes to provide a full-spectrum of translation services including help for travelers and ESL teachers. On World Refugee Day, Javed reminds us, “It’s very easy for real stories to become statistics very quickly. The best thing you can do is actively engage with refugees in your community and in your area. Real impact is made by helping real people.” Through the technology we hold in our hands every day, Tarjimly’s goal remains to eradicate the barrier of communication, offering help and translation for anyone, no matter what. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more stories on social entrepreneurs and the organizations they create.
05ec114e79543a41b97f777e04fa78d7	https://www.forbes.com/sites/toriutley/2017/06/30/how-this-ceo-builds-community-through-unconditional-love/	How This CEO Builds Community Through Unconditional Love	How This CEO Builds Community Through Unconditional Love Michael Brody-Waite, CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center Nashville Entrepreneur Center When you interact with a great leader, you know it. Often the best leaders are humble, kind, compassionate and inspiring – they invest in their people and create a culture where safety and trust are the foundation. By this definition, you get Michael Brody-Waite. Brody-Waite leads the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, the nonprofit organization that serves as the destination point and resource hub for entrepreneurs in Nashville. For Brody-Waite, this role came years after being helped by the Nashville Entrepreneur Center himself as the former co-founder and CEO of InQuicker, a health care SaaS company. But before Brody-Waite made his way to the lucrative executive role in a thriving city, he experienced a long battle with addiction that almost cost him everything. Brody-Waite always wanted to be an entrepreneur. He felt it was a calling even from a young age. So in 2002 as a young, aspiring entrepreneur, Brody-Waite moved to Los Angeles and began pursuing his passion to work in the music industry. Yet, at this same time, he was struggling with a growing problem with drugs and alcohol. "I knew I was an addict when Friday and Saturday night stopped being Friday and Saturday night and ended up being Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as well,” Brody-Waite shares in an interview with The Tennessean. As his struggles with addiction grew, his entrepreneurial journey was impacted through missed meetings, interviews and opportunities. After near-homelessness and a wakeup call, Brody-Waite went to treatment, got sober and found a new life in recovery. It was recovery that led him to Nashville, Tennessee. Once in Nashville, Brody-Waite immersed himself in the recovery community and followed the advice of his counselors: he put his recovery first. After working at a Dell kiosk, his new life in recovery began to provide inspiration and opportunity in his professional life. Brody-Waite landed a job at Dell’s corporate office and had eight subsequent promotions over the next seven years. But although his professional life was thriving, he decided it was time to take the leap back into entrepreneurship. In 2009, Brody-Waite co-founded InQuicker, a SaaS company that developed solutions for health care scheduling to “reinvent the patient experience.” It was in this role that Brody-Waite had the ability to put the same principles he’d been practicing in recovery into his everyday life with InQuicker. As the business grew, he and his cofounder made sure principles like unconditional love and care for their employees were put into practice. “I tried to view my employees as my community – I had my community of people in recovery and tried to replicate that community at work,” he shares. Valuing employees transpired in a variety of ways, but according to Brody-Waite, “We never wanted someone to have to ask for a raise – we wanted to be able to recognize their accomplishments and hard work and offer employees raises or promotions before they ever had to ask.” It was one of the many ways Brody-Waite’s recovery practices and principles impacted his employees – his community at work. And through a company-standard of valuing employees while showing love and concern for their fulfillment at work, InQuicker’s company culture allowed the team and business to thrive. Because of a business that worked with a healthy team that fueled it, InQuicker was acquired by Stericycle, a publicly traded company, in 2015. Now in a new role with the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, Brody-Waite shares how his recovery and the love he’s received along the way have been foundational to creating a healthy culture in the workplace. By viewing his colleagues as his community, he’s able to help others reach their potential and ensure they’re finding purpose in their daily work. Brody-Waite says that his definition of unconditional love is “doing what’s best for you whether it includes me or not.” This philosophy has impacted his leadership immensely, through hiring and empowering his people. “The two things that changed my life were first recovery and then being an entrepreneur. As I was building my business, I had no mentors that were entrepreneurs in recovery. That intersection can be a lonely place, and I want to be able to provide to others that which I was not able to experience myself,” Brody-Waite shares. He shares if one of his employees is struggling, he helps find them a new role within the organization that may be better suited for their skills. Through transparency and recovery, his intent is to offer hope to others who may need it. “Ultimately, I want to give away freely what was freely given to me. As much as I love being an entrepreneur and leader, my primary purpose on this earth is as an addict in recovery helping those on the path behind me,” Brody-Waite shares. Through a standard of loving and valuing employees as people – not just employees – Brody-Waite stresses the importance of community and how it’s helped infuse purpose with daily work. When asked what’s next for Brody-Waite and his team at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, he says “If history is any teacher, my most memorable EC moment has yet to come. I have no college degree and I am 8 years past the age I thought I would die. Anyone can truly turn their lives around and if I can show 1,000,000 people it’s possible and inspire hope in just 1 person it’s worth it.” Brody-Waite’s story is one for many entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs to pay attention to – doing good in your business isn’t just for strategy, it’s for leadership, too. By blending recovery, transparency and community, Brody-Waite’s story shows there is a place for love in the workplace – and your business will be better for it.
f2a6d99d523520344ceb1fb2681b3534	https://www.forbes.com/sites/toriutley/2017/08/25/what-this-entrepreneur-learned-from-traveling-to-50-countries-with-more-than-500-entrepreneurs/	What This Entrepreneur Learned From Traveling To 50 Countries With More Than 500 Entrepreneurs	What This Entrepreneur Learned From Traveling To 50 Countries With More Than 500 Entrepreneurs A group of entrepreneurs traveling with Refuga to Nepal. Nikolaj Astrup When Nikolaj Astrup founded Refuga, he believed traveling the world with entrepreneurs would not only create memorable experiences for entrepreneurs but would also become an opportunity for networking and collaboration that would exceed the status quo. He was right. Today, Astrup has traveled to 50 countries with more than 500 entrepreneurs, and though each entrepreneur who travels with Refuga brings their unique perspective, culture and passions, he shares that entrepreneurs worldwide have more in common than meets the eye. Founded in 2012, Refuga's mission is to provide "the world's greatest networking adventures." Having traveled to Spain and trekked up Mount Kilimanjaro, Astrup believes it's this unique platform for networking that has allowed entrepreneurs the ability to grow their businesses – and communities – through adventure and personal connection. Through traveling with entrepreneurs for the past 5 years, Astrup has observed the many similarities that exist in the community of international entrepreneurs: Stronger connection in networking. Through his time traveling with entrepreneurs, Astrup has seen the similarities among entrepreneurs and the way they communicate. "Entrepreneurs don't mind sharing their knowledge and experiences, even without expecting anything back. They try to contribute to the communities they are a part of," shares Astrup. He says it's this commonality that has set the stage for open dialogue and deep conversations on Refuga trips. "It's like a safe haven, where people discuss things they wouldn't discuss with their peers or families back home," he says. "For me personally, it's been powerful to find out that there are people ‘like’ me out there: people who share the same combination of interests and have the same mindset." Resilience in the face of failure. Among entrepreneurs, there's often a distinguishing way successful entrepreneurs view failure - they've experienced it, learn from it, and aren't afraid of sharing their experiences. "Our trips are often a forum where participants feel good about sharing their failures and mistakes. One of the things we often discuss is that failure and the ability to handle failure is something you need to have as an entrepreneur. Often it's not the failure itself that concerns and entrepreneur, but more how friends and family who are not entrepreneurs, respond to an entrepreneur's failure," says Astrup. An all-around growth mindset. Entrepreneurs believe they can learn from anything, including failure, and are inspired by the success of others. They also have many interests and strive for growth personally and professionally. "Really successful people have multiple interests and mindsets where they are proactively interested in ‘everything.’ I see very clearly that those with multiple interests are just as focused on succeeding in life (relationships, other ambitions, etc.) as they are in business," shares Astrup. An emphasis on freedom, rather than money. Although financial security and the opportunity to make money are certainly not lost on entrepreneurs, Astrup shares money isn't the primary motivator for the entrepreneurs he travels with. "Their main motivation is freedom, not money," Astrup says. "Almost all of the entrepreneurs I've met want freedom and that's why they're working hard. Some want the freedom to shape their daily lives, but most just want the professional freedom to create the stuff they want, the way they want, while not being limited by fixed rules in bigger corporations." They're invested in giving back. Entrepreneurs across the globe see entrepreneurship as an avenue to make a difference. According to Astrup, "Some want to give back from the start, others want to become successful first to build experiences and resources. A lot of people who have reached some kind of success want to contribute back to the startup communities they're a part of." And while there are entrepreneurs who are motivated by money, many have other ambitions, like succeeding in other parts of their life. "Money isn't enough. They want to do something good. I've seen many people become successful and after they feel confident and safe, they want to do something else and something more. Really successful people measure success in impact, not just money," he shares. Entrepreneurship can change the world. While many entrepreneurs emphasize making an impact, the creative energy, passion and determination that entrepreneurs have can change communities across the globe. "We have had quite a few participants from non-Western countries – people that come from countries where the support network, the community, and the opportunities they have are very different from Western countries. But their mindset and mentality are amazing," he shares. "A lot of these people see entrepreneurship as a powerful tool to create a better life. A tool where they are not limited by their country or government." While entrepreneurs and the communities they come from may differ, according to Astrup, there are many similarities that make up the DNA of worldwide entrepreneurs: they want to make a difference, change the world, experience freedom and build real connections. It's these similarities that allow entrepreneurs to build community and learn from one another – in Astrup's case – one adventure at a time.
0434999feeec5396d84246bda0f3050b	https://www.forbes.com/sites/toriutley/2017/11/22/the-organization-starting-a-youth-led-movement-through-the-power-of-hope/	This Organization Is Starting A Youth-Led Movement Through The Power Of Hope	This Organization Is Starting A Youth-Led Movement Through The Power Of Hope The Rise Together team shares at a school presentation. The organization has impacted more than... [+] 130,000 students in 4 years. Rise Together Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death in the United States, and the third-leading cause of death among individuals ages 10 to 24 years old. But because of the many misconceptions about youth and the challenges they face, there isn’t always an outlet for kids to share their stories or learn how to get help. That’s just the problem Rise Together, a social impact organization based out of Appleton, Wisconsin, hoped to solve. The Road to Rise Together Rise Together was founded in 2013 when three friends, Anthony Alvarado, Douglas Darby and Nadine Machkovech, realized that mental health, suicide and addiction were ravaging their community and group of friends. Douglas Darby, cofounder of Rise Together, speaks at a school program. Steven Duke & Tommy Knautz, UNION Films Alvarado shares he was at a critical point in his recovery from addiction, Darby had just gotten out of prison, and Machkovech had recently decided to get sober before turning 21 years old. According to Alvarado, “We were sick and tired of losing our friends and family members because of these issues.” That September, the three friends started sharing their stories “to anyone who would listen,” whether that be at a rally, prison or parking lot. It was this journey of sharing their stories that ignited the passion of spreading hope to youth. Alvarado says the team knew Rise Together’s greatest opportunity would be to impact youth when they started engaging with kids and connecting with their stories. “We saw our younger selves in them,” he explains. “If there was a moment we all could have changed in our lives, it would have been to ask for help at a younger age.” From that point on, the mission was clear. Rise Together set out to create a movement of young people, encouraging them to stand up and speak out about the issues they care about, ranging from suicide, self-harm, drugs and alcohol, and more. Bringing Hope to Youth The organization primarily travels to schools, conducting presentations and workshops and empowering long-term student-led programs. And though the organization is still young, their reach has been impressive. Over the past four years, Rise Together has educated and impacted more than 130,000 students, traveling more than 200,000 miles to present in more than 150 schools in 53 counties in the Midwest – all to spread the message of hope. Rise Together empowers youth to lead the change in their schools and communities. Rise Together “Today’s youth are our future and next generation of leaders,” Alvarado says. “This is where we need to invest our time. This is where we can get ahead of the problems and issues our nation is facing.” Now, Rise Together is working to engage the entire family unit by conducting family and employer workshops to help inspire important conversations at home. “We want to create a system outside of the system,” explains Alvarado. “Public schools are doing the best they can, but they can’t handle all of these conversations alone.” The Power of Data In the future, the organization is working to build out a national research project to truly understand the issues the youth of today are facing. Since 2014, Rise Together has already surveyed more than 7,000 students in over 53 counties, collecting data to understand how kids are experiencing trauma, stress, self-harm and suicidal tendencies. “We survey kids before and after our presentations, and 80% of them report being less likely to use drugs and alcohol after a presentation,” says Alvarado. “But we want to learn what happens next, and want to check in with those same students to see how long that indication lasts.” According to Alvarado, this will help Rise Together – and parents, schools and communities – better understand how to intervene in the lives of youth. So far, data shows that students want more school prevention programs and greater access to resources on mental health. “We want to create one of the greatest cultural movements led by youth,” Alvarado shares. “We don’t always know how to ask kids the right questions, and many communities don’t know where to start. The key is having youth involved and at the table, empowering them with a voice to be heard.” Alvarado speaks at a school presentation. Topics at Rise Together rallies range from mental health,... [+] substance abuse, suicide and self-harm. Steven Duke & Tommy Knautz, UNION Films The social enterprise has started making good on the promise of empowering students directly through programs like school challenges and student-led suicide prevention workshops, where students have access to educational content and resource toolkits so they can learn – and teach others – how to support their friends. “If we’re not teaching these kids how to ask for help or help others, we’re missing out on a huge opportunity to make an impact,” Alvarado says. And throughout it all, for the Rise Together team, the passion is personal. “We all remember having similar thoughts growing up. We wanted to change the world. We were bold, brave and courageous,” Alvarado shares. “But life beat us down and we all went through really hard times. Over time, we gave up on our dreams and goals. So now, we’re trying to help kids before that happens.” Inspiring Change at the Community Level Reflecting on Rise Together being founded in a small community in Wisconsin, Alvarado stresses that any community is capable of creating a movement to impact the lives of families and youth. He shares these practical tips for any aspiring social entrepreneur or change-maker – whether you’re a kid or an adult: Stand up for something you believe in and start speaking out. Ask questions from people who have been down the path of what you’re trying to do and have the qualities you’re looking for. Surround yourself with others and don’t go at it alone. Build a team, get focused and strategically plan out your approach for impacting your community. According to Alvarado, this is just the beginning for Rise Together. After forming a national advisory board in 2017 and focusing on four core objectives for the next few years, Rise Together is looking into long-term engagement programs, ambassador programs and online learning curriculums for youth. Having served an average of 25,000-40,000 youth per year, they hope in the future that figure is raised to more than 100,000 youth impacted each year through a blend of in-person and online programs. But their ultimate endeavor? Scaling on a national level to carry the message of hope to youth all across the country. And while their hearts and dreams are big, their message is simple: “At the end of the day, we are spreading the message of hope so kids can have a sense of meaning and belonging,” says Alvarado. “ We’re sharing our scars so others can heal theirs . We believe that programs don’t change communities. Relationships do. ” Follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more stories on social entrepreneurs and the organizations they create.
8fad54280c5c445be3dc3955d3051ad0	https://www.forbes.com/sites/totalwireless/2020/12/09/5-ways-to-save-this-holiday-season/	5 Ways To Save This Holiday Season	5 Ways To Save This Holiday Season By Grant Sabatier The end of the year is often stressful with holiday travel and higher expenses, and it's likely to be extra stressful this year with all the hardships of 2020. getty But going into the holidays is actually the perfect time to revisit your bigger expenses and look for extra savings, so you can lower your expenses and tackle the holidays with confidence. It’s also a great time to review your spending because it’s the end of the year, so you can review where your money went and plan for the upcoming year. The holidays tend to be a reflective time, so it’s a great opportunity to think about whether your expenses made your life better. While most people think about money as a numbers game, I like to think of it as a happiness game. To figure out if an expense was or is worth it, I always ask myself, “Did this make me happy?” While far from a scientific exercise, I’m always trying to maximize my “happiness per dollar.” Here are 5 of your biggest expenses that are worth reviewing this holiday season. 1. Housing You can always save the most money where you spend the most money. Hands down the biggest expense for most Americans is the roof over their heads. Whether you’re renting or own your home, the monthly cost of your mortgage or rent is likely 30%-50% of your annual expenses. Especially this year, the recession has opened a number of opportunities to reduce your housing expense. Most companies are allowing employees to work remotely, and that’s a shift that’s likely to stick. Moving to a lower cost area can reduce all of your expenses, especially your housing. Look to the suburbs and small American cities for the biggest savings. 2. Cell Phone Bill The average American family spends almost $2,000 a year on their family cell phone plans1. But this an expense that is easy to reduce quickly. There are now so many cell phone providers, which has reduced the cost of high-quality services and phones. There are also great providers who don’t require a contract. It’s worth spending 20 minutes this holiday to price compare your cell phone plan against some of the no-contract wireless service providers. total wireless I recommend Total Wireless, where you can save up to $1,200 for a 4-line plan with unlimited>> talk, text, and data. Total Wireless runs on the Verizon network, but at a fraction of the cost. And with its no fees phone payment plan, you can get the latest smartphones starting at just $5 per month, so you can treat yourself and your family this holiday without spending a fortune. For more information on how to save on your wireless bill while still getting the best reliability in wireless, head to TotalWireless.com, or follow the brand at @totalwireless for the latest updates. 3. Transportation The second biggest expense category for most Americans is transportation. Cars are extremely expensive, both to buy and to maintain. It costs the approximately $9,272 a year to own a car in the U.S.2 Especially since the work from home shift is likely to continue, I encourage you to think about how you use your car. If you no longer commute to work and spend more time locally, think about biking or using rideshare services. If you want to own a car, consider buying a used reliable car, which you can often find for less than $3,000 online. Search for a car that fits within your lifestyle. It’s never been easier to find a great deal with the price transparency online. 4. Food Americans are spending an insane amount of money on food delivery during the pandemic, which, while convenient, can be a significant expense very month. It’s a no-brainer to cook more at home, as well as bulk shop for all the ingredients that you often use. I recommend making a list of all your favorite foods, meals, and the ingredients in those meals. Then take some time to find the lowest price for each of those ingredients in the stores in your area or online. Just a little bit of upfront time and effort likely won’t pay off much with your first shop but can add up significantly over time. I have a list of the 35 meals I like to cook most often and know where I can order the ingredients for the least amount money, which reduces my cost and helps me compound my savings over time. 5. Gifts The average American spends almost $650 a year on holiday gifts3. That’s a lot of presents! While this is an expense category that might be a little bit more difficult to cut back on, it is definitely one area where you can optimize your spending. When I say “optimize,” what I mean is maximizing the “happiness per dollar” for the receiver of your gift. Too many gifts that are given are wasted money, because they either aren’t a gift that that the receiver wanted, or it’s not something they need. Make your gift dollars go farther by asking your friends and family what they want if you don’t already know. Or, buy them a gift that anyone can use, like a gift card to a big online store or a restaurant you know they like. Don’t just buy them a piece of clothing or a scarf, unless you know they need one, of course.
