John Madigan's Blog

In Honor of Steve Jobs

Here is Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement address. 

And here is a clip of Steve Jobs with Bill Gates (highlights):

29 things I've learned in 29 years

I'm turning 29 this year. It's been a good ride thus far. Here are a few things from both observation and experience I've learned in my ripe old age of 29:

(1) Good sleep, food, exercise, water are vital to a productive day.

(2) Everything in moderation is a good philosophy - especially with respect to food/drinks.

(3) Exercise has more than just physical benefits. Exercise influences your emotional health, happiness, and overall sense of well being.

(4) Not worrying about what others think is the best way to live. It's also incredibly difficult in your teens and 20's to not be influenced by your peers.

(5) Surrounding yourself with people you admire/respect is much more important than whoever will go out and party/drink with you.

(6) Buying someone lunch is one of the most powerful networking tactics you can use. Do it often. 

(7) To get to know someone, take a long car ride or travel with them. You'll get to know a completely different side of them and develop a much more intense connection.

(8) Meeting someone of quality in a bar/club is unlikely. Although quality people go to bars/clubs, they aren't looking for their mate. Rather, meeting someone through a friend is a much wiser strategy.

(9) Find a means of creating passive income for yourself. Whether this is via investing, an online biz, or some other means, it's crucial to find a way to get paid even when you're not there.

(10) Read, read and read.

(11) It takes time to really get to know yourself.

(12) Don't get married until you're ready. There's no reason to do it too soon.

(13) Being in a relationship because you are lonely is almost always the wrong reason.

(14) Friendship before romance can increase the likelihood of a relationship's success.

(15) Experts write. Start writing.

(16) Public speaking isn't as scary as you may think. We are conditioned to think there is something frightening about communicating to a group of people. There isn't. 

(17) Treat others how you want to be treated. Be nice.

(18) Laugh - life is too short not to laugh.

(19) Push yourself. Try things you wouldn't normally do. Go outside your own comfort zone.

(20) Invest as early as possible. Save and invest. Save and invest.

(21) Spend less than you earn. 

(22) Avoid debt, including student loan debt (if you can).

(23) Higher education is useful, but comes at a great cost (unless someone else is paying for it for you). If your parents or family will pay for it, do it. If you are paying for it yourself, realize that you will be forced to pay back huge tuition costs for probably years to come.

(24) Do something you enjoy. Working in a place/job/environment that doesn't fit who you are will do strange things to you physically and emotionally. The sooner you recognize when something isn't the right fit and make a change, the better.

(25) Give people the benefit of the doubt. If someone burns you, learn from it. But don't become jaded because of one bad apple.

(26) Find a way to create more quietness (some call it "consciousness") in your life - whether you are spiritual or not, finding quiet time is imperative. 

(27) Family and friends are what makes life great. Tell them so.

(28) Money is a tool you can use, not the other way around.

(29) There is always more to learn. Anyone who claims to know it all doesn't know how little they actually know.

"Reactionary Work Flow"

In Making Ideas Happen, Scott Belsky coins the term "reactionary work flow." He writes, 

"The state of reactionary work flow occurs when you get stuck simply reacting to whatever flows into the top of an in-box. Instead of focusing on what is most important and actionable, you spend too much time just trying to stay afloat. Reactionary work flow prevents you from being more proactive with your energy."

This is especially true in any frontline, customer/consumer focused position. If you aren't careful, the messages that show up in your inbox, voicemail, twitter, facebook and/or physical office could eat up your entire day.   

Conclusion: reacting to stuff is a big part of work. But so is being proactive. You have to remember not to neglect the latter.

Evil Plans by Hugh MacLeod

Along with Seth Godin, Hugh MacLeod is one of my favorite authors. His style is markedly different from Seth, but he shares the ability/talent to challenge your thinking.

I would highly recommend his new book, Evil Plans to anyone who's ever dreamed of starting their own side project, whether that be a writing, a business, a nonprofit project, or a work of art.

- - - - - - - - - 

As a side note, TED2011 is this week. They are already posting some of the videos online. Very cool stuff. 

 

Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)

Every time I hear about a manager who berates an employee for arriving a few minutes "late", I cringe. Are we still in grade school?

Sure, there are a few jobs that require strict hours. But the majority of information workers can work from anywhere at any time. So why insist that people show up at 9am and leave at 5pm?  

Lucky for corporate America, a few trailblazers that have taken the leap, and changed their human resource strategy. There's even a name for the new strategy: Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE).

Tim Ferriss has a nice piece about ROWE here, and in particular, how the folks at Best Buy created/adopted it. Also, Dan Pink has a related TED talk about employee motivation. The bottom line is that the focus is on results, not time. 

