From Mission Minded Management:
This sentence is interesting in that if you say the sentence seven
times, each time placing the emphasis on a different word, the meaning
of the sentence shifts.Try it…
- I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
- I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
- I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
- I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
- I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
- I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
- I Didn’t Say You Stole My Money.
Bad leaders need unquestioning obedience. They don’t just want obedience – they actually need unquestioning obedience in order to maintain their power. From A Just Determination
A good leader doesn’t need unquestioning obedience. People follow that leader because they choose to, because that leader has their trust. A poor leader requires unquestioning obedience, because without that, a poor leader will lose all meaningful ability to exercise command.
Think about that the next time you feel yourself becoming defensive.
The same passage (it’s a fiction book, BTW) talks about how poor leaders need better followers.
From gapingvoid:
6. Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
[…]
They’re only crayons. You didn’t fear them in kindergarten, why fear them now?
I think that’s so true. We are all sure our art won’t be good enough. Like it’ll be judged. We’re afraid to draw! Did it happen in first grade or fifth?
If you ever worked for or with a big company, you’ll find this book Company
Company
From Seth Godin’s Workaholics:
A new class of jobs (and workers) is creating a different sort of
worker, though. This is the person who works out of passion and
curiosity, not fear.The passionate worker doesn’t show up because she’s afraid of getting in trouble, she shows up because it’s a hobby that pays.
Is the passionate worker new? Or is it just there’s a new type of web related job that people are now passionate about? I’m guessing the latter. I think there has always been people passionate about their jobs. There may be more creative type jobs these days though … more jobs for people to be passionate about.
From Polly, one of the Mavericks at Work
Old version: work hard (for a very long
time), achieve success, earn freedom (to retire and do all the things
you missed out on while you were working)New version: find work that affords you freedom = success
I would argue that the organizations and leaders that find a way to
build freedom (freedom from the time clock, freedom from the cube,
freedom from the org chart, freedom to create) into work will be the
winners in the future.
There is no point in doing something that makes you miserable all day so you can be happy later. We (including me) spend too much time planning our retirement. We should be planning our life today. Find work you enjoy! Work that gives you freedom, not work that will give you a retirement.
It’s probably because you think you need to relax during your free time. Most people divide all time into either work or free time. Scott Young, the author of Why Your Free Time is Boring says:
But the subtle message contained in this split is that work and leisure
shouldn’t resemble each other. Your work needs to be productive,
efficient and challenging. Therefore leisure should be relaxing,
accomplish nothing and be free of pressures.
The problem? We have the most fun when we are most engaged, challenged or using our skills.
According to Optimum Strategies for Creativity and Longevity, Nobel prize winners made their discoveries and innovations at an average age of 32. So I figure I better hurry up and get with it, if it’s not too late already!
You don’t want money. You want the things money can bring. Most likely you want happiness or joy. You want money so that you can do more of the things that bring you happiness or joy.
What would the world look like if we concentrated on what brought us joy instead of what brought us money?
And you don’t really need money to do what brings you joy. If I wanted to go spend a month or a year sailing around the Caribbean , I could make that happen. (Um, once I convinced Frank that is.) If I wanted to be a professional student, I could do that too. (Wait, I already am a lifelong student.)
Pursue what brings you joy, not what brings you money. So if you don’t want money, what do you really want?
Thanks to Steve Pavlina’s podcast for expressing this idea this way.
Health insurance should not depend on your employment status. What kind of health insurance you can get should not depend on who you work for. (I have a friend who can’t even insure his young son unless he works for a company that offers health insurance!) This New York Times article argues that separating health insurance from employers would enable more people to work more flexible hours and in flexible locations:
But if workers’ benefits weren’t tied to employers, then they could
transition into independent status without fear of losing their health
care or pensions, and more employers would gladly oblige, since they
could move costly benefits packages off their books.
Many jobs, especially those that are computer based, don’t require people to be in an office or even to work fixed hours. It would be easier to work on an "as needed" basis if those people didn’t depend on one fixed employer for health insurance.