Discovering the Greatest Possibilities of Work

Joe Harder's Blog (59)

New York Times interview with Carol Bartz, CEO of Yahoo

A couple of weeks ago there was a nice interview with Bartz. I particularly liked her answer to the following:

Q. What should business schools teach more of, or less of?

A. I think there ought to be some classes for people to get more philosophical about who they are and what motivates them, and therefore why they act like they… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on October 27, 2009 at 10:25am — No Comments

Take a yoga break at work

You could do a lot more yoga at work than what these few exercises suggest, but you may have to close your door or put up with co-workers' stares...

This article came to me from the LinkedIn group Corporate Yogis at WORK.

Added by Joe Harder on October 12, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Overwork is detrimental to success, not just to you personally

Interesting article about how daydreaming actually activates portions of our brains that help problem-solving and some examples of workplaces (like Facebook's) that encourage that.

Added by Joe Harder on October 12, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Meditation and Green Jobs

Two interesting articles I just ran across and wanted to share. The first is a Fortune magazine article about meditation leading to success at work, and the second is from FastCompany about the… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on September 28, 2009 at 10:42am — No Comments

Building Sustainable Organizations - The Human Factor

That is the title of my dissertation adviser Jeffrey Pfeffer's latest research paper, and I'm excited by the direction his work is going, as it dovetails nicely with SNW themes.

The paper is available here.

For an interview with Jeff about the article, see here.

Key questions - what will it take to… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on June 5, 2009 at 8:20am — No Comments

Innovation in large companies

This Sunday's New York Times business section contained an article arguing that to fix our large systemic problems it will have to be larger companies (e.g., General Electric, Microsoft) who provide the solutions, in addition to the smaller innovations by entrepreneurs that help things along.

This is where freeing up people from bureaucracy and thinking of your organization as a living system comes in handy. See our… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on May 26, 2009 at 11:26am — No Comments

Right brain exercise

Simple, really, just read the colors, not the words...

Added by Joe Harder on May 22, 2009 at 2:16pm — No Comments

From "The 4-Hour Workweek"

"What would you do if you didn't have to think about money?"

Probably a good question, which then begs the (perhaps prior) question: How will you get to a point where you don't have to think about money?

4HWW suggests developing Income Autopilot schemes, using information products over the web, which I'm turning my attention to as soon as this one alumnus calls...

Added by Joe Harder on May 22, 2009 at 11:37am — No Comments

Mothers and Leadership

Interesting article about the role mothers play in cultivating leaders. As a single dad (and Little League coach :-), I found some value in the article as well.

Added by Joe Harder on May 14, 2009 at 9:31am — No Comments

Fun with a Purpose

Here's a cute quiz a high school classmate just emailed around...who knows? Maybe it will lead to more self-awareness (or could be a good start to an otherwise boring meeting).

"If all of the eight desserts listed below were sitting in front of you, which would you choose (sorry, you can only pick one!). Trust me... this is very accurate.

Pick your dessert, then look to see what many psychiatrists think about you. REMEMBER - No Cheating. Make your choice before you check… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on May 14, 2009 at 9:00am — No Comments

End of course letters!

I just delivered the end of course letters that we collect from participants back to their Darden mailboxes before graduation, which is causing me to wonder whether a) there are substantive lessons, and b) whether they stick, in the short or long-term.

So, if anybody, new or old, wants to share the ways in which their letters were helpful to them, we'd greatly appreciate the feedback!

Plus, it would be another good chance to share insights.

Added by Joe Harder on May 13, 2009 at 9:06am — No Comments

Happiness these days

Just ran across a "best places to live well" article, which mentions Cupertino. I suspect the broader Silicon Valley (other than housing prices and traffic) has many of the features that put Cupertino so high on the list.

Also, the Washington Post had a recent article on coping and… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on May 11, 2009 at 11:15am — No Comments

How to handle a bad boss

My boss sucks a lot of the time. Problem? I'm self-employed!

No, I've got it good, mostly.

But if you're dealing with a bad boss, here are some tips, helping you find more of the spirit of the new workplace even in a sub-optimal situation!

Let us know how it works!

Added by Joe Harder on May 10, 2009 at 12:53pm — No Comments

Career Killers

Sadly, I have been guilty of many of these Seven Career Killers!

I continue to find value in David Allen's work (Getting Things Done) for my own tendencies to procrastinate.

Added by Joe Harder on May 10, 2009 at 12:50pm — No Comments

Yoga and Meditation in the Workplace

Here's a CNBC clip I just found on yoga and meditation in the workplace, referenced on the LinkedIn group "Corporate Yogis at WORK!"

And yet a book publisher I'm talking with keeps telling me to get rid of the "soft stuff"...sigh.

Added by Joe Harder on May 1, 2009 at 10:00am — No Comments

The Economy as a Living System

The recent economic crisis has me thinking about how a living systems perspective applies here as well as to the organizations we might aspire to create.

Obviously, the layers of systems nested within other systems, and the complexity of the entire global situation suggests that point number one, interdependence, is certainly present.

Concepts of self-organizing apply as well, as it was a number of cells operating as if they were independent and pursuing their own… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on September 30, 2008 at 11:47am — No Comments

SNW was our last class at SCU!

Adam, Alex, Toan, Vanessa...

Others???

Added by Joe Harder on September 12, 2008 at 10:30am — No Comments

Easy stretching and yoga poses

1. sit comfortably

2. neck stretches

3. hand flexors

4. crescent stretches

5. seated twists

6. extend legs long

7. hurdler stretches

8. transition to all fours

9. child's pose

10. cat/cow stretches

11. extend right arm and left leg; switch

12. move to standing

13. mountain pose

14. half sun salutations

15. full sun salutations with variations

- lunge with hands on knee and/or arms overhead

- warrior I and II

-… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on August 22, 2008 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Leading a Living Organization brief summary

Peter wrote up the following to summarize some of the “why” of thinking of your organization as a living system, and I have attached some slides that also summarize some of what he was saying in class:

When we talk about organizations being living systems, there are two ways to think about this. On one hand, an organization is essentially an ecosystem, comprised of a diverse array of component parts each with a separate function that contributes to the maintenance of the system as… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on August 21, 2008 at 6:20pm — No Comments

"Showing Up for your Life at Work" journal panels

From my recollection, these were the panels (in addition to What's Your Perfect Day?) that participants recommended from their initial work with the course journal:

- What if it wasn't about the money?

- Holistic view of profit

- Get out of your chair

- What do you have to give up?

- What's on your stop doing list?

- Think about a high point experience

- What poisons your day?

Were there others? Or are there ones you would now add to the list… Continue

Added by Joe Harder on August 20, 2008 at 3:18pm — 2 Comments

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Notes

Suggested booklist

301 Ways to Have Fun at Work (or books of a similar bent)…

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Created by Joe Harder Jul 14, 2008 at 10:25am. Last updated by Joe Harder Jun 5, 2009.