Wisdom
Getting rejected and then landing my dream job at McKinsey & Company
“Unfortunately, we regret that we are unable to extend an interview to you at this time” I only learned about consulting two months before being rejected by McKinsey. In the middle of my summer internship, my manager started telling me about consulting. That night I went home and lost several hours reading anything I could ... Read more
Taking your own “moonshots” — the secret of Value Goal Alignment
I’ve been reading Peter Diamandis’ book Bold and am really enjoying it. Peter has a great ability to distill complex ideas down to simple thoughts. He’s also quite impressive himself — doing impressive work in space exploration, technology and longevity research and also creating the famous X prize. Certainly a fan of dreaming big, he cites interesting ... Read more
The money empathy gap
Today’s post is short. Everyone should read this article and develop principles to avoid becoming more of a jerk the richer you get. Cause science says you will. The Money-Empathy Gap That’s all.
Task-Competency-Responsibility
A simple way to think about your strengths I was having lunch with a friend yesterday who is a Chief Talent Officer and also a much smarter thinker than I on organizational dynamics & talent. He introduced me to the framework of task-competency-responsibility alignment. I love it because of its simplicity. In order to get ... Read more
Forget your dream job and grab a beer: three tips to stay sane in the crazy, modern working world
How to manage your energy for long-term career success For me, hating my job has never been an option. I’ve always been motivated by finding work that excites me and helps me build a career that is fueled by my passions. Early in my career, I was fascinated by the business world and wanted to learn ... Read more
A quick ten question assessment of your own employee engagement
Figure out what is driving you Everyone has heard the statistic from Gallup that 70% of people are not engaged at work. This information is sad — but not useful in understanding how I can actually increase my own engagement. I’ve often been a fan of creating my own self-assessments to measure how well I am aligned with ... Read more
Asking Better Questions
I am curious about other people. I also spent a stint as a career coach where my role was to help people gain a better understanding of how they are driven and where they are going. The easiest way to help people open up is to ask the right questions. Human of New York is ... Read more
Skill-Organization Fit
A new way for thinking about your potential In the startup world there is a lot of focus on product-market fit and making sure that alignment is perfect. The better the fit, the more you will sell and the bigger your company gets. I’ve been thinking about how this applies to individual skill level and ... Read more
The Is-Ought Fallacy is Devastating to Progress in Modern Organizations
The is-ought “problem” was identified by David Hume. Also known as Hume’s Law or Hume’s Guillotine (I prefer this)— he noticed it was the logical error people would make connecting what “is” with what “ought” to be. This conclusion starts with his belief that all knowledge is the result of two things: Logic and definitions ... Read more
ABL = Always Be Looking (For Jobs)
I’m an advocate of dedicating a certain amount of time per week or month to looking for jobs. There are a few benefits: You know what kinds of jobs are out there You get a sense for what companies are hiring in your area You are prepared when you face an unexpected job loss or ... Read more