In his Pulitzer Prize nominated The Shallows — What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains, Nicholas Carr argues that “The development of a well-rounded mind requires both an ability to find and quickly parse a wide range of information and the capacity for open-ended reflection. There needs to be time for efficient data collection and time for inefficient contemplation… The problem today is that were losing our ability to strike a balance between those two very different states of mind.” We spend too much time “stripmining” for relevant content and too little on the “slow excavation of meaning.” Information overload is a permanent state. Our abilities to cure it, only make it worse. Keep Reading »
Online, We Follow Scripts Written By Others — Nicholas Carr
The Information Age … Allows Us To Know Less — David Brooks
In his searing critique of the Internet, Nicholas Carr, in The Shallows — What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains , contrasts the the cultures bound by oral versus written traditions. “In a purely oral culture, thinking is governed by the capacity of the human memory. Knowledge is what you recall, and what you recall is limited to what you can hold in your mind.” But, the advent of the written word liberated knowledge from the bounds of individual memory. Carr argues that the development of the fields of science, history, philosophy, among others, all were dependent on the technology of writing. Citing classical scholar, Walter Ong, “Writing heightens consciousness.” Over time and at a distance, humans could look directly at each others observations with greater accuracy and a higher information content. In a sense, the writer and reader could merge, sharing “the conscious being of the book.” Keep Reading »
To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere – Seneca, the Younger
Seneca, a first century Roman statesman and philosopher is remembered for his Letters from a Stoic. In Letter 2, he offers some advice to a friend, who has been spending considerable time with books:“Be careful … that there is no element of discursiveness and desultoriness about this reading you refer to, this reading of many different authors and books of every description. You should be extending your stay among writers whose genius is unquestionable. To be everywhere is to be nowhere. A multitude of books only gets in one’s way.“
Imagine Seneca’s response to the time that we now spend to surfing the Internet.
Handling Workplace Environment Challenges – 2
If you have decided to become a “change agent” to improve your workplace environment, then there are a few additional things you ought to consider. First, you must operate with the assumption that those who most influence the culture of the work environment possess sufficient competence and character to support a changed culture, once it begins to manifest. Absent that assumption, you are on a fool’s errand. You need not know this to be true. But, you must believe that it is possible. Next, understand that change and fear go hand in hand. Humans will show a much greater commitment to avoiding potential harm then seeking potential benefit. That is why change may take time. You have to convert any change action into something that does not provoke fear. Keep Reading »
Handling Workplace Environment Challenges – 1
When, in the course of assessing your worklife, you come to the conclusion that your stress is attributable to the workplace environment, you are not without recourse. From my own experience, I have found it preferable to exhaust opportunities for changing that environment than to depart from it altogether. The reason is simple. You usually give up nothing up in seeking change. In doing so, you will learn more about the environment and yourself, you will support your colleagues and coworkers, and your efforts ultimately may affect positive change in the long term, even if you choose not to remain. The alternative of altogether changing environments always remains available. Moreover, in seeking out a new work environment, you generally will not experience it prior to actually making the change. You may simply find that you have not improved your situation and you have even less leverage, as a newcomer, to affect change there. Keep Reading »
Assessing Your Work Life — 4
It’s not always easy to distinguish the source of work related stress. Sometimes, it is self-imposed. At other times, it is externally generated. More often than not, it’s a bit of both. Stress manifests in your mind, body, emotions, and health without declaring its source. But, to achieve needed relief, to take appropriate action in the short term, and to chart your future course, you must understand the difference. Should you identify that the source of distress is the workplace environment itself, you still have a number of available options. But, to gain needed insight, you will have to return to the laboratory of the workplace. Keep Reading »
Assessing Your Work Life — 3
Shortly after receiving my original cancer prognosis, I met with Dr. Richard Sagebiel, a pathologist and specialist in melanoma research at UCSF. Richard had a disarming way of carrying on a conversation, even if it is about the cancer he had discovered in my body! “So, your life is pretty stressful?” he asked casually. “I don’t know,” I answered. “I ran my own law firm for about 14 years, then moved into the firm that I currently am with,” I elaborated. He went on, “The reason I ask is that we all naturally produce and carry cancer cells in our bodies. But our immune system keeps those cells under control. However, if your immune system becomes overwhelmed, the cancer cells can take hold, multiply, and become a tumor. Stress can suppress your immune system.” “Really?” I replied, “I had no idea. I never really considered my life ‘stressful.’ It was just ‘life’ as I knew it.” It’s probably been almost 22 years since that conversation. My apologies, Dr. Sagebiel, if my recollection is not scientifically accurate, as recalled. But I never again took the condition of “stress” lightly. Keep Reading »
Assessing Your Work Life — 2
One of the reasons for assessing your work life from a perspective of appreciation is that we become inured our work’s benefits, while focusing our attention on its detriments. Unfortunately, that is the nature of our species. Humans are more keen to identify threats and avoid potential losses than to appreciate opportunities and achieve gains. However, just because that is how humans are programmed, doesn’t mean you can’t “override” the system. When someone engages me to coach on career issues, we move through a number of domains, to provide the client with as many relevant perspectives as possible. We often begin with appreciation, simply because a move likely will result in a loss of benefits, many of which either have been ignored or forgotten. If nothing else, an examination of what you appreciate will force you to examine whether these benefits will exist in the new environment. Keep Reading »
Assessing Your Work Life — 1
I always find the conversation around live/work balance amusing. After all, it’s really all about life. The implication of the live/work balance conundrum is that “work” is somehow not a part of “life.” But, since most of us will spend almost 2/3 of our life’s waking hours in some sort of “work,” it’s a shame to think of just writing that time off as “non-life.” However, I’m afraid that many of us do. We look at our careers as a “vehicle.” It is intended to take us somewhere. It should provide us with the material wherewithal to live comfortably, if not more. Many aspire to have work provide more than material well-being. Work can provide status, a way of being perceived by a cohort or community as “unique” or “special.” Work also can result in the aggregation of “power,” more often than not sought for its own sake — not for a greater collective purpose. Keep Reading »
Young Folks, Can I Get Your Attention?
When I opened a multi-post blog series will with His obituary opened as follows, I thought that I had a pretty good idea of where I was going with the conversation. As it happens, as I continued to write (Letting Loose of Your Career), I came across forks in the road that I had not anticipated. I generally am raising an issue about how you approach your career and work life. But, I have done so first from the perspective of someone long into his/her career, without calling attention to the fact that an elder’s perspective can teach a great deal to young people, just entering into their careers, as well as their senior peers. Keep Reading »
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