What does being a team player in a business environment mean? It’s probably easier to describe the characteristics of a non-team player. In 1964, Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart wrote about a decision on pornography by saying that he couldn’t define it, but “I know it when I see it.” Thus was born a new colloquialism that many hiring managers apply to the characteristics of the ideal candidate for a job. It’s frustrating for sourcers… Read More »Wanted – Team Player
One of my favorite pieces of art is Winston Link’s photograph “Old Maude bows to the Virginia Creeper” in which an old horse seems to be giving deference to the approach of new technology. Gene and Roy Hampton just happened to be at the crossing with a sledge of wood destined for their nearby farm when Link asked them to wait for a photo of them with the approaching train. Maude was described as being… Read More »Technology and Respect for Its Roots
Here it is in a nutshell: There are no rules. I’m sorry if you expected more than that, but anyone who professes to know a one-size-fits-all definition for each band of the humor spectrum is lying or misguided at best. It is usually a matter of situation and timing for something to be found funny. In company reorganizations we can refer to misguided efforts as “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic,” but there was… Read More »The Rules for Being Funny… or Serious
This article originally was posted on May 10, 2013 under the title “Corralling, Conquering, and Cultivating Cynicism.†To say that this was edited for the series on ethics would be too kind… it has been butchered, disassembled, and put back together again. Cynicism is one of the basic foundations of how we think and is sometimes a pathway to the truth. Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr said, “I think there ought to be a club in which… Read More »Cynicism Is Also a Basis for Ethics
This was originally posted on April 2, 2013 titled “Creating an Environment of Trust†and has been edited for inclusion in the series on business ethics. Trust and ethics are not the same, but are linked together as to be inseparable. Science fiction writer Robert Heinlein said “I don’t trust a man who talks about ethics when he is picking my pocket. But if he is acting in his own self-interest and says so, I… Read More »The Ethics of Trust