Who cares if someone doesn't come in until 10am if they're producing outstanding results? I certainly don't.

Interviewing for Initiative

How can you tell if someone has initiative in an interview? Can you learn about someone's initiative through questions, their resume, or brain teasers? 

I've been doing quite a bit of interviewing in the past week. This is because I'm looking for one, possibly two new interns to help me out at work. A couple of things I have noticed and/or taken away from the interview process:

1. Most people don't take the time to research what your company/organization actually does. This is sad. More than half of the first group of people I interviewed couldn't give me a coherent answer to the question, "So what do we do?" Bottom line - if you are a candidate, do your research. This will help you stand out from the plethora of others who don't.
2. Enthusiasm speaks volumes. Put simply, I don't want to be around someone who is a debbie- downer. Why come into an interview and talk about how tired, sad, bored, victimized you are? Just don't do it. People want to work with (and do business with) people they like and want to be around.
3. Initiative is hard to determine in a first meeting. You don't really know how someone is going to perform until they start working.
4. Don't drag out an interview if it's obviously the wrong fit. If it's clear in the first 5 - 10 minutes that someone isn't a good fit, I thank them for their time and ask them to leave. Why waste either person's time?
5. Get a second opinion. I always ask another coworker to interview the potential employee. This is especially true if you are a small team. Small teams wear many hats. Make sure everyone is comfortable with the new teammate before you bring him/her on board.
6. You get what you pay for. More often than not, people who can command a larger salary/wage will do so. If you're offering a minimal salary/wage, don't expect superstars.
7. Brain teasers are a waste of time. Yes, you want to know if someone can think analytically, but asking how someone would move a mountain is a monumental waste of time. That being said, I have run into a fair amount of interesting interview questions over the years. 

What about you? Have you devised any tips/tricks to help you conduct efficient, yet meaningful interviews?

Are Linkedin Recommendations Reliable?

How much faith do you put in Linkedin recommendations? Would you forgo a reference check if a job candidate had more than five positive Linkedin recommendations?

Third party testimonials have long been central to our notion of credibility - think product/service testimonials, book reviews, movie blurbs, etc. 

I currently have 232 connections on Linkedin. Of those 232, I can identify a handful of connections that I would avoid working with in a professional capacity. Yet these people (call them "people to avoid") have 5-10 positive recommendations from their connections on Linkedin. 

So I wonder, are Linkedin recommendations merely professional courtesy or a source of valuable information?

Interesting Interview Questions

Much has been said about strange interview questions. In law school, myths spread about interviewers asking candidates questions like, "if you were a tree, what type of tree would you be?" or "if you were a candy bar, what type of candy bar would you be?"

Other examples of strange interview questions include "how many swimming pools are there in the United States?" or "how would you go about moving a mountain?"

The idea behind these questions is to give the candidate a chance to think out loud on a topic/question they have little information about.  

What's the strangest interview question you've ever heard?

Working Identity by Herminia Ibarra

In Working Identity, Herminia Ibarra argues against the plan-and-implement approach to work and career. Instead, she suggests that people learn what work/career suits them by "doing rather than thinking." 

This book surprised me because I thought it was going to be another one of those books that would have been better off as a blog post. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find the deceptively simple thesis supported by insightful examples and thought provoking prose. 

Ibarra writes, "research on how adults learn shows that the logical sequence - reflect, then act; plan, then implement - is reversed in transformation processes like making a career change." This is because it consists in "knowing-in-doing, not just knowing." 

She goes on to suggest, "the test-and-learn sequence rejects the notion of a preexisting entity waiting to be discovered; it recognizes that a person and his or her environment shape each other in ways that can produce possibilities that did not reside in either at the start."

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has exhausted the conventional career guides that suggest that the solution to finding the perfect career can be uncovered by simply "looking within".    

14 Online Job Boards for People Who Want to Do Good

Here is a list of 14 websites for job seekers looking to find a job at a nonprofit, social enterprise, or sustainability-minded organization:

1. Net Impact (jobs with positive social and environmental impact)
2. Wiser Earth (connecting you to communities of action)  
3. Idealist (nonprofit jobs)
4. Bridgestar (nonprofit management and leadership jobs) 
5. Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (nonprofit jobs) 
6. Social Edge (social enterprise jobs)
7. Nonprofit Job Scoop (nonprofit jobs)
8. Foundation Center (foundation and nonprofit jobs)
9. Treehugger (green jobs)
10. Opportunity Knocks (nonprofit jobs)
11. Jobs for Change (nonprofit jobs)
12. Greenbiz (green jobs)
13. Sustainablebusiness (green jobs)
14. Just Means (where good work lives)