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3 Easy Nano-Vacations to Stretch the Mind and Heart
During August, I think about checking out. It’s hot, the tomatoes are spent and the watermelons are starting to get mealy. People are gone. It’s easy to be grumpy and slog through the month. Don’t...
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Make a Difference: Lead Where You Live
I called my friend Margaret and found her watching a movie about dinosaurs. At 87, Margaret is one of the most resilient and innovative human beings I have ever known. She lives in the foothills of...
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The Boy Who Wants to Be a Scientist
I took the iPod out of my young friend’s ear and suggested he would make a great mayor. ”I don’t want to be a mayor, he said. ”I want to be a scientist.” I was impressed. I have a young friend who...
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Over Deliver and Keep ‘Em Coming Back for More
“Do you know anyone in Togo?” Brand loyalty is built on relationships. I picked up the call over 20 years ago on a July 4th afternoon. The voice at the other end of the line belonged to an AT&T...
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Thinking of Moving? Read the Bumper Stickers Before You Act
If you’re thinking about putting down roots in a city or a neighborhood, here’s a suggestion: Read the bumper of the car in front of you. More succinct than Twitter, gutsier than a blog (it’s your...
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Work Smart: Learn to Work with People, Not Their Age
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I worked in a team of 30-somethings. A manager in our group hired a woman in her 50′s. I remember her being beautiful: dark, shoulder length hair (smartly...
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Here’s to the Joyful Pivot
It’s not just Ben Bernake; sudden course corrections are the rule of the day. I used to worry about feeling stuck. Then I heard the musician Laurie Anderson say she feels stuck all the time. Now I...
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With Troll Countersuit, Martha Stewart Supports Innovation
Lost among the bright-and-shiny objects currently trending — the handshake, the phone call, the junior senator from Texas and service for her own dropped iPad — was Martha Stewart’s counter suit...
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Stay Curious Despite the Shutdown: Try edX
“We’re looking for the international space station,” my elderly neighbors said as they looked up at the night sky. “What does it look like?” I asked. The night sky on Oct. 13, 2013 in Austin, Texas....
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The Art of Customer Service — from an Unexpected Source
My beloved Timex Expedition gave out the other day, sending me to Walmart in search of a battery. My expectations were low — very low. No one was at the jewelry counter. After waiting a few...
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Be Great
Each of us can be great — in our own way. Great human beings don’t spring full-blown from Zeus’ head like Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and inspiration. The trick lies in uncovering, then...
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Stand up straight!
I came of age during the dawn of the fashionable slouch. Despite my mother’s admonitions to keep my shoulders back, I conformed to the preferred silhouette: the pelvis forward, knees bent. It has...
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Who Put Brussel Sprouts in Every Shopping Basket?
What I want to know is this: Who engineered the comeback of brussel sprouts? Did I miss the tweets? Because the humble vegetable of my childhood, grey and waterlogged, has morphed into a supply side...
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Values and downsizing
I’m downsizing from a 2200 square foot house to a 640 square foot apartment. I always thought I’d be a little old lady in a rambling house with tomatoes and cats, but that may not be the case. I have...
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Perfectionism as the ultimate fake out
If you feel in need of a good, healthy slap in the face, I recommend Andrew Solomon’s brilliant Far from the Tree, a page turner of a book about those among us who are born different — the deaf,...
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Beyond Work Hard/Play Hard: Building a Resilient Culture
The most surprising aspect of a SXSW Interactive workshop on corporate culture was how few people showed up and participated. “Beyond Ping Pong Tables: Building Better Companies” was by far the best...
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University student-designed solar cars show a path to the future
Finding myself fretting about the future of mockingbirds in a changing climate, I ventured over to the Circuit of the Americas to see what the American Solar Challenge was all about. University...
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Can Lassie be saved? When re-branding doesn’t work
I’m still reeling about Lassie. That the scion of a loyal, courageous, elegant line of war heroes (The Courage of Lassie) has been re-positioned as the “Kate Middleton of animals” is more than I can...
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Take a Moment to Be Quiet
It’s Sept. 11, which is now far enough in the past that many people don’t remember the horror of the day. But there’s much to be said for pausing to remember that anything can happen at any moment....
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Beyond likeability: Women leaders on issues that matter
Perhaps we’re getting over the likeability debate. This week, two women at the top of their games cut to the chase and point out a few elephants in the room. Janet Yellen used her role as Fed chairman...
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