America Takes a Huge Risk

Posted on November 7, 2024November 7, 2024 by Bill Ryan

In an act of fear, malice, and desperation and with a desire to anesthetize themselves against a changing world Americans chose Donald Trump as the 47th president. Our nation’s march toward normalization of zealotry, bigotry, vileness, and deceit is now more entrenched. We are no longer Reagan’s “Shining City on a Hill”. We traded that imagery for one that is now no more than a blemish on a pillaged landscape.

Elections are usually about forging a more hopeful future. We are accustomed to expect optimism and promise following a national plebiscite. However, in the electoral debacle which just occurred it is challenging to see from where the benefits may arise. A view of the horizon now does not reveal encouragement and confidence about social enhancements to come, but rather base level confrontations, hate, anger, and retributions designed to concentrate power among an insular privileged class.

As the refashioned Republican Party has clearly taught us the rules of the game have now changed. By electing a criminal, serial liar, rapist, fraudster, and insurrectionist we essentially have given ourselves permission to believe these faults are really not so bad. Indeed, if that is what it takes to return America to a land where white, heterosexual, Christian, corporate, patriarchy is in charge, then so be it. This appears to be the consensus. Good luck America with that one! Trump is merely the means to a fanciful and illusory end of “greatness” as the nation will soon come to realize.

The opposition to this now dominant MAGA mindset will have to become more creative. The strategies, tactics, and coalitions opposing leaders will need to employ must adjust to the unethical approaches the Trump acolytes effectively exploit for their self-righteous gains. A transformed center-left/center-right partnership that imagines practical and potent counterpoints and recognizes opportunities to effectively confront the MAGA nonsense will need to emerge.

Above all, the resistance to Trump must be rooted in the principles of equality and freedom set forth in the Declaration of Independence. Trumpism has already begun to erode both of these tenets and reestablishing and reinvigorating them must be a priority of any moral and virtuous dissent. In addition, defiance against Trump and his followers must be muscular when Constitutional protections are threatened.

Also of note, exit polls show that many Trump voters held their noses as they voted for him. Reuters and CNN exit polling both had the disapproval of Trump by his own voters at 53%. Presumably they were either lifelong Republicans who just couldn’t make themselves join other Republican defectors to vote for a Democrat or they were trying to make an economic statement, due to inflation. These may be among the first to bail on Trump once they see his expected abuses of power. It is sad that they did not step up for the health of their country when they had the chance on November 5.

Speaking of inflation, Biden received the blame of course for higher consumer prices since 2021 because they occurred on his watch. This overly simplistic view did not take into account how the Covid pandemic with its supply chain disruptions, surge in demand for consumer goods, labor shortages, the Feds expansionary monetary policy, and disruptions in energy and commodity markets were instead the prime culprits. Now we have Trump promising to introduce a slew of new tariffs which are anticipated to drive up the costs of imported goods. Stay tuned.

Time will tell, but chances are quite good that the election of an illiberal and corrupt leader empowered recently by the Supreme Court and by the American electorate will prove to be disastrous for the nation in multiple ways. Perhaps I will be proven wrong. We shall see. In the meantime, let’s treat each other as good neighbors and join in protecting the defenseless and the powerless against those who would bully their way to dominance during these unprincipled times.

At present it looks as if we are in for a tough few years. If so, we asked for it and we deserve it. Just don’t blame me, I proudly voted for Kamala!

A Critique of MAGA

Posted on October 1, 2024October 15, 2024 by Bill Ryan

With five weeks to go until election day in the U.S. I am compiling some short opinion essays I prepared over the past several months challenging the legitimacy and merit of the Make America Great Again or MAGA populist movement of Donald Trump’s. This collection is dynamic and I expect more pieces to be added to this group between now and election day. I will let the individual pieces speak for themselves without any preparatory explanation.

The Key Fault of Trumpism

I begin with a premise. It is that freedom and equality are the two pillars of what our country was founded upon and which has for the past 247 years sustained the United States of America. I contend these two are similarly weighted fundamental values.

We hear much of the significance of freedom. We are the “Sweet Land of Liberty” and here in New Hampshire we proudly proclaim “Live Free or Die”. But what of equality?

Jefferson wrote in the Preamble to the Declaration of Independence that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”. And Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address, after proclaiming that we as a nation, “were conceived in liberty”, stressed that we were, “dedicated to the proposition that all men were created equal”.

It is clear to students of history that the spacious expansion of human development wrought by the Enlightenment first found a pragmatic foothold here in America. It came in the form of asserting universal freedom and equality for all Americans.

Yet here we are. The Right hugs freedom tightly and the Left declares equality matters. Trumpism, the aberration of conservatism, does not mention equality. In fact, it sees equality as a threat. This deluded movement seeks to retain the privileged position of those who historically have held wealth and power. And they have absorbed the working class to do their bidding with cynical cultural fears.

Trumpism is a grave peril to America. It seeks to rescind the democratic tradition of the United States in favor of a continued supremacy of the privileged. It does not want to share the fruits of America with those who they consider to be others. In their minds, others threaten their status, power, and wealth.

The Constitution continues to articulate and to promote the way forward for all Americans. Let us not allow a misguided and fearful faction of our population to diminish what makes America great. Trumpism must be defeated!

A Trump Role Model

Supporters of Trumpism in America point to Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary since 2010, as an example of the kind of illiberal leader they want to see in the United States. Before rightwing conspiracy theorist Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News, he relocated his show twice to Budapest. The U.S. Political Conservative Action Conference (CPAC) held a special event in Budapest that was opened by Orban, and he was again present at the group’s 2022 national conference in Texas. Among the MAGA crowd, Orban is a rockstar.

So, what is it like in Hungary under Orban’s rule? Most notably is the concentration of power within Orban’s government due to emergencies known as “states of danger”. Orban identifies and “manages” crises to justify ruling by decree and nullifying acts of parliament and the judiciary he doesn’t like.

For example, one group of Hungarian professionals to feel the brunt of Orban’s iron fist have been teachers. They are seeking better working conditions and salaries. He not only restricted their right to strike, but passed what is called a “revenge law”, which expands teachers’ working hours and workloads and allows the government to relocate or dismiss teachers as they see fit. Last year a protest by high school students in support of their teachers was met by police using tear gas.

In another instance, women’s reproductive rights have been increasingly limited under Orban. There is now language in the Hungarian constitution by Orban’s government “protecting the fetus from conception”. There must be only serious risk to a woman’s life or a badly damaged fetus for abortion to be allowed. In a related move, Hungary has also outlawed adoption by same sex couples.

There are many other examples of freedom restrictions and offenses against journalists, media outlets, civil society organizations, LGBT people, asylum seekers, and the Roma people.

Seems odd that a group of Americans who claim to embrace freedom would admire this kind of ruler. But they do. It makes one skeptical about what they really value. Is it power at any price, some version of cultural or religious purity, anger at growing American multiculturism, or simply the joy of sticking it to people they don’t like?

Support for Orban-styled governance is not promoting freedom. Believing an autocrat will keep their people free is completely illogical. Quite the opposite is the likely outcome. A political movement that wants to emulate Viktor Orban is not one true American patriots should accept.

Trumpism and Autocracy

Democracy, as we know it in the modern western world and now across the globe, is a relatively recent phenomenon historically speaking. Sure, we all grew up in what has become a traditional form of American democracy, but let’s not forgot that we are but a small number of generations to have experienced this form of governance.

More typical throughout human history have been governments that adhere to a principle of centralized control over the population. Decision making concerning the rights and welfare of the people was concentrated on a single ruler or among a small set of overlords. Wielding absolute power is justified by a selective belief that autocrats know more than the collective beliefs and wishes of the populace.

Whether we call them a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, a theocracy, a tribe, a clan, an autocracy, or despotism there are some common attributes present when absolute power is exercised. Chief among them is a lack of accountability. Rule can be arbitrary or malicious and the people must accept it. Corruption and nepotism become common. Political opposition is suppressed. Institutions are weakened. This is how governments around the world functioned for millennia.

Until the eighteenth century that is. In the British colonies of America, a novel concept emerged among thinkers and the common people alike influenced by European Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, John Stuart Mill, and Immanuel Kant, among others. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people became the core value and message. A grand democratic experiment was underway. In time it led to the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

And now that splendid standard of rule by the people is being seriously questioned by a segment of Americans. One does not have to look far to see seemingly normal everyday Americans on camera or in writing doubting the legitimacy and continuance of democracy. More than that, they express acceptance of the notion that our country is so threatened by a host of evil forces that despotic rule is the only recourse to return America to a greatness which they feel has been lost.

The MAGA movement gives voice to those who threaten our democracy. They are willing to risk snapping us back to the discredited past of despotism. This ideology does not want to go through the messy sausage making of reconciliation and a democratic rules-based government that accepts a multitude of viewpoints. Their level of self-righteousness, insularity, and unwillingness to compromise is a shock to a system that demands we all work together in a spirit of give and take for the common good.

The degree of fear, anger, and mistrust being expressed by Trumpism is beyond reason. It is driven by raw and destructive emotion. Autocracy is a threat to our country and needs to be defeated at the ballot box before it’s too late.

Trumpism and Christianity

What is going on with American Christianity? I accept that the Christian church throughout American history has never been a monolithic entity or uniform congregation and it should not be viewed that way. However, the schism now occurring in the dominant faith of America is of a different nature with the ascent of Christian Nationalism.

The term Christian Nationalism has gained political currency ever since Donald Trump blundered into all our lives eight years ago. From my observation of the phenomenon, I would identify Christian Nationalism as a movement of extreme religious and cultural moralism that envisions America as a fundamentally Christian nation. In this world, the nation’s culture and institutions should reflect the principles, practices, and policies consistent with a narrow and traditional interpretation of Christian values.

Many of Trump’s supporters subscribe to Christian Nationalism. Indeed, they are a significant segment of his base. Nevertheless, I contend that fundamentalist Christianity runs a risk to its future and viability as a cultural force by aligning itself so closely to the MAGA movement. I’ll explain.

As an institution, Christianity is in decline in America, particularly among younger Americans. The Pew Research Center surveyed the number of Americans who self-identified as Christians. In 2009 the number was 77%. In 2019 the number was 65%. Additionally, the number of Americans declaring themselves as religiously unaffiliated is growing. Of the top five most secular states in the nation, New Hampshire is listed along with Vermont and Maine.

Trumpism appears to appeal more to an older demographic who yearn for what they perceive as the good old days. By associating Christian Nationalism with Trumpism one wonders, does doing so grow the ranks of Christians among the young or hasten its decline?

Furthermore, Trumpism is opposed to pluralism and promoting diversity in the country. Christian Nationalists appear to be older and whiter. When conducting an AI search (ChatGPT), which scans nearly the entirety of the internet, regarding generations and attitudes toward pluralism the results reveal that Millennials and Generation Z, “tend to hold more favorable views towards pluralism than older generations”.

I realize Trump supporters will most likely not be dissuaded from supporting their candidate. But their support may come at a heavy price. After all, aren’t there some things more valuable and worth preserving than an ethically flawed and irreligious candidate — even one who sells Bibles at $60 each.

Trumpism’s Lack of Decency

We have become a courser and less kind country since the rise of Trump. Like him or despise him we can all agree that we have become a divided people with signs of internal hatred much more explicit than was the case in past years. Sure, there has always been a vile underside of our society motivated to gush malice at fellow Americans deemed unworthy. But Trump and his cult of angry devotees now give permission and approval to debase our social discourse to a degree not seen for a century and a half.

The term American exceptionalism is fraught with a range of interpretations from ones exalted to ones that are xenophobic. Personally, what I see as setting America apart from most countries is our history of pluralism. We have not been a nation born from racial, tribal, or cultural homogeneity as many around the world have been. Rather, the American nation was founded upon ideas of liberty and equality that to this day offer the greatest hope for humankind.

The great challenge for maintaining a pluralistic state, a country composed of citizens from a variety of cultural, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, is of course learning how to get along and respect all others who share the nation with us. At a minimum, citizens of a pluralistic state practice debate, persuasion, and compromise to forge laws and standards which we agree to live by. What results is a dynamic churn of norms that changes with the times, but which are based on principles of fairness and civility.

Trumpism is a movement that sees pluralism and the traditions required to maintain a diverse populace as antithetical to their worldview. They want to fundamentally change America into a version of cultural purity that places some segments of the society above others. In such a civilization there is a privileged class and there are those who are not. What Trump and his followers are communicating through their mean-spirited pronouncements is that unity is not valued, only division and separateness.

Once that line has been crossed it becomes acceptable to spew whatever filth comes to mind because their cause of superiority is greater than previously revered values of mutual respect and deference. Given that a depraved and flawed man is serving as the role model for the those who want to tear down America’s bedrock principles we have ended up in this uncivil place.

Our politics in 2024 has come down to a battle between those who are willing to fight for preserving a pluralism guaranteeing freedom and equality for all and those who want to radically change our nation into one of detachment and disunity. It is a hard time to be an American. We are called upon to remain good neighbors with one another despite this intrinsic confrontation we face. Some will take the high road, and some will take the low road. Which road are you on?

MAGA’s Misinformation Concerning Higher Education

A common rant of the MAGA crowd is the disdain they have for higher education. In particular, they see colleges and universities as cauldrons of liberal indoctrination and brainwashing leading our young astray and contributing to the degradation of our country. (That they see Trump as a force for American restoration is ludicrous, but I digress).

Here are two comments by MAGA writers in the May 7, 2024 issue of the InterTown Record (a local rural paper from where I live in New Hampshire) that illustrate my point: “I am afraid our entire education process has been manipulated out of sight…” writes one and “Could it be that the divisive CRT (Critical Race Theory) ideology which permeates many of these organizations…” writes another. They sound very confident that they know what they are talking about. But do they?

As pointed out by John Horgan, a professor at Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, in his recent newsletter, this alleged “wokeness” in higher education is more of a MAGA talking point than an actuality. Horgan cites Open Syllabus, a non-profit group that collects and analyzes millions of syllabi from thousands of institutions of higher education. For example, Open Syllabus analyzed 5.5 million syllabi from over 4,000 American higher education institutions. This represents the most comprehensive collection of data available to signify what topics are taught in this country’s colleges and universities.

In 2023 Open Syllabus disclosed that expressions like “critical race theory”, “structural racism”, or “transgender” showed up in a whopping 0.08% of five and a half million syllabi! That is under one usage for every 1000 syllabi. The word “race” alone appeared in 2.8% of the syllabi and “gender” in 4.7%. The rate of usage of these words has been largely stable over the past fifteen years. Alright, “climate change” has gone from appearing 0.6% in 2008 to 1.3% in 2023. Not exactly a wokeness tsunami however, is it?

What these data tell us is that this so-called woke ideology is not being as widely disseminated in college classrooms as the MAGA crowd would have us believe. It if was it would show up in this analysis of syllabi. So why is the MAGA base so convinced something that is not supported to be happening nevertheless is happening in their partisan imaginations?

One doesn’t have to look far to see that right-wing media will take an issue, true or not, and just keep hammering it to their loyal viewers repeatedly. Fox has built a brand and identity on this tactic. One would hope the $787 million settlement they had to pay for continuously broadcasting a lie about Dominion voting machines would give them pause, but perhaps not. As for the other Fox wannabees like Newsmax and OAN News, well their so deep into being propaganda outlets rather than news organizations that repeating whatever riles the Base is fair game in their non-journalistic view.

So, I guess we will just sadly keep shaking our heads when we hear our MAGA neighbors bluster about the moral corruption of American higher education but know that despite the venom behind their claims it is really just a lot of hot air.

Trump’s Misguided Strength

Donald Trump has successfully branded himself as a strong leader. Indeed, a common refrain from his supporters is that he projects forcefulness and toughness, characteristics necessary in confronting a nation that in the opinion of MAGA world is degenerating.

I agree strength is a key trait we should want in a leader. The question is what kind of strength? Let’s take a moment to unpack this term and see if what Trump is selling is the strength this nation needs.

Strength is not a solitary attribute with only one definition. There are different types of strengths. Examples include physical strength, mental or psychological strength, strength of character, interpersonal or social strength, intellectual strength, and spiritual strength. So, how many of these does Trump possess?

Physical strength? Other than swinging a golf club does he demonstrate any other type of physical prowess? It is hard to say he looks fit.

Mental or psychological strength? Now we are getting into comedy. In my 71 years I have never seen a presidential candidate more devoid of psychic stability. He makes Richard Nixon look ethical.

Strength of character? Uhh, no. The man demonstrates amorality on a regular basis.

Interpersonal or social strength? OK, I’ll give him this one. Even though he totally turns off at least half the country, he clearly rallies most of the other half to his side.

Intellectual strength? Ever listen to one of his 90-minute campaign rally rants? One only hears three things: insults, wild exaggerations, and lies. No, he does not show intellectual strength.

Spiritual strength? You have got to be kidding me!

Let’s contrast Trump’s brand of strength with a more comprehensive and respectable version of strength known as gallantry. To be gallant one displays qualities such as chivalry, nobility, and valor. A gallant leader is courteous and respectful to the people they serve. They are stately in appearance and are revered for their selflessness in tending to the needs of their constituency. A gallant leader does not wallow in debased behavior and rhetoric trying to prove their worth. Clearly, I am not describing Donald Trump. He is not gallant leader.

Trump plays a cartoonish version of strength that is much more bellicose bombast than credible courage. He has never been about America’s people first. He has always been about Trump first. His brand of strength leaves us weaker on the world stage and morally and economically fragile at home.

We have a choice before us this November that could not be clearer. Yes, let’s elect a strong president and let’s reject false bravado. Donald Trump’s brand of strength is not what we should settle for, and it is certainly not what we need.

MAGA’s Assault on Freedom

We have all seen the Revolutionary-era yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flags being flown proudly in recent years, first by followers of the Tea Party movement and now by MAGA/Trump adherents. The presumed message being sent by these flag wavers is an impassioned belief in individual rights and limited government and a reaction against their perceived threat of socialism and centralized power in America.

What we are also seeing among these self-proclaimed patriots is a striking tendency to embrace and to promote the methods of their scorned opposition, the feared anti-libertarian communists allegedly among us who live to take away our freedoms. It is not the mythical Marxist boogeyman we need to be dreading right now, rather it is the MAGA movement’s plan to restructure America into a less free nation.

Despite all of MAGA’s pronouncements of their being a freedom movement this social and political aberration centered on their Dear Leader Trump is anything but. I could begin by mentioning how the Right’s overly liberal gun policies, which encourage placing weapons into all hands, including deranged people, takes away our right of freedom to live in a safe community. Or I could start by talking about how MAGA supports restricting women’s freedom to choose how to protect their own bodies. Or perhaps I could expound on how the Right delights in manipulating voting practices to limit the freedoms of Americans from casting ballots.

Instead, I will focus on the freedom-constraining Project 2025 manifesto prepared by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank which has advised Republican leadership since Reagan. Project 2025 is a game plan for how to reduce American freedoms in favor of reshaping American government and consolidating even more power into a Trump presidency.

The limits on our freedoms described in Project 2025 are numerous. Some highlights include:

The freedom of government worker protections is diminished due to civil service “reforms”, which make it easier for the executive branch of government to fire career employees and replace them with MAGA sycophants.

The freedom to educate our children within a pluralistic society is curtailed when educational access and content is dictated by a narrow and intolerant political perspective.

The freedom to live on the healthiest planet possible declines when environmental regulations are abated by climate change deniers.

The freedom of LGBTQ+ citizens, who are just as American as the rest of us, is belittled in healthcare, employment, and education by a constricted viewpoint of who is worthy and who is not.

The freedom of speech is threatened by policy efforts to alter Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 and other media policies.

I could go on. It is safe to say that Project 2025 limits the tradition of American governance to a perspective adhered to by a minority segment of the country’s populace. Giving this much leeway to minority opinion is unreasonable, excessive, and outrageous. We lose freedoms under this MAGA scheme. We do not gain freedoms.

Extreme socialism would also limit our individual freedoms, because such governments are run by a small band of “experts”. MAGA replicates this flaw through their my-way-or-the-highway approach to governance.

MAGA has become what it resists. It is a threat and a danger worthy of defiance. Like the flag says, “Don’t Tread on Me”.

American Fascism

The term fascism has entered the lexicon of American politics since the rise of Trump and with good reason. Trump’s rhetoric, especially in the last weeks of the 2024 presidential campaign, is not just hinting at fascism, he is full-on embracing it.

Perhaps a definition of fascism is in order. It is a political, social, and cultural expression of ultranationalism on the far right of the political spectrum. Its features include totalitarian power, forceful restraint of opposition, and a vigorous reordering of society and the economy. What is being described here is antithetical not only to American tradition but also to individual freedom, an alleged value of the MAGA movement.

A hallmark of fascism is its anti-immigration stance. Being xenophobic, fascists view immigrants as a risk to national identity and cultural purity justifying suppressive policies and rhetorical and sometimes violent persecution of immigrants. In a nation of immigrants, such as America, extreme nationalism can become anathema to our self-image and foundation as a people.

The MAGA crowd falls into two camps when they respond to charges that they have become a fascist movement. One reaction is to own the label by vehemently accepting it as a necessary kick in the pants that America needs. The other is an eye-rolling rebuttal that the left is overreacting and that Trump should not be taken so seriously.

The first group can be written off as hopelessly anti-democratic. However, the second cohort, which I think is the much larger of the two, deserves to be confronted for their indifferent or unconcerned attitude regarding their candidate. Let’s do so by taking a look at some of Trump’s recent statements (from among many) concerning immigration during the presidential debate, an interview, and from one of his ponderous rallies.

In September there were the claims that Haitian immigrants, who lived legally in Springfield, OH, were eating residents’ pets. This led to closed schools, bomb threats, and a plea from Republican mayor Rob Rue in response to Trump’s stated desire to visit Springfield, “should he choose to change his plans, it would convey a significant message of peace to the city of Springfield.”

On October 11 at a MAGA rally in Aurora, CO referring to Venezuelan immigrants Trump said, “We have to live with these animals, but we won’t live with them for long,” Incidentally, a person in the crowd shouted in response: “Kill them!”

At that same rally Trump pledged to “invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.” This Act authorizes the US government to capture and deport foreign nationals who are associated with countries with which the US is at war. Trump went on to refer to immigrants as, “very very very sick with highly contagious disease, and they’re let into our country to infect our country.”

On October 13 with Fox News, while speaking with the ever-fawning Maria Bartiromo, Trump warned about “the enemy from within…we have some very bad people, we have some sick people, radical left lunatics…. And it should be easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military.”

To cap it off are comments from former Joint Chief of Staff General Mark Milley as recorded by Bob Woodward in his latest book. Milley, who worked directly with Trump when he was president, says Trump is “fascist to the core” and “Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.”

Fascism reared its ugly head in the United States during the 1930s and is now back for a repeat engagement. True American patriots should fully resist it unlike the faux patriots who either adopt fascism or are complicit with it occurring. The most immediate action patriotic Americans can take is to not vote for Trump on November 5. Let’s join in sending a message to Trump and the fascists among us that America will remain a democracy and that authoritarianism has no place in our country.

Idealism’s Troublesome Weakness

Posted on September 15, 2024September 15, 2024 by Bill Ryan

A fascinating philosophical school of thought posits that reality can only be determined by a mind. An observer with enough sentience to at the very least sense, and in more sophisticated instances perceive its environment, is required for any reality to exist at all according to this view. Idealism stands in stark contrast to realism, the notion that a reality prevails “out there” and does not require an observer exercising some degree of mentality in order to substantiate the existence of this reality.

This tug-of-war between idealism and realism has been among the dominant debates in philosophy for centuries. One big reason it persists is because realism seems to be consistent with common sense, at least how the western world defines reasonableness. We seem to grow up with a feeling that the world we inhabit was here before we were born and will be here after we die. Our lives may impact the world to greater or lesser degrees, but any influence we may have will pale in significance to the universe “as it is”.

When I gaze upon Mount Kearsarge, a three-thousand-foot peak near my home in New Hampshire, I am quite sure it looks similar to how other people now see it. I also believe it looked pretty much the same in the nineteenth century and will look the same after I die when my mind ceases to be a fundamental feature of what was my life. Mount Kearsarge appears to be a very concrete example of an element of objective external reality. To think otherwise stretches imagination too far.

Idealism, on the other hand, challenges the conventional wisdom of realism by telling us that there is no observer-independent reality. Without our minds how can we claim there is a universe rich in detail that has always been there, at least since the Big Bang? All of reality from salamanders to stars necessitates mental observation to behold their being. It is hard to argue against the idea that mind is core to any understanding of reality.

However, the big problem I and many others see idealism running into is the charge of solipsism. The history of philosophy does not look kindly upon solipsism. Viewed objectively, solipsism refers to the claim that our individual mind or consciousness is all we can be certain of as real. Anything outside of our own personal perceptions cannot be proven to actually exist. Note how solipsism sounds similar to if not analogous to idealism as I’ve described it. Where solipsism provokes consternation is when it is seen as justifying extreme egocentricity and self-absorption. There is a point among us humans in which self-preoccupation to the exclusion of all others is considered unhealthy.

Therefore, proponents of idealism who insist full reliance on the mind is the way to best understand reality must confront the charge that their viewpoint ignores or even rejects the legitimacy of mentality within the collective of other individuals. If it is impossible to prove that others outside of oneself exist, then social cooperation and moral behavior become unnecessary. In a solipsistic world objective reality can be disregarded and individuals can give themselves permission to indulge in pure subjectivity only. It is easy to see how such a belief can lead to many social ills.

For idealism to become more mainstream and less arcane it needs to account for the fact that a prevalent and customary reality is shared among many individuals. There is much that we individuals detect in common and simultaneously which leads us to believe there is an external world. Now if the world is truly just a cerebral phenomenon or illusion how can it be that so many recognize similar worldly features and events?

Realism does not struggle with this fundamental problem. To realists there is us and there is the external world which we grasp through our senses. But is it really that simple? Are we nothing more than stimuli prone organisms limited by our sensorial capacities, but also thankfully enhanced by an ability to reason? Perhaps.

That said, idealism suggests that we are more than augmented amoebas with brains. It hints at a grander potential we have to reveal and act within a multifaceted universe that is much more than sensual. Our minds are certainly breathtaking. Our minds, more than our eyes, are the gateways to the soul and to the essence of the universe. To still be answered though is why does my mind appear to be similar to your mind and if that is indeed the case, then what is it that binds our consciousnesses?

Tips for Escaping Career Stagnation and Finding a New Role

Posted on August 25, 2024August 26, 2024 by Bill Ryan

Guest essayist Leslie Campos of Well Parents is back with another timely career piece!

Photo by Freepik

Feeling stuck in a career can be a frustrating experience. When day-to-day work no longer brings satisfaction or a sense of progress, it might be time to explore new opportunities. Taking steps toward a career change can feel overwhelming, but with the right approach, it’s possible to transition smoothly into something more fulfilling.

Reflect and Realign Your Core Competencies

Before diving into the job market, take a moment to deeply analyze your existing skills, interests, and values. Understanding what motivates you at a fundamental level is the first step toward a rewarding career change. Reflect on what aspects of your current job you enjoy and which tasks you would rather avoid. By recognizing your strengths and preferences, you can better target career opportunities that not only utilize your skills but also ignite your passion.

Set Clear and Achievable Career Objectives

Once you have a solid understanding of your professional desires, it’s essential to define clear goals for your career transition. Determine the specific roles and industries that intrigue you, and set realistic long-term objectives. Whether you’re drawn to the creative freedom of the digital arts or the analytical rigor of financial services, having a clear vision will guide your efforts and help you stay focused on your ultimate career aspirations.

Advance Through Education

Pursuing a degree related to your career aspirations can dramatically expand your possibilities. For example, if you work in healthcare but need a change of scenery, engaging in online healthcare degree programs like a master of health administration concentrating on compliance and policy or business administration opens a variety of professional doors in the healthcare sector. The convenience of online programs enables you to balance your studies with work commitments, allowing you to upgrade your education and facilitate a stable transition.

Explore New Career Opportunities

Investigating new career fields is more than browsing job listings; it involves a comprehensive understanding of the industry’s landscape. Research the demand for various roles in your desired field, the skills required for success, and the potential for growth and advancement. This knowledge will not only help you match your skills and interests to the right job but also enable you to enter your new career with realistic expectations and a clear path forward.

Seek Guidance Through Coaching

Working with a career coach or mentor can provide invaluable support as you navigate the complexities of a career change. These professionals offer personalized advice, helping you overcome challenges and make informed decisions. A mentor who is well-established in your target field can provide insights that are not readily available through general research, enhancing your ability to successfully transition into your new career.

Cultivate Patience and Persistence

The path to a successful career change is rarely straightforward or quick. Embrace patience and maintain a persistent mindset, focusing on incremental progress and learning from any setbacks. Each step forward, no matter how small, is a part of your journey toward a more fulfilling professional life. Celebrate these milestones to stay motivated and committed to your new career path.

Consider Entry-Level Opportunities

Be prepared to step into entry-level positions, internships, or volunteer roles if necessary. These opportunities can be invaluable for gaining practical experience, building your professional network, and understanding the inner workings of your new industry from the ground up. While it might mean starting a few rungs lower on the ladder, these positions are often essential stepping stones to higher-level roles.

Changing careers is a courageous step toward aligning your professional life with your aspirations. By carefully planning your transition, seeking appropriate educational opportunities, and leveraging professional advice, you can navigate your way out of a career rut and into a role that brings you satisfaction and success. Remember, the journey might be challenging, but the rewards of pursuing a career that truly reflects your passions and abilities are immeasurable.

Discover more insightful perspectives on culture, politics, philosophy, and career development at Bill Ryan Writings.

Handling the Biggest Resume Red Flags

Posted on July 25, 2024 by Bill Ryan

A long standing concern involving employment transitions is mitigating the harmful effects of any red flags on your resume. Of course, we want to accentuate positives about ourselves as potential employees on our resumes, but sometimes risky content cannot be avoided. Such possible liabilities need to be managed instead.

There are three significant red flags that often have to be managed effectively by the job seeker. These are long gaps of being unemployed, job hopping, and unplanned departures, especially from the most recent jobs. Potential employers rightly have concerns about all three of these situations and to assuage their worries during any interview or pre-selection process the job seeker needs to be prepared to respond in a favorable manner to each one.

Let’s take a look at how to manage these red flags:

Employment gaps are suspect more than they usually are these days because of the robust availability of jobs in recent years. The perception to be confronted is that there could well be a deficiency with the candidate preventing them from getting hired.

There could be valid reasons for one or more employment gaps. Perhaps you needed to be a caregiver or you were seeking training and development. In cases like these be ready to demonstrate how you have been concerned to not let your professional skills atrophy and to show ways you have stayed engaged, whether through contracting, consulting, volunteering, learning, or through some other meaningful activities.

Another route, which may be close to the truth but difficult to explain, is to disclose your scrupulousness regarding selecting employment. Your claim could be that you are so completely committed to directing your time and energy to an employer who is the best fit that sometimes it takes a long while to find the right job. You are showing that in part the gap(s) are intentional and a result of your own thoroughness and attentiveness. Done well, this approach can leave interviewers thinking you may be dedicated and steadfast.

Choosing this tactic during an interview presents an opportunity for you to explain how you see attributes contained in the job description and with the company or organization in general which align with your career goals and the demands of the employer. In other words, you are converting the interview to a negotiation and demonstrating your strength and capacity to take ownership for your decision making instead of meekly trying to explain away the employment gap.

Job hopping, or the practice of holding many relatively short term jobs over time, can leave the impression that the worker lacks commitment and stability. Is this capriciousness rooted in low quality performance, an inability to get along with colleagues and management, or a psychological eccentricity that may be a mismatch for a tightly run organization? These are negative stereotypes with serious potential to diminish your chances of getting hired.

As with employment gaps mentioned above, in order to mitigate negative opinions potential employers may have it is necessary for you to take ownership of the situation and to emphasize the positive aspects multiple jobs has provided to your value proposition. You may choose to utilize the approach mentioned above concerning your continued diligence to find the right employment fit and how difficult it has been to do so. Admitting a degree of regret may also be appropriate. However, as soon as possible reframe the conversation to mentioning the benefits you have received from these numerous experiences.

For example, consider highlighting the breadth of professional improvement you have gained due to your interactions with many different management styles and work environments. This can be further amplified when you can pinpoint specific accomplishments and performance successes you realized from across this range of employment occurrences. Attempt to leave your interviewers with the feeling that you made the best of this varied work history.

An unplanned departure from a job, especially the most recent one, can be another problematic predicament that needs to be confronted thoughtfully. It is reasonable to expect that most interviewers will think job search candidates would not voluntarily leave a position before searching for another job. Their next thoughts could very well be that the candidate was either fired or laid off or quit prematurely.

Heading off such default thoughts is obviously necessary for someone wanting to be seriously considered for a position. Here too, stressing the reality of the occurrence with transparency and in the most positive light possible should be the strategy. Chances are the unplanned departure transpired over something negative. Despite that, it is important to not dwell on any despondency or badmouth the manager who initiated the departure.

Rather, concentrate on communicating what lessons were learned and what accomplishments were obtained. Also, this may be an opportunity to point out what the most advantageous working environments are for you and how this past position did not entirely meet these standards. Again, try to keep your demeanor positive. By doing so you are demonstrating to the interview team an ability to remain upbeat even in the face of an unpleasant topic.

Giving consideration to these responses I have presented concerning resume red flags should assist you in tackling difficult subjects while enhancing your career’s future.

Develop Your Career Agility

Posted on May 28, 2024 by Bill Ryan

We often hear about the virtue of agility as both a requirement to achieve business success and as a needed worker trait when navigating a career during a time of flux. Knowing how to advantageously manage change is considered smart and profitable. Many however, may wonder how exactly agility is to be practiced. Is it just a matter of adopting a new mindset or are there specific actions that need to be taken? What follows are my thoughts on agility in the context of career development for the individual worker.

Yes, mentally shifting away from habitual rigidity and unchallenged assumptions is a good place to start. It can help to adopt a heuristic such as the SMART goals model to guide and gauge your agility practice. To review, SMART is an acronym for change actions that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. Bringing order and a degree of simplification to the decision-making process will improve your ability to adapt.

Beyond these beginning measures it is advisable to be aware of market, industry, and professional trends which will impact your career. These trends will be relatively temporal, so tuning in regularly to the twists and turns of work-related currents is an approach best integrated into your professional practice. To illustrate, let us examine some general contemporary proclivities in the 2024 world of work worthy of consideration when career planning.

The old career rules or conventions are changing. It has been old news for a while that rarely do workers spend their entire careers with a single employer anymore like the Boomers did. But the change does not stop there. The combination of advanced communications and analytic technology combined with a shifting ethic regarding work/life balance has disrupted the traditional relationship between employer and employee. In short, valued talent has a leg up on demanding concessions from employers yearning to keep them in-house for as long as possible.

For example, management has been getting the message that the cost burden placed on employees to work is increasingly being viewed as unacceptable. Traditionally, it has always been the responsibility of workers to absorb certain costs to remain employed, such as commuting, child care, and housing expenses. One of the consequences of the pandemic has been for workers to realize that these costs are a liability not sufficiently covered by the compensation they receive. A corresponding recognition is that productivity for many positions does not diminish when work is performed remotely.

With return to work mandates seen increasingly as an expensive and unnecessary encumbrance on employees, management is beginning to offer cost offsets such as housing subsidies, caregiver benefits, student loan assistance, and even financial literacy programs. The hope is that such initiatives will retain high quality employees.

Some employers are also becoming more agreeable to flex time arrangements. Taking extended work breaks for family reasons, delaying retirement, returning from retirement, working part time temporarily, job sharing, and other individualized deals are becoming more common. In general, management sees the need to make it simpler and more desirable for talent to stay or return from leaves.

Another trend which we have heard a lot about over the past year and a half is the onset of Artificial Intelligence and how it will both improve and devastate our jobs. AI will undoubtedly change the employment landscape in ways that practically scream for workers to be agile. I think it is safe to say that job refashioning will be a multi-year trend that is underway as we speak due to AI. One consultant who is an expert on future of work issues predicts that AI will intervene in up to 70% of text and data-laden jobs by 2025, which is up from under 10% in 2023.

Anticipating and preparing for AI’s influence in your profession would seem to be the understatement of the year. As companies and individual contributors figure our how to best leverage AI’s potential while mitigating its downsides, all of us need to find that career sweet spot between over-hyping AI’s consequences and ignoring its likely effects.

Hopefully, this gives you some practical ideas to contemplate when making career plans for an unpredictable future. Workforce disruption is likely to be significant in the near term. Exercising agility is a key component of what should be your preparedness regimen.

Being Valued on the Job

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Bill Ryan

So here you are putting the best you have into a job you have had for several years. The compensation is decent, but not great. However, other of your work preferences are in place such as hybrid work settings, respectable collogues, manageable work volume, and most importantly you are largely able to exercise your strengths with minimal time spent on dealing with your weak areas. On balance, it is a good job, which is why you have stuck with it this long.

But as time has gone on you find yourself wondering if your bosses really care about you. You recognize that positive feedback is important to you. Confirmation of some sort is desired in order for you to continue putting your maximum effort into this endeavor. The fact that you are questioning this at all seems to be an indication something is lacking in the rapport you have with management. Yet, you just can’t put your finger on what is missing. It leaves you feeling somewhat unfulfilled with your job.

We can look at workplaces as falling into two possible camps which I will call the traditional camp and the emotive camp. The traditional workplace has an inherent expectation that employees are there to follow the direction of management — period. Employees either fit into this assumption or they don’t. It is not the job of the employee to question the instructions they are given. If they have issue with management decisions, then the the door is just over there. The message is to shut up and do your job.

The emotive camp on the other hand is characterized by a management style that believes employees need to be heard and respected. This stems from an ethic which attaches value to having the workplace be a place of learning, adaptability, and growth. This style of manager sees the incursion of contemporary business trends like globalization, technological change such as artificial intelligence, and consumers desiring personalized brand loyalty as game changing requiring employees who can function effectively in this new normal.

As an employee it is appropriate to ask yourself which of these camps is best suited for you. In some situations and for certain personality types the traditional culture may be fine. It offers a hierarchical structure with little ambiguity concerning whose place belongs to whom. However, for increasingly more employees, especially from the Millennial and Zoomer (Gen Z) generations, top-down my-way-or-the-highway supervision is unlikely to attract and retain the talent needed to meet the demands of today’s consumers.

What are some specific practices we can expect from managers in an emotive workplace? Margaret Rogers, a business consultant with a “human-centered methods” focus cites several ways. It begins with managers accepting as a priority the need to understand their employees at a more personal level than was expected in the past. The goal is to merge conditions which accentuate optimal employee performance with the needs of the organization. It is assumed each employee has career wishes aligned with related learning goals. Arranging these objectives such that company and employees both benefit can reduce turnover.

A resiliency must be worked into the decision making process of both manager and employee so that shifts can be made which satisfy fulfillment of on-the-job opportunities. Managers must have the flexibility to make good on the matches they find to bring about enhanced employee to organization interactions. As an employee, you can feel your contributions matter to the degree that you are upskilled in ways you want to be.

Integrating varied on-the-job occasions can broaden the range of skills employees develop while also expanding the talent pool from which organizations can draw as needed. Additionally, as with any high quality learning setting, superior communication among all stakeholders is required. Constant feedback, like constant data, is useful for fine-tuning the improvements all parties rightly demand.

An emotive workplace is often an organization that puts out a product or service in an always competitive marketplace. This culture realizes that by being a learning organization and sensitive to employees’ hopes they are more likely to have an employee base committed to adaptable people management.

We left you earlier wondering why your current job is leaving you feeling unaccomplished. Maybe the above analysis will help you determine where the rub may be occurring. And if you decide a change needs to happen, don’t put it off for too long. Lasting improvements are sweeter in the near term rather than indefinitely delayed.

Consciousness Considered

Posted on April 25, 2024May 3, 2024 by Bill Ryan

It is like something to be me.

It is like something to be you.

But I will never know you as you know you.

And you can never know me as I know me.

We share with our fellow humans limited access and a narrow degree of understanding of our own private and unique realities. As best as we can determine, we each carry our own singular sense of self — our own subjective existences. In fact, I can only speak for myself in making such a declaration. I can only assume you exist within your own subjective self, one which is largely similar to my own. Still, I can never know for sure. I am unable to peer into, never mind climb into, your experience, your feelings, your manner of thinking. We are like members of an archipelago, separate but united communally.

Consciousness is that mysterious and miraculous continuance, that profound set of impressions we encounter as a consequence of being alive. It is as fundamental to our experience of reality as is the awareness of our own body. One could think that something so elemental to our identity must be generally well understood given the amount of investigation so many have done simply by living various levels of examined lives over so many millennia.

However, consciousness is not thoroughly understood within a widely accepted theory. There is no universally agreed upon principle or law which fully explains its generation and sustenance. No highly esteemed philosopher or scientist has revealed the immutably true and comprehensive nature of consciousness. Conventional wisdom suggests we all experience consciousness, but beyond that, those who ponder and speculate about the etiology of such an esoteric yet personal topic like consciousness are not in agreement about its causation, meaning, or purpose.

For many of us, there comes a time in our lives in which find ourselves motivated to consider how it is we have the mind we have — to think about how we think. This involves a meta-cognition or self-analysis of how we think, and by extension, how we also feel and behave. We realize that the reach and complexity of our minds is vast leaving us each with enormous potential to live rich lives. When we stop to think about it, I believe most of us conclude that it is truly remarkable that we can perceive such resplendence and fullness through our minds.

I have wondered if I should think about consciousness and mind as synonymous. When listening to and reading the philosophers and scientists discuss consciousness the topic appears twofold. Some do consider mind and consciousness as one in the same, albeit with some nuanced connotational differences at times. Others view consciousness as a realm in and of itself detached from the rational and sensorial mind we use to cope environmentally.

I see consciousness and mind as inseparably linked. Does consciousness beget mind or does mind beget consciousness? Neither. They are one and the same phenomenon, a marvel of the universe. The Logos, or generative spirit, is saying that to be complete All-There-Is must have an observer. We have minds illuminated by consciousness to be this observer.

At least that is what I think. But who am I?

What I am is an observer, a beholder of what is.

Self-discovery motivates.

Let’s look to see what is behind the next door.

This matters because to exist matters. And a big part of existing is to pay attention. We have a mind that allows us to be aware of reality. (Whatever reality is.) For now, I choose to be amazed at what I have spent the better part of lifetime taking for granted. That I can think rationally, feel sensations, have memory, speculate about the future, and notice the present moment is spectacular enough. But to take the position, as I am, that our consciousness, our mindfulness, our self-awareness is a direct bond to the core of universality, spiritualism, and the Logos is audacious but also comforting.

As humans, I believe we have to have faith in something. I say this as someone who has been skeptical, even suspicious, of faith. Faith has connoted dogma, rigidity, and closed mindedness to me. Age has softened this stance. I now see faith as a form of value adoption. Values give us purpose, a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Faith does something similar, perhaps even grander. It can give us a reason to live.

To have faith says we put our heart, mind, and soul into a belief. To be sure, how steadfast we are in our faith depends on incoming data. We have to allow for degrees of malleability regarding our faith. (Something a religious person would probably disagree with.) Nevertheless, resting our convictions on a bed of probability, even believability, is grounding and worth the attachment to certainty — however fleeting it may be.

I have faith in mindfulness, or consciousness as I will refer to it from this point on, as an expression of the sacred. We are born with this capacity to know of ourselves and others. Consciousness presents us with senses and mental ability to comprehend and to interpret. Some say this aptitude is nothing more than an evolutionary result of learning to grapple with survival in a hostile environment since life on this planet began. Or that consciousness is an illusory outcome of neural operations with little more biological significance than walking or digesting. I think consciousness is too majestic an occurrence to be lightly dismissed or rendered mundane. Its place in the universe could be every bit as imposing as material substance, space, time, and electromagnetism.

I seek to know what lessons can be learned concerning consciousness from history. I begin as I have by stating my premise or my belief that consciousness is not accidental or ancillary, but rather exists as a result of a necessary cosmic design born of the Logos, the generative spirit, the spark propagating all that there is. Some may call this originating energy God. And if it were not for the distracting and unsettling anthropomorphizing imagery of religion I would be fine with the label.

Regardless, I pursue an investigation of consciousness from my vantage point as stated for two reasons. One, I want to reveal why I have come to see consciousness as more than a happenstance of biology, but rather as a gateway to the One, the Logos. Secondly, I realize that this topic is voluminous and will occupy much of my remaining years. So, in the the spirit of learning I want to see what more there is to ascertain at this point in time.

Self-awareness, the most individual of perceptions

My mind, my viewpoint, my existence

Universal consciousness, the most inclusive of conceptions

Our minds, our viewpoints, our existences

Speculation on the origins of self-awareness and the nature of consciousness is at least thousands of years old as evidenced by recorded history across a variety of cultures. Undoubtedly, people have pondered the roots of their being and existence for far longer. Whether through the application of knowledge to better cope and thrive within a challenging environment or through deep contemplation and penetrating self-examination during moments of relative peace, humans have considered the existential meaning of life. It is by way of a review of the milestones of philosophic history that we can trace the development of phenomenological or subjective human thought.

I begin this investigation with ancient Indian philosophy. The Upanishads is a scriptural authority comprised of ancient Sanskrit texts composed collectively between circa 800 BCE to circa 200 BCE. The anthology focuses on philosophical and spiritual teachings and guidance. The Upanishads, along with the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras, constitute the Vedanta philosophy, one of the principal schools of Hinduism.

Credit must be given to the Indo-Aryans, an early branch of today’s populations of the Asian sub-continent and the speakers of ancient Sanskrit. They burst forth with a bold and intrepid recognition of and interpretation of consciousness. The Upanishads, a product of the Indo-Aryans, delves extensively into everything philosophical and spiritual from metaphysics to practical guidance for daily living. But one topic it explores keenly is the nature of consciousness.

The Upanishads distinguishes between the universal consciousness, known as Brahman, and the consciousness of the individual or soul, known as Atman. In this tradition, Brahman is true reality and is present everywhere and in everything throughout the universe. Atman is a manifestation of Brahman. The individual consciousness is an expression of the supreme reality. This unity suggests that each person, indeed each particle of the universe, carries within it the divine — the everlasting, pervasive, immutable, and sublime essence of reality.

Establishment of Hinduism relied significantly on The Upanishads. And in turn, Buddhism evolved from Hinduism. However, Buddhism does not identify consciousness as an immutable construct of the self. Indeed, Buddhism does not even recognize the existence of a self as is conventionally done in most other traditions. Rather, Buddhism views consciousness as a churn of internal psychological states of mind and sensory reactions to experiences that lacks permanence or innate substance.

Buddhism tells individuals that consciousness is a quality to be overcome. Meditation teaches us to confront the capriciousness of consciousness head on by not letting its seductive illusion of permanence or its unstable push and pull of impressions occupy our mental states. Since consciousness appears and abates constantly, Buddhism teaches us to let it pass and to not let it define us. Indeed, to transcend consciousness is to become enlightened.

Ancient Chinese philosophy, particularly Daoism, approaches consciousness similarly to the Upanishads in that self-realization is believed to be inextricably linked to the Dao, known as The Way or the foundation of nature. Dao is a similar concept to the universal consciousness of the Indo-Aryans, Brahman. It forms the basis of all individuals’ consciousness. The task in this life for each of us is to be in harmony with the natural rhythm and current of Dao. This is accomplished through a life of dedication, meditation, contemplation, and ethical practice.

The other grand philosophical tradition of ancient China, Confucianism, is less metaphysical or ontological about consciousness. Rather it sees self-awareness and mindfulness as an integral aspect of being human and one that is enhanced through moral practices that encourage strong relationships, sound personal behavior, and social solidarity. Personal growth and development, moral refinement, and social concord are best achieved by devoted individuals each acting on improving the quality of their respective consciousnesses.

The ancient Greek philosophers saw the importance of consciousness emerging as part of their engrossment in metaphysics and ontology (the branch of philosophy concerned with existence and being). As they attempted to understand the nature of the universe and reality, consciousness was seen as integral to the notion of soul, a necessary component of comprehending reality. Plato and Aristotle presented the individual soul as multifaceted with consciousness playing a critical part in the mind’s ability to reason. Reason, perception, and thought were believed to be essential functions to being human and not possible without consciousness.

More recently, the Islamic world also pontificated on the importance of consciousness. The notable hallmark of the Islamic position was to emphasize a linkage between consciousness and the divine. All pervasive reality is equivalent to Allah and consciousness is an expression of Allah. Furthermore, consciousness provides humans with an intellect to better unite with and to celebrate the wonder of Allah or reality. Intellect is seen as a most prominent part of the soul, because through it we can comprehend and appreciate how unified are the ontological truths about the existence of Allah.

I see my dog across the room.

How did the dog come to exist?

What is the story of the dog’s past?

What is the purpose of the dog?

Should I take an action because of the dog?

These questions do not need answers.

These questions do not matter.

All that matters is my experience of seeing my dog across the room.

Plotinus (circa 204-270) was born in Egypt. When he was forty years old Plotinus moved to Rome and there founded a school of philosophy. The philosophy he spawned would become a principal philosophical ideology from the third century to the middle of the seventh century, roughly the time spanning the fall of Rome to the Muslim invasion of Europe at Andalucía. What gave power to this system of thought was that it was an amalgamation or fusion of centuries of pre-Socratic through Aristotelian inquiry that was heavily influenced by Platonism and Stoicism. Today we call this school of the western philosophical tradition Neoplatonism.

The Neoplatonists helped to seal monism as the preferred way to perceive deity or the divine. The One, The First, The Being, The Good, or as the Neoplatonists said, Nous, was paid homage to as the single point of creation, the sole source of all reality. Among the attributes of Nous is the desire to create consciousness. This allows Nous to observe itself, to look both out and in. Out to its emerging reality. Then back in so as to continuously reconnect with its virtuous self. Consciousness is nous insistently and incessantly understanding itself. And a piece of consciousness is carried to each emergent entity within reality, such as ourselves.

Consciousness became a serious rumination of several philosophers in the continental western tradition beginning with Rene Descartes (1596-1650) in the seventeenth century. Descartes legitimized a philosophy of mind, which included consciousness, self-awareness, and soul as a critical non-material “substance” and which is separate in nature from the physical form or body. Underpinning the Cartesian approach to philosophy was his renowned proclamation “Cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). This assertion placed the mind at the essential core of his philosophical inquiry.

However, it was philosophy’s German Idealism movement during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries that elevated and developed consciousness as fundamental in modern philosophy. German Idealism also set up consciousness as worthy of scientific investigation during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This chapter in western philosophy was dominated by two individuals primarily, Kant and Hegel.

During the years between Descartes and the advent of German Idealism, which began with Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), western philosophy had become an intellectual conflict between a reliance on rationalism, based geographically on the European continent, and empiricism, centered in Britain. Rationalism stressed the notion that the innate human capacity to think and to reason was the key to unlocking a comprehension of reality. Precise deductive and mathematical methods rigorously applied would reveal God’s design. In Britain, an alternative to the dependency on reason developed. Empiricism insisted that the knowledge humans needed to understand reality derived primarily from sensory experience. We can only know what the senses detect and to speculate beyond what sensory input displays lacks verification and credibility.

Kant, a native of Prussia, set out to discover a third way, a reconciliation between rationalism and empiricism. This mediation began with Kant’s revelation of the transcendental self. Also known as transcendental idealism, it is a concept placing consciousness at the nexus of the mind’s ability to both reason logically and to detect and to unify sensory experiences. Consciousness is an underlying subjectivity that makes possible all human cognition. It is an inborn and active instrument allowing us to perceive, systematize, and produce knowledge. Yes, we are limited by our mind’s power and potential, but regardless consciousness permits us to be both rationale and empirical in assessing reality. The mind started to stand on center stage across western philosophy more than it ever had before.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), originally from Stuttgart, continued the philosophical work of Kant by again placing consciousness at the nucleus of his idealistic project. Hegel viewed consciousness developmentally beginning with a primary stage that involved raw sense perception. As an individual matures their consciousness expands in sophistication such that thought is more capable of observing ever more keenly, of organizing and categorizing observable content, and of gaining more self-identification. In time, the mind progresses to think abstractly and realize global premises and fundamentals. Hegel claims that the ultimate stage of consciousness is when it accepts unity with what he called the absolute spirit, a concept akin to understanding universal principles.

Hegel’s absolute spirit is the peak of the consciousness pyramid, in which the consciousness of each person becomes conjoined and all-pervasive reaching a level of fundamentalism and universality that explains reality inclusively such that history, culture, and the collective energy of all individuals’ consciousnesses is engaged. There is a strong resemblance of the Indo-Aryan’s Brahman or universal consciousness in Hegel’s absolute spirit. This culmination of consciousness according to Hegel results in each person having a clearer self-understanding, an awareness of their place within their culture and the world, and a firmer knowledge about universal truth and reality.

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938), an Austrian-German, brought structure to a philosophy of consciousness, which had actually been practiced for centuries, but which did not have a distinct name. Phenomenology is the label Husserl chose. He defined this philosophy as “the science of the essence of consciousness”. By this, Husserl concentrated on first-person and subjective experiences as of fundamental importance. And crucial to this view is that consciousness necessarily functions with intentionality. What we see, hear, imagine, think, feel, wish, desire, will, or act upon involves external objects of our attention. Consciousness does not exist in isolation. It is a consciousness of something. It is how we make meaning of our world.

Phenomenology motivated a multitude of philosophical and psychological writers to explore the notion of first-person experience well into the twentieth century. Examples include the pragmatic approach of American William James (1842-1910), who saw consciousness as a continuous and shifting stream of perceptions designed to allow us to adjust to our environments; the British mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947), noted for theorizing that consciousness or subjectivity exists in all entities of the cosmos; and the French existentialists Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986), who emphasized the ultimate conscious freedom inherent in each person to authentically and meaningfully exist as they choose in the face of the outpouring of perils life throws at us.

“The brain is locked in total darkness, of course children”, says the voice. “It floats in a clear liquid inside the skull, never in the light. And yet the world it constructs in the mind is full of light. It brims with color and movement. So how, children, does the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build for us a world full of light?“

Anthony Doerr from All the Light We Cannot See

In 1994 at the University if Arizona a conference was convened entitled, “Toward a Science of Consciousness”. Dr. Stuart Hameroff, an anesthesiologist and psychologist, and Dr. David Chalmers, a philosopher and cognitive scientist, invited a multidisciplinary group of researchers and scholars to share knowledge regarding the constitution of consciousness. Intellectuals and academics from fields as diverse as neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, computer science, physics, and anthropology met for five days to unpack five consciousness related themes:

Neural Correlates of Consciousness
Philosophical Perspectives
Consciousness and Quantum Physics
Altered States of Consciousness
Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness

No such conference had ever been held before. “Toward a Science of Consciousness” ushered in the contemporary study of consciousness that is continuing to this day. The Science of Consciousness conference, as it is now called, is an annual event at The Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. As the title of the conference suggests, science and philosophy are now conjoined in the modern approach to consciousness studies. This fusion could be seen as an advancement of sorts. Up until then science, with possibly a few exceptions, had a mostly hands-off approach to consciousness. Science seemed content to leave the topic in the hands of philosophy and religion.

The historic gap between science and philosophy regarding consciousness was best encapsulated by David Chalmers at the 1994 conference when he distinguished between the Hard Problem of Consciousness and the “easy problems” of consciousness. By easy problems he was referring to the successes of neurology and psychology in discovering how neural networks and cognitive functions had been identified to explain mental operations such as perception, focus, and memory. But what science and philosophy had not yet done was to explain how physical mechanisms of the brain could yield subjective experiences and sensations, in other words what it is like to be me and you. That is the Hard Problem. Solving the easy problems has not yielded the intrinsic nature of consciousness.

What Chalmers is describing is the latest in a long line of versions of what is known as the mind-body problem. Since at least Plato and Aristotle philosophers and other thinkers have pondered and theorized about consciousness/mind/soul and its relationship to the physical or material body. Conjecture ranges across a span from consciousness being a by-product of physical processes in the brain to mind and body being comprised of different qualities able to exist side by side. In short, this is a physicalism-dualism spectrum. There remains no consensus as to a solution of the mind-body problem.

There is, however, one approach that may offer hope to resolving the issue of whether consciousness emanates from physical activity such as brain functions or if it co-exists separately but in tandem with the body. Panpsychism is a theory which may mediate between physicalism and its inability to precisely explain the emergence of consciousness from bodily material and dualism which does not satisfy our need to know how mind and matter truly interact. Panpsychism proposes that consciousness or mentality is intrinsic to and a basic characteristic of the universe. Each entity or being in the universe possesses within its core a degree of sentience, an element of subjectivity. If this were true, dualism as a concept would become inoperative and physicalism would lose its catalytic power to generate consciousness.

“There ain’t any answer, there ain’t going to be any answer, there never has been any answer, that’s the answer.”

Gertrude Stein from Brewsie and Willie

I expressed earlier on in this piece an inclination toward having faith in the sacredness of consciousness. This belief is reinforced as I review my historic summary of subjective awareness. In particular, certain episodes of this consciousness analysis over the ages resonate with me more acutely than others. Intellect and emotion are sparked by some of these descriptions to such a degree that I am left to feel, “That sounds right. This makes sense. I think this could be true.” I accept that my truth may be at odds with your truth. Absolute truths, assuming they exist, are surprisingly elusive. We may have to agree to disagree. If so, that is fine.

When I read in The Upanishads about the account of Brahman, the universal consciousness, and Atman, the individual’s consciousness, then I nod my head in agreement. Contemplating the Dao as the cornerstone of nature and of all consciousness resonates with me. I accept the notion put forth and explored by Plato and Aristotle, and later picked up by the Christians, that we have a soul, which may very well be consciousness, mentality, mind, and spiritual awareness all rolled into one. Yes, the Neoplatonists were onto something when declaring consciousness as a means for The One to reflect upon itself. And the German idealists were shrewd to recognize the total necessity of mind or awareness as a means to understanding reality.

At present, I am left asking myself, what is it that really grabs my attention and imagination from the times we are now living? What will occupy the consciousness branch of my philosophical studies for the foreseeable future? At this point in my learning I see the following schools of thought as warranting the greatest attention and consideration — the ongoing speculative influences of phenomenology, idealism, and panpsychism. My interest in contemporary philosophy is centered on phenomenology, idealism, and panpsychism because they all bring what I see to be different, but related and valuable perspectives on the origins, impact, and reach of consciousness.

Phenomenology is immensely rewarding in accepting as substantial the ephemeral but precious conception of sentient experience. Phenomenology provides a permission structure for modern people to not be so tightly wedded to science as consciousness is examined, but to instead accept that the first person viewpoint carries significant weight, even if the origins of subjectivity cannot be definitively explained by science or by any other empirical method. The effect of phenomenology remains profound as we consider the connection between the self and reality. By exploring the foundations of lived experience we are able to get a more full picture of what human existence and reality are.

Idealism is philosophy’s way of saying the mind is preeminent in perceiving reality and all physicalism or materialist interpretations of reality are at least subordinate to mentality, if not otherwise hopelessly misguided. Idealism is a radical, but largely plausible attempt to challenge realism. Realism states that there exists a reality out there which is independent of our minds. According to idealism, our Cartesian brainwashing leaves most of us convinced that realism is true. But idealism, with its emphasis on the supremacy of mentality, and by extension consciousness, leads us to think otherwise. Philosopher Thelma Lavine puts it this way, “Idealism holds that ultimate reality is mental and that seemingly monumental things such as material objects are reducible to the ideas of consciousness or mind.”

In short, panpsychism represents a sea change in how the contemplation of consciousness is now taking place. Thanks to the panpsychist view, gone are the days of a wholly revered physicalism which at best could say that consciousness was the result of material processes not involving consciousness, as in neural activity. Instead, it is becoming more accepted among philosophers to think of human and animal consciousness as comprised of, or at least influenced by, more fundamental iterations of consciousness — a form of reductionism, if you will. The mind-body distinction has taken the study of consciousness to an impasse. Panpsychism may be a way for us to escape the cul-de-sac.

This summation of consciousness as viewed philosophically is a developing venture on my part. I will not be surprised to have shifted my way of thinking about it sooner rather than later. That said, my core interest in this topic and my reverence for the miracle of consciousness will not abate. Indeed, I will cling to and try to comprehend my consciousness as I do my life itself — as if they were one in the same.

Workplace Culture Caution

Posted on March 27, 2024March 27, 2024 by Bill Ryan

Workplace culture unfolds to be what it is due to interactions of several influences. Included among these affects are how leadership and managerial styles project specific decision-making approaches, the modes of communication present, and guidance behaviors displayed by management and mentors. In addition, organizations may attempt to adhere to mission statements or other codified value declarations to drive operations, policies, and procedures. Workspace design can also matter when assessing the safety, comfort, and efficiency of the workplace. Further, diversity and inclusion, learning and development, and work-life balance initiatives can make a difference in employee attitudes.

All of these factors are important, but I will argue that the quality of employee engagement internally within their workplace and especially among each other’s colleagues is chief among the impacts shaping workplace culture.

Workers in an organization or business typically make up the bulk of bodies at the workplace. For any establishment to be successful several conditions must be evident among the members of this cohort. We know that the type of work being performed must feel meaningful and purposeful; that there are prospects for career growth or advancement; that positive and productive behaviors are recognized and reinforced; that employees feel a significant degree of empowerment and autonomy to make their own decisions; and that workers feel transparency and fairness is always evident in how decisions are made and performance evaluated.

The collective psychology of employees plays a crucial role in whether organizational prosperity is achieved or not. But workers should not expect managers to be the sole kingpins of whether their progress is favorable or not. Sure, poor leadership can sink the ship. However, workers themselves are also critical to workplace positivity, or lack thereof.

Poor or even dysfunctional workplace culture results from a series of mishaps and inadequate calculations caused by management or workers or a combination of the two. But it is the workers I want to stay focused on at this time. In particular, I want to address the phenomenon of a workplace culture that is misguided psychologically with the cause originating from the employees themselves.

I will use an example from my own professional past to help make my point. I worked for many years in an environment that praised egalitarianism. Equity was baked into system. We bargained for contracts collectively. There was no compensation differential between men and women. Unionism was strong. To be clear, I think these are all great traits and would not trade any of them away. But this equity-based culture produced an unintended liability that to my knowledge has never been resolved.

Workers largely prided themselves on staying in their own work lane — working collaboratively at times, but mostly performing a solo function that required a lot of stamina. We were all pulling oars, which meant we needed to work mechanistically. To have someone stray off course because they wanted to be too creative, or too much of a leader, or too, well, different in the way that they wanted to handle their job, then the mainstream raised their shackles. Questions of, ‘Who-do-they-think-they-are?’ and ‘Looks-to-me-like-they’re-trying-to-suck-up-to-management?’ began to get buzzed about.

Homogeneity was culturally rewarded. Divergence and distinction were not. Inbred psychological unsafety and insecurity had too much of a hold on the group. There are many other scenarios that embody cultural breakdown. The journey to worker psychological unsafety can come a number of different ways.

So, once a consensus of stakeholders recognize there is a problem, how then best to remedy it? One suggestion is for the workforce to consider adoption of an agile mindset. Let me explain. About twenty years ago a group of software development engineers instituted an Agile Manifesto, which they believed would strengthen an organization’s ability to produce. Agility was their reaction against an overly bureaucratic and rigid process which they claimed slowed production and innovation. Being agile meant introducing flexibility and adaptability to the process, leading to greater invention and dynamism.

The agile movement has since found applications in many other areas of operations, including HR, sales, customer service, project management, employee management, and elsewhere. The changed frame of mind an agile approach ushers in has demonstrated value and it can as well in employee-to-employee relations.

Among the benefits an agile process brings is to address how to handle internal conflicts within the group so that each group member can function efficiently and securely. What is encouraged is open communication, give and take, question and answer, working the problem, and acting and reacting with respect for each participant and the process. What is discouraged is staying rooted in unchanging and low-production practices and in censoring one another. The anticipated outcome is a shift to a workplace of high psychological safety and greater production.

The scaffolding necessary to transition to a cultural change of this magnitude is beyond the scope of this essay. However, for many workplaces it can happen and needs to happen. A workplace saturated in creativity, managed risk, and mutual regard beats a workplace steeped in fear and survival any day of the week.

Meta Cities: Repurposing Where We Live and Work

Posted on February 27, 2024 by Bill Ryan

Harvard Business Review recently released a 2023 talent management piece by Richard Florida from the University of Toronto and Vladislav Boutenko, Antoine Vetrano, and Sara Saloo, all with Boston Consulting Group, entitled The Rise of the Meta City. Their thesis reveals an emerging development in the evolving work-from-home (WFH) paradigm that is novel and worth considering as we envision the future of both our careers and where to become a resident.

It is no secret that mobility-enhancing technologies combined with the face to face limitations wrought by the Pandemic resulted in a rapid expansion of remote work. From approximately 6% of the American workforce working remotely in 2019 to 18% by 2021 shows how briskly the phenomenon swelled. A recent BCG survey from August 2023 indicates that only 7% of companies require full time return to work whereas 8% of companies have discarded offices completely. This means the vast majority of business are operating with some form of hybrid working.

A consequence of the proliferation of WFH employment is that many more digitally-centric employees are choosing to live outside of the traditional commute radius from their employers’ offices. With customary commutes being curtailed, workers are incentivized to look at residential options in areas that are more affordable and which feature a higher quality of life. For example, a LinkedIn study identified small to mid-sized cities receiving WFH transplants such as Springfield, MA, Tallahassee, FL, Portland, OR, College Station, TX, and Wenatchee, WA. Some locations actually offer cash incentives for WFH employees to move there like Tulsa, OK and Perry County, IN.

This realignment of workers from office to home and from employer-based cities to increasingly distant residential locations is starting to reveal patterns. A significant new template emerging is the rise of what Florida et al call the “Meta City”. Initially, it is helpful to think of meta cities as not entirely fixed geographically. The old inner city to suburb to exurb to rural model is not applicable here. Rather, the dimensions of the meta city extend from a major economic hub city to a host of far flung smaller cities in other parts of the country or globe. Modern telecommunications technology and talent flows allow for cities which may be geographically separate to operate as distinct units economically.

Some examples are called for to better visualize this spectacle. New York City is a top-dog economic hub in a number of industries, but most importantly in the finance sector. Financial talent flows into and out of NYC most measurably with other American cities like Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Washington, DC, and Atlanta, among others. This hub and satellite configuration comprises a finance meta city. London, too, is major finance hub with Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, and Cambridge serving as financial talent satellites. San Francisco is a principal technology hub city connected to smaller, but also tech heavy cities like Austin, Seattle, Boston, and San Diego.

The concept of talent flow is crucial to an understanding of the growth of meta cities. The flow of talented employees refers to physical mobility of people among the cities of the meta unit and also to remote contributions made by talent within the unit. To illustrate, Emily retains employment with Company A in New York, but chooses to live and work from Miami because of the high cost of living in New York and its long winters. Jason also works at Company A in New York where he intentionally lives because he loves the vibrancy of the city, and from there collaborates with Emily on a daily basis as part of a development team.

Although Florida et al do not refer to rural living, presumably the meta cities are speckled with geographically dispersed talent who “work” inside of meta cities, but live in a variety of non-urban locations.

Meta cities are an interesting outgrowth of the remote working trend, a glimpse into how the new generations choose to live and work, and also how the economy of the twenty-first century is coming into its own.

Knowing When It Is Time for a New Job

Posted on January 25, 2024 by Bill Ryan

It is common for a worker to know at different times throughout their working years that they have hit a rut. Their energy is leaking, enthusiasm is waning, anxieties are building, and performance is suffering. Questions arise in the self-dialogue pointing to serious doubts about their job. Eventually, the feelings of dissatisfaction mount and the worker becomes faced with a dualistic and existential choice concerning their job — should they stay or should they go.

In this piece I would like to review the signs and the nature of employment discontent in hopes that an analysis of the topic may yield a useful suggestion or at least a degree of solace for those undergoing job disgruntlement. Given my encouragement of purpose as a prime motivator for what leads to job satisfaction, I turn to writer and speaker John Coleman, who examines the value of purpose in work and life, to see what his latest thinking is on the subject.

Feeling purpose is fundamental to work contentment. Without it our efforts seem to be adrift and our self-confidence diminishes. Coleman highlights several indicators to be mindful of while on the job. These signals carry meaning concerning the problem of work frustration. When they are present one should consider themselves forewarned. What follows is an amalgamation of considerations from Coleman’s writing.

Avoidance: We all have the odd day when we do not feel like going to work. But if this feeling is becoming chronic and frequent, then something about the job is amiss. Procrastination is a form of indecisiveness. Postponing or hesitating to make important decisions because your heart is not into it or you are fearful about possible outcomes is a sign a change needs to be made.

Growth: As we spend considerable time on a job we generally enjoy noticing the skill development and emotional lift that comes from feeling we are growing both as a subject matter expert and as a person. Building mastery in an area should be a cause for celebration. If it is not, then it probably means growth has stalled and you no longer feel as if you are providing employer or customer value.

Achievement: Related to the issue of growth is the concern about whether your original career goals for this job have been achieved. If they have, perhaps your job is no longer delivering adequate challenges or breakthroughs. Periodically, it is a good idea to reflect and assess if the objectives you set for yourself when initiating the employment have been met or not. If so, why are you staying in your role?

Workplace: Could the work environment in which you are functioning be the cause of your job angst? It is possible that an accumulated toll could be robbing you of your energy and enthusiasm due to a workplace which is toxic, unnecessarily stressful, or encouraging you to operate in ways contrary to your values. It is imperative to feel that you have and can sustain integrity and a positive character at work.

Maybe the change you need, if any of the above difficulties arise, does not require necessarily leaving your current employer, but could instead involve trying to practice what Coleman describes as “job crafting”. It is worth exploring with your employer if they can give you a degree of latitude to make adjustments to the way in which you meet your employer’s goals.

Having a manager that is willing to engage in some employee development with you such that you can continue to satisfy the responsibilities for which you were hired, while also remediating the liabilities causing your discontent, could be a win-win.

Life is too short to feel stuck in a job that does not bring happiness. You owe it to yourself and your career to be placed in a position in which you can thrive.

The Intersection of Philosophy and Physics

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Bill Ryan

Sometimes in life we find that what initially appear to be separate and discreet interests can converge to form a compelling composite which begs to be explored. When this occurs in the context of trying to live an examined life, then a stimulating and energizing endeavor is launched. For me lately, by which I mean the past three years or so, that is occurring at the intersection of philosophy and physics. Let me explain.

As anyone who may have taken any time over the last couple of years to read my essay posts, it is likely obvious that I have been enamored with philosophy of late. There are several reasons for this attraction. For one, as a retiree I have the good fortune of having the mental health and available time to engage in an academic exercise, such as studying philosophy and to the extent I can comprehend it, its companion and contemporary discipline, quantum mechanics. These topics have held my interest for many years, but while living the working life I never could devote the necessary time and concentration required to make any lasting sense of these subjects.

Beyond simply having time and casual interest in philosophy and physics I am drawn to these areas of study for several other reasons. I believe I am not yet too old to use this knowledge as a possible guide to living a more eudemonic or flourishing life with the years I have left. Additionally, as I conduct a life review and reflect on all I have lived and experienced, this study helps me to better understand why things are as they been and why I have engaged with this life as I have.

Finally, I want to prepare myself for what is next after this life. Unlike devout religious people, I have not relied on a prescriptive belief of a hereafter. However, now knowing more concretely that death is more impending than ever before I want to have some comfort in knowing what to expect. In short, I want to have faith in a likely scenario for what will happen to me after I take my final breath.

My informal examination of philosophy and physics began and continued for some while on separate tracks. However over time, I began to see that the two disciplines overlapped in ways I had not expected. Philosophy, while not a social science, is certainly not a hard quantifiable science either. It is too broad, too deep, and too subjective to be considered a science. It is a field of study uniquely its own.

Physics, or more specifically quantum physics or quantum mechanics as it is more popularly known, is indeed a hard science, characterized by objectivity, procedural rigor, and preciseness. So, where is the connection between philosophy and quantum mechanics? It is in a purview of fundamentalism or foundationalism, which I will attempt to explain.

To better understand this conjunction of philosophy and quantum mechanics it can be helpful to know that philosophy and science grew in tandem, emerging jointly from the original pontifications of ancient Greeks who were attempting to explain the core nature of the world in which they lived. Aristotle (384 BCE-322 BCE) can be credited with giving science an early and consequential springboard. He differed from his teacher Plato (c.429 BCE-347 BCE) in some key ways. According to Aristotle, Plato was too steeped in logically determined metaphysical underpinnings that were rooted in abstractness. His philosophical constructs were too perfectly defined and objectively certain for Aristotle.

Rather, Aristotle found it more desirable and necessary to focus on the full range of tangible worldly materials and the way they changed, developed, decayed, and behaved. He thought knowledge should spring from a deep scrutiny of the explicit substances available to us. Hence, what became a western-styled science was given permission to exist.

Science as we know it today did not have a single founder. Neither did philosophy. But when we look back through history to determine the origins of the eventual merger of philosophy and science we inevitably come again to Aristotle. In the fourth century BCE he was philosophically influenced and inculcated by two of the most prominent thinkers of the ancient world, Socrates (c.470 BCE-300 BCE) and his tutor Plato. With that philosophical grounding he went on to expand his understanding of the natural world through the practice of what became essentials of scientific inquiry.

To begin with, Aristotle was intensely curious. This mattered, because curiosity is the launch pad for examination, creativity, problem solving, social progress, and personal development. Aristotle directed his curiosity in the establishment of a systematization of two very human capabilities, observation and reasoning. Focused empiricism and self-guided reasoning together determined the foundation for scientific investigation still in practice to this day.

Among the areas in which Aristotle applied his empirical and reasoning method was to better understand what we call today biology, ecology, and physics. It was in these sciences, including physics which for centuries was known as natural philosophy, that he formalized the practice of disaggregating and classifying the natural world into discreet categories, principally causation, the elements, motion, and teleology (purpose-drive goals). Although many of his specific predictions did not stand up to the scrutiny of time, Aristotle’s three-way utilization of careful examination, logical reasoning, and classification nevertheless set the stage for the development of today’s scientific method.

Notice that Aristotle was drawn to a process which tried to base conclusions about the nature of reality by identifying and examining what he believed to be the constituent parts of reality. To better comprehend the totality of all there is, Aristotle determined it necessary to first apprehend the parts of all there is.

Aristotle was not the first of the ancient Greek philosophers to reach for a method we now call reductionism. A reductionist approach attempts to describe grand and intricate events and occurrences by minimizing, analyzing, and viewing them through their elemental segments. Key pre-Socratic philosophers also employed a similar technique.

Thales of Miletus (c.626 BCE-548 BCE) is another historic figure credited with early scientific thought. He proposed that everything in the known universe could be reduced to a single ingredient — water. Anaximenes (c.586 BCE-526 BCE) suggested that the fundamental element was air. And Heraclitus (c.535 BCE-475 BCE) offered that fire was what everything was derived from. The tendency to reduce the universe to its most basic workings has set the tone for how westerners contemplate and envisage all that there is from the beginning of recorded history.

As we see, the ancient Greeks set western science on a course of reductionism, which again can be simply explained as reducing complex circumstances or phenomena to basic and underlying components. To be sure, reductionism has driven science to comprehend a view of reality which has resulted in many remarkable discoveries. Through reductionism we have refined our ability to study phenomena, make predictions, and determine primal laws of nature.

As science, and in particular physics, matured the individual whose approach and legacy keenly exemplifies reductionism was the English scientist Isaac Newton (1643-1727). Whether it was in his works related to the laws of motion and gravity, optics, fluid dynamics, or in mathematics Newton applied reductionist thinking so as to better understand the nature of reality and predict natural processes. His procedures and methods have led to what has become the conventional manner of perceiving the known universe.

Newton’s influence on science and western thinking has been huge. Many of the services and products to emerge from applied science, which have had an immensely positive impact on humankind, can be credited to the profound influence of Newtonian schema and methodology. Historians claim that Newton’s contributions revolutionized science in disciplines ranging from astronomy to engineering and that modern physics and mathematics are attributed to his reductionist guidance. His analytic thinking that viewed natural phenomena through essential principles and equations remains extensive.

However, for all of the gains reductionism has brought to our world there has been a myopic and restrictive perception of the universe that has developed and hardened since the seventeenth century, such that conventional wisdom and commonplace thinking about the nature of reality is exceptionally mechanistic and based very heavily on rationalism.

Thanks to Rene Descartes (1596-1650) western thought took a sharp turn into the advancement of reason, which allowed for a skepticism to emerge about the reliance on Plato’s and Aristotle’s influence on scholastic thought, but also to question the power of the Church to dictate enforced beliefs. Among the great consequences of Descartes’ life work was to extensively influence a novel and rational pattern of western philosophical thought and by extension induce a metaphysical and scientific view regarding the nature of reality that exists to this day. Descartes can be credited with establishing a revolutionary intellectual environment in which Newton could pursue his creation of the new physics.

Descartes was committed to discovering the most basic truths of reality and did so by attempting to determine the most foundational aspects of knowledge or epistemology. In essence, Rene Descartes applied reductionism in an attempt to unveil how we as humans could understand the fundamentals of reality. He skeptically stripped away all of his preconceptions and premises about the world to search for that one incontrovertible truth marking the starting point for the thoughtful and aware self. “Cogito, ergo sum” became that target. “I think, therefore I am.”

The reductionist epistemological method used by Descartes contributed greatly to validating reductionism as a technique applicable to comprehending all that there is. As science developed into a set of disciplines in the years following Descartes, we see reductionism widely used as a process for peering into the nature of complex systems. Indeed, it is the approach of perceiving complex systems through reductionism that both helps and hinders our understanding of natural occurrences, especially when it comes to science.

As mentioned earlier, there can be setbacks to relying on reductionism to reveal answers to the mysteries of existence. To better understand I will begin by noting that there is no more complicated and elaborate structure than the universe. Reductionism attempts to simplify this vast complexity by identifying individual elements, which the thinking goes, combine to make the whole. As we are learning over time, intricate systems such as the universe involve more than parts. They also manifest qualities and processes that cannot be captured through an inventory of components alone.

For example, let’s look at consciousness, the phenomenon expressing our subjectivity and our sense of self. Is consciousness really just a result of brain action as in synapses among neurons or is there a more holistic, non-quantifiable, and universally fundamental process at play resulting in our experiential mindfulness? I would say, yes, that is very possible. Consciousness manifests as too miraculous and too illuminating to just be an outcome of the conduct of matter. Reductionism is too austere a method for explaining the richness of consciousness.

Synergy is a term referencing a type of alchemy. A force or efficiency is achieved within a complex system when its constituent parts interact such that the system’s overall effectiveness is measurably greater than the sum of the individual parts. How does this happen? It is counterintuitive and contrary to what basic arithmetic tells us. Synergy is a way of say two plus two equals five. Something magical appears to happen when components interact cooperatively resulting in the whole being more than all of the portions added together.

Reductionism misses synergy in its calculation. There are existing and emerging properties not easily discerned by mathematics and science. Properties that have their origin in a generative spirit the ancient Stoics referred to as Logos (more on Logos later). Systems, no matter how complex they may be, are part of larger systems. Sequestering easily identifiable components can miss the valuable interactions in force. Interconnectedness and constant exchanges inject dynamism and vitality to systems. Reductionism does not always do a good job of accounting for such interoperability.

Reductionism can be seen as a practice stemming from a belief in materialism or physicalism. Materialism asserts that all of reality is composed of physical materials. This view rejects any notion of a separate spiritual reality or of a distinct existence related solely to mental states or consciousness. All that there is can be explained by physical substances and the laws governing their actions. In this type of reality reductionism makes sense. Just keep slicing and dicing until you get to the most essential particles of existence.

So why you might ask, is there this criticism of reductionism and by extension materialism, a methodology that has been practiced for centuries and which has led immeasurably to the betterment of humankind? Credit for this mental approach of discovery deserves to be given to reductionism as mentioned in reference to Isaac Newton above. However, the past hundred years has begun a grand and paradigm changing revelation highlighting the limits of reductionism. This relatively newly learned lesson comes in the form of quantum mechanics.

As science has continued to dig deeper and peer ever further into the material universe it has run into a roadblock of sorts. Strange things are occurring at the quantum level of reality — so strange that what we have thought for centuries about materialism and its character is now being reassessed. The behaviors and processes of matter and energy at this level upends our understanding of the known universe.

Quantum mechanics is the most recent approach to the study of modern physics, which began in the 1920s. It is a study of the most fundamental conduct of matter and energy occurring at atomic and subatomic stages. Physicists appear to have largely run out of runway when it comes to discovering the next smallest particle. But of special note is the fact that we enter a bizarro world at the quantum level that seems to question the linear and sequential order of things we have been accustomed to.

Let us take a look at some key examples of the conditions goading the quantum game changing reality.

Our journey into counterintuition best begins with a look at wave-particle duality. As best physicists can tell, the most quantum materialist entities discernable are particles, the most commonly known of which are photons (light) and electrons and protons (both subatomic). What is noticeable is that these particles along with other quantum particles exhibit both particle-like traits and wave-like traits. For example, a key particle-like property is discreteness, in which a quantized energy level or value is detectable. In the case of wave-like properties an example is wavefunction, a mathematical statement providing probability magnitude of a particle’s location in space. One is left questioning, is the most basic constituent a particle or a wave or are they somehow unified?

Wave-particle duality leaves a novice student such as myself thinking that everything, including matter, is energy. I see no reason to date to think otherwise. The other consideration of note is that wave-particle duality is a good starting point for learning about the other unique and odd discoveries of quantum mechanics and of the most fundamental particle entities (also known as quanta). It is safe to say that classical physics, such as Newtonian mechanics, electrodynamics, thermodynamics, and optics, ceases to be applicable at the quantum level of physics.

Superposition really rocks the world of how we thought things were. This term is used to describe particles being ubiquitous or in multiple states at the same time. It is only during an attempt by an observer to measure the state or position of a particle that the “wavefunction collapses” into only one state or position from among the many states or positions it could have been in. It is like Jim being in Moscow and New York at the same time, but until an observer intentionally spots Jim in Moscow can we say that there is where Jim is located at that moment.

Entanglement is just as irrational. In this phenomena we can have two particles entangled or influenced by one another, sometimes at great distances, i.e. nonlocality. The condition of one of the particles can be instantaneously affected by the other one even at distances where there should be a time lag due to the immense separation of space between them. Einstein remarked incredulously that such an occurrence was “spooky action at a distance” since an information exchange appeared to be occurring between the two particles quicker than the speed of light.

As you can see quantum measurement is a tough thing to nail down. How to measure key features of quantum entities remains a controversial and debated issue. When the very act of attempting measurement appears to affect the nature of the entity being measured how can one know its state in unobserved reality? In fact, one can wonder, is there such a thing as an unobserved reality?

As we are seeing, it makes sense that a central standard of quantum mechanics is known as the Uncertainty Principle. At the beginning of the quantum age in the 1920s, German physicist Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) concluded that measuring the speed and location of a particle could not be accomplished accurately. In the nearly one hundred years since Heisenberg proclaimed the Uncertainty Principle it remains a valid concept. Once we dive deep enough into the quantum realm reality takes on a whole new meaning — one that is hard to wrap our minds around.

So what am I to apprehend from this convergence of philosophy and physics? What are my takeaways at this point in my understanding of this information and why should they matter? Does any of this change my perceptions to the degree that I think of the world differently than I did before? To begin answering these questions I will note what conclusions or beliefs I have from the above descriptions.

At heart, nature is my guide. I believe there is a natural process to the universe, an unfolding always occurring. Science and philosophy are lenses through which to view nature and from which to infer the basics of reality. Learning from nature is not as easy as just observation, however. Our six senses give us direct experience with reality, but they are also limiting in the amount of insights we can derive from nature. Something more than sensorial experience is needed. We humans are capable of integrating a non-sensorial dominion into our imaginations that can complement our rational comprehension of all that there is.

I have faith in Logos, the generative spirit introduced to us by the ancient Stoics, as my gateway to the non-sensorial realm. It is what produced the Big Bang and establishes the entire order/disorder of the universe. Logos is ubiquitous and present from the grandest structures in the universe to the quantum level. The expression of all physical and mental states have at their essence Logos. I believe this spirit is what is meant by a belief in God.

Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632-1677) advocated for a notion of pantheism, the idea that God is in everything. He taught there does not exist a transcendent God separated from the creation or nature. Pantheism, and its modern secular counterpart panpsychism, captures what feels right to me. Logos is my starting point and the place to which I frequently return for apprehending reality.

Beyond a faith in Logos I face a significant challenge. It appears I am searching for certainty in an uncertain universe. Quantum mechanics tells me that we cannot be sure about much, if anything, at the core of reality. Nature is not boundlessly dissoluble. We can only slice and dice or reduce just so far. A point in reductionism arrives when we enter a province that is unpredictable, random, contradictory, and contingent.

Christopher Bader, principal investigator for the annual Chapman Survey of American Fears, notes that the many fears Americans share can be traced back to uncertainty. There is a self-help expression encouraging us to embrace uncertainty. Yes, accepting chance as more likely than conviction is a key upshot for me and perhaps it should be for others as well. This encourages me to be more agile in my thinking and less definite in the conclusions I draw.

The brain, of course, can do many things. Among them is a capacity to ensnare chance and possibility. It is also stochastic in how it operates, meaning the brain can be inherently random in how it processes inputs. Many of the results the brain yields are not predictable and based in certitude, but rather are presented as probabilities and statistical distributions. This may explain our ability to be creative and to have novel ideas.

As Dartmouth College neuroscientist Peter Tse suggests, because the brain functions such that new configurations of thought and conception are possible, this is likely an indication that the universe performs this way also. A reasonable hypothesis is that quantum processes with all of their stochasticity are manifesting in our brains and reflecting the workings of the universe at large.

One of the great controversies and mysteries of both philosophy and science historically concerns the question of whether the universe is deterministic or indeterministic. If deterministic, then all that has occurred since the Big Bang is preordained and destined to happen like the sequence of events in a movie. There are no interventions which can change destiny. All has already been programmed.

On the other hand, indeterminacy allows for capriciousness and irregularity, in other words the very randomness quantum mechanics indicates is commonplace. Change, process, and uncertainty are innate and part of the fabric of our reality. Learning to not resist this primary aspect of our universe seems wise.

I will finish with this observation. Of course our lives have a lot of predictability despite all of the evidence suggesting otherwise. The sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening. Spring still follows winter every year. Death ends lifetimes. The past has occurred. The future is yet to be experienced. And the present is ever fleeting. Life is not easily understood and the more we try to make sense of it the more questions are generated. That said, the intersection of philosophy and physics is a fascinating place to be. There is much more to learn. I imagine I will continue to visit this place often.

Strengths and Weaknesses Revisited

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Bill Ryan

As I write this piece the calendar is about to flip to the year 2024. Therefore, my thinking is that this is a good time for careerists to revisit the perennial topic of how to communicate one’s strengths and weaknesses in the context of their professionalism.

How one self-perceives their strengths and weaknesses factors significantly into the impressions left upon others whose opinions of you may matter in how well you achieve success on the job. Typically, we think of the strengths and weaknesses question as one that comes up in job interviews and to be sure it still does. More on that later. But there are other instances during which an authentic and well delivered message about your capacities and limitations is pertinent.

Supervisors, colleagues, customers, and other stakeholders want to know what they can reliably expect from you and in what areas they should adjust their assumptions about you. We are called upon on a daily basis to promote ourselves on the job. How we perform is always being assessed by someone. The more consistently we are able to capitalize on our strengths and manage our weaknesses the more likely we can control the construction of our professional reputation and benefit our careers.

The narrative we deploy to reinforce our daily demonstrations of strengths and weaknesses builds both our prospects among those who entrust in us and our professional credibility. Getting these statements right matters.

It is during job interviews when a well formed response to the questions of what are your strengths and weaknesses is traditionally most anticipated. So, let’s take a look at how best to craft your reply in an interview situation.

First to strengths: As counterintuitive as it may seem, take the focus of your strength proclamations away from you as a person and instead direct them toward the needs of your employer, customers, and any other concerned parties who desire your expertise. Your goal is to solve people’s problems not pump up your ego.

How do you discover what the needs are of an organization to which you are applying? Study the job description. The specifics you require to align your skills with their demands should be right there. Executive communications specialist Joel Schwartzberg suggests that you convey each strength in four parts:

A label for your strength
A factual example of that strength being applied
The result of that application
How much you are energized by utilizing that strength

Now to weaknesses: Again, referencing Schwartzberg, he proposes to reframe the negative term “weaknesses” into “challenges”. This alternative name redefines what might be thought of as an innate characteristic flaw into a difficulty which can be remedied through purposeful interventions such as training or dedicated practice.

When selecting weaknesses/challenges to disclose to the interviewers be careful to not pinpoint a job requirement which is fundamental to the position. If you see yourself drawn to such a job essential as a challenge example, then rethink whether or not you should be applying for this position. Once you have settled on two or three challenges, present each one in three parts:

A label for your challenge
Relatively low-level effects that might result from the challenge
How committed you are to improve

Keep in mind that the interviewers, and by extension your colleagues, managers, and customers, are most interested in whether you can meaningfully collaborate to augment the operation. If you can use the strengths and weaknesses questions to drive home an understanding about your areas of expertise, leave the impression that you are earnest about professional growth, and communicate that you are candid and forthcoming about what motivates you, then you will have done your career a big favor.

You do not need to be thought of as perfect. Rather, you want to be deemed as dependable and trustworthy.

The Mixed Story of Women in the Workforce

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Bill Ryan

First to the good news for women in the workforce. Women in America are enrolled in greater numbers in higher education than men. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, during the fall of 2021 female students comprised 61% of the higher ed student body with men at 39%. A year earlier the stats were 58% female and 42% male. Projections for 2030 indicate that there will be 2.37 million more women in postsecondary institutions than men. The trend is clear. Women are more drawn to improving their levels of education compared to men.

This was not always the case. In 1970, male enrolment outnumbered women registrations. By 1980, the admissions records were at parity. And now here we are. The result of this direction shift should tip the balance of education’s benefits toward women more than men.

What are these benefits? Even at a time such as ours when the high cost of college education is causing more people to question its return on investment, there are still documented advantages to getting an undergraduate degree. These include:

Higher earning potential and incomes
More employment possibilities
Increased job security
More abundant compensation packages
Enhanced personal development
Greater networking opportunities
Improved job satisfaction

It is not a stretch to predict that these merits will eventually give women the edge in business leadership and economic clout. A feminization of the economic picture may or may not be an overall gain. That has yet to be seen. Will competition be strengthened by defanging it to some degree or at least softening its sharpness? Again, this has yet to be seen.

However, the outlook for women employment writ large is not so rosy across the board. Among the policy-driven data Third Way examines is the non-college economy. And in this category their data dive into the numbers provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveal a troubling forecast for women who do not pursue a college education.

Estimates are that over the next decade the rate of job loss among non-college women is expected to increase significantly. Unfortunately, many non-college women are currently employed in industries that are predicted to decline.

So, let’s look at the big picture. BLS has identified the industries projected to decline economically and by extension employment-wise over the next ten years. Among these industries, 97% of the positions not requiring a college degree will disappear. Incidentally, 60% of these job losses are now middle-wage jobs. And here is the kicker. Two-thirds of these precarious jobs are currently held by women without a college degree!

Most non-college women work in jobs considered low-wage or middle wage. Examples of low-wage jobs include cashiers and fast-food cooks. Middle-wage jobs are like office clerks and retail sales supervisors. Historically, middle-wage jobs provided the means for women to support themselves and to get established in the middle class. With many of these jobs facing elimination, the strain on non-college women to afford middle class lifestyles will become more pronounced.

To add insult to injury, it is these middle-wage jobs that are most likely to be abolished, even when compared to the low-wage jobs. In fact, low-wage jobs, those under $36,700, are under less threat according to BLS than the middle-wage jobs. If true, it becomes easy to see that a migration of non-college women from middle-wage to low-wage work is likely.

The decline of middle-wage jobs is largely being caused by automation and outsourcing. And who knows to what extent Artificial Intelligence will acerbate this movement? Examples of middle-wage jobs include:

Administrative assistants outside of legal, medical, and executive
Customer service representatives
Assemblers and fabricators
Bookkeeping, auditing, and accountant clerks
Frontline office supervisors

One possibility to avert this disturbing development is to hope the proliferation of industry credentials, certificates, and badges which qualify women (and men) for middle-wage positions without the need for college degrees will continue. Although such credentialing will not replace college degrees, in the short term they may stem the tide of disappearing middle-wage jobs.

Another thought is that the college educated women who will have more decision making authority in the future will design economic and employment solutions for the women who have been unable to go to college. My fingers are crossed.

When Considering an Encore Career

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I recently attended a high school reunion. This was not the typical high school reunion, which is attended only by alumni from your graduating year. I attended a private all-male boarding school in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, which operated from 1926 until 1971, after which time it closed.

So, reunions for this school include any surviving alumni from any year during the time the school was open. This most recent 2023 reunion included alumni ranging from the graduating year of 1948 until 1971.

As you can imagine, nearly all of the attendees are now retired from their careers. But not everyone. As I chatted with a number of alumni I found that among those not fully retired there were two distinct categories of workers.

There were those who continued working at their primary careers, but at a more reduced or dialed-down level, meaning they were not putting in the same amount of time or handling the same degrees of stress as when they were full time employees.

Then there were those who desired to continue working, but at some type of work which was either very different or tangentially related to their former employment. This latter category is sometimes referred to as an encore career.

One of the great benefits of both our current labor force and our prolonged healthy lives relative to previous generations is that we have an option of pursuing an encore career. Establishing one, however, brings a new set of challenges that an older individual needs to be prepared to confront.

Just because you present yourself as an experienced and reliable resource with a long track record of accomplishments does not mean you will automatically be seen as a shoo-in for the new gig. In fact, the case most often seems to be that your age decreases your chances of being accepted. This requires that initiating an encore career be done systematically and attentively.

To begin with do not shy away from being old, but instead embrace it and spin your advanced age as a positive. You have gained a lot of work experience, solved many problems, and built an in-depth skillset.

Emphasizing your general tenacity, dependability, and trustworthiness can go a long way to gaining stakeholder and customer trust, which in many cases is as important or more critical than expertise alone. People who will need your services or who will want to join with you in delivering services want the comfort of someone they can rely on. Gaining that trust early on is crucial.

Another key to attaining trust is to highlight connections between your past successes and what you are promising to deliver in your new role. There will be overlaps in type, quality, or circumstances linking accomplishments previously achieved with intended future benefits you propose to supply.

One way to identify and credibly discuss these junctures is to prepare responses to some of the toughest questions you could get in an interview or from prospective customers during a vetting process. If needed, gain assistance from trusted contacts who can be skilled in playing the skeptic forcing you to justify your claims.

Through rehearsal, anticipate the concerns from others whose trust and support you will need to succeed in your encore career and heighten your authenticity by eliciting how your past performance has prepared you for future challenges.

Also, throughout the longevity of your career you have hopefully cultivated and maintained relationships with work related individuals which span generations. Being able to depend on younger professionals who can vouch for your excellence can go a long way in polishing your new brand.

Show others that you are not just a monument to legacy ways of operating, but that your instincts and inclination are toward continuous learning and improvements with an attitude of welcoming new problems to solve. Demonstrate how you are still passionate about the work you want to do, even at this late stage in life.

Career Passion and Wellbeing

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Bill Ryan

It is a conventional understanding, sometimes expressed explicitly but often simply assumed, that if we are to work for a living, then our efforts yield richer rewards if we have a genuine passion for our career choice. Passion, we are told, is the greatest motivator. It is what compels us to willingly throw ourselves into our work and to perform at our finest with no external stimuli needed.

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”, is the way the maxim goes. What could be better than to feel such fervor for your career?

It is easy to see how management would be delighted to have workers who are “naturals” at fulfilling functions necessary for the prosperous advancement of a business or organization. Such employees will require few if any performance incentives. They are self-motivated players who embrace being subject matter experts. In their hands, productivity should reign without the problems associated with someone displaying less ardor for their work.

Workers who view their careers as vocations rather than as jobs are a precious resource for any enterprise. Managers who realize this will do what they can to facilitate conditions designed to enhance employee wellbeing and sustain the valuable assets they have. Conversely, managers who see very dedicated employees as a never ending supply of production and who develop an attitude that these workers will always go the extra mile, because to go above and beyond is inherent in them, could very well find they have squandered an advantage.

Even for those for whom their work is their calling, respect and care must be regularly demonstrated by management if this talent is going to remain committed to the organization and to do their best work. The results of a research study on the topic of wellbeing released by Gallup, Inc. in July 2023 reveal pertinent findings that leaders should know if they are serious about holding onto their best and brightest.

To start, Gallup finds that only one in four workers think their employers are concerned about their wellbeing. This is true in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and France. The abysmally low number is historic as well. Except for a brief period at the beginning of the pandemic, when many workers thought management cared about their health and welfare, this only ~25% who feel cared for has been the norm.

It is simply good business for management to genuinely support their best workers. To quote from the authors of the Gallup research, employees who believe management is dedicated to their wellbeing are:

Three times more likely to be engaged at work
69% less likely to actively search for a new job
71% less likely to report experiencing a lot of burnout
Five times more likely to strongly advocate for their company as a place to work
Five times more likely to strongly agree that they trust the leadership of their organization
36% more likely to be thriving in their overall lives

These powerful statistics strongly suggest that structuring a workplace so that all employees, and in particular the most valuable talent, are emotionally and substantively gratified goes well beyond just being a nice thing to do, but actively works toward fulfillment of an organization’s mission.

Wellbeing in general involves not just career, but other social, financial, and health related factors. And of course, it is ultimately up to each individual to shape their lives so they are living optimally. However, given the amount of time and energy careers require, this is an area of life demanding special attention. Wellbeing should be a fundamental organizational issue as well as a personal responsibility.

Even the best employees deserve to know they are truly valued. To operate as if it is totally up to each person to independently feel fulfilled by others while on the job, leaves the workplace vulnerable to low productivity and weak competitiveness.

Innovative Journeys: Unlocking Opportunities for Creative Recognition

Posted on August 24, 2023 by Bill Ryan

The world of creativity is a realm brimming with boundless imagination and innovation, yet the journey to being discovered often proves challenging. Emerging artists, fashion designers, and makers confront the daunting task of standing out amidst a sea of talent. Fortunately, there are strategies that can illuminate the path to recognition. Leslie Campos of Well Parents unveils seven proven paths that creative minds can tread to claim their spot in the spotlight.

Why an Online Presence Is Essential for Creatives

In the digital age, an online presence acts as a creative’s virtual storefront, open 24/7 to the world. A captivating website serves as a central hub where admirers can explore their portfolios and learn about their journeys. Social media platforms amplify their reach, enabling direct engagement with an audience that resonates with their artistry. A curated online portfolio showcases their work’s evolution, providing a snapshot of their creativity and growth.

The Importance of Networking for Creatives

Networking is a cornerstone of success in the creative industry, and industry events serve as fertile grounds for making connections. Conferences, trade shows, and exhibitions allow creatives to interact with peers, mentors, and potential collaborators. Showcasing their work at these events positions them in front of a relevant audience, leading to exposure that can propel their career forward.

How Competitions Elevate a Creative’s Profile

Competitions aren’t just about winning trophies; they’re gateways to recognition. Participating in renowned competitions places a creative’s work on a prestigious pedestal, catching the eye of judges, fellow artists, and industry experts. Even if they don’t claim the top prize, the exposure garnered from competing can lead to invaluable opportunities, solidifying their position within the creative landscape.

The Power of Collaboration in Fueling Mutual Creative Success

Collaboration is a potent catalyst for creative success. By teaming up with fellow artists, designers, or makers, creatives can tap into new perspectives, skill sets, and audiences. Collective efforts amplify their reach and introduce their work to fresh admirers. Collaborative projects also nurture a sense of community and mutual support, reinforcing their position within the creative ecosystem.

How Community Events Can Propel Creative Careers

While the digital realm is expansive, local exposure should not be underestimated. Participating in pop-up shops, art fairs, and community events fosters connections with neighbors and fellow creatives. This local support serves as a foundation upon which national and international recognition can be built. The media attention garnered from such events often serves as a springboard for further exposure.

The Role of Workshops and Courses in Enhancing Creative Skills

A creative mind is a constantly evolving entity. Engaging in industry-specific workshops and courses refines skills and expands professional networks. Learning from established experts and sharing experiences with peers fuels personal growth. The insights gained from workshops empower creatives to adapt to evolving trends and challenges, ensuring they remain at the forefront of their field.

Reaching the Right Audience at the Right Time

Technology is a beacon of opportunity for creative professionals. By embracing customer data management systems, this is a good one to consider. Creatives can personalize their interactions with admirers, enhancing engagement and loyalty. Informed decisions based on data insights streamline marketing efforts, ensuring their work reaches the right audience at the right time. This technological approach revolutionizes how creatives connect with their supporters.

The path to creative recognition is a multifaceted journey, but with these seven proven paths, emerging artists, designers, and makers can pave their way to the spotlight. By crafting a powerful online presence, participating in industry events, embracing collaboration, seeking local exposure, expanding horizons through learning, and leveraging technology, creative minds can rise above the noise and shine brightly. As they embrace these strategies, they empower themselves to confidently navigate the creative landscape, ready to claim their well-deserved place in the limelight.

Image via Pexels

LinkedIn Has a Profile Problem

Posted on July 25, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Those of us who use LinkedIn often have noticed a troubling trend recently. An increasing number of profiles, those displays which serve as defacto online resumes, are fake. A growing number of profiles, which on first appearance look legitimate turn out to not be at all. This took me by surprise when I first realized it was going on. Why bother creating fake LinkedIn profiles? What is to be gained? Well, scams are the reason and it is keeping LinkedIn busy. Salaria Sales Solutions reveals that over the first half of 2021 LinkedIn deleted 15 million of these fake profiles.

Personally, I have noticed them as a result of questionable connection invitations. One kind I see most commonly involves a profile picture of a beautiful young woman who holds an impressive job title for a well known corporation or law firm or entrepreneurial venture or whatever that seems almost too good to be true. The first few times I saw some of these I felt the need to scratch a curiosity itch, so I conducted some research to see if this person really held that job. I could never confirm that they did. Hhmm?

The other kind I see most often are profiles coming from African countries like Ghana, Kenya, Gambia, and Uganda. Now, I like the idea of connecting with real workers from Africa and learning about the employment and economic challenges they face. But this is not what happens. Sooner or later the pitch for money comes.

It turns out that scammers, who are notorious for knowing how to fish where the fish are, realize that the valid users of LinkedIn, of which there are approximately 900 million, make up a relatively high-income user base. That alone incentivizes them to attempt exploitation. The scams are varied. A common one is phishing, which is a con to get you to reveal personal data. Aura.com reports LinkedIn phishing attacks have jumped 232% since February 2022! Related to phishing are employment scams in which fake job listings are posted. “Recruiters” ask for personal data like bank account or Social Security numbers and bang, they’ve got you! They disappear and you are left critically exposed.

Catfishing is a romance scam in which the scammer tries to emotionally hook you into an online relationship leading eventually to a money request. Another one to look out for is the crypto investment scam. Here victims are persuaded by a crypto-savvy sounding con to invest in crypto currencies using an authentic looking exchange only to find out your “earnings” are just digital numbers on a screen that cannot be withdrawn while your initial investment is in their pockets.

Although LinkedIn is just the latest platform to be tainted by scams, this raises the question of how genuine online connections in general are. In our increasingly digitized and remotely connected lives, both personally and at work, we are becoming called upon to establish relationships with individuals who we may never meet in the flesh. Can we ever know that the person we are communicating with is really who they claim to be?

Clearly establishing and confirming online connections has become a new skill to master. Knowing how to avoid scammers is important enough, but basic social ethics compels us to want to know that the people we are communicating with are real. We need to be wary of deception in our online dealings. Unfortunately, this means we need to either learn how to conduct background checks or find services that can perform background checks for us. Perhaps this is an area where AI can become useful.

What a world! Loneliness is at epidemic levels and social media gives us the ability to connect with more people than we ever could in the physical world. And now we need to be concerned not only that people we communicate with are actually who they claim to be, but whether or not they mean to do us harm. Yes, what a world!

The Data Dilemma

Posted on June 26, 2023June 26, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Data-driven decision making has been the rage in business for some time now. The collection of data based on what are determined to be key performance indicators specific to a business is used to justify the outcome of higher quality organizational decision making, which in turn drives the formation and execution of business strategy.

Data aggregation can be crucial with tasks as basic as answering difficult questions to more sophisticated functions such as developing and testing hypotheses and formulating theories. Further benefits of having vital information available include risk evaluation, resource allocation, program and policy assessment, and performance measurement. The use of data is seen as a more efficient means of implementing these activities than would be the case in relying on intuition, hunches, and observation alone.

It is hard to argue against the utilization of data in running a business. McKinsey reports that data-driven organizations are twenty-three times more likely to attract customers, six times more likely to retain those customers, and nineteen times more likely to be profitable.

It is not difficult to find examples of how data-driven decision making has led to business success. Anmol Sachdeva, an independent marketing consultant, has researched several. For instance, Red Roof Inn positions their hotels near airports. They figured out how flight cancellation data and weather reports could be combined to increase their bookings. Netflix compiles user data concerning watch time, location, and programming preferences to predict which shows will become big hits. Coca-Cola leverages social media data to determine who mentions or posts pictures of their products. With this data, personalized and targeted advertising has led to a four-time increase in clickthrough rates.

In short, data collection has become the proverbial game-changer for business. By helping organizations pinpoint the factors that better address challenges and boost productivity and profits, data and its astute analysis, is now an essential component of business success.

However, despite the advantages of focused data there can come a point in which the zeal to collect information can become extreme and intrusive, particularly for employees. Of course, it is reasonable to expect that management would want data to make improvements in productivity among their workforce. Performance metrics can be used to spot shortcomings, training needs, and specifics for employee performance evaluations. An organization that leans toward a results-only performance model for their employees need objective data more than a manager’s potentially skewed or biased interpretation of how employees discharge their duties.

Quantification can be misused if it is used to go beyond the reasons stated above. There are now too many documented instances of employees being excessively monitored such that the workplace has become a surveillance culture. A career cannot thrive in a context where someone is always looking over your shoulder. Questionable monitoring may be the result of management wanting to identify organizing threats such as unionization communications. Or maybe the surveillance is used to spot ways of automating tasks so as to reduce the workforce. In extreme cases, data may be applied to limit wage growth, exploit labor, or even discriminate.

Amazon may be the poster child for such data fanaticism. Brishen Rogers, an associate professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, notes how in 2020 Amazon sought to hire two “intelligence analysts” who were to use data analytics and other means to find “labor organizing threats” from among the Amazon workforce. The company goes on to insist their outsourced delivery providers hand over geo-locations, speed, and movement of drivers to use however the company wants. Inordinate corporate surveillance has also been chronicled at Uber, Lyft, Tesla, and Apple.

Inappropriate use of data results in loss of privacy, greater stress. and increased pressure on workers. The workplace can become a place of distrust and fear, not an environment conducive to innovation, high morale, and career enhancement. Instead, let’s insist that data collection be ethically construed, transparent, and legally justifiable.

The Need for Versatile Leaders

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Bill Ryan

There is no shortage of disruptions to our workplaces and to our careers. They come in two styles, one transient and the other sustained. There are the short-lived perturbations, for example our current experiences with inflation, Covid, the war in Ukraine, and spotty supply chain shortages. Then there are the disturbances which have roots in recent history and continually transform, such as the evolutions of globalization and technology, including the advent of generative AI. Taken as a whole, it can seem as if there is little time for complacency or work that is of slow tempo.

Managers seem especially exposed to the fluctuations and inconsistencies of the modern workplace. They are called upon to guide direct reports through turbulence and insecurity while attempting to follow strategic policies. This can be quite challenging. The way leaders handle threats and turmoil matters for the health of their careers and of the careers of workers who are impacted by managers’ approach to volatility.

Versatile leaders have been identified as valuable resources for a workplace to have during times of upheaval. They can be beneficial when the need arises to manage resources efficiently to remain productive. Maintaining employee engagement and adaptability during periods of uncertainty requires a special kind of leader. Organizations are increasingly aware of how important it is to have versatile leaders.

Rob Kaiser of Kaiser Leadership Solutions and Ryne Sherman and Robert Hogan, both of Hogan Assessment Solutions, have been studying versatility in leadership for twenty-six years. They note how from the late nineties to the mid-2000s co-worker ratings of leadership identified the trait of versatility as an important leadership trait 35% of the time. By the time of the Great Recession in 2008, versatility was seen as a significant leadership attribute in 50% of the ratings. And by the time of the pandemic, it shot to 63%. The demand for versatile leadership is growing in recognition. Given the rate of change expanding as it is, it is easy to see why.

Kaiser et al define versatility as the leadership ability to function effectively in a context characterized as volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Within that setting, versatile leaders can quickly adapt by applying a range of appropriate skills and behaviors that reshuffle and redeploy resources to preserve productivity. This type of leadership manifests in two distinct ways. One style is more forceful and direct as in a single point of command tasked with making the hard choices. The other approach reaches out to employees in an empowering and supportive way to provide tranquility and to ease concerns. The skilled practitioner of versatility knows how to shift between these modes as the situations dictate.

In fact, a leader who may be well versed and experienced in one of these modes, but unable to adroitly shift to the other does not qualify as a versatile leader and indeed may be a lower quality leader overall due to their situational limitations. However, the good news is that versatility can be an acquired capability. Counterintuitively, versatile leaders are not correlated with any specific personality type. To the contrary, versatile leaders are represented across multiple personality types. Given that the research of Kaiser et al identifies fewer than 10% of the leadership workforce as versatile, the incentive is there for increased versatility training.

Although personality alone may not be a strong predictor of versatility other background elements are. It has been documented that leaders who have had many kinds of work experiences requiring the development of a diverse range of skills in circumstances for which they were not already highly qualified can be de facto versatility training. The more a leader finds herself or himself faced with assignments that are a stretch, combined with an innate attitude that sees these duties as learning opportunities, then versatility is enhanced. Potential leaders who want to be relevant in today’s world should take note.

An AI Bill of Rights

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Often it is difficult to separate living from working. Our personal lives and professions can become intertwined such that it can seem pointless to differentiate those aspects which are personal from professional. Such is the case when considering one of today’s hottest topics, the impact of artificial intelligence. Is AI going to sway our lives in general or be mostly an employment issue? A fair prediction is that AI is going to change the landscapes of both our lives and of our work.

As citizens and as workers we should have a strong say in what the influence of AI is going to be in our daily lives and on our jobs. The disruptive potential is too huge to leave AI development solely up to engineers and their corporate employers. If AI advancements are to be the result of free market innovation, then those of us who are future customers and recipients of its consequences should have the freedom to weigh in and heavily influence its maturation.

A practical way to approach this challenge is through the lens of individual rights. Ever since the seventeenth century philosopher John Locke proposed the existence of fundamental natural rights, such as of life, liberty, and property, we westerners have organized our social, political, and economic institutions around the notion of personhood rights to both preserve and extend the enjoyment of our lives. We bestow upon ourselves the rights necessary to live fruitful lives free of destructive intrusion. Now is the time to apply these rights in the face of AI infiltration.

A useful place to ground a national debate about AI’s proliferation is with the Biden Administration’s White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s proposal known as the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights (https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/ai-bill-of-rights/). This is a thoughtful approach to identifying the key areas of contention in the planning, application, and mobilization of AI-based automated systems.

Five principles are presented as foundational to designating what constitutes an AI Bill of Rights. To summarize:

Safe and Effective Systems: An AI system should undergo input and testing from various sources to ensure its ability to deliver value free from the risk of malicious or unintended consequences. Humane industry standards and protective measures should apply, including the power to shut down harmful applications. Data usage is to be transparent, necessary, and respectful of personal integrity.

Algorithmic Discrimination Protections: The biases, inequities, and discriminatory practices of people should not migrate to automated systems. Indefensible digital treatment of people based on their individual differences is to be considered unjust. Legal protections of ordinary citizens and farsighted equity assessments of intended and unintended uses of systems should be crucial in the design and deployment of AI systems.

Data Privacy: This concern has been with us since the advent of Web 2.0. People should have ownership and agency over their data. The right to privacy is strong among free and independent people. This should be reflected in the automated systems they use. Exercising consent and having the ability to opt in and out of these systems with no restrictions should be inherent in their development.

Notice and Explanation: It should not take a computer science degree for ordinary users to understand what they are getting into with AI systems. Clear and unambiguous language that informs operators about system functionality, intent, outcomes, updates, and risks are to be considered basic.

Human Alternatives, Consideration, and Fallback: In short, when a user determines that an automated system has become too unwieldy or its functionality too untenable, then he or she should be able to have access to a real person to help them. No one should feel trapped within the confines of an all-powerful system they do not understand and cannot properly operate.

These principles could become a friendly conversation starter. As citizens we need a simple tool to unify the discussion as we confront this significant challenge. This AI Bill of Rights could be it.

Job Changing Considered

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Bill Ryan

For most of us, careers are built from a series of job moves. Sure, there are those who begin a life of dedication to a particular vocation from which they never deviate. Others may find they spent their entire careers as a business founder and owner whereas others may experience an entire career employed with just one firm. However, for most of us, we will construct our careers as a migration from one opportunity to another. This necessarily involves job switching, an exercise requiring dexterity and proficiency.

There is certainly incentive to switch jobs currently. An economist at Glassdoor, Daniel Zhao, has data from the Atlanta Federal Reserve showing that job switchers have realized 7.7% wage growth since November 2022 compared to 5.5% wage growth for those who have remained in their jobs. Also, as economist Adam Blandin of Vanderbilt University points out, there are about two job vacancies for every unemployed person. And many workers know from experience that job changes are one of the best ways to enhance not just pay, but career prospects. All told, it is a suitable time to consider a job switch.

There is risk in job hopping, however. Downsides can emerge when we find ourselves in a worse situation than the one we left. In general, pitfalls occur when the new job is less stellar than we anticipated. Another snag is when the new job is less stable, as in you find yourself more exposed to layoffs. Obviously, it is important to not stumble and face regret when transitioning from one job to another. Therefore, a job switch needs careful planning. Let’s look at some of the key points to consider.

Planning for change should be deliberate. It begins with a deconstruction of your current work performance and how you have worked in recent positions. This task analysis seeks to identify those aspects of your work which energize you, bring you feelings of success and accomplishment, and align with the production metrics of your employer or target market. Conversely, being clear on those work facets which drain you of energy, leave you feeling unfulfilled, and fail to consistently meet production expectations should be revealed. Such an inventory can be converted to a plan which becomes your North Star when implementing the job shift.

Be targeted when pursuing new employment opportunities. Do your research of both the employers and the industry space they play in. Know how they fare in meeting market demand and fending off the competition. Of course, there is an assumption here that their industry is your industry and presumably you know the economic viability of your professional field. If you have not conducted a SWOT analysis in a while, now is the time to do so. Illuminate as best you can the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats inherent in your industry.

Examine potential future employers like a private investigator. Google and study company employee reviews of which there are now many, reach out on LinkedIn to employees to get their take on what it is like to work there, and leverage your own professional network to get the inside scoop. When you get job interviews, ask them questions about employee engagement, career growth prospects, employee turnover rates, and their performance review program, including the metrics they use. You are interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you.

Examine your decision-making style too. Reflectively challenge your assumptions. Assess where faulty decision making has led you astray in the past. As executive career coach Susan Peppercorn says, cognitive bias or more readily accepting information that matches your existing viewpoints, can impair quality decision making. Accept that claims made by the potential employer which sound good to you may carry hidden risks.

As they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. But as you tread into the dicey, but conceivably rewarding world of job change, be as prepared as possible.

Reflections from Flanders Fields

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Bill Ryan

The morning dawned cold and rainy. I fastened the buttons of my coat, pulled my green wool cap over my head, and tightened my red plaid scarf around my neck. Did I wish the weather on that Belgian morning had been more agreeable? Sure, I did. But I was heading to Flanders Fields and the site of what was once known as the northern part of the Western Front during World War I. During the years of 1914 until the end of 1918 this was a place of unspeakable horror for hundreds of thousands of young men.

So, no. I was not going to complain about the weather on that morning of March 14, 2023, the day I turned seventy years old. I was still alive and about to pay my respects to youth who no longer were. The weather could be endured.

Sometimes the primacy of nature and nurture are hard to separate. I was born seventy years ago as a male and as a male I was raised. Strongly embedded within the experience of growing up male is the meaning of manhood. We are nurtured with unmistakable messages as boys that to be a man involves the adoption of very specific traits. High among them is to display a selfless bravery to squarely face danger without hesitation. To battle when needed. To overcome one’s foes. And if vanquished, to go down fighting, which will at least preserve honor, even if life is extinguished.

Beyond this manner of masculine upbringing, I also have speculated about the role of nature in shaping men to be men. The expectation for boys to grow into men who are virile, strapping, and courageous is a presumption that is as old as history. At some point in this long and patterned progression of raising boys to be warriors it could be that the widely associated behaviors of manhood became finely integrated into the souls of men. An a priori masculinity may accompany the birth of each and every baby boy born into this world. This axiomatic essence of dutiful manliness then simply needs to be massaged during rearing to result in a fighter, a defender, a soldier.

Whether or not a boy grows to become a crusader, a crucial part of being a man is in reconciling or harmonizing the man one has become with the type of man one is supposed to be. Sometimes this urge toward manly expression goes awry, leading to overly aggressive males. However, for most of us men we need to find causes to sustain, people to protect, and missions to fulfill. These proclivities may not be played out on a literal battlefield, but they must find expression somehow, even in passivity. Like it or not, we men are preordained to live out as best we can the manifest calling inherent in our gender. Exploring this notion was in large part the motivation and need for reflection I was drawn to pursue on that birthday at Flanders Fields.

Young men from Germany, the British Commonwealth countries, France, the Low Countries, and eventually the United States and Italy converged at the Western Front, which stretched from Flanders Fields to the Swiss frontier with France. They were there to engage in a slaughter of one another. Their precious manhood was both exploited, abused, and celebrated during this horrific enterprise. The soldiers of the First World War were robbed of their innocence, their zest for life, and in far too many cases, their very existence.

The confrontation known as the Great War or World War I was among the greatest tragedies of humankind. It did not need to happen. But it did. Most of those who fought and died during the conflict were born during the last decade of the nineteenth century. As young boys they had every right to expect a high standard of guidance from their elders. They should have been shown by their parents’ generation how to love all people and how to try to make the world a better place than they found it.

Instead, this generation of young men were let down by their elders. They were squandered, misused, and harmed. Their lives were deemed expendable and not of precious value. Those poor souls who came into this world only to leave it too soon were robbed of their manhood and of their lives. Shame befalls those who encouraged this cataclysm to happen. The decisions, values, and hubris of the elders driven by their xenophobic mindsets starkly displayed a stunning lack of morality.

Some backstory will bring clarity to what happened. However clear history may be, the justifications for this debacle will never make sense of what happened. Historians categorize the causes of World War I into four domains: mutual defense alliances, imperialism, expanded and modernized militarism, and nationalism. I tend to group all these causes under the rubric of one foremost cause, that of domination.

The world of 1914 was a powder keg of outdated and maniacal monarchies committed to a ruthless competition for control over as many people and resources from around the world as could be made possible. Command, control, authority, and supremacy were the overriding principles of the world’s leaders, particularly in Europe. European empires, along with their colonies and spheres of influence, jostled for advantage. This led to a tangled network of alliances allegedly designed to ensure domestic stability and security while providing a nationalistic influential edge in world affairs.

By 1914 the stage was set for a ruinous chain reaction. European empires had been in existence for hundreds of years led by Great Britain, Spain, The Netherlands, and France. However, nationalism as we know it today has been a relatively recent phenomenon. Nationalism is based on the idea of group identity with common beliefs, values, languages, stories, and cultural traditions. The practice of forming nation states had been exercised all over the continent throughout the nineteenth century. At least this was true of those parts not already under the thumb of an empire.

The motivation to nationalize was strong by the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. For example, by 1871 smaller kingdoms were culturally compelled to unify into the nation states of Italy and Germany. One downside of nationalism is that it can leave people of different nations distrustful of one another. Borders can help to protect and to preserve, but they also can confine and cause cultural atrophy. Unhealthy rivalries can result based on resource distributions and perceived threats to cultural integrity. Such mistrust took hold in Europe.

The inspiration to nationalize swept across the Balkan region of southeast Europe in the years leading up to 1914. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania are among the many countries that make up this region today. At the time, the people of the Balkans were squeezed between two prevailing and powerful empires, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. These empires exerted influence and pressure in the Balkans, which only encouraged nationalistic tendencies.

Meanwhile, a complicated assortment of defense alliances was established across much of Europe. Key alliances which led to World War I were that Russia was allied with Serbia in the Balkans and also with France, Germany was allied with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Great Britain was allied with France and Belgium. Such was the international stage when a Bosnian acting on behalf of Serbia assassinated the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife while they were visiting the Balkan city of Sarajevo on the 28th of July 1914. The consequent string of war declarations became the First World War.

The brutality of this war was made worse by the steady militarization of the European powers in the preceding years, which included the development of weapons marking the advent of modern warfare. Much more massive artillery guns and shells, machine guns, tanks, poison gases, and military aircraft were strategically introduced creating exorbitantly high death counts.

For those armies reliant on outdated battlefield strategies and tactics these weapons proved to be especially lethal. Along the Western Front in Belgium at Flanders Fields, infantry charged on foot from deeply dug trenches into machine gun fire, exploding shells, and even chlorine gas, which choked its victims, and mustard gas, which caused skin burns. The absurdity of asking young men to rush into such an onslaught is unthinkable.

A significant part of my wanting to visit Flanders Fields on that rainy and chilly day was to not only reflect on and feel sorry for the inhumanity inflicted on those unfortunate men, but to wonder what it would have been like for me to face the horrible challenges they did. My seventy years have never come close to war or any conflict that carried with it the risk of death or bodily injury. The stresses and strains of life that we all experience, which in my case were nearly all the result of my own flawed decision making, pale in comparison to the tensions of war.

Looking back to my younger years, I remember the confusion and uncertainty tinged with fear of the possibility of having to fight in the Vietnam War. I was on the young side of the age when unseasoned men were being drafted to fight in that conflict on behalf of the United States. My thinking was quite resolute in that I did not want to participate. The thought of moving to Canada was a serious notion I considered for a while.

My father, a World War II veteran who lost his only brother during that war and who was a proud American, said to me when I was sixteen or seventeen years old that he did not want me to fight in Vietnam. Even he could see the clear pattern of one generation after the next of young men fighting and dying in what seemed like an endless succession of foreign wars. My father’s realization of wanting to resist having his son go to war led to his distancing from the veteran’s organization, The American Legion. This memory is one of the very few where to this day I am grateful for my dad’s love.

So, had I been born in 1898 instead of 1953, and had I been born in Germany, Russia, Britain, France, or Belgium or in the United States at that time, I could very well have been confronted with the imperative that I must viciously fight for my country. I do not doubt I would have felt fear. What I do not know is if the nationalistic propaganda I would have been steadily fed would have trumped my fear.

Would I have felt that my life really amounted to a calling to “defend” my country even if it meant making the ultimate sacrifice? Would I have charged across fields of mud with a bayoneted rifle screaming a battle cry as bullets whizzed by striking down my comrades? Or would I have cowered in the trenches wide-eyed and gulping air as if each gasp were to be my last? Or would I have clung to my last shred of self-determination and committed suicide? I will never know. This deliberation will forever remain open-ended.

During that day at Flanders Fields, I paused at different cemeteries to place my hand on random gravestones. I tried to remain unrestricted and free to notice if I felt any kind of sensation or had any kind of inkling resulting from gently but intentionally touching those stones. At the German cemetery I crouched to place my left hand on a ground-level dark gray stone with the words, “Vier Unbekannte Deutsche Soldaten” etched upon it (translation, “Four Unknown German Soldiers”). I felt only pity. At a British cemetery, I placed my hand on the clean white standing gravestone of R. Porter, of the West Yorkshire Regiment, who died on the 28th of October in 1915 at the age of twenty-two. I was witness to a tragedy.

Toward the end of that day, I was at another British cemetery. The rain had stopped. Sun was breaking through the still thick clouds. A stiff breeze rendered the air from cool to cold. I was starting to feel fatigue from the long day. This time, while standing amidst the rows of white stones, I reached over to rest a hand upon the top of one from behind. I deliberately did not look to see whose stone it was. On this occasion, I felt something else. A ripple of energy coursed gently through my body. I experienced a slight disequilibrium. Was this a quantum or supernatural sensation of sentience, I wondered. Maybe it was just a symptom of not having had much water that day. I still wonder.

The flat green fields of West Flanders.

Now moist and quiet and peaceful.

Near Ypres the land rises.

Once Germans held the high ground.

The British held the city.

Evil descended upon the area.

A half million souls lost

In a steady ugly stalemate.

Numbing.

A waste.

To be human can be severe.

We Are More Than Checklists

Posted on February 22, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Back in 2009 a well received book was published called The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande, a surgeon, author, and public health researcher. The book promotes the use of developing and utilizing checklists to enhance the quality of outcomes resulting from the execution of complex procedures. Dr. Gawande cites many examples of how the deliberate use of checklists leads to greater efficiencies, more uniform discharge of protocols, and improved protections, particularly regarding procedures in which safety is a concern.

Upon examination, causes of unintended consequences and accidents can often be attributed to missed steps in a process, which had they been followed would have mitigated or prevented the mishap. Sure, we all make mistakes. But if we take the time to analyze why a mistake was made, we often find it was because of things like hurrying too much, lacking focus, being distracted, or not having enough experience. These flaws almost always mean measures that should have been taken were not taken.

So, to deploy and to use complete checklists consistently makes perfect sense. In fact, the application of step by step lists is considered so best-practice these days that many of our careers can be seen as little more than a requirement to effectively execute a series of predetermined sequential actions. Take a look at almost any job description. It is little more than a laundry list of expected deliverables like a set of boxes to be checked. It could be said that much of our work is therefore formulaic.

To the extent that we reduce our careers to predicable, stringent, and rote to-do rosters, the more accommodating we make our careers for AI replication. Author Ian Leslie makes an interesting observation in a recent Substack piece. Responding to the fear many express about the growth of AI he points out how we assist the machines to adapt to our ways of doing things because we are adapting our work lives to the ways AI works. When human agency is overly systematized we give our replacement instructions to AI which may be better at checking boxes than we humans are.

When we model our work behavior to a simple inventory we should not be surprised when AI mimics it. AI is algorithmic. It uses models and arrangements of variables in a mechanized and calculated way. As we are finding out, AI can out-perform us over a growing number of jobs, especially the jobs that are like checklists. A pertinent quote by artist Robert Irwin in the Ian Leslie piece is, “Human beings living in and through structures become structures living in and through human beings.”

As we determined above, checklists certainly have their place. However, as people we need to look at our work lives as being beyond just an amalgamation of discreet work tasks and responsibilities. To be human, especially in our careers, must be more than that.

Our evolution requires innovation and novelty. It demands an expression of humanity which is an added value above any pre-arranged framework. It seeks to celebrate intuition and ingenuity and even uncertainty. The careers of tomorrow will thrive because they bring a richness of the human experience not easily cloned by a computation.

Romanticism arose in Europe toward the end of the eighteenth century in reaction to the heavy emphasis being culturally placed on rationalism, science, and industrialization. Instead Romanticism insisted on honoring art, music, literature, nature, and the intellectual capacity of the individual. It exulted human emotion and aesthetic experience. Above all, the message of Romanticism was that to be fully human required embracing the wide range of human expression and to not be limited to the mechanized worldview of materialists and rationalists.

The time may be ripe for a neo-Romanticism in the age of AI and checklists. Efficiencies have their place. But let’s not confuse them with being human.

AI and Your Career Considered

Posted on January 29, 2023January 29, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Amper Music is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) application that can create music based on inputs from human users who may know nothing about music theory or how to play a musical instrument. Requests and conditions are submitted concerning the type of music desired for purposes such as podcast themes or home video soundtracks. Amper Music in turn generates original music.

DALL• E is an AI program that empowers human users to produce art and realistic images in a variety of modes and forms. Taking text descriptions which have been provided by users, the AI goes about creating stunning illustrations and depictions. Little to no human artistic talent is required to develop original art.

ChatGPT is a newly released open-source AI chatbot designed to yield fresh high quality written text on a wide variety of topics, including software code. Based on human user editing suggestions ChatGPT will even revise its text constructing multiple drafts until the output is just what the user wants for anything from a set of complicated directions to marketing copy.

Another chatbot called Franz Broseph was able to compete against twenty online players from around the world last year in a game of Diplomacy. The game compels participants to engage in political negotiations, form alliances, apply military strategies, and basically win a World War I simulation. Guess who came out on top? Yup, Franz Broseph.

We are no longer waiting to see when AI will revolutionize the world. The disruptive transformation is currently underway.

Note that I used the word disruptive above. Is this a good thing or not? Well, the term certainly brings to mind the late Clayton Christensen and his popularizing of the concept “disruptive innovation”. Christensen highlighted a process whereby a new product or service is introduced at the bottom rung of a market ladder. Eventually, it catches on and grows in usage displacing much if not all of the traditional competition. What Walmart did to Sears is an example.

In my judgment, it is safe to assume that the AI examples above are representative of a larger AI disruptive innovation which is in the process of rolling over the work world as we know it. Again, is this good or bad? Well, it could be both.

The manner in which writers, music composers, and artists have operated customarily is clearly threatened. AI is now a major new competitor on the block. To be sure, in the short term at least, consumers who prefer conventionally produced text, music, and art will purposefully acquire it and shun the AI-generated material. But eventually the innovations will seep into the mainstream and could very well become the new ordinary.

As the Borg in Star Trek put it, resistance is futile. AI engineers and self-learning AI itself will continue to breed one disruptive innovation after the next, simply because they can. Ethics or a concern for the greater wellbeing of humans, if it is ever considered, will not inhibit the creation of these products and services. If anything, these novelties will be presented as good for people.

Perhaps, these inventions will be good for people. Maybe “better” writing, music composition, and art will result. Possibly the shift we saw from an agrarian economy to a mechanized one during the Industrial Revolution will be an apt analogy to what we are now experiencing. Time will tell.

One thing is clear, however. A simultaneous adaptation to new practices and systems will need to occur such that the AI-fueled modernizations are integrated into the new normal while human careers can continue to flourish. Possibly first drafts of essays will be written by ChatGPT and future iterations will be the result of human edits and prompts bringing about a spectacular essay produced by an otherwise mediocre human writer.

The question I ask myself is, if partnering of machine and human does not lead to higher quality outcomes, then why are we bothering with AI?

Love Video Games? Make Gaming a Career With These 6 Tips

Posted on December 21, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Another Guest Post from contributor Leslie Campos

Photo by Michael Boskovski on Unsplash

Video games are an enjoyable hobby, but what if you could make gaming into a career? With the right skills and education, it might be easier than you think to build the career of your dreams. Bill Ryan Writings offers this career development advice for gamers who want to make their passion into a profession.

Plan Carefully

The video game industry involves countless careers and job paths. Since you want to make quality decisions in planning your career, explore the options carefully.

All types of roles support video game development, including art, technical, programming, engineering, business, and marketing positions (and many more). Consider your interests, strengths, and possible job paths.

Then, determine how much time and energy you can invest in education and skill development.

Build Skills

Playing video games is practically a prerequisite to building a career in the gaming industry, but it’s not the only requirement. Playing games does build many soft skills, notes ZenBusiness, but to be competitive in the job market, you also need to hone skills related to your career path.

For example, learning to code, use editing software, and check for bugs is crucial in video game careers. Yet the specific skills you need will depend on the role you want to work in. The good news is that many skills are ones you can build on your own.

For example, you can self-study to become fluent in computer programming languages and begin coding projects. Practicing various types of art and graphic design could improve your craft. Yet formal education may still be an important step in building your career.

Get a Degree

For some job opportunities, you might need more than casual skill-building to get an interview. Earning a degree in graphics, software engineering, game development, or another technology discipline could make your resume stand out.

Online degree programs let you study and earn a degree while working and maintaining a personal life. Choose an accredited school with competitive tuition; this could be the ticket to an affordable education and a new career path.

Network Online

Gaming, as both a hobby and a career, is popular around the world. That makes it easy to connect with people you can learn from and share ideas with. Video game communities exist for every type of game, as Game Designing outlines, and joining them can help you find opportunities and network.

Gaming clubs may also be a way to get feedback on your work. Sharing with a gaming group could help you polish up a project for your portfolio, increasing your odds of getting a gaming gig.

Create a Resume & Portfolio

Writing a clear, professional resume is the first step in any job search. Use the resume format that best fits your experience, whether chronological, functional, or hybrid. Include relevant keywords for the gaming industry, and highlight your skills, certificates, and education.

A strong resume is a must for any job search, but a portfolio levels up your application, especially in the gaming industry. But because video games or graphics are hard to insert into a resume, take time to build a portfolio site to display your work.

Buying a domain name and creating a website may sound like a lot of work, but it’s the best way to design a professional portfolio. If you code the website yourself, it can also serve as a portfolio piece.

Apply to Jobs

With the right skills, community, and degree, finding a job might be the easiest step in your gaming career journey. Especially if you enroll in a degree program, internships are readily available for on-the-job experience and skill-building.

Or, you can apply to be a video game tester, start in an entry-level quality assurance, art, or journalism job, or join a gaming company in an administrative or support role to get in the door.

A career in gaming might seem like an unconventional path. But for people who are passionate about video games, developing skills and even pursuing a degree will be worth the effort. The result is a professional path you will love and grow in.

American Business Needs Good Teachers

Posted on December 15, 2022December 15, 2022 by Bill Ryan

A disturbing trend could befall the quality of job candidates available for business hiring in the not too far distant future. We are at risk of finding that the pool of potential hires may be deficient in language and mathematical processing skills and in their ability to think critically relative to past generations. Why might this be so? Simply put, the United States is now experiencing a shortage of highly qualified teachers. And there is no end in sight of this problem.

A weakening of the teaching profession consequently leads to more students receiving less instruction and lower quality education. It is hard to imagine how a nation that is unable to educate its children adequately can expect to succeed commercially, especially in a globalized economy. Yet, this is the situation the U.S. is now facing.

Tuan Nguyen, Chanh Lam, of Kansas State University and Pula Bruno of the University of Illinois in an August 2022 paper entitled Is There a National Teacher Shortage? revealed there are 36,000 vacant teacher openings and 163,000 teaching positions being occupied by underqualified instructors. They contend these are conservative estimates.

Josh Bleiberg, an education professor at the University of Pittsburgh, claims the quantity of qualified teachers is falling nationwide and the few states seeing an increase in certified teachers are still not able to keep up with growing enrollments.

One does not have to look too deeply to see why this is the case. Professor Bleiberg’s research discloses that teacher wages, when adjusted for inflation, have been mostly stagnant from 2000-2020, while student caseloads have been consistent.

Also, during this time teachers and administrators have witnessed an expansion of accountability initiatives designed allegedly to improve teacher proficiency. Although some accountability measures are necessary, too many have been based on student test scores, leading to needless stress, system gaming, and dilution of curriculum. Making maintenance of teacher credentialing more rigorous with no corresponding compensation increase is bad business.

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that students earning bachelor’s degrees in education has gone from 176,307 in 1970-71 to 104,008 in 2010-11 to 85,058 in 2019-20. And this decline is before the pandemic.

We cannot underestimate how negative Covid has been for the teaching profession. The terms and conditions of teacher employment degraded overnight. Concerns about their own health and safety while trying to manage instruction remotely or in super-spreader classroom environments while also dealing with students who had experienced the loss of family members has been extremely detrimental. Many older and more experienced teachers chose early retirement rather than risk their physical and emotional health.

Moreover, we now have the politicization of education and use of teachers as punching bags by those who claim students are being brainwashed with various culture war issues of a racial or sexual nature. Let’s throw in the risk of school shootings and we can see why a national problem exists. Given the relatively low pay, high productivity demand, health and safety risks, and politically oriented pressure it is no wonder many otherwise great teachers are saying, No Thanks!

This is not just a problem for one industry. It is a potential loss for our economy if we have ill-prepared students growing up to become our available workforce. It is in the best interests of business to recognize the looming threat and to get on board attempting remediation.

As a nation, we can start by accepting the value teachers provide and offering them the prestige they deserve. Teachers are much more of a resource than they are an expense. It is past time to honor them for being the assets they are. From there we can tackle issues of adequate compensation, reasonable employment conditions, and greater self-determination.

It is for the greater good of our economy, our country, and our children that we get this right.

Facing Incivility on the Job

Posted on November 23, 2022December 15, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Many have noticed an unpleasant change in recent years when doing our jobs, especially for those who perform customer-facing work. This deterioration comes in the form of an increase in incivility among the general public. Discourtesy, rudeness, and disrespect directed at frontline service providers by customers, clients, patients, student parents, airline passengers, and many other service recipients have made working to assist and benefit the public unnecessarily difficult and disheartening.

This observation is not just anecdotal. Christine Porath is an author, consultant, and management professor at Georgetown University specializing in optimal workplace conditions. Earlier this year Dr. Porath surveyed 2,000 workers and people who had witnessed workers on the job. Twenty-five industries were represented in the study. Here are some of her findings from respondents:

76% deal with incivility at least once per month on the job
70% see and hear incivility two to three times per month on the job
78% claim customer bad behavior is more frequent than five years ago

Dr. Porath has been conducting surveys of this sort for some time. In 2005 approximately 50% of employees reported they were treated poorly at work at least once a month. In 2011 this number rose to 55% and in 2016 it jumped again to 62%.

Our careers cannot flourish amidst a barrage of atrocious behavior delivered from the very individuals we are trying to help. Most jobs present plenty of inherent challenges with which to contend as it is. Work is rarely an easy and carefree endeavor even under the best of circumstances. Piling on impertinent and ill-mannered behavior risks making our jobs unpleasant and unsustainable.

Given this situation, two basic questions come to mind. What is causing the increase in incivility? What can we do about it?

I will go out on a limb here and make the claim that very few people, if any, are natural born jerks. Further, I think people are basically social, want to be nice to others, and want to be treated kindly in return. Fundamentally, we all understand that to make it in this world we need the help of others and the best way to receive assistance is to be agreeable with one another.

What goes awry in a word is stress. Too many of us are mentally frazzled. There are countless reasons for our stress from unmanageable pressures at work and home, to uncertainty about the future, to the unceasing flood of bad news from media, to our politics, to coping with pandemics — the list goes on and on.

Stress is bad for our personal health and the health of our society. It deprives us all of living fruitful lives. Getting a collective grip and learning how to manage our stress levels and their injurious consequences is critical. Life is too short to be consumed with the amount of anger we are experiencing.

Leadership is needed at times like these. We may not be able dictate how the public should always behave, but we can have leaders help our workplaces to better cope with the burden of incivility facing frontline employees. Prepare workers for when incivility happens, not if it may happen. We need leaders to coach, train, and lead by example how their workforces can best handle the repercussions of stress from among the very customers the business or organization relies upon.

Best practices can be identified from those industries that deal with stress all the time. Police officers, health care workers, teachers, and many others have had to learn over time how to manage the unmanageable. There are techniques, attitudes, and lessons we can learn from them. Such interventions are no longer an accessory. They need to become an essential part of any job that deals with the public.

Instead of the workplace reeling from bad behavior maybe it can be the place from which more acceptable social interactions are derived. Alleviating incivility on the job is a great place to start.

Freedom AND Equality

Posted on November 7, 2022November 7, 2022 by Bill Ryan

My understanding of the founding of the United States, by which I mean the “1776” founding as opposed to the “1619” founding, is that the European Enlightenment inspired our founders to build a new democratic nation upon the fundamental values of freedom and equality. In the Declaration of Independence Jefferson wrote a line that has resonated throughout American history encapsulating these core beliefs — “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Clearly, within what was a new experimental American democracy the standard of equality was unambiguously spelled out. Also, the phrase, “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”, spoke to individual freedom and liberty. Can it be interpreted in these words, or anywhere else in this esteemed document, or for that matter in the overall founding endeavor itself, that one democratic value is considered more moral or weightier or more important than the other? I suggest not.

It seems evident to me that the founders concluded that for a democracy to function both freedom and equality were not only required, but were inseparable and equivalent in scope and magnitude. These principles were two corresponding pillars upon which rested the ideology and conviction of the new nation. We were to be a people who honored the right to exercise individual free will throughout the course of our lives while simultaneously respecting that this right is to be extended to all individuals.

Of course, the founders were flawed leaders despite their unique ability to systematize selected philosophical thoughts from Enlightenment thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Charles Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Despite their infatuation with the concept of a social contract to encourage individual freedom and equality, the founders nevertheless lived prosperously under a social system that permitted slavery, Native American genocide, and concentrated power in the hands of property owning males at the exclusion of women.

These failings however, should not take away from the ideational benefits which the founders debated and documented and left for generations of Americans and other lovers of democracy around the world to ponder and use as a guide from which societies can operate honorably. As Winston Churchill famously said, “Democracy is the worst form of government — except for all the others that have been tried.” It is reasonable to say today in the twenty-first century Churchill’s words still ring true.

Nonetheless, there is one troubling consequence which arises in matching the significance of freedom and equality. It comes in realizing there is a natural disengaging tension between the two. We are unable to optimize and to enjoy the fruits of both freedom and equality simultaneously and in similar measure. Let me explain.

When we allow individual freedom to be maximally expressed we soon discover a troubling reality settling in. A sorting of society’s individuals occurs like the pecking order of chickens in a barnyard. Wealth and power become concentrated among a self-professed elite group. The rationales for this aggregation may be centered on race, ethnicity, tradition, or generally perceived merit, but the result is always the same. A lack of social equality is the inevitable effect. Equality becomes diminished.

Similarly, an escalation of equality can lead to detrimental impacts. There can come a point in a social assigning of equal measure to each individual in a society when an over-homogeneity results. This can be characterized as a socially stultifying blandness in which people are pressured to all act the same and not drift from rigid social behaviors and thought patterns. Difference and innovation are reduced to being oppositional and uniformity is elevated to unnatural heights. Freedom becomes diminished.

We have a conundrum. As described above, freedom and equality are both of identical importance. But when each is augmented as much as possible an essential conflict emerges. Their shared power cancels out the advantages derived from each. What is to be done?

To start, we have to accept that each value carries with it great possible reward, but also great potential hazard. So instead of seeing co-nullification as an inevitable consequence when society attempts to practice the two virtues in tandem we can rather view them as keeping each other in check. It is a type of symbiose in which democracy needs both to survive. Yet a balance needs to be achieved in order to derive as much benefit and as little downside as possible.

In America, this striking of equilibrium is practiced by the two major political parties. One, the Republicans, seek to advance the cause of freedom over equality, while the Democrats vigorously promote equality above freedom. The outcome of this tug-of-war is the closest this society comes to a consensus of the freedom-equality strain of priorities. If the electorate sees too many disadvantages from an overemphasis of one side or the other, then election cycles should right the ship, depending on the pertinent issues of the day. So, if one is a diehard partisan, one has to learn to live with the heuristic that you win some and you lose some.

The greater problem, which America and other democracies are now facing, is when one political persuasion or the other decides to change the rules of the game. When striking the delicate balance between freedom and equality is thought of as too difficult to achieve or if impatience to get one’s way becomes too unmanageable such that undemocratic tactics become justified, then democracy is in trouble. When the arts of compromise and persuasion are abandoned in favor of a raw takeover of power leading to autocratic governance, then democracy ceases to exist and an unpleasant form of fascism or communism takes over.

I am writing this piece days before the 2022 U.S. midterm election. In other words, I and my fellow countrymen and women are both observing and participating in one big case in point. On the ballot, so to speak, is the question concerning whether or not American democracy, and its history of attempting to conduct free and fair elections, is to be continued, suspended, or abandoned.

The Trump-fueled right wing insurrectionists and their supporters, i.e., the Republican Party, sound as if they feel justified in canceling the electoral tradition. They are angry American society isn’t functioning the way they want it to. Of course, they are free to have their political leanings, even if their leanings are Euro-White-Male-dominated. But why is their grievance so pronounced that overthrowing free and fair elections can be considered just?

Sorry. I don’t see it. Coming of age during the 1960s I have seen social and political unrest. It is surely an experience of social disequilibrium. And it unquestionably both agitates and frightens significant segments of the culture. There can be both sound and absurd claims made by people. But that’s life in a democracy, isn’t it?

Things not going your way? Wish more of us would adopt your view of reality? Then be persuasive! Convince us! Don’t change the rules to suit your own narrow interest. Who the hell do you think you are?!

Hopefully, I am needlessly worked up. The next several days will be instructive. How the 2022 midterms are conducted will portend the activism of the next couple of years. A satisfying endgame would be to see this MAGA movement as but one of several social-political episodes that occur periodically throughout American history. Like other unruly digressions of the aggrieved, it will soften and diminish, but nevertheless leave its mark on policy making for some time to come.

Long term, these societal spasms are likely necessary if democracy is to survive for centuries. However, they are weighed against other constants such as unconstrained elections and the tussle between freedom and equality. Striking a necessary balance between freedom and equality is truly an exercise in making sausage. It leaves democracy messy. However, let us not forget. Despite its innate churn, democracy contains within it the most civilized and just conception of how people are to live together that has ever been devised. Let us agree that its fundamentals should not be messed with.

Energizing Your Career

Posted on October 25, 2022December 15, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Keeping a career vibrant, meaningful, and worthwhile takes intentionality. As career-driven individuals we have an imperative to steer ourselves along a course leading to all the beneficial rewards a successful career can provide. No one can rely on being showered with blessings from afar for a fabulous career. We each need to own this one.

We often talk about keeping our focus on a set of workplace constructs that will make the difference between being minimally engaged with our jobs or truly embracing them. So, we gauge our achievement levels in areas such as skills mastery, motivational techniques, attractive compensation, work-life balance, and team cohesion among others. However, it is possible that we may be overlooking one simple and obvious, but admittedly elusive, point of concern to best boost our careers — our individual energy levels.

Feeling energetic is perhaps the most important attribute we can bring to any job. All our talents and expertise are diminished and less valuable if we do not have the physical, emotional, and cognitive energy to perform optimally. And it is not just our productivity that is negatively impacted by low energy. Our mood, self-concept, and demeanor can be adversely affected as well. Taking the time to assess what energizes you versus what drains you may be one of the best things you can do for your career.

So, where to begin? The Energy Project is a workplace development firm that attempts to peg organizational improvement to the well-being of the organization’s workforce. The premise of their approach states that high performance requires highly energetic individuals. To this end, The Energy Project presents an energy enhancing model they claim is science-based and effective in promoting personal energy for busy people.

Examining The Energy Project’s design for furthering individual energy offers insights we each can utilize toward fulfilling our own personal goal to get more energized. It begins with an understanding that our energy stems from four different domains: the body, the emotions, the mind, and the spirit. If we can advance conditions in each of these areas, then we can find ourselves more invigorated and better able to face challenges.

Let’s unpack these. The body refers to our physical stamina. Yes, we are talking about adequate exercise, nutritional foods, proper amounts of sleep, cutting out or at least down the drinking, and maintaining moderate weight. Sure, you have heard it all before. But this time let us reframe these practices as ways of strengthening our careers.

Energy is further enhanced when we can manage our emotions. Rather than being continually buffeted by external events that affect our moods and anxiety levels, we can choose instead to find ways of controlling our emotional response to the inevitable pressures and sudden demands of the workplace. So often we slip into fight or flight modes of reacting to too much strain, which ill prepares us for working at our best.

Upgrading our ability to concentrate and focus our attention is the foundation of mind improvement in this model. Here is news you can use — multitasking diminishes productivity and distractions are ruinous! We can discover and rehearse practices leading to fewer interruptions and deeper immersion in the task at hand while curtailing disturbances that only keep us off our game. Also necessary is to allow ourselves time for mental renewals.

Our spirit is indistinguishable from our purpose. When we care about what we do and work consistently within our values we feel viscerally connected to our careers. Such an association is energizing. Know how to prioritize requests for your time so that you are spending time on those people and jobs most important. Practice observing yourself. Know the situations that best get you to your sweet spot.

The bottom line here is to accept the unmistakable link between our energy and our career. And just possibly, more energy may vitalize your life as well.

Decision Making and Your Career

Posted on September 28, 2022December 15, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The need to make quality decisions is pervasive and continuous throughout our lives. This is especially germane when it comes to the ongoing practice of our careers. All along the long-term spectrum of our careers, from our initial professional entry point through to when and how to retire, decisions need to be made to ensure our professional goals are steadily being addressed and realized.

Over recent decades, decision making has become an identifiable psychological and operational construct. There are a variety of models and multi-step plans designed to render the decision-making process as a rational exercise, which is considered by many to be more effective than a process too invested in emotions or irrational thinking. The premise is that attaining any consequential aspiration can often be confounding and perplexing requiring application of a logical and objective method.

Executing a career proficiently can certainly be considered among the significant goals of our lives, so it makes sense to consider an approach that fortifies how we make decisions. The range of career-related decisions we typically face involve innumerable choices such as determining areas of specialization, optimal compensation levels, acceptable stress levels, the purpose underpinning our work, a reasonable work/life balance, among many more crucial preferences we select to improve our careers.

But before we reach for an off-the-shelf decision-making model to guide us, we need to take into consideration the premise mentioned above — by using a more rational decision-making approach, the better the outcomes will be. The truth is we are humans and not solely computational and algorithmic programs. We each enter decision making as individuals impacted by prior experience. Our singular views of reality are therefore necessarily subjective. To suggest any rational methodology will capture the only and truly best decision for everyone may be over relying on pragmatic analysis at the expense of a more viscerally human variable.

I am not advocating for ditching all 7-step decision making plans and the like in favor of depending on gut feelings only but am proposing the better process may be a decision-making hybrid consisting of a use of logical and sequential steps that are colored and influenced by our feelings and intuitions. Skewing too much to one side or the other of this hybrid could result in low quality and ineffective outputs.

However, both rationally-based and contemplatively-based procedures carry with them liabilities. Rational approaches assume the decision maker can clearly identify and weigh all options, alternatives, and consequences. We may try to select the choice that best finds a great solution, but we are often limited by things like lack of time, overwhelming amounts of information, conflicting opinions, and competing priorities for our attention. While rationally-based decision making processes can yield useful insights for determining the course of your career they almost always turn out to be limited to a degree.

Integrating elements of introspection into your decision-making process means you will exercise your reflective capacity. Focus on past decisions which were successful. Extend that to your values encapsulated in rules of thumb known as heuristics. Some examples are, “Treat others as you wish to be treated”, “The customer is always right”, and “Always maintain a professional demeanor with subordinates”.

But beware of too much reliance on just what feels right. Lurking in our feelings are biases which may warp our ability to make sound decisions. A particular liability is confirmation bias — a condition where we ignore or discount evidence that conflicts with our preconceived beliefs. This has the effect of closing off avenues which could potentially benefit our careers.

Career-oriented decision making is part science and part art. Paying attention to how we make decisions and how that process can be improved can go a long way toward enhancing our professional selves and extending the gains enjoyed from a flourishing career.

Toby

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Bill Ryan

“Toby! Toby! Where are you? Come here Toby!”

Toby was standing in the driveway of his family’s home gauging the wind speeds that morning by staring at the tops of a nearby stand of white pines. This meant he was close enough to hear his mother’s cries even with the windows closed. As was often the case, Mrs. Pelgren’s plaintive and desperate pleas were unrelenting once they started.

“Toby! I can’t do this alone. Come here, Toby! I need you!” Toby pivoted and slower than usual went for the side door of the house which let him into the kitchen where his mother was sure to be.

What is it this time?, he wondered. Something to do with his father most likely. Toby’s dad now required custodial care that was reaching the point beyond which Toby and his mother could competently manage. But the Pelgren’s, being who they were, did not consider obtaining additional care providers. Their situation was to be endured collectively, despite the burden each family member underwent individually.

“Yes, Mom?”

“Please sit down Toby before you go running off somewhere again,” Mrs. Pelgren said. “I need to talk to you.”

Toby sat obediently knowing more was about to be asked from him.

“I can’t do it all with your father, Toby. It’s just too much! Mrs. Pelgren looked at her son with her signature pained expression — the facial feature she seemed to wear most often nowadays.

“I know it’s difficult, Mom. You know I do what I can to help out Dad and I’ll do more as I have the time.”

“I hope so dear. I really hope so. It’s so tough. He needs so much. There is never enough time for me to do the things I need to do.” Mrs. Pelgren’s eyes became moist.

“I know Mom.” He did not like to see his mother in this state, but Toby knew he couldn’t change things. He stood up to go out to his car. He needed to get away from the house and his parents. As he walked behind his mother to get to the door he kissed her on top of her head.

Toby set the canoe into the river downstream about a half mile from where the river began to serve as a drain for the lake near the village. This stretch of the river required patience on the part of anyone hoping to navigate any kind of boat. True, a kayak would be more maneuverable when weaving in and out of the tangle of low-hanging boughs and half fallen trees that punctuated this wooded portion of the river. But Toby didn’t want to fish from a kayak. He grew up fishing with a canoe, was comfortable fishing with a canoe, and that was that.

Practice allowed Toby to zig and zag and work his way to the opening of a pond that was not too far downstream and which was cut off from houses and people due to its being surrounded by impenetrable wetland and the rough surrounding woods leading up to it. These same conditions made back casting during the summer in this small pond nearly impossible, so Toby decided to try wading.

Given the lack of rain ten days prior the water depth was manageable for his waders and he knew from past experience that the muck on the bottom in certain spots would not be too gummy. Toby was particularly excited to use some caddis flies his friend Dave had made. With the boat secure Toby waded in from the pond’s edge and spent the next three hours catching several 10-inch brook trout.

As Toby stood thigh-deep into the water of the still pond his mind vacillated between two states of awareness. One sensitivity involved being absorbed by the nature encircling him. The natural world and God were one and the same for Toby. There was no distinction. The shimmering light, the temperature of the water, the songs of birds, and countless other ambient expressions of nature at this time and in this space felt like caresses from the Creator.

The other impression occupying his consciousness was the seduction of fantasy. There were several at play. But they were all variations on a theme. They entailed Toby moving through life with confidence, finesse, and joy in his heart. Actions played out in locations that were imaginary — a reflection of his disdain for rootedness and routine.

Flipping between these mental states left Toby confused and imbalanced. It often did.

It happened again. Toby was in that place where he was too alert to nap, but to fatigued to function. He knew from experience that if he gave himself enough time he may eventually grab an hour or so of shut eye.

What intruded his thinking that afternoon was one of his reoccurring thought obsessions. Toby first read about this incident in one of the boy adventure books his grandmother used to give him at Christmas when he was younger. This book, the title of which was now long forgotten, consisted of a collection of tales meant to capture the interest and imagination of boys, who of course, liked risky and hazardous escapades. Perhaps Toby’s grandmother felt he needed a prod or two in that direction.

The yarn which struck Toby hard when he first read it at about age ten and which now was keeping him from sleeping was that of the wreck of the Monica Hartery. The Monica Hartery had been a seventy-three foot coasting schooner built in 1927 in Newfoundland and was being used by its owner at the time of its demise in 1933 as a trading vessel in and around the coast of Newfoundland.

In December of that year the Monica Hartley had sailed from Channel, Port aux Basques, Newfoundland to North Sydney, Nova Scotia to pick up a load of Cape Breton coal. The ship carried a crew of five.

After the coal was loaded, nasty winter weather set in. It delayed the departure of the Monica Hartery for several days. The crew members, all of whom ranged in age from 28 to 32, were anxious to set sail for Channel, Port aux Basques so they could be home for Christmas. Despite the continuing bad weather the impatient crew left North Sydney on December 23.

It is known that the night of December 23 and into the early morning hours of December 24 in 1933 the southwest coast of Newfoundland experienced a furious wind and blinding snow. A portion of the schooner’s decking was discovered floating near the entrance of Rose Blanche harbour, some forty-six kilometers to the east of Channel, Port aux Basques, on Christmas Eve. Later that day three bodies were found washed ashore nearby. A fourth was discovered three and half weeks later.

Toby felt so sorry for the lost crewmembers and their families. It seemed so unfair. Injustice disturbed Toby very much. And God was being very unjust on that day in 1933. The men just wanted to get home for Christmas. What kind of God would do such a thing! Toby still pondered the same thought.

Toby picked up the cappuccino for Nellie and a black coffee for himself. He balanced them carefully as he walked to the round high top table in the café where Nellie sat waiting.

“I’m glad I could get you to meet with me today, Toby,” Nellie said. “You’ve been hard to reach lately.”

“Well, you know. There’s work and there’s always stuff to do around my place,” was Toby’s response.

“Oh, yes. Your place. You mean your parent’s place, right Toby?” Nellie tried to make eye contact with Toby as she spoke, but his gaze would not meet hers. He looked downwards instead.

“Yeah, well, our place. I live there too,” said Toby still avoiding Nellie’s eyes.

“When are you going to get out of there, Toby? It’s way past time, don’t you think?”

Toby had feared Nellie would do this if they met for coffee. They had been friends since first grade and they knew each other well. Maybe too well was how Toby felt at that moment.

“It’s not so easy, you know, Nellie. Dad is sick as shit and Mom is going batshit trying to take care of him. I have to be there right now to help out.”

“Yeah, it’s too bad about your dad.” Nellie paused. “But you’re going to have to get of there sometime. You’re not going to be one of those losers whose always living with his parents, are you?”

Toby winced slightly. Nellie noticed. “I’m only trying to help you, Toby.”

Clearly Nellie was being impatient with him. Toby did not like it that she was.

“We’re going over to Jimmy’s shop after work, Toby. How about you coming with us?” It didn’t often happen that the guys Toby worked with would ask him to join them for beers after work.

Toby hesitated before responding. It left just enough time for Larry to quip, “C’mon Toby, drink a beer with us!”

“Sure. Thanks. OK,” Toby stuttered. The invitation left him floating somewhere between grateful and anxious. He knew he should do this. It is healthy and good to interact with others Toby was often told. But social situations almost always left him a bit fearful.

So, the four of them that comprised the crew of Don’s Landscaping hopped into their pick-ups and went over to Jimmy’s garage, which served as a tinkering workshop for many of Jimmy’s crafty hobbies and also as a man cave where beers were drunk and cigarettes and joints were smoked.

After his second Bud Light Toby knew he had had enough, but as was often the case at times like these he wasn’t quite sure how to extricate himself from the gathering. “Gotta go,” Toby said as he straightened himself up from the folding metal chair.

“But Toby”, said Don. “We want to hear more about what you think, you know about the big stuff. Life. And what it all means. You’re the thinker here. You got your ideas cooking up there. Give us regular guys some of your wisdom.”

Toby was the quiet one at work. He did his tasks silently and rarely got involved with the dramas that always seemed to occupy the other guys. Whenever he did give an opinion on some matter there were winks and nods and comments like, “So, this is what the professor thinks, guys!”

Toby didn’t mean to sound different from the others. He really did want to fit in.

“Sorry, but I got nothing more for you today. Thanks for the beers. See you tomorrow.” Toby walked out of the garage to the sound of three guys shouting, “Awwww!” and laughing loudly.

“OK, Toby!” Don yelled. “Maybe next time!”

Toby’s father was ill. It had been nearly two years since Mr. Pelgren began to display debilitating symptoms. He was devoid of most of his energy. He tried to navigate his thoughts through a sea of brain fog. And he was chronically short of breath.

“Hi Dad,” Toby called out as he entered the living room walking by the dusty old recliner where his father most often slumped.

“Hi son,” Mr. Pelgren said.

The sun was rising. The television was on. Domestic details were all in their place that morning, including poor old Mr. Pelgren in his chair.

“Do you want me to take you for a drive today after work, Dad?”

Mr. Pelgren angled his head ever so slightly in Toby’s direction. “Maybe, Toby. Let’s see how I’m doing then, OK?”

“Sure, Dad. We’ll see how you’re doing then.”

Mr. Pelgren returned to staring at the TV with his now typical blank and absent glare. Mr. Pelgren’s gaze told Toby that his father did not comprehend a thing going on with the television program. But Toby also picked up on the fact that his dad did not seemed distressed or in pain. He was just there. Not comatose, but also not animated. I guess this is a good thing, Toby thought.

“See you, Dad. Gotta go to work.”

“Bye, Toby.”

Mr. Pelgren knew he was dying. Every element of his reality was colored by that fact.

Toby liked his alone time. He did not exclaim to others that he liked to be by himself. Everyone who knew Toby simply knew he preferred to be solitary.

There were spaces in the woods near his home that he had discovered as a boy and which he returned to often even as a young adult. These were among his places of solitude where Toby went when he needed to feel more grounded.

That sense of being rooted, of being stable, was far too elusive for Toby. What with work at Don’s Landscaping and the constant pressures coming from his parents combining to drain him of not just his energy but of his soul, Toby desired respite. The woods gave him peace. The towering pines and oaks were his sentries and his angels protecting him and providing comfort.

During the week passed, Toby tried to get along with people as he did most times, but much of the effort left him more spent than usual. So on this day, Toby walked along his trail, one he had trod enough over years to establish as his path, ushering him to the cliff.

The cliff was a granite outcrop shaped perfectly by the glacier which had scraped and shaped this land ten-thousand years ago. It was a forty-foot drop from the precipice to its base, which is where Toby built a campfire site of ringed stone about fifteen years prior. Beside it he placed a log he had found, which held a divot just right for him to sit on.

Toby did not light a fire that day. Instead he sat still scrutinizing the beech and poplars and maples nearby. He was restless. He felt it and examined the feeling as if on high looking down on himself, detached and disembodied. Toby thought that if he could just see the true cause of his anxiety, then he could somehow effect his emotions — make them more positive, more enlightened.

Despite his mental exertions, his unpleasant and restive mood remained. So, Toby just let the rustling of the leaves by the gentle breeze and the undertone of bird song wash over him as he continued to stare at the beech and poplar and maple trees.

Nellie called his phone. “Hi Toby! I’m going over to West Leb for some shopping. Want to come with me? I can pick you up.”

“Thanks, Nellie. Yeah. God knows I need to get away.” Here Toby paused. “But Nellie. Don’t be going on about how I need to leave home and strike out on my own and be independent and all of that kind of shit. Can you not be doing that today?”

“Sure. OK. I promise,” Nellie chirped. “You know how I feel about it, but I won’t stress out your fragile mind this afternoon. I’ll be over in about twenty minutes, OK?”

“See you then,” Toby replied.

Toby had known Nellie since they had attended elementary school together. They had been friends ever since. Toby used to get teased by the other boys for having a girl as his best friend, but in his heart Toby could never understand what was wrong with that.

One line Toby and Nellie never crossed was to refer to each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. Neither one of them ever pushed for that designation. They were simply happy to just be friends.

Nellie wanted to buy some clothes and other things that Toby did not pay much attention to. He wandered around the stores Nellie took him to looking at the merchandise with no particular interest in any of it. What caught his eye more was watching Nellie examining this and that as she determined which items to put into her shopping cart.

She has confidence, Toby thought. She doesn’t worry like I do.

Toby saw how Nellie’s countenance was genuine. Her appearance was relaxed. And the natural look on Nellie’s face settled into a slight smile even when there was nothing obvious to be grinning about.

Toby took comfort in observing these traits of Nellie’s. He was glad she had asked him to join her that afternoon. And she did not press him about how he needed to be more autonomous and separate himself from his family. Not once.

Toby could not shake the memory of what had happened back up at the hunting camp on Cooper Hill Road. He was passing the road’s entrance in his truck on the way to a job site. The incident had been four of five years before as best Toby could remember.

A group of fathers from the town, including his own, had taken their sons to do some bear hunting up at a camp some of the dads owned jointly. Toby did not want to hunt black bears, but his dad did, and Mr. Pelgren wanted Toby to join him.

One thing about the experience that began to grate on Toby’s nerves early on was when he observed a few of the men and lads baiting bears with old junk food from the town’s general store. It was stuff like stale Drakes Ring Dings and Devil Dogs and expired Hostess Twinkies. It seemed to Toby cheap and lazy and unfair to “hunt” bears that way.

Sure enough, Tim’s dad, Mr. Thurston, shot an adult black bear which sported a thin white crest on the side of its neck. He strung it up back at the camp for everyone to see. Mr. Thurston called for the boys to gather around, so he could demonstrate how to butcher the bear.

When time came around for Mr. Thurston to slit open the bear’s gut out fell bile-covered Drake’s Ring Dings, Devil Dogs, and Hostess Twinkies. Most of the junk food was still enclosed in its packaging.

All of the boys and some of the fathers laughed. Toby looked around him in disgust and his mind was suddenly transported to a state he rarely dwelt in.

“This isn’t funny!” Toby snapped. “This isn’t real hunting. It’s fucken’ gross!”

Everyone stared at Toby. Mr. Pelgren looked toward the ground.

“Hey, Pelgren,” Mr. Thurston called to Mr. Pelgren. “Your kid’s got a big mouth! If you don’t have the stomach for this Toby, look away.” The snide use of the word “stomach” made the guys laugh again. Mr. Pelgren looked up at his son with consternation, if not alarm. He knew this was not going to end well.

The next morning a note was found by Toby pinned to the cabin door of the room he was sharing with his father. It read, “Ur not wanted. Go hom.”

Toby and Mr. Pelgren left the hunting camp and the boys and their dads and went home. They were never invited back to the hunting camp.

It was one of those nights.

Toby laid awake in the dark of the bedroom he had had for as long as he could remember. The house had a deafening silence. Toby did not know what time it was. Three or four in the morning? He didn’t know and it didn’t matter. He was wide awake. A dream had awakened him. That he was sure of. But what the dream was about he did not know. He was left only with impressions and feelings, mere remnants, no clearly recalled details.

Toby propped himself up in bed and did not turn on the light deliberately so that he could more easily let his emotions flow through him. He had enough experience with his own style of emotional reflection to know to not fight his feelings or suppress them when they were potent enough to awaken him. His sentiments were guideposts, signs of changes to come.

That night he recognized anxiety, fear, and uncertainty. He also discerned anticipation — a type of expectancy which helped to smooth the rough edges of his more agitated feelings. These sensations were conspicuous enough, but for this night anyway, they did not carry the force to develop into some kind of actionable plans.

Instead, Toby sat in bed and in the dark suspended in what was like an ether consisting of part imagination and part objective reality. He communed with his demons and gave thanks to his angels while floating there. The wait until first light seemed to take forever. It often did.

As Mr. Pelgren declined, Mrs. Pelgren grew increasingly agitated. The combination made the Pelgren home insufferable. Toby knew what he could control and what he could not control. The circumstance he found his parents in he could not control. Realizing the lack of command he had gave him some degree of ease in an otherwise unbearable situation.

If Toby’s father understood or accepted his fate he did not let others, especially the members of his family, know about it. His energy and self-control lessened as his sullenness and despondency grew.

“How are you doing today, Dad?” was Toby’s typical line of greeting to start each day.

A grunt with flat affect was the usual reply.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you.”

“Yeah, well I’m sorry to.”

“Want to go for a ride today?”

“And have me shit up your truck seat again?”

“I’ll cover it proper this time.”

“No. I don’t think so.”

After a couple of minutes of silence except for the blaring television Toby asked, “I’m going to turn down the TV, alright Dad?”

“I don’t care.”

Toby lowered the volume. Mr. Pelgren stared at the television screen unmoved. The repeats of old shows from the seventies played on while Toby and his dad sat quietly. Toby felt trapped and sorry for his father and mother at the same time.

Mrs. Pelgren sat quietly by herself at the kitchen table gnawing on a fingernail and looking worried.

Loneliness was far from an all encompassing experience for Toby. He rarely felt lonesome. However, today was different. Toby wanted to be with Nellie. He wanted to be near her self-reliance and her serenity.

Toby texted her. -Hey, wass up?

-I’m trying to figure out this sewing machine.

-Sewing machine? What sewing machine?

-One my Grannie had.

-So, ur starting to sew?

-Yeah. Thinken about it.

-Since when?

-Since I decided to sew. -Did you text me for a reason?

-I want to hang out with you.

-OK. Come over. -I’m gonna stay with this machine though.

-OK. See ya soon.

By late that evening Nellie and Toby could stitch together two pieces of old fabric on Nellie’s Grannie’s sewing machine. They smiled at each other enjoying the thought that they had done something new together.

When Nellie hugged Toby goodnight at her kitchen door as he was leaving she kissed his left cheek. This was an unusual thing for Nellie to do. Toby liked it. A lot.

It was a Saturday morning in winter. The snowbanks on the side of Route 4A were still white and not yet showing the grime of late winter.

Toby was driving his truck, but he had no destination. This was a fantasy drive. That is what Toby called these drives when he just wanted to let his imagination expand unhindered. On that day, Toby’s mind was conjuring possible places he could be aiming for as destinations as he drove his truck.

He was envisioning places far away. Locations he saw on YouTube videos or on the several travel sites he liked to scan.

Toby first pretended to be going to Door County, Wisconsin. He remembered seeing a picture of a restored red pick-up truck parked against a blue painted barn with white trim. An apple tree was nearby. The picture made him feel peaceful. So he wanted to be in Door County.

From there he would drive north in Wisconsin and connect with U.S Route 2 heading west. He saw himself traveling across northern Minnesota trying to find the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Toby’s next make-believe was of him feeling free and untethered driving mile after mile on Interstate 10 in Texas. He would explore the hill country west of San Antonio.

Finally, he pictured himself in Indiana parking his truck beside a cornfield just before its harvest. In his daydream he walked deep into the field of cornstalks, all of them taller than he was. He visualized becoming fearful that he would be lost amongst all that tall corn.

In the evening, he would feel content sitting alone in his motel room with his only task being to figure out where he was going to drive the next day.

A Teleological Career

Posted on August 28, 2022December 15, 2022 by Bill Ryan

We all stop and ponder from time to time if the career in which we find ourselves is the right one. This assumes, of course, that one operates from the premise that there is such a thing as the one appropriate career. During these times of disquieting reflection, it may be helpful to reframe the question at hand as to whether our career is contributing to a life of meaning and emotional sustenance. What follows is a consideration taken from philosophy that is along this line of career self-evaluation.

When examining the history of western philosophy, one does not have to read far before coming upon the concept of teleology. Teleology refers to identifying the purpose underpinning a phenomenon as opposed to seeing effects arise simply because of some mechanistic cause. Teleological designs intentionally try to reach a pre-determined goal.

We are generally not patient to wait for a chance to produce desirable outcomes, so we maneuver events to reach the results we want. Our careers are hugely important in the amount of time and energy they take, so looking at them through a teleological lens is helpful.

In ancient times Greek philosophers spoke of the existence of a divinely inspired natural teleology as they attempted to describe the world as they found it. Organic substances were deemed to have inherent purposes, such as Aristoteles’s example of an acorn being intrinsically driven by a sublime force to become an oak tree. Today, science has introduced controversy into thinking of teleology as having a godlike origin. Nevertheless, the notion of purpose as serving a key role in human nature and agency persists in philosophy.

We can take this stubbornness of teleology to endure in human deliberation to conclude that there is something essentially positive about acting with purpose. Striving to attain a moral objective that brings happiness and satisfaction to oneself is easily and rightfully justified, right? Therefore, directing oneself to choose a career with a clear intention, acting on achieving career proficiency with zeal, and deriving the benefits of career success with joy is a pursuit worth following.

What I am promoting is simply applying career to living a life of well-being. Or to borrow another phrase from ancient Greek philosophy, a life of eudaimonia, by which is meant to flourish — what the Greeks saw as the ultimate goal of life. Working at a career that is inherently purposeful leaves us feeling more virtuous as a result of our endeavors and that we have identified a higher aspiration worth working for.

A teleological career is much more than a means of financial remuneration. It means reaching one’s potential. Like Aristoteles’s acorn, we can unfurl ourselves and find self-expression that is deep within our capacity. Feeling whole and thinking that this chosen profession is what we are meant to do energizes and strengthens us.

Teleology is also involved in the area of business ethics. Acting purposefully is most complete when it involves not just benefiting oneself, but also impacting others in a positive way. Consider the ethics of your career. Are you attempting to provide value for as many as possible, including customers, colleagues, the community, the environment, and all other stakeholders? Such an expansive purpose is more grounded in goodness for a greater number and for yourself.

Working with purpose sets up a motivational cycle that is internal, self-generated, and nearly effortless. When working toward a higher purpose we find it much less burdensome to gather the strength needed to function. Having desire to operate purposefully comes on more naturally and feeds on itself such that our expended energy is recovered and amplified by our emotional investment to purpose.

It is natural to wonder if we are doing the proper thing with our work. We should periodically question it and resolve if it is worth it. Applying a teleological approach to assessing our careers can help us to determine career quality.

Reconsider Your Career

Posted on July 25, 2022December 13, 2022 by Bill Ryan

There comes a time with all of us when we find ourselves reconsidering our career. We question why we still cling to the rationale that prompted us to settle on this career in the first place. Perhaps another bad day at work sparks doubt or your hesitation results from something deeper like a recognition of insecurity or uncertainty with the line of work you have chosen. If repeated reflections of your career role continuously point to a feeling of dissatisfaction, then it is time to act.

The measures I am suggesting need not be sudden and radical ones like going into work tomorrow and quitting your job even though you do not have other employment lined up — although that might be an option in your case. Rather, I would like to outline a mental and emotional approach you can use to assess your situation and formulate possibilities from which future career-oriented decisions can be made.

Unknowingly, you have already taken the first step. That is, you have acknowledged with yourself that something is wrong with your career. Stay with this insight for a while. Clarify as much as possible what is off. There could be multiple reasons behind your discontent. It will be useful for you to know as much as you can about what is not fitting. Repeating a dysfunctional pattern going forward is unhelpful and to be avoided.

From there, attempt to visualize an ideal career position for yourself. Beware of overly restricting your imagination. Instead, allow yourself the freedom to perceive energizing possibilities in which you can express your innate talents and leverage your developing expertise. When you inevitably think about an imagined choice as, “But that is something I’ve never done before,” try to shun what might be your usual response of instant rejection and instead play with the concept as an intriguing challenge. Be open to surprising yourself.

When brainstorming, integrate remembered examples of when you were successful. Compile your greatest hits both big and small. Look for the through line which connects these events. Is it your ability to solve stubborn problems, to be adaptive when innovation is called for, to persevere when others around you are jumping ship, to lead others even when your job title says nothing about management? There will be patterns aligned with what you are good at doing. These can be guideposts to inform you while you consider new career opportunities.

Another avenue of thought to factor into your self-examination has to do with emerging trends. It is no secret that the world is changing. Set aside for a while your career history with its experiences and the present state of your chosen industry to forecast where your fields of interest are heading. Look for possible intersections consisting of your expertise and developing areas of growth in need of aptitude. Refreshing changes can come from leaping off your steppingstones of familiarity onto novel and steep inclines that have just enough footholds for you to master the climb.

As fresh and exciting career potentialities take shape the time will come to assess your skillset. Are you stagnated by practicing the same tasks repeatedly? Do your imagined career possibilities call for skills you need to develop or acquire anew? Jolting yourself into expanding your capacity may prepare you for a better future but may also help you to snap you out of your current doldrums. Maybe there can even be the prospect of being able to hone new competencies while in your existing job.

We spend way too much time with our careers to tolerate having them less than stimulating. If you are content with what you are doing, then congratulations on being part of the joyful minority. However, for the rest of you, give yourself permission to consider and act on a change to bring more purpose and fulfillment to your careers and lives.

Instituting Workplace Flexibility

Posted on June 28, 2022December 13, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The demand for and expectation of workplace flexibility for employees is a construct that is not going away anytime soon, if ever. The confluence of ever-developing technological means, new generational expectations, particularly by Millennials, and pandemic-related work experiences is leaving business leadership with the challenge of meeting production goals with workforces yearning for more resiliency in how they operate on the job. This phenomenon provides individual workers like you with potential opportunities, but also possible obstacles, as you pilot your careers.

This is a time to observe how your employers assess and manage workplace flexibility as you determine if your current employment is meeting the needs of your individual career development.

Initially, ascertain if your employer even considers workplace flexibility a talent management issue. If not, then you will have learned a fundamental quality about your employer and should consider future employment with them accordingly.

If, on the other hand, your employer demonstrates a willingness to engage the workforce with operational practices which attempt to satisfy both employer and employee needs in a harmonious way, then attempting to participate with management fruitfully may be warranted.

Balance and moderation should be key features of any workplace flexibility set of policies and procedures. As many businesses realize, this is easier said than done. Flexibility practices can range from employee accommodations, such as allowing for an employee to deal with personal emergencies or other nonwork-related activities to negotiating with employees as full partners in designing an alignment that takes into consideration the interests of employers and employees. Widespread empowerment that results in optimal production and ideal proficiency throughout an organization is the primary goal.

Practices like employee accommodation, mentioned above, and another now common routine, the always-on workplace, do offer employees adaptability compared to legacy workplaces, but have inherent risks associated with them which may be counterproductive. In accommodation scenarios, managers are in the role of giving permission to employees to take time off to satisfy an employee request, if the manager sees fit to do so. A hierarchical structure is assumed.

Also, the workforce can become bifurcated between those who more frequently need accommodation, such as women with greater child, household, and elderly parent needs and men, who in general handle these demands less. Resentments from both groups can result.

Problems surrounding the always-on or boundaryless workplace are now becoming well publicized. This is the type of flexibility in which workers can be engaged anywhere and at any time. Work-anytime arrangements can leave employees working longer hours and carrying more stress than if they remained in traditional on-site settings and confined to well-defined start and stop times. Employers too can be disadvantaged by an always-on model. Retaining valuable talent can be difficult when workers realize their work-life balance is too disrupted and a perception sets in that employers are over-advantaged in the flexibility configuration.

Researchers Ellen Ernst Kossek, Patricia Gettings, and Kaumudi Misra reveal that superior workplace flexibility arrangements are achieved when employers provide structures comprised of a variety of flexibility choices, related equipment, and positive performance-management mechanisms within which employees commit to organizing how they can best work. Foundational to such an agreement is an intentional diminishment of the top-down hierarchical model to one honoring trust, power sharing, accountability, and respect for the contributions of everyone within the organization.

Upon this groundwork can spring other necessary features, including universal flexibility for all employees; unambiguous policies and procedures regarding flexibility; better enabled employees and managers; a culture that does not discourage flexibility; and continuous measuring of outcomes with agreed upon policy alterations as needed.

Above all, there is the need for competent leadership who can embrace workplace flexibility, effectively communicate its objectives, and practice the agility required to make the model work for all. An effective workplace flexibility reorganization can both enhance competitiveness and enliven careers.

Simple Tips for Becoming a Freelance Voice Over Artist

Posted on June 27, 2022June 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Following is a second career-related piece by guest essayist Leslie Campos of Well Parents. For Leslie’s first contribution to this site go to June 2021 in the archives. Enjoy!

Image via Pexels

Simple Tips for Becoming a Freelance Voice Over Artist by Leslie Campos

Most of us hear voice-over artists every day. Their voices are on advertisements, TV shows, audiobooks, radio, and many other forms of media. But did you know that most voice artists also enjoy their craft?

Though it involves reading from a script, a voice-over allows room for personality and passion, and it can lead to a fulfilling career if you approach it the right way. Of course, the right way means that you do it as professionally as possible! Today, Bill Ryan Writings outlines how to do just that.

What Is a Voice Artist?

You probably have a vague idea of what voice-over is. But do you know exactly what being a voice artist entails? Whether you want to build a full-time career or start a side gig, it’s critical to know the true meaning of voice-over. Essentially, voice-over is a production technique executed in television production, filmmaking, theater, advertisements, and so forth. Most of the time, the voice is in the background of the media.

Voice artists typically read from a script and record their work before it is included in the final product. Everything from documentaries to award presentations, from video games to movies and voice-overs are everywhere. It’s easy to see how much potential there is for a career as a voice artist.

What Are the Requirements?

You will also need to understand what will be required of voice artists. You don’t technically need a college degree or professional qualification to get your foot in the door as a freelance voice artist. Many of the world’s most respected voice artists began as amateurs with minimal equipment and worked hard to build their brand.

However, the voice-over industry is fiercely competitive, whether trying to work for a studio or yourself. The good news is that many companies — large and small — are looking for talented, dedicated voice artists. But considering the competition, seeking professional certification could help set you apart from other voice artists and help you get off to a faster start.

If you’re looking to freelance as a voice artist, you’ll eventually want your own professional in-home studio. You need the room to be both soundproof as in blocking out external noise, but also giving it an acoustic treatment by absorbing excess ambience. This will involve some cash outlay at first, but that investment may be recouped later by increasing your home’s appraisal value. With so many people working from home nowadays, a quiet room for videoconferencing is a unique selling point that makes your home that much more valuable.

You will also need specific skills to exhibit if you want to succeed in voice-over. For example, you must speak clean, meaning that you can talk for prolonged periods without clicks, glottal stops, and other mouth sounds. You also must speak clearly and pronounce each letter and phrase without hesitation, mumbling, or swallowing.

One of the most challenging skills to develop as a voice artist is consistency. And if you don’t have it, this career likely won’t work out. You must be able to speak for extended periods (and on various projects) with a similar volume, energy, tone, and articulation. Moreover, you must exhibit excellent control in your phrasing and be comfortable with cold reading.

Common Voice-Over Side Gigs

If you are not ready to start building a freelance career in voice-over, consider the many different types of side gigs you could explore. For instance, you could produce audiobooks for companies like Audible, which would be ideal if you love storytelling. You could look to online job boards like Fiverr to find clients for almost any type of voice-over work. And you can try your hand at narration and character voicing on indie video games and YouTube.

Practicing Your Craft

Finally, if you want to succeed at your career or side gig, you will need to practice as much as possible. Find voice exercises you can do each day and consider hiring a professional voice coach.

Also, regularly record yourself to evaluate how you sound and improve. And consider putting together a demo for each genre of voice-over you are interested in. This will allow you to find areas that need improvement, show others and get their feedback.

It may not be the most common career path, but becoming a voice artist can be a fun and engaging job if you prepare and practice. Keep learning about what voice-over entails, and start developing the necessary skills to position yourself for long-term success. And remember that there are plenty of side gigs to consider if you are not quite ready to forge a full-time career in voice-over.

Web3 and the Future Economy

Posted on May 23, 2022December 13, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Get ready! A novel and historic game-changer appears to be bursting onto the scene. It involves the internet’s next significant iteration known as Web3. Given the pervasiveness of the internet in business operations and in, well, life in general for most of us, it may be wise to pay attention to what Web3 is and what it may portend for our employers, customers, and our careers.

Depending on who one talks to Web3 is either a blossoming of monetary liberation ushering in new economies and with them original products, services, and currencies or it is a high risk Wild West of over-speculation, thievery, and privacy loss. Those who see its utopian potential, claim the web will be more democratized (Oh-oh. Haven’t we heard that one before?) with critics warning against an increasingly unaccountable centralization of wealth, information, and therefore power.

The original internet of the 1990s and very early 2000s was essentially a vast digital clearinghouse of fixed and stable documents that became available to a much wider audience than ever before. This was followed by Web 2.0, which allowed user to user interactivity, hence the development of social media, crowdsourcing, content creators left and right, and for better and worse, the web we know today.

What makes Web3 so different is that it rests on blockchain technology. If it is known at all, blockchain is the architecture which makes cryptocurrency possible. In short, blockchain is a distributed database comprised of digital data arranged in chunks or blocks that are linked immutably to previously created blocks across multiple servers leaving a sequential record of unedited transactions. These chains of data blocks are distributed across a global computer network not controlled by any corporations, but only by individual users or their techie proxies, known as miners, rendering the blockchain decentralized, secure, and trusted. Or so we are being told.

What is paradigm shifting about this model is that data transactions supersede governments, corporate business, or any legal centralizing organization. Crypto has given us an opportunity to imagine and experience non-governmental currencies. The time is now here to speculate about how this standard can be applied to other products and services.

One area growing in popularity involves the generation of communities of users who share the value of a commodity of some sort. Blockchain enables the use of non-fungible tokens or NFTs, which are digital units of ownership. These NFTs can be used to purchase, exchange, or trade in art, media, gaming premiums, or any set of items, physical or not, which are deemed valuable by the members of an esoteric community.

With all communication and transactions encrypted real-world identities are hidden. One is known only by their code. Allegedly, one does not have to know or trust others in the community to conduct transactions with them. The rules of the game are so hard-wired into the technology, security is assured.

Entrepreneurs are already starting to have a field day with this paradigm. Yuga Labs launched the Bored Ape Yacht Club in 2021. It is an NFT collection utilizing an open source blockchain. The commodity of value, believe or not, is a set of algorithmic generated ape cartoon profiles, which when owned, can be used for creating art or media projects. Sales this year have totaled $1B. You don’t get it? Either do I.

Established companies are starting to see that something is going on here. Microsoft and others are accepting cryptocurrencies as payment. Nike and others are encouraging collector communities using their brands. The concept of alternative virtual worlds with their own economies and players is catching on. Careers will be formed here that old schoolers like me cannot at all imagine.

How much of Web3 is hype vs. hope has yet to be seen. It seems that some kind of Brave New World is always just around the corner now that the future is here to stay.

The Power of Persuasion

Posted on April 25, 2022February 6, 2023 by Bill Ryan

To be successful in nearly every career, especially those careers requiring interactions with people, and that is a lot of them, you will be placed in a position of needing to persuade others to do something you think is valuable. Guiding direct reports to perform optimally, making a sale to prospective customers, swaying the direction and momentum of a field of expertise, or convincing co-workers to shift tactically are common examples when becoming an influencer is necessary. Whether or not you are a boss, being persuasive makes you a leader to some degree.

A common misconception is that those who practice persuasion best are of a special class of personality types born with a gift for inducing the masses to do what they want done. We think they are the only ones who can grab the attention, shape the decisions, and erase the doubts of others leading to results envisioned by the persuaders. Oh, if only we could be like them, then we could reach such heights in our careers!

In a still pertinent twenty-year-old article by University of Arizona psychologist and author Robert B. Cialdini, he unpacks research-based fundamentals underpinning the science of persuasion. He further illustrates how practical applications can be derived from these principles allowing even the most unconvincing of us to hone our influencing abilities.

What strikes me most about Cialdini’s suggestions is how rooted they are in interpersonal skills. Soft skills are often considered the awkward stepchild of the hard technical aptitudes that form the bases of many careers. As derided as soft skills often are, mastering them can make a worker and a leader extremely effective, and well… persuasive.

Cialdini identifies six tenets foundational to persuasion, beginning with the deceptively simple idea that people will better respect someone who is seen as more or less equivalent to themselves. If you are a boss this may mean utilizing the peers of direct reports who share your vision and can help you to spread the perception throughout the department or organization.

If this sounds too manipulative, note that other persuasion principles involve ensuring that you as a leader are well liked and that you treat others the way you would like to be treated. We tend to be persuaded by people who show they like us and are kind to us. So, establishing bonds of familiarity and mutual admiration by leaders can help to make the rest of us more impressionable.

The remaining standards of persuasion are more specialized and a little less soft, but still rooted in respect. For example, in trying to ensure compliance and commitment from among those being persuaded it is necessary for them to conform to your perspective voluntarily and not by way of coercion. If those being persuaded can be demonstrable in their acceptance by displaying their agreement, say in writing, then all the better.

Another key aspect of being an effective advisor is also being a credible expert in your field. Many of us still do find plausibility in the vision and words which come from true professionals. To be taken seriously, it is necessary to lay the groundwork ahead of time to establish yourself as someone who knows what they are talking about.

According to Cialdini, research also reveals that people are more persuadable if the information they are being given is considered scarce or exclusive. Rareness and sparsity make commodities and information more valuable and desirable, setting us up for an openness and willingness to behave in ways which we hope will secure them. If we are delivered a scoop or select information, then we are more likely to believe it.

Being an agent of influence need not be reserved for only those born with a special talent. We can all practice accessible skills of persuasion by understanding a few essential details. Among the most important of them is to be the change you want to see in others.

Flextime Workplaces: An Update

Posted on March 24, 2022December 12, 2022 by Bill Ryan

As has been widely reported over the past couple of years, workplaces, particularly in the knowledge economy, have either undergone or are being pressured to add flexibility features to their operations. The combination of Covid-related adjustments and technical innovations has resulted in a reassessment of what productivity and by extension appropriate workplace agency looks like in the modern workplace.

A 2021 Ipsos survey revealed that globally 30% of workers would attempt to leave their jobs if required to return to the pre-pandemic office setting. Many of the ever-plugged-in younger cohort of workers see only an upside to having jobs with flextime. Benefits such as managing the complex demands of modern living, taking care of children and elderly parents, reducing commuting time, and functioning when one is most energetic and constructive during the day are among the advantages cited as desirable with pliable scheduling and task requirements.

Flextime features are now much more present in recruiting job descriptions. Some of this is undoubtedly because of the increased demand for flexibility from a workforce that seems to be sorting itself into those oriented toward results-only vs. traditional workplaces, but also due to the uncertainty of the future. Covid has not completely gone away and with further environmental changes said to be coming from climate change, who knows what is next? Disruption is at least as likely as stability when planning operationally.

However, workplace changes of the sort being described here need to be assessed and designed thoughtfully. It can be easy to dump on traditional workplaces as having rigid, arbitrary, and ineffectual routines, like for example, habitually scheduled staff meetings laden with fill-in blah, blah, blah. Yet, as resiliency transformations occur it can be useful to see not only what is gained, but also what is lost by such modifications.

A case could be made that as customary practices dissolve not all the consequences may be necessarily positive. Of key importance is what it means to be professional. Parameters were established over time to separate work life from non-work life. We got used to sliding in and out of work modes with a regularity that brought predictability, certainty, and some semblance of balance.

One negative element of blurring the distinction between work and leisure time is the always “being on” phenomenon. When flitting in and out of work mode multiple times per day, including answering supervisor emails at 8:30 pm and being ready to respond to the Amsterdam office at 6:30 am, cumulative work time can approach 10-12 hours. It begs the question of who benefits. Probably not the worker.

Also, professional norms and protocols used in performance reviews and advancement decisions have been based on an in-person work context. Are the expected actions of workers who work from home holding up fairly to legacy achievement standards? Managers still wedded to the notion that time on task always equals productivity may be less inclined to favorably view fragmented work as effective, even if the results are of similar quality or perhaps even better than before.

This can be especially problematic for new hires onboarded with a company practicing flextime. How well can management really get to know their direct reports when they are working remotely? Perhaps fine — or perhaps not. New workers are motivated to do well at their new jobs and are trying to navigate expectations and learn company culture digitally. Might they be ripe for various types of exploitation, such as working exceptionally long hours or having to face other unreasonable demands from management or co-workers in a flextime environment? The possibility is certainly there.

Decentralization does have its benefits. But it also could have liabilities. As we redefine what it means to be professional in a flextime world, we need to be mindful of how to achieve efficiency in a way that rewards both management and front-line workers. This challenge is a subset of organizational agility and a crucial one going forward.

The Limits of Freedom

Posted on March 16, 2022February 9, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I do not go out of my way to engage in political discourse with others as much as I used to when I was younger. This is especially true for people I do not know well. That said, my political radar is always up when interacting with people I have recently met by assessing their comments in an attempt to discern their political leanings. It’s a bad habit, perhaps, but that is the way it is with me. I like to size people up.

One such instance arose during the 2020 election season. A hard working builder, who was excellent at what he did and who I grew to respect, worked for us on a project we undertook for a couple of months. One day, he and I were chatting during one of his work breaks. I do not remember his exact words, but the clear message was that on the topic of Covid leadership, President Trump was doing a good job and he deserved to be reelected.

Any resistance to not respond dissolved in one, or maybe it was one and a half seconds. I retorted with something like, “The way I see it is that the guy was lucky to have been given about three years with blue skies and fair seas and no major crises to deal with. He gets his first major challenge and he clearly is blowing it.”

I was looked upon with a touch of seriousness and surprise. We quickly learned we were on opposite sides of America’s gaping political chasm. But all was cool. Neither of us was up for contentious verbal fisticuffs and so we moved on to other topics. However, he let his position rest with a parting comment. “Well, all I know is that I like my freedom.”

Freedom. Beside the right to live, I cannot think of a more commonly valued belief than personal freedom. The right of each individual to live as they choose to is powerfully cherished around the world. And here in the western democracies, it is one of the key driving forces in how we individually and collectively live our lives. I agree with my Trump-endorsing friend — I also like my freedom. A lot.

It becomes easy to conclude that a principle as venerated as freedom is must be unrestrained, fostered, and respected in an unlimited manner by society. If freedom is a good thing, then the more of it there is the better, right? Well, I am enough of a skeptic to think there are limits to virtually everything. If there are universal and supreme moral codes underpinning reality, as espoused by philosophers from ancient times to the present, then I think the number of such ideal forms must make a small list indeed. Beyond these divinely inspired universals it seems to me all other values derived by humans have limitations. Freedom is among them. What follows is my examination of the limits of freedom.

To begin, it is useful to define what I mean by freedom in the political and philosophical sense. Therefore, I define freedom thusly: Personal freedom or individual liberty is the right for each person to decide on their own the course they want to follow to live their lives free from intrusion or coercion by others, whether such constraint comes from government, groups, or individuals.

I am trying to keep this definition simple and uncomplicated. I also want a working description which is unambiguous and one which I feel is generally agreed upon by most people. This interpretation meets these conditions, I think.

Assuming this definition of individual liberty contains wording commonly agreed to, the question then arises how such a mental construct was formulated. Has humankind always felt a yearning for freedom throughout recorded history or has this value evolved over more recent times? Also, what is at the core of people’s psychology that motivates so many to achieve lives characterized by personal liberty? Anyone reading these words will have lived their entire lives with an understanding, and probably an acceptance of freedom, similar to the way I am describing it. Such familiarity can make us think the concept of freedom as we now know it has always been around. But has it?

A useful exercise to better understand today’s views of freedom is to trace its historical underpinnings. A review of political anthropology yields one strikingly stark fact. Even among the oldest and smallest cultural bands of people there exists evidence of social control of individuals designed to mitigate person-to-person strife. Given the profound challenges of survival from prehistoric times on, cooperative behaviors were deemed necessary, if not crucial, to maintain continuity of the group and its individuals. Historically, group norms appear to hold more valuation than individual liberty. In fact, investigations of pre-historic peoples find these folk viewed families as the more basic human unit, not individuals.

In the history of western thought, we can find Plato expounding on the notion of justice, which it can now be said forms a foundation for the modern concept of freedom. As Plato was wont to do in his writings he presented dialogues, as they are known, in which philosophical instructional discourses are offered. A leading character in many of these dialogues is Socrates, who Plato accepted as a teacher and mentor. Socrates never wrote his teachings, but rather delivered them orally. Thanks to Plato, we know what Socrates taught.

In Plato’s best-known dialogue, The Republic, the theory of justice is raised. Plato, through his leading man Socrates, concludes that justice may be considered in two very different ways, one of higher value than the other. Hence, it is observed that human nature propels people to argue and occasionally fight for what is in their personal interests. This is fine until one is attacked by someone else pursuing their own interests. In other words, humans in their natural state are nothing more than a collection of self-interested units in perpetual competition for resources, which is it hoped, will satisfy their individual desires.

To resolve constant conflict among skirmishing individuals a collective agreement is made by all to live within a set of just rules, thereby reducing conflict and leveling the playing field for each engaging individual. Sounds fair, right? But Plato and Socrates go further to state justice should be more than practical good behavior. Living justly or fairly they claim will result in a person being happy and content, a worthy goal in and of itself. Although it could be said that before agreeing to participate in a just set of rules with their fellow man, the individual was more free to act, but also more at risk of force from others wanting what they had. Raw individual freedom meant living with increased risk of despair and even death.

Once we leave ancient Greece we find that for the next two thousand years or so people in the west largely lived under two forms of social rule, neither one of which valued justice or personal freedom much. Monarchies, a form of totalitarianism at the time, and serfdom were systems under which unequal class-based stratification of people was the norm. The 1% vs. the 99% economic structure we hear about today was commonplace for much of our history. It is hard to say any member of the 99% was very free when the majority of power and wealth resided with the 1%.

As the Renaissance matured into the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment beginning in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, new thinking emerged regarding the idea of individual rights. Philosophers who delved into early science began to view the world as mechanistic and ruled by fundamental laws of matter in motion. This Newtonian perspective set the stage for a reexamination of what made nature, and by extension, people tick. As heavenly bodies and objects here on earth are guided by natural laws, then too humans must be compelled and choregraphed to act as they do by predetermined principles.

The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) set the stage for viewing human behavior from this novel mechanistic position during this time. To understand Hobbes’ role in the formation of a right to individual liberty we can begin with his assessment of human nature. Note that Hobbes lived to see first hand the causes and consequences of the English Civil War during the 1640s. This monumental conflict pitted the supporters of the English monarchy, and their King Charles I, against the rising power of the English Parliament led by Oliver Cromwell. Eventually, the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalists establishing England as a republic. However, the fratricide which took place heavily influenced Hobbes’ writing of political theory.

Hobbes observed people similarly to Socrates and Plato in that he agreed they were essentially driven above all else by self-interests. He goes into great detail describing what he calls the State of Nature. Chiefly, Hobbes is saying the only natural authority among people is that of the parent-child relationship. Beyond this primary bond, everyone is in a scramble for getting what they want and avoiding what they do not want — a kind of law of the jungle.

The good news according to Hobbes, is humans proclivity to reason. By way of rational means people can agree to live together civilly. And civil order was a very big deal to Hobbes. Without it, people were little more than anarchical beasts. So given this reality, Hobbes promotes the first systematized Social Contract Theory. To form a civil society, people must first agree that giving up some degree of personal freedom is necessary so that all may thrive in life free of the fear of violent discord. Next, people must also consent to selecting a person or group of people with the authority necessary to enforce the social contract, i.e., a form of governance.

Where Thomas Hobbes loses many people is with his contention that the best type of social contract obliges people to obey the leadership of what calls a sovereign. What he means is a king or queen. Although not a strict Royalist during the Civil War — he did find merit in the Parliamentarians claim of representative government — he nevertheless placed significant importance in the capacity of a benevolent monarch who could best bring about law and order and tranquility to society. His Social Contract Theory was an attempt to forge a compromise between the two sides. Regardless, Hobbes’ aspiration was to encourage a socially civil arrangement among people, without which society would devolve into the primitive and hazardous State of Nature.

The notion of depicting a State of Nature of humankind, in other words social aggregates free of any external or internal government-like controls, continued to be the starting point for political theorists attempting to specify appropriate parameters of social control up to modern times. John Locke (1632-1704), another prominent English political philosopher and younger contemporary of Hobbes, adopted the Hobbesian approach of characterizing completely free and unconstrained people in a social context. However, Locke was less dire and pessimistic in his appraisal of human nature. Where Hobbes saw a dearth of moral temperance among people, Locke saw an opportunity for people to be naturally free and fulfilled.

John Locke recognized the individual freedom inherent in the State of Nature, but rather than being intimidated by its disruptive potential, Locke envisioned enormous benefit and possibility for people to live unrestricted lives of purpose. Locke’s relative optimism resulted from his belief that people were moral creatures and therefore capable of much more self-control than Hobbes gave them credit for. The basis for Locke’s proclaimed widespread morality was what he called the Law of Nature, which was given to all people by God. The divine Law of Nature dictates that humans not impair one another, but rather respect each person’s “life, health, liberty, and possessions”. Less government with its checks and regulations is necessary, because a moral population simply does not need management. Instead, they are kept in line by accepting God’s word.

Locke was not too Pollyannaish, however. Another component of the Law of Nature was that people could and should defend themselves from unscrupulous behavior, which Locke recognized did exist. Therefore, a degree of civil authority was warranted. Also, Locke revered the concept of property ownership. The image of a man communing with nature, by for example tilling a piece of land and producing food, was seen as a hallowed endeavor.

Locke began to speak of man as having rights — a radical idea for the times — to live as he chose and to own what he acquired within moral reason and limits. Perhaps some readers will recognize the ethic of Thomas Jefferson in this description of John Locke. The American Declaration of Independence is a powerful reflection of Locke’s thought, and yes, Jefferson was indeed heartily inspired by him. So, where Hobbes advocates for a strong authoritarian sovereign to protect people’s lives, Locke’s vision of a social contract is in support of a minimalist government to protect people’s rights. Their core difference in defining social contracts and civil authority results from their extreme dissonance in defining human nature.

The next chapter of examining the transformation of social thinking with regards to liberty takes us to the reasoning of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Rousseau was a French intellectual, who became one of the pillars of the Enlightenment and a key provider of the rationale for the French Revolution of the 1780s and 1790s. He became enthralled with the investigation of the State of Nature, Social Contract Theory, and the concept of individual rights begun by Hobbes and Locke.

An interesting twist in our tale is the belief Rousseau held regarding the State of Nature. He contended that humankind prior to becoming civilized lived in a pure, natural, and idyllic state. Individuals were inherently free to live in harmony with nature and with each other. There was minimal strife and competition among people, due to their small numbers and the plenitude of nature. Rousseau claimed these early humans were kind and gentle and practiced caring for one another. This view is a polar opposite of Hobbes’ outlook toward human nature.

Once progress and civilization occurred in response to a growing populace and establishment of communities people’s lives became bifurcated into work and leisure times. A consequence of these changes was that life became easier due to innovations and the growth of specialty trades, however people began to compare themselves to one another leading to a proliferation of negative traits such as vanity, jealousy, shame, and loathing. In particular, Rousseau blames the establishment of private property as a monumental cause for man’s “fall from grace”. Note, the stark difference between this position and Locke’s concerning property ownership.

Rousseau saw the onset of private property as resulting in class distinctions. Either one owned property or one worked for someone who did. Wealth and power in time became concentrated among the property owners. Unsurprisingly, this was a situation property owners wanted to preserve. To do so, governments were established to make laws skewed toward the interests of the ownership class and away from the interests of those who worked for them. Rousseau recognized this state of affairs as indeed being a social contract, but an unjust one.

Realizing it was futile to imagine humans going back to the original State of Nature, Rousseau set out to envision a more equitable and humane social contract for the modern era. Beginning with his contention, “Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains”, Rousseau suggests a social contract composition that essentially attempts to reconcile how people can live freely and together simultaneously. From the starting point of humans being free in their natural state, he opposes any notion of authority being legitimately derived from an entitled social class, such as the rich, and he vehemently rejects any conviction in a divine right of royalty to rule. Since we all start off life on earth free and equal, leadership which is needed to ensure the rights of people to live as freely and equally as possible, must arise from the consent of a free and equal community of people.

Rousseau therefore proposes the concept of a communal or general will derived from the input of all and which takes into consideration the interests of all groups and individuals in the population — in other words, direct democracy. To submit to a general will, individuals must renounce a degree of their distinctive and discreet freedom. Rousseau essentially tells us that not everyone can get all they want all of the time without taking into consideration the needs and wants of others. We are instead encouraged to submit to the conditions of a freely and equitably determined general will, including in the selection of authority.

Society is more than a collection of individual interests, Rousseau tells us. A synergy must be reached establishing a greater good for all persons to live as freely and fairly as possible. Achieving this state is more important than the interest of any one individual. Acceptance of this type of social contract best addresses the corruption which arose from our loss of the original State of Nature. If this requires that citizens be forced by law and tradition to conform to the parameters of the general will, then so be it. This is the Rousseau doctrine.

What Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau wrought is debated to this day. Their formation and refinements of Social Contract Theory has led in large part to the style of democratic governance practiced around much of the world today and which is under threat in some countries, including in the United States. More on that later.

To conclude our look at how Social Contract Theory has shaped individual liberty, I should mention one more political philosopher, John Rawls (1921-2002). After a long interlude of applying assessments of the State of Nature and Social Contract Theory to specify how societies should function ethically and legitimately, Rawls picked up the work of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau and utilized a novel approach. In his landmark work, A Theory of Justice published in 1971, Rawls conducts an abstract but useful thought experiment.

In place of the State of Nature, Rawls imagines what he calls an Original Position in which humankind, cloaked behind a “Veil of Ignorance”, determines what is the most just kind of society. Picture this. There is a diverse collection of people: women, men, all ages, all races, straight, gay, abled, disabled, rich, poor, etc. None of them interact with or even know about one another. They are not aware of human history with its prejudices, successes, or failures. Each individual knows only one thing, which is to settle rationally on the conditions or social contract necessary for what will be the most fair society possible for all of its inhabitants.

Rawls claims this imaginary planning group will naturally decide on two core principles. The first is that each and every individual in society is to have the most civil liberty or freedom as possible. No one would be more or less free than anyone else. The second principle recognizes the impracticality of thinking social and economic parity or equality will ever be fully achieved. Therefore, social and economic inequality can be considered just only if social and economic rewards are available and obtainable by each individual, whether or not each individual chooses to strive for them. In short, in a just society everyone is free to pursue their interests and values and no one is to be denied freedom of choice and opportunity.

I have chosen to examine the limits of freedom through the lens of Social Contract Theory because I find it the best way to track the history of thought and practice regarding humankind’s pursuit of the ultimate freedom each individual in a society can expect to express. I am not aware of such a concentrated philosophical and social attempt to address individual liberty elsewhere in the world.

So, what are we to make of all of this? To live freely will firstly be determined at the level of the individual. Each person will have their own interpretation of what freedom means and how much of it is desirable for their unique life circumstances. A fully functioning fair society must be able to accommodate this range of renditions — up to a point.

To identify where this point is located begins with a reading of human nature, not unlike what occurred with the philosophers mentioned above. As cited in Hamilton/Madison’s Federalist Paper No. 51, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” I think it is fair to say, not all “men” are angels. Although some segment of our population is certainly comprised of wonderful souls traversing the expanse from being kind to Buddha-like, there is also unfortunately a significant number of greedy, self-centered, abrasive, and downright unpleasant people out there who would just as soon roll you over if it would be to their advantage. Maybe early humans were the caring and gentle creatures Rousseau characterized, but many sure are not now.

This unmistakable reality forces society into articulating limits to the behaviors demonstrated by individuals. One’s conscience, thoughts, and emotions have always been and hopefully always will be free of coercion and manipulation. But behavior is something else. Quite simply, if one’s freely chosen actions restrict the ability of another individual to act as they choose, then an imbalance has occurred. Whether this imbalance is justified, in other words fair, a reasonable consensus must be present. Typically, limitations to freedom occur for widely agreed upon reasons such as the need to preserve public order, national security, moral values, or the freedom of fellow citizens.

Defining freedom for a society, including its limitations, is where the device of a social contract can be very helpful. Codifying liberty, as can be done in the process of drafting, debating, and ratifying a constitution or also in judicial interpretations, can spell out the essence and parameters of socially acceptable free conduct. In the case of the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights and the remaining seventeen amendments to the Constitution that follow specifically define what it means to be free in the USA. In America and in many other parts of the world, freedom is expressed as highly precise and fundamental rights. Government exists in large part to protect these individual rights.

However, the concept of social contracts has come under criticism. A contract implies that at least two parties negotiated the terms and conditions of the contract. Regarding the U.S. Constitution, the bulk of the negotiating was done between 1787 and 1789 by the members of the Constitutional Convention. It is true, amendments to the Constitution require the input of Members of Congress and state governments over time, but largely the people living in America today did not negotiate or sign on to the social contract. We were literally born into its rules and values and raised to follow them.

Another criticism pertains to who sets the terms and conditions of the social contract. If the drafters of a constitutional-like document are those who control most of the society’s wealth and power, such that they write terms which protect their elite status rather than to universally disperse the benefits of rights across the entire population, then the social contract can rightly be deemed as unjust.

I would like to conclude this essay by mentioning the bizarre contortions freedom is undergoing in the American politics of 2022. If there was ever any doubt that former President Donald Trump had autocratic designs for himself and for his country, these were clearly dispelled on January 6, 2021 with the Capitol insurrection. We all witnessed a sitting U.S. president try to steal a legally and constitutionally conducted 2020 election in favor of himself. Trump told the country and his supporters that he was trying to save the country. In reality, he was trying to destroy democracy.

As I indicated at the start of this piece, Trump’s supporters claim they are lovers of personal freedom. I do not doubt that. The question becomes how best to ensure freedom’s continuance in America. Is it through autocracy or through democracy? Let us take a look at what autocracy is.

The opening line of the Wikipedia entry for autocracy reads: Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control. I could offer other definitions, but this one sums it up quite well. In my judgment, and I am certainly not alone, this is what Donald Trump offers America.

Look at the current international order or at the world at any point in its history. Where is there evidence of freedom loving people living contently under autocratic rule? None can be found. Absolute power concentrated in the hands of one person is the antithesis of shared power, hence no liberty. Fair play requires each citizen, including and especially the president, to work for the betterment of the public good. A flourishing and prosperous citizenry demands independent and collective contributions from all within a free society, not the dictates of one person.

To jointly support individual liberty and Donald Trump, or any other autocrat, makes no sense. Americans must choose. They are either on Team Autocracy or Team Democracy. For the sake of freedom loving peoples everywhere, let us hope Americans — and all other lovers of liberty around the world — will choose wisely.

A Coming Workforce Transformation

Posted on February 21, 2022December 12, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Career prospects for women during the economy of the past couple of years show significant disillusionment. By the end of 2020, 140,000 jobs in the U.S. which had been held by women were lost in female-dominant industries like education, hospitality, and retail according to Business Insider. The National Women’s Law Center reported in 2021 that about two-thirds of all minimum wage jobs are held by women. Unemployment rates remain high for women of color and women with disabilities.

The past years have also not been encouraging for professional women seeking to secure leadership positions, particularly in highly capitalized businesses. Julia Boorstin of CNBC reported in 2020 that of the 500 largest American companies only 6% of CEOs were women. Not only that, but there is this occurrence of women being placed in CEO positions of troubled companies struggling to hang on. The phenomenon is known as the “Glass Cliff” problem. If the ship cannot be quickly righted to profitability, then it can be easier for some to say how a woman was given a chance to show leadership, but it just did not work out.

McKinsey reveals another stunning circumstance. The proportion of women in jobs declines as the amount of responsibility embedded within these jobs increases. Women make up 50.8% of the American population, but account for 47% of entry-level positions, 38% of management assignments, and 33% of senior management occupations. For every 100 men who move into management roles, there are 85 women who do so.

The history of women in the workforce facing discrimination, unequal pay, and harassment in one form or another is a painfully long one. However, there are some other statistics which curiously suggest more positive changes may be coming for women in the workforce.

The writer David French points to some recent education stats showing men are slipping in acquiring the schooling necessary to stay highly qualified and competitive for the good jobs, and for leadership roles particularly. For example, at the end of the 2020-2021 college academic year women comprised 59.5% of the overall student body, the highest ever, and men only 40.5%. This data is from the National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit research group.

Furthermore, the 2020-2021 school year showed a decline of 1.5 million students relative to five years earlier. 71% of that drop was in men leaving U.S. colleges and universities! For a reason I cannot explain, men’s attendance has fallen such that they have become a minority cohort in higher education. Can a drop in men’s career prospects relative to women, including in leadership, be far behind?

One does not have to look far to notice an unmistakable correlation between levels of education and career success. Acquisition of knowledge, skill, experience, contacts, and confidence are all derived from furthering one’s education. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent data concerning earnings and unemployment rates by educational attainment show median weekly earnings for those holding only a high school diploma to be $781, but with an unemployment rate of 9%. The bachelor’s degree college graduate in comparison earns on average $1305 per week with an unemployment rate of 5.5%.

To be sure, the traditional four-year college degree program model is under serious review, as it should be, by those who foot the high cost. More targeted and lower cost education and credentialing options are providing increasing competition to legacy college and university programs. That’s fine. But if men think the good jobs and leadership positions will always be waiting for them as in the past, while women are actively preparing to compete and hold those occupations for themselves at rates superior to males, then men may be in for a rude awakening soon.

As women gain more of the good jobs and leadership roles, they are likely to open more doors for other women to participate more fully in quality education and work opportunities. As education attainment shifts more to women, so too will their employment and leadership strength.

Ten Poems III

Posted on February 13, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Provocations

All Drunks are skid row bums living in donated tents under bridges.

All Trump supporters are racist backwoods rednecks.

All Techies are self-obsessed nerds with no social skills.

All Lefties are self-righteous, insular, uncompromising prigs.

All Children are whiny, self-interested, unsophisticated brats.

All Pro-gun nuts are fearful, paranoid, faux courageous extremists.

All People of color are lazy and unreliable and always looking for a hand out.

All Whites are privileged, wealth hoarding, power hungry aristocratic wannabies.

All Christians are holier-than-though, intolerant, nationalist, white supremacists.

All Suburbanites are socialist sympathizing and corporate consuming phonies.

All Democrats are bleeding heart, atheistic, pie-in-the-sky spendthrifts.

All Republicans are cheap, selfish, cold-hearted, hidebound fuddy-duddies.

All Poets are naval gazing egotists who believe other people care what they think.

Soul Energy

My cursory study of

quantum mechanics

has hit a snag.

It seems to me

rightly or wrongly

that all matter is really

just energy.

All there is

is energy

behaving in different ways.

Energy behaves.

Now what? I ask.

Science is leaving me

stranded in a cul-de-sac.

Then I think, well,

what about

the energy which is

in all of us humans?

The energy giving us life.

The energy that existed

before we were born and

will exist after we die.

Soul energy.

Our soul is the eternal energy

expressing itself in each of us

individually.

Something to ponder for a while

I think.

Bread and Butter

He wore the same

baker whites as my father.

An old, kind, quiet man,

who took an interest in me.

I, a small boy.

He, a kitchen worker.

The slices of white bread

were toasted a light brown.

With the broad knife

he scooped a generous portion

of butter from the crock.

A quick spread, evenly distributed,

and placed before me.

The toast tasted delicious!

I am mystified

why such a memory

of a mundane moment

has stayed with me

for so very long.

It was nothing special,

just a warm, pleasant, and caring

experience.

That is all it was.

I guess, that is all it needed to be.

Where Is She?

It has been 36 years

since she implanted herself

outside of the uterus.

The growing union of cells

survived for some days and weeks.

How many is unknown.

Her destiny was to not be.

Her presence became a danger.

Her life force needed to be

snuffed out in order to

save her mother.

Her soul

as rich as anyone’s

needed to find a new

cluster of cells

in which to flourish.

I want to believe

she found it

and is living

a thriving life.

Excuse me

while I cry.

Mortality Dream

It happened again last night.

I awoke

gently

at about 3:00am.

I recognized the feeling.

I have felt it before.

More and more frequently

in recent months and years.

The dream that awakened me

has no memorable content

or occurrences.

Only a theme.

My life is coming to an end.

Not imminently,

or so I think

and hope.

But my advanced age,

my eventual demise,

occupies a more prominent

position in consciousness,

both when awake

and asleep.

I felt no fear.

Only sadness.

By 5:00am

I crawled back into bed.

She, in her sleep, reached over to

touch me.

At that moment

I felt blessed and

returned to sleep.

Angst

We begin with the angst of childhood

Being concerned about being loved.

Then comes the angst of adolescence

Do I have enough friends?

The angst of young adulthood is weightier still

I must measure up to what a normal adult is. I must.

Oh, the angst of middle age

So much to hold together — marriage, finances, work, kids!

Late career angst can also bite

Planning a well-earned retirement in Shangri-La requires a lot of fantasy.

To live long enough for post-employment angst

Making that fixed income last while sliding toward senility and decline.

And finally — the simple angst of end of life

Being concerned about being loved.

Prints in the Snow

The snowfall was heavy.

The cold was deep.

From the window I saw

the blanket of blanco

lay soft, firm, and virgin.

As days passed

the snow became speckled

with small disparate prints.

They would appear in

morning.

Made during the frigid

night.

Noticed by me throughout the

day.

Why, I wonder, are they expending energy

by moving about

on this patch of frozen landscape?

Who made them?

Squirrels, deer, fox,

a lone turkey separated from its rafter,

or the elusive fisher,

whose screams we have heard at night

like a lost freighted child calling out for help.

Protected and comfortable

in my woodstove-heated home

I try not to anthropomorphize

their plight.

But I do anyway.

God Will Save Me

(Remembrance of a story once told.)

Come away from the edge!

You could fall into the water!

Not to worry.

I am religious.

God will save me.

The boat lurched starboard and in he fell.

Here! Grab this life ring!

Not to worry.

I am religious.

God will save me.

A rescue boat appeared along side him.

We have come to save you!

Not to worry.

I am religious.

God will save me.

He went under.

Lungs filled with water.

He drowned.

At the Pearly Gates he approached God.

I have long worshipped you!

Why did you not save me?

God looked down upon him kindly.

I gave you ears for listening to others.

I gave you fingers for grasping onto helping hands.

I gave you a mind for reasoning.

The question should be,

Why did you not use your God-given gifts?

Uppers and Downers

Homeostasis is so

elusive.

Like a statistical norm it

exists in ether

not in our real lives.

Energy can be difficult

to direct.

Its simple options are

to go up or

to go down.

Like a constant

calibration.

Turn energy up or

turn energy down.

This way or that way.

Reach for the upper

to be productive

to feel exuberance

to practice acuteness

to enjoy wakefulness.

Reach for the downer

to relax

to be reflective

to go adrift

to smell life.

Equilibrium,

Sustainability,

Balance,

Perseverance,

Homeostasis,

is the ultimate goal.

The Old Family Photos

With hesitant

but expectant

fingers

he opens the old photo

albums.

To even hold

these collections

is stepping back

to distant times

long gone,

but residing still

in presents past.

His emotions are

mixed.

Warmth, sadness, and

subdued happiness.

A stark reminder

of gifts he had

been given

and squandered

by being less

than he should

have been.

Love and regret,

grateful and apologetic.

Reminded of Thoreau,

“The mass of men live lives

of quiet desperation.”

Unfortunately,

he joined the family

of these men.

Such a turn of events

for a rich life

endowed with beautiful

children and wife.

Career Advancement and the Management Myth

Posted on January 25, 2022December 12, 2022 by Bill Ryan

An odd convention has fixed itself into the career psyche. It involves widespread practice that when a worker has demonstrated specialized competency and efficiency over a period of time, then the next step in that person’s career must naturally be an elevation to a management position. A causation is assumed linking proficient performance with an ability to lead direct reports.

This assumption may be oversold, resulting in the selection of many managers who find themselves unhappy and detached from what they do best.

Surely, there are many cases when a stellar individual contributor turns out to be an excellent manager of workers who does what they once did. As managers, they know intimately the challenges their subordinates face and having been skilled in addressing them formerly they can guide teams with heightened awareness and credibility. A once knowledgeable and experienced provider, who is also an inspiring leader, is a great combination indeed.

Unfortunately, there are times when the “advancement” of a well-versed individual contributor to management is misplaced. During these pandemic times, it is no secret that many workers are reassessing their roles. This includes managers. It is not uncommon for some managers to feel a nostalgia for work that was more purposeful and fulfilling compared to being supervisory. They remember the satisfaction they felt at being an excellent contributor, and with reflection, may realize they like that better than being a boss.

However, we are ingrained to think hierarchal. Once we have moved up, it is considered a disgrace to move back down. What will people think if I give up this management post and return to a job I once had? That will be seen as a demotion, right?

Thoughts like these would discourage many managers from reversing course. If the future of one’s career is a choice between continuing in a less than satisfying management role or risking possible shame by returning to a former position, then one is very likely to feel stuck. This is not a good place to be.

One thing helping with such a conundrum is the fresh post-pandemic attitude allowing for workers to search for more meaning in their work. Just as there is now more evidence of hiring managers being more accepting of job-hopping over the past two years when they look at resumes, there may now be greater acknowledgment of managers leaving to search for greener pastures.

Reframing your traditional ideas about hierarchy may also help. Get out ahead of any perceived criticism or doubt from others by publicly admitting that returning to a role, which again makes possible more autonomy and the practice of mastery, is a better fit for yourself than management. It is possible to state that your career and the organization can both profit from such a move. This can be communicated in a way which is both believable and face-saving.

Leadership, as well, can be viewed with old-fashioned limitations. Management jobs need not be the only way to lead. An individual contributor who trains and mentors colleagues through sharing of expertise and proven methodologies can have a greater leadership impact than someone who is overly consumed with analyzing productivity metrics of direct reports. By claiming you prefer to lead more by guidance and coaching than the old management job allowed for, it can help to substantiate your re-entry move.

Then there is the possibility of retaining your management position on the hierarchy by proposing a new strategic venture that better incorporates both your individual contributor and management values. From your perch within the organization, you may be able to see more creative ways of approaching potential opportunities, which call for just the right fusion of skills you can provide.

Greater agility does not just benefit organizations, it enhances careers as well. If you are questioning your contributions due to limitations placed on you by being a manager, the time may be right for a change.

Career Adaptability in a Time of Economic Resilience

Posted on November 27, 2021November 30, 2022 by Bill Ryan

As a people, we habitually want to return to normal after a sudden disruption. To seek stable ground after a storm is what we are hard-wired to do. The pent-up desire to reclaim regularity throughout this pandemic is palpable. We want so much to snap back to a 2019-era lifestyle that it may be hindering our capacity to plan for what increasingly looks like an uncertain future.

A combination of Covid’s aversion to disappearing and more general workforce changes promote doubtfulness in the minds of many about future economic, and by extension, career directions. Questions as basic as, will my job be permanently home-based and remote, or will my job, which is centered on being face-to-face with many people, forever now to be risky? These are existential questions.

Career resilience, or the ability to navigate one’s professional life through the turbulent vicissitudes of the 21st century employment environment, is not a new topic. Remaining nimble and adept enough to reapply one’s skillset to changing situations has been advised by career professionals for years now. Of course, such advice has most often been given in the context of technological automation and cross-market globalization.

The unsettled world of Covid, however, only adds to the urgency. Emerging variants of the virus and the patchwork way nations and regions respond to the emergency leaves Covid-fatigued people feeling discouraged that we can get past this anytime soon. Optimism rises and fades like the graphs of infection rates. As far and as wide as we can see, the economy is being buffeted by winds of Covid-generated incertitude. Career resilience becomes but a subset to the larger challenging phenomenon of economic resilience.

The National Association of Counties identifies economic resilience as, “a community’s ability to foresee, adapt to, and leverage changing conditions to their advantage”. The U.S. Department of Commerce is more blunt in its description. Commerce questions an entity’s proficiency to endure and to rally from a severe disruption, and its ability to avoid crises in the first place. The take-away inference is that acceptance of the proverbial new normal and requisite mitigation planning is to be standard operation.

The interests of non-entrepreneurial workers are served when employees understand the sustainability planning and related past practices of the employers for whom they work or want to work. If an employer is overly relying on luck to get them through or is in denial about change occurring, these should be warning signs. Do not let the miscalculations of others derail your career.

What we want to see instead are signs of employers envisioning and assessing risks to their markets and assets. These are sometimes known as steady-state actions. From there they should be prepared to deploy a response strategy when crisis strikes.

Included in this overall approach can be interventions such as sustainability budget planning; diversification efforts to reduce exposure to high risk sectors; gardening of workforces which will ride out disruptions and not quickly bail; alignments with business, government, and educational resources to keep forecasting and preparedness skills sharp and ready; and agile management capable of shifting available talent to meet unexpected needs effectively.

Continuity planning for an organization or an individual share certain processes. Key among them is to know the weak areas. Where are the shortcomings? How can they be managed or strengthened? Which metrics apply to indicate success is being achieved?

Another key process is in knowing the threat indicators early on. Take advantage of utilizing a natural or trained inclination to be preventative and farsighted.

Above all, establish systems, procedures, and habits, which have resiliency built into them. Facing turmoil requires a degree of fortitude. Until Covid is somehow controlled worldwide the economic and career challenges related to the virus will continue. Confronting the menace clear-eyed and purposeful is a potent response.

An Artificial Intelligence Appraisal

Posted on November 8, 2021 by Bill Ryan

A seminal event in the development of machine learning occurred over a two-month period during the summer of 1956—about a half-hour drive from where I am now writing—at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The year before, an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Dartmouth, John McCarthy, generated the idea of compiling an eclectic group of talent who were to be tasked with conducting an original type of prognostication in an area so new that he needed a fresh term to describe it. Professor McCarthy coined a label for his proposed conference’s topic…Artificial Intelligence.

Although a decade before Gordon E. Moore of Intel prophetically surmised the doubling of transistors on a given unit of space could occur every two years, known over the years as Moore’s Law, by the 1950s it was becoming clear that the rate of electronic functionality and efficiency was improving exponentially. Given this background, John McCarthy set out to investigate the potential of this trend by bringing together an interdisciplinary potpourri of researchers from fields as diverse as cognitive science, electrical engineering, communications, neuroscience, information theory, psychology, mathematics, and computer science. Their mission for what became the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence can best be summarized by the following sentence extracted from Professor McCarthy’s 1955 conference funding proposal: “The study is to proceed on the basis of the conjecture that every aspect of learning or any other feature of intelligence can in principle be so precisely described that a machine can be made to simulate it.” Such was the launch of one of the most revolutionary movements of our time.

Artificial Intelligence, or AI as it has become commonly known, is simply intelligence displayed by machines. Beyond this terse definition nothing about AI is simple. Nor is it docile. AI is already shaping our world in ways never before seen. We now live with tools such as search engines, robotic automation, virtual product recommendations, and data-driven medical diagnostics to name just a few of the innovations unheard of by most people only a generation or two ago. And on the horizon? Self-driving cars, self-learning cybersecurity systems, robotic assistants for the elderly, and tailored genomic medicines merely begin the dazzling list of inventions coming our way. AI has already demonstrated potential for disrupting and altering the way we live our lives and we are just getting started.

The volatile and variable nature of AI agency prompts me to examine this phenomenon in some detail and with some urgency. At present, AI portends to be either a source of life enhancing opportunities or a basis for grievous intrusions and dislocations that could threaten our way of life. Its strength may deliver possibilities or burdens. Given this potency it is incumbent upon us to fully and intentionally participate in examining, monitoring, and directing the course of AI development. It’s not as if this phenomenon is some act of God beyond our control. It is manmade. Therefore, we need to ask ourselves, are we going to steer AI advancement or is AI going to drive us?

I approach this inquiry as a lay person. I have no significant education or experience in subject matter related to AI or machine learning, including mathematics, computer science, robotics, cognitive modeling, information theory, data science, or any of the other sub-disciplines that go into the structure of AI. I am just a John Q. Citizen who is interested in technological change and what adaptations it can bring to individuals and society. Counter-intuitively, my non-technical background highly qualifies me to look into the possible ramifications of AI. And I should not be alone in doing so. When science becomes so abstract that average people simply resign themselves to letting the smarty-pants of the world make the profound decisions of how we are to live our lives, then we have a problem. I think it best to welcome the benefits AI can bring to us, while maintaining skepticism and a wary eye about its possible perils.

It is tempting to think that AI will display its power largely as a source of new products and services for the universe of consumers always eager to be swept away by the newest shiny object. Technological innovations often reveal new and improved ways of completing common tasks. Undoubtedly, expanded capacities will emerge allowing consumers to benefit from a myriad of novel ways to perform daily life functions. However, AI will manifest itself broadly by transforming employment and by extension how we live our day-to-day lives. This historic interchange between employment and how we structure our lives appears to be on the verge of a mammoth AI metamorphosis.

For better and for worse we have been at a similar economic and social crossroads before. It may be useful to consider what transformations the last great such revolution yielded as we ponder how to best be prepared for the AI insurgency. Two hallmarks of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe were the rise of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. The Scientific Revolution ushered in new ways of comprehending the essence of natural materials and phenomena, which resulted from a newly developed thought process, inductive reasoning, while the Enlightenment encompassed a multitude of ideas leading to individual empowerment and the pursuit of just government. Together the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment set the stage for the Industrial Revolution.

Much of the world we know is the way it is because of the Industrial Revolution. Starting in England, where modern science largely took hold, and spreading quickly to many places across the globe, economies transitioned from homebased craft and agrarian work to factory-based machine production. This conversion led to many benefits such as more affordable and plentiful life enhancing goods and services, effective means of transportation, labor saving devices, and medical advances. For many non-aristocrats, wealth generation became possible and the rise in specialty professions developed. But these gains came with costs. The rapid migration of rural folk into industrialized cities, which were ill equipped to handle the influx, created inadequate, overcrowded, and disease-ridden housing. Increases in pollution, environmental degradation, and dangerous working conditions were also consequences. The lesson we can take from the historical shift of muscle to machine is that great advantages can and probably will come from fundamental economic pattern volatility, but these boons have great potential for trailing along a load of detriments and handicaps.

The Industrial Revolution impacted whole societies by changing how people lived. It ushered in an era of mass production and mass consumerism. Commensurate with this shift arose large corporate businesses, labor unions, immigration, government regulation, rural vs. urban issues, broad-based taxing, higher education, and improved widespread communications. Scientific progress introduced professional expertise in the form of rational problem solvers with job titles such as engineer, manager, and accountant.

The new AI revolution will likely rock the world similarly. When considering the scope and scale of such monumental change it can seem like it is beyond being managed. It can appear like a runaway train. Therefore, it may be helpful to view this latest grand social transition as primarily an economic one. Economics implies that what is underway is determined by people. Economics is a social science that simply cares about the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics is not controlled by external forces of nature or acts of God. We are not trying to control a competing power. Rather we are trying to control ourselves. Choice and decision making among people is involved in executing economics and it should also be entailed in how we face the rollout of AI.

Fortunately, in regards to human agency and control, a crucial difference between the economics of the AI revolution versus the Industrial Revolution involves centralization or incorporation. The Industrial Revolution engendered a corporate approach to group organization. Large collections of people amassed with a common purpose and legal authority to execute objectives, such as transacting business under a single name. Institutionalization became a widespread structuring principle across business, government, and society in general. People found that in order to benefit from this economic order they had to adopt and adjust to these institutional systems, including their rules, their schedules, and their cultures. Depersonalization and objectification ensued.

However, the novel technology and information world order we are now experiencing is by nature more networked and distributed and less concentrated. Therefore, it should be possible for individuals to exercise more control over their engagements, even if this means diluting somewhat the power of institutions. New grassroots organizing constructs based on ad hoc resiliency that combine global talent as needed has empowerment potential for people. Fitting AI into this type of schema, whereby individuals collaborate with both distributed talent and AI to realize goals is a possibility. To the extent AI can be harnessed in a blended sharing of ideas and solutions the more command people have over the direction of the future. Let’s utilize AI to help invent our tomorrow.

It may be helpful to envision exactly what kind of tomorrow we wish to have for ourselves. Clarifying an image of an optimal future allows us to strategically orient our resources, such as AI, to realize a destiny of our own intentional making. And as I suggest, AI can be one of our key resources or it could be a serious impediment.

Cultivating a positive collective future begins of course with projecting what is best for each individual. A reasonable contention is that the greater the number of happy or content individuals present in society, then the more satisfied the society will be as a whole. Achieving this state is really very non-technical. Technology alone is not necessary for individuals to be grateful for what they have, devoted to family and positive friends, having an optimistic demeanor, living in the present, and feeling dignified and purposeful.

In addition to these very important psychological conditions we can include an economic perspective to round out our ideal vision of the future. Economics, more than psychology, can be shaped and influenced by institutional and governmental policy initiatives. The resulting economic model of exemplary standards will need metrics utilized to determine if desired goals are being achieved. To be comprehensive, a blend of quantitative and qualitative assessments need to be applied.

To start, let’s not rely too much on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is a monetary appraisal of the market value of all goods and services produced over a period of time. GDP has been widely accepted as a broad metric of the national economy for decades and by inference how well people are doing. High GDP rankings correlate with high growth economies, which traditionally is considered a good thing. Aside from the obvious problem of trying to distill as complex an edifice as a national economy to a single number, GDP is credited with encouraging a style of economic growth that manifests as resource depletion and pollution growth. In addition, for an economy with significant inequality, such as America’s, not everyone experiences GDP advantages evenly.

Zoë Baird, president of the Markle Foundation, is not alone in finding fault with GDP as an adequate measure of how Americans feel about the health of their economy, and by extension, their own lives. Rather, she proposes a more inclusive set of metrics, which highlight historic economic afflictions and begins to shape a more affirmative direction. They include evaluations of public sentiments, amounts of job creation, quantities of new businesses, indications of growing median income, signs of increased worker protections and training opportunities, and growing numbers of young workers. In short, if evidence of enhanced economic opportunity for all citizens to pursue high quality and secure work at good wages can be established, then we have at the very least constituted a foundation for widespread prosperity and happiness.

Staying with this theme of envisioning the general public’s best interests through economics we can note other useful perspectives. Daron Acemoglu of MIT points out that the greatest driver of shared prosperity are good jobs, i.e. widely available secure jobs with high wages. News flash, huh? When such employment opportunities occur within a milieu of rising productivity, persistent job formation, and equitable gains, then there is less social division and more sense of community. (As an aside for any Socialist leaning readers, Acemoglu sees proliferation of good jobs as a far more effective and preferable model than a shared prosperity paradigm of redistribution alone.)

Further public interest considerations involve democratic governance that takes into account the dignity of all citizens, prudent business regulation, worker rights protections, easily accessible high quality workplace education opportunities, and community development.

Let us now take a look at how AI is contributing to the realization of a positive future that includes the features just described. To date the record is spotty at best. The most significant concern is its inclination to enable entities to amass information and wealth. If left unchecked, this consolidation threatens to exacerbate wealth inequality among segments of the population, including among nations. Skills which benefit the AI industry will be favored with a corresponding deemphasis on skills which do not, leaving vast numbers of redundant workers, lower wages, and a decline in the tax base. A shift toward monopolistic behaviors have always occurred when a new game-changing technology has been introduced, whether railroads, oil production, telecommunications, etc. and there is no reason to think it will not happen again.

Particularly worrisome in these early days of AI are the directions of its deployment. Much of AI is targeted toward the automation of functions, the collection of data, and the conduction of surveillance. The loss of jobs occurring simultaneously with governments and business acquiring ever more quantities of our personal data threatens to disrupt social order and the future of democracy.

AI is being empowered to make decisions and to make “higher quality” decisions it needs to process ever more data. Algorithms are sequenced sets of instructions that guide AI in its decision making. Initially these are written by human programmers. Any biases which a programmer possesses can and does find it way into the algorithmic design. This can be apparent in the data selected for analysis by the algorithm. When AI decision making is scaled to impact large numbers of people these biases are amplified to a significant extent, thereby instituting discriminatory practices to a degree that can be hard to unwind.

AI is likely to boost profits for those entities controlling its mobilization. According to a McKinsey report, Alphabet (Google), Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Ali Baba, and Baidu control most of worldwide AI research expenditures. Erik Brynjolfsson, professor at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, points out that when technology replaces human labor wages decline and wealth concentrates. Job disappearance is not just a statistic. When people lose self-authority and motivation much more than just a job is lost. Are we to believe these mega-corporations are concerned about the rights and welfare of low-wage and minority workers, the work strain put on those working 70-hour weeks, or the social consequences of what they are unleashing? Perhaps, but I’m not entirely content on thinking so.

Our world is growing increasingly complex. The population is escalating and with it growing numbers of problems, more initiatives, expanding interactions, and multiplying challenges. The need for enhanced iterations of cognitive processing is upon us to address this intensification. The late Stanford University philosopher Kenneth Taylor referred to the overall cognitive load and the cognitive networks required to handle it. He saw cognitive networks as divided between humans and AI. Taylor’s anticipation was that the enormous degree of necessary cognitive labor will be tasked more heavily toward AI over time, simply because AI will be more efficient at manipulating this expansive load. If decisions require answers best made through coordination of vast amounts of information, then the machines will always be better than the humans. Therefore, it is incumbent on the humans to be sure cognitive networks are governed to distribute cognitive processing and decision making tasks such that humans remain a relevant part of the mix. Human workers need to insist they be targeted to resolve those issues for which humans are better qualified than machines.

Citizenry does not as a rule play a science oversight role. The closest we come is when we sit back and wait for science to send us new technologies which we either approve of or reject with our wallets. To think of ordinary citizens as overtly directing the progress of science seems almost ridiculous. But with regards to AI, this is what needs to happen. Concentrating vast power to a technology with so many inherent risks should not be an acceptable state of affairs. The people, the body politic, the proletariat must monitor, and when necessary, sway the development and deployment of AI such that the greatest good is realized by the greatest number of people.

To take on a citizen surveillance role begins with an agreed upon code of ethics. This is where we start becoming activists. Debate about what an AI ethic should look like will be a healthy exercise for society. Guidance on this issue can come from the work of Annette Zimmerman, a lecturer in philosophy at the University of York and an expert in understanding both the technology supporting AI and the social implications of such technologies. She encourages us to consider simple and common sense issues and ask key questions when thinking about AI. For example, just because a technology can be made, should it be made? Are the issues AI is made to address worth addressing? What is the AI’s objective? What is the likely effect of AI involvement? Might negative, unjust, or harmful consequences possibly result because of AI?

We don’t ask enough of these questions. Why don’t we? Zimmerman offers several reasons. Government has not yet been urged by voters to impose stringent regulations on AI developers. The right of AI businesses to make a profit supersedes prescribing any kind of watchdog at present. Furthermore, techno-optimists are encouraged to see AI as finally reaching an inflection point where its growth is becoming exponential. Also, an attitude exists wherein the public feels that high-end information technology is somehow sacrosanct and should be left to do its thing. Together, these conditions create social passivity just at a time when our guard should be up.

When looking at AI the core decision to be made might be, are the reasons for constructing an AI tool and continually improving it justified or should it just not be built at all. In short, is the proposed AI fair? As Rachel Thomas of the Center for Applied Data Ethics at the University of San Francisco points out, the established pattern for AI progress is too centralized among system designers and operators. As a preferred alternative, Thomas proposes that AI evolution be more democratic and participatory among end users and others impacted by AI. As we are seeing, a key component of AI ethics involves ordinary people being actively engaged and persuasive with both the corporate powerful and the individual AI design talent.

At Dartmouth College in 1956, John McCarthy and his cohorts saw the potential for every aspect of human intelligence as capable of machine simulation. Where this has gone over the past sixty-five years is that machine intelligence is focused almost exclusively on what Kenneth Taylor calls AI-as-engineering — deep learning machines that process Big Data looking for patterns from which to make predictions. This is but one slice of intelligence, but the one which at present is the most profitable, hence the most common in the AI industry.

Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. It will not and should not be eradicated. Great innovations will come from AI, leading to improved lives worldwide in ways that are just now being imagined. Progress which positively influences the greatest number of people possible should be welcomed, whether it originates with AI or not. However, we should never lose sight of the aims being devised for the use of AI’s power. We should be able to manage disruptions to our way of life. But degeneration should not be tolerated. Democracy, our glorious experiment in self-government, sanctions us to control the levers of power, including when necessary power in business. The time to do so is now.

Workers Are Flexing Their Muscles

Posted on October 26, 2021February 6, 2023 by Bill Ryan

An unmistakably big story in the 2021 career space has been about what is being dubbed “The Great Resignation” or “Turnover Tsunami”. Of course, I am referring to the throngs of workers in both the relatively high paying knowledge economy, but also in the lower income sectors, like hospitality and retail, who are leaving or not returning to their pre-pandemic fields of employment.

A whopping 40% of the global workforce has left or is planning to leave jobs this year. The U.S. Labor Department has never seen such an acute spike in resignations in the twenty plus years it has been tracking such statistics.

The popular media has for months now been pumping out pieces referring to the phenomenon and the suspected reasons behind it, such as higher savings rates thanks to government financial assistance, fear of catching the virus at work, insufficient childcare options for working parents, and a growing realization that a lot of hiring is now going on.

However, the monumental reason for this employment churn appears to be a dignity factor. The Covid pandemic is allowing for a massive reassessment, and by extension, a realignment of what truly matters in one’s work and life.

Shelter-in-place directives, social distancing, and closed office buildings, restaurants, and stores shook people’s mindsets in numerous ways. Many front-line “essential” workers who were heralded as heroes early in the pandemic are now either burnt out or tired of the abuse they get, like healthcare workers. Many well compensated workers ensconced in jobs pertaining to information flows and the means of production are bailing from positions because of the stress levels and long hours. Those on the low socioeconomic end feel abused, disrespected, and exploited and are not going to take it anymore. The number of workers and the type of worker taking the employment shift plunge are both expanding.

This spectacle is causing economic hardships for a range of stakeholders from business owners to customers. The flux in employment is helping to fuel in part the larger pandemic-related worldwide economic convulsion. Shouldn’t we all be really concerned about this dramatic and disruptive turn of events?

Yes, we should be, but not of fear for the interests of the wealth holders becoming suddenly inconvenienced, but in support of workers who are all in different sounding ways and from different points of view collectively saying they want and expect fair compensation, respect, and a voice in how their careers are going to develop. This brief period in history may be seen as a possible inflection point in the 21st century morphing of work and career into something different from the way it has been in the past.

I come back to the three intrinsic motivators for professional workers eloquently described by Daniel Pink about ten years ago. Pink wrote and spoke about the need and quest for autonomy, mastery, and purpose as to what gets successful and satisfied workers out of bed in the morning. We are more motivated and driven to perform well at our jobs when we feel we have relatively free rein to innovate and produce, when we feel we are developing a skill or talent, and when we feel that what we are doing at work matters in a value sense.

It seems to me that what many of these job searchers are looking for comes very close to what Pink is describing. Combine dignified levels of compensation with workplace cultures that honor worker autonomy, mastery, and purpose and a job can become more satisfying and sustainable.

I get that some just want a decent job and not a career, but what makes an employee want to stay and thrive is fundamentally not very different between a highly educated contributor and an hourly employee. Dignity and respect can go a long way.

Revitalizing Meritocracy

Posted on September 28, 2021February 6, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Merit denotes goodness. It is a word synonymous with excellence, value, and quality. We strive to live meritorious lives, because to do so brings happiness to others and distinction to ourselves. When society thrives, it does so largely due to the actions and contributions of people displaying merit.

There is no hotly contested debate about the virtue of merit. It is generally thought to be a desired attribute, particularly among employees. What boss would not want to have positive, reliable, and worthwhile workers on her team? And yet, another term derived from the word merit, meritocracy, seems to be under fire.

Broadly speaking, meritocracy refers to an institutionalizing of talent, ability, and skill which when present and operational results in optimally run organizations, whether in business, government, or the nonprofit sector. Compensation and power are steered toward those individuals who best demonstrate the desired traits of a meritocracy such as intelligence, valued credentials, and solid performance.

I always thought meritocracy was an affirmative construct, so I have been surprised to see that meritocracy has now become, counter-intuitively for me at least, a controversial concept. To see why, I decided to examine what the dispute is all about.

Examples of meritocratic administration are historic reaching back millennia. More recently though, it turns out the word meritocracy was originally coined and used derogatorily in 1958 by a British politician who was criticizing the British education system as overly favoring student intelligence and aptitude above other characteristics, leading to elitism.

It was not until 1972 when Harvard sociologist Daniel Bell put a positive spin on the term by championing a combination of intelligence and energy as ideologically desirable. Today, there are many proponents and critics of meritocratic systems. Their divergent views seem to rest on differences in how one determines what is fair in an organization or institution.

For example, Jim Whitehurst, who is now president of IBM, is bullish on meritocracy. He sees only advantage in strongly rewarding the best people with the best ideas. Establishing a culture that encourages listening and sharing and where every associate can contribute makes it easier for management to discern which inspirations result in high end gains over time. By enabling leaders to spot emerging talent and to position this ability where they can create the greatest value, followed by generous compensation for the quality influencers, is the hallmark of a highly functioning meritocracy. Keeping associates engaged and identifying in-house leadership makes for a stronger organization.

A recent significant criticism of meritocracy was released in 2019 in the form of a book, The Meritocracy Trap by Yale law professor Daniel Markovits. He sees meritocracy as “a pretense, constructed to rationalize an unjust distribution of advantage.” According to Markovits, meritocracy has two profound liabilities — it is often an unfair system that benefits those of a certain traditional type of leadership, say white males over women or minorities, and that those seen as meritorious find their lives consumed by competition and long hours devoted to the company. Hence, the trap. In practice, not all talent really percolates to the top and if one is “lucky” enough to be among the chosen, then one’s life becomes less than satisfying.

So, does meritocracy need reform? It depends on how “fair” is defined within an organization that purports to practice it. The style of meritocracy described by Whitehurst sounds fair to me, if and only if, the culture is truly open to high quality ideas no matter who puts them forth and that selection of those with desired aptitudes are chosen for their skills and abilities alone and not for extraneous considerations. And Markovits’ point about exploitation of expertise is also in need of monitoring, primarily by those whose careers and lifestyles are most affected.

One thing advocates and critics alike can agree on is that merit is a virtue to be promoted and defended. We all benefit when it is.

Questioning the Future of AI

Posted on August 23, 2021November 28, 2022 by Bill Ryan

When I drive my E-ZPass-less car through the tollbooth on I93 in Hooksett, NH, I intentionally swing to the right to hand a dollar to the tollbooth attendant. When checking out from a shopping trip in a big box store, I prefer paying a person at a cash register rather than using the self-serve payment scan system.

It is not that I am some sort of crotchety Luddite who shuns digital progress. I pride myself on maintaining some decent level of technical functionality as I age. But I have come to question why those who design and build our Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are obsessed with things like automation. In fact, the more I investigate AI the more surprised I am that AI is being utilized so narrowly, unevenly, and menacingly.

The AI movement is powerful, significant, and potentially authoritative regarding how our personal and work lives will be lived in the coming years. The scale of its reach places it in a class far beyond the technological tinkering improvements we generally see with new phone models or app developments. Machine learning is far more enigmatic than a better video camera or gaming platform.

Momentous changes are likely in a broad range of fields from mechanics to medicine and are expected to reshape work and modify markets. Many of these transformations will be welcomed, perhaps cherished, but others perhaps should not happen at all.

When looking at AI today it seems too much of it is focused on building systems that either automate functions, collect data, or conduct surveillance. This should be concerning. The likelihood of jobs being lost, governments and companies holding vast quantities of our personal information, and our personal freedoms becoming threatened is not some far-fetched paranoid delusion, but an ugly scenario we should work to prevent.

There is progress and then there is degeneration. AI could give us either or both. As an analog, I think of my attitude ten to fifteen years ago about social media. Then, the crowdsourcing of unregulated input from the global community augured richer and more transparent conversations about any number of topics. Or so I thought. Today social media looks like a cesspool of disinformation and disgruntlement ushering in social breakdown. Not all innovations should be welcomed.

In our democracy, while we still have one, the general public needs to be actively engaged in monitoring the AI powers that we have and weighing in on policies to determine what AI engineers develop. Living with a laissez-faire attitude of, ‘Well, whatever the markets come up with will be fine. Markets know best.’, can lead to costly and offensive ruptures in the very framework of society. Citizens should insist that AI be deployed in a generally advantageous manner as described by utilitarian philosophers like Jeremy Bentham — “the greatest amount of good for the greatest number”.

Instead, it looks like AI development is being driven more by the acquisition of corporate profit and power than by what benefits society. One does not need be a wild-eyed Socialist to question whether a disruption as encompassing as AI could potentially pose hazards to society. Those who control the development and deployment of AI will have a lot of authority and say in how our economy operates and how our future day-to-day lives are experienced. Concentrations of power have traditionally been held suspect in America. Well, we have one in the making. Let’s pay attention.

The ultimate direction AI takes does not have to be decided solely by engineers and corporate C-levels who find business in selling only surveillance and automation tools. AI could be targeted to complement and improve the work done by real people, while also creating new activities and opportunities that keep workers gainfully employed. We have a choice — let AI rule us or we rule it. Hopefully, we will choose wisely.

Green Values Meet Manufacturing

Posted on June 29, 2021November 28, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Increasingly, we see workers wanting to aim their careers in the direction of green pursuits and sustainability. Many careers are being chosen to align one’s environment-friendly values with their need to earn a living. Jobs ranging from LEED building inspections to ecotourism to aquatic biology and much more are under consideration. What is rarely considered by the environmentally conscious job seeker is a career in manufacturing.

Manufacturing gets a bad rap among the green crowd. Although we all heavily rely on the diverse range of products yielded by the sector, it is nevertheless often viewed as unclean and a source of resource depletion. The 20th century image of soot-stained smoke belching factories beside lagoons of toxic waste still clings to many minds. Choosing work between an industrial plant and say a green initiative nonprofit is a no-brainer for the ecologically inclined.

But wait! There may be reasons to look at the modern manufacturing sector as harboring some initiatives that could make even the most devoted tree hugger stop and slowly nod in the affirmative.

Gradually, we see evidence of manufacturers attempting what is known as a circular business model. This approach seeks to establish supply chains that involve recycling and recovery of constituent materials used in the making of products. If the circle is really tight, supply chains swirl themselves into a continuous loop, whereby new raw materials are rarely needed in the reproduction of products.

Imagine knowing that once the usefulness of a manufactured product has expired it can be returned to the industry from whence it came, rather than a landfill, and be reused or repurposed into future products. Sounds pretty green, doesn’t it?

Beyond the PR-positive social responsibility and environmental gains of instituting green practices, there are other economic benefits for the manufacturer by going circular. These include reducing production waste and utilizing raw materials more efficiently, both of which are cost saving activities.

Implementing a circular business model can involve up to three strategies, according to operational experts Atalay Atasu, Céline Dumas, and Luk Van Wassenhove. They identify the following as practical schemes manufacturers can apply to adopt a circular model.

The first is known as Retain Product Ownership. Typically, this involves leasing rather than selling products. Once the product is past its usefulness it goes back to the manufacturer for reprocessing. This approach may work best for products with a lot of components and complexity, and which can be transported back to the manufacturer relatively easily.

Another direction may be in Product Life Extension. Here products are made more durable and longer lasting than the competition. Gaining a consumer reputation as a quality enduring product makes premium pricing more justifiable and builds consumer loyalty. Throw in easy exchange policies for worn or defective products and people take notice.

There is also the intentional Design for Recycling action plan. Designing and creating products built to be fully recycled ensures the eventual reuse of products or at least their elemental parts. It is surprising we do not see more of this in general manufacturing now. To have an infrastructure that efficiently captures reusable products that are made to be recycled would be a very exciting development in manufacturing, indeed.

To be sure, management may have to get creative with how to weigh these different approaches to reduce both costs and their environmental impact. What is most important is for the manufacturer to see that value can be reclaimed from their products. With value comes profits. Re-energizing product value time and time again at lower costs may make good business sense.

So, when searching for “green” lines of work consider whether these circular business model techniques align with your eco-consciousness. You may find manufacturing is the place where you can best express your environmental principles.

How Students Can Get Their Career Started on the Right Foot

Posted on June 1, 2021March 14, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I am pleased to present a Guest Article from Leslie Campos of Well Parents. For more information about this wellness resource targeted for parents please visit https://wellparents.com.

High school and college students can’t wait to launch into a career and start gaining real-world experience. However, when graduation nears and it’s time to start applying for jobs, most students don’t know where to start. Before the job search begins, students should take these steps to get their professional life started off right. Below, we explore some ideas that can help you start off your own career planning on the right foot.

Building Strong Credentials

New graduates lack work experience to put on their resume, but that doesn’t mean they lack experience. Without career positions to highlight, recent graduates should focus on internships, apprenticeships, volunteer experience, and extracurricular activities to demonstrate their relevant experience.

Listing roles isn’t enough. Applicants should highlight skills and accomplishments from each role, focusing on skills that are related to the job they are applying for. Many of these will be soft skills, but that’s not a bad thing. Employers can always train an entry-level employee in the technical skills they need for a job, but instilling soft skills like communication, conflict resolution, and leadership is much harder.

To further hone your capabilities, an advanced education might fit the bill. Programs like WGU’s market-responsive online business program brings relevant, real-world knowledge to the table, and you can even flex the course load to suit your needs. Explore your options to find industry-relevant, practical programming that will give you the advantages you need.

Networking

Outside of developing their resume, networking is the most important thing students can do to set themselves up for a successful career after graduation. Networking with professors, campus staff, fellow students, and alumni is a good start, but students should also look beyond their school’s walls for networking opportunities.

Internships are ideal networking opportunities for students. An internship is a way to develop hard skills needed on the job, but more importantly it’s a chance to meet potential employers, learn about career paths in a field, and gain strong references for a future career search. Naviance recommends college students pursue internships as early in their college career as possible rather than waiting until senior year.

Crafting a Strong Resume

Skills and a strong network alone won’t land recent graduates in their career of choice. Entry-level workers also need strong application materials that appeal to today’s hiring managers. A strong resume is partly about content, but design is equally important. A resume and cover letter that are visually appealing and free of errors demonstrate an applicant is diligent and detail-oriented, skills every employer wants in their staff. At the same time, students should be wary of sacrificing professionalism for the sake of design. For first-time job-seekers, premade resume templates are an essential tool for creating a resume that balances good design with a professional appearance.

While filling in a resume template, applicants should be sure to include keywords from the job posting they’re applying for. Many companies use electronic applicant screening systems to find resumes with keywords that pertain to the job. Monster explains how to select keywords along with other resume tips for recent grads.

Pursuing Non-Traditional Career Paths

Pursuing a college degree and a white collar career isn’t the only path to economic success. Many recent graduates find they are better suited for entrepreneurship or a career in the trades.

Entrepreneurship is a challenging route for people without real-world experience to build off of, but many recent graduates are finding success in starting online businesses such as ecommerce businesses based in dropshipping. These types of businesses require much less start-up capital than traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, making them more accessible to young people with limited financial resources. As long as entrepreneurs can deliver unique value to customers and build a strong website with good customer service, they can find success in online business.

The trades are another field in high demand. High school students can enter the trades without a four-year college degree and earn an income comparable to their college-educated peers. As NPR reports, trades such as construction and plumbing are experiencing labor shortages in much of the US, so students interested in this path face little trouble finding opportunities.

The transition from student to professional isn’t an easy one. The shift is made even harder when students don’t know the right way to land the job they want. While these tips can’t guarantee students will land the entry-level position they’re aiming for, they’re the necessary first steps toward a successful career.

Image via Unsplash

The Post-Covid Office

Posted on May 29, 2021February 6, 2023 by Bill Ryan

The knowledge economy office workplace got a sudden shake-up over the past year plus. At its peak, not that long ago, the pre-vaccinated office-based workforce (March 2020-March 2021) was functioning more from home than from the traditional office, approximately ten times more so than pre-pandemic rates. According to the University of Chicago, as recently as March 2021, 45% of work services were still being performed in home environments.

This begs the question, is office work going to snap back to the way it was with workers committing to long hours away from family spent in bustling office buildings arrived at via thick commuting traffic? And if so, why?

Whether or not the Covid pandemic has unwittingly ushered in a paradigm shift in how work is dispensed over the long term is yet to be determined. It will certainly be one of the interesting trends to observe over the next few years. At present, a look at some of the currently available, albeit sparse, indicators seem to show some degree of change in how work operations are conducted. And they may be with us for the foreseeable future.

It is fair to assume most management desire a return to normal times, during which management practices they were accustomed to can be resumed. If there is to be a more permanent realignment to include more flexibility such as remote work activity it probably will not willingly come from supervisors. To dust off that old business expression from the 20th century, it will come from the rank and file.

A Microsoft WorkLab report from earlier this year reveals some pertinent findings. Nearly three quarters of employees wish for an option to work remotely. Although remote work has its downsides, enough workers have experienced that productivity can still be maintained by way of technological means in a comfortable environment with less stress and less exhaustion. Demand for a more permanent flexible, distributive, blended, or hybrid production model has arisen among office employees, according to this report.

Older Gen Z and younger Millennials form a cohort that may be informative here. Living and working from devices is second nature to them. It is reasonable to expect the momentum for more flexibility will come from them. If their resumes and LinkedIn profiles start showing more quantifiable accomplishments derived from working remotely, they will be communicating not only that they can do it, but that they want to be hired for positions honoring such skills. Balancing productivity with wellbeing in the modern era will only grow as a necessary calibration and younger workers are likely to show the way in the context of adaptable workstyles.

Business need not be driven into this transformation kicking and screaming. Signs are emerging among C-levels showing a recognition of the likely changes to come. A Work Trend Index survey conducted by Edelman Data & Intelligence discloses that 66% of business leaders are contemplating refashioning office space to allow for more flexibility.

Reasons are twofold. As implied earlier, the workforce appears to be increasingly desirable of workplace flexibility. This could likely become an incentive for luring needed talent not wanting to be bound by traditional institutional rules.

Additionally, business is identifying some benefits as a result of the Covid-induced remote working experiment in terms of lower overhead, as reported by NPR, and increased productivity, as claimed by Harvard Business Review.

It is likely multiple variations on a hybrid model will become established moving forward that incorporates combinations of conventional office-centric requirements with increased distributive or remote work options for employees.

Although no one could have reasonably predicted that a congruence of modern communication technologies with a global pandemic would steer this trend, the result could ultimately be a boon for workers and their bosses. Let us hope employers give such changes serious consideration.

Thoughts on Virtue and Character

Posted on May 23, 2021 by Bill Ryan

Eyes flicker open. Another day dawns. The window reveals the morning sun breaking through what remains of the rain clouds. They have dominated the skies over the past few dreary days. Hope and possibility again seem likely. That familiar spark of energy is again kindled. My mind adjusts by reviewing and making plans with renewed enthusiasm and vigor. It is what gets me to stand up, stretch, and step forward.

This cycle has repeated itself countless times. It has led to much productivity and a feeling of purpose, in large part defining who I am. But today is different. This time the spirit is somewhat muted. A recognition sets in leaving me feeling that this routine has become repetitive and therefore incomplete. There is an urge to make a change—to add value and progress to a life that in many ways has atrophied. I determine to go through the day’s activities, but decide to let run in the background of my mind a self-dialogue and reflection to put meaning to this morning’s elusive sense of scarcity. Today is a day for reflection and growth. I can feel it.

There is an inner drive, a potentiality that propels us to mature, no matter what our age. This force, sometimes referred to as conscience, is our integrity speaking to us. It prods, coaxes, and ultimately compels us to be more than we are. In my personal case, I know I have had ethical lapses, which have been profoundly hurtful to those I love. My awareness of this will not let me forget. When in despair, hope is needed. There is no time better than the present to make good.

Often, we choose to be too busy to listen to our inner voice. Living in a patterned and predictable manner is easier than to change. Change is chilling. Transformation is unstable. However, despite the insecurity of mental and behavioral shifting there comes a time when one just has to face a simple, but profound life truth. Evolution and self-improvement are inherent to who we are. And life becomes richer when we welcome this elementary precept.

Life enhancement and fulfillment is congruent with virtuous living, which is the topic I would like to explore in this essay. As you will see I dig into both personal reflection and some western philosophical thought for direction and guidance in examining this topic.

We all got the message as youngsters to be good. To be good was our first lesson in assimilation to society via our families. Being good and “following the rules” meant we would be more liked, have more friends, get in less trouble, increase our chance of getting into heaven after we die, and so on. The message to be good was most often delivered in a social context, as in our goodness was measured against how good others were. We were either as good as, better than, or worse than our siblings, neighbors, classmates, etc. Being good was meant to please an extensive cast of characters ranging from our parents to God. Rarely however in my youthful experience was being good taught to me as a virtue intended for my own personal edification.

This imperfect concept of goodness from our childhood is played out in our adult lives. It leaves ethical behavior, as important as it is, limited for many to merely a set of regulations and requirements guiding our interactions with each other. The moral precepts underpinning ethics become reduced to standards gleaned from sacred texts designed to bind society into some sort of manageable order. At some fundamental point adopting a virtuous or good life has to be what we do for ourselves, each of us individually, for the simple reason that being good is exalting and noble. We glorify ourselves not merely to bolster our fragile egos, but rather to realize the potential available for us all to live what the ancient Greek philosophers referred to as the eudemonic life—a flourishing life worth living.

I have come to perceive that good is much more than a commonly used adjective, as in the opposite of bad or how we feel at a given time. My current awareness of good as a concept carrying both significant weight and having a transcendent interpretation has been a long time in coming. In short, what I am now beginning to see is that there is good and then there is The Good.

An examination of Plato’s (~423 BCE–~348 BCE) landmark work in the Theory of Forms reveals how an early conception of The Good arose. Developed during the third and fourth centuries BCE, Plato considered the notion that the wide range of physical objects which we observe and comprehend in the world are derivatives of eternal, stable, and universal concepts, which became known as Forms. The Forms are the essences of all matter, substances, common objects, and even human traits, collectively known in this theory as Particulars, which we come to know through our senses and experiences. For example, the Form or essence of a particular aging and changing dog would be its Dogness, the Form of a particular legal trial with its outcome of innocence or guilt is Justice, and the Form of a lovely work of art would be Beauty. Forms are constant. Particulars are temporal.

Forms have been described by various philosophers as “unqualified perfection”, “real entities of an immaterial sort”, “an objective blueprint of perfection”, “essential natures”, and “the archetypal ideal”. However over time, Plato began to speculate that there must be a relationship among all of these disparate Forms, one which played a unifying function. In his work The Republic, Plato reveals his presumption by introducing the existence of a Form of the Good—a kind of Form of Forms. The Form of the Good was seen as superior to and the source of all other Forms. What we see here is that Plato came to regard an all-encompassing uncorrupted order to the cosmos with morals and virtues as having ascendant qualities best captured in the Form of the Good. It is also not difficult to see how this Platonic vision of the Form of the Good, eventually known simply as The Good, morphed into our current understanding and widespread acceptance of God.

The ancient Greeks began the tradition of constructing a metaphysics of western thought that continues to this day. The prominent philosophers of this time like Plato came to realize there was a central orderliness to the universe. It naturally followed to them that this order was based in propriety and goodness. An organic optimism and positivity about the very nature of the universe has been a fundamental legacy of this philosophical history. To the extent humankind has thrived over the millennia is in large part attributable to this preeminent belief.

Now, a crucial criticism of Plato’s Theory of Forms is not unlike the common charge leveled against a belief in God. If the universe is supported by a core consisting of The Good or God, then what explains evil? Perhaps, The Good or God is not so omnipotent after all given the existence of wickedness. Plato saw two possible explanations for this. One, is that there may be a dualism of orders in the universe, one of goodness and one of evil. However, the more plausible reason for immorality may be due to a privation or lack of goodness in some situations. For example, there is not an ideal or Form of criminality. Crime exists because of a deprivation of goodness in the criminal. In either case, good needs to be summoned or made intentional in order for it to be expressed. Virtue requires effort.

“Life is Good” is a popular contemporary proverb, which may be just a cliché for some, but for others these three unpretentious words zero in on why we bother to choose virtuous living. If we accept that the ordered universe is rooted in essential goodness, then aligning our lives with the righteous nucleus of the universe should be the principled way to act, if we so elect.

Good intentions to live a more eudemonic life are one thing. Executing them is something else. One can decide the time has come in their life to act more virtuously, but determining the best means for realizing such a transition can be very difficult without identifying a clear and unambiguous plan. Again, I call on the philosophical history of western thought for some direction and this time look to Plato’s student, Aristotle.

Aristotle (384 BCE–322 BCE) developed a rich and complex system of philosophical thought covering many areas, including science, government, economics, linguistics, aesthetics, and ethics. For purposes of this essay it is worth noting one of his memorable utilitarian concepts known as the Golden Mean. Aristotle wanted to support people on their journey to becoming virtuous. Foundationally, he claimed that developing virtuous or moral character was more important than practice of any rehearsed set of behaviors or completion of obligatory duties with an expectation of positive consequences. Rather, when faced with a decision about how to proceed with a behavior or thought, virtuous character is cultivated by applying reason to identify the middle ground or mean between two extreme options which are seen as vices.

Aristotle urged us to reason that the extremes in decision making are vices because moral determination is most often bounded by excess and deficiency. To illustrate, a reasonable response to feeling angry is an honorable restraint between fury and anxiety; a morally appropriate encounter with an attractive person would be between lasciviousness and sheepishness; and noble conflict resolution would be the equilibrium between domination and impotence. Ethics is rarely clear-cut or precise. There is no statistical mean. It requires right intent and intellectual reasoning to find that moderate sweet spot. The more practice we have establishing the proper weight between extremes the more proficient we become in producing virtuous actions.

In addition to the counsel provided by Aristotle we can also turn to the Stoics for practical assistance in living virtuously. Stoicism was a school of Greek philosophy constituted during the third century BCE. Its teachings carried into the Roman empire until the emergence of Christianity suppressed it. Interestingly, Stoicism is undergoing a revival in the 21st century western world where it is viewed as an accessible means for finding meaning and purpose in our complex world.

The concrete practicality of Stoicism in terms of learning to live the virtuous life rests on what is known as the Four Cardinal Virtues. As Massimo Pigliucci describes them in his 2017 book How To Be A Stoic they are courage, temperance, justice, and practical wisdom or prudence. All religious or quasi-religious traditions quantify their tenets in sacred listings of one sort or another. The Four Cardinal Virtues codified by the Stoics are an encapsulation of the character formation beliefs developed by the ancient Greeks. The simplicity and elegance of these virtues makes them very attainable for the average person who need not engage in any extensive or esoteric training.

Applying the Stoic’s Four Cardinal Virtues in tandem with Aristotle’s Golden Mean provides the person inclined toward an examined life with a method and resource for strengthening character. This process is likely to cover many of life’s moral predicaments. The approach can be summarized thusly:

When life calls for courageous acts to be performed, establishing a right balance between foolhardiness and cowardice is the moral position to take.
When life calls for just acts to be performed, establishing a right balance between authoritarianism and leniency is the moral position to take.
When life calls for temperate acts to be performed, establishing a right balance between profligacy and asceticism is the moral position to take.
When life calls for wise acts to be performed, establishing the right balance between bombast and ignorance is the moral decision to take.

The reader may note that these illustrations are behavioral in nature. This is deliberate. In my judgment, an effective means to reform one’s thoughts and enrich one’s emotions is to advance one’s behavior. Yes, conduct can be compelled by thinking, which is prodded by emotion. It often is. However, I contend the reverse can work as well. Mastering behavior can be the gateway to principled thoughts and a feeling of contentment. In the development of virtuous character and ethical comportment, focusing on how we actually operate can be key.

Today I awaken with hope and confidence. Atonement motivates me as does the realization my continued growth best sustains my unavoidable aging. I am encouraged that an emerging ethical nature calls for my daily engagement. There is solace in relying on an effective paradigm and structure to make this effort self-supportive and meaningful. When challenges arise, as they inevitably do, I can identify what virtue is called for to address it, whether it be courage, temperament, wisdom, or justice. By resolving which right action to take after an assessment of the extremes I can take another step forward toward better character. Another purposeful day to be gratefully alive dawns brightly.

Gender Discrimination in the Workplace

Posted on April 26, 2021February 6, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Here it is, the year 2021 and gender discrimination is still, unbelievably, an unresolved issue in far too many workplaces. Despite attention being drawn to the issue for nearly fifty years there still exists a fundamental unfairness in how women are treated in employment environments that are either directly dominated by male senior management or at least influenced by the attitude, mindsets, and practices of traditional leadership.

Although women make up about 50% of the workforce, they still experience discrimination in several significant areas. These include unequal compensation, a dearth of organizational upward mobility, a paucity of key decision making power, and sexual harassment.

These are profound work culture deficiencies and injustices. The time is now to eradicate these stubborn blemishes from our workplaces. Such defects are not only ethically unrighteous, but they depress productive potential heretofore unrealized from among half of the workforce.

It is not as if there have not been attempts to remediate workplace gender inequities. Many senior management teams acknowledge the historic existence of male-oriented favoritism and sexism embedded in their workplaces and others. This recognition has been acted upon with initiatives to make their businesses and organizations fairer and more equitable.

Yet the problem persists. Instances of gender discrimination continue to be documented and contested within management offices, HR departments, and law firms, resulting in deployments of considerable resources for a seemingly unending management of the consequences of bad behavior.

Elisabeth Kelan of the University of Essex in the UK has been researching gender equity issues for over twenty years. She has determined that there is widespread agreement gender inequity is prevalent overall, but interestingly these same individuals will not admit to such incidents occurring in their own specific workplaces.

Why is this so? Dr. Kelan sees several reasons for this. To begin with, many see discrimination as the fault of their competitors or of other companies, but not of their own more virtuous workplaces. Secondly, there is a belief the issue was worse in the past, but is largely being resolved, affirming that all the mitigation efforts made thus far have worked to reduce it to a minor issue. Finally, there are those who do not fully appreciate gender equity as a big deal and if it occurs at all it is not their fault.

If we accept Dr. Kelan’s findings as authentic it begs the question, “What are people thinking?!” What I think they are thinking is what has always been thought. At levels great and small men see themselves as better leaders, sharper decision makers, keener managers, stronger deal makers, and superior competitors. And let’s face it, there are some traditionalist women who think these roles are more masculine in nature as well.

Even if one sees the data and intellectually accepts gender discrimination as a problem it does not automatically follow that requisite behavior changes will occur. When I reflect on my own past, I see pertinent examples. I have long believed that gender equity in the workplace was a quality worth pursuing. It is a no-brainer.

However, have there been instances where I was more inclined to accept a fellow male’s opinion over a female’s during a meeting, or thought a woman colleague was too sensitive and not tough enough, or paid more attention to a woman’s looks rather than listening to her thoughts? Embarrassingly, the answer is yes. It is these small, but meaningful actions that keep us from achieving progress in accepting women as full and equal partners at work.

Anti-bias training programs and the like may make some difference in altering operational behaviors, but greater progress may result from each of us looking more deeply into how we interact with each other beyond surface manners. Clarifying the personal values that motivate our behavior patterns may reveal more to us individually and strengthen needed improvements than any mission statement or management protocol might. The time is now to end gender discrimination.

The Democratic Party Moving Forward

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Bill Ryan

The 2020 election is finally over. The feeble claims of election fraud by the Republicans have been shunted to the background of most Americans’ minds, at least for now. For most, getting past a year of Covid deaths, infections, and restrictions to an eagerly anticipated vaccinated future of health and socialization is looking to be a much more appealing topic. But of course with me politics never really takes much of a break, so now seems like a good time to assess the current condition and purpose of the Democratic Party. My main interest today is in offering my take concerning the principal priorities and direction of the party in 2021 and going forward.

I have been a registered Democrat since 1972, but really a party “member” since childhood. Growing up among Irish Roman Catholics in Massachusetts during the 1960s can do that to a person. Therefore, to greater and lesser degrees over the years I have been keenly interested in what the party has stood for. Although my party affiliation was never in serious doubt, I nevertheless persist in being drawn to the party to define and occasionally question its influence on my ideological values. Being able to think more independently these days has not really changed my desire to still gauge the party’s principles and positions to see how I align, or not, with them. What follows are my thoughts about the Democratic Party at the start of the Biden/Harris era and what I think the mission of the party should be over the next several years.

Since at least the turn of the last century, if not earlier, Democrats have branded themselves as the “People’s Party”. This calls attention to the long-standing bifurcations of the ruling class and the working class, the wealthy class and the middle class, the haves and the have-nots, the rich and the poor. The Democrats have traditionally thrown their lot in with the cohort who directly operate machines, drive buses, teach children, clean hotel rooms, stock shelves, etc. You get the picture. This has always been a large part of the American electorate. They need representation. Democrats make sure they fit the bill. Workers and their families are the sine qua non of the Democratic Party.

However, there has been an obvious, dramatic, and troubling shift occurring in recent years for this core constituency of the Democrats. Many of the working class find Trump and his brand of in-your-face, authoritarian, tear-down-the-institutions style of politics preferable over traditional legislating as a means of achieving their political aims. Given the choice of intelligent, prudent, democratic give and take, which requires not just staking out a position, but compromise with those of differing persuasions in order to gain as much political benefit as possible, much of the working class has decided hate, nihilism, and rejection of America as we’ve known it is preferred.

I have to say, my initial reaction to this trend is disgust with these people. Although the domestic terrorists who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 may not be completely representative of the Trump voter writ large, I think it is fair to say they exemplify where the energy of Trumpism can be found. And it is deplorable.

Now here is the emotional me speaking. Violence, belief in lies, repudiation of democracy, and adoration of such a flawed man as Trump are negative traits no matter how you slice them. There are no two sides to this story. People such as those who conducted the insurrection don’t need extra time to be heard or more “fair” media coverage or their own unregulated social media. Their tactics are unsupportable, illegitimate, and criminal. It seems just to me that any of them who stepped onto the Capitol grounds beyond the original police line and especially those who entered the building should be tried and if found guilty in a valid court of law be incarcerated. Lock them up!

After a deep exhalation and counting to ten please allow me to go on. Again, I do not believe all working class Americans have become as despicable as the ones who raided the Capitol on January 6, but their clown did get 74 million votes in the 2020 election. That is a lot! There are clearly many who thought Trump deserved a second term as president. Some of this I understand. Sure, some if not many of those votes are from lifelong Republicans who would vote for any candidate with an “R” after their name. There are those who probably liked his tax cutting, conservative judicial appointments, tough stance with China, and oversight of the good pre-Covid economy, but chose to hold their noses and vote for him anyway despite his boorishness. Of course, it is also understandable that some of Trump’s votes were from citizens who distrust liberalism, “wokeness”, and profligate fiscal spending. As hard as it is, I can accept these voter rationales. I may not like them, but I get not everyone is going to agree with my political take on things.

Nevertheless, it is jarring and sad that the very cohort of workers I felt in support of for basically my whole adult life I now view with suspicion. Beyond the principled conservatives and lifelong Republicans, who I can understand up to a point, there are too many Americans, quite a few from the working class, who enthusiastically support Trumpism. At this point in my political journey I have great difficulty countenancing their position. It is hard to see they are worthy of an effort to “reach across the aisle”. They are akin to enemies of the republic. I can tolerate a lot, but I do not see how I can put up with these self-righteous, hate-filled, conspiracy-addled threats to our 245-year old country.

I have no trouble saying Democrats should go forward clearly knowing that there is this segment of the population, which may be beyond reach, whether they’re from the working class or not. As a party we should not feel compelled to expend much time and energy trying to win them over. Sorry, but folks who believe Democrats are run by a pedophile ring who drink the blood of children are simply too tainted to bother with.

That said, there are some inconvenient truths in need of reconciliation by Democrats—and myself. Trumpists are Americans too. There is a wide segment of our citizenry who feel left out, shunted aside, marginalized, degraded and demeaned, and unheard by the elites of this country. Democrats have to ask themselves why this is. Conventional theories point to feelings of deprivation brought on by globalization, panic among whites who see themselves losing historic levels of power and influence, inconsolable gaps between the lives of rural and urban Americans, and wealth flowing to the more educated, all combined with a show of little respect for traditional hands-on work. And all of these grievances get juiced by social media. Democrats may not be entirely sympathetic about these Trumpian triggers, but we have to recognize that they are significantly driving the opposition. It is wise to know what gets your challenger out of bed in the morning.

Democrats have a tendency to over-categorize the American population. The party tries to assess the state of the nation by examining the plights, conditions, and issues of a multitude of core and peripheral demographic groups. This may seem like a reasonable and systemic approach for understanding the citizenry, but unfortunately, such a reductionist process tends to result in a perspective that is too meticulous, painstaking, and provincial. Democrats rightly engender the criticism of engaging too much in identity politics. Electorally, it makes complete sense for strategists to form alliances from smaller citizen cohorts in order to gain higher voter tallies. But when the task is actual governing, leaders need to be more skilled in identifying and promoting broad-based policies designed to positively effect the largest population swath as possible.

Regarding the population as a whole encourages government to specify large-scale, wide-ranging, and comprehensive policy initiatives that are rooted in culturally recognizable common sense. It focuses on what unites us more than what what divides us. When dispersion of government induced benefits are enjoyed by more people, leading to far-reaching problem resolutions and improvements in the lives of people, then government is seen as more benevolent and less intrusive. Communities that might be seen as unrelated and disparate when studied at close range become part of a wider fabric mutually strengthened by their common national government.

This is the kind of all-inclusive governing paradigm I hope Democrats adopt in the years ahead. Citizens who feel forgotten and left out by their government need not and should not feel that way. Grievances abound whether coming from Trumpism or recent immigrants or any of the other demographic groupings which exist. I urge the Democrats to skillfully address these complaints and injustices in a thematic and integrated policy-driven manner combined with a strong intention to not leave anyone out. Inclusivity should be a term people think of immediately when they think of Democrats. It is not only consistent with the historic desire to help “the people” and the disenfranchised, but may actually get some of these Trumpists to ease up on their cultural fear and paranoia of being left out and marginalized long enough to rejoin the world of the sane.

For quite some time now I have wished the Democratic Party would enthusiastically adopt an “Opportunity for All” ethic. Instead of trying to please this group or accommodate that group, the go big and go wide game plan most often associated with Franklin D. Roosevelt seems particularly cogent at this time. Since Ronald Reagan, the New Deal has been on defense. Practicing fiscal conservatism and restraining deficit spending have been to greater and lesser degrees the marching orders for Washington since the 1980s. However, given the cyclical nature of American politics, the time now appears right to exercise an activist federal government unabashedly advocating for citizen support in finance, education, healthcare, social justice, and equity. Together these interventions provide opportunity for each individual and family to succeed in America. It is unrealistic to predict specifically what outcomes each individual will realize as a result of such governmental support, but there should be no question that each person is provided with the means to actualize their potential no matter where they fall in the demographic mix. The “Land of Opportunity” has become a quaint and unfulfilled slogan in need of revitalization. The Democrats should lead this effort.

Opportunity for All speaks to what is the major principle of the modern Democratic Party—equality. Where the energy on the political right is about liberty, the vitality on the left is centered on equality. Given that liberty and equality are of, well, equal weight one would think the two sides should be able to function together to forge comprehensive agreements honoring these core principles that point to what is best about America. Regardless, the Democrats are best at taking up the mantle of equality. Thank God someone is. Equal treatment, equal justice, and equal rights are key areas in need of powerful champions. Equality is the Democrats’ North Star and it should guide the development and execution of all Democrats do politically and in governance. Opportunity for All fits ever so neatly into this ethic.

Opportunity for All also of course includes more than the working class. A clear trend over the past generation has been the expansion of the knowledge economy with its growing segment of the college educated not afraid to play on a global stage and who seem to be attracting large amounts of capital. Encouraging Americans to be smart and competitive is not a bad thing as long as it does not lead to exclusionary practices of who is allowed or not to participate in sharing of the gains, resulting in excessive wealth inequality. All economic signs point to globalization and technological advances as being prime economic shapers for the foreseeable future. Democrats should encourage our capacity to engage economically with our global competition given this new world order.

The challenge of our nation’s founders and framers of our Constitution for each subsequent generation has been to carry forth the republican principles of the United States. These principles emphasize liberty, individual rights, and sovereignty, while shunning power based in aristocracy, monarchy, and corruption. To date, each generation has to greater and lesser degrees continued this tradition despite wars, social turbulence, and technological changes. Now it is our turn. America is in the process of becoming a more racially and ethnically diverse society representing influences from around the world. The face of America may be changing, but the mission has not. Our test is best encapsulated by Martin Luther King, Jr. who preached that we are all equal and should benefit from the same rights and privileges.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” This grasps the spirit and the goal of the Democrat Party as we advance today and tomorrow. Let’s get to work.

Self-Awareness and Your Career

Posted on March 28, 2021November 21, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Psychology plays a significant role in the development of our careers. It starts with identifying our work interests when we are young and expands over time to include interpersonal relations, self-motivation, passion for what we do, attitudes toward superiors, team cooperativeness, and many other job-related aspects. Perhaps most importantly psychology speaks to how constructive we are on the job and the way we manage our mental well-being and stress levels while on the road to productivity.

Effective performance is dependent on how a worker feels at work. Safety, security, and freedom from harassment are basic. Beyond that, feeling appreciated and being prepared to work efficiently sets up an employee to be a valued contributor. Quality management can be instrumental in establishing and maintaining such workplace conditions. But realizing the benefits of positive psychology is not just the responsibility of management. The state of our psychology is ultimately up to each of us individually — in life as well as at work.

Perhaps the key psychological quality determining how well we will flourish in our careers is self-awareness. Individuals with keen self-awareness possess a nearly full perception of their emotional makeup, potential, imperfections, requirements, and what energizes them. They are well equipped to capitalize on their strengths while managing their weaknesses. Self-aware professionals carry with them a quiet self-confidence based on honesty and realism knowing they do not have to fake it to make it. Their success results from a work product competently delivered, but not exceeding their capacity to perform effectively. They know what they know and “know” what they don’t know.

Self-awareness need not be thought of as some metaphysical trait held by only a few anointed people. We all practice it to some degree. For example, if we know that too many scheduled meetings packed closely together stress us out, then we work to make sure the meetings during which we are expected to participate are spaced such that we can contribute optimally.

If we get anxious when seeing our email inbox overflowing with superfluous messages, then we let our co-workers know to only send messages of significant importance. If we know our best work comes from meeting deadlines, then we structure our workflow such that tasks needing completion by a specific time are stacked accordingly. (You don’t have control about such conditions with your job? You may be in the wrong job.)

An additional benefit of self-awareness is its extended usefulness to co-workers. The self-aware colleague is less likely to lash out in frustration or to make unreasonable demands of others. They have a leg up on assessing the capacity levels of their fellow associates and can sense how each best accomplishes their assignments. Team functioning and work yield are enhanced the more self-aware team members are. Self-aware coworkers and managers can serve as models, if not unofficial mentors, thereby improving the overall workforce.

Self-awareness is internally cultivated over time. Developing this ability is largely linked to how reflective we each choose to be. Reflection is a chief component of critical thinking. As we refine our reflective skill, we find ourselves more adept in examining, analyzing, and assessing experiences, which better informs how we address future challenges.

For some of us, building in time and effort to be reflective may need to be more intentional. If we observe that our default mode is to keep plowing through the details and minute-by-minute demands of our jobs without purposefully reflecting on what insights we can gain from the approaches we take, then we deny ourselves the richness that can come from reflection and by extension self-awareness.

In short, self-awareness brings increased clarity to our work values and goals. Our decisions are improved and our objective of strengthening and deriving more satisfaction from our careers becomes more likely.

Don’t worry. Very few of us have reached self-awareness nirvana. So, give yourself a break and start or continue to polish this aptitude wherever you are on the spectrum.

Assessing the Dignity of Work

Posted on February 28, 2021February 6, 2023 by Bill Ryan

A lofty phrase that has been around for a while, but has gained newly found prominence in recent years, is the term “dignity of work”. It is uttered across the political spectrum, because it is widely thought to have universal respect and acceptance. Who could possibly argue with a concept which conveys cherishment of commitment, skill development, and above all personal responsibility to provide for oneself and their family? Dignity of work harkens not only to a pride of traditional labor honestly performed but can also inspire and motivate all working-aged adults to do their part for the economy and community.

The dignity of work is seen as a sublime end in itself. We were raised to accept a lifetime of work. Work is contributing. Work is doing your duty. Work is good and more selfless work is better. Achievement of a profound sense of satisfaction that comes from doing a job well is the ultimate reward for our labors, or so we are told. The grateful pat on the back from a coworker, the smile and nod from the boss, the eloquent testimonial from a delighted customer together represent just some of the energizing commendations that make work invaluable.

So, why then is work not felt so favorable or worthwhile for so many? We do not have to look far to see people unhappy with their work. The dignity of work is elusive for more workers than it should be. A Harvard Business Review survey in 2019 of 500+ workers found the vast majority (90%) expected to find joy in their work but given time on the job only 37% experienced joy. A few years ago, Gallup reported only 30% of workers engaged with their jobs. Forbes cited a survey of 411 workers, 19% of whom were satisfied with their jobs. I could go on.

Dignity is not inherent in work. Labor cannot be dignified unless some basic conditions are met. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops advocates for fundamental worker rights as a prerequisite for work dignity such as availability of productive work, fair and sufficient compensation, and a permission structure allowing for organizing and unionization among other rights.

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio calls for enhancements of wages and benefits, healthcare costs, and retirement programs as a way of assuring dignity. Ezra Klein in the New York Times points to elimination of harmful and oppressive workplaces and for management to encourage workers to remain healthy and have leisure and family time.

I would add removal of tyrannical management, toxic coworkers, and workplace cultures that devalue portions of the workforce.

However, beyond stating what is not wanted to engender dignity in work, let us focus on practices likely to lead to dignity. Workers by and large want the chance to be self-motivated. There are three key situations which encourage this. As pointed out by Daniel Pink in his book Drive, fostering an environment where workers are urged to develop mastery of their profession, exercise autonomy in decision making, and define personal and professional purpose in what they do all matter greatly.

Workers want to be respected and given the freedom to grow. They want to be able to sustain reasonable financial needs by working only one 40-hour per week job. They want executive management who understand the principal capital in their firms are their employees, who need to know they are valued. They want the support of customers who intentionally direct their dollars toward businesses that treat their employees with dignity. (It begs the question, is a business model that requires employees working for only $7.25 per hour worthy of staying in business in this day and age?)

Dignity of work should continue to be a universal value, but let’s not cling to some notion it arises spontaneously, especially under adverse conditions. It does not. Dignity may be felt individually, but it takes a community to see it is broadly shared.

Future Shock Fifty Years Later

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Bill Ryan

Between the lunch and dinner shifts I would be allowed a break from my dish washing duties at the Kittansett Club in Marion, Massachusetts. This was during the summer of 1973. If the weather was sunny, but with a light breeze, I would often choose to sit among the boulders, which were closely packed together where the end of Butler Point meets Buzzards Bay. For many of these days I carried with me a worn paperback book with a bright blue cover entitled Future Shock.

I was among the many readers and neophyte futurists to gobble up that book, starting when it was published in 1970. Although I was three years late to the party, by then I knew about the scope and flavor of the book’s buzz. It attracted me. And the book did not disappoint.

Alvin Toffler set out to highlight the importance of change among populations, cultures, and individuals. In particular, change that is ever more accelerated, novel, widespread, and challenging. Toffler was a futurist, professor, correspondent, and businessman. During the mid-1960s he and his wife Heidi detected that technology was hastening cultural change worldwide. This led to five years of research, resulting in the book Future Shock, which has sold many millions of copies, has been translated into numerous languages, and is still in print fifty years later.

Even as a kid, I found the notion of The Future to be fascinating. My mother may have unwittingly been a part of the reason why. Having grown up, if you could call it that, in wartime Germany in the late 1930s and 1940s, she always had a special admiration for things “modern” once she became a young mother and U.S. citizen in 1950s America. Later on she became a big fan of the NASA space program, the Mercury 7 astronauts, the Saturn 5 launches, the capsule retrievals in the ocean, and so on. I shared with her a love for that slice of American lore.

On my own, I loved science fiction when I was young. Those black & white after-school space movies channels 6, 10, and 13 out of Albany used to broadcast (along with the monster movies of course) were fun and imaginative. History also held an long time allure, so it wasn’t a big leap to shift my attention from the past to the future. How people lived and how they will live still remain appealing topics. Hence, my revisitation of Future Shock.

However, aside from a recreational interest in futurism, there is also my curiosity about Toffler’s prescience. We live today in what was his future. Given his forecasting was generally in the twenty to fifty-year range and now that we’ve passed the fifty-year mark I have found intriguing the idea of assessing his outlook. Alvin Toffler, who passed away in 2016, continues to have a reputation as an exceptional futurist. So, presumably he had an astute ability to both evaluate the etiology of profound changes and envision how they would eventually be expressed by individuals and societies.

Change forms the foundation of futurism. Change also brings out of people revealing aspects about how they process life. It seems as if change is more feared than welcomed. A lot of folks like things just the way they are and actively shun change. Of course, there are exclusions as with some individuals thriving continuous novelty while others live with life stories that scream for something better. Nonetheless, these types of people appear to be exceptions to the rule. By way of observation, most folks remain rooted after their hard-fought scramble to establish stability and security in their status quo.

Change management, or lack thereof, can be seen as a personality or social trait. Some leverage the possibilities and opportunities inherent in change, while others are more reactive and resistant. Large-scale change in and of itself is neutral. How it is perceived and engaged determines if it is to be handled as an asset or as a liability.

The question often asked is, does change represent an improvement or a setback? Clearly then, this challenge of people adapting to or defying change has huge implications for how societies either progress or stagnate. So, another impetus for reviewing Future Shock is to discern if Toffler provided us with an astute warning fifty years ago which perhaps went unheeded. If so, were we left by Toffler with a useful methodology for these times that deserves another look?

Therefore, an analysis of the premise, contention, and predictability of Future Shock will disclose the validity of Toffler’s fifty-year-old thesis. Of particular interest is the soundness of futurism as a worthy forewarning mechanism for societies to follow and also how the book may lend some insight into the possibly flawed conventional wisdom concerning opposition to change.

Alvin Toffler wanted to get America’s attention in a big way. After all, one doesn’t insert the word “shock” into the description of their central argument and include it in their book’s title unless the intent is to jolt and startle. To that end, Toffler was successful as noted above. However, beyond selling a lot of books and presumably making substantial money, he was convinced humankind had reached a profound threshold by the mid-twentieth century that called for a bellowing admonition. The world as it was known in the mid to late 1960s was undergoing accelerated change, impacting not just that time, but more alarmingly ushering in an uncertain and potentially fraught and dangerous future. A cautionary portrayal of what was being faced by the American public, and by extension the so-called ‘First World’ population of his time, set the dark tone of this book. This is not a light and breezy read. Sure, he pointed out positivity and wise judgment being exhibited by some people capable of meeting the future when and where he saw it, but in general he seemed to see ordinary citizens and their leaders as totally unqualified to withstand, never mind benefit from, the onslaught of rapid technical and social transformation that had been unleashed.

Adaptation is a crucial ability. When applied to organisms it depicts the vital steps necessary for survival and continuation of the species. Biologically, adaptation is seen as both behavioral and physical. How organisms interact with their environments in terms of decisive actions and optimal body structure determines if they will endure or face extinction. Regarding modern humans, adaptation is largely a consequence of how intellect is utilized. People operate such that the handling of constraints and possibilities offered by their environment resolve whether they will thrive or founder. Mental acuity and creativity become indispensable in facing basic problems integral to human existence.

Indeed, whole cultures are incessantly challenged to adapt to dynamic and difficult conditions. In 2005, Jared Diamond wrote a compelling book called Collapse, in which he delved into the disintegration of several cultures throughout history that had failed to adapt to changing social and ecological circumstances. Cultural failure has happened before. And it seems imprudent, if not fatuous, to think it won’t happen again.

How we as humans adapt or not when faced with rapidly changing social and physical environments is the premise of Future Shock. The book’s purpose is to shepherd us through the turmoil of accelerated change by suggesting coping mechanisms, alternative attitudes, and reframed perspectives. The urgency Toffler saw was one of people needing to develop, if not command, their capacity to manage the rate of change washing over their individual circumstances and their affiliate society. Not doing so would shackle civilization to “adaptational breakdown” or “disease of change”, also known as future shock.

Unquestioningly, Toffler pointed to the proliferation of technology as the catalyst for hastened change. This is not to say he was a Luddite and opposed to technological advances. He was far from such a position. Rather, he saw technology as irritating the vulnerable space between externally derived change and human responses to it. Technology is innately new, different, innovative, and strange all at once. At the individual level and eventually at the social level, technology insists on adoption or rejection by the market. It was clear by the 1960s, if not sooner, that the tempo of novel technology introductions was quickening. An inflection point had been reached.

New technologies come with both direction and pace. Presumably they are established to solve a problem or add an improvement to what has gone on before. Fine. Enhancements and efficiencies should be welcomed. However, if the preponderance of technologies is such that the ‘old ways’ are continually being questioned and contested there can result disequilibrium and resistance. Therefore, to assess in isolation the justification, substance, and value of technology and the change it brings is shortsighted. The velocity of change must also be considered when determining if a new practice or process alteration should be judged as either a welcomed benefit or a shunned liability. Toffler took this perspective. He didn’t question the essence or merits of technological change nearly as much as the propagation rate of such change.

When I decided to re-engage Future Shock I found myself yearning to see if Toffler’s predictions for the future had been accurate or overly speculative or wildly missing the mark. My porous 50-year old memory assumed Toffler must have made predictions of the future like the old-fashioned world fairs used to do. I certainly remembered this was a book about the future, so prophecy must have been a big part of it. Turns out, I was somewhat mistaken. My recent re-reading of the book made clear early on that this was not meant to be a crystal ball in book form. Whereas, Toffler did engage in speculation about social and scientific trends and the yet-to-be-realized practices associated with them he expected his readers to know his conjectures were best guesses based on available quantifiable and qualitative information, flavored with a dash of imagination. Toffler decidedly stated, “No serious futurist deals in predictions.”

That said, I evaluate where Toffler was generally on and where he was generally off with regards to his main thesis. Has future shock been the severe affliction he thought it could be? If so, where is the evidence of future shock in our current time and if none is to be found, why not? Did the cultural, social, business, education, and technological trends he suggested as possible materialize or not? Did humankind ever learn the skills of adaption to control rapid technological change? Are we still individually or societally in danger of the negative effects of future shock? Can the future be utilized to improve the present time similar to the way study of the past has been found to be helpful? These are the kinds of questions I seek to answer.

Rereading a book you remember being enjoyable and impactful fifty years later is fun. (Maybe I should consider picking up again Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I remember really loving that one.) My overall impression this time around is that Future Shock attempted a bold and valid assertion. It also was impeccably researched. I get why it was groundbreaking and in many ways it still holds up. In general, Toffler was justified in popularizing the notion that technological change was gaining momentum with such unrestrained speed that the population could be at risk for psychological and sociological disruption. Replacing tradition with transience was an untested phenomenon.

Toffler revealed how increased knowledge was clearly fueling change, but not visibly informing people about how to adapt to it. Evidence was presented demonstrating how abundant novelty, innovation, and change can result in individual and group instability. Anecdote after anecdote illustrating defiance of change among the wider public was also shown. The easily perceived mismatch between our capacity to intentionally merge rapid revolution with able adaptation must have seemed very conspicuous to Toffler and surely shouted for a clarion call such as Future Shock. He had a well-founded and authoritative reason to write this book. He also was not only quite prescient at times, but prudent in his counsel.

From the start, Toffler was correct to question our addiction to permanence. It is completely understandable, if not poetic, to revere traditions, customs, cultural mores, and tried and true methods passed down to us from generation to generation. There is comfort in connecting with the past and embracing time-honored conventions. Ambiguity, and with it stress, are diminished. We can be more at ease. Nonetheless, an over-reliance or excessive dependence on permanence leaves us ill prepared for a truism about our existences. Life is always subject to change. There is no such thing as the completely static life. Desperate or habitual clinging to constancy will eventually lead to disappointment, anxiety, and pain.

This reality is strongly reinforced by the Indian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, where we see the concept of impermanence addressed so prominently. In short, these philosophical traditions state that attachment to people, things, and ideas is a fool’s errand, because they will all change or cease thereby leaving suffering in their wake. To reverse this pattern, which is carried out person by person and generation after generation, it is necessary to relinquish a craving for permanence. Toffler recognized we were set up for future shock, if for no other reason than because we ordinarily cling to changelessness. We are not primed to cope with the degree of change showering over us.

Toffler adeptly zeroed in on the causes for mass psychological distress and unease. Intensifying conditions without historical precedence were mushrooming mid-century at such a robust rate, questions about where it was all heading were naturally going to arise. A child in 1903 could have heard about the Wright brothers pioneering success in aviation and lived to an old age that witnessed astronauts walking on the Moon. This same child might have traveled to a rural school on horseback and driven a Corvette during their retirement sixty years later. Progress was revered and in many ways welcomed given the expansion of labor-saving improvements and fresh entertaining distractions suddenly made available. Nevertheless, mixed into this seductive lifestyle-shifting were disconcerting signs indicating all may not be well in the brave new world of modern America.

The exacerbation of transience, novelty, and diversity lay at the root of the personal and social torment most concerning Toffler. Even if we see these three trends as potentially positive, which of course they can be, there can still occur such a fast-paced proliferation of these developments that they are essentially rendered encumbrances. Coping mechanisms are required to manage the intensity and consequences of elevated levels of transience, novelty, and diversity. And it is just these management safeguards which are missing from wide swaths of the American and western populations.

Toffler succeeded in not only communicating the origins of future shock, but also the manifestations of unmanaged stress and relentless overstimulation. Future shock is displayed both psychologically and physically. Adaptation, or lack of it, was researched yielding studies and cases revealing physiological degradation and illness of individuals overexposed to change. Furthermore, he detailed the existence of an “orientation response”, denoting how people mentally adapt to external alterations. Our brains construct stores of previously assimilated information and use these impressions to reference and rate the quality and characteristics of new stimuli. Applying our orientation response requires mental and physical energy, not unlike being repeatedly startled. Repetitions of this reaction can leave one feeling stressed, similar to too much triggering of our ‘flight or fight response’. Symptoms can range from anxiety, apathy, and difficulty making decisions to uncertainty about what long lasting values to adopt.

In 2016, Robert Gordon of Northwestern University wrote a landmark book asserting that American economic and living standards underwent remarkable progress during what he described as the “Special Century”, 1870-1970. The Rise and Fall of American Growth enumerated how modernizing transformations in transportation, the home, food, apparel, retail, healthcare, and employment not only propelled economic growth, but vastly boosted the well-being of American society. Given our retrospective perch we can now see how Toffler’s viewpoint came from the end of that bullish stretch. To him it very well may have seemed there was no end in sight of more and more life-changing transitions.

I know what you might be thinking. But wait, the technology that would lead to the personal computer was just getting started. In the 1960s the guys at Fairchild Semiconductor in California, like Gordon Moore, were starting to make the claim that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit were now doubling every two years (Moore’s Law). Vast game-changing transfigurations were just around the corner. How can you say the Special Century was ending when the information revolution was getting ready to explode? As Robert Gordon points out, the splash of technology over the past 50 years, while impressive and compelling has not vaulted us into the level of elemental change or economic growth wrought by the life-fulfilling innovations evident during the Special Century. Toffler, on the other hand, had his recent past as his reference point and it showed a progression of radical changes of the type highlighted by Gordon. It made every sense to think the nascent but burgeoning technology sector would lead to a continuation of critical changes.

This lack of, well, future orientation may be in part the reason for some of Toffler’s overzealous prognostications. To begin with, Toffler seems to have overstated people’s inability to cope with the future. We have largely succeeded thus far to avoid mass psycho-biological paralysis. Future shock has not been as egregious of a “disease” as he thought possible. History has marched on these past fifty years and by and large we have weathered the storm of invention and disruption thrown at us. If anything, the eruption of technological change has made us more resilient and versatile. This is not to say there have been no instances of people confounded by technological changes to the degree they have felt frustrated or even debilitated, but overall the scale of psycho-emotional catastrophe imagined by Toffler is of a tamer magnitude than he thought likely.

Toffler also relied a lot on an ‘intentional community’ model when offering change management suggestions. For example, his idea of streamlining the family as an efficient and simplified mobile collection of two parents with similar careers and few children. If this arrangement were to become too restrictive to the all-business couple there could be “professional parents” whose job it would be to do the child rearing. Presumably the breadwinners were to schedule regular meetings to check in on their kids. Another case in point involves “preadaption”. To avoid the anxiety of frequent transitions to new locations, jobs, schools, etc. families could engage with a structured orientation, featuring simulations and remote meetings with key players from the new city. It is not evident practices like these have flourished.

There are many such instances in which Toffler proposed engineered and calibrated changes for people and communities as an alternative to experiencing abrupt upheavals in any number of areas of life. Whether these arrangements were to be centrally controlled by government or some other entity or whether they were to sprout organically among well-meaning citizens is rarely clarified. Regardless, after awhile these recommendations start sounding too contrived and unrealistic. Also of note, people are not as willing to be managed as Toffler seemed to think they were. As Toffler made clear, futurists are not in the prediction game, as counter-intuitive as that may sound. It’s good he clarified as much, because his forecasts make for a mixed bag as best.

When reviewing the changes of the past fifty years much has indeed been driven by technological advances. However, technology alone has not been the sole catalyst. Rather applied science has functioned in tandem with other significant influences. A principal trend impacted by technology and a source of great change was the resurgence of neoliberalism as the prevailing economic model of the U.S. during this time. Although neoliberalism is often associated with free-market capitalism it also promotes elements that have dominated the past fifty years such as globalization and free trade. Our ability to extend interactions and integrations across the globe via information technologies has come to define our current turbulent times.

In fact, remote connections among people affect not just international economic and cultural relations, but national and local ones as well. Social media has so ensnared the interests of so many that the generation and dissemination of information, both factual and not, is directly transforming our politics and dealings with one another. Privacy as well is becoming a quaint virtue of the past. We are all being rendered to data points as public and private institutions ascribe to Big Data serviceability models. So yes, technology is a phenomenon common to the consequential changes of the past half-century, but technology’s impact is most felt in its capacity to influence the dynamics of governmental, economic, and cultural trends.

If Future Shock were to be written today my guess is that Artificial Intelligence (AI) would play a major role. Just as Toffler was warranted in writing a cautionary tome in the 1960s when it was apparent the world was changing in unique ways, the 2020s can also be seen as on the precipice of an uncertain future. Like the technologies of the ’60s, which were billed as developments and improvements over what had been, AI is promising to introduce greater efficiencies of functional systems, problem solving and production processes, increased leisure time, and on and on. And again, as in the ’60s, this new fangled technology of AI ushers in ethical questions of appropriateness, risks, and unanticipated consequences.

We study history to better inform ourselves about the present. By not repeating mistakes from the past we can improve the quality of the current moment. Futurism also attempts to influence ongoing time, but instead of delving into recorded history to do so futurism identifies possible upcoming scenarios based on an analysis of existing trends, signals, and patterns with available pertinent data. Perhaps the best way to avoid future shock and a lack of adaptation is by undertaking a systemic process of strengthening preparedness. To actively prepare for change may be the best way to adapt. A good offense makes the best defense. Toffler’s work in this regard still makes sense today.

In conclusion, the morale of this story is that from some point in the last two centuries the future ceased to materialize as an unchanging and reoccurring episode as it had been throughout much of human history. Futures will forever more be uncertain. Therefore, for each new generation futures are now to be seen as planned, structured, and envisaged to determine if they will turn out to be either good or bad. The challenge of intentionally addressing and if possible shaping the future with all of its potential and jeopardy is owed to our descendants. The Anthropocene is upon us. We are God’s agents on earth. There is no time for future shock to impede us. Yes, let’s seize each and every day in our present time, but also leave a future worthy of enthusiastic grasping by our children and their children.

Strengthening Knowledge Sharing Online

Posted on January 26, 2021November 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The news is not that we are continually shifting most of our knowledge-economy work time online, but rather that we are learning more over time about what works and what does not work when doing so. Take the Training & Development (T&D) field. Here is an industry which experienced a head start long before Covid in providing digital and distance learning opportunities. By designing and preparing virtual and hybrid instruction programs for a relatively long period it is reasonable to expect there are lessons which can be derived by this industry informing other business sectors about how to disseminate intelligence in an online environment.

Another area sharing distance learning, admittedly more than they want to currently, is the education arena in both K-12 and higher ed. Like T&D, their shared mission is to leverage the power and ubiquity of computers and similar devices, along with the public’s basic tech literacy abilities, to deliver teaching and learning possibilities when it is impractical to house students in traditional classrooms. Here too, best practices are being identified as teachers, schools, and communities face the challenge of providing quality education online.

Together T&D and education are revealing methods and conditions to consider establishing when the online workplace involves information sharing, change management, customer engagement, and staff development. An analysis of peer-reviewed literature, the T&D/education marketplace, and anecdotal reports from distance learning practitioners suggest key practices when formulating and implementing remote instruction courses and programs. However, it is insightful to understand the finest of these procedures are not merely disjointed techniques produced through trial and error, but rather rest upon a philosophical foundation.

Lev Vygotsky was a Soviet-era psychologist renowned worldwide to this day for his scholarship on how humans make meaning, in other words, cognitive development. His theory in short is that people acquire cultural values, beliefs, problem-solving strategies, and practical knowledge through collaboration with others, especially more knowledgeable people. Comprehension and meaning, according to Vygotsky, is derived in a social context, which makes community the fertile ground from which people learn.

Today, Vygotsky’s theory compels developers of online educational and training curricula to migrate characteristics of in-person community to the digital environment. In doing so, instructors and trainers are better able to facilitate concept and knowledge acquisition among their students and trainees.

We need therefore to trust in the interconnectivity and interplay possible through virtual contact. Although still a novel concept for older generations, society is clearly moving toward a norm characterized by remote connections with others, whether through our use of social media, FaceTime, or online short-term credentialing courses.

Three ideal practices which take advantage of social cohesion include:

Being Present – This can range from presenting direct instruction in a synchronous or live-time manner to being available for individual student/employee questions to mentoring. There will be occasions where asynchronous (non-live time) communication, such as message boards, forums, and course policies, need to be visible for all participants, but in general being directly available or on call during set hours leaves participants feeling less abandoned and insecure.

Interactions – Encouraging participant interaction advances information sharing and social learning, which leads to literacy. Three key dialogues to learning involve teacher to student, student to student, and student to content. Promoting such exchanges generates effective growth-oriented connections among teachers and students; purposeful explorations conducted within a student-to-student context; and investigations between a student and the topic areas’ facts and concepts.

Discussion – Promoting opportunities for students to participate in synchronous and asynchronous discussions creates substantial educational value. Encounters involving questions, reflections, responses, and decisions support participant growth. Thanks to digitization, well-structured discussions and deliberations can strengthen any course.

When tasked with planning for distance training and teaching opportunities keep in mind the importance of generating social coherence. You may find less has been lost going virtual than you initially feared.

Ten Poems II

Posted on December 30, 2020 by Bill Ryan

Trail Cat

Walking steeply down a hilly and remote Scottish footpath

On a glorious sunny Spring day

When below us emerging from the wood and crossing the stream

Appear two women with several young children

But wait! What is that?

Trotting determinedly along behind the last child

Like a loyal dog

Was a cat! A trail cat

Yes, a cat was marching with the women and children

A sleek, gray, attentive, and unusually compliant cat

The troupe climbed the hill toward us and we stepped aside

Ascending slowly but dutifully up the hill the cat panted

Uncommon sight it is to see a cat huff and puff

After a brief pause to study us

The cat answered to its name called from up the path

And resumed its hike leaving us to gape in surprise at the trail cat

An Unspoken Conversation

It’s a conversation he hasn’t wanted to have with himself.

Even though he knows it is necessary to do so.

Funny to think of avoiding a topic of which only he knows.

No one else need judge or reprimand.

He could speak to himself, but does not.

And that too scares him.

Pain and despair press down making it hard to breathe.

This weight suppresses any light or spirit he may have remaining.

There is no one else to blame.

Decisions were made.

Risks were taken.

The only one holding him back from taking the next step is him.

But, the future is wide open and so very frightening.

Back Among the Trees

We came back in late May.

The trees had fully leafed a couple of weeks earlier.

They’re hovering now over us and the house in a quiet, but imposing manner.

The wind is still and so are the trees.

But they can still shoot the color green all over and around us.

And the oaks alpha over the maple, birch, and beech.

These are things one notices.

Such can be life living under a dome-like canopy.

In a forested land that rolls and stretches as far as the eye can see.

The Rain

The Spring on the coast of western Scotland was very rainy. Unsurprisingly.

The Scots seemed to take it in stride and some let on they even appreciate it.

Returning to New Hampshire we found the Spring to be dry. Surprisingly.

The rain today clears pollen from the air.

And gives the thirsty plants a wee, but so far insufficient drink.

Usually I do not like rainy days.

They depress me and leave me feeling confined and annoyed.

Like an energetic child stuck inside a boring house.

But occasionally a rainy day comes along that soothes and comforts.

I make an extra pot of coffee to nurse throughout the day.

Allow myself more daytime reading than usual.

Listen to the steady sound of water striking leaves and ground.

It can be easier to sense the rhythm of nature.

On one of the good rainy days.

How Old People Can Keep Fit

Remember what we did so naturally as children?

Run

Jump

Stretch

Bend

Climb

Lift

Roll

Crawl

Reach

Kneel

Swing

Fall

Crouch

Hop

Skip

Twist

Dig

Balance

Squat

Flip

Let’s continue doing these activities as old adults.

(Except maybe Flip)

Doing so keeps us feeling alive.

The Introvert

People

Interactions, relationships, encounters, friendships

Reveal cringe-worthy memories.

Moments that produce anxieties, fears, fumbles, gaffes, regrets.

And of course, faux pas.

People

Was I smart enough?

Friendly enough?

Witty enough?

Charming enough?

Moral enough?

People

Cant’ live with ’em. Can’t live without ’em.

So many feelings to hurt, offenses to make, blunders to smooth over.

People

Avoid them purposefully.

Shift my focus.

Choose solitary tasks.

Allow thoughts to wander.

Reclaim a center.

People

Sorry, but I am out, done, finished.

Forever.

Seasonal Affective Mood

The muted light

illuminates the woods

in yellow.

Lively winds

from the northwest

send dry leaves

fluttering and spinning

to the ground.

Despite this beauty

I feel apprehension.

Another lengthy, frigid, dark, and biting

winter is just around

the corner.

The stratus clouds

are steely gray today.

They form a canvas

against which a V-shaped

flock of honking geese

fly south.

Firewood is stacked.

Flower gardens put to bed.

Colorful summer gear stowed.

The precious sun

sinks lower in the sky.

And I brace

myself for the advancing

onslaught.

The Bicycle

A borrowed bicycle

belonged to the homestay

in Hoi An

where I stayed.

Old and red

it rekindled a sentiment

of being a kid again.

I wove through a street market,

past tropical houses,

along dusty roads,

toward the sea.

Being a foreigner

among natives and locals

of Vietnam

who barely gave a notice

to this American

riding through their homeland.

This land

spoke fear and war

to my teenage years.

But today

the sun is warm

the ocean is bright blue

I am free

to ride a bicycle

across this land.

Listening Intently

We walk along the dirt road

located through the old woods

that was once a stagecoach route

which started carrying passengers in 1831

from Hanover to Lowell in a single day.

Today, as is true most days,

the road is quiet and seemingly still

as it penetrates this patch of forest

with its tumbledown stone walls

and a visible opening left over

from a logging operation five years ago.

We pass the pond with its far-off view of Mount Sunapee

as soon the road begins its rise to a stand of hemlock

where the wide path to the right invites

us to the lonely clearing on Shadow Hill

that displays the remnants of a campfire

and a high view of the pond and western hills.

Here the dog is off-leash sniffing and exploring

as I try to read the story of today’s woods

told cunningly and gently

through blowing of soft winds and solitary warbling of birds

and filtered light amplifying the lapping of water against the steep hill.

For those with an awareness and an attentive ear

and a consciousness which takes in the delicate vibrations of nature

can also be heard the orchestra of trees growing

with fallen wood rotting and humus decomposing

and the creaks and groans of water freezing

all punctuated by the tone of the decaying flesh

of a squirrel who lived its brief life among these trees.

A Day

Another day to float through.

Free of agenda and schedule.

Except for picking up your pieces.

Or so I tell myself.

What did you say?

I couldn’t hear you clearly.

You know, I’m not what you think.

Although maybe you know that.

With your head thrown back.

And your eyes closed and mouth gaping.

Excuse me, but…

Choices are strange, you know.

Life is a lot of risky business.

With stinging rebukes.

And nods of agreement.

Just by stumbling through another day.

Which reminds me.

Of the confusion of youth.

And silly false choices.

Combined with conflicting images.

From 1973.

Of cornfield mazes.

Abandoned gold mines.

Hitchhiking through Ohio.

Trying to be alternative.

While embracing middle class life.

And doing neither particularly well.

Doesn’t matter now.

It’s in the past.

Heaven and Hell can wait.

There’s more living to be done.

Beneath the full moon.

Which was here before birth.

And will be here after death.

Observations of an Extensive Career

Posted on November 24, 2020November 14, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Say what you will about Joe Biden, whether you supported his presidential election or not, and recognizing he does not have the messianic stature of the previous two presidents, the man’s lifetime work can nevertheless be viewed as a study in career development. There are some aspects of Biden’s professional life that both led to his ultimate achievement of winning the U.S. presidency, but which also point to characteristics many of us can learn from as we navigate and grow our own careers.

Like any person, he faced substantial challenges establishing himself professionally. However, there are attributes he exhibited in doing so which over time contributed to his success and are worth an examination.

A now well-known piece of his biography is how as a 29-year-old he ascended to the U.S. Senate followed within weeks by the loss of his wife and young daughter in a car accident. The conflicting and monumental impact of these twin events would rock anyone’s world, but with reserves of fortitude, faith, and support from key individuals he carried on as a senator for his state and father to his surviving sons. Finding resolve to carry on and do what is right under such circumstances gave him a life perspective to better confront other difficulties and to be grateful for what is most important. The takeaway regarding careers? Resoluteness and astute priority settings matter.

Although the voters of Delaware kept sending him back to the Senate, it is not as if Biden never knew electoral failure. He ran for president twice before, in 1988 and in 2008. Both attempts flopped. A bungled plagiarism charge from ’88 and lackluster enthusiasm in ’08 left it looking like the presidential path was never to be his. He realized though that failure is not ruinous. Getting knocked down means you get back up. He kept his career alive, demonstrated doggedness, and continued with his brand of ambition.

Rather than producing discouragement, failure instead informed Joe Biden how to make his future better. He strove to be among the most influential members of the Senate with chairmanships and compromises yielding both successes and controversies. He accepted the invitation to serve as vice president, which over eight years contained a full and diverse portfolio. And of course, he continued to go big by again running for president with confidence the unique circumstances of this election cycle could potentially favor him. It worked.

An effective politician is a compelling networker and communicator. They know how to forge constructive relationships, build beneficial teams, and leverage the synergy of bright minds. Biden has honed his skill of reaching out to others and forming profitable alliances. He has been at this a long time, which addresses another notable characteristic of his — age.

Much has been said about how Biden has lost his fast ball with age. This may be true. Despite this, he demonstrated a proficiency in running for and taking on this most demanding of jobs, compiling more votes than any other presidential candidate in American history. Not bad for a guy in his late seventies.

So, politics aside, we could allow ourselves to see in Joe Biden a person who persevered, avoided dejection, focused on what was most important, maintained ambition, willingly faced new ordeals, gathered talented compatriots, and projected his considerable knowledge and experience well into his elder years. As we reflect on our own careers, we can assess how well we are doing in these professional building areas. Although none of us would want to go through all the trials and tribulations Joe Biden has gone through, it is still justifiable to see his career story as one of many ways to achieve success.

The Trucker

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Bill Ryan

My heart had finally settled back to its natural rhythm a short while earlier. My mind on the other hand had not. It had been about an hour since the near miss on NY Route 67 as it neared Interstate 87 north of Albany. The fright I experienced once I realized my tires were starting to be overpowered by the shoulder’s soft sand was a slap to my psyche. An oncoming van drifted into my lane forcing me to the right. Thankfully, the van’s driver snapped to in enough time to center the vehicle within its lane, but not before I found myself contending with several seconds of outright uncertainty, and to be honest fright, as to whether or not I would lurch sideways, flatten the 1960’s era guard rails, and land starboard side on a downward sloping embankment with a full load of beer, soft drinks, and bottled water.

Twenty-two year’s worth of driving know-how together with a sudden visit by Lady Luck prevented the worst from happening. Optimally calibrating a soft touch on the brake with subtle steering allowed me to securely grab enough pavement to right myself. With a jerk the truck was back on the road again heading east in the direction of New Hampshire instead of sliding downhill into a ravine.

It took a minute before I cursed aloud. I imagined having my thickset hands around the van driver’s throat and squeezing until he (or she) went limp. This image stayed with me longer than it probably should have, but such is rage. I wasn’t feeling very analytical or understanding or sympathetic. I was pissed. Eventually, as I replayed the incident in my mind I had to admit it wasn’t necessary to pull my rig so hard to the right as quickly as I had. There was clearly an element of overreaction involved. And I do recognize that sometimes my overreactions were more trouble than the initial cause. Fatigue more than likely played a role. After all, I had driven twenty-five of the previous forty hours, by far breaking trucking regulations. Truth be told, I was a wreck physically and emotionally. I just wanted to get home.

Sarah would be there. Ahh, Sarah. I knew she wanted more in life than to be settled with me in our mostly finished simple prefab house a couple of miles from the village in our desperately rural Sullivan County town. The truth was, I was the best she could do back when we met. At least that is the narrative I’ve been telling myself since she moved in six years ago. With little money, an ex-boyfriend who her threw her out, an abandoned GED program, but with a country-girl cuteness that still weakens my knees, I offered to take care of her. That’s what girls want, right? A man to take care of them.

She took two days to think about it, but eventually showed up in my driveway just as I was returning from a run to Connecticut. We had sex for hours that night. I thought I had won the lottery. But even though I could tell she didn’t share that level of excitement about me as I did her, I told myself, no worries. She’ll come around. She’ll realize I am the best she’s going to do.

And then Sarah announced a few months ago she was pregnant. She took the test to tell us the baby was to be a boy. I was both thrilled and scared. I hadn’t planned on becoming a dad and was afraid it would change my life too much. However, the more I thought about it the more pride I felt. Unexpectedly, the idea of being a father made me feel more complete, more proper, more mature. I liked that feeling. Knowing Sarah was going to have a baby boy made going home after a run like this a little better than before. I looked forward to seeing her in a way I hadn’t in the past. That was how I felt that afternoon. Ready to be home with my girlfriend who was going to have our baby. I shook off what remained of the jitters from the near-accident and continued driving east across Vermont. It would dark by the time I got home, but not too late. One more cup of coffee should do it, I thought.

It’s funny how a certain kind of outdoor space, a natural space, can shift my mood in an instant. I’ve driven this route west to east through Vermont many times and it contains several views on the roadside that catch my eye, give me slight pause, and induce calmness. Today, it was the one with a sweeping hillside that is grassy and kept clear of overgrowth due to having been hayed a couple of times per season presumably and which reaches a line of stout oaks on a hilltop forming a tight canopy. In the late afternoon on sunny days the hill and trees receive an angled light, which amplifies the colors and brightens the picture just the way I like it. Glancing this image for a mere two or three seconds as my truck rumbled by brought me a momentary feeling of peace and contentment. Things were feeling better. The near-accident was fading away from my thoughts.

My coffee was nearly done when I crossed over the river into New Hampshire and then south on route 12A. I pulled the rig to the outside edge of a parking lot near Walmart, so I could run in and get Sarah a bag of peanut butter cups. She’ll like that I did that, I thought. Twenty more minutes or so and I’ll be home. Once back on 12A I again appreciated my not having flipped the rig back in New York. Getting home in one piece felt like a reward.

Something felt off as soon as I stepped from the mudroom door into the kitchen. Sarah’s ‘hello’ to me was inauthentic, almost guarded. Her smile seemed somewhat forced. The air felt thicker than usual for some reason. I instantly sensed anxiety and apprehension seep into my consciousness. I hated times that didn’t go right. Suddenly, this felt like one of them.

She reached for can of seltzer sitting on the kitchen counter. It allowed her to take her eyes from mine, if only for a moment. I told Sarah I would be right back. I took my travel bag to my small office off of the living room where I dropped it to the floor thinking, I’ll need to ask her what’s wrong, because it sure felt as if something must be wrong.

While asking Sarah, what’s up, I opened the refrigerator door to grab a beer and noticed two six-packs of unrecognizable beer. I knew it was some sort of expensive craft beer, the kind of thing I never wasted money on and confusingly, either did Sarah. There were also two unopened bottles of pinot grigio, which is Sarah’s drink. Or at least it was before she became pregnant. But even before pregnancy, she typically kept only one opened bottle in the fridge at a time. Not two unopened ones. This didn’t look right.

I asked if she was planning a party or something. Her face looked fake. A mixture of discomfort and unease. Bubbling from her were insincere comments like, “Party?! No, of course not. I thought you might like to try a different kind of beer. So I’ve got some booze in the fridge. It’s not that big of a deal, is it?”

As I said, “I don’t get it”, a pickup rushed past the house on our dirt road kicking up a cloud of dust. Through the living room picture window I saw what looked like the back of Frank’s F-150, a good friend of mine in town. For a split second I thought, what is Frank doing around here now and why the speeding by without a stop?

I turned back toward Sarah. She had noticed the truck as well. Fear was spread across her face. She tried to hide it, but it was unmistakable. “What’s going on, Sarah?” I was tired and now feeling stressed. Sarah was pissing me off with her evasion and now this sudden look of dread. “Tell me what the fuck is going on, Sarah!”

She couldn’t or wouldn’t speak. Sarah never was a good liar. And her silence told me she wasn’t going to even try. Her eyes began to moisten and her mouth opened slightly as if she wanted to speak, but no words came out. Sarah’s left hand then slowly moved toward her raised stomach where it rested. My eyes followed her hand as she touched our baby.

I may not be the brightest bulb in the marquee, but I eventually do figure most things out. Frank! He drinks those fancy-boy beers! Was he coming here to drink them with Sarah? My heart quickened. The silence was broken.

“I’m so sorry,” Sarah said. “I didn’t know you were coming home today. Thought you would be in Buffalo tonight. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Are those beers Frank’s? Tell me what you’re up to! Tell me now! Don’t bullshit me, Sarah! You and Frank were going to drink? And you’re pregnant! You’re not drinking these days. That was him driving by just now, wasn’t it? And he didn’t stop.”

Sarah started to answer me. “Me and Frank…we…don’t want trouble…have to do this. She quickly turned from me, grabbed her purse from the kitchen table, and bolted from the house to her Corolla. My surprise at her unexpected flight was momentarily paralyzing. By the time I got outside she had started her car and jammed it into reverse, barely maintaining control on the road. And then she was gone.

Sarah and Frank? What the fuck?! I gasped for air. A sinking feeling in my gut took hold as I realized my whole world had just collapsed. My blood reaching the boiling temperature gave me the energy and motivation to act. On a wall of my office hung my Ruger American hunting rifle. From my desk I grabbed the box of .30 caliber rounds and loaded the gun.

My mind was racing. “He’s been screwing around with Sarah while I’m on the road? I’m gonna kill him. I’ll blow his fucking head off!”

There was no sadness. No remorse. No second guessing. Just a feeling of disbelief mashed up with rage, leading to a single goal. To kill Frank. My truck was in the barn where I kept it while I was away on the road. With the rifle resting in the gun rack behind me, I charged dangerously fast to Frank’s place. Upon arriving, my truck vaulted from the road to his front lawn, leaving deep ruts where I had slammed on the brakes.

His truck was in the driveway. Behind it was Sarah’s Corolla. “I’m gonna kill you Frank, you bastard! Get out here!” I shrieked at the house.

There was no response. I screamed some more. Still no response. I figured Frank had his gun ready to use on me if I tried getting into the house, but I didn’t care. To get their attention I started shooting out the windows of his Ford and of Sarah’s car as well.

Strangely, it never occurred to me that the scene I was making would bring out the police. Even before I started shooting, Mrs. Lambeau who lived across the street from Frank’s house must have heard me, seen me with the rifle, and called the town police station. Officer Charpentier must have been the only one on duty to take the call, because she is who showed up to confront me.

“Put the gun down on the ground and step away from it, Mr. Dean,” Officer Charpentier called out from behind the town cruiser. “Once you do that we can talk about this. Do what I ask right now, please.”

“Not until I blow Frank’s brains out!” I yelled back to the police officer.

She responded with, “I’m not going to let you do that, Mr. Dean.” I saw that her service weapon was drawn. “Now put the rifle down slowly onto the ground and back away from it in my direction.”

“C’mon, Jim. Do as she says. Put it down.” Roy from down the road was speaking from the back of an oak on the corner of Frank’s property.

“Thank you, sir, but I have this,” Officer Charpentier said to Roy.

“So, Jim,” Officer Charpentier said to me in her even voice, “follow my directions and put the gun down.”

I don’t think it was what the town police officer said, but how she said it. Officer Charpentier was composed, steady, and taking command of the situation. As I listened, I was able to regain a shred of mental acuity. Enough clarity of thought anyway to allow me to realize Sarah was gone. As pissed as I was, she wasn’t coming back to me. I was no longer wanted. My breathing dialed down from huge gasps of air. I put down the gun on the lawn and walked to the cruiser.

The pain of the entire experience lives with me today, many years later. I would put it that I’m hurt and wounded more than I am defeated. I have my son a couple of days a week and I have something of a life. Working on being grateful for what I have is something I really do try to work on. Yet, crying comes to me much more easily than it used to and I kick at the rickety old boards of my barn in frustration a lot. It’s just that the anguish of betrayal, lost trust, and rejection continues to haunt me. Why we don’t make the best of our short time on earth, I’ll never know. I’ll just never know.

Employment Struggles for Older Workers

Posted on October 27, 2020November 3, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It’s happening again. One of the perverse hallmarks of the Great Recession ten years ago was the expulsion of many older workers from the workforce. A significant number of experienced employees found themselves forced into sudden unemployment or premature retirement. Many never fully recovered financially or emotionally and their careers were left scarred and lacking in dignified closure.

The current Covid-induced recession is again presenting similar employment hardship for mature workers. Since March, the labor market has shed many senior-aged men and women, who possess both high and low skill levels. In other words, this elder layoff is widespread.

Unfortunately, this is not turning out to be simply a temporary furlough for these workers, but rather a longer-term separation marked by an acceleration of egregious trends. Again, as during the last recession, newly trending labor shifts are weakening older workers’ employment security.

Previous examples included labor-saving technologies and increased workloads for younger and less expensive staff, which combined to lessen the management need to restore previous personnel levels. Once again, mature employees find their bargaining power diminished when facing dismissal and rehiring. Weak or non-existent unions, the rise of the gig economy, and continued lenient enforcement of age-discrimination laws, not to mention the harmful economic disruption from Covid, leave senior workers feeling increasingly insecure and inadequate.

The New School’s Retirement Equity Lab studies the factors impacting the quality of retirement, which necessitates an examination of when a retreat from work is chosen or forced. Their assessment of the plight of older workers is sobering. Even for those older workers who have not yet been laid off there is considerable uncertainty about their futures. This cohort more and more knows they are less employable than younger workers. Those over age 55 often realize that if they were to quit their current jobs the chances of transitioning to a job that is comparable or better is doubtful. For many, it becomes prudent to stick with a less than satisfying job, then to risk unemployment.

Relatively robust earnings have traditionally been an expectation for long-term commitment to a profession and/or an employer. Seems fair, right? However, these days when an older worker is rehired after a job loss hourly wages are typically lower than with the former job. Workers aged 50-61 receive 20% less pay with their new job while workers 62 and older see a decrease of 27%. In addition, once a worker hits their fifties, periods of unemployment after a layoff are longer than for workers aged less than 50.

The growth in ambiguity and low confidence older workers face add to the weakness of their bargaining power. Employers know in most cases that they have the upper hand with older workers, except for those situations in which the worker possesses a unique or hard to find skill. This is unfortunate. A lifetime of work deserves value and respect. Retirement in the modern era should be a reward for the toil, dedication, and achievement for decades of work, not an imposed isolation or banishment due to the vicissitudes of employment economics.

As the Retirement Equity Lab points out, policy makers may need to intervene with schemes designed to lessen the hardships for prematurely laid off older workers. For example, employers could offer rainy day or emergency savings plans through payroll deductions, which become available when needed to augment unemployment benefits. Or the federal government could step in with a guaranteed retirement account savings option to supplement what retirees receive from Social Security. Of course, more stringent enforcement of The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 would help immensely.

Careers for many are a vocation and a calling to develop mastery and contribute to society. For others, work is simply a means to a paycheck. Either way, growing old should not be viewed as a liability or a deficiency to take advantage of.

Identifying a Personal Philosophy

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Bill Ryan

The most precious inheritance that parents can give their children is their own happiness. — Thich Nhat Hanh

Introduction

Deciding on a guiding set of principles to live by with the intention of getting the most from life sounds like a good idea. Perhaps I should say, the idea of experiencing happiness and purpose in life sounds like a good idea. I mean a purpose beyond just feeling good most of the time requires some structure or framework comprised of values, beliefs, and ethics which can provide a life affirming center or grounding while navigating the tempestuous comings and goings of life. Philosophy is a timeless discipline made available to assist those of us interested in such a pursuit.

There are some who dedicate a lifetime to studying philosophy or the development of thought and knowledge as a guide to behaviors and the very nature of existence. To be sure, philosophy is a grand and historic academic discipline attempting to discern the universe as it is and exploring fundamental questions of how society and individuals should function within it. Unfortunately, as a subject it can quickly appear dense, abstract, and overly general or too specific, leaving a person feeling the topic is irrelevant and lacking in utilizable and concrete meaning. However, there are other philosophers who see their task as helping everyday people formulate their own personal philosophies as a way of self-improvement. Thankfully, philosophy need not be confined to ivory towers. It can also work on the streets, as it were, popularly sowing understanding and progress.

I’m interested in identifying a personal philosophy. Perhaps “identifying” is not the right word. Determining, building, formulating, realizing may be among better terms. Whatever verb I choose the larger question may be, why bother? There are a couple of reasons to bother. For one, philosophy, which literally means “love of wisdom”, is becoming more meaningful to me. Gratefully, I notice I’m getting wiser as I age, so peering more intentionally into the nature of wisdom is intriguing. Also, speaking of age, I recognize how the mind turns to a life review as we get older. Socrates sternly declared that an unexamined life is not worth living. Though a bit harsh, he makes a good point. Reflecting on how life is and has been lived shines a revealing light which can be useful in cultivating gratitude, personal growth, forgiveness, and a range of necessary corrective actions.

A lifetime of interest in politics, history, and psychology leaves me feeling incomplete. As engaging as they are, these disciplines do not provide enough guidance on how to live a good life. I’m drawn to exploring a more fundamental structure that better explains not only why I’ve lived as I have and what now makes me tick, but more importantly how I can prevail more satisfactorily during the years I have left.

I realize also, as late in the game as it is, that not being guided by clear moral standards and values can leave one unprepared or worse when the inevitable ethical dilemmas present themselves as they do in the lives of everyone. Simply saying one is ‘spiritual’ or ‘always kind’ or ‘being the best person I can be’ may not be enough to safeguard against damaging choices. Many of us find it easier to reject the advice of others than it is to replace their caring words of caution with a legitimate and bona fide set of convictions passionately embraced. I believe the younger one is in accepting this personal challenge of crafting a personal philosophy the better one’s life can be. I wish I could claim this had been my path, but alas I cannot.

Influential Philosophies

Identifying a personal philosophy is a luxury we now have given the times in which we live. Not long ago people were routinely born into a religious tradition complete with a step-by-step prescription for how to live one’s life and what pre-determined principles to value. Along with this inherited creed came the unambiguous and strict message that no questioning of precepts was necessary or welcome. This arrangement works well for those who readily accept faith and the infallibility of traditional thought, but for others who want to associate empirical evidence with conviction or inquire about the efficacy of applying old solutions to new problems, religion can be seen as deficient, if not oppressive.

Like most people my age, I was brought with a traditional religion. In my case, Roman Catholicism. As a child we often do as we’re told and attending church each Sunday morning followed by religious training or catechism after school each Monday afternoon is what I did until I was about twelve years old. Although it was far from a rapturous experience, rebelliousness toward this regimen was never a consideration. Indeed, by the end of this church-based indoctrination I wanted to explore the possibility of becoming a Catholic priest. One evening, when we were thirteen years old, my friend John and I scheduled an early evening chat with our parish priest Father Champoux to ask him how we could go about getting started with becoming priests. He didn’t hesitate to tell us that this is not something we should do. In fact, he was rather firm about it. Such was the start of my drift from the Catholic Church.

Despite not having been a practicing Catholic for the past fifty-four years or so I nevertheless need to acknowledge that the influence and teachings of the church for those first dozen years of my existence shaped much of my lifetime’s practical philosophy. Leaving behind for the time being the repressive and dictatorial manner in which Catholicism presented itself to children in the 1960s, (and no, I never experienced sexual abuse) I can humbly say there were indeed principles which were imparted to me by priests, nuns, and brothers, which I took to heart. Chief among them was a reverence for service to others. The call to reach into our benevolent hearts to serve our fellow humans—the sick, the weak, the uneducated, the elderly, the needy—is of profound spiritual and social importance. In addition, growing up around a lot of Jesuits as I did, who are members of a religious order known for their work in education, research, and cultural endeavors, gave me an appreciation for intellectual pursuits. Also, even the atheists among us have to concede that the social and interpersonal order society relies upon has many of its roots in old-time religion. For this, we can all be thankful.

So while acknowledging the importance Christian religion had in my early psychological, moral, and philosophical development I do not hesitate in declaring that adhering to a Christian tradition is insufficient for me to use in identifying my personal philosophy. I understand this is a brash and probably disrespectful declaration to make toward a religion currently practiced by nearly two and a half billion people. While not entirely dismissing the religious who claim their faith has all of the philosophy one needs with the added benefit of providing deeper levels of meaning and an exhilarating sense of amazement, I still ask why shouldn’t Christian teachings be enough for me? Why am I so special that Christian doctrine appears lacking? Quite simply, this religion, or any religion for that matter, is too doctrinaire, too obstinate, too pedantic, and too authoritarian. I may have been raised as a Catholic, but I was also raised as an American with a reverence for free will, individualism, and self-reliance. From a young adult age I noticed a discrepancy between the values of unquestioning faith required by religion and volitional decision making encouraged by democracy. I guess the liberating ethics of the Enlightenment appeal to me more than dogmatic loyalty to ancient rituals and scriptures.

So knowing which path I don’t want to follow exclusively in defining my personal philosophy, where do I turn? Well, the answer is a developing story. But it is taking shape. And one thing becoming clear is my personal philosophy will be eclectic—a cherry picked collection of values I find to be most gainful. There are so many intriguing and engaging approaches to philosophical thought it will be difficult and perhaps unnatural for me to select just one school. Therefore, what follows is a review of influential philosophies toward which I am drawn. Following my synopsis and in conclusion, I will cobble together a statement giving definition and clarity to my personal philosophy. An exercise such as this not only applies a strategy to help me reach my goal of identifying a personal philosophy, but may also serve as a stimulus or maybe even an inspiration for any reader interested in doing the same.

“There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” H. H. The 14th Dalai Lama.

Next to Christianity, Buddhism is the next popular practice with which I also have familiarity going back more than thirty years. Notice I don’t refer to Buddhism as a religion, although many others do. I don’t because there is no theism involved. Buddha never claimed to be a deity or divine, but rather a human who showed the way to enlightenment. That fact alone appeals to many westerners oriented toward secularization, but who are nevertheless searching for spiritual and ethical guidance. Therein was my original draw to Buddhism.

Through considerable study and practice, much of it during my thirties in association with the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (now known as Triratna Buddhist Order), I developed some key takeaways, which continue to inform my philosophical thinking and outlook on the world. The concepts of mindfulness, impermanence, and egolessness speak to me about the nature of being human in the universe dealt to us. To be very clear, I am in no way making a claim I am anywhere close to fully comprehending these theories, never mind living in embrace of them, however I know enough that to examine their meaning and appreciate their gravity contributes to personal growth and evolution.

Mindfulness refers to being fully aware. Imagine receiving all of the unending physical and mental stimuli coming your way such that it is all perceived and observed, perhaps understood, but never fixated upon unless we make a discerning decision to focus on a given prompt. Living thus is beyond efficient. It is honing circumspection and polishing self-illumination. Meditation is one of the behaviors, along with intentional reflection, that slides us ever so slowly toward increasing mindfulness. A frustratingly subtle practice, meditation yields its attention-enhancing benefits drip by drip over a long period of time. Establishing a regular practice is difficult, but once started the seduction of always returning to it remains persistent. The gain of expanding mindfulness is worth it.

Another key Buddhist concept states that reality is ever changing and our clinging to any physical or mental entity is fruitless and ultimately deeply disappointing. Impermanence is a fundamental doctrine of Buddhism and a very useful condition to accept in life. Existence is “transient, evanescent, inconstant” according to the Pali Canon, a set of Buddhist scriptures. Notice how we tie our happiness to permanence all of the time? We develop a fondness or even love for people, places, and ideas only to discover sooner or later that they will somehow change or end completely, leading to angst. Preventing change takes a lot of energy that could be better spent elsewhere. By consciously de-linking our positive emotions to conditions which will naturally alter over time leaves us better able to live in harmony with others and with the natural world. If we are to deliberately align our happiness to impermanent objects and people, such as loved ones, doing so with the full consciousness of what the commitment entails, in particular its transitoriness, can help with preparing for the inevitable changes that will take place.

Related to impermanence in Buddhism is the doctrine of no-self or no-ego. We tend to each view ourselves as fixed and permanent individuals—at least for the duration of our lives. But this self-perception of our stand-alone selfhood is in direct conflict with the notion of impermanence described above. In other words, if there are no enduring and unchanging entities, then there can be no distinct and original self. Ego or self are therefore illusory and not real. Thinking this way can get abstruse and confusing, because it is so contrary to what we’ve always thought. Regardless, for me the importance of egolessness is that it helps me to not be as self-centered and set in my ways. By being able to take the focus off of myself with all of my opinions, desires, prejudices, fears, and perceptions I can more easily reorient to the needs of others and more clearly know that what I think I know today can and will most likely change over time. Together, mindfulness, impermanence, and egolessness contribute significantly to my personal philosophy.

Allowing myself to accept philosophical wisdom from the East, as I did with Buddhism, opened the door for me to examine other traditions from Asia. I have not dealt nearly as extensively with these other well established philosophies and my takeaways do not reflect the richness of these schools of thought, however two heritages stand out as relevant in my search for a philosophy of life.

One is Confucianism. In the West, the philosophy of China’s Confucius (551 BCE–479 BCE) is associated primarily with an adherence to filial piety, or duty to and respect for one’s family and ancestors. Such devotion is actually a subset of a more comprehensive belief in the virtue of loving relationships with other people. How we develop character and usher in the good life is directly the result of the quality of how we interact with others, specifically the degree to which each of us practices benevolence, or caring deeply for all human beings. Also of note is righteousness or the building of personal integrity that avoids ethical breaches. Therefore, establishing nourishing and considerate relationships is the core to a Confucian philosophy of life.

The other intriguing Eastern practice is Taoism (often spelled Daoism). This philosophical system developed in China as well and is associated with the thoughts and writings of Lao Tzu, who is believed to have lived during a time of great turmoil known as the Warring States Period. Taoism prompts us to accept that uncertainty is prevalent in life and therefore to be careful about forming rigid assumptions about how life should play out. Flexibility, agility, and resilience are key attitudes to develop as we navigate through life’s ambiguities. We are called on to acknowledge that order is naturally accompanied by disorder, as is stability/fluctuation, sameness/change, control/disarray, etc. Wisdom and the good life emerge from our skill in self-regulation given these conditions. As Voltaire said, “Doubt is an uncomfortable condition, but certainty is a ridiculous one.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the ancient West also offers us philosophical traditions. Several years ago I ran into the philosophy of Stoicism and I like a lot of what I am seeing. I think I can guess what you are now thinking. So, he wants to be stoic— impassive, aloof, detached, and sporting a stiff upper lip. Unfortunately, common English usage has corralled and limited the meaning of stoicism. In the context of philosophy there is much more to it. Thanks to Massimo Pigliucci, an author and philosophy professor at City College of New York, who I have seen and heard on a number of podcasts, I’ve been introduced to this ancient Greco-Roman philosophy. Several features stood out to me quickly. Firstly, paying homage to a philosophy from the West instead of the East for a change seems refreshing and balanced. Secondly, one can take simplicity and pragmatism from Stoicism, making it applicable in the short term without years of concentrated study. Finally, Stoicism openly admits to being a means for unearthing a eudaimonic life, by which is meant a flourishing life worth living.

Stoicism began with Zeno of Citium in Greece about 300 BCE. In time, many of its principles were incorporated into early Christian teachings in Rome. There are two key foundational ideas underpinning Stoicism: one precept makes clear the necessity for everyone to become a moral person and the other pertains to a concept known as dichotomy of control. Regarding morality, an individual is encouraged to engage in a persistent practice of the four cardinal virtues — Prudence or always choosing the right course of action; Justice or seeking fairness at all times; Temperance or moderation and self-control; and Fortitude or strength and endurance. By practicing these four easy to understand virtues, as difficult as they may be to put into continuous practice, one can achieve a moral status. Dichotomy of control refers simply to knowing what one can control in life and what one cannot. This idea can best be summarized by the Serenity Prayer composed by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in 1934, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.” Stoicism offers us a practical philosophical method that seems well suited for these times.

For many years I have personally thought of myself as a Secular Humanist. This has been a thought, but until recently without much thinking behind it. Secular Humanism, which I’ll capitalize because in this essay I’m using it as a discreet philosophy, is a good fallback position for those of us who are not religious, but still recognize value in morality, social structure, personal responsibility, and that ethereal assumption of spirituality. Those of us who are hesitant to join a club of any kind can find in Secular Humanism latitude to explore deep life issues minus membership into a creed or persuasion.

Secular refers to a preference for non-religious institutions, such as government, as the most just way of organizing society. Humanism indicates the significance of humans ability to apply reason and morals to satisfy human needs sans divine or mystical intervention or origin. Together these terms stress religion not having a monopoly on morality or ethics; the preeminence of individual liberty and human derived ethical standards; and a reliance on science and reason for understanding the universe; among other core beliefs. Development of righteous character matters to Secular Humanists, leading to suggested ethical practices for personal refinement. The principles of this philosophy can guide a person to create a life of meaning and purpose, free of religious dogma.

There are many philosophical influences one can investigate in order to identify a personal philosophy. I have described the key points to some of these schools of thought, which to date have had great influence on me. However, there are other philosophies which I have come across more recently that have piqued my interest and which call to me for further contemplation as I consider my own personal philosophy. What follows are summaries of these philosophies defined with an emphasis on the principal features of each that I find most intriguing.

Above, in the section on Stoicism, I mentioned that the Stoic maxim leading to a moral life is to follow the four cardinal virtues. Pretty straight forward. But then comes along Aristotelianism, a philosophy developed by, you guessed it, Aristotle, and we find him pushing back on the Stoics’ simplicity by putting forward a concept of moral relativism. And this in the third century BCE!

Aristotelianism is largely about interpreting eudaimonism (a flourishing life worth living) through a focus on balancing virtue with realism and reason. Aristotle shunned philosophical dictates that were too prescriptive. He chose broader objectives for people to consider such as living to one’s full potential, capitalizing on one’s strengths, and accomplishing one’s chosen goals. Most importantly, he chose promotion of a balanced life as more meaningful than a narrowly specified moral life. For example, frequent drinking to excess can be considered intemperate and therefore immoral. But what if one were to drink modestly most weeks and splurge for a special occasion like a wedding reception? Despite the hangover the next day was the person immoral? No, would say Aristotle. He had a good time, possibly rekindled old friendships, and did no one harm. Give him a break. Overall, our party boy may very well live a balanced and quite possibly a virtuous life, despite an occasional overindulgence. Moderation leads to greater happiness and health for more people than does strict adherence to rigid rules according to Aristotelianism.

This notion of realism in philosophy is also evident in the American philosophy known as Pragmatism. Nineteenth and twentieth century American philosophers/writers, attempted to define and give utility to freedom and free will for a population that had won political freedom during the American Revolution, but was still trying to figure out what to do with liberty at a personal level. They saw that a great deal of life is making it up as you go along, which can leave many feeling adrift. Freedom to choose can be both a blessing and a curse. Figuring out how to make lives worth living within an inherently unsettled world is slippery going. Absolute values can appear inordinately elusive and abstract, leaving reverent dictates impractical and unworkable. Perhaps the best we can do in an existence that leaves us free, but with constraints, is what Pragmatists Charles Peirce and William James advocated—just make one’s world better by pursuing beauty, truth, and goodness. (My apologies to committed Pragmatists for the oversimplification.)

Freedom also plays a significant role in the European-born philosophy known as Existentialism. In fact, as Jean-Paul Sartre put it, we are “condemned to be free”. We didn’t ask for this life, but now that we’ve been given it let’s embrace our freedom to generate the best life possible through our choice of actions. However, while doing so, we need to be cognizant of several parameters: constructing a personal essence is ongoing and fluid and ends the day we die; with freedom comes responsibility for others, because we aren’t in this alone; and there’s much about life we can’t change, but we can always strive to be authentically true to ourselves. Existentialism is intentionally non-didactic and wary of conventional behaviors. Rather, it’s a license to be fully expressive during a life that may be short, but need not be boring or oppressive. Happiness and the good life come from continuous reflection on how to find meaning in life while being our own person.

You may find here a variety of philosophy that isn’t very complicated at all. In fact, much of it can seem like common sense. To illustrate philosophical simplicity and straightforwardness there is the Effective Altruism movement. Perhaps Effective Altruism can best be thought of as a moral system or framework. Effective Altruism calls for each person to discover for themselves what significant problem there is in the world that they can make a meaningful contribution toward solving. This may involve targeting charitable donations, working toward policy changes, or directly assisting those in need. The goal is to be an agent of change and improvement. It’s concrete, measurable, and principled. All that is needed is a willingness to make the world better than you found it. Not a bad commitment to make with one’s life. (I think I can hear the ghost of Ayn Rand groaning.)

Finally, who says philosophy doesn’t have a sense of humor and a party side? Such is the reputation of the ancient philosophy of Epicureanism. A while back I mentioned how the word stoic has been undeservedly confined by popular usage in English. The same holds true for the term epicureanism. We think of it solely as a reference to the pursuit of sensual pleasure, particularly when it comes to food and wine. This impression should be no more than a starting point for a richer philosophy that speaks to a fuller cultivation of happiness and the good life.

Epicureanism is something of the bad boy of philosophies, given the religious ascetic and Platonic-based rationalism biases against pleasure, which together hold philosophical dominance. Epicurus (341 BCE-270 BCE) was dedicated to helping people live happy and serene lives free of fear. He established the foundation for this approach to be found in nature, both in the natural world and in human nature. At its essence, nature expresses blossoming, flourishing, and unfolding. We can embrace these properties as a guide to life choices which strengthen delight and contentment. Relishing the simple joys that nourish body and mind, savoring the company of friends, and making the most of every minute of this one life we have is the practice of Epicureanism. As the Epicurean Frances Wright wrote in 1821, “Enjoy, and be happy! Do you doubt the way? Let Epicurus be your guide. The source of every enjoyment is within yourselves.”

My Personal Philosophy

I see myself as practical and therefore outcome oriented. It is important that I know why I would bother expending time and energy on any pursuit. The intended end result must hold value. So, with that in mind, I choose to engage in writing a personal philosophy, because I expect in doing so I will expand my personal happiness and find contentment in having a life purpose to guide me during my final years.

Living a philosophy involves reason, contemplation, reflection, and decision making. These thoughts are experienced, felt, and colored by emotions. What necessarily follows are corresponding actions and behaviors. I conduct and judge myself through a continual assessment of my performance or interactions with other people, the natural world, and the competing selves within me. But, it’s what I do that matters most.

Philosophy is a conceptual structure. The technical components of this structure provide its essence and substance. We are each free to construct our own philosophical framework. Our building blocks are the values which we endorse and embrace and the order and weight we assign to these standards. For myself, my goal is to shape a philosophy that reflects the principles I hold as sacrosanct and which I will cobble together in such an idiosyncratic way as to possibly satisfy no one else but me. And that’s okay.

Here I present my personal philosophy as a medley of principles to live by.

Relations with others are to be compassionate, caring, respectful, and sensitive to needs.

“To serve, not to be served.” Such was my high school’s motto. I continue to take it to heart.

My center is in me. My center is in you.

Living introspectively and mindfully informs how I will channel my energy and how I will preserve my physical and mental health.

Nature is my guide. Nature is my rhythm.

Remain agile and accept change. Resist change only when very clear-eyed.

Do the hard things like: Adopt uncertainty; Meditate; Breathe through anxious moments; Trust in life’s brightness.

Bask in the love of family.

Morality is always a worthy aspiration.

Remorse for past transgressions is a natural part of life’s review. Don’t shy away from past sins. Own them. Learn from them. Move on better.

Find solace in the righteousness of secularism.

Be balanced, measured, and moderate in all things.

Savor my freedom and individualism daily.

Don’t hesitate to be generous.

Feel grateful and delight in pleasures large and small that life offers…always.

Future Career Planning

Posted on September 29, 2020November 3, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Disruptions. Unforeseen events. Misguided strategies. All of these are possible for businesses. Also, for careers. In 2020, we do not have to look very far in the past to see how the best laid business and career plans can go awry due to a surprising and unpredicted event.

We could conclude, well that’s life. No one ever guaranteed us long-term certainty. This is true. Unannounced and unintended curve balls are part of life’s churn, but that does not mean we cannot proactively prepare for sudden changes and develop an agility which may result in competitive advantages and success despite unanticipated perturbations.

Many of us still operate by a model which views the most difficult parts of executing a career as first determining which career path to follow, followed by education and training, landing the great job, retaining employment, and staying current with best practices. As important as these features are, I would encourage the addition of at least one more — enhancing your ability to foretell where your career may be headed and what hazards may ambush your planning.

Regarding our careers, it is wise to allocate time and energy to a style of future planning which embeds intentional forecasting of trends and movements that carry the potential for threat and disruption. Although no one can definitively predict the future, by practicing the formation of projections over time we can hone our capacity to more accurately make predictions, test our hypotheses, and peer ever deeper into what makes our professions tick. Sharpening our prognostication skill could be the difference between thriving or losing in today’s turbulent economy.

Preparing for the future requires at the outset a shift in attitude and a challenging of our assumptions. Here are some basic conjectures I encourage shaking up. The good times do not roll forever. Luck can only carry you just so far. The world is more dynamic than static. That said, alter the way you plan for tomorrow. Future planning should not be confined to assessing the present and then looking forward. Rather, determine as best you can the most likely future prediction and plan backwards from there.

Interpreting the future is a matter of creating a vision. This vision displays greater resolution the more in-depth is our knowledge of our profession, including the proclivities of markets and customers. Vision is not certitude, but an estimation of what is possible.

The more we know the closer we get to refining our analysis. Therefore, structured ongoing learning is the core activity to practice. By looking at every angle of our profession, including the influences and disorders impacting our lines of work along with practice in making and reviewing our predictions, we better refine our ability to forecast.

When estimating the direction of our professions, assume opportunities will always be out there. Become your own agent of change and a magnet for locating these possibilities. How best to proceed? Smart organizations deploy a strategic method known as scenario planning. It involves forecasting and integrating a large degree of flexibility into long-term planning. Scenario planning assumes adaptation is necessary for survival.

The same mindset applies to our careers. In general, this process involves merging known facts about the future, such as demographics, geographic limitations, cultural characteristics, government structures, etc. with social, economic, political, technical, and environmental trends. From this blend we can formulate simulations that function as prototype strategies.

For example, is it feasible to think climate related disruptions may manifest in novel ways over the next three decades prompting potentially sudden market fluctuations? Are you confident the U.S. has learned its lesson about pandemic preparedness and is ready for the next such assault?

Developing a heuristic approach to prepare for uncertainty may very well be the necessary system to best weather whatever the future is going to throw at us next.

Employment and the 2020 Election

Posted on August 30, 2020October 28, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Here we go again. Time for another national election to choose a new Congress and a new president. The feeling in the air is that this election is more urgent and consequential than our garden variety face-offs, particularly at the presidential level. This choice of president is viewed as fundamentally determinative of the direction of the country and with starker contrast than most such contests. Or so both Republicans and Democrats claim. Great attention is being paid to this election and hopefully significant participation will be realized, which together should lead to a substantive and declarative outcome — like it or not.

Typically, “It’s the economy, stupid!”. This time the sense is, “It’s the culture, stupid!”. Without getting into the developmental concerns related to our civilization’s maturation or lack thereof, economic claims, projections, and promises will likely continue to drive much of the partisan discussion.

Are we Americans going to orient ourselves toward the past in an attempt to retain economic successes driven by tried-and-true practices previously delivered by legacy-styled business operatives or are we instead going to innovate and design for a paradigm-shifting economic future characterized by increasing competition, transformation, and multiculturalism? The decision we make will have consequences for the vitality of the economy going forward and for the quality of the employment it will spawn.

Conventional wisdom states that if the economy is sufficiently robust, then vigorous employment will take care of itself. Indeed, high employment levels are intrinsic to a strong economy. Widespread employment matters. So, it is worth examining the economic approaches both parties are offering to see who is most prepared to fashion a jobs-rich environment over the next four years. Here is my broad summary of the selection before us.

Donald Trump has shown us his economic priorities through past performance, which included low unemployment rates. Given that Republicans did not present a party platform this year we have to assume they are thinking ‘steady as she goes’.

The Trump administration’s economic focus has been on individual and corporate tax cuts, deregulation targeted primarily to the energy and financial sectors, trade protectionism, immigration restriction, and rejection of a federal role in providing universal healthcare. In recent months there have also been attempts to resurrect the economy from the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic by promoting a reopening or ‘get back to normal’ agenda.

Joe Biden, despite pressure from the Democratic Party’s left flank, is not proposing sweeping or revolutionary changes to the economy, but does advance ambitious federal interventions, nevertheless. Principally, he is centered on reinvigorating America’s middle class by encouraging greater inclusivity across lines of race and levels of education with less income inequality and a reclamation of optimism born of opportunity.

He wants to expand Obamacare, impose a more progressive tax code, eliminate middle class student debt, raise the federal minimum wage, encourage low-carbon manufacturing, combat climate change, and much more. Biden/Harris also have a 7-point detailed plan to defeat Covid and plan for future such threats.

Both the incumbent and the challenger want full employment. Which ideology is likely to produce this universally desired outcome? Excluding all other factors which will influence who gets my vote, I see the following as salient with regards to employment.

The past 150 years have generated great economic advancements resulting in profound improvements in the lives of many millions, both as consumers and as producers. We have learned a lot about how to engender wealth and to provide life enhancing products and services. There are lessons from the past worth carrying on.

But the past is gone. What we must look forward to is the future with all its uncertainty and ambiguity. Meeting this challenge requires a mindset that sees more opportunity than threat from the future. I think it is this frame of mind that impresses me more than candidate tactics and positions. Durable, but resilient employment will best come from an outlook that sees the world as it really is and that enthusiastically leans into the contest.

A Case for Working Class Unions

Posted on July 28, 2020October 26, 2022 by Bill Ryan

We have heard in recent years the oft used terms wealth inequality and its subset income or wage inequality. Quantifiable evidence showing a multi-decade trend toward wealth inequality has been presented by left-leaning economists and think tanks fueling in large part the political activism of the left wing of the Democratic Party. An example of this type of data was released by the Urban Institute showing how in 1963 families at the top of the wealth distribution had six times the wealth of families in the middle, whereas by 2016 the rich families had twelve times the wealth of those in the middle.

Currently, the Covid-19 pandemic is starkly revealing what can reasonably be seen as another economic misfortune of those on the lower end of the wealth spectrum. Many of the essential frontline workers, such as janitors, grocery store employees, health care workers, and childcare workers, among others, are those who have jobs that cannot be done via Zoom, email, and phone from home. They are at higher risk for contracting the virus given the in-person customer-facing demands of their work. This increased hazard in combination with relatively low pay for workers providing services we all need during these tough times bolsters an argument that this cohort deserves more respect and economic clout.

It is hard to ignore how the decline of labor unions correlates rather neatly with the rise in wealth inequality. Many believe it is not just correlation we are seeing, but causation. The loss of a collective voice from the working class due to the long-standing chorus of anti-unionism has led to not only their diminished political leverage, but also to a drop in their living standards relative to more affluent sectors. Perhaps the income disparity argument is now poised to go beyond just a claim supported by longitudinal data and charts to one of fundamental fairness for workers who are crucial, especially during a national emergency.

Now can be a time to talk about structural reforms that benefit the working class. The overarching goal should be to reorient the economic system such that everyone, no matter where they live on the wealth spectrum, can live healthy and safe lives while contributing to the common welfare of the country. This will mean examining and improving macro norms governing compensation, health care, the environment, safety regulations, family-friendly working hours, immigration, workplace grievances, and race relations.

Increasing the power of low-income stakeholders need not be seen as a zero-sum redistribution simply for the sake of rebalancing a ledger. Instead, by empowering these workers we restore and reinvigorate a united voice among working people thereby enhancing overall prosperity and a strengthening of democracy.

Working in concert to fortify one’s economic interests is widespread among the ‘Haves’. Chambers of Commerce, business associations, and national trade organizations fill this need for business owners and management. Why shouldn’t working people also be given capabilities to drive policy decisions through collective action?

Unions fill this role. Many of the worker and social protections now codified into law which we enjoy today began as union initiatives. Social Security, child labor laws, antidiscrimination laws, workplace safety laws, unemployment insurance, minimum wage, 40-hour work week, and workers’ comp laws are just some of the now commonplace benefits realized because worker unions conceived, supported, and fought for these standards.

It is unlikely we will snap back to the exact same economy we had before the pandemic. In the future we may look back on several social changes the virus will have jolted us into. Hopefully, one of these modifications will be a reckoning for how the working class portion of essential workers is to be treated and prioritized. A resurgence of unions for these workers is justified and past due.

A Hospitality Story

Posted on June 27, 2020October 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Recently I wrote a piece in which I lamented the condition of the hospitality industry as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. As of this writing, the economy is cautiously reopening around the country, including in both the hospitality industry and in the state of New Hampshire.

However, it is also becoming clear there is a correlative rise in Covid infection rates following the reopenings. Whereas there is strong public sentiment to address both the public health and economic health of the nation and state, finding a satisfactory calibration benefiting both sides