Category: Links

The Slow Leadership Blog has The Truth about Communication. Have you ever asked yourself why so many communications are “top down???? The answer is simple: because they are all about control.
That’s a critical insight. I agree!

Negative people are bad four your brain – a classic from Kathy Sierra. The idea seems to be that “happy people” implies those who are oblivious to the realities of life, in a fantasy of their own creation, and without the ability to think critically. The science, however, suggests just the opposite.
Where did we ever get the idea, that negative people are somehow more realistic and smarter than positive people? In my opinion, it’s just way too easy to be negative and you can always criticize and shoot ideas down. Being positive and supportive demands more from a person.

And speaking of negative people, the world sucks, and the Helsinki Complaints Choir will tell you exactly how.

A couple of good articles about Richard Branson. “I don’t think of work as work and play as play. It’s all living.” That’s definitely a top executive to learn from.

The bad news: We bring bad moods at work home. The good news: They’re gone by morning. I’m not so sure. I think it depends very much on how bad the mood is.

Half of the good people in your company may be leaving. A recent workplace survey of 16,237 workers found that nearly half the people regarded as stellar performers were actively trying to leave their current employers.

Coolest. Office. Ever. I thought I’d found 10 pretty cool offices, but Inventionland is wild and weird and I love it. Video here. (Thanks Kareem Mayan and Michael Rizzo).

Aaron Swartz gets his first taste of corporate life after reddit.com was bought by Wired. Gray walls, gray desks, gray noise. The first day I showed up here, I simply couldn’t take it. By lunch time I had literally locked myself in a bathroom stall and started crying. I can’t imagine staying sane with someone buzzing in my ear all day, let alone getting any actual work done. Best commentary on this: Working at reddit: Wired. Working at Wired: Tired!

The executive coloring book. MAN that’s funny. And depressing :o)

Dan Gilbert talks about happiness at the TED conference – A great talk about the nature of happiness and why we’re totally wrong about what makes us happy or unhappy. Also very funny! (via Andrew Ferrier)

Give 100% at work – I always do :o) (via Gelle)

The 37signals guys on happiness – Happiness has a cascading effect. Happy programmers do the right thing. They write simple, readable code. They take clean, expressive, readable, elegant approaches. They have fun. (thanks Antoine Musso)

Check out Superviva – A community for people who want to improve life. Here’s Superviva on work.

VideoKarma – Happy videos from around the net.

Steve Farber on The Greatness Paradox. “There is no law of physics, no universal rule–that I know of, anyway–that says your succeeding requires my failing, your fulfillment requires my emptiness, your happiness, my grief.” Steve is looking for stories on how you make others great. Go give him one.

Fred Gratzon on Weeds and Life’s Purpose. “The problem is that most folks, besides not believing they are special (a tragic oversight, by the way), are so dulled out or fatigued that their innate intelligence, creativity, and passion are encrusted with inertia and thereby rendered sluggish.”

How not to apply for a job in banking. Funniest thing on the net this week. You can’t make this stuff up, but Aleksey Vayner has. You MUST watch the video!

Our employees’ tatoos. The missing link corporate website has a page showing it’s employees’ tattoos? Btw: It would be kinda funny if this company has one guy who’s just different and refuses to fit in – because he doesn’t have a single tattoo or piercing anywhere on his body :o)

And have an amazingly great weekend!

I’m joining the free hugs movement :o)

What are your thoughts on hugging in the workplace? I kinda like it, but I realize it’s not everybody’s thing.

Via one of my favorite blogs: Pharyngula.