Not working is easily ten times more stressful than working — unless, of course, money is not a concern in your life. Unemployment or underemployment is difficult to manage on multiple levels, because — just to name a few examples — it has such a huge impact across all spectrums of your life: Financial stability [ Read More ]
I try to avoid ranting on my blog (which sort of puts me in the minority), but I’m going to deviate from my self-imposed rule for a moment, and I hope you’ll indulge me while I stomp my feet and jump up and down a bit, but this is something that is really sticking in [ Read More ]
It’s probably a weird thing for a vocal atheist to quote, but there is something about the famous prayer that has been resonating with me more and more lately. Well, maybe not the “God” part of it, but the recognition part. Grant me strength to accept the things that I can’t change, the courage to [ Read More ]
A year ago, Austin-based Convio launched a company blog: Connection Cafe. Unlike so many other company blogs, Convio decided to take a slightly different approach with the hope of gaining slightly different results. While many organizations opt for a CEO blog — particularly companies with in-demand CEO’s, like Convio’s Gene Austin — or a blog [ Read More ]
Accomplishment-oriented people often share a very common character trait: we hate to quit. More often than not, this is a combination of our own need to conquer whatever mountain we have set our sights on, and our belief that others are counting on us to succeed. In both cases, those assumptions are frequently over-estimated. Our [ Read More ]
As the debate about the best approach to an economic stimulus package rages, I am reminded time and again of the conversations I’ve had throughout my career with non-IT executives when it comes to IT work. Coming from an IT background, of course, I have often found the conversations frustrating, unrealistic and short-sighted, which is [ Read More ]
I have recently gone through a series of interviews/screenings where the net result was, “I’m sorry, but you are just over-qualified for this position.” In response to that highly frustrating designation, I propose the following: Being classified as “over-qualified” is usually less “You cost too much” and more “I’m afraid you’ll be bored and leave [ Read More ]
I realize that I am not the world’s most patient person. This is a source of endless frustration with my fiance: we both get frustrated with each other because I think that he should or does know/understand something that he doesn’t, and when it becomes clear that he doesn’t, I have to decide if that [ Read More ]