Josh Linkner's Blog, page 25

Extend Trust to Earn Trust

The East L.A. neighborhood of Boyle Heights is a rough place. Plagued by violent crime and poverty, this rundown area has a history of gangs and prison sentences.

In fact, more than 65% of ex-cons in California are back in jail within three years. This recidivist behavior represents an enormous cost to society, both in terms of prosecution and imprisonment of the perpetrators, and also for the toll they take on their victims and the public safety of their communities.

The cycle is extremely dif...

The Irony of The Imitator Epidemic

Several original works by Picasso, van Gogh, Jackson Pollock and Renoir are worth more than $100 million each and continue to appreciate at a rapid pace. “The Card Players,” painted by Paul Cezanne, sold for $259 million in 2011, making it the highest amount paid for a painting in history. Collectors appreciate the artistry and groundbreaking original works from the masters.

If hundreds of millions is out of your price range, you can commission a stunningly accurate replica of the same work fo...

The Danger of Riding Slow

Think back to childhood. Of all the fears and frustrations, learning to ride a bike had to be high on the list of scary endeavors.

You desperately wanted the end state — independence, transportation and the thrill of having your own wheels. This, of course, was offset by the fear of falling flat on your face, splitting your lip and getting teased by Rebecca Forman in the second grade (hypothetically, of course).

First-time riders’ first instinct is to ride super-slow. A slow crash would be less...

Set Your Internal GPS

Before the turn of the century, drivers relied on old-fashioned paper maps (remember those?) to find their way to a desired destination.

Before reliable map technology existed, our ancestors simply headed in a direction and hoped for the best (think Lewis and Clark).

These days, we can be far more accurate. Many cars are fitted with a GPS navigation system to tell us exactly how to reach our destination, step by step.

The mobile devices in most of our pockets can guide us via Google Maps, Waze a...

Opportunities Live In Unexpected Places

As kids, we enjoyed hide-and-seek, scavenger hunts and searching for hidden treasures left behind on sandy beaches. That same sense of curiosity and exploration can lead to our biggest breakthroughs as adults. Opportunity rarely comes by and knocks you in the face. Instead, it requires us to peek around corners and seek it out, often in the least likely places.

Jessica Mindich is a Greenwich, Conn.-based entrepreneur in the jewelry business. People in this line of work are often “heads down,”...

Has The Milk Gone Bad?

Prominently displayed on the milk in my fridge is an expiration date. Looking around the kitchen, my chicken breasts, Doritos, tomatoes, and eggs also show a date of expiration. Even beer now has as “must be sold by” date of no return. This makes great sense for food and medication — a time whereby their freshness declines beyond the point of utility.

Makes me wonder why more things don’t also have expiration dates.

Corporate policies and procedures, for example, should probably be enacted for...

Sometimes You Just Gotta Feed The Pigeons

While studying jazz guitar at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, I had the privilege to study with the legendary Mick Goodrick.

As a young and hungry musician, I was especially frustrated at one point after reaching a seemingly impossible plateau. Goodrick offered profound advice on how to overcome my deeply technical musical problem: Go feed the pigeons.

After a double take and a chuckle (to imply that I got the joke he was obviously making), he proceeded to profess his wisdom.

He explaine...

5 Leadership Lessons From The Beatles

Inspiration comes from unlikely places.

For some, nature is a source of ideation. For others, family and friends can give a twist of insight into something unrelated to your actual discussion. For me, I constantly find nuggets of wisdom in music — sometimes in lyrics, sometimes in a pattern, and sometimes just in the way an artist or band goes about their day. Maybe it’s that I’m a jazz musician by training. Maybe it’s just that I’m in the car so often and listen to a lot of music.

Today’s spig...

Where The Honesty Happens Matters

A sealed bottle of water will break even the strongest containers when placed in a freezer and allowed to expand. The extra pressure created just has to come out, one way or another.

The same is true for honest feedback, critique and assessment. The real question in your organization is …wheredoes it come out?

In the knowledge age, corporate battles are won through creative thinking and fresh human innovation, not by bending steel or cutting costs. Accordingly, business cultures that support, n...

What We Can All Learn From A Janitor

Gac Filipaj, a refugee from the former Yugoslavia, arrived in America not knowing a word of English.

He came here with nothing but a dream and an unwavering commitment to realizing it. He landed a job as a janitor at Columbia University, doing the most unpleasant tasks such as emptying trash and cleaning toilets. Rather than feeling victimized or hopeless, he viewed this work as a platform for growth.

Filipaj ended work each night at 11 p.m., which is when his schoolwork began. While others wer...