Marty Nemko's Blog, page 428

Not-Obvious Careers for PhDs and PostDocs

Friday, I'll be giving a keynote address at the University of Calgary's career day for PhDs and postdoctoral scholars. I'll be ad-libbing it but I wrote a script to help me prepare. Here is that:





Beyond the Obvious



First, I want to give a tip of the cap to Daniel Oblak and
the PDAC team for having not only the vision but the guts to put on this career
day in which options beyond academia will be explored. Why guts? Because some
in the academic community view careers outside of academia as second-class
work. Some students and post-docs don’t feel they can talk with their advisor
or peers about non-academic careers lest they be viewed as less than.




In fact, if we’re really being honest, we’re forced to
recognize that some academics don’t make the greatest of contributions.
Consider, for example, the philosophy professor whose life's work is critiquing
Heidegger’s hermeneutic circles and whose ideas never went further than a
relative handful of other professors who chose to read it in an obscure journal.
Or even cancer researchers. Alas, too many of them spend their lifetimes without
having made significant progress against the disease. Some PhDs make at least
as big a contribution and are as happy or happier in a career outside the halls
of academe.




It is in that spirit that I sally forth this morning with
this talk I’ve titled, Beyond the Obvious. I’ll share some specific careers
that are perhaps not obvious and some not-obvious research areas for study that
are exciting—well, at least they seem exciting to me. Then I’ll spend a little
time talking about some not-obvious keys to success, no matter what career you
pursue.




First, a bit of reassurance. It’s easy to believe that a PhD
prepares you mainly for work that’s explicitly connected to your research area.
In fact, countless employers have hired PhDs because they hold transferrable
skills: problem solving, project management, written communication, oral
communication, plus because their mind is good enough and their work ethic
persistent enough to have earned a PhD.




Beyond-the-Obvious
Careers for PhDs

Here are some careers for PhDs that you mightn’t have
thought of. Of course, this is just a sampling and none may be right for you
but I hope it will at least remind you that you have more options than you may
think:




Let’s start right here at the university. Every research
university produces patentable technology and the technology transfer
office—here it’s called Innovate Calgary--is responsible for figuring out how
to turn those technologies into products that can be commercialized: licensing,
joint ventures. PhDs are hired to help make that happen.



Staying in the field of education, there’s little doubt that ever more learning
will occur online, from preschool to graduate school. But to date, most online
courses are not outstanding. Imagine instead that an intro to statistics course
taught not by whomever happens to have room in his or her class on your local
campus but online by a dream team of the world’s most transformational
statistics instructions, those rare souls who have the ability to get students
to understand statistics so well that it becomes part of way students think.
Imagine further that because the cost of such a course could be amortized
across many thousands, even millions of students, world-class immersive
video-centric simulations could be embedded into the course. PhDs will be
needed to design such courses and the IT infrastructure for the courses.




Science magazine editor. Many people love being an editor of
 a magazine such as Discover, Popular Science, Psychology Today, American Scientist or Scientific American---I apologize to the
Canadians--I did look for a major scientific magazine with Canada in the title
but couldn’t find one. Maybe there’s an opportunity for you: Start Canadian Scientist or Scientific Canadian. People love the job
of editor of a science magazine because they’re constantly exposed to new and
important ideas. It’s not easy to land a job as an editor of such publications
but a PhD in science puts you ahead of many other applicants.




Alas, one field that appears to be recession-proof is
security. So PhDs may find important work working for government or on a government
contract regarding bioweapons, cyberterrorism, as an intelligence analyst,
cryptographer, and so on.




Also key to our security is energy. PhDs are employed in
everything from solar to nuclear, energy generation to energy distribution,  from technical consulting to policy making.




Of course, public policy goes well beyond energy. PhDs are
hired by corporations, nonprofits, and industry to craft all sorts of policy—from
immigration to transportation. They also hire people to get policy enacted, for
example, as a lobbyist.




Or try to make change from the inside--as a politician. I
couldn’t find the numbers for Canada
but 20 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have a PhD and 22 are MDs.




