Acquiring InnovationWith the current state of the economy, companies have already begun laying people off, particularly those in the middle management and even senior management ranks, often in order to make room at the bottom for new people. The reason being, is that in a corporate structure, when there suddenly aren’t enough people in the middle and at the top to take care of things, there is a massive shift of priority and responsibility across the board. Coming HomeI’m back in the Jing. Beijing, that is. Being in back China gives me the strange sensation of living in perpetual deja vu. I can still vividly remember what it was like to first start living in a foreign country and learning a foreign language; it felt very much like being a child, who can’t swim, but suddenly finds themselves struggling against the strong current in a large, deep pool. One-to-ManyI keep a document called Topics, which is essentially a long compilation of random statements, thoughts, phrases, and half-finished sentences that represent some larger idea that I have not yet found the time to write about. I have even established redundancy to preserve this document, by keeping copies of it in no less than five different places both online and off, because that’s how important and valuable I consider the wildly assorted contents of this document to be. Human MomentsYesterday morning, after so many years of being a dedicated reader of her blog, I finally read Penelope Trunk’s book. There were many parts of the book that rung true with me, but one in particular was regarding “human moments,” a term I had never heard used before. Originally coined by Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatrist and senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School, he writes that a human moment is “an authentic psychological encounter that can only happen when two people share the same physical space. It has two prerequisites: people’s physical presence and their emotional and intellectual attention.” Being a Digital NativeYesterday I had the great fortune to meet one of my idols and long-time favorite bloggers, Penelope Trunk. I attended a brainstorming session with her and Jason Warner, and due to a gaffe with printing the conference schedules, only a handful of other people knew it was happening and actually showed up. So, instead of putting Penelope behind the podium, we all pulled up chairs and gathered around in a circle for a real conversation with her. I was thrilled to have this opportunity. During the conversation, a lot of questions and comments came up about using social media and all that it entails. Being basically the only person from Generation-Y in the room, I found that people were strangely fascinated by my perspectives and opinions. Penelope later likened their reactions to me as being similar to that of people viewing an exhibit in a museum. It’s like they couldn’t really believe that these so-called digital natives actually existed in the real world, and that here they were, in a room with one, who was living and breathing and talking (a lot). Learning ChineseWhen I first arrived in China, all I could say was “hello.” A year later, on my last day in Beijing, I found myself giving an entire speech in Chinese. I took a deep breath as I looked out at the familiar faces of nearly two hundred people with whom I had shared the most challenging yet rewarding experience of my life. As I had hoped, my audience laughed and cried along with me. During this moment, like so many before, I realized just how far I had come. The Inertia of IntentIn life, I believe ambition can be boiled down to two different types of motivation: Having the intent to exceed the circumstances from which you came, or being content to stay where you started. My thinking is that the more you had as a kid, the more you have to have as an adult to feel successful in surpassing the standards that have been set for you. And in turn, the less you had as a kid, the less it would seem you have to do to exceed the expectations. Addicted to Information“Hi, my name is Melissa, and I’m addicted to information.” “Hiiiiiiiiiiii, Melissa.“ What is the first thing I do in the morning? Check my Gmail. What do I do after I blow-dry my hair but before I get dressed? Check my Google Reader. What do I do while I’m eating breakfast? Chat on instant messenger, browse Facebook, and review the Google Analytics data from the day before. What do I do ALL DAY LONG? Read Twitter. Calendar CalibrationIn the past, I’ve never been very big on using calendars, because I’ve always found the most reliable, accurate, up-to-date schedule was the one in my head. That opinion hasn’t changed much over time, but currently, I find myself using my Google Calendar to calibrate with the calendars that don’t reside in my head. I share my schedule with my friends and keep track of all of their schedules, too. I check it almost religiously, largely for the same reasons I am addicted to Twitter: I just like to know what everybody is up to. I no longer live in the same city as the majority of my friends, so It’s important to me to retain a connection to their day-to-day lives. Having access to their calendars helps me do that. Textual InnuendosPeople seem to believe that text is an emotionless medium, and I, frankly, disagree. If you spend enough time speaking through textual mediums such as email, instant message, or text message, you start to pick up on other people’s typing habits. |