2cbcce7feb0fb37c1df61c06c1f2e15e	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceyfollows/2020/02/14/open-hiring-and-the-new-recruitment/?sh=2f08f1d56274	Open Hiring And The New Recruitment	Open Hiring And The New Recruitment A "Now Hiring!" sign stands on display next to the Jiffy Lube International Inc. booth ... [+] during a Job News USA career fair in Overland Park, Kansas, U.S., on Wednesday, March 8, 2017. Applications for U.S. jobless benefits rebounded last week from a 44-year low, returning to a range that still shows strength in the labor market. Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg © 2017 Bloomberg Finance LP Earlier this week, stories emerged about The Body Shop, claiming the company was adopting an “open hiring” approach to recruitment. This is an approach to recruitment which is a bit like an “open house.” Invite everyone to pop along and whoever gets there first, gets the job. It appeared on the face of it that the Body Shop were prepared to offer retail jobs to people on a first-come, first-served basis. Like me, many on Twitter could not understand how this approach was in any way better than the usual interview process most candidates go through to land any type of role in a professional organisation. Apparently The Body Shop’s intention was to reduce bias by using this type of non-selection selection process but as several people on Twitter pointed out, this is just replacing one bias with another. What about someone who cannot get immediate access to a computer, or who is busy taking their kids to school, or for whatever reason cannot reply immediately and guarantee to be first in the line with their CV? Others cited Greyston Bakery as another example of an “open hiring” organization. The U.S. bakery whose statement reads: “We don't hire people to bake brownies, we bake brownies to hire people” puts this kind of recruitment approach at the heart of all it does. And whilst it is very laudible and on the face of it successful too, I'm not sure that is quite what is going on with The Body Shop. Although The Body Shop did later get in touch to state on behalf of Andrea Blieden, the GM in the U.S. that “The Open Hiring initiative was transformative for our business and for the culture of our company. We look to expand this into our retail stores for customer consultant positions this summer and continue to give opportunities to all who want to work for us. We’re also extremely grateful to Greyston for being a partner in this...” Meanwhile over at Unilever, they have gone in the opposite direction. In October 2019, the Guardian reported Unilever to have saved hundreds of thousands of pounds and 100,000 hours of human recruitment time by employing artificial intelligence in its recruitment processes. “The system scans graduate candidates’ facial expressions, body language and word choice and checks them against traits that are considered to be predictive of job success” reported the paper. Who designed and developed the program? What training data was fed into the machine to teach it what it should be looking for? Dependent on the answers to those questions, this system could be heavily biased, or perhaps it could be correcting a bias that naturally occurs when humans are in control of the process. We don't know. MORE FOR YOUA Wave Of Billion-Dollar Computer Vision Startups Is ComingAlarming Cybersecurity Stats: What You Need To Know For 2021D-ID: This Start-Up’s Betting Synthetic Media Can Democratize Content Creation In The Age Of Privacy Then again, there are companies like Fama, that describes itself as a “talent screening software company which helps identify problematic behaviour amongst potential hires by analysing publicly available online information.” If you sign up you can receive their “Toxic Employee Handbook” and information on the “Cost of a Toxic Hire.” The company scrapes social media data and analyses it to produce a report on your social media behaviour and your language and gives it to a potential employer. Presumably that screens nearly everyone out, then. The point about these three examples is that they are either trying to eliminate human bias, or de-risk human decision-making but are wildly different in approach and in so doing are sending very mixed signals to any potential candidate applying for a new role. Over the past decades organizations had developed some standard ways of attracting, sorting, eliminating and offering potential new employees work, and most people (including schools and universities and parents) could prepare their young people for such a system. Now, if every organization has their own system and employees are expected to jump through lots of different hoops, perhaps ones they aren’t expecting or could never even prepare for, what happens next? Perhaps this is a good way of evaluating a company’s values and beliefs and it is a useful development to broaden out hiring approaches. Or, perhaps this is going to cause chaos, confusion and a lot of employer-employee relations problems a year down the line. My bet is on the latter but only time will tell. Update 19.50, 21st February 2020: this story was updated to include a statement from The Body Shop
cc23300da58cbbd885921923d9007f18	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceyfollows/2020/06/25/immortality-or-bust-transhumanism-in-the-whitehouse/	Immortality Or Bust: Transhumanism In The White House	Immortality Or Bust: Transhumanism In The White House Zolt speech Zoltan Istvan Whilst the media reports on generational tremors taking place on the streets and campuses of the United States of America, and institutions stroke their metaphorical chins contemplating ways to change, a much more radical shift is taking place that seems to be going unnoticed. Mainstream media are missing the story about how people are taking back control of their physical bodies and dedicating their efforts to the enhancement of their own lives. For years now, biohacking has been on the rise: nootropics, supplements, technological implants being just some of the favoured tools to take apart one’s body and rebuild it in a better way. Not only that, there is a genuine interest in better understanding our genetic make up and using that to optimise our personal performance. You can see this in the rapid rise of commercial genetic testing services that are now affordable for everyone today. Even more radical than that is the Transhumanist Movement. A movement that believes in using science and technology to overcome death and fundamentally change the very nature of the human being itself. It’s a movement made up of various factions and slightly different beliefs but there is one man who could be said to be have become its natural leader. And that is Zoltan Istvan. Zoltan has a more radical idea of change than almost anything else you are seeing on your TV screens today but the mainstream media continue to miss him. That’s why it’s good to see he has made his own documentary film explaining to a broader audience what he’s doing, how it all works, and why they should be interested in transhumanism at all. ‘Immortality or Bust’, winner of the Breakout Award at the Raw Science Film Festival in Los Angeles, follows Zoltan on his 2 year campaign running for President of the US. The film starts by explaining his passion for this transhumanist cause and shows him building a custom-made Bluebird motorhome like his father drove when he was a kid, turning it into a mobile coffin to take him on his journey to Washington DC. There he is to deliver his Transhumanist Bill of Rights. MORE FOR YOUA Wave Of Billion-Dollar Computer Vision Startups Is ComingAlarming Cybersecurity Stats: What You Need To Know For 2021D-ID: This Start-Up’s Betting Synthetic Media Can Democratize Content Creation In The Age Of Privacy He enlists friends and family in his quest but we also see him travelling to meet unbelievers and skeptics too, putting his case for Transhumanism over traditional religion. At one point in the documentary he reminds us that atheists never bomb anyone. An important plank of his policy platform is to drastically reduce military funding and redistribute that investment into science. He makes a strong argument that we are living in a military-industrial complex that is out of date, whilst the war we should really be fighting, in this century, is the war on cancer. He’s actually fighting a war on ageing. For at the heart of transhumainsm is the idea of life extension. As the title suggests, it is life extension that ties together the threads of the film. Those threads include a man on a mission to spread the word of Transhumanism, a U.S. Presidential candidate coming face to face with the religiosity of his nation, and a son whose father has had four heart attacks and whom he would love to protect so he can live forever. These three stories together depict Zoltan as the impossibly human face of Transhumanism. Over 731 days we follow him as he presents his ideas virtually in Second Life, meets with the Terasem Movement where people download their thoughts and upload their mind files, debates with a crowd of Evangelical Christians and introduces us to the Immortalists at The Church of Perpetual Life . The culmination is when he tries to pin his Transhumanist Bill of Rights on the US Capitol building in Washington DC. After reading out the Bill, he attempts to attach the piece of paper to a wall and is prevented from doing so by a policemen who redirects him to Senator Barbara Boxer’s office. It is there where the paper is politely filed by an administrative assistant who promises to pass it on at the very first opportunity. A scene that demonstrates just how impenetrable the system is to radical ideas, or any idea of change at all. zolt with bus in DC Zoltan Istvan I caught up with Zoltan on the eve of the film’s launch and asked him whether he will ever run again. “We are going to come to a point, probably twelve years from now when the things I’ve been talking about really make sense. Technology will catch up and these things will become the norm. Hopefully then a lot of my policies will start to be revisited, and people will say, wait a sec, he’s been talking about these things from the very beginning.” “My ideas are still pretty far out there, and there’re no significant comparison to them in a political sense yet. I think it will take some revolutionary technology like brain implants or an ageing reversal gene shot that makes my ideas go mainstream.” “Sometimes I feel I belong to the Star Trek era and not the early 21st Century Earth. But that could change quickly if the technology changes humanity enough, and then the politics I represent are needed in a hurry.” It’s an insightful point because whilst most media headlines and future of work reports occupy themselves with tales of automated futures that displace human beings from the jobs they need or love, Zoltan’s vision is to harness automation in the service of an enhanced human being. The film is a tale of presidential pilgrimage but also a love letter to longevity when facing the pain that death bestows on us all. But for the most part it is two fingers up to determinism, spitting in the eye of appeasement and challenging us all to make a radical change not leave it to someone else. I hope that a younger generation will watch it. They may not be interested in life extension or yet face dilemmas of mortality but this film would provide them with a welcome antidote to the relentless victimhood in today’s culture and its obsessive search for the security of safe spaces. Zoltan takes on life and bends it to his will. I hope an emerging generation will absorb that message and rekindle their autonomy, and in Zoltan’s own words, ‘have no respect for fate’. Immortality or Bust trailer here. Film now available on Amazon, iTunes, Vimeo
00bf792a2e077647935ee38bf9a06acf	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceyfollows/2021/01/15/responsible-technology-wont-be-delivered-by-big-tech-alone/	Responsible Technology Won’t Be Delivered By Big Tech Alone	Responsible Technology Won’t Be Delivered By Big Tech Alone WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 17: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies remotely during a Senate Judiciary ... [+] Committee hearing titled, "Breaking the News: Censorship, Suppression, and the 2020 Election" on Capitol Hill on November 17, 2020 in Washington, DC. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also testified remotely. (Photo by Hannah McKay-Pool/Getty Images) Getty Images Last week, Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey banned U.S. President, Donald J. Trump, from using Twitter. Taking down his Twitter account deprived 88 million people from following Trump’s tweets and those who thought they might follow him on Parler instead were disappointed as Amazon removed the company’s access to their cloud services, banishing Parler into the wilderness of the web. A social media storm ensued in which on the one hand many who had been putting pressure on Twitter since Facebook’s earlier decision to suspend President Trump’s Facebook account were delighted, and on the other hand much concern, from world leaders who could perhaps see where this was heading. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel condemned the move calling the Twitter ban “very problematic” and that the “fundamental right to freedom of opinion” should be determined by the rule of law and government, “not according to the decision of the management of social media platforms.” Yesterday, perhaps under pressure to provide rationale and some clarity, Dorsey posted a Twitter thread outlining his thought process about how the decision was weighed up. He concluded that whilst his action might have been right for Twitter, he was not sure that it was the correct action overall. This communication came amidst the continuing plunge in the Twitter share price. Whatever you might think about Twitter, one of Silicon Valley’s most successful technology companies, their unilateral decision to remove a world leader from their platform, will not lead to more responsible technology and let me tell you why. A couple of years ago I developed a model for understanding the stakeholder relationships required for managing a more responsible approach to technology deployment and usage. Three Sides of Responsible Tech Futuremade MORE FOR YOUBuilding AI Leadership Brain Trust: Why Is Data Analytics Literacy Key To AI Competency Development?How COVID-19 Broke AI, And Why AI May Break AgainArtificial Intelligence And The End Of Work What this aims to show is that it takes all three parties to agree and action any guidelines or principles for good technology governance. It takes government, and it takes technology companies and it also requires the public too. If one can reach some kind of consensus or negotiate a balanced agreement between all three parties then responsible technology has a chance of becoming a reality. But if two parties come to a position whilst excluding the other party, it will preclude any agreement from achieving success over of time. For example, if government and the public come to an agreement to enforce guidelines on an unwilling technology industry, the latter will feel unfairly regulated and may well be unable to innovate. If the government and technology companies come to an agreement on what is permissible without involving the public, the latter may come to believe they are under surveillance. This is particularly important when it comes to biometric technology like facial recognition especially when it is adopted by public institutions like the police. Finally, if technology companies and the public come to their own agreement about what is and isn't appropriate behaviour, without any recourse to government, some groups in society will feel discriminated against and a sense of inequality will fester. That is what happened last week. Without the checks that come with the development of government policy which is an important ingredient in creating “Responsible Tech”, not just for some but for all, whatever is achieved it is almost guaranteed to not be sustainable. Jack Dorsey hints at this in his Twitter thread, writing with reference to the number of internet tool providers now restricting their services to some “This moment in time might call for this dynamic, but over the long term it will be destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet.” It could be that this dynamic and his decision, brokered between the technology platform and the public square, which excluded the potential for fair play via government policy, could in the long term, cause more damage than doing nothing at all.
aab4b7d7786b68c10e652b8b71c67b53	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceyfollows/2021/01/20/the-biggest-risks-ahead-for-2021/	The Biggest Risks Ahead For 2021	The Biggest Risks Ahead For 2021 getty The global risks outlined in the report are “dire”, so says the World Economic Forum of its own Global Risks Report 2021 which was published yesterday. It’s hard to disagree with that. The report which is an annual survey of the risks affecting the world over the next ten years, is only ever serious but this year it feels particularly dark. We are still in the midst of the pandemic today, and any glimmer of hope one may be searching for, to show us the way out into the light, is fairly hard to find. Some of the lowlights on the horizon include: Economic damage Digital Inequality A Lost Generation The economic effects of governments’ responses to the COVID-19 virus will be felt for years if not decades. World output is expected to have shrunk by 4.4% in 2020 says the report. It compares that to the 2008–2009 Financial Crisis which caused the world economy to contract by a mere 0.1%. Livelihoods have been lost en masse, with a working hours equivalent of 495 million jobs, that’s 14% of the world’s entire workforce, lost in quarter 2 of 2020. The report estimates that only half will have been found to have been recovered by the end of that year. Employment prospects look bleak. Industry will be transformed forever. Micro, small and medium-sized businesses have been hardest hit with minority and female-owned firms disproportionately affected. Technology giants however, have benefitted as the businesses that have survived did so by pivoting to an e-commerce offering or making use of remote working technologies. A telling stat in the report is that in early January 2021, the world’s five biggest tech companies represented 23% of the S&P 500 by market capitalization, a 4.6% increase from late January 2020. MORE FOR YOUA Wave Of Billion-Dollar Computer Vision Startups Is ComingAlarming Cybersecurity Stats: What You Need To Know For 2021Lessons From The Storm One effect of the technological transformation of life is that we’ll find opportunity is not evenly distributed. The report makes clear that there is a widening gap between those that can access data and digital technologies that help them in life, and those that have little or no access at all. The emergence of a digital underclass is a real threat, as is increased polarization of opinion and ever-increasing monopolization of markets by big tech. The concentration of power can exacerbate an already fractious situation, hinted at here, “Digital power concentration”—the sixth most likely long-term risk...could confine political and societal discourse to a limited number of platforms that have the capability of filtering information and further reducing the already limited agency of individuals and organizations over how their data are used.” But perhaps the most depressing theme of all is the one highlighting the generation scarred by the lockdowns and heading towards a precarious future. ‘Pandemials” as the World Economic Forum labels them, are young adults aged 15 years to 24 years who have faced now two global crises within a decade. Their education has been disrupted, their communication is increasingly mediated by technology, and automation may render their employment prospects bleak. Will the safety nets for a generation brought up on “safetyism” even be there when it is needed? There are many other specific risks highlighted. In the short-term, infectious diseases, cybersecurity failure and the erosion of social cohesion. In the long-term, state collapse, industrial collapse and climate action failure. Nevertheless, it is interesting that the answer to almost every pregnant problem, is public-private partnerships. As the report states in one of the chapters covering future preparedness, “The pandemic has shown that innovation can be sparked when governments engage the private sector to respond to large-scale challenges - if risks and rewards are shared fairly and appropriate governance is in place.” It is very clear that COVID-19 and Climate Action are seen as opportunities to bring corporations and states closer together in offering solutions to global problems. But if that means an even greater wealth accretion and power accretion to corporations, who then unduly influence governments, we may see even wider social divisions. The demos to a large extent dictates which threats and risks it wants its leaders to prioritize and if companies rather than citizens get to decide that we will indeed be looking at more than just social unrest. And that is the risk that whilst unreported, looms on the horizon, and we should not ignore.
e8fa0b0796a43808e624f42362f0c6a1	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceygreenstein/2012/07/06/how-facebook-is-shaping-your-2012-travel-decisions/	How Facebook Is Shaping Your 2012 Travel Decisions	How Facebook Is Shaping Your 2012 Travel Decisions Social engagement at Innovation Norway Believe it or not, Facebook may help you plan your next trip. Recent studies reveal that what matters most when planning a trip is not where you're going, but rather who you know that has already traveled to that destination. Without a doubt, the ubiquitous marketing tool's unique brand interaction is setting a new beat to the travel pulse. While trusted travel brands unquestionably provide valuable trip advice, word of mouth from a loyal group of friends may be more worthwhile. That all-too-familiar computer screen gaze at flashing photographs of friends in exotic places around the world is apparently enough for daydreamers to start packing. According to a 2011 poll featured on UK-based flight comparison site Skyscanner.com, 52% of Facebook users stated that seeing friends' vacation pictures inspired them to book a trip to that particular place. Numerous recent statistics speak to the revelatory link between social media & travel decisiveness. Consulting firm EyeforTravel released the 2012 report Social Media & Mobile Travel, which indicates that 7 out of 10 travel brands professed how social media has not only generated a remarkable amount of direct bookings from social media sites, but has also significantly improved engagement with customers. Social engagement platform company Friend2Friend - a company that specializes in executing customized, interactive social media campaigns - has developed a number of Facebook Apps for Facebook's travel space. The apps "leverage the power of compelling imagery, fan participation and engagement experiences like voting and sharing," to boost viewership and brand influence. "Norway Daily Challenge" at Innovation Norway Friend2Friend's client Innovation Norway is enjoying the benefits of their Facebook app campaign, which has successfully and dramatically increased their page activity from 12,000 to 31,000 followers in a 45 day period. Friend2Friend built the app for the Ministry of Trade and Industry in Norway, and their daily questions and quizzes, stunning Norwegian visuals and social ads have helped to increase the page's audience. The chance to win a free trip to Norway doesn't hurt their traffic, either. According to Friend2Friend, travelers are 80% more likely to book a trip from a friend liking a page than they are from responding to a traditional advertisement. In addition, the World Travel Market 2011 Industry Report states that more than one fifth, or 22%, of travel companies generate revenue from social media efforts and 27% are planning to make strides in social over the next 5 years. The report further indicates that by 2016, social media will be in the forefront as a primary way to generate travel bookings and revenue for half of the travel industry. Website eMarketer confirms this trend in travel, as their Social is the New Normal for Travel Marketers report provides charts that validate the deep connection between travel and social. The chart below shows expected change in the Digital Marketing Budget in 2012, according to travel professionals worldwide, by Tactic, as seen on eMarketer. Source: Frommer's Unlimited and Tnooz, 2011 The chart below shows reasons that US social network users decide to "like"/follow a travel brand/company on a social network, April 2011 as seen on eMarketer. Source: ROI Research Inc., 2011 This change in travel consumer behavior said to be a "permanent shift," according to eMarketer. "Though the economy may be normalizing according to cyclical trends, the way consumers react to and interact with businesses may never be the same. Social media is the central hub of this new relationship." According to the 2011 Digital Marketing and Content Survey, as conducted by Frommer's and Tnooz, "65% of travel professionals polled worldwide planned to increase their social media marketing budget in 2012, a higher percentage than for any other digital marketing tactic." And that speaks to the power of social media. "When it comes to travel, though the wisdom of crowds is crucial, the advice of friends is better still," says Roger Katz, CEO of Friend2Friend. Welcome to the world of digital travel marketing and be sure to post your best and brightest travel photographs - the envy alone will entice your friends to stop dreaming and make their travel fantasies a reality.
