Simple Strategies

Thomas Jefferson is my hero. Not just because of his politics, but because he was the laziest of the Founding Fathers. Our 3rd President and libertarian icon accomplished some amazing things in his life. Writing the Declaration of Independence is just one example.  He also invented a clock that needed to be wound only one a year, a system for creating copies of letters as he wrote, and (some say) the Lazy Susan. Why did he create all of these devices and more?  Because he was energetic?  No.  Because he was lazy. Think about it.  Is it really so hard to pull down on a the weight of a grandfather clock every week?  It was for Mr. Jefferson.  So was handwriting copies of letters.  And reaching across the table for something on the other side. As a software developer, I appreciate his creative laziness.  It’s why I write code–so I don’t have to do mindless tasks

Read More…

Are you driven by money? Give it up. Are you a multitasker? Give it up. Do you work for power? Give it up. Can you sell binoculars to a blind man?  Give it up. Like cream in your coffee? Give it up. Lent starts tomorrow. It’s a Christian period of sacrifice, abstinance, and reflection. Lent lasts 40 days. Catholics are still encouraged to give up a temporal pleasure during Lent–every day but Sunday. The sacrifice should be private and small, because visible and grandiose sacrifices tend to lead to pride, not humility. These concepts are so foreign today, aren’t they? How many of us–believers or not–ever consciously choose to humble ourselves? In the popular culture that worships Lady Gaga and Modanna, humility, modesty, and abstiance are mortal sins. Think, though, of the power of humility and futility of power. The mighty fall, but he lowly march on. Stories of the rich and powerful and greedy

Read More…

I talked to two cops tonight for a little while.  They’re young men, in their early 30s.  One was a Marine before joining the police force.  (Which police force doesn’t matter.) They told me some stories about the things they see. The bad things. “We showed up and he [refering to the other cop] started doing life support on a seventeen-year-old with gun shot wound in his head. Gang banger.” They talked about some of the details, then closed out the story. “He died. That man [pointing to his partner] was the last person to touch him. Trying to save his life.” One more detail. “His mom [the victim's] was there. She was giving the kid mouth to mouth when we got there.” Why is this important?  Because my luggage was late today at the carousel at the airport. And our flight was a few minutes late. And Starbucks wouldn’t honor my iPhone app gift

Read More…

I had an amazing game that day. Truly amazing when you consider the secret I carried onto the court. I was tall for an 8th grader at six foot. But six foot is short by basketball standards. My parochial grade school team, the Epiphany Crusaders, were playing the best team in our league, St. Gabriel’s, at their gym.  Somehow, I scored 32 points—24 from the floor. I had numerous offensive and defensive rebounds and several assists.  Even though I played center, my teammates passed me the ball for the final shot of the first half, and I hit it from well above the key.  We won by at least eight points. I don’t remember the final score, but it was the highest scoring game of my life to that point. I was simply on fire.  In more ways than one. When I woke up that Sunday, I  knew I was sick.  Every joint ached.  My

Read More…

If you’re out of touch with people you’re trying to lead, try a dose of humility. Higher status individuals don’t relate well to others, and that’s a big problem for any boss trying to influence an organization. If you’ve ever heard “our senior managers just don’t listen,” you’re already familiar with the symptom. Research conducted at UCLA on Social Status and Mentalizing shows a possible cause: bosses’ brains are anti-social. Okay, that’s a little strong.  The way the researchers put it, higher status individuals pay less attention to others, worry more about themselves, and are less generous. Lower status individuals, on the other hand, pay close attention to social cues, work better in teams, and are more generous. What’s surprising is that these behaviors seem to be hard-wired into our brains. Under functional magnetic resonance imaging, subjects were primed to feel lower or higher status. Consistently, those primed to feel lower status more accurately discerned the

Read More…