sustainable systems & storytelling
I like my job. I like the people I work with. I like the projects I'm assigned. I like the convenience of working from home indefinitely. What I don't like is that I was brought on with the promise of rapid advancement and, nearly three years later, I'm in the same position any barely enough... Continue Reading →
For the last decade, I've developed the habit of setting a theme for the year. While the tangible goals are great, choosing a feeling or theme offers guide rails and room to deviate. For 2021, the word I chose was CLARITY: "I have decided that my intention for 2021 is CLARITY. For several years now,... Continue Reading →
For years, I've been contemplating a career switch. While I currently enjoy my work in quality assurance, I can't help but long for something more than documentation, compliance, and perpetual wrist-slapping. I think I would enjoy something more tangible, with an end product or a happy customer. I remember many years ago hearing the suggestion... Continue Reading →
I am fast-approaching the three-month mark in my new job. Can you believe it? I sure can't! Anyways, I signed on at a lower salary with an agreement to a "90-day growth incentive program," which essentially means I will be eligible for a higher salary if I sufficiently add value within my first three months... Continue Reading →
“What you do everyday matters more than what you do every once in a while.” Happy (belated) New Year! 2018 is behind us and I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for the fresh start that is 2019. Though the first of the new year is an arbitrary date, I always try to take... Continue Reading →
Hello all! Apologies for my absence--it has been an emotional whirlwind of a week. The Good Yesterday, I went in for a meet-the-team interview and was all but offered the job. I met individually with five different employees who introduced me to the company, its missions, and its culture. It's a decade-old startup that is... Continue Reading →
I think we've all had our share of bad days at work. Maybe you commute took hours due to an accident on the freeway, your manager yelled at you because the internet was down, or a colleague refused to pull their weight...again. Perhaps these events led to alone time in your office, contemplating how great... Continue Reading →
At the start of October, I will be celebrating four years as a department manager with my current employer. As with any job, the experience has been filled with ups and downs. In that time, people have filed in and out of my office, and countless projects have flowed through my hands. Considering the milestone,... Continue Reading →
One of my colleagues is actively searching for a new job and I feel as I'm being nudged out of my position, as well. The owner of the company has an abundance of early-twenty-something children and relatives who are quickly filling the small office. Otherwise unemployable, these entitled dimwits have found their place. In exchange for... Continue Reading →
One of the biggest workplace complaints is that people don't like their manager. I was recently reminded of the Peter Principle, which states that employees are promoted based on their performance in there current role; thus, employees only stop being promoted once they can no longer perform effectively. If managers rise to the level of their incompetence,... Continue Reading →
I have been continuing the What is Creative Living? online course hosted by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and several other books. The second portion of the course involved some videos on the difference between hobbies, jobs, career, and vocation. The second assignment was to sort through my daily activities and distinguish between hobbies,... Continue Reading →
Growing up, my mother repeatedly told my siblings and me: "Do what you love and the money will follow." As a teacher-turned-entrepreneur, she walked the talk. She transformed her passion for educational books into a calling, and successful one at that. I feel as if I'm at a juncture in my career. Four years ago,... Continue Reading →
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it; if you can't manage it, you can't improve it. I advanced quickly at my current job. Productivity and efficiency are some of my core values, so it was easy to apply the mindset and tactics to my work. Even the smallest productivity gain, say 1% monthly... Continue Reading →
The world is rapidly evolving. New technologies become obsolete within a matter of years and the long-standing career options are gradually being replaced by positions that did not exist ten years prior. “Don’t worry about what your job is going to be—the interesting jobs are the ones you make up.” --Chris Young, Tools of Titans... Continue Reading →
Five years ago, I abandoned my three-year-old blog and 3,700 followers. It felt like a home, until it didn’t. The community was filled with support, encouragement, and just enough heckling to scare me away. The tagline of that blog was “the subjective perspective of an analytical analyst,” and apart from being a mouthful, those words... Continue Reading →