fa0263cf90aedb0bb0bb1d2c553820b8	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceyjohn/2011/07/21/klout-ceo-on-raising-your-score-google-plus-integration-and-justin-biebers-perfect-100/	Klout CEO On Raising Your Score, Google Plus Integration And Justin Bieber's Perfect 100	Klout CEO On Raising Your Score, Google Plus Integration And Justin Bieber's Perfect 100 (Image: via CrunchBase) How do you stack up on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn? Thanks to Klout, now you'll know. The new website measures your digital influence across various social networks -- with Foursquare, Google+, Tumblr, YouTube and more on the way. Klout CEO Joe Fernandez explains how his website ranks our social media activities, how Klout can make you a standout job candidate, and if Justin Bieber's perfect score can ever be matched. Klout CEO Joe Fernandez Earning degrees in finance and computer science from the University of Miami, 33-year-old CEO Joe Fernandez had the idea for Klout back in 2007 when he had to have surgery to correct his misaligned mandible. Because he was unable to communicate verbally, he spent a lot of time using social media and the internet to share his thoughts. "My jaw was wired shut for three months, and during that time I had to completely rely on Twitter and Facebook to communicate," Fernandez said to me in a phone conversation last week. Although he had been using such tools frequently, it wasn't until they were his primary means of communication that he began to look at them differently. "I was really amazed at the idea that I could share my opinion with the people who trusted me, instantly from my phone," he continued. "And this idea that word-of-mouth was scalable and all the data was there... I got really obsessed with it. I don't know if it was all the drugs, but I got really obsessed with using all this data. Then I started building the first version of Klout, and I've been working on it since then." Relocating from New York to San Francisco, Klout now employs 60 people and has raised over $10 million in funding, with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as their main investor. "I kept thinking if I waited [to have my jaw surgery], the technology would get better, and it would just be fixed with some lotion or something I could put on," Fernandez added, laughing. "Unfortunately, I had to do the surgery, and it was not fun at all, but I would say it all worked out." Read on for the full interview. Tracey John: I know there's a detailed explanation of how Klout works on the official website, but can you boil it down? Joe Fernandez: It really boils down to what the likelihood of the content you create on social networks is being acted upon; people commenting, clicking links, liking, retweeting, whatever it might be. And then we look at how influential the people are who do that. Ultimately, when we think about influence, it's really about the ability to drive others to action. Klout Score TJ: How often is Klout updated? JF: Klout is updated once daily right now, but we're looking to have more real-time updates soon. TJ: To be clear, it doesn't matter how many Twitter followers and Facebook friends you have? JF: No, we actually don't care how many Twitter followers or Facebook friends you have. What we care about is who interacts with you. You might have 10,000 friends, but if no one responds or interacts with you, it doesn't matter. TJ: For LinkedIn, what exactly are you measuring there? JF: LinkedIn is a little tricky because it's not as transactional. One of the things we're really interested in is what kind of people you're connected to. How many [vice presidents], CEOs or managers are you connected to? So it's not the number of people you're connected to; the quality of those connections is a big factor. Bill Gates (Image: via CrunchBase) TJ: Let's say I only had one connection, and it was Bill Gates. That would raise my Klout score much more significantly than if it was 20 random people? JF: Yeah, some people have thousands of random connections. A recruiter is a great example because they just connect with everyone. That's not as viable as if you had just two connections that were Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. That would be pretty awesome for your score. TJ: Would it be beneficial for people to go through and remove extraneous connections? For example, if someone was connecting with people willy-nilly, would it be better for their Klout score if they weeded out some of their connections? JF: We still look at the quality of those connections. We're not going to penalize you for having so many connections. We don't penalize people for not having enough connections if those connections are really good. TJ: So then it's not possible to "game" the system and up your Klout score, is it? JF: The thing with Klout is you only get a good score if other influential people are reacting to your content. It makes it really, really hard to game the system. How are you going to get other people to risk their own credibility with their audience to try to make you look good by interacting with you? We have people that look for that kind of stuff, but that's not something that we're seeing actually happen. (Image: via Wikipedia) TJ: I see that Foursquare is being integrated. How is that going to work? JF: We recently added Foursquare -- just a data collection on people's Foursquare accounts. At the end of the month, we'll be rolling out the actual Foursquare score. We're determining what the criteria will be on Foursquare because we do look at each network independently. But it's the idea of, if I check-in at a restaurant, then how many of my friends then come check it out because I talked about it? TJ: Let's say someone hasn't really used Foursquare. Is that going to negatively affect their Klout score once that is integrated? JF: No, it won't lower your score. We look at what network you are most effective on. Let's say that you're mostly on Facebook. Any other network we look at as kind of a bonus. It shouldn't drop your average. TJ: How do you decide which services to include in our Klout scores? JF: Here in the office we're pretty avid social media users. Besides what we're all using ourselves, we get a lot of feedback from our users on what they want to see, and we try to prioritize from there. Tumblr (Image: via CrunchBase) TJ: Are there any plans to integrate Google Plus and Tumblr? JF: Google Plus is definitely one we are getting a ton of requests for, and one we're really excited about. The problem right now is that Google doesn't have an [application programming interface] that lets us get access to the data. As soon as that launches, we already have our plan in place, and we'll be ready to add it. And Tumblr is definitely another one. I love Tumblr. Who is liking and reblogging you would be the natural element we would care about. That will hopefully be added before the end of the summer. TJ: What about the integration of WordPress, Blogger and TypePad, or other blog services? And even YouTube? JF: Oh, yes. Definitely. Anywhere people are creating user-generated content, that's a good source for us. And yes, YouTube will actually be coming soon, maybe even this month. TJ: Are there plans to integrate other types of internet presence not necessarily tied to social networks? Like Google searches, or just people posting on the internet? JF: Yeah, one of the things that's exciting about where we're going is infinite data and infinite complexity. I want to add online data. I want to add offline data. Any data that's out there would be interesting to us to correlate to and influence with Klout. In the long term, we definitely think about that kind of stuff, but it's really early. TJ: There are a few other sites out there that measure online influence like Twitter Grader and PeerIndex. Why should we trust Klout versus those other sites? JF: We've definitely become the standard. We've shown that people trust Klout more than any other site. We have 3,000 companies using our data and doing two billion transactions a month right now... And in terms of public perception and resources, we have a team of almost 60 people here; data scientists and all these folks are working everyday to continuously improve our data. TJ: I recently wrote an article about what a recruiter thinks of Klout. How do you see Klout influencing the job market? (Image: Getty Images via @daylife) JF: I think Career Builder did a study recently that said, "Eighty-five percent of employers look online to research a candidate." And you think of the world we're in where social networks and social media are such an important amplification tool, whether it's your company or just your ideas -- a person's comfort and ability to leverage social media is becoming, if not critical, at least a differentiator among candidates. If I was hiring a marketing person, and I had two candidates who graduated from similar schools and had similar work experience, but one of them has a ton of influence -- meaning they're so passionate about marketing that they're tweeting, using Facebook, blogging and doing all these things to talk about it online -- that's the person that I'm going to hire. And I certainly don't think Klout can be the only factor in making a decision on hiring, just like SAT scores shouldn't be the only factor in determining who gets into a college. But I think in terms of understanding somebody's ability, comfort, reach and engagement with social media -- which is becoming more and more important -- that Klout is the standard and a great tool for hiring. TJ: I think people are concerned that Klout scores would one day be the only thing looked at when on a job interview. JF: Yeah, but banks don't make loans based only on FICO credit scores. It's an ingredient. Internally, we look at Klout scores when we hire people, but I'm not going to pass on a really good engineer because they don't have a high Klout score or something like that. For some roles, it's more important than others. When you're hiring, you have so little to go on a candidate. The fact that somebody takes the time to develop a personal brand and share their expertise and passions online, is valuable. TJ: What happens when you go on vacation and don't use the internet? Is there any way to prevent your absence from affecting your Klout score? JF: One of the things that lowers people's scores is just not consistently being active. When I leave the office for a week to go on vacation, my influence drops because [my co-workers] forget about me. The same thing happens online. If you look at my graphs right now, it drops really hard because I was traveling for work all last week. I think it's a bummer because you put in all this work to maintain your score. But I think it also reflects how the world works. When I leave work, I lose influence. When I'm not there in the conversation, I have less influence. (Image: via Wikipedia) TJ: What advice do you have for job seekers that want to increase their Klout score? JF: I have a close friend who loves poker, and he started hosting a game in his apartment. Then he started a blog, and he was tweeting about it. He had a really lame IT job, but he loves poker. That was his passion, and he was creating all this content about it. World Poker Tour saw his blog and reached out to him; he's been working for them now for five years. So it's the same thing: if you're really passionate or you're excellent in something, and you want the world to know, the web and social media is there for you to share that stuff. If you consistently share your passion with the world, then everything can take care of itself from there. TJ: On the other hand, will there be any privacy options if people are embarrassed about their Klout scores? Or will they be able to hide their scores from certain people? JF: I'm not even up to speed on what all of the options will be, but we definitely have various privacy settings coming in the next few weeks. TJ: Can you explain perks? How do you decide what perks to give and who gets what perks? Are there different perks for different tiers of Klout scores? JF: At first, really, really odd brands would start coming to us, and they would always say, "Can you give me the list of who is influential about mobile phones?" And we didn't do that because we wanted to protect the privacy of Klout users. Spotify (Image: Johan Larsson via Flickr) But this idea of perks... Generally, when a brand is launching a new product, they want to put that product in the hands of the people who they'd like to be talking about it. Right now we're doing a perk with [digital music service] Spotify. If there's someone who's an authority about music, and they're saying how great Spotify is, then all their friends are going to check it out. So how the perks work is they're topic-focused. You'll get an e-mail from us saying, "Hey, because you're so influential about travel, Virgin America wants to give you a free flight." And then we have a code of ethics, which is basically that you can say anything you want about this. You can say you love it. You can say you hate it. You can say nothing. What we'll try to do is give these influencers -- the people that we know talk about this topic and get a network response -- and put them in a great situation. We let them have amazing experience, and let them tell the stories themselves. There's not lot a set score criteria, like you have to have a score above "X" to get a perk. We work with the brand, and it depends on what it is and how many things we're giving away and stuff like that. But it's always around what topics you're influential about. TJ: And certain people with high Klout scores would be treated differently at restaurants and things like that? JF: That definitely happens now. We have hotels in Las Vegas where it's built into the reservation system. You go to check into the hotel, the system tells them how influential you are, and they'll upgrade your room or send you to Cirque du Soleil. And we even have call centers where you call in, and they're routing the calls based on Klout scores. Maybe you're not the person who should be sitting on hold or maybe you should talk directly to our manager, that kind of thing. TJ: I also see that there will be achievements, or badges, unlocked for certain things you do on Klout. Can you talk about what these achievements are going to be like? JF: I can't really deny the fact that I'm a huge Xbox 360 Achievement fan. We borrowed that structure. We can think about achievements in a couple of different buckets. One is being retweeted by 10,000 unique people or having a message on Facebook liked by 60 people. Stuff like that. We have one we call the "OG Achievement" for the first 2,000 people who used Klout. If you go to my account on Klout, I have some of those. It's giving a video game element of caring about your score, and trying to build it up to the next level. Another one of the things we're really working on is providing people with insights into their score, kind of like a quest that you can do to help you. Like, "OK, your score is a 30, here's a thing that people who score a 40 do that's different than you." And you can earn badges from going through that process. Justin Bieber (Image: via Wikipedia) TJ: I saw that Justin Bieber has a Klout score of 100. What do I need to do to get a 100? Do I have to become a teen pop star? JF: [laughs] The Justin Bieber score, it's amazing. We named our conference room "Justin Bieber" because he has the highest score, and we have a big picture of him there. But in terms of Klout scores, the one we show on the site is the overall score. Behind the scenes, we have scores on what topics you're influential about. I'll never be as influential as Justin Bieber overall, but when it comes to video games, skateboarding, or whatever it might be, I could be extremely influential. So those are things that we are going to start exposing externally soon. Let's say my Klout score is 24, but I'm an architect, and for architects, that's one of the highest [overall] scores there is, and I'm in the 90th percentile for architecture. Another example: let's say you are a vice president at Boeing, and even though you may not create much content on Twitter or Facebook, you're probably influential about aeronautics. There's something more contextual there than the Twitter and Facebook data might be. So we'll be helping people understand how their scores work and show off scores by topic. Because it's not really fair, on a pure 1-to-100 scale, to compare any of us to mega-teen pop sensations. TJ: Is he the only one with a score of 100? JF: He's the only one with 100 right now. And there might be less than 10 people above 90. It's going to change a little, but it's a very small handful that are that high up. Lady Gaga and Barack Obama are up there; they are generally celebrity types. A good score for a normal person -- anything in the 70's is really pretty strong. I've never gotten my score to 70. TJ: Yes, I see your Klout score is 69 right now. Does being the CEO of Klout give you more perks? JF: It's funny. I've never gotten any of the actual Klout perks; I didn't get the Virgin America ticket, but I did get a Spotify account. It’s a weird thing being the Klout CEO because you can't feel self-conscious since we're creating a score that we're putting on everyone. But it's fun. And at every single event I go to, everyone wants me to raise their score. TJ: I was going to ask if talking to you would increase my Klout score... JF: [laughs] It depends. It won't hurt your Klout score! Assuming that your article comes out, it gets shared a lot, and it's popular, that can actually help your Klout score. Klout is a hot topic lately, so it's not so much about talking to me but creating content that people like. *** Related articles: How Much Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn And Klout Matter: A Recruiter's Advice Is Twitter Turning Us Into Twits? Tracey John is a veteran games, tech, comics and toy reporter based in Brooklyn, New York. You can find her on Twitter @TraceyJohn or at her website, www.traceyjohn.com. Got a tip? Send an e-mail.
c2533f89b351e3372b491b19776e131e	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceyjohn/2011/07/28/deepak-chopra-video-games-can-promote-higher-consciousness-accelerate-brain-development/	Deepak Chopra: Video Games Can Promote Higher Consciousness, Accelerate Brain Development	Deepak Chopra: Video Games Can Promote Higher Consciousness, Accelerate Brain Development Deepak Chopra (Photo: ©JesseAngelo.com) Deepak Chopra gives lectures all over the world. He's written dozens of books. But now he's trying a different medium to get his message across: video games. The spiritual leader and alternative medicine guru tells us about how he’ll teach meditation and wellness with his new game, Leela. Whether they're raiding dungeons in World of Warcraft, gunning down foes in Call of Duty or flinging fowl in Angry Birds, many gamers often like to zone out with video games after a hard day at work or school. But Deepak Chopra hopes that his upcoming game Leela, which means "play" in Sanskrit, can provide stress relief in a more peaceful manner. The new title for Nintendo's Wii and Microsoft's Kinect, the hands-free controller for Xbox 360, uses motion controls to teach players about meditation and the seven chakras based on Hindu and Buddhist teachings. Leela contains 43 interactive exercises and mini-games inspired by each chakra, as well as self-guided and guided meditation practices. The Kinect version can even measure players' breathing, showing users the proper way to breathe during meditation. Deepak Chopra's Leela (Image: THQ) "I had been watching the whole video game culture for a while," explained Chopra in my recent interview with him at his New York office, "and one day it suddenly occurred to me that this was the perfect vehicle to express what I had been saying in 64 books, and that we can make it fun without getting people all wrapped up in the intellectual understanding of consciousness... not many people can relate to that." During the demonstration session, Chopra also talked at length about his interest in neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain and nervous system's function and structure to fundamentally change when influenced by environmental stimuli. "What we experience actually shapes the anatomy of our brain," he said, mentioning that he frequently speaks to his neuroscientist pals. "There's no experience that you have that doesn't influence what happens in your brain, obviously. But now we also know that by choosing the right experiences, we can rewire our brain... When I started watching video games, I realized that they can be an amazing tool to accelerate the development of the brain. And that, in fact, a video game can accelerate technologically the development and evolution [of the brain] in a few months that would take maybe 100 years of biological evolution. We don't recognize this yet, but we will." (Image: THQ) In fact, Chopra hopes to eventually prove this with Leela, and he plans to show his neurological cohorts once the game is complete. "My biggest, loftiest goal is to see how this game will actually accelerate neuro-development into adulthood," he said. "I want to speak to people who are doing research on things like Alzheimer's disease to see if we can do functional scans before and after people play this game. My hope is to be able to do a functional resonance scan on somebody's brain and show in six months how this brain is way more evolved than when it first started playing the game. So that's one end of the spectrum.” He quickly added, "But if it stops being fun, then it won't work. Most importantly, it has to be fun." (Image: THQ) As much fun as brain-scanning sounds, for now, Chopra ultimately wants people to learn the general practices of mind-body wellness. He also thinks that his game will benefit not only his followers, but people from all walks of life, even if they don't know anything about his teachings or the seven chakras. With video game systems now prevalent in a growing number of living rooms, he expects that children, and even their parents, will give Leela a go. "I think lot of people will gravitate towards this game from being influenced by their kids [playing video games]," he said. "And mind-body awareness can get pretty addictive; those who practice yoga are very attached to it and enjoy it very much, so I hope that people will get the same result [with Leela]. " "The implications of this game are huge," he continued. "This is the first game that actually uses your breath -- which can influence your emotions, your blood pressure, your heart rate -- and makes a game out of it. Here, spirituality and wellness meets technology." Deepak Chopra's Leela will be released for Wii and Xbox 360 Kinect on November 11th. (Photo Credit: Deepak Chopra in NYC, July 2011 © JesseAngelo.com) Related articles: Jane Austen Throws Down In New 'Word Fighter' Game Survey: Women Enjoy Video Games More Than Sex Tracey John is a veteran games, tech, comics and toy reporter based in Brooklyn, New York. You can find her on Twitter @TraceyJohn or at her website, www.traceyjohn.com. Got a tip? Send an e-mail.
69da95f648c263349377e45332d64f51	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceywelsonrossman/2021/01/07/ensuring-healthcares-innovation-boom-benefits-all-equally/	Ensuring Healthcare’s Innovation Boom Benefits All Equally	Ensuring Healthcare’s Innovation Boom Benefits All Equally Despite (and in part because of) all of the pain and suffering it has caused, this past year has been a groundbreaking one for medical innovation. From creative treatment protocols to telehealth to vaccine development, the pandemic has given the public a front row view into the value of healthcare research and technology. We have literally seen some of these advances move from the drawing board to the field in record time and before our very eyes, including profound advances in therapeutics, delivery systems, consumer engagement, diagnostics, information systems and digital health. New gene-based therapies are on the cusp of treating and possibly curing hundreds of diseases. And Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are now shaping clinical care, hospital operations, drug discovery, population health management and physician empowerment like never before. Dr. Anne Klibanski, the President and CEO of Mass General Brigham, rightly points out that many of this year’s advancements were based on nascent technologies or processes that have been accelerated because of the pandemic. Still, she believes their success has changed the rules around development and opened the door to more innovations finding purchase in the sector long after COVID has been defeated. As a clinician, scientist, administrator, and now CEO, Dr. Klibanksi has a perspective earned by decades of service in academic medicine, a discipline that combines insights from research and clinical care to speed life-saving therapies to patients and clinicians worldwide. She now sits at the helm of the largest academic research organization in the nation - Mass General Brigham – an institution conducting nearly $2 billion in research annually that can trace its roots back to 1811 and whose academic faculty have paved the way for generations of breakthroughs in patient care, teaching strategies, and research. She shared thoughts on three areas of innovation that have seen some of the biggest leaps in the past few years. The Rise of Telehealth Prior to COVID-19, Dr. Klibanski says Mass General was conducting roughly 1,000 virtual clinical visits per month. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the health system has held over a million of these same visits. MORE FOR YOUNASA Names D.C. Headquarters After Mary Jackson, Its First Black Female Engineer And STEM LeaderFormer Miss USA Creates Low-Alcoholic, Herbal Wine Brand, Becomes One Of Few Black Winemakers In The Country8 Female Venture Capital Investors To Watch In 2021 While there might be a drop off in telehealth visits once the pandemic subsides, it has undoubtedly become a mainstay of medicine. The convenience and cost savings are simply too great to ignore. In fact, a January 2020 study by the American Journal of Emergency Medicine estimated savings to be as high as $121 per visit. Beyond patient preference, Dr. Klibanski also says it’s a critical lifeline for some patients unable to regularly see their provider due to distance, mobility issues, childcare, or even illness. She says one of the keys to embed this as a standard of care will be the ability to connect to remote sensors and devices like blood press cuffs that can be used from home to inform physician decisions. Data-Based Medicine The use of data to improve treatments or even inform early interventions has also made a significant leap. That data has always existed, but health systems have only recently begun to improve their collection and analysis capabilities. The potential is enormous, but Dr. Klibanski is adamant that data standards and the use of contextual data gathering to make more informed treatment decisions require big improvements. As an example, she says the use of ICD codes show how incomplete data can actually be harmful. Scientists and clinicians using only ICD coding – absent other information sources – to identify patient cohorts to look at disease predictors and outcomes could miss important factors. Looking ahead, she wants to see healthcare systems look beyond their own walls for data. By bringing in data from insurers, foundations, pharmaceutical companies, and others she says providers can construct a more complete picture of a patient’s health and make more accurate medical decisions. Growing Role for AI This boon in data has opened the door for AI and machine learning. Dr. Klibanski says that while data can help show us the historical impact of a drug or treatment on a patient, AI can help us understand what that same drug or treatment could do for a patient in the years to come. That use of AI or machine learning as a predictive model will be critical in understanding the path of a disease, outcomes of treatment, as well as understating the quality and accuracy of specific interventions. Early use cases like radiology have already proven this ability of AI to aid in treatment. Of course, Dr. Klibanski points out we’re still in the early days of AI in medicine and there is still much room for growth. The challenge is that these algorithms are only good as the data upon which they’re based. And in many instances, she says that data is still lacking– highlighting the critical interplay of the development of data protocols alongside AI innovations. Healthcare Gaps Despite all of these advancements and the promise of even greater innovations to come, Dr. Klibanski is concerned they will be applied unevenly. “The industry is at a crossroads,” she observed. “It has never been more effective, as demonstrated by its response to the pandemic. At the same time, its historic shortcomings in caring for those most in need have exacerbated the effect of the coronavirus.” Those shortcomings can be in how care is meted out by geography, between wealthy and poor patients, or even because of unequal capacity and capabilities of individual providers. AI in particular is vulnerable to the biases of developers who build algorithms. In particular, she is an active proponent of having more diversity – people of color and women – in the field to counter a world of medical haves and have nots. Even in a year when women - from front line caregivers to Nobel Prize winners – were recognized for their contributions to medicine, they are still noticeably absent in research and development roles. This is attributable to a wide range of issues, from a lack of support by institutions to lack of funding for women-led initiatives to poor workplace policies that lead to drop out by women because of childcare issues. According to a 2019 analysis by Erin Cech, a sociologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, nearly 50% of the women in the field of science leave the field after the birth of their first child. Funding Women in Research Dr. Klibanski has experienced much of this firsthand. As a junior faculty member at Mass General Hospital, she remembers there being very few women in leadership positions. She also noticed many of the female faculty members were leaving just as their careers were beginning to advance, most to have and raise children. To help stem the tide at Mass General, she teamed with honorary trustee Jane Claflin to create the Claflin Award, a two year grant worth $50,000 per year to support female academics in medicine. Grant winners can use the funds to hire additional technicians in a laboratory, a study coordinator for clinical research, or for childcare. The grant has been a tremendous success with more than 100 awardees to date and has spawned similar programs at other systems. Of note, 2002 Claflin award-winner Dr. Rochelle Walensky was recently nominated by President-Elect Biden to be the head of the CDC. Dr. Klibanski says that in addition to financially supporting winners, the program also sends a message that women are valued as faculty members and seen as future leaders. Dr. Klibanski hopes to see more efforts like this in the recruitment, training, and nurturing of women in academic medicine and healthcare overall. She ardently believes the mission of medical research is to catalyze change for the benefit of all people — no matter where they live, their gender or race, or their economic and social status. The key to achieving that mission is to build a diverse workforce and leadership team that reflects those populations. So, coming out of this pandemic, she is charging all of us – including caregivers and administrators – to make this an urgent priority. Profound change is happening in medicine, and we must ensure the transformation is for the benefit of every patient.
