“Managing up” has become a part of work culture over the past 20-or-so years, but that scenario hasn’t always been the case. This article, originally published in Harvard Business Review (HBR) in 1993 and 2005, represents some of the first voices to discuss this topic at length. Thus, the HBR Press has compiled this article into a brief book for sale. Had I known of its prior distribution, I would not have purchased the book…
Although I write a lot of book reviews, I usually don’t review psychology-related books because their value is so subjective. The things that are most valuable to me as a worker in a non-psychological enterprise aren’t necessarily valuable to everyone else. Thus, I have a hard time ascertaining a psychology-related book’s general worth. However, this book is an exception. Katherine Crowley and Kathi Elster offer workplace advice that pertains to almost everyone. They investigate dealing…
Books about writing offer varied advice and often contradict themselves. Should everyone write like Hemingway? Is it ok to diverge from Strunk and White’s style? How can I inject personality into writing without putting off my audience (or my editor)? These are common issues for writers, especially new or aspiring ones, and Ben Yagoda has decided to address them. He has interviewed and compiled results on acclaimed writers from many fields, genres, and styles. He…
Many modern problems must be solved in teams, so healthy organizations must prioritize social issues to the fore. Yet sometimes, it seems that modern culture has done worse, not better, at limiting stress and anxiety. These problems are heightened in technical fields where workers often address scientific issues, rather than people issues. To answer these troubling questions, Gretchen Anderson, a Harvard-educated Silicon Valley executive, lends her voice from decades of experience leading teams to develop…
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a hot topic on today’s news pages. Some fear that AI will take over the world and replace it in some dystopian society. Others take its evolution in stride. What’s becoming clear is that life will change in a revolutionary way. Ethan Mollick agrees and also points to opportunities individuals can take to use AI to create a better life and a better workplace. Mollick has used AI to teach business…
Much of a career in science revolves around writing challenges. A scientist has to communicate with their colleagues through journals. They have to communicate with funding agencies through requests for proposals. Not to be forgotten, they have to communicate with the wider public. Thus, scientific writing becomes a key element of the game. Likewise, understanding the forms and conventions of scientific writing can give one a professional leg up towards enhanced status in the scientific…
Dick Feynman was a Nobel laureate and professor of theoretical physics at Cornell and Cal Tech. Like many accomplished people, he had a unique reputation and a magnanimous spirit. In the classroom, his students revered him for his interesting stories. This memoir, written towards the end of his life, records his reflections on his life with the same zeal that won his students’ hearts. To be frank, some of his stories tend towards the anti-feminist…
I liked this book a lot. It’s labeled as a part of a “CIO Series,” but that’s really a mislabel. It’s for anyone working with software developers who has to navigate a distinct company culture. It’s especially geared for those who want to mold that culture for good. Software development is a tricky industry. Good people are hard to find, and they often don’t have a stereotypical personality – especially if they’re really talented. Yet…
Claire Keegan’s tightly constructed short stories never cease to enthrall me. This collection poses no exception. Each story takes its own life. They do not take long to read, but oh, they take long to ponder! A couple of these stories are in other collections, but each one provided a treat at the end of a workday. My favorite in this anthology is the last story: “Night of the Quicken Trees.” It tells of two…
We live in an era, the so-called Information Age, where data collection has become incredibly easy. The term “Big Data” gets thrown around casually as computers collect more information on us than we know how to process. Yet wise interpretation of those data is often elusive. We’re overwhelmed with it. Effective visualizations and charts can help us interpret it better, whether to present and persuade or to monitor and manage. Stephen Few, an eloquent minister-turned-data…