What I see in different shades of gray, from behind my reading glasses
Gorick Ng’s book “The Unspoken Rules” has some advice, excerpt in the HBR’s Working Knowledge:
unlocking the best career opportunities requires job seekers to achieve three Cs:
Competence. Prove that you can do the job well, and people will offer you more responsibility.
Commitment. Demonstrate that you are excited about your job, and people will invest in you.
Compatibility. Prove that you can get along with your teammates and managers, and people will want to work with you.
A fascinating conversation with the author of Influence.
https://omny.fm/shows/the-james-altucher-show/712-robert-cialdini
“Your book influence is so famous in Poland, my students think you’re dead”
Paul Graham on why to Write Simply:
Of course, fancy writing doesn’t just conceal ideas. It can also conceal the lack of them. That’s why some people write that way, to conceal the fact that they have nothing to say. Whereas writing simply keeps you honest. If you say nothing simply, it will be obvious to everyone, including you.
From the HBR’s archives, with the title “You Don’t Have to Be CEO to Be a Visionary Leader”
the relentless need for continual innovation in today’s operating climate may just give you the opportunity to promote new ideas from your own local experiences that can demonstrate potential for broader growth and even reinvention in your company
For the last few weeks, writing – and reading for that matter – became luxuries. My handwritten journal was my solace on occasion, but not as consistently as I’d have liked.
I wish Life doesn’t get in the way, but of course that’s all there is. I’ll have to find a way to write my way through it all anyway. I’ll still forgive myself for not doing this as often as I have desired.
This is yet another restart.
Paul Graham on why he asks questions – rather than voice his opinions – when someone who’s a domain expert comes up with crazy new ideas
Few understand how feeble new ideas look when they first appear. So if you want to have new ideas yourself, one of the most valuable things you can do is to learn what they look like when they’re born. Read about how new ideas happened, and try to get yourself into the heads of people at the time. How did things look to them, when the new idea was only half-finished, and even the person who had it was only half-convinced it was right?
But you don’t have to stop at history. You can observe big new ideas being born all around you right now. Just look for a reasonable domain expert proposing something that sounds wrong.
Sensational.