Nearly every product, especially in health care, is subject
to a thorough evaluation process. Companies hire people, many with PhDs, as
regulatory affairs specialists: helping the company meet the requirements with
minimum red tape. On the other side of the table, government employs people to
ensure the requirements are met. When I first heard of regulatory affairs, it
sounded like a boring career. But having spoken to a number of people in the
field, they tend to really like their job: It’s complex, requires interaction
with people not just documents, and they’re always learning about a product on
the cutting edge. Regulatory affairs is an under-the-radar career that, because
it doesn’t sound sexy, may be easier to find employment in.




The investment industry hires PhDs for their quantitative
analysis skills. For example, you might be developing an algorithm for
predicting which stocks are worth buying or how to reduce a stock portfolio’s
risk with minimal impact on its profit potential.




Ph.Ds are hired by credit card companies to develop
algorithms for, for example, determining the probability that someone’s online
credit purchase is being made with a stolen credit card.




If you’re a bench scientist looking to move into industry,
you might consider being a Field Application Scientist. You work for companies
that sell sophisticated lab equipment. Your job is to go to the customer’s lab,
perhaps as salesperson, more often as the technical expert explaining and
demonstrating the equipment, training personnel on how to use it, and
troubleshooting problems. For example, I’ve seen this with operating room
equipment and medical devices. The Field Application Scientist is right there
in the operating room.




Or if you fancy the idea of getting still more education,
your employability may be enhanced by adding, for example, a law degree to your
PhD. Science PhDs with a law degree have become, for example, intellectual
property attorneys. Petroleum Engineering PhDs with an MBA have become oil
industry executives.




And of course, countless PhDs have pursued careers that
don’t explicitly require a PhD: from nonprofit management to owning a
low-status business. The book, The Millionaire Next Door, profiled 750
millionaires and found that a disproportionate number owned what the author
called “dull-normal businesses:” businesses with little status, in which most
of the  business’s competitors don’t have
PhD-level intelligence, skills, or drive, which should make it easier for a
PhD-level person to succeed in that business.  Examples of dull-normal businesses: owning a
chain of espresso kiosks, a sand blasting business, used truck part brokerage, a
mobile home park maintenance service. Those careers are not for everyone. Most
people seek a measure of status. But sometimes, status can be the enemy of
contentment. You can quote me on that.




Beyond-the-Obvious
Research Ideas

But let’s say you want to pursue a career as a researcher. Here
are a few ideas for research areas that you mightn’t have considered. The
research directions you hear about are likely to derive from your professors
and courses. The following derive merely from my attempt to identify important
unmet needs. For example, a health sciences PhD might want to study why
hospital personnel—who know that the simple act of washing hands frequently
will reduce patient infection—often don’t do it, and what could get them to. A
molecular biology or neuroscience PhD might want to study the biological basis
of that attribute we call intelligence: the ability to learn quickly, remember
well, and reason abstractly. A music PhD might want to study why some pianists
can, almost effortlessly play anything they can hum in full arrangement (I must
admit I am one) while others can’t, and how that skill might best be taught. A
political science PhD might want to study why university faculty tend to get so
mired in office politics and what could make university committees more
effective.




To bring another measure of practicality to this talk, I’d
like to ask for a volunteer to come up here to the stage, someone who is unsure
what he or she would like to do careerwise and I’ll try, in just a few minutes,
to help them identify a well-suited direction to explore. Who’d like to
volunteer? (I’ll do one or two Few-Minute
Career Counselings)




Finding a Good Mentor(s)

Your career success depends not only on choosing a
well-suited career but on other things, for example, finding a mentor. Many of
us hoped we’d find a mentor, someone who really believes in us, takes us under
wing, gives us wise counsel, opens career doors for us, and so on. Alas, too
often that hasn’t happened. In the spirit of this talk’s theme, ‘Beyond the
Obvious,” may I suggest that you go on what I call a “first date” with a faculty
member or administrator you sense could be a great mentor. Reveal something
about yourself—for example, that you’re considering a career outside academe.
How did that person react: asking good questions or prematurely judging you? Do
you feel that person will bring out the best in you or make you feel small? As
in romantic dating, you may have to go on a few “first dates” before finding a
good mentor.




Mentoring needn’t be a structured, weekly affair. That
professor with whom you had a successful “first date,” could simply be someone
you call on as needed. It may be worth offering the relationship to be
reciprocal—you offering to be of support to your mentor, rather than your
always asking for his or her help.