a0cdd536e569a97b403f49800525757c	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceywelsonrossman/2021/01/19/grassroots-organizers-build-playbook-for-tech-powered-networking-in-pandemic/	Grassroots Organizers Build Playbook For Tech-Powered Networking In Pandemic	Grassroots Organizers Build Playbook For Tech-Powered Networking In Pandemic The well-worn adage “all politics are local” was borne out again in the 2020 election. Grassroots organizations – the epitome of local activism – played a critical role in delivering outcomes on federal, state, and city levels. The combination of technology tools and the power of female networks in amplifying these organizations’ efforts offers a potential playbook for the future of politics. This relationship between human and tech-powered activism has precedent. In fact, the role of digital in combination with get-out-the-vote efforts has grown steadily in importance over recent decades. President Obama’s digital teams and creative approaches like his open-sourced image received enormous credit for his historic win, while the conservative rejoinder to these efforts helped propel Republican candidates to Congressional wins and eventually the White House. After the 2016 election, there was a significant growth in the number of female-led grassroots organizations. Stacey Abrams and her Fair Fight organization, widely credited for helping turn Georgia into a battleground state, is one of the better-known examples. Around the country, these organizations would come to play a critical role in 2020 when the election was contested with a new set of rules because of the pandemic. Forced to network and engage in new ways because of social distancing guidelines and fears of infection, women organizers turned to tech as a core platform strategy. Much like remote work and education, these new rules of engagement will likely remain with us far into the future. “We knew women were going to be key to this election, but when COVID hit, it quickly became clear that safety concerns would make digital outreach critically important,” said Jill Nash of Women for Biden Digital. Nash is a seasoned Silicon Valley communications specialist who has often lent her expertise and networks to political efforts in battleground states. She co-founded Women for Biden Digital with Claire Conway when the two realized the role that women could play in the 2020 election while both working on Iowa primary campaigns. MORE FOR YOU8 Female Venture Capital Investors To Watch In 2021How Andrea Jung, Lisa Mensah And Women Over 50 Are Safeguarding Small BusinessesHow Grey Bandit Used Influencer Marketing To Reach $5 Million In Sales They quickly reached out to Ambassador Denise Bauer, who headed up Women for Biden, and offered to build all the social media platforms for the Women for Biden coalition. Their efforts were hugely successful, growing the group from zero to 725,000 women in about six months. Some of this success can be attributed to Nash’s work within the tech industry, which afforded her a familiarity with the various social platforms and tools. But the organization also recruited a number of volunteers with digital backgrounds, which allowed them to “crowdsource” the tools that worked best for specific groups and efforts. Despite her background and these new tools, Nash is quick to point out that tech is not solely responsible for their success. “The major contributors to the success of Women for Biden-Harris were the passion and relationships of our women. With no budget and only our contact lists, these women made the difference,” she elaborated. Of course, she acknowledged digital is an efficient way to activate and enable these women. But they could not rely on “activity” being just clicking Like buttons or leaving comments online. They needed to engage people in a digital arena in a way that would motivate them to take action in the real world, such as phone banking, text messaging, postcard writing, or donating money. And it was highly successful. Nash says women from all walks of life, backgrounds, and ages - political veterans, out of work Broadway performers, HR professionals, corporate marketing and communications executives, retired social workers, recent college graduates, mothers and grandmothers - stepped up to do whatever was needed to get the job done. Another veteran organizer, Susan Stern, echoed both COVID as an inflection point and the power of tech-enabled human networking. Stern began her career as an organizer supporting Hillary Clinton’s first run for President. While her work identifying and gathering people from the nonprofit world did not crystallize during that election, her effort to recruit them once again in 2016 came together as Jewish Women for Hillary. Four years later, Stern was involved again in the 2020 primaries as an individual contributor. When Joe Biden earned the nomination, she recast her organization – what she calls “getting the old team back together” – as Jewish Women for Joe (full disclosure: this writer was on the social media team for the organization). Like Nash, Stern says that the rules of engagement had changed because of COVID. They leaned into webinars as a way to speak to influence members, donors, and voters around the country. Their first online event in April of 2020 had nearly 500 people attend. She realized the power of the medium immediately – especially because of COVID fears – and says her group became “programming masters” over the summer. They developed a successful game plan that involved using digital platforms and rock star speakers to activate Jewish women in battleground states around the country, including Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida. Since these women were not able to get out and knock on doors because of the pandemic, the goal was to turn them into phone bankers. Stern’s group then started training volunteers from other affinity groups and in other states on how to organize and execute phone banking parties. Stern says technology like Zoom certainly played a part in their ultimate success, relaying a story of one Congresswoman that delivered a webinar from the back of her car. But she says the content and the networks of women were equally important. The message resonated and people responded. The group’s email list of over 6,000 people had an astonishing open rate of 87% with only 10 unsubscribes over the course of the campaign. And the organization’s 5,000 volunteers made over 360,000 phone calls. While the technology was useful, it would have been an empty promise without the power and passion of these women. “I called my good friend in Ohio who I’ve known for 100 years,” explained Stern. “She has no idea how to do Zoom, but she organizes 900 people in Cleveland and another 900 in Columbus. It’s the power of tech with these women that created such huge scale and results.” Fortunately, these groups are not disbanding as they did for previous elections cycles. They understand the role they played in swaying votes and the need that exists beyond just this past November. Both Nash and Stern also recognize the power their model holds and its potential for longevity. They are eager to recruit more women to the cause and teach them how to leverage tech and their networks in grassroots activism.
13f70d45ed641cc6e59d605086352ec9	https://www.forbes.com/sites/traceywelsonrossman/2021/02/09/healthcare-needs-more-diverse-experts-to-guide-innovation/	Healthcare Needs More Diverse Experts To Guide Innovation	Healthcare Needs More Diverse Experts To Guide Innovation getty It is a common refrain that the healthcare industry is ripe for disruption. That rate of disruption reached a new level with the onset of the pandemic and the resulting emphasis on innovation and regulatory easing. According to Silicon Valley Bank, total healthtech investment in 2020 was $15.3 billion, compared to just $10.6 billion in 2019. While healthcare deals were up across the board, a trend towards telehealth, virtual clinical trials, and other remote practices helped bring digital health to the forefront. There has also been a rapid increase in investments in well-being and quality of care innovations that leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the Internet of Things. Those trends are likely to only accelerate in the years ahead. Yet, despite this appetite for disruption and interest in innovation, the healthcare industry also has a well-earned reputation for resistance to change because of a default to existing standards. As a result, many entrepreneurs complain of a system geared towards larger, more established players or having trouble taking their advancements from idea to commercialization. Inlightened CEO and cofounder Shelli Pavone attributes some of this to a knowledge gap in the industry, or what she sees as a classic mismatch between innovation and need. She says that within the industry there is “consistent, recurrent feedback that healthcare innovations don’t address the needs of their target market and often miss the mark in terms of improving care and outcomes.” But Pavone doesn’t lay the blame for those misses squarely at the feet of entrepreneurs or innovators. Over the course of her career working for both large pharmaceutical and device companies as well as healthtech startups, she has come to realize that many great ideas failed simply because they lacked access to knowledgeable insiders. And those experts that did exist tended to be monolithic or act as gatekeepers rather than sources of valuable guidance. MORE FOR YOUActress With Congenital Limb Difference Fights For Representation In HollywoodOnly 1 In 3 Managers Check Their Black Female Employees’ Well-Being, New Study ShowsShe Achieved Millionaire Status Years Ago And She Still Follows Her Monthly Budget She launched Inlightened to help bridge that gap and break the hold of those gatekeepers. By creating a vast network of diverse healthcare experts for innovators to tap for guidance, she hopes to nudge more good ideas towards solving healthcare’s most compelling problems. And by problems, she means those that affect everyone – not just those identified by large system physicians from well-respected medical schools. Pavone points out that many innovators enter into the field with a highly targeted or specialized idea inspired by a personal or family experience. Giving them access to a broad range of experts who might be more attuned to niche needs or issues provides those entrepreneurs with a better chance of success. Especially as they navigate the many and complex stages of a healthcare or life science innovation cycle that stretches from idea-vetting to clinical testing to FDA review to market development and eventual piloting and commercialization. She says entrepreneurs that are realistic about their knowledge gap and work to fill it with diverse viewpoints have a higher chance of success. To help facilitate that, her company has deliberately sought out a diverse set of clinicians that represent a cross-section of experience and specialties to join its network. Experts like Dr. Kameron Leigh Matthews, a family physician, the Co-Director of Tour for Diversity in Medicine, and the Chief Medical Officer/Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Services, Veterans Health Administration. Her experience working in underserved communities means she might be better able to help someone tweak or refine an idea supporting the communities she already serves. Dr. Matthews said she’s excited by the idea of a network that exists to help better develop a broad set of more effective healthcare innovations. “Having an easy way to connect to these innovators simplifies the entire process,” she explained. With the explosion of funding in this sector expected to continue, Pavone says it will become even more important that diverse populations gain representation in the industry. In order to ensure that the healthcare system serves everyone equally, she wants to see more women and people of color represented in the innovation cycle either as entrepreneurs or experts. The more diversity in the field, the better chance at ensuring that healthcare truly works for all.
a7b996f6620cd46a5969cc292ad17e9d	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2018/12/12/yes-knowledge-is-power-but-not-in-the-way-you-think/	Knowledge Is Power, But Not In The Way You Think	Knowledge Is Power, But Not In The Way You Think She was that person everyone liked, but no one could work with. Eventually, she was fired. Her biggest issue was that she was a hoarder—of knowledge. Jenny (not her real name) thought knowledge was power and while she was smart about creating it, she never wanted to share it. Jenny was right. Knowledge is power. But she was wrong about what do to with it. Actually, knowledge can change the world—or the company—but only when it is shared, and shared in the right ways. Information density describes a situation where many people in a company know many important things. They know them in the moment—in real-time when it counts most to inform their decision making. The information-dense company is one in which people are informed and in which there is a level of radical transparency. In his book Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari says for ideas to change the world, they must change behavior. And in Sapiens, Harari writes the best test of knowledge is not whether something is true, but whether it empowers people. But what is knowledge? It turns out there are multiple levels starting with data which is the raw material of ideas. Data is qualitative and quantitative facts and statistics. At the next level, information is the combination of the raw material with some interpretation or analysis that begins to make sense of the data. At the top level, insight is the synthesis and application of information. If data and information are the "what," insight is the "so what." With so much data, information and insights coming at us all the time, a critical new skill is our ability to make sense of things. S/he who synthesizes first wins. Likewise, great leaders recognize the power of this synthesis and the power of knowledge and insights. Meaningful knowledge inspires employees. It empowers and engages them. Leaders have a responsibility to help make this happen. Compelling leaders must do five things well to harness the power of insights: Trust and share. Leaders must share as openly as possible, erring on the side of sharing more information with more people, more of the time. Sharing requires that leaders trust in the people around them. A great leader once told me, “You should trust the people who work for you, and if you don’t trust them, they shouldn’t work for you.” Curate. While more information is generally better, great leaders also manage the knowledge flow so employees aren’t inundated by a lot of unnecessary noise. This is a fine balancing act for the leader since what is noise for one person may be critical context for another. Great leaders share information across the team and also recognize unique needs and interests of individual team members, sharing knowledge with them accordingly. Connect the dots. Great leaders also connect the dots and help people see the big picture about how any one piece of information relates to the purpose of their work and the goals of the company. Effective leaders translate the information they’re sharing into how it is important for the employee and the organization. Be immediate. Knowledge is only useful when it is timely. Make sharing a priority and share immediately, even if that means the messages are less filtered and less perfect. Come back from the meeting and share right now, rather than waiting a few days to create the perfect PowerPoint summary. With more immediacy, people can take action and make decisions relevant to all that is going on in the moment. Engage. Ensure information and knowledge are shared in a way that fosters questions, discussion and dialogue and is two-way. Ask people what they think. Engage them in discussion and find out how their opinions may differ. Want to harness the power of knowledge and create an information-dense organization? Trust, share, curate, connect the dots, be immediate and engage to inspire and encourage positive motion. Don’t hoard knowledge, rather embrace transparency. From this effort will come power and the knowledge that can inspire positive change.
d06a4372f9a313ebc5ab5523488256fc	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2019/03/03/boost-productivity-20-the-surprising-power-of-play/	Boost Productivity 20%: The Surprising Power Of Play	Boost Productivity 20%: The Surprising Power Of Play Photocredit Getty Increase productivity 20%—who doesn’t want that? In a new study by Brigham Young University, teams that played a collaborative (video) game together for just 45 minutes were able to increase their productivity on a task by 20%. Perhaps all those expensive team-building programs or outlandish group retreats are over-reaching. Perhaps all you need to build culture and improve performance is a gaming council and some willing colleagues. But it doesn’t have to be about gaming. Actually, the reasons play helps teams and their results—and the reasons play is also good for your career growth—are well-founded. Company cultures that allow for play are better able to tap into the best in their employees, and employees themselves can bring more effectiveness into their work. Here are four reasons you should play more too: Play fosters innovation. Playfulness is linked to humor and the distance from “Ha ha” to “Ah ha” is short . It is often the fun of the unexpected that leads to the novelty of new ideas and thus innovation. Humor is the result of surprise. We laugh or are entertained when we expect one thing and get something else. This is why knock-knock jokes resonate at young ages and why tricks of illusion still intrigue us. Surprise is the pathway toward creativity as well—combining ideas in new ways and embracing the unexpected to build something that hasn’t been done before. Play unites team members. Organized play (versus simply goofing around which has its own merits) tends to have common goals and simple rules. Common goals are good for teams and their work because they align and unite people. This alignment and focus tend to provide a sense of purpose and “line of sight” in which team members can see how their roles matter and how their efforts contribute to the whole. In addition, the simple rules of play provide for just enough structure to help team members feel a sense of boundary and control over the process they use to reach their goal. In short, it’s good to feel like your work matters toward a goal you share with others. Play lets us bring more of ourselves to work. Play also tends to build bonds with other team members. When work is all business, we see one side of our teammates. But, as I wrote in Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work, there are tremendous benefits when we can bring our full selves to work and when we can get to know others more fully. Even those of us with the most introverted preferences for working and living value our fundamental connection with others, and play is a way to create stronger connections. Through play, we have a new lens on those around us—what entertains them, what motivates them and what we have in common with them. Play helps us blow off steam. Lately, it’s easy to find research about the negative effects of stressful management practices on our work and, more importantly, on our health. In addition, research demonstrates that spending time in non-work pursuits and letting the mind wander are both useful for our overall well-being and effectiveness. Play is an antidote to a high-pressure work environment. It helps people get away from their work temporarily and reduce the intensity of their work demands. This kind of rejuvenation can be especially useful in contributing to well-being and productivity. We’re all striving to be productive and effective—as individuals, as teams and through our organizations—and while productivity can seem like the holy grail, perhaps it’s as easy as injecting a bit more play into our work. Game on!
7d5255450c190851e7714b8bd6ede762	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2019/06/16/think-empathy-is-a-soft-skill-think-again-why-you-need-empathy-for-success/	Think Empathy Is A Soft Skill? Think Again. Why You Need Empathy For Success	Think Empathy Is A Soft Skill? Think Again. Why You Need Empathy For Success Empathy sometimes gets a bad rap as soft skill which is too fluffy to matter in business. But in reality it can be the pathway to hard results. Empathy is important to success and it can help you at work. Here’s how. First, it’s important to know empathy is a capability we all have—perhaps to greater or lesser degrees—that allows us to put ourselves in the place of another person and experience their feelings. We all crave connectedness and it seems our brains are hard-wired to mirror others’ experiences. Research shows children as young as two demonstrate understanding that others have different perspectives than their own. Even babies prefer to hear sounds from other babies rather than older voices—evidence of our human desire for affinity and alignment. Benefits of Empathy There are important benefits of empathy. Identity: Empathy affects our own identity. We tend to understand ourselves through the people we spend time with and we derive our sense of self from the types of people with whom we have the closest relationships. Cooperation: Empathy also facilitates cooperation which is critical for teams to function effectively. In a new study, when empathy was introduced into decision making, it increased cooperation and even caused people to be more empathetic. Empathy fostered more empathy. Innovation: Empathy can expand your horizons and extend your thinking. By understanding an unfamiliar point of view, you can stretch and test new perspectives and ideas—a process key for successful innovation and important to ensuring your thinking doesn’t stagnate. Influence: In addition to the benefits of empathy to the community, empathy is also good for you individually because it can help you sell and influence others. Putting yourself in others’ shoes and understanding their perspectives facilitates discussion. Empathy also allows you to use their perspective as a common starting point toward influencing them to your point of view. Empathy is important especially when you disagree with others and it can admittedly require effort. In addition, it is easier to empathize when you are similar or when you share things in common with another person. But is it perhaps more important and beneficial when your empathy lets you see something different than your own view and learn from another perspective. Empathizing may not change your mind, but it can help you appreciate others and connect in new ways. Empathy and Action There are two ways to empathize. You can empathize by considering someone else’s thoughts (“If I were in his/her position, what would I be thinking right now?”)—cognitive empathy. You can also focus on another person’s feelings (“Being in his/her position would make me feel ___”). This is known as emotional empathy. Of course, the gold standard of giving consideration to others’ perspectives is to ask them about it directly according to this study—but short of that, it is helpful to imagine what they must be going through. Ultimately, either cognitive or emotional empathy benefits identity, influence, cooperation and expanded thinking. Regardless of the type of empathy you’re exercising, perhaps most important is action. All that understanding of someone else’s situation should turn into compassion and deeds. Empathy in action is understanding a colleague’s struggles and offering to help. It is appreciating a coworker’s point of view and engaging in a healthy debate that builds to a better solution. It is considering a team member’s perspectives and making a new recommendation that helps achieve greater success for the group. As the popular saying goes, people may not remember your actions, but they will remember how you made them feel. Through empathy, you can ensure your actions—which may be forgotten—contribute to positive feelings and experiences that are memorable in the long term. In addition, by building strong relationships you’ll create positive outcomes for yourself as well. Use empathy to sell ideas, connect with colleagues, accomplish more in a team and expand your own perspectives. Soft skill? Not if you value hard outcomes.
628a799f5c1c3edb363aa4f9000854f5	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2019/09/15/how-optimism-can-help-your-career-4-simple-steps/	How Optimism Can Help Your Career: 4 Simple Steps	How Optimism Can Help Your Career: 4 Simple Steps The power of optimism for a great career Getty Optimism seems like a straightforward characteristic—a simple spotlight on what’s good and future-focused—but it is actually quite a powerful attribute. From a longer life to better performance at work and satisfaction with your job, it has some seriously positive effects. Here’s why optimism matters and how to be more optimistic to reap its many benefits: Optimism, Stress, Health And Performance First, optimism matters for your health. New research from the Boston University School of Medicine studying over 70,000 men and women over decades found optimism is correlated with an 11 to 15% longer life span. This was true even when controlling for age, education, alcohol use, diet and exercise. In addition, previous studies have found optimism is connected with less disease and premature death. As for the world of work, a 2016 study found optimism was positively related to job performance and job satisfaction, and 2004 research proved a relationship between optimism and reduced job stress and less work-life conflict. Why Optimism Matters Optimism is helpful because those who are optimistic tend to bounce back more easily from difficult situations—they are more resilient. In addition, they are thought to have better control over their emotions and may make better overall choices about diet, exercise and other habits such as tobacco use. When you face stress at work, an optimistic view can help you cope in healthy ways, or when you’re passed up for the promotion, you’ll be able to bounce back more easily and keep doing great work toward the next opportunity. MORE FOR YOUThe 5 Best TED Talks To Watch Today4 Ways To Crush Employee Appreciation Day 2021In 2021, The Smartest Companies Will Be Teaching Leaders These Skills They’ve Never Learned Before Optimism is also related to a growth mindset which means optimists believe they can change their circumstance. They are more likely to take positive actions to create their own futures—rather than viewing themselves as having fixed sets of skills and traits that can’t change or adapt. If you’re facing an especially tough project at work, an optimistic approach can keep you motivated to try new solutions and persist in finding resolution. How To Be More Optimistic So, you’re sold on optimism, but how to be more optimistic? Here are a few tips: Be Present One of the hallmarks of pessimism is worry about the future and negativism that can spiral out of control. One of the strategies for optimism is to stay more focused on the present. In fact, a brand new study from MIT found middle school students who practiced mindfulness experienced less stress. Be present in each meeting and each interaction with colleagues. Focus and give your best in every moment knowing that investment in the now will result in a positive future. Be Grateful Another sure-fire way to increase your optimism is to be grateful for what you have. Gratitude has long been shown to improve physical and psychological health, increase empathy, reduce aggression, reduce stress, improve self-esteem, improve relationships and even improve sleep. It is logical that gratitude is also associated with optimism. When you appreciate what you have, you have more positivity about all that is to come. Even when you’re facing a problem that seems insurmountable, you can express gratitude and optimism. When she faces a challenge, one of my colleagues says, “If this is my worst problem, I’m still very fortunate.” Think Long-Term Another way to be more optimistic is to extend your time horizon. When you’re facing a challenge that feels difficult in the moment, extend your view and consider whether it will matter in a month or a year. The disagreement with a client or the conflict with a coworker may seem significant today but won’t be a big deal after some time has passed. Being optimistic can be easier when you think of a bright future in which present problems won’t even be on your radar screen. Manage Your Expectations One of the reasons for dissatisfaction is when experience and expectation don’t match. Keep your expectations realistic in order to be more satisfied with what’s going on around you. If you have set the bar too high—on your timing for the next raise or the juicy project you’re sure will come your way—you may be disappointed. Set goals that keep you motivated but be realistic to ensure you’re delighted when opportunities come your way. This will keep you optimistic about the next opportunity, and the next. Optimism has some powerful effects. To reap its rewards, be present and be grateful. Take a long-term view in which your expectations are positive and realistic. All of this will contribute toward the kind of constructive, growth mindset that will keep you motivated and compellingly future-focused.
