#21stCenturyProblems

Though I dread to say it, my professional career started in 1983, and buckle your seatbelts, I didn't have a computer, a cell phone, or even ready access to a copy machine. (Shout out to ditto machines!)

As you pick your jaw up off the floor, rest assured we were still quite effective back then - we just relied more on landline phone calls, answering machines, driving to a lot of in-person meetings, and word processors.

Fast forward to 2018 and MyOhMy how things have changed. Today's articles are all about some of the questions we face now in the 21st Century workplace. Let me know if any (or all!) of this speak to your situation.

7 Skills That Aren't About to be Automated. This beauty comes from our trusty friends at Harvard Business Review and I think it's a winner. This sentence in the first paragraph drew me in: "...we’ll share seven skills that cannot only make you unable to be automated, but will make you employable no matter what the future holds." What I deeply appreciate about the seven that are listed is that they are all soft skills, which is the work I'm all about these days. Take some time with this one - it will be worth it.

The World Cup in What Language? I don't know about you, but I was personally addicted to the World Cup this year. I jumped up and down for Mexico (¡Viva el Tri!) until they were eliminated, then pulled for Croatia as the underdogs. ANYWAY, this article proves to be a great reminder as to the importance in this era of globalization and hyperconnectivity that we all need to learn the pronunciations, customs, and cultures of those we work with and meet. I have clients all over the US, but also in Thailand, Bosnia, Philippines and the UK. Sure is different from my early days! Let's do the extra work to get it right because it truly matters.

Is Striving for Inbox Zero Worth It? This link takes you to a 24-minute podcast that I found to be a fruitful discussion regarding this question. Personally, my goal is to keep my inbox under 100, so don't look to me as an example! Good stuff here about email management and organization too.

Work at Home or Not? Given that I've worked at home since 1994, you can guess where I fall on this discussion. But I recently read persuasive PRO and CON arguments on this topic that I want to share. Of the "pro" reasons, this one is my main reason for preferring to work remotely: Your Schedule Can Be Your Own. But the "con" list includes this compelling reason to prefer office work - I cannot argue with it: I Can Disconnect More Easily. Read the two articles and let me know what you prefer.

This just scrapes the surface of what are workplace dynamics these days, but hopefully gets the conversation started. Meanwhile, as I reflect on how much has changed in my working life since I first started, I also think more deeply about what I've learned. This quote from Aldous Huxley is especially poignant in that regard:

Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.

Ciao for now!