For example, every month, I have a one-hour co-mentoring
session with a respected colleague. For the first half hour, he asks me about one
or more issues he’s facing--professional or personal--and I raise questions or
offer counsel. And in the second half hour, we reverse roles and I tell him about
an issue or two I’m facing.




Michael and I have been doing that for five years now and we
both get enough out of it that we’d never think of giving it up.  In fact it’s worked so well that a year ago,
I expanded the concept. I invited a half-dozen of the people I most respect to
become a Board of Advisors that would meet once a month for one hour by
teleconference during which anyone can raise an issue and get the others’
input. That too has proved an invaluable source of mentorship.




Long-Windedness: A
Not-Obvious Career Killer

A perhaps not obvious key to success is avoiding being
long-winded. Some academics can be long-winded. They explain things very
completely, perhaps unaware that they’re boring their listener—whether a
colleague, potential employer, or in their personal relationships. If you’ve
been called long-winded, you might want to try what I call The Traffic Light Rule: During the first 30 seconds of an
utterance, your light is green: you can speak with impunity. During the next 30
seconds, your light is yellow: the chance is increasing that your listener is waiting
for you to shut up so he or she can respond. Your listener also may start to
think you’re long-winded. After the one-minute mark, your light is red. Yes,
occasionally you want to run a red light, for example, when telling an
interesting anecdote or are explaining something that, even if edited to its
important parts, takes longer than a minute. But usually, you’re wise to stop.
If the person wants to know more, she can ask a question.




Good Career and Good
Parenting, a Catch-22?

Another perhaps not-obvious key to career success is the ostensibly
irresolvable conflict between parenting and professional life. Many people feel
they should put their career on hold when they have children. It may not, in
fact, be an irresolvable conflict. The literature and common sense suggest that
a child may, net, be better off, when parents are working. It is good for your
children to see the role model of a parent who also is a professional. Also, being
a parent 24/7 is taxing—it can make one lose their temper too often. Also,
well-educated people who choose to stay at home end up channeling all that
intelligence and drive into their kids. That of course yields benefits but it
also can yield side-effects: for example, the so-called helicopter parent who
is so hovering it creates an entitled child, whose every need must be met and/or
a child who becomes insecure and fearful because the parent is overprotective,
denying the child opportunities to develop self-efficacy. Yes, kids fall and
scrape their knees, even break a bone, but those heal. A child’s sensing the
parent’s ongoing worry can yield insecurities that are more difficult to heal.
Of course, arguments can be made in favor of a parent forgoing his or her
career for some period of a child’s development but the message here is that,
if you choose, you can be a full-time working parent and not only not
shortchange your child but perhaps better your child. One more reason to keep
your career alive when you have children is that many people say that having
become a stay-at-home parent made their brain go to mush. You have a PhD
brain---your mind is a particularly terribly thing to waste.




Q&A




A lesson from my
father

There’s one more perhaps not-obvious key to career success,
indeed to life success. And this one is perhaps best explained by a story. It’s
the story of my dad. The year was 1939. The town was Sierpc, Poland.
My father was a teenager living with his parents. One day there was a knock on
the door and it was two Nazis in black boots. But unlike in the movies, they
didn't yell. One was silent and the other whispered: "You will be out of
your house with only what you can carry on your back by noon tomorrow or
else." The next day, there were two trucks in the town square and 12
Nazis, but now they weren't whispering. "Rouse!" And they went into
the Jewish households and threw the most able-bodied people on one truck and the
others on another. My father never saw his parents again. At the end of the
war, my father was dropped in the Bronx
without a penny to his name, no English, no family, no education. Only the
scars of the Holocaust tortures. What did he do? He took the only job he could
get: sewing shirts in a factory in Harlem. And
at night, what did he do? He went to Roosevelt
High School's night
school to learn English. And what did he do on the weekend? He went to the
owner of the factory and asked, "Can I buy the shirts I sewed for you
during the week and sell them out of a cardboard box on the street?" What
did he do with the money? He used it to pay the first and last month's rent on
the only storefront he could afford: 105
Moore St. in Brooklyn.
On one side was a deli specializing in chicharones (deep-fried pork intestines)
and that smell merged with the smell of stale blood from the live chicken
market on the other side. My father's store was so small that he had to display
most of the merchandise on folding tables in front of the store. But the
neighborhood was terrible so, on the weekends, when the kids were out of
school, they'd come by and grab clothing from the tables and run away. So when
I was old enough, on Saturdays, I'd be the security guard. And I remember
standing in front of the store one day and business was slow, so my father was
standing there next to me. And I asked him, "Daddy, how come you so rarely
talk about the Holocaust?" And he stiffened, which he rarely did, and he said,
"Martin, the Nazis took five years from my life. I won't give them one
minute more." He said, "Martin, never look back. Always take the next
step forward."