e5c90515fdf2499f9fa1599270665e4d	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2019/12/15/get-ahead-at-work-5-ways-movement-can-help-your-performance-and-success/	Get Ahead At Work: 5 Ways Movement Can Help Your Performance And Success	Get Ahead At Work: 5 Ways Movement Can Help Your Performance And Success Why movement is so important to your career and well-being. Getty In many offices, being at your desk from morning until evening is a badge of commitment and a way to get ahead. But, in reality, getting away from your desk may be the best way to be more effective. I used to work with a colleague—we’ll call her Agatha—who would wake at the crack of dawn to make her commute and arrive at her desk before her boss. At the end of the day, she would never (never, never) leave her work station before he did. She wasn’t necessarily deeply committed to her work, but she was all-in for getting ahead and ensuring her boss thought she was the hardest working employee. It didn’t work out for her, but she certainly tried. Contrary to some opinions, presence at your desk and your office all the time may not be best for your success. And leaders who manage by the whites of people’s eyes—being able to see their people at all times—are going the way of Neanderthals (thank goodness). Instead, movement and shifting where you work and how you work is the name of the game. The Benefits Of Movement Movement throughout the office is good for your brain. In fact, a new study by the Oregon Health and Science University found quick bursts of exercise can boost memory and learning. Additional research from the University of California LA found too much sitting is associated with thinning in the regions of the brain responsible for memory formation. Another research effort published in Scientific Reports found exercise (endurance walking in particular) was associated with better cognitive function. Yet another study by the University of Würzburg found when people are moving, they process information with more of their visual systems and learn better. Take a walk, stretch, or just make a trip to the coffee machine to get moving—it’s good for your brain and could contribute to better performance at work. Strategies For Moving Throughout The Day So how can you build movement into your work day? Here are five strategies for success: MORE FOR YOUCostco Increases Its Minimum Wage To $16 An Hour—There Is An Alarming Downside That Needs To Be DiscussedThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix ItNetflix’s ‘Amend: The Fight For America’ Is Must Watch Anti-Racism Education For Corporate America Choose your space based on your work. Rather than assuming you must accomplish all your work at your desk, choose to work in other places throughout the day—the work café, the coffee bar or the comfy seating area near the window. They’re all fair game for your use and moving from spot to spot gets your blood flowing, and can give you a fresh perspective that could go a long way in helping you solve a tough problem. Take the initiative. In some offices, people don’t feel like they have permission to work away from their desk. Start a trend by taking action and trying something new. Work in a variety of places and others may follow suit—and demonstrating leadership and initiative are always a good bet for your career success. Set your alarm. Getting into the flow of a project can be great for performance. But don’t underestimate the power of a break. Take a break every hour or so to get up, stretch or make a run to the water cooler. A little disruption can set you up for success because your brain gets a chance to reset, rejuvenate and reflect. This kind of shift can lead to creative breakthrough or a new idea for the project. If you can’t remember to get up regularly, set an alarm to remind yourself to move. Diversify. Of course, if you’re moving throughout your office, you’ll be more likely to run into diverse people—those with whom you don’t normally interact. Take the opportunity to chat, connect and build relationships beyond your typical department boundaries. People from different parts of the company or various backgrounds can help you think in new ways and broaden your perspective—which contribute to your own ability to be innovative. Build coalitions. Find people who also want to move throughout the day. Establish times when you’ll meet up and get away from your desks or schedule walking-breaks together a few days a week. Having a community of people who value exercise and fitness—and who will incorporate it into the work day—can help you achieve greater movement throughout the week and also build your personal and professional network. Exercise during the work day may seem like an oxymoron, but it’s actually a great way to think better and perform better. When you’re healthy and energized, you’re more likely to be your best. And it may just be a good way to get ahead as well because of the people you’ll meet and the connections you’ll form. Forget being chained to your desk in order to get ahead. Instead, demonstrate your commitment by doing great work inspired by your movement throughout the day.
af7932da1e05b2d6d5eb013379c4cbaf	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/01/05/how-to-jump-start-your-innovation-8-ways-to-be-more-innovative/	How To Jump-Start Your Innovation: 8 Ways To Be More Innovative	How To Jump-Start Your Innovation: 8 Ways To Be More Innovative Innovation is more than just great ideas. Getty Popular wisdom suggests innovation is a characteristic some people have and some people—well—don’t. In addition, innovation is often seen as a capability which encompasses the skill of idea generation and not much more. Both are wrong. The good news is you can build your ability to innovate and enhance it in others. Innovation is actually a broad set of skills and a comprehensive process—and lots of us can be successful innovators. First, know creativity, which is fuel for innovation, is potentially lacking. According to the Adobe State of Create Study, 70% believe creativity makes them better at work and creativity is correlated with 13% higher earnings. But only 41% believe they are creative and only 31% believe they are living up to their creative potential. And this gap is likely impacting more than just the workplace. The World Economic Forum makes a case for the critical nature of innovation in advancing the world economy. Creativity and innovation are important for companies, but also for the economy as a whole—and yet there is more opportunity for people to tap into their creative best. Developing Innovation Ability Each of us can be more innovative because contrary to popular opinion, it can be learned, encouraged and even incented. A recent University of California, San Diego study demonstrated monetary incentives helped overcome psychological barriers to innovation and led to a more diverse group of people to offer innovative ideas. Support and encouragement also made a positive difference, especially for those who had lower performance coming into the study. People who might not have thought of themselves as innovative, contributed as much as those who were from traditionally innovative areas of expertise. But innovation is more than just the development of novel ideas, and this is encouraging for all of those who want to be more innovative. Researchers at the University of Economics, Prague and Aston University, United Kingdom found a range of capabilities contribute to innovation. In addition to classic idea generation, idea search was also critical as well as processes to support innovation such as communication, involvement of others and execution. Beyond the process to support innovation, organizations and leaders create the conditions for great ideas to take root, develop and be implemented. The bottom line? Innovation involves various skills, and you can build and leverage your own unique contributions to the innovative process. Leveraging Skills For Innovation So, how do you innovate more successfully? Here are eight ways: MORE FOR YOUThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix It5 Signs It’s Time To Quit Your JobWhat To Do If You Receive Feedback That Stings Be confident. The first step in innovating is to be confident about your abilities. Don’t let your job function or naysayers convince you you’re not innovative. Everyone can contribute, especially given how many different paths there are toward successful innovation. Find great material. A key element of innovation is its raw material. In fact, there are some who say there is nothing new. The poet and philosopher Audre Lorde said, “There are no new ideas, only new ways of making them felt.” Exploring the landscape of a topic or spanning the environment for diverse perspectives create the fodder for innovative ideas. If this is a talent of yours, leverage it as an important part of the creative process. Involve others. No innovation can survive today without a group of supporters. Another talent associated with innovation is the ability to involve others in its development—bringing together diverse expertise and perspectives. The skills to assemble a team, tap into people’s talents and coordinate efforts are great contributions to the innovative process. Marshall support. Beyond the development process, innovations also require support from a broader group. Whether it’s a startup requiring investors, or an established company that provides the resources for the idea to flourish, the skills of communicating the idea and persuading others to support it are also important parts of the innovative process. Learning, reflecting and prototyping. Every great innovation requires prototyping. The process to put innovation into practice and observe the outcomes, learn, reflect and improve takes specialized skills—all part of successful innovation. Implement, execute and make it happen. Of course, any new idea is only valuable if you have the ability to take it to the finish line. Implementing is also part of the innovative process—determination, perseverance and execution. After all, until ideas are put into action and taken to market, they offer limited value. True innovation is determined by the marketplace and whether users will value the solution you’re offering. Continuously improve. Today’s best innovations are never finished. They benefit from reviews, revisions and releases. This too is a specialized skill—the ability to be objective enough to find elements about the innovation that aren’t yet perfected and see opportunities for improvement. Create the conditions. In addition to the skills which are endemic to the innovative process, there are also key contributions which create the conditions for innovation. Leaders who inspire a sense of purpose and value appropriate risk-taking, organizations that reward discovery and inventive actions, and cultures that allow people to bring their best, most diverse talents toward the whole all cultivate an innovative environment. Even if you haven’t considered yourself particularly innovative, you can build your innovative muscle—and those muscles are diverse. From searching for new ideas to generating them, or from involving others and persuading them to being objective and continuously improving, various skills contribute to innovation. Even as a leader, adding to an organization that embraces innovative behaviors is important to the process. Leverage your own innovative abilities—they are likely broader and more important than you may have thought.
6f9a051cbb8e91d455bc3317f77b389b	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/02/02/perfection-versus-excellence-4-ways-to-ensure-perfection-doesnt-prevent-progress/	Perfection Versus Excellence: 4 Ways To Ensure Perfectionism Doesn’t Prevent Progress	Perfection Versus Excellence: 4 Ways To Ensure Perfectionism Doesn’t Prevent Progress Don't let perfection stand in the way of progress. Getty For those who want the best in their careers and their lives, excellence is always a worthwhile pursuit. But how do you know when the quest for doing things really well tips into perfectionism—causing delays or impeding progress? Like so many things, a positive trait taken to the extreme can turn into something negative—for you and for others. While a commitment to greatness can seem purely positive, too much of a good thing can create a barrier to getting things done and building effective relationships. For individuals, perfectionism is linked to depression, and for teams, it can get in the way of progress as projects are never quite good enough to move forward. For organizations, an overemphasis on perfection can result in paralysis and the inability to innovate. Perfectionism Is Increasing And Can Be Damaging According to new research published by the American Psychological Association, since 1989, perfectionism has risen among college students. This was true across genders and related to all kinds of perfectionism: self-oriented perfectionism (“I must be perfect”), socially-prescribed perfectionism (“others expect me to be perfect”) and other-oriented perfectionism (“I expect others to be perfect”). The increase in perfectionist tendencies is correlated with greater incidences of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. In addition, perfectionism is predictive of depression—the more people demonstrate self-criticism and extreme concern over making mistakes, the more likely they are to be depressed. This is true in both adolescents and adults. Researchers believe the increase in perfectionism may be linked to social media. An over-emphasis on posting and proving one’s value can result in the need to be flawless. In addition, social media tends to exacerbate a sense of comparison. People find themselves always trying to measure up to others who are merely sharing curated versions of themselves. MORE FOR YOUThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix It5 Signs It’s Time To Quit Your Job5 Hacks For Online Learning Success In The Workplace How To Avoid Perfectionism Perfection can get in the way of progress, or as Voltaire is credited with saying, “Perfect is the enemy of good.” Holding out for perfection before seeking a development opportunity, delaying a team’s progress until everything is just right, or being overly critical of ideas can impede individuals, teams and companies. Here’s how you can focus on being excellent without falling into the trap of striving for perfection: Seek stretch. One of the traits of perfectionism is to avoid situations where you might fail. The pursuit of mastery, on the other hand, requires increasing effort and greater amounts of challenge. Seek out experiences in which you are not already competent. Find opportunities to test your skills and push hard enough that you fail sometimes. Learning cannot occur without failure. If you’re never failing, you’re probably not stretching yourself enough—and you may be striving for perfection instead of excellence. Find feedback. Perfectionism is often associated with avoiding criticism. In order to improve continuously and pursue accomplishments, feedback is key. You need to know how you’re doing, and perhaps most importantly, how you can do better. Part of being human is spotting flaws and opportunities for improvement. Use feedback as stepping stones to build skills and talents rather than information which could be potentially paralyzing or demotivating. Trust yourself. A growth mindset suggests you can always build your skills, get better and strive for more. If you make a mistake or fail, be sure to keep trying. This is more than just the platitude you may have heard from a parent or teacher, it is the raw material of development. It’s natural to miss an objective or fall short in a task if you’re challenging yourself. A perfectionist attitude is self-defeating. However, research by Australian Catholic University found self-compassion could alleviate the negative effects of perfectionism. What sets those who accomplish the most apart from those who accomplish the least is whether failure inspires continued effort. Be kind to yourself and trust yourself to stretch for the next big step. Plan for evolution. Have a mindset where improvement is the norm. Learn to discern the elements of a solution that are show-stoppers, and should delay progress to get them right, versus those that can be launched to test, learn and improve. Getting an idea out there, and releasing a project when it is good enough—rather than perfect—is acceptable when you plan to review, iterate and apply new thinking. Ensure a system for continuous improvements to pursue excellence. This thinking (sometimes referred to as Design Thinking) applies to products, projects and processes as well as your own development. You may never feel you’re perfect, but that shouldn’t stand in your way of taking an appropriate risk and reaching for that next opportunity (see Seek Stretch above!). Pressure to be perfect may come from ourselves or from others, but it is rarely constructive and can cause problems from depression to delays in projects. The alternative is to strive for excellence. Seek stretch, find feedback, trust yourself and plan for evolution so you can be brilliant, even if you’re not perfect.
199c5e3ab2b7511916e620284fec7d5d	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/04/12/why-agile-is-the-mindset-to-get-us-through-the-covid-crisis-4-lessons-from-agile-for-today-and-the-new-normal/?utm_campaign=Retrium%2BAgile%2BRoundup&utm_medium=web&utm_source=Retrium_Agile_Roundup_24	Why Agile Is The Mindset To Get Us Through The COVID Crisis: 4 Lessons From Agile For Today And The New Normal	Why Agile Is The Mindset To Get Us Through The COVID Crisis: 4 Lessons From Agile For Today And The New Normal Agile may be the methodology that can help us work most effectively through the COVID crisis. Getty Agile is touted as one of the best, most important work methodologies, but how does it apply during the pandemic? In what ways is it relevant (or not?) through a crisis like the one we’re facing brought on by COVID-19? Actually, the agile mindset and methodologies have a lot to teach us about how to work most effectively when we’re working differently. Born out of software development in 2001 with the development of the Agile Manifesto, agile has become super popular now. Companies seeking speed, innovation and greater customer focus have prioritized agile work not just for IT departments, but for functions across the organization. In fact, companies that embrace agile most comprehensively throughout their organizations are the most successful. The agile mindset has significant benefits at any time, but these are especially impactful during this period of uncertainty. There are a few reasons why: Agile provides rhythm and cadence for work. When things are ambiguous and nothing feels certain, agile provides for regular patterns to move work forward. Whether you’re doing a virtual daily stand up with your team or reviewing your work together each week, these rituals are positive for your state of mind and bring a sense of much-needed normalcy. Agile allows for quick shifts. When organizations need to make quick adjustments to priorities, approaches or the content of work, agile is especially well-suited. Use the agile method to “deconstruct” work—break it into small units—to accomplish it one piece at a time. Completing tasks bit by bit provides the opportunity for more in-course corrections. When situations change—as they do regularly through the coronavirus crisis—agile allows for easy shifts because work has been planned in smaller portions and over shorter time horizons. Agile is empowering. Another hallmark of agile is teams and team members who make decisions in the moment rather than asking for permission or waiting for managers to weigh in. Within agile, servant leaders provide a shared vision and support team members as they fulfill it. The ability for team members to make the necessary calls as they work through projects helps ensure speed and responsiveness to customer needs. With the COVID-created pressure on many systems to react even more quickly than usual, this kind of approach makes sense. But how can agile be relevant in today’s largely work-from-home condition? A primary characteristic of agile is team members who are able to be in close proximity with tight connections and plenty of face-to-face interaction. While this may seem impossible with most people working from home, it can still be accomplished. Howard Sublett, Co-CEO and Chief Product Officer of the Scrum Alliance, an organization of 1.2 million members who create products using agile approaches, including Scrum, recommends teams keep their video and audio on as they’re working together. He says everyone needs to commit to focusing on the work of the team. With intentionality and commitment, virtual connections work just fine. In addition, when all members of a team are remote, it can actually help the interactions. In situations where a majority of members are in a conference room and others are remote, presence disparity can get in the way, privileging those in the room. When all team members are calling in, it can facilitate the collaboration because it equalizes participants. MORE FOR YOUThree Simple Ways You Can #ChooseToChallenge This International Women’s DayEuropean Banks Are Cutting Their Office Space In Favor Of Remote Work—While In The U.S., Goldman Sachs And JPMorgan Want People To Return To The OfficeIn 2021, The Smartest Companies Will Be Teaching Leaders These Skills They’ve Never Learned Before In addition to the tips above, incorporate agile in the following ways: Time-box your work. Establish a fixed maximum time during which you’ll accomplish key tasks. You’ve heard it before, “Work expands to fit available time.” Time-boxing sets limits on timing for tasks and helps ensure nothing takes longer than it should and there’s a sense of urgency around the highest priority tasks. Inspect and adapt. Constantly inspect your work for quality and adapt accordingly. Partner with a team member to monitor your work output and make course corrections as necessary. This kind of constant feedback and improvement ensure customers—both internal and external—get what they need even as conditions are constantly changing. Pause and learn. Agile reinforces the need for reviews and retrospectives. Rather than checking a box and rushing to the next task, teams are encouraged to pause, reflect and ensure they are constantly learning and adjusting as necessary. This kind of level-headed evaluation and adaptation are especially vital during this crisis in which nothing seems predictable. Take a simple, ordered approach. Agile empowers teams to make the next right decision again and again. Things can easily become overwhelming. One solution is to make a list of all that must be accomplished, prioritize it and take one thing at a time. While this may seem simplistic, it’s a smart response to our human need to feel in control. “A simple, ordered list can bring a sense of calm and clarity,” says Sublett. Henry Ford is purported to have said, “Why is it every time I ask for a pair of hands, they come with a brain attached?” Unfortunately, he viewed people as interchangeable and was focused more on efficiency and less on empowerment. Agile is the opposite. It is “supremely human,” according to Sublett, and creates the conditions for people to bring their greatest talents and thinking to complex problems. Agile can help us succeed today, and in the new normal post-COVID. It is especially valid because the world is no longer based on individual work and the agile mindset embraces teams. Our current conditions require a calm response to complexity and agile empowers us to be our best in the face of uncertain times.
4587acb9baa262551aea14b8f3c6a479	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/04/14/the-mental-health-crisis-generated-by-covid-19-why-its-critical-and-how-you-can-retain-your-sanity/	The Mental Health Crisis Generated By COVID-19: Why It’s Critical And How You Can Retain Your Sanity	The Mental Health Crisis Generated By COVID-19: Why It’s Critical And How You Can Retain Your Sanity The COVID crisis has created mental health issues that cannot be ignored. Getty COVID-19 has changed life as we know it, and headlines have focused mainly on physical health and wellness as well as the way our daily habits must change—from physical distancing to wearing masks. Farther from the front pages has been the critical issue of mental health, and data suggests we’re facing serious challenges related to depression, anxiety and emotional exhaustion. A brand new study by Qualtrics identifies the nature of the global mental health crisis and provides data that sheds light on the issues people are facing. It provides insights about the despair. The recent study of 2,700 people included a majority from the US (35% of the sample), in addition to people in the UK, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia and New Zeeland. Its respondents represented a variety of industries from food service and retail to manufacturing, technology, education, healthcare, government and more. It tapped the opinions of those who work from an office, those who newly work remote (the significant majority of the sample—58%), those who have always worked remote and more. Here are some of the key points: 67% of people report higher levels of stress since the outbreak of COVID-19. 57% say they have greater anxiety since the outbreak. 54% say they are more emotionally exhausted. 53% say they feel sadness day-to-day. 50% feel they are more irritable. 42% report their overall mental health has declined. The challenges aren’t limited to frontline essential workers. In fact, those in all kinds of industries and roles are affected including: individual contributors (44%), mid-level managers (40%) and C-level execs (41%). All of these groups report declines in their mental health. In addition to the human toll, these mental health challenges also have implications for work since people also report their productivity has decreased. They say they have difficulty concentrating (28%), take longer to accomplish a task (20%), have difficulty thinking (15%), procrastinate challenging work (12%) and have difficulty juggling tasks and responsibilities (12%). MORE FOR YOUCostco Increases Its Minimum Wage To $16 An Hour—There Is An Alarming Downside That Needs To Be DiscussedThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix ItWhy Mindset Matters: Your Control In Your Own Destiny The statistics are sobering. Mental health has always been an issue in the US. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness, and at least 8.4 million Americans provide care to a person with emotional or mental illness. In addition, depression and anxiety cost the global economy an estimated $1 trillion each year in lost productivity. It’s logical that we are stressed. My good friend Lucy used to have a bumper sticker that read, “If you’re not upset, you’re not paying attention.” At the time, it was aligned with her activist personality, but it is apt today more than ever. It’s natural to feel off-kilter or down. In A Paradise Built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit says when catastrophes happen, it would actually be illogical to feel normal. Abnormal circumstances demand we adjust, adapt and find a new equilibrium. To do otherwise would be less rational—and less sane. Solnit also makes the point that circumstances don’t dictate mental wellness. Often mental health issues are most significant in those who had emotional challenges before a crisis. While the pandemic is creating trauma for all of us, it does not need to define our mental health and we can feel empowered about how we respond. So, how can we support ourselves and others through this crisis? First, get educated. There are plenty of organizations to help with the myriad of mental health issues people face, from suicide to eating disorders and anxiety to substance abuse. While I am not a mental health expert, there are plenty of resources* available. MentalHealth.gov or the National Institute of Mental Health are useful starting points whether you’re seeking help yourself or looking for guidance in supporting others. Help others. We are all wired for connection and in hard times, our human instinct is to contribute. Be attuned to the wellbeing of others, demonstrate you care and ask questions. In the Qualtrics study, almost half (47%) of workers said their manager wasn’t tuned into their wellbeing. Of those who didn’t think their manager cared, 69% said their mental health had declined and 61% said they were less productive. In her book, Solnit points out the value of mutual aid. Rather than those who “have” providing for those who “have less”, widespread disasters can create an opportunity for a more mutual sharing of resources and support. Managers need to be strong and visionary, but they can also be authentic and empathetic. Just as your coworker might be able to talk you off the figurative cliff today, you may also be able to offer help tomorrow. When you’re stronger, give and when you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for it. Focus on purpose. We can generate a sense of meaning when we are able to make a unique contribution and feel connected to something bigger than ourselves. Unless you are a healthcare worker or serving on the frontlines in another way, it may seem as though you’re being asked to do—seemingly—so little. Your best contribution is staying home. Immediately after 9/11, grass roots systems were set up to deliver critical supplies to rescue efforts and in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, hundreds of boats were launched to find people and bring them to safety. These actions were more tangible and may have felt more personal. Today, your greatest purposes have to do with teaching children at home or supporting older people. In addition, there is purpose in avoiding actions like shopping or socializing. While this may feel more distant and less purpose-driven, you can remind yourself it is no less significant. Establish routine. Routines can be normalizing and help our sense of equilibrium. Set regular times for your day—from getting out of bed to having meals or taking breaks. Reach out to others and set routines with them as well. Perhaps it’s a Tuesday morning virtual water cooler chat with colleagues or a Friday afternoon virtual “stand up” meeting to close out the week. These kinds of activities bring pattern and predictability to hours that could otherwise be empty or isolating. Communicate. A lot. Most people in the study (90%) wanted at least weekly communication from their companies, 57% said they would like communication every-other-day and 29% said daily. The deluge of information can feel overwhelming lately, but a big part of mental wellbeing is feeling connected. Staying in communication with others you trust can be helpful to them and you. In fact, considering those with whom they worked, people reported the greatest levels of comfort talking about mental health with a coworker (36%), their manager (34%) or someone in HR (20%). Says Ryan Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Qualtrics, “Now more than ever, people need clear and consistent communication, easy-to-access tools to help them do their jobs and opportunities to connect informally with their teams.” In the study, people reported being appreciative when someone asked directly how they were doing, and they especially appreciated a phone call to check in. There are plenty of resources that provide you with tips on how to communicate effectively—by asking questions, listening and resisting the urge to offer advice. The main thing is to demonstrate you care. Focus on growth. Trauma through COVID-19 is widespread, but according to Solnit, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) does not have to be an automatic outcome. It is also possible to achieve post-traumatic growth. In the Journal of Traumatic Stress, scientists Tedeschi and Calhoun published key elements of growth. While they were published pre-COVID, they are relevant today. These included: Greater appreciation for life Enhanced relationships with others Seeing expanded possibilities Increased personal strength Spiritual growth Give yourself permission to be down or off your normal game. After all, things are far (very far) from normal. But also motivate yourself to learn, develop and grow. Be grateful to others and be grateful for what you have. Reach out and make connections with people. Remind yourself you will get through this and there will be a new normal on the other side. Mental health is critically important for individuals, for teams, for companies and for society as a whole. While these are traumatic times, they don’t have to be damaging. Get educated and focus on helping others. In addition, focus on your greater purpose and establish predictable routines. Stay in contact with people and be attuned to their wellbeing. Finally, focus on growth. This crisis will change us. But the data is now telling us what so many of us are feeling—we must pay attention to mental health and help ourselves and each other be as mentally healthy as possible. *For those who need support, the NAMI helpline is 800-950-NAMI (6264).
