Productivity
Four Things Your College Career Center Got Dead Wrong
Over the years, I’ve helped many new graduates look for work; and one of the things I’ve learned is that a lot of the advice dispensed by college career centers is flawed. Below are four of the most common errors I see: three having to do with resumes (easily correctable), the fourth having to do…
Read MoreHow To Be An Effective Decision-Maker
I was recently interviewed by Entrepreneur.com for an article on decision making. The writer’s questions were excellent and thought provoking, and I wanted to share my answers with you. Best, Hillary Q: For leaders you’ve encountered or researched, how have you noticed that decision-making tends to get in the way of productivity? Can you give some specific…
Read MoreIf No One Falls Over, We’re Having a Great Class!
One of my recent newsletters discussed a misguided essay (and now, regrettably, book) by a prominent philosophy professor on his notion of “constructive procrastination. I’m happy now to refer you to this essay, I’m With Stupid, by a writer who is not, to my knowledge, a prominent professor, but who nevertheless has figured out a…
Read MoreAll Your Work Should Be Sand Castles
The wonderful and much-missed writer and writing teacher John Gardner wrote in On Becoming A Novelist: “If children can build sand castles without getting sand-castle block, and if ministers can pray over the sick without getting holiness block, the writer who enjoys his work and takes measured pride in it should never be troubled by…
Read MoreWhy You’re Afraid to Quit
Interesting article by Daniel Gulati in Harvard Business Review on why people have trouble quitting even jobs and businesses they hate. Everything he writes would apply to activist campaigns, too, and probably relationships and other areas of life. The author neglects to mention, though, that timing a quit is hard. It’s not always obvious when…
Read MoreInterview with Richard Stallman
My friend Richard Stallman is the founder of the free software movement . His ideas have spawned not only the GNU/Linux operating system , but Wikipedia , Creative Commons the anti-DRM Defective by Design campaign, and other important social movements. He is a MacArthur “genius,” and arguably the world’s most successful activist, and I was…
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