Each of us has had bad things
happen to us but I've had the privilege of having been career coach to some of
our most successful, contributory people as well as to some real strugglers.
And one of the differentiating factors is that most of the successful ones
follow my father's advice: Never look back; always take the next step forward.
I can leave you with no better advice.

Making the Most of a Conference, Convention, or Trade Show

My next column for the Mensa publication, The Intelligencer, is on making the most of a conference. I thought you might like an advance look.




The Life Well-Led

By Marty Nemko




Making the Most of a Conference, Convention, or Trade Show




When I came home from conferences, I often would ask myself
if it was worth the hassle and time of going.




Now, I less often feel that way. What has helped is that I do
each of these. Perhaps they may help you make more of the upcoming Mensa Regional Gathering. (RG.)




Before leaving for a conference, I think about what I want
to accomplish there. Sometimes it’s as simple and vague as R&R and learning
something new. Other times, I want to try to get quality time with particular
people I know will be at the conference.




I enjoy speaking so I always apply to present a session.
I’ve titled my session at the upcoming RG, “What the Hell is the Meaning of
Life?” I’ll share the stops and starts in my journey to define the life well-led.
 If I were single, I’d probably volunteer
at the registration table or as a welcomer for newcomers.




If the conference is far away, I try to arrive on the early
side. Not only does that improve my ratio of conference time to travel time,
fewer people are there early, which seems to make it easier for me to establish
or build relationships.




I arrive early at sessions. That allows time to talk with people
and perhaps ask someone to sit next to me during the session.  




During such pre-session chats, in between sessions, or at
the hospitality suite, etc., I occasionally find myself wishing I could
extricate myself from a conversation. Until recently, I felt guilty about cutting-off
the person but a friend told me a tactful way to do it: At a propitious moment,
I stick my hand out, shake the person’s hand and say something like, “I’m going
to grab something to eat. Maybe we’ll talk more later.” (And maybe not.)




At sessions, I’ll often ask a question. We grow from such
customized active learning.




Sometimes, I skip an hour or two of sessions and instead, talk
with someone or visit the exhibit area. The latter are often underrated.
Vendors often send top people to staff their booth. Visiting the exhibit area provides
an easy opportunity to chat one-on-one with some particularly interesting
people.




If I want quality time with someone, I ask if he or she
wants to sit together for one of the scheduled meals, to have a drink, or to go
out for a meal or walk.




If I’ve not planned to sit next to someone at one of the
conference meals, I try to arrive just a few minutes after the scheduled meal
period begins. That way, I’ll have a good choice of people to sit next to yet I
haven’t arrived so late that almost all the seats are taken.




Throughout the conference, I make note of people I want to
follow-up with or things I want to do in light of the conference. I try to do those
things right after the conference. Knowing me, every passing hour makes it less
likely I’ll actually do them.




I hope to see you at the RG. 
If I do, I hope you won’t take offense if I stick my hand out. 

How Good is Your Resume?

The tight job market means your resume must be stellar, not just good.



My USNews.com article today asks you ten questions to help you assess how good your resume is. HERE is the link.

Superfast, Superhealthy Yet Surprisingly Tasty Recipes

Perhaps I have defective taste buds but I find these superfast, superhealthy recipes quite tasty. Perhaps you might too.



BREAKFAST

Superhealthy Yogurt

1. To non-fat plain yogurt, add fresh or frozen fruit, plus, if desired, a little sugar.



Even easier, instead of fruit, use a teaspoon of jarred lemon or other fruit curd.



Total time required: 15 seconds.



Blueberry Walnut Oatmeal

1.  Put 1 to 1.5 ounces of Quaker Quick Oats and just enough water to cover the oats in a paper bowl-- washing oatmeal from ceramic bowls is time-consuming. Microwave it for one minute. (Of course, time will vary depending on the microwave.)