d0b41c04e21a1397378c87b33c4aaeec	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/04/15/social-isolation-and-the-coronavirus-8-surprising-reasons-youll-be-thrilled-to-get-back-to-your-office/	Social Isolation And The Coronavirus: 8 Surprising Reasons You’ll Be Thrilled To Get Back To Your Office	Social Isolation And The Coronavirus: 8 Surprising Reasons You’ll Be Thrilled To Get Back To Your Office Returning to your office will be cause for celebration. Getty Are you surprised by how much you’re missing your office right now? With COVID-driven furloughs and work from home policies in place, many of us are wishing for a return to our normal work experience. You may not have always loved your workplace or your office campus, but at this point, you may be longing for it in ways you would never have expected. It’s logical that you want to get back to your workplace, even if it wasn’t perfect. Work is fundamentally social and no matter what your personality style, you’ve likely appreciated working with others—in person—toward common goals and worthwhile endeavors. New research from Qualtrics points to mental health challenges* we are facing worldwide based on the coronavirus. The study surveyed 2,700 people in the US, UK, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia and New Zeeland. Its respondents represent a variety of industries from food service and retail to manufacturing, technology, education, healthcare and government. It tapped the opinions of those who work from an office, those who are new to working remotely, those who have always worked remotely and more. Social isolation is a key issue and 75% of all respondents say they feel more socially isolated than before the pandemic began. They feel isolated because they are Spending most of their day at home. Having less in-person interactions. Experiencing less of their typical social outlets. Interestingly, the longer people work from home, the more mental stress they experience. Specifically, after two or more weeks working from home, people are 50% more likely to say they have more chronic sadness and fatigue. MORE FOR YOUCostco Increases Its Minimum Wage To $16 An Hour—There Is An Alarming Downside That Needs To Be DiscussedThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix ItNetflix’s ‘Amend: The Fight For America’ Is Must Watch Anti-Racism Education For Corporate America This data indicates there’s something we miss about the office—something it provides we just can’t get at home. As a sociologist who has studied work for more than two decades, it comes down to these eight elements: Effortless contact with people. We are wired to connect and be part of a community, and the office provides a sense of togetherness relatively automatically. You run into someone in the parking lot and walk into the building with them. You greet the receptionist as you enter the building and you smile at someone as you’re both hanging up your coats. These are the effortless connections that are possible in the office—even with people you don’t know well—and it’s validating to be showing up for something together. Meeting rooms to help your memory. Physical surroundings help you remember topics, conversations and decisions. You’ve likely found yourself recalling the idea you and the team developed in that certain conference room or the challenging discussion you had in a particular enclave. Spatial features tend to lock together with concepts in our memories. When you’re at home, you’re likely in the same room in front of the same screen day after day. Conversations run together, and the unique aspects of discussions are more difficult to discern. The office provides variety, and it provides places for memories to be cemented. Whiteboards to help you co-create. While virtual murals work well, there is nothing quite like gathering together with colleagues around a white board with markers or sticky notes. Being together and rolling up your sleeves to develop new ideas is energizing and empowering. Pathways between meetings. Offices provide for movement throughout a floor, a building or a campus. This movement is good for your health because it helps you get your steps, and it also provides time for reflection. Rather than simply disconnecting from one video call and logging onto the subsequent one, you get breathing space and time to reflect between one set of meeting topics and the next. Access to leaders and coworkers. A benefit at the office is the ability to connect with more distant members of your network. At your workplace, you’re more likely to run into the executive in the work café, allowing you to connect, ask questions and stay on her radar screen. You’re also more likely to bump into the colleague you worked with a few years ago and check in on his new project. While these may not be people you would reach out to intentionally, being in the office together keeps you connected with your more distant—but still valuable—network. Distance from home. Home and work each have their own challenges, and when you’re working from home, they blend together. You may not be able to get away from either set of issues. Going to the office helps you let go of certain things at home. You may have six loads of laundry that need folding or you’re in the middle of a disagreement with your partner, but you can get a healthy break at the office during your workday. Boundaries based on your commute. One of the things people report about working from home (whether they’ve always done it or whether it’s a requirement of the pandemic) is they have trouble separating from work because it’s always there. Going into an office and coming home help reinforce a boundary. Once you’re back to working in an office, you can always log on from home, but mentally, it’s easier to set and maintain the boundary. The other great thing about a commute is the opportunity to warm up at the beginning of the day or cool down at the end. Even if your travel is short, you can anticipate the day and get your head in the game. At the end of the day, you can reflect and decompress before engaging with your life at home. Routine. Routines create rhythms to your day which can help you get things done. Having a physical place to go outside of the home reinforces this routine. While you may start your workday in your home office or at your kitchen island each morning at about the same time, you may not have the discipline to begin at an assigned hour. Arriving at a workplace by a certain time infuses much-needed structure and normalcy to your day. Before the pandemic, you may have taken your office for granted. But as they say, “absence makes the heart grow fonder” which may be why new data shows an increase in social isolation, chronic sadness and fatigue. Fondness for your office can be motivated by effortless access to people, meeting rooms that help your memory, whiteboards that support co-creation or pathways that allow you time to reflect. The office can offer access to your distant network or a healthy distance from your life at home. Even your commute or the routine of showing up at work away from home can be helpful. For now, being home is the best contribution we can make to help flatten the curve, but we will emerge at some point in a new normal. And many of us will celebrate a return to the office! *For those who need support, the NAMI helpline is 800-950-NAMI (6264).
c10784a2c76dad2938e6500dbd36b772	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/04/19/how-the-covid-crisis-may-help-you-get-into-a-flow-state-5-suggestions-for-achieving-mental-flow-with-your-work/?sh=49823dd060ee	How The COVID Crisis May Help You Get Into A Flow State: 5 Suggestions For Achieving Mental Flow With Your Work	How The COVID Crisis May Help You Get Into A Flow State: 5 Suggestions For Achieving Mental Flow With Your Work The pandemic may create triggers to achieve flow. Getty When elite athletes or artists get into a “flow state—a zone of ideal performance—it feels great and produces significant outcomes. In today’s COVID-created circumstances of uncertainty and struggle, it can seem like an achievement just to make it from your morning coffee to your evening glass of wine. But, believe it or not, a flow state may be more possible today than ever. What is Flow According to author and scientist, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, flow is defined as an “optimal state of consciousness where you feel your best and perform your best.” It is characterized by “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies…Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” Brains in flow are in an enhanced mental state and enjoying a rush of neuro-chemicals including endorphins, norepinephrine, serotonin, anandamide and dopamine. Even if you’re not a neurobiologist, you’ve probably heard of some of these chemicals associated with greater pleasure, better performance and expanded creative problem solving. In flow, our brains are in a state of heightened awareness and attention toward a clear goal. Conscious thoughts are reduced. This is referred to as “efficiency exchange.” We’re literally exchanging the energy we typically spend on conscious thought (or even self-conscious thought) for attention to a goal. In addition, if you can accomplish flow, it’s worth the effort. McKinsey conducted a 10-year study with 5,000 executives in which they reported being five times more productive when they were in flow. Flow in Today’s Climate Elements of the current crisis can actually create the conditions—or triggers—that facilitate the flow state. In his book, The Rise of Superman, Steven Kotler researched extreme athletes like skydivers or surfers and found elements of flow that can be tapped in work situations. According to Rian Doris, COO at the Flow Research Collective and Kotler’s business partner in the venture, today’s challenges can be triggers for flow in these two particular ways: MORE FOR YOUThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix It5 Signs It’s Time To Quit Your JobCalifornia Tech Hub Bitwise Industries Raises $50 Million In Quest To Diversify The Workforce Challenge and risk. “Situations of intense challenge or high risk are classic conditions for flow,” says Doris. Traditional examples of these may come through activities like rock climbing or alpine skiing, but today’s high-risk environment may create the conditions for flow as well. Complexity and ambiguity. Doris says circumstances of uncertainty are also ripe for flow opportunities. In fact, a VUCA world—one in which there is volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity—one very similar to today’s turbulence—may be just right to motivate a flow state. So, how can you enhance the likelihood of getting into a flow state? Pay attention to the basics. Doris recommends ensuring you’re getting enough sleep, eating in a healthy way, in a good state of mind (for example, feeling gratitude) and effectively managing stress. Set clear goals and focus on them. An important condition for flow is having well-defined goals. Clarity in your objectives will facilitate the concentration and focus you need. Obtain critique. Another hallmark of flow is immediate feedback. Ensure you’re getting reactions to your work either by paying attention to your level of success with the task itself or based on input from a colleague or leader. Challenge yourself and match your skills. Reach for accomplishments that stretch your skills. If things are too easy or too difficult, your motivation will wane. But if you can expend effort on things that are difficult but achievable, you’ll be stimulated to succeed. Work together. Flow is also possible to experience as a team. You increase the likelihood of experiencing flow as a group by ensuring you have shared goals and all the team members are doing plenty of active listening. In addition, team members should focus on constructive collaboration rather than combative behavior and ensure participation is equal and not ego-based. Finally, teams are more likely to achieve flow when they have frequent and regular contact and when they share risk on key decisions. Whether you’re achieving flow as an individual or as a team, you’ll know you’re in a flow state when you lose a sense of yourself, a sense of time and a sense of physical need. In the strange new world of quarantine, remote working and new challenges at every turn, finding a flow state may be the silver lining. Harness the uncertainty and leverage the risk you’re facing to seek flow in unexpected ways.
ccca4c8d32bb60c417ae09b9959d5126	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/05/10/change-management-strategies-for-getting-back-to-work-10-ways-to-ensure-success/?sh=d703f1d72b46	Change Management Strategies For Getting Back To Work: 10 Ways To Ensure Success	Change Management Strategies For Getting Back To Work: 10 Ways To Ensure Success What's changed about managing change. Getty The coronavirus pandemic has thrust every business and leader into a situation of managing change and thinking about how to get people on board for what comes next. In retrospect, the giant social experiment in which organizations suddenly sent everyone home was the easy part. The bigger challenge will be to bring people back to the workplace—because nothing will be the same in the short term—and perhaps not in the longer term either. At its core, change management principles are solid and they apply in multiple situations. Providing a vision for the future, engaging people, reducing perceived costs of a change—all of these make sense and are so foundational they cannot be wrong. And yet, the pandemic has turned everything upside down, so the change management associated with how people will come back to the office requires a new view, new practices and new expectations. Here’s what’s changed about change management, and what to do about it: Messaging And Motivation The why. Motivating people to change requires you provide a compelling “why”, and this will be especially critical as you bring people back to the office. The barriers that kept companies from allowing people to work from home have been decimated and many teams have proven their work can be done quite successfully without commutes, campuses or conference rooms. But as the saying goes, “Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.” At the same time the work can get done outside the office, physical places also provide critical benefits for people. They satisfy the human need to connect, build energy through co-creation, provide for memory and reflection, reinforce shared purpose and so much more. Communicate your why based on the mission of your overall business, the value you create for your customers and how people’s work contributes to these. Be clear about how the change—bringing people back to the office—matters to all elements of your why. People must understand and appreciate these to be motivated to change. Vision. Another critical element of managing change successfully is creating a compelling vision of the future. Your vision should include, but go beyond your why and focus on the future, painting a vivid—and hopefully optimistic—picture of what people can expect. While none of us has a crystal ball, it may help to use the design thinking concepts of “now, near and far.” Provide a view of what will happen in the short-term of the now, the medium-term of the near and the longer-term of the far. It may also help to consider a pre-vaccine future and a post-vaccine future. The clarity you can provide may be greater in the short-term pre-vaccine future, but the optimism you are able to supply may be greater for the far, post-vaccine world. Inform your messaging with both. MORE FOR YOUEuropean Banks Are Cutting Their Office Space In Favor Of Remote Work—While In The U.S., Goldman Sachs And JPMorgan Want People To Return To The OfficeThree Simple Ways You Can #ChooseToChallenge This International Women’s DayWhy You Can’t Yoga Your Way Out Of Burnout Expectations. People don’t trust what they don’t understand. The challenges for the pre-vaccine return to the workplace is people will be coming back to something completely different than what they knew before. How they get to the office, how they enter the building, how many people can ride the elevator, where they work throughout the day, whether they have food service and even how many people can access the restroom will be different. Give people as many details as possible about what to expect and help them understand how their work will be accomplished under new conditions. The costs. A fundamental truth in change management is people will not be motivated to change if they perceive the costs of changing to be greater than the benefits of staying the same. You’ll need to reassure people about how you’re protecting them and ensuring their health and safety. Perception is reality, so messaging will be important, but what people can sense and see will be even more critical. When they enter the building will it smell clean? Will they see cleaning crews working regularly? Will they experience signage that guides them in social distancing? Ensure you’re reducing the risks people face coming back—both real and perceived. Focusing On People Choice and control. People don’t resist change; they resist being changed. And they need to be empowered to make their own decisions following the pandemic even more so than through other transitions. Employees will have varying levels of comfort with coming back to the office. They’ll be concerned with everything from their own health and the health of those close to them to whether they’ll be able to see, hear and communicate adequately while wearing a mask. Give people as many options as possible about when and how they come back. Also, be clear about whether employees’ jobs demand their presence, and the consequences if they choose not to return—so they can make informed decisions. Engagement. While a lot of the guidelines or protocols you’re putting in place may be federally or state-mandated and therefore require leadership decision making, remember to engage people as much as possible. Consider how you might involve people in creating responses and solutions. The “what” may be mandated, but you may be able to give people a chance to influence the “how.” Temperature checks may be required for entry to the building, but employees could provide input on whether there are staggered start times or multiple check locations. Give people the chance to work on a task force or respond to a survey about how things get done. You clearly can’t give everyone a vote but give them a voice where possible. Behaviors. Of course, it’s easier to make rules than it is to get people to follow them. As you’re developing new protocols, give thought to what will motivate employees to buy-in and act in new ways. They will likely be good corporate citizens and do their best to follow requirements, but the way to get people committed and motivated is through their connection to others. Help people understand how the rules contribute to a colleague’s wellbeing or a teammate’s grandmother’s health. Our humanity and responsibility to each other are the best motivators. Empathy. Overall, people want to know you care. Ensure you’re delivering messages with compassion and empathy. Remember it’s not just about sharing facts, figures or new procedures. It’s also about the extent to which people feel you’re supporting them—not just in the office but throughout their whole work experience. Attend to people’s physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing and safety. Also, be patient with people. When they are under stress, people are rarely at their best and more conflict may occur. Be firm about the values that guide how people interact with each other, but within these, give people time and grace as we’re all learning together. There will be bad days, good days and better days. Value. Let people know they are valued. Some companies are making the mistake of inviting people back to the office based on who is “essential” or “nonessential” in their business. What they mean, of course, is whether people’s essential work must be accomplished in the office. Be sure your messaging reinforces everyone’s value. Rather than an “A” group and a “B” group who are invited back (who wants to be a “B player”?), one company is using colors: the “blue group” or the “yellow group.” Avoid the unintended messages that may cause people to feel like “haves” or “have-nots.” Culture Is Key Culture. Organizational culture is “the way things get done around here” and “what people do when no one is looking.” It is context for people’s actions and decisions and one of the most significant competitive advantages you have. People can copy your marketing or your product, and they can access your customers, but it’s nearly impossible to mirror your culture. The way you the way you lead the change will both reflect and shape your culture. It will matter if you are heavy-handed and authoritarian in your leadership approach or are short-sighted and narrow-minded in your decisions. And it will matter if you demonstrate you value people and balance the needs of the business, or if you engage people and enhance their trust. The uncertainty and volatility of the pandemic could lead you to act in a way that isn’t your best, but the choices that guide the organization through this change will have an incredible long-term influence. Your character is demonstrated through difficult times and company culture is similar. The window to your organization’s values, integrity and its leaders’ ability to navigate this crisis will have a lasting impact. It’s a lot of pressure, yes, but it’s also a lot of opportunity to influence a bright future. Managing change is tricky, but rarely more challenging than when the whole world is changing at the same time. Clarify your why, communicate your compelling vision and set clear expectations for people. Reduce the real and perceived costs of change and provide choice and control for employees. Engage people and motivate them based on their relationships with each other. Ensure you’re demonstrating empathy and valuing people and recognize how your actions and decisions will impact your culture. Change management is hard. It will continue to be hard. But done well, it is an unmatched opportunity to motivate people and create a positive future for your company.
58218d75233f2ee97cb9fe34626a9b46	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/05/10/social-distancing-why-its-so-hard-and-5-ways-to-cope/	Social Distancing: Why It’s So Hard And 5 Ways To Cope	Social Distancing: Why It’s So Hard And 5 Ways To Cope Distances are a disordered and discombobulated lately. Getty Social distancing is probably something you hadn’t given much thought to until about March—and then it intruded into your life along with the strange, surreal and disorienting times brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. It’s our nature to come together, connect and be in community with others. No matter where you are on the continuum from introversion to extroversion, you need some time alone, and you also need time with others. We understand ourselves based on our relationships and our roles. We are husbands or wives, sisters or brothers, friends, colleagues and neighbors. We are defined by our network of connections. We are accustomed to being close to each other and belonging is one of our fundamental needs. Sociology teaches us proximity is one of the most important drivers of relationships and based on psychology we know when we have more exposure to people, we’re more likely to identify with them and feel positively toward them. Of course, you can have close relationships with people at a distance, but in general the people with whom you communicate most often are those to whom you feel closest. Family members and best friends are examples. But also consider the colleague you see most in meetings (even virtually), the neighbor you see at the community garden or the acquaintance who has become a friend because you run into each other at the dog park regularly. Connecting with people frequently provides you with visibility into their lives and moods. You know when they are stressed or enthusiastic, when they have a big event at home or project at work—and they know these things about you as well. You build relationships based on exchanging information about your lives and being in tune with each other. MORE FOR YOUThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix It5 Signs It’s Time To Quit Your JobGoldman Sachs CEO David Solomon Calls For Workers To Return To The Office Beyond personal relationships, studies have found proximity positively influences outcomes in business and academia as well. When people working in companies perceive they are closer together, they tend to follow up more thoroughly and maintain more open lines of communication. In addition, when researchers were physically closer to each other on a campus, their collaborative research received more citations, and Nobel Prize winners were more likely than non-winners to have greater numbers of closer connections in their networks. Closeness breeds reciprocity—others give, and we feel obligated to give back, developing a reinforcing loop. Seminal research by cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall studied the way humans interact and found physical distance was indicative of relationships. Intimate distance (up to 18 inches) is for hugging or whispering, personal distance (typically up to 2½ feet) is for interacting with good friends or family, social distance (typically 4 to 7 feet) is for acquaintances and public distance (12 to 25 feet) is used mainly for public speaking. Of course, individuals may have preferences for more or less distance, but in general, these are the proximities ingrained in our behaviors and social norms. Unfortunately, distances are disordered and discombobulated lately. On the positive side, you may have gotten closer to your work colleagues. Video conferencing has meant you’ve probably seen your teammates in their most casual clothes, met their children and pets on camera or gotten a sense for the art and décor they prefer in their living room. On the other hand, with more distant business contacts, video conferencing may provide for too much closeness. The camera zooms in on their face when you might normally be seated comfortably across a conference room table. This can create discomfort because it departs from social norms and your instincts for appropriate distance. At the same time, you may have more closeness in a work setting, you haven’t been able to hug your grandmother or stand close enough for a comfortable chat with a neighbor. These distances create discomfort because they are unnatural to our instincts—we’re required to be farther apart than we might typically be with people we know well or when we’re interacting in casual settings. Here’s how to make sense of social distancing and the stress it creates: Embrace your discomfort. Give yourself permission to be uncomfortable. Times are tough and, if you’re not upset at some level, you’re probably not paying attention. Your dis-ease with an inability to connect is a good sign: You’re human and you value the people around you. You wouldn’t want it any other way. Change your language. Many people have suggested instead of referring to “social distancing,” we refer to “physical distancing.” How we refer to things matters—this is linguistic determinism—your words shape the way you think and understand things. If it helps to remind yourself you’re not distancing from people, but rather from the physical proximity that causes the spread of the virus, adopt this new lingo. Keep things in perspective. The pandemic has significantly changed all aspects of our lives, and we are reinventing how we live, work and play. While it is unlikely we will go back to the way things were, we will find a new equilibrium. Keep this longer view in mind as you face day-to-day distancing challenges. Appreciate all you’re learning. The pandemic and the quarantine are forcing us to face a new reality, learn and improvise. These are characteristics of resilience and your ability to adapt is what will help you survive and thrive going forward. Value your people. Sometimes things become most clear in their absence, and you’ve been (painfully) reminded of how much your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues mean to you. Now, and as we come out of quarantine, let people know how much you value your relationships with them. Putting distance between ourselves and others is unnatural and feeling too close to people with whom we don’t have intimate relationships can feel strange as well. Cope with social distancing by embracing your discomfort, adjusting your language, keeping things in perspective, appreciating all you’re learning and valuing the people around you. Whatever the physical distance, being in community is what matters most, and it is what will get us through—now and in the future.
