BlogSat

So, how many times have you been asked to "own" something vs. just doing it? Of late, 5-6 people have used those exact words when asking me or others to work on something. Its like somebody just sent out a motivation tactic memo to everyone that I know! The choice of words is really fascinating to me. Clearly, I'm going to be much more committed to doing something that I now apparently "own" and the subtle difference in words can have quite an impact on the way the work you're parcelling out is treated. Think about it: Doesn't owning the grocery-shopping sound better than being told to go and do some chores? In my mind though, owning something means enpowerment (hopefully some resources as well) decision-making ability, even if its limited.  If you're not given these, you're not "owning" stuff, you're doing stuff; which is fine; just different and probably less interesting. The take-away: To those who would make others "owners...

Ooo! Interesting topic with which to revive the "Busy with Buzzwords" posts....and indeed my blogging as a whole. :) Something strange has been happening at work lately. Instead of just getting or inferring management/workplace advice, I'm increasingly giving some. This is both unexpected, and unexpectedly unsurprising. So, a young 'un a few days ago couldn't understand the seemingly puzzling behavior of a normally super-solid senior person at Google, and there are a lot of those! Apparently this person (lets call him/her X) seemed unnecessarily protective of some sub-optimal performance of someone else (Y) which has making the young un's life much harder than it needed to be. The young un didn't get it. The reason was pretty obvious when I asked "Doesn't Y report to X now?" and the answer was in the affirmative. For many people, there's something about having people report to you that changes, for both good and bad, how you relate to an...

This was a so-so week. I got stuff done, but there were two-three days where clearly I wasn't on my A-Game. I was sleep-deprived and was pre-occupied with a couple of (work and non-work) related things which meant I was a little off. But it made me recognize two things. Its important to: Work and plan as hard as possible to show up with your A-game: sharp, happy, organized, "yourself" Recognize that very often that's not possible. That is key. Acknowledging that sometimes we're not all there, and that we're human, and when stressed/ sleepy/ multi-tasking can't have our best foot forward. Recognize that, and make watching yourself a priority and try to get your A-Game back. Either change behavior based on understanding that you're not all there. This can mean (in my case) shutting up more, or judging less, or concentrating more or objecting less. fake it! Act a little sharper, happier and more organized than you feel. I'm surprised by how often, jus...