2. While the oatmeal is cooking, put 1 to 2 ounces of your choice of fresh fruit or frozen berries in a bowl and take out a bag of brown sugar, and of walnut bits.



3. After the oatmeal is cooked, if you're using frozen berries, put them in the microwave for 30-40 seconds.



4. While the berries are cooking, add a teaspoon of brown sugar and one of walnuts to the oatmeal.



5. Add the berries.



Total time required: 2 minutes.



LUNCH OR DINNER

Tomato and Blue Cheese Salad

1. Break up rinsed lettuce leaves into small-enough pieces, add tomatoes and blue cheese to taste.



2.  Sprinkle a little red-wine vinegar on it.



Total time required: 1 minute.



Multi-Flavored Chicken

1. Microwave a chicken breast until the center is not pink. (The time can range from 4 to 10 minutes depending on your microwave and whether the chicken is fresh or frozen.)



2.  Season each bite with one or more of these: garlic powder, parmesan cheese, soy sauce, curry powder, rosemary, onion powder.



For moister chicken, spread a bit of mayo on the cooked chicken.



Total time required: 5-11 minutes but only 1 minute when you can't be doing something else.



Broccoli Parmesan

1. Microwave 4 ounces of frozen broccoli for 2 minutes.



2. Then sprinkle it with grated parmesan to taste.



Total time required: 2 minutes 15 seconds.



Dear reader, care to suggest another superfast, superhealthy yet surprisingly tasty recipe?

Are We Paying Too Little Attention to the Bioterrorism Threat?

I am scared of bioterrorism. There seem to be so many ways to wreak mass devastation on humankind.



Here's just one example I've dreamed up. I am not a bioterrorism expert so, of course, it's quite possible that this wouldn't work.

And indeed I deliberately did not do any research on how to make the plan more viable. The last thing I want is to give some nut a plan that would hurt people.



But this scenario may give you some idea of why the government and private sector should make preventing/stopping bioterrorism much higher priority than it seems to be:



A professor specializing in bioterrorism is denied tenure in favor of someone s/he felt was much less competent, hard-working, and ethical. S/he knew that being denied tenure devastates your career.



In fury, she purchased  the highly-communicable, deadly smallpox virus. (I can't believe smallpox virus  can be purchased. Scary!)



On the day before harvest time, s/he went to a large orange farm that s/he knew distributed oranges all over the world and, in the middle of the night, injected smallpox (or some other highly communicable bioweapon that would remain viable in oranges) into a few oranges on each of the farm's hundreds of trees.



S/he knew those oranges would be mixed with the oranges grown by dozens of other orange farms and then distributed (as whole fruit and as orange juice) everywhere from Alabama to Wyoming, Azerbaijan to Zululand.



Within a few weeks, the top news story worldwide would be the unexplained cases of smallpox, that it was highly communicable and because the virus would already have had a lot of time to spread, it likely would be near-impossible to stop a worldwide epidemic.



And if the professor/scientist had sufficient expertise, s/he perhaps could have created a mutated version of the smallpox virus, for which there is no vaccine, making the epidemic even more devastating, maybe even killing a majority of the world's inhabitants.



Again, this is but one scenario that came off the top of my head. I can think of a number of others. Among the world's seven billion people, I'd imagine that at least one deranged but brilliant person could or already has come up with an Armageddon Plan that would actually work. 



Am I overstating the risk? Some reassurance please!

Venus, Iris, and Mayor Boggle: Another children's story (but not really)

Here is a sequel to the children's picture book,Venus and Iris,  the text of which I posted previously.




Venus, Iris, and Mayor Boggle



by Marty Nemko

 (to be illustrated)


Last we saw Venus, he had saved Iris's life by eating the beetles that were destroying her. Venus ate the beetles even though he knew that eating them would kill him. Fortunately, Iris then saved Venus's life by getting him to cough up the beetles.



So Venus and Iris were heroes to everyone in Bogville. Indeed, some Boggies painted a mural of Venus and Iris in Bogville's town square.



Venus and Iris were heroes to everyone that is, except Mayor Boggle. He was jealous that they were now more famous than he.



So he told Venus and Iris, "FarAwayBog School needs teachers. You both would be great. You're heroes. You can teach there!"



"Thank you, Mayor Boggle, that's so nice of you."