3187f05140d4013bd8d64883365d6e94	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/05/19/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-what-the-coronavirus-teaches-and-how-we-must-respond/?sh=8f5aaf4d0534	Diversity, Equity And Inclusion: What The Coronavirus Teaches And How We Must Respond	Diversity, Equity And Inclusion: What The Coronavirus Teaches And How We Must Respond New lessons for diversity, equity and inclusion. Getty Diversity, equity and inclusion have always been important topics with critical implications for people, businesses and communities, but the pandemic is shining a new light on these issues. The shift in our experience and the new perspectives we gain, provide the opportunity for learning and improvement in the ways companies and individuals embrace diversity and ensure equity and inclusion. Clarity On The Issues The pandemic has put these issues in stark relief, and there is a new level of focus based on news reports highlighting how the pandemic is disproportionately impacting disadvantaged groups. Says Michele Meyer-Shipp, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for KPMG (a leading professional services firm) and National Organization on Disability board member, “Leaders are asking, ‘What should I be thinking about?’” New perspectives are emerging. “The pandemic has elevated disparities and pulled the covers off things occurring in marginalized communities,” says Fannie Glover, Director of Equity and Inclusion at the Early Care and Learning Council of New York. “If you’re living in a one-room apartment with five family members and you test positive for COVID-19, it’s impossible to isolate yourself. If you’re the only bread-winner and you can’t work, your entire family suffers. In addition, if you don’t have a car to go to food banks, nor money for public transportation, you are without food even if it is free.” The issues are significant, and they have a domino effect on each other—from health to income and from transportation to access and more. Glover also provides an example of a Native American community in which members carry water for miles. They are forced to weigh the recommendation to wash their hands for 20 seconds with the additional needs for water they use for cooking, bathing and drinking. Recognition of the conditions is critical. “Those in decision-making positions must understand what’s going on in underserved communities across the nation,” says Glover. The pandemic has also highlighted additional challenges. According to Agnes Uhereczky, Executive Director of the WorkLife HUB based in Belgium, “The pandemic has shone a light on the more subtle forms of diversity, such as whether somebody is a parent or a caregiver.” Video conferencing has given us a rare window into people’s lives and their homes. They may have their children in the background or they may have a need to flex their work hours to provide care for an aging or sick grandparent. Many leaders are expanding their empathy and compassion for employees as they face more work-life challenges themselves and see first-hand the obstacles their employees face. Expanded Opportunities In addition to exposing frequently-painful circumstances, the pandemic also has a positive side. With employees working from home, companies have been able to tap into diversity in new ways. For those who have difficulty moving about an office due to physical limitations, barriers are removed. Or for those who have difficulty hearing or seeing colleagues in a conference room setting, the ability to turn up the volume on their laptop or change the view-size on their screen has improved their ability to fully participate. The opportunity for companies to more fully leverage the talent of people like these is promising. “We can reimagine the future of work as it pertains to workforce representation by tapping into untapped and under-tapped talent pools,” says Meyer-Shipp. MORE FOR YOUIn 2021, The Smartest Companies Will Be Teaching Leaders These Skills They’ve Never Learned BeforeThree Simple Ways You Can #ChooseToChallenge This International Women’s DayEuropean Banks Are Cutting Their Office Space In Favor Of Remote Work—While In The U.S., Goldman Sachs And JPMorgan Want People To Return To The Office How Companies And Individuals Should Respond The issues are complex, but individuals and companies can embrace the pandemic’s opportunities for learning—and can improve their approaches. “Let’s not ’get back to business as usual’, but think about all that we have been learning these past weeks, and try to integrate our lessons going forward,” says Uhereczky. Exactly. So how do we take the most effective actions to reimagine the future of work and ensure the greatest levels of diversity, equity and inclusion? You’ll want to find ways to bring together a diverse range of people, give them equal footing and intentionally include their voices. Here are some ideas: Get educated. Individuals and organizations should get educated and understand the issues as fully as possible. “Organizations need to expand their view of what diversity is,” says Uhereczky. “The workplace is made up of hyper-diversified employees, with very different needs.” This knowledge of differences should drive company approaches, policies and practices. Individuals must learn, be self-aware and be proactive about behaving inclusively. Listen to understand differences and actively seek opportunities to expand your viewpoints. “We all need someone in our lives to tell us what we don’t know,” says Glover. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Seek opportunities to be with those who are different than yourself. Companies can do this by expanding approaches to recruiting, selection and hiring. When a company says, “That person is just not a fit,” it may be a signal it is not embracing differences, and there is an opportunity to improve practices. For individuals, expanding diverse relationships is key. Says Glover, “We need to avoid ‘just like me syndrome’ in which we seek out those who are similar and avoid differences.” Growth and learning are only possible when we spend time with others who are different than ourselves and listen to understand the reality of someone who may be in situations unfamiliar to us. “We must become comfortable with being uncomfortable,” says Glover. Build trust and acceptance. People need to feel they are welcomed and are valued as part of the community. “Employees want to feel a sense of belonging and a sense of being valued as an integral part of a team or company,” says Uhereczky. Psychological safety is critical—the feeling that people can bring all of themselves to their work experience and express opinions that may be unpopular. Companies and leaders have roles to play in building trust and acceptance. “As leaders, we must strive to create psychologically safe environments. Our responsibility as leaders is to ensure that all of the voices are acknowledged and heard,” says Mita Mallick, Head of Diversity and Cross-Cultural Marketing at Unilever. Another expert agrees. Bronwen Evans, Chief Talent Officer with MedCan, a leading health management company in Canada, says, “With the vast majority of our talent working remotely through the pandemic, we’ve had to double down on our thinking of what it means to create an environment of inclusivity and a sense of belonging.” As individuals, whether leaders or team members, our acceptance of those who are different contributes to this inclusivity and sense of community. Provide for different approaches to work. Companies and individuals can also expand how they accommodate different ways of working. This may pertain to when people work, how they work, where they work or even what project they are tackling. According to Meyer-Shipp, KPMG has empowered employees to have a blended workday. They can take time off during the day to provide care to a family member, for example, or help a child with school work. It’s important to meet employees where they are and address their unique needs. Employees’ needs differ. Mallick adds, “We have to remember that everyone is on their own COVID-19 journey. Our journeys are not comparable.” Colleagues can collaborate and work together while also being flexible and accommodating. Expand the ways in which people can contribute. Companies and leaders have the opportunity to reinvent how people contribute in terms of their roles and their responsibilities. Evans says, “Because our business has had to adapt so quickly by offering most of our services remotely, we’ve had to redeploy talent to different areas of the business, providing us with the opportunity to understand and appreciate broader skill sets.” The responsibilities people are being asked to fulfill are changing at a rapid pace, and along with a certain level of chaos, comes the chance to provide new ways for people to stretch their skills and apply their talents. Support people with tools and practices. The ability for people to contribute is partly based on having the right tools and programs. Meyer-Shipp says KPMG provides the necessary technology, desks, keyboards or captioning for employees working from home with no questions asked. Mental health is also critical, and KPMG has expanded employee assistance programs, offers weekly mental health webinars and makes all kinds of support available from text-based counseling to meditation and online exercise classes. In New York, Glover’s agency and its members have also stepped up by providing key information about protocols for child care services to essential businesses. Invite people to the table. As leaders and companies develop policies and practices, it is important to ensure people who will be served by the approaches are part of the decision-making processes to create them. “We need people who are in the trenches, not just those who have knowledge of the trenches,” says Glover. Multiple points of view are must-haves in decision making. Chris Beck, Chief Operating and Financial Officer for Caldwell Partners International, a global talent recruitment firm says, “Diversity benefits us by ensuring decisions are made with input from many lenses. When it comes down to it, no one should be making leadership decisions without having a representative group guiding them along the way.” Mallick agrees saying, “We need to remind ourselves that diversity of thought around the table doesn’t happen without diversity of representation.” Include participants from multiple perspectives and with first-hand experience of challenges, struggles or different realities. The pandemic provides a significant opportunity to increase our awareness about diversity, and to expand our capacity for empathy and compassion toward members of our whole community. This is important for people, but also for a company’s results. Whether you’re an individual who wants to be a better ally or an organization challenged with ensuring you tap into the best talent, you can get educated, include those who are different than yourself, build trust, expand the way you accommodate work, support people holistically and ensure a seat at the table. We will get through the pandemic together and if we take the right steps, we can have a powerfully positive impact on a future which includes more diversity, equity and inclusion.
e12b0157759ff0a56712c4d15ab69e9a	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/07/12/onboarding-during-the-pandemic-how-to-give-new-employees-a-running-start/?sh=3533d78a67ef	Onboarding During The Pandemic: How To Give New Employees A Running Start	Onboarding During The Pandemic: How To Give New Employees A Running Start Help your new employees get a running start--even when they're not in the office. Getty Hiring and orienting new employees—onboarding—is always critical to employee and business success, but like so many things, it is especially important during the coronavirus pandemic. It is also more difficult than ever. How should you welcome, train and engage new employees with social distancing, little time in the office and such unusual circumstances? Plenty of tips are available below, but keep in mind your ultimate goal is to help new employees build social capital—networks of people and information which help them learn, grow and get their work done. Social capital is good for people because it contributes to their sense of fulfillment. For employees, it provides positive relationships, the opportunity to learn from colleagues and the chance to grow in their careers. Social capital is also good for your business because it facilitates faster, more thorough decision making and increases retention and engagement of your staff. As you’re onboarding and helping people build social capital, these are the key ways to help ensure effectiveness: Connect people Overall, getting people connected is what will help them get a jump start on success, and you’ll need to be intentional in providing guidance and venues for those connections. Do not leave these to chance. Connect people with others who are new. Help employees find other new employees with whom they can exchange stories and develop a community. When companies do this well, people say their relationships with their “incoming class” or “cohort” last for the long term because they form a unique bond based on coming onboard together. Connect people with their leader. The best leaders are present, accessible and super-responsive. They prioritize replying to their team members, and especially those who are new. Leaders should consider establishing regular one-on-ones in which they check in, answer questions and make themselves available to new employees. Also connect people with senior leaders. As an example, one company has regular virtual coffee chats in which members of the senior team meet with about a dozen employees at a time and engage in open discussion and a question and answer period. Connect people with a buddy. In addition to obtaining information from their leader, new recruits will benefit from the assignment of a “buddy”—a person who is a member of the team and to whom they can go for small but important questions. Assigning a buddy can not only help new employees feel comfortable, but also increase their efficiency. Connect people with mentors. Some companies leave mentorship to chance, or broker mentor relationships after employees have been with the organization for a longer period. But ideally, employees are paired with mentors—those who can offer networking and career advice—from the beginning of their employment. Preferably, a mentor is two hierarchical levels above the employee and is not within that employee’s current reporting chain. The mentor’s distance—in terms of level and reporting structure—helps them provide perspective and set up a relationship where the employee can be open and ask for advice that may be more difficult to request otherwise. Connect people in informal and social situations. Great companies don’t leave social connections to chance and they help people build not just professional relationships but friendships. From video conference trivia nights to socially-distanced lunches, businesses can create a runway for relationships by creating the venues and activities to facilitate social connections. Be explicit Every organization is full of unwritten rules. Those who succeed are able to quickly discern what they are and navigate the new waters of the company. When everyone isn’t in the office however, it can be especially challenging to figure out the nuances and assumptions behind the behaviors found within an organization’s culture. For this reason, it’s especially helpful to share key information about “what goes” and “how things get done around here.” Do meetings start on time or a little late? How much do people work remote? How polished must presentations be? Does the culture value tons of data or more gut-level analyses? To what extent is it acceptable to speak up or question authority? What kinds of behaviors are rewarded? What are the pitfalls to avoid? While these may seem obvious to existing employees, they’ll be a mystery to newbies. Therefore, it is especially important to bring them to the surface and explain them outright. MORE FOR YOUThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix It5 Signs It’s Time To Quit Your JobCalifornia Tech Hub Bitwise Industries Raises $50 Million In Quest To Diversify The Workforce Also be clear with people about their roles and responsibilities. While this may seem obvious, many companies give new employees broad information but leave them wondering about the specifics. Think of this as providing people guidance about their swim lane—not just what’s included in their lane, but also what is not. Remember that colleagues will ask the new employee what they’ll be doing and they should be able to explain with confidence. In addition, provide clarity for the new employee’s teammates about the role in order to help them determine when to include the recruit in meetings and communications. Provide information and resources Beyond the nuances of the culture, people also need the right resources to get their work done. So, be sure they have access to people, information and tools. Provide access to people. If an employee’s leader is not on-site and the employee is in the office, be sure there is someone physically present who can be a resource to the employee. Provide access to tools and technology. It should go without saying, but unfortunately it doesn’t: Be sure employees have the tools and technology they need immediately when they join. Laptops, software and access to the right sharing platforms are critical to an employee’s effectiveness and to their belief that you’re prepared for them, welcoming them and committed to their success. Provide training. A lot of company training is so very boring—and a bit like watching paint dry. Be sure education and orientation are not only available, but also engaging. Also provide development goals for 30, 60 and 90-day intervals so employees have a clear sense of what’s expected and milestones for their learning. Provide ways to get involved. Most organizations have clubs, affinity groups and professional networks. Give people plenty of information about how to get involved. Even if an interest group won’t be their passion for the long term—perhaps they are a novice runner joining the cross-country club—the chance to join early is critical to getting connected. Provide access to information. During the pandemic, people are relying more heavily on their companies to help make sense of information and put it into context relevant for the company. This is especially true when employees are new. Consider moving quarterly meetings to a monthly cadence or holding your twice-monthly staff meeting weekly, so you can provide frequent updates and make yourself more available for questions and connections. Provide updates about your approach to the pandemic. Every company is responding slightly differently in terms of their pandemic protocols. Be sure new employees are clear about your rules for masks, sanitizing, temperature checks and the like. In addition, if employees have relocated, they will benefit from information about the current situation for the city, county or state in terms of what’s open, what’s allowed and what’s required in the locale. Let them contribute Some companies make the mistake of over-emphasizing how new employees are “just learning” when they begin a role. While there is a benefit to creating space for people to get up to speed, it’s also necessary to provide them with the opportunity to contribute as quickly as possible. People typically want to prove themselves and demonstrate that you’ve made a good decision hiring them. It may be tough to give them substantive projects until they know more, but assigning meaningful tasks will go a long way toward giving them a positive early experience. Onboarding is a significant responsibility, but especially when everyone isn’t in the office together—and when the coronavirus has necessitated distance between companies, employees and colleagues. To onboard successfully, connect people, be explicit about nuances of the company culture, provide plenty of information and resources and let people contribute in meaningful ways, right away. All of these strategies will provide people with a solid start, so they can hit the ground running—which is good for them and good for your business.
5906204035701f2d108c0df60ded8590	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/10/11/for-productivity-and-career-growth-the-office-is-best-heres-why-according-to-science/?utm_source=steelcase&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tracy-b	For Productivity And Career Growth The Office Is Best: Here’s Why According To Science	For Productivity And Career Growth The Office Is Best: Here’s Why According To Science The office accelerates productivity and career growth. Steelcase As the pandemic began, you were productive and effective. You were pulling yourself up by your bootstraps (as our grandparents used to say), taking a determined approach and making it work. But as the pandemic wears on, you may be hitting a wall. Your productivity is probably suffering, and your career may be taking a hit as well. When you consider productivity and your career, you know it’s not just about working harder. It’s really about being intentional and reflecting on some key elements of your work, your team, and yourself to be your best. In addition, while you may love working in your home office—after all who doesn’t love wearing sweatpants, avoiding the commute and working side-by-side with their furry companion—it may be detracting from your productivity and your career growth. There are ways you can be more productive and strategic about advancing your career—and showing up at your office may be one of them. When you’re deciding whether to go to your office, consider the nature of the work, your team and your own style—these will help you show up at the office for what matters most—and inform your choices based on great research. Your Work Complexity and pressure. Brand new research from Maastricht University and Erasmus University found when people were doing more routine work, online efforts were satisfactory. However, for situations where there was more complexity, pressure and the need for speed, being in person was far superior. Part of the key to productivity is to be intentional about your work and know that the kind of work you’re doing will be impacted by your situation. When work is more complicated, intense or requires swift decision making, choose to be in person with teammates. Your Team Your colleagues. Another key study highlighted in the Journal of Labor Economics found positive spillover in performance. The longitudinal study focused on 656 NBA players over a four-year period and found players had a strong influence on each other’s scoring—increasing overall game scores. This is similar to the sociological phenomenon called the Bandwagon Effect in which group energy and the emotion of the crowd inspires team members—resulting in an uptick in activity. Being in person can make you more productive as you obtain energy from others, and you can also positively influence your co-workers as well, through your presence and hard work. All of this is also very good for your career—your effectiveness will get you noticed. MORE FOR YOUCostco Increases Its Minimum Wage To $16 An Hour—There Is An Alarming Downside That Needs To Be DiscussedThe RAIN Acronym’s 4 Steps Reduce Job Stress And Build CareersNetflix’s ‘Amend: The Fight For America’ Is Must Watch Anti-Racism Education For Corporate America Diversity. We can take a lesson from Darwin and embrace the reality that more diversity tends to make species thrive. University of Toronto research found when natural ecosystems had greater biodiversity, all plants tended to thrive to greater extents. Workplaces are like this as well. To be our best, we must be connected with new thinking, different ideas and alternatives to our own echo chambers. Often these connections are most easily made in the office because it facilitates the hallway conversations and the bump-into-you discussions at the coffee bar or in the work café. Yourself Work dynamics. Pay attention to your own work preferences, but don’t assume they are static. It’s typical to over-generalize (“I prefer to work alone, therefore I seek time alone for all tasks.” or “I love people, so the more I’m with others in my work, the better.”) Actually, your effectiveness and productivity will have to do with an interplay of your tasks and your personality. Tune in to how you work best. For some work, you may indeed work better alone and for other work, you may work better with others. But this will likely be a mix and you will be your most productive—and build your most strategic relationships—when you pay attention to the interplay and plan your work accordingly. Wellbeing. It’s a rare day when a study isn’t released about the decline in wellbeing and the rise in depression, anxiety and mental health issues based on social isolation during the pandemic. Likewise, studies demonstrate when people are depressed their productivity tends to decline and when their depression is treated, productivity improves. Coming into the office and spending time face-to-face with colleagues is good for your mental health and that, in turn, is has positive impacts on productivity. Social capital. If you want to build relationships that will help you stretch, grow, learn, get things done and advance your career, you’ll be able to do this best face-to-face. You can build social capital virtually, but chances are good your relationships won’t be as tight, and trust may not be as strong. In-person contact has the unique ability to cement bonds because we develop greater familiarity with others, can read body language better and interpret micro expressions more accurately. Social capital can, in turn, help you be more productive because you’ll know how to get things done through the network. Engagement. Research from the Association for Psychological Science found engagement, satisfaction and productivity are correlated and tend to reinforce each other. When we’re more engaged, we’re more satisfied and productive. When we’re more productive, we tend to be more engaged and satisfied, and so on. This is another reason to come into the office. It’s easier to dive in and engage fully when you’re in person. Without technology issues or the distractions of home, you can be together with colleagues as you work toward common goals—and be more productive doing so. Working from home can be a wonderful thing, but it’s not a panacea and you may be able to tap into greater productivity and enhanced career growth by going to your office—at least part of the time. When you decide where you’ll work, consider the type of work you’ll be doing and whether it is complex or high-pressure. Also consider your colleagues and the energy you can give and get, as well as the diversity of ideas that will help you think better. Finally consider your own work preferences, wellbeing, social capital and engagement. All of these are helpful lenses through which to view your productivity and your career success—making intentional decisions about where you’ll work and how you can have the greatest impact.
2b34bacfeb4e16a37f8db5163be85cbb	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/10/18/virtual-communication-the-one-thing-you-can-do-to-be-more-effective/?sh=77b3b7a95e6f	Virtual Communication: The One Thing You Can Do To Be More Effective	Virtual Communication: The One Thing You Can Do To Be More Effective Virtual communication requires new skills getty You’ve been communicating virtually for months, so you must be an expert by now, right? Perhaps, but there’s one error you can avoid in order to communicate through virtual channels and be even more effective. And arising out of the mistake to miss are five ways to enhance your virtual performance overall. Anything new takes more effort and requires more conscious thought. Communicating virtually is no exception. Generally, as you become more comfortable, you can reduce the brain power something takes, and put more of the task into your subconscious. Riding a bike, long boarding or driving are examples. When you’re first learning, they require more thought. Eventually, they become second nature and you don’t have to think consciously about using your turn signal or getting into the proper lane to take a left. There is one thing, however, which can benefit from conscious thought, especially when you’re communicating virtually—the intentions you ascribe to others. The Error To Avoid We humans regularly make “attribution errors.” We tend to be more generous to ourselves when things go wrong than we are to others. In particular, when others do something that annoys us, we tend to explain their behavior based on their character (“He cut me off in traffic. He is a rude and selfish.”). On the other hand, when we do something less-than-ideal, we tend to explain our own behavior based on circumstances (“Oops, I just cut that guy off in traffic. It’s because the construction lane closure came up on me suddenly!”). This matters to virtual communication because we have far less nonverbal communication on which we can rely. As humans, we would be making attributional errors anyway, but the limitations of virtual communication exacerbate this challenge. We can’t see facial expressions as well. We can’t hear tones of voice as clearly, and we can’t see people’s surroundings as thoroughly. All of this makes us more likely to jump to conclusions or be less likely to give people the benefit of the doubt. If someone is late, we assume they have de-prioritized our meeting, when in reality, they may be having technical issues. If someone doesn’t turn on their camera, we assume they didn’t get up early enough to be camera-ready, when in reality, their new puppy is being rambunctious in the background. Enhancing Virtual Effectiveness So, how can you be more effective with virtual communication, and ensure you make less attributional errors? Give people space. Everyone is dealing with more stress than usual lately, and tensions are generally higher than they would be normally. Give everyone a bit more latitude. If you’re used to starting meetings precisely on time, consider giving your colleague a few minutes of grace. If you prefer to always have the camera on for meetings, be willing to have an off-camera meeting now and then. MORE FOR YOUCostco Increases Its Minimum Wage To $16 An Hour—There Is An Alarming Downside That Needs To Be DiscussedNetflix’s ‘Amend: The Fight For America’ Is Must Watch Anti-Racism Education For Corporate AmericaThe RAIN Acronym’s 4 Steps Reduce Job Stress And Build Careers Be intentionally empathetic. It may sound trite but putting yourself in another’s position really can help communication. Consider what your teammate might be thinking (cognitive empathy) or what they might be feeling (emotional empathy) under the circumstances you know they’re facing. Do your best to be considerate and empathetic. Ask questions. Of course, it’s easier to be empathetic if you know what someone is going through. So, ask questions about how your colleague is doing and how they’re holding up. You don’t have to be invasive but inquire enough to let them know you care and you’re paying attention. Then listen and tune in to what they have to say. Be forgiving. This is a time when people are likely to make more mistakes and fail more often. At the beginning of the pandemic, employees reported they were especially productive and effective. But now people are increasingly saying they are hitting walls. With mental health issues on the rise and stress and anxiety increasing regularly, it is logical work will suffer. Be forgiving if colleagues miss a beat or aren’t up to their normal standards. Give feedback and offer support so they can get on their feet again—knowing they’ll do the same for you. Build relationships. You know the sayings: True character is evident through difficult times. This is especially true in how we communicate now. The empathy, compassion and grace you express will reflect positively on your character. The science of personality suggests when conditions are normal, we are more likely to act out of our best attributes. But under stress, we tend to be “beside ourselves” and act out of our less-preferred styles. The extrovert may become more aloof, or the coworker who has an uncanny intuitive accuracy with customers may lose her touch. Know all this is temporary and use these situations to reach out, demonstrate caring and build relationships. Sociologically speaking, we tend to build some of the strongest relationships during hard times, so you can use these circumstances to find the best in yourself and in others. Virtual communication isn’t easy, and we can’t take it for granted. We’ll all be relieved to get back to more in-person and less virtual communication. But in the meantime, be intentional about how you use virtual channels and how you communicate with as much effectiveness as possible during hard times—your career may depend on it.
8d8a79c521f48ea18f0fc4bef00e31c4	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/10/25/sharing-a-small-space-while-you-work-from-home-3-ways-to-maintain-your-performance-and-your-sanity/	Sharing A Small Space While You Work From Home: 3 Ways To Maintain Your Performance And Your Sanity	Sharing A Small Space While You Work From Home: 3 Ways To Maintain Your Performance And Your Sanity Work from home in a cramped space is no small challenge. getty If you have a giant home office, no distractions and an ideal ergonomic set up, this article is not for you. On the other hand, if you’re like the vast majority of people working from home in a too-small space with too many people, keep reading. Working from home has plenty of pros—wearing your fuzzy slippers and spending quality time with your pooch are among them. But big challenges can arise from small spaces when you don’t have adequate elbow room to get your work done effectively. How can you survive with your performance and sanity intact? Consider your mindset, your communication and some basic survival skills. Mindset To be successful working in a small space (think: two full-time working professionals in 900 square feet, or a family with working adults and children in 1100 square feet), you’ll want to start with your mindset. Chances are you’ve spent time on vacation in a small hotel room with your family, but when you’re trying to juggle the pressures of work and maintain brilliant performance, it’s nothing like relaxing in the tropics. Empathy. One of the most important elements of mindset is empathy. Consider what your roommate or family member is going through and appreciate the pressure they are under. Demonstrate cognitive and emotional empathy, imagining what they must be thinking and feeling. When you embrace empathy, you are likely to feel more compassion and extend more forgiveness—and this relieves the relationship pressure which can build in such a small space. Flexibility. You’ll need to adapt from day-to-day and perhaps even from hour-to-hour. Trade rooms depending on who needs the more professional background for their on-camera meeting and adjust your lunch timing if you’re planning to use the noisy juicer while your housemate is giving a presentation. Willingness to be personally agile will go a long way toward maintaining a positive relationship and giving you what you need to deliver your best work performance—no matter what your circumstances. MORE FOR YOUCostco Increases Its Minimum Wage To $16 An Hour—There Is An Alarming Downside That Needs To Be DiscussedWhy Mindset Matters: Your Control In Your Own DestinyHow Inclusive Language Can Help You To Negotiate, Lead And Communicate For Success Perfection—not. In addition, give up your need for perfection. Realize your working conditions won’t be ideal and chalk it up to the compromises you’ve had to make in 2020. If there’s a bit of noise interfering with your meeting or if your background isn’t as pristine as you’d like, know your co-workers probably won’t notice or may be having similar challenges themselves. Strive for professionalism, but don’t obsess. Methods In surviving and thriving while working in a small space, communication will make or break your effectiveness. Planning. Communicate a lot, about plenty of details. Plan ahead by comparing calendars at the beginning of the week to anticipate how you’ll use the space and regroup each evening to confirm your approach—knowing work schedules can change regularly. If you have a high-pressure meeting with your CEO, let your roommate know. If you have a win/lose presentation with a client, ensure your partner is aware. If you have a quiet afternoon where you can create more space for your housemate to have the better background, communicate this information as well. By being as open as possible about your work, and its nuances, you’ll help ensure your schedules fit together and accommodate the needs of everyone sharing your space. Communication. Use non-verbal and virtual communication. If your roommate needs to let the puppy out, exchange texts to coordinate when you’ll mute yourself, so your customer doesn’t hear the commotion. Use hand signals off camera to demonstrate when you’re in a meeting where you must take a leadership role or when you’re in a listen-only mode. Mechanics Basics. In addition to the all-important mindset and communication, also pay attention to some basic mechanics to facilitate your experience. If you’re moving between rooms, have a power cord in each spot so it’s easier to make the transition. Make judicious use of your mute button. If your roommate is losing her cool because her new puppy just had an accident, quickly mute the discussion you’re having with your HR colleague. If the only place you can work is the bedroom and your partner works third shift and is sleeping in the background, use a custom video backdrop or the blur feature. Find what works for you—both in terms of technical solutions and basic conveniences. Wellbeing. Also pay attention to your wellbeing—in terms of your physical, cognitive and emotional wellbeing. Invest in a great ergonomic chair, move as much as you can, practice mindfulness and get outside for a breath of fresh air. Most of all, appreciate the bonding that will come from the experience. Sociological research teaches us that going through difficult situations can create especially strong connections—and this is a perfect example. Appreciate the time you have between meetings and laugh about the crazy logistics you’ve had to manage so you could work successfully in a small space. Use your challenges to build your relationship and your resilience.
a2fc72b29fe94dec47a1c5b48131f44c	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/11/08/how-to-focus-on-your-work-when-theres-so-much-going-on/?sh=442ead0a3b2c	How To Focus On Your Work When There’s So Much Going On	How To Focus On Your Work When There’s So Much Going On Uncertainty can make it tough to focus, but it is possible to stay grounded. getty There’s a lot going on in our country and in the world, and it can be tough to focus on work. We’ve been going through so much for so long, it’s fair to feel overwhelmed. You’re concerned about the coronavirus, and you’ve been on the edge of your seat following election coverage for the last week. You’re making plans in response to your child’s university announcing classes will be online-only for next semester, and you’re staying up to date on your company’s financial health because of its impact on your job security. But through it all, it’s critical to stay focused on the responsibilities of work, family and home—and to find a way to stay grounded in the process. Here are the three ways to stay stable and sound when there is so much swirl surrounding us all. Yourself It may sound selfish to start with yourself, but to be your best you’ll need to begin from a place of strength and clarity. You can provide this for yourself. Your identity. Clarify your values, your priorities and your roles. Regardless of what’s going on in the environment, you believe in key principles and have goals for yourself and your family. In addition, you are a parent, partner or neighbor. At work, you are a leader, a team member or a project manager. We tend to know ourselves through the roles we play in our community, so remind yourself about the consistency of who you are, regardless of what’s going on around you. Your influence. Sociologically speaking, the primary way we learn is through watching other people and their behaviors. This is true even when we’re not conscious of the influence of others. Recognize how much impact you have on the people and situations around you. Demonstrate positivity and resilience. Collaborate effectively with others, even if you don’t agree with them all the time. Your stability and optimism will have important ripples in your community. Your learning. Focus on what you can learn. Hard times give you the opportunity to stretch your own capabilities. In addition, disagreements provide the chance to listen to others’ points of view and learn from them. Stay open to challenges so you can broaden your perspective, your thinking and better understand new ideas. Your Work In the middle of a storm, work can be safe harbor. Your contribution. Your company is counting on you to bring your best. Follow through and focus on the deliverables you must create. Sometimes work can be its own burden. But in turbulent times, the normalcy of a colleague waiting for your report or a customer in need can be reassuring reminders that the world continues, even in the face of uncertainty. Your future. When things are uncertain, your character is especially evident in your actions and responses. This can be a great time to gain appreciation at work which is good for career growth. Demonstrate stability, maturity and consistency through difficult times. Don’t let your productivity miss a beat and continue to deliver solid performance. When your excellence is predictable, even when everything else seems unpredictable, your organization will thank you. Your Coworkers Chances are, if you’re struggling with things, your colleagues are as well. Your empathy. Your wellbeing benefits when you can expand your focus from yourself to others. Tune into your colleagues and offer support. Ask them how they’re doing. Listen, and be compassionate. Your energy. Hard times can deplete energy. If you see a coworker struggling to focus or get through a project, offer to help solve a problem or work through a thorny issue. A helping hand not only makes their work better, but also improves their engagement because they draw energy from your camaraderie. MORE FOR YOUThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix ItCalifornia Tech Hub Bitwise Industries Raises $50 Million In Quest To Diversify The WorkforceAn Untapped Talent Resource: People With Disabilities As humans, we crave certainty and clarity. These times feel especially out of control, but set your course, maintain your focus and nurture your relationships—and know you will make it to solid ground—eventually.
17bcc65f47e0065143f611b72e4c5998	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2020/11/22/how-to-stay-connected-when-everything-is-working-against-you/?sh=1ca181771bc6	How To Stay Connected When Everything Is Working Against You	How To Stay Connected When Everything Is Working Against You Staying connected is tough but it can be done. Steelcase The coronavirus requires you to socially distance and the pandemic has put many of us into lockdown once again. We crave to be together, and it shows in our Thanksgiving plans. Ohio State University found, in new research, that 40% of Americans plan to attend Thanksgiving gatherings despite the surge in COVID cases, hospitalizations and warnings from the CDC. Regardless of your plans for Thanksgiving, connections are critical to mental and physical health. How can we stay connected when everything seems to be conspiring against being with our people, staying together with our community and extending our reach to loved ones? While it may seem like a Herculean task to maintain connections, it is worth the time and energy it takes to figure it out. A new study by the University of Stirling found social distancing is causing an increase in loneliness. Add to that a recent study by Massachusetts General Hospital which found social connection is the most powerful factor when it comes to preventing depression—especially impactful since it was compared against 100 different variables (watching less television and taking fewer naps rated highly as well!). Clearly, connections have important impact, but how can you maintain them when the coronavirus is forcing you apart? And how can you sustain your relationships when the pandemic is making it so tough to be together? Forge bonds by giving, by gathering and through the power of grit: Forging Bonds By Giving Consider others. To maintain connections, start with empathy. Research published in The Journal of Neuroscience found when people were asked to think of others, they made better decisions. Specifically, they made more effective choices to avoid pain when others’ wellbeing was at stake. When you’re deciding on a course of action, you’ll do a better job when you consider the people around you. MORE FOR YOUThis Is Why You’re So Exhausted; Here’s How To Fix ItHis Engineering Genius Kept His Car Safe In His Neighborhood. Now He May Revolutionize The Speaker Industry.California Tech Hub Bitwise Industries Raises $50 Million In Quest To Diversify The Workforce Be generous. Another way to foster connections is through generosity. Whether you’re giving your time, donating to charities or offering help to a colleague, generosity is glue for strong connections. According to one study, when people demonstrated generosity, they tended to be more satisfied and engaged with their work and happier with life in general. In another study, when people volunteered their time, they tended to see a payoff in their salaries and career growth. And in yet another study, people who were generous were perceived as being more attractive. Seek out organizations where you can donate your time and build relationships with fellow volunteers. Find ways to contribute when a colleague is struggling with a challenging problem at work. Offer a helping hand to an elderly neighbor. Altruism has plenty of benefits, but primary among them is the way it connects us and cements relationships. Forging Bonds Through Groups Share a cause. You can also maintain connections by joining a (socially-distanced) group of like-minded people. Belonging isn’t just about being together with people, it is about sharing an identity or a purpose. One of the ways to see what is most foundational to our instincts and our neuroscience is to look to animals. When they display characteristics similar to our own, it suggests human neural instincts run especially deeply. For example, a study by the University of Vienna found birds which shared responsibility for their offspring and nested closely together, demonstrated more generous behavior. A separate study by Ohio State University found when vampire bats were sick, they maintained social distance from their groupmates. Their highly social nature resulted in behaviors that would protect others when they were unwell. This applies to humans: When we share common interests, mutual goals and emotional commitments, we tend to behave in ways that enhance our connections and the health of the group. Create a group. If you can’t find a group that exactly matches your interests or priorities, create one, even if it’s virtual. Going through the pandemic is hard—really hard—so joining up with like-minded people is a powerful idea. If you can’t find something you want to join, start something new. Establish a unique club—perhaps with those who knit badly or who have given up on making sourdough. Or if you miss your colleagues and love to read, create a book group at work. You can start with one person and then invite others to join. Whether you connect with one person or a group, you’ll be contributing to your own wellbeing and theirs as well. Be a connector. Everyone needs strong networks. Close, primary relationships, as well as secondary or tertiary connections (those people whom you may not see as much, but are still important members of your extended community) are like webbing or netting which provide support. You can add value to your community by introducing people to each other. When you know someone looking for advice and someone who is guru on the topic, go out of your way to introduce them. When you connect people with others, you strengthen your bond with each of them, and also strengthen the community as a whole. Forging Bonds With Grit Be tenacious. Maintaining ties takes effort—sometimes lots of it. And since Aristotle, tenacity—persistence, unwavering effort and keeping a firm hold on what’s important—has been valued as a virtue. Focus on friendships and nurture your network. Be the person who takes initiative and makes (virtual) coffee happen. It can be easy to retreat or to wait for others to reach out. But investing your time and energy in sustaining relationships is worth it. In stressful times, your people may not be as engaged. Stay motivated yourself so you can in turn persuade others to attend (socially-distanced) yoga class together, participate in virtual wine (whine) down Wednesday or even do some online holiday shopping via FaceTime. Inspire optimism. In addition to tenacity, key elements of grit are perseverance and resilience. All of these characteristics suggest a future focus and a belief in the value of what’s around the bend and beyond our present struggles. Keep going even though things are tough. In addition, be positive. People prefer to be with others who are upbeat and can see the glass as half-full. You don’t have to be unrealistically chirpy, but adding an optimistic outlook to those around you will help you and help others—and solidify connections through shared positivity. Contributing to the community, reaching out and building relationships will get you through—and help others get through. Our connections are among the most important ways to battle negative effects from quarantine and the coronavirus. Build bridges and forge bonds—effective strategies for the short term and the long term as well.
211c2f180880b2bfed31517bd59fd1a9	https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/01/17/bringing-people-back-to-the-office-heres-what-it-will-take/	Bringing People Back To The Office: Here’s What It Will Take	Bringing People Back To The Office: Here’s What It Will Take People want to come back to the office and work better. Steelcase As we look toward a post-pandemic future, many of us are craving a return to life as we knew it (or closer to what we knew). We’ll be glad to go back to the gym, eat out again and yes, even get back to the office. But while we’re craving to get back to the way things were, there will be challenges as well—because just as there are elements that exhaust us about working from home, there’s also a lot to love. They say a new habit is built in 21 days and since March 2020, we’ve had about 14, 21-day cycles. This means we’ve solidified new approaches to working in our homes—and it’s possible they’ve become entrenched. So how will we change our current ways of working? What’s effective about working from home? And what’s not? What can we learn from the last year—and how can leaders create the conditions to motivate, engage and bring people back? Through our experience of working from home during the pandemic, we’ve learned a significant amount, which we can apply to our future ways of working. Global studies by office manufacturer Steelcase (including—full disclosure—my own contribution to the research effort) are telling. Based on eight separate studies engaging 32,000 participants across 10 countries, there’s a lot to know about working from home and how we’ll work in the months and years ahead. What People Love—And Don’t Love—About Working From Home For many, working from home has offered a lot of benefits. In fact, globally, eight out of ten countries rank not having to commute first on their list of benefits. In the US, people also value the ability to focus and be productive with less distractions of the office. They also like the range of settings where they can get their work done at home. Apparently, the opportunity to work from the kitchen, the living room or the home office offers a (surprising) amount of fulfillment. Globally, across all 10 countries, people also value greater work-life balance, more time for family, increased flexibility and greater autonomy. But there are also things people miss about the office. In 10 out of 10 countries surveyed, isolation was the greatest concern from people working at home. We need our people, we miss our colleagues and work is a fundamental way this desire for belonging and community is fulfilled. Sure, we can connect virtually, but it’s just not the same. If the social isolation weren’t problematic enough, in the US, people also felt they were becoming gradually less productive, and they were experiencing reduced engagement and slower decision making. MORE FOR YOUWhy You Can’t Yoga Your Way Out Of BurnoutEuropean Banks Are Cutting Their Office Space In Favor Of Remote Work—While In The U.S., Goldman Sachs And JPMorgan Want People To Return To The Office4 Ways To Crush Employee Appreciation Day 2021 Working from home has both pros and cons. Steelcase The Leadership Necessary to Bring People Back There are plenty of reasons to bring people back to the office, from performance and career growth to engagement and social capital. And Steelcase research demonstrates people plan to be in the office, with 54% anticipating they’ll work from home only one day per week or less. In addition, the research suggests as they come back, people will have elevated expectations. They will expect a fundamentally better work experience than the one they left. What they’ve enjoyed at home shouldn’t go away just because they’re returning to the office. And difficult conditions at home should improve in the workplace. Leadership will be key. In order to engage and motivate people—and to bring them back successfully—great leaders will have to display empathy, engage people’s sense of purpose and help connections thrive. Empathy First, leaders will need to understand everyone’s work-from-home circumstances are different. The empty-nester with a dedicated home office is facing a different set of challenges compared with the couple working full time from their small apartment and facilitating learning with their two small children. Leaders will need to ask questions, listen and understand employees’ unique needs and concerns to ensure they create the conditions that will attract people back. With so many distractions and the distance between us, listening has become a super-power. Leaders can forge strong relationships and create the conditions for employees to feel supported and therefore more engaged when they ask questions, pay attention and focus on employees and their specific needs. In the process of coming back, people will need elevated levels of choice in terms of when they come back, how much they come back and how they flex their time. Providing people with control over their work—as much as possible—and new levels of overall flexibility will demonstrate an understanding and empathy for the particular situations employees face. Purpose Another fundamental aspect of engagement is a sense of purpose. Leaders can motivate people to return by reinforcing the broader sense of purpose for people’s work. At the office, people can feel the energy of the company’s mission in community with colleagues, and experience a clear line of sight from their work to others’ work and ultimately to the customer. Purpose requires three things. People need to understand the bigger picture they’re working toward. They need to have a clear sense of how their work contributes to the bigger picture, and the end goal must contribute to people, rather to esoteric business outcomes. Annualized growth of 15% is a valid goal, but what will really get people out of bed in the morning is knowing how they contribute to the quality of life or wellbeing of other people. The most effective leaders—and those who create conditions for returning to better work experiences—are those who continuously reinforce meaning and purpose in the work their team members perform. Connections Work is fundamentally social and great leaders create the conditions for constructive relationships between and among their team members. While it’s unfortunate people are experiencing so much social isolation, this may be one of the most powerful reasons they will want to return to the office. Leaders can contribute to effectiveness and engagement by forging connections. They can also give people transparency to the work of others by ensuring plenty of sharing and communication. Leaders should assign tasks which require employees to work together on substantive and meaningful projects. They would be wise to express appreciation for work that is well-executed and hold people accountable, reinforcing how their work matters. In Sum We’ve learned to work differently and to work from home with some measure of success. But it’s no panacea and our opportunity as individuals and leaders is to get back to work—and more—to get back to better. It would be a travesty to return to the way thing were. Much more important will be to learn from the last year and to move forward, improve and actually work better. Countries studied include: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States.