The business question I ask myself most often is this: What can I give away? What do I have, know, think, write, say that I can give away easily?
This may seem like a strange attitude towards business, but I believe it has been the key to our success in the Happy at Work … Continue Reading ››
Category Archives: Happy At Work
How to be happy at work
Art: The office assistant
Consider this a tribute to the unsung heros of the workplace. The people who make the whole thing work. Artist Zen Parry has taken up a seat in the Portland Building in Portland Oregon, where she crochets a a huge blanket while talking to the public.
During a temporary job I had in … Continue Reading ››
Cross-blogging
I'm blogging my experiences, thoughts and ideas at the WorldBlu Forum at the forum website.
Better meetings
Here's an amazing resource for leading good meetings.
All so you can … Continue Reading ››
Meetings aims or purposes should be at the top of every agenda. These are the key decisions that must be made or actions that must occur at the meeting. If you aren't clear on aims and purposes, don't meet.
All so you can … Continue Reading ››
Death and music
The New York Times profiles Frank Minyard, a 76-year old New Orleans coroner known for marching in funeral processions wearing a white suit and plays jazz the trumpet.
At 76, on the brink of a retirement that was supposed to combine oyster dinners at his favorite restaurants with a simple life on his … Continue Reading ››
Open source fun
Does it matter whether IT people have fun at work? Autrijus Tang thinks it does, so when he set up the Pugs Open Source project, he had an explicit goal: Optimize for fun. The results are clear: More people get involved in the project, their work is of a high standard and they're more creative.
Of … Continue Reading ››
Worldblu Forum
Traci Fenton of Worldblu wrote to remind us all that:
We're now about six weeks away from the launch of THE WORLDBLU FORUM in Washington, DC, October 26-29th! The theme Rewriting the Rules of Business for a Democratic Age The big idea Organizational democracy and freedom-centered leadership and what it means to YOU The take-aways HOW organizational democracy can recharge … Continue Reading ››
Play Ethic
This article by Pat Kane on the play ethic is one of the most inspiring, electrifying and just wonderful manifestos for play, fun and happiness at work. My biggest problem in blogging it was to choose a quote from it because the whole damn thing is eminently quotable. Here's an appetizer:
Welcome to … Continue Reading ››
New Happy At Work Newsletter
We've put out a new edition of the Happy At Work Newsletter, including the story of why it's all Chet's fault and how American Airlines have turned a profit for the first time in 5 years - by listening to their people!
You can sign up for the newsletter here.
You can sign up for the newsletter here.
Doing business in the nude
If you have to be naked, you'd better be buff.This quote is from The Naked Corporation by Don Tapscott and David Ticoll, one of the books I'm currently reading. They argue (and quite convincingly so) that businesses are entering an age of transparency, ie. that some of the major forces affecting markets and societies … Continue Reading ››