Really, it wasn't nice of the mayor. He just wanted them far away from town so the Boggies would forget about them.



While Venus and Iris were gone, Mayor Boggle to make himself more famous, made big promises to the Boggies he couldn't keep: "If you re-elect me, I'll get rid of all the mosquitoes in the bog."



Venus and Iris worked hard teaching--and you know that teaching is not easy. (picture of Boggie students fooling around.)



And when the school year ended, Venus and Iris returned to town and saw that the big mural of them had been replaced by an even bigger one: Mayor Boggle's face and "End Mosquitoes. Re-Elect Boggle."



Still, many of the Boggies had not forgotten about Venus and Iris. Indeed they were glad to see their heroes. That made Mayor Boggle mad. So, using his sweetest voice, the mayor said, "You did a great job as teachers. So, as a reward, I'll give you a carrot farm: the land, the seeds, and a Boggie to help you."  "Oh thank you, Mayor Boggle!" replied Venus and Iris.



Of course, the farm was even farther from town than the school was. And the land was so hard that carrots, which even in good soil take a verrry long time to grow, would take forever. And to make sure the farm failed, the Boggie that Mayor Boggle sent was Bogwump, who no one wanted to hire because he was lazy and steals.



Venus and Iris tried and tried to grow carrots--without much help from Bogwump. After a year, only three carrots came up and Bogwump ate all three.



Venus and Iris returned to town. Now "End Mosquitoes, Re-Elect Boggle" posters were pasted all over town.



Venus and Iris went to Mayor Boggle's house and apologized  for not producing any carrots, and he replied, "Don't worry. I'll give you another chance. Go five miles east to SandyBog. There are water lilies there. Just  bring them back and give them to the Boggies. It will make them happy. I'll pay you a lot of money."



But in the next room, Mrs Boggle overheard and raced in. "Mr. Boggle, you know very well that SandyBog is filled with deadly snakes. How could you send Venus and Iris there?!"



And Venus and Iris finally realized that Mayor Boggle was not their friend.



So Venus and Iris returned to where they first met, the quiet bog just outside of town, where lots of flytraps and an occasional iris lived a simple but happy life.



Oh, and Venus and Iris had a baby: a beautiful iris that just happened to have a few traps.



Meanwhile, while admiring a poster of himself, a swarm of mosquitoes bit Mayor Boggle. He itched and itched for a week! Do you feel bad for him?

Time Management: How well do you manage you time? Plus not-obvious tips for improvement

Everyone knows that time is your most valuable possession but most people don't act like it is.



My USNews.com piece today asks you ten questions that assess how well you use your time. In answering them, you'll learn specific things to help you make more of your day.



HERE is the link.

The Case for Allowing Dogs in the Workplace

My furry co-counselor, Einstein, and I coaching a client

Research indicates that dogs in the workplace reduce stress and increase camaraderie, and that problems typically end up being minor and easily addressable.



I make the case for allowing dogs in the workplace and suggest how to get your boss to allow it in my AOL.com article today.

The Handout from My Upcoming Berkeley Adult School Class

Here is the handout for my upcoming class at Berkeley Adult School.  




If you would like to attend, it's this Saturday Oct 5 from 10 AM to 1 PM. 




It's free, with donations accepted, 100% of which will go to the Berkeley Adult School scholarship fund.  




For information and registration, click HERE, although I think you can just show up.







How to Do Life: What They Didn’t Teach
You in School

Marty Nemko, Berkeley Adult
School, Oct 5, 2013




Career Success

Realize
that all ethical work—from laborer to leader-- is sacred and makes the world
better.




Few
people burn out from long work weeks. They burn out from doing work they're not
good at or from working with the wrong people.




Where are
you on the continuum from

Work the least you can get away
with

TO

Do the
most you can accomplish?




Where do
you want to be?




Replace
dabbling with laser focus.




Procrastination
is a career killer: 15% of the highly successful call themselves
procratinators. 90% of unemployed people do. 
Procrastination may have worked in school but there’s much less grade
inflation in the workplace.




To reduce
procrastination:

1: Remind yourself of the key benefit and liability of
getting a task done: for example, how good it will feel to get it done, how
much your procrastination has hurt you.

2. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. That too shall
pass.

3. Be aware of the moment
of truth when you decide, usually unconsciously, whether to do an
uncomfortable task.

4. When tempted to procrastinate, break down the task into
baby steps.  Write them on a
“thermometer.” Then stay in the moment and put one foot in front of the other. Don’t
know how to break the task down? Get help.

5. Struggle for only one minute. If you haven't made
progress by then, get help or decide you can do the project without conquering
that roadblock.

6. Stay vigilant re procrastination to the task’s end.




Find out
the truth. Most people think they're above average. Getting the truth
might help you before it's too late. And if you are above average, feedback
helps you be even better. Ongoing, get feedback from your boss and respected
co-workers, perhaps using Checkster's Talent Checkup: www.checkster.com/solutions/talent-ch....




Be
low-maintenance. You pay a big price for being high-maintenance. Even asking
too many questions or offering too many ideas may be unwelcome.




Think
time-effectiveness. Ongoing, ask of yourself, "Is this worth
doing?" And if so, how perfectionistically?" Just as we drive faster
or slower depending on the situation, we should choose the right speed for
tackling a task.




I do my
best thinking-intensive work while hiking or pacing in my office. .




Try to
work solo if you're brighter and more motivated than most of your co-workers.
If you're not, get on teams.




Tell
quest stories. Everyone knows that most people are persuaded at least as
much by story as by statistics but less well-known is that a most powerful form
of story is the quest story: Describe a serious problem and the travails of trying
to solve it, ideally a problem you tackled.




Hire
slow; fire fast. Hiring may be the manager's most important task.
Rather than rely on responses to job ads, tap your extended network – they're
more likely to refer good candidates. Then evaluate applicants mainly by having
them do simulations of tough tasks they'll encounter on the job. If an employee
is doing poorly, after a brief attempt at remediation, it's usually wiser to
cut your losses and try someone else. Extra time is usually a poor and stressful
use of your time, increases the employee's enmity and, in turn, the likelihood of
a harassment or wrongful termination claim.




Negotiate
gently. Rule of thumb: Reject the first offer, accept the second. Think
cosmically: In the largest scheme of things, how important, for example, is
that extra money, after taxes. Will it change your life significantly?




Self-Employment

Don't
innovate; replicate. The leading edge too often turns out to be the
bleeding edge. Guinea pigs usually die. You lower your risk in starting a
business by taking a proven business idea and cloning it in a new location or
giving it a minor tweak. For example, you're more likely to succeed by
incorporating the best features of five busy laundromats into yours than by trying
to invent some new product or service.




Keep it
simple. The more complicated the business, the bigger the risk. Do
one simple thing well. For example, sell amazing grilled cheese sandwiches.




Be very
careful in spending. Money is a business's lifeblood. So if you spend too
much, your business will die. So, for example, work from home or see if you can
get space free from a friend, a room in a church, whatever. Hire on a
just-in-time basis. Use a template website, not a custom-created one. Figure
out how much to pay for products based not on the retail price but on what it likely
costs to manufacture. Example: Eyeglass frames may cost $200 retail but pennies
to make – they're just cheap metal or plastic. So if you, Mr. Optician, think
you're getting a good deal in buying frames "wholesale" for $50,
you're wrong. $1 is closer to right.




Communication

It's easy
to be liked: listen more than talk, praise often, and disagree rarely. The
question is, is it worth the loss of integrity?




There's
cost and benefit each time you criticize or suggest. Only sometimes is it worth
the price. Make the choice consciously.




Don’t
overestimate the power of a rational argument. Before making it, pause to think,
“How will that make the person feel?”




Don't try
to show how smart or good you are. Usually, it's wise to prioritize making
others feel good about themselves.




Long-winded?
Constantly ask yourself, "Does the person really need & want to know
this?" Remember The Traffic Light
Rule:: 30 seconds=green, 30-60 seconds=yellow, 60+ seconds=red.




Are You Assertive Enough?

Not that
long ago, to stay reasonably employed, you had only to do what you're
told. But today, alas, mainly the assertive thrive. Are you sufficiently
assertive? Rate yourself 0 to 10 on each of these:

1. 
 10 = To better suit your
strengths and/or meet the employer's needs, you'd make the case for changing
your job description.

0 = You'd
take or leave the job description as-is.

Your
score: ____

2. 
10 = You negotiate fairly but firmly.

0 = You
accept the first offer.

Your
score: ____

3.  10 = You regularly solicit feedback on
yourself and take action to improve.

0 = You
never solicit feedback on yourself and if you get it, don't do much to improve.

Your
score: ____

4.  10 = You regularly offer positive and negative feedback,
for example, if you believe you were treated unfairly or that a co-worker's
poor work is affecting you or the organization.

0 = You
never give feedback.

Your
score: ____

5.  10 = You're likely to take-on or ask your boss
if you can take-on a project: streamline a system, identify a new profit
center, start an online discussion group, whatever.

0 = You
never propose doing a project.

Your
score: ____

6.  10 = You often make suggestions in
meetings or to your boss.

0 = You
never make suggestions. You only agree or disagree with others' ideas.

Your
score: ____

7.  10 = If appropriate, you express disagreement
with your co-workers or boss.

0 = You
never express disagreement with your co-workers or boss.

Your
score: ____

8.  10 = You’re comfortable making cold calls or
emails, whether to get a sale, information, or a reasonable favor.

0 =
You're scared to and never make cold calls or emails.

Your
score: ____

9.  10 = You don't need the structure of school to
learn. You do most learning on your own or with a tutor rather than taking a
course, which may be expensive and/or inconvenient with much instruction that’s
insufficiently relevant or too fast-and-slow-paced for your needs.

0 = You
need the structure of school.

Your
score: ____

10.  10 = If your job is boring, unethical,
dead-end, insufficiently remunerative, or otherwise unsatisfactory, you look
assertively for better work.

0 = You
stay put unless terminated or a better job drops in your lap.

Your
score: ____




Utterly Unvalidated Scoring Key

> 90:  Fully assertive. You'll likely move up in
responsibility, perhaps way up, and no matter what, you'll feel control over
your worklife.

65 - 89:  Assertive

40 - 64:  Average

20 - 39:  Fairly passive. You’ll likely hold only
individual contributor roles.

< 19:  Passive. You may be at risk of losing even an
individual-contributor role.




Whatever
your score, is there an item or two you'd like to work on?




Parenting. Invoking guilt is a surprisingly
effective technique and one that helps encourage your child to be intrinsically
motivated.




Romantic relationship. Consider having a relationship summit on one or more
of these: sex, communication, career, money, chores, children.




Emotional health

If your
self-esteem is low, perhaps focus on finding work you can succeed at. Real
self-esteem comes from accomplishment.




Antidote
to depression and anxiety: Replace self-absorption with "How can I serve another
person or society?"




Look for and
 exaggerate aggrievement and you'll
likely have a worse life than if you look at your glass as half full.




Health

Preventive
efforts are much more potent than treatment. NY Times: 40% of procedures are useless or worse: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/medical-procedures-may-be-useless-or-worse/?_r=0





Fast
eaters: To slow down, put your fork down after every bite. You'll not only
consume fewer calories, you'll enjoy them more.




Money

How can
you live decently on $20,000 a year. Key: Make the effort to find an
inexpensive place to live—e.g, iffy neighborhood or a room, basement or attic
apartment, or backyard cottage in a nice neighborhood. Also, drive an old Toyota, buy clothes, etc
at thrift and consignment stores, Wal-Mart, etc.




Maximize
your contribution to your workplace's retirement plan: 401(k), 403(b), or,
if you're self-employed, to a SEP-IRA.




Don't
overdiversify, putting your money in lots of places. That adds to your
paperwork and makes it difficult to follow how you're doing. An all-in-one fund provides considerable
diversification at low cost, and puts all that diversification on one
statement. Widely recommended: Vanguard all-in-one funds: https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/vanguard/onefund.




Locking in new behaviors




Vigilance
re communication, procrastination is key although difficult to do.




If you
want to lock in a new attitude or behavior, say and/or write that and why. Then
keep paraphrasing, NOT reading it, three times a day for at least one week.




A comforting thought: Seven billion people are, in their
own way, trying to make things better. How can one not be an optimist about the
world's future?




A crucial lesson: Remember my dad’s story’s lesson:
Never look back; always take the next step forward.

My Four Favorite Ways to Reduce Procrastination

The National Society for Leadership asked me to record three minutes of tips on how to conquer procrastination. HERE it is. To hear it, after you click on that link, when the webpage opens, click on the down arrow on the right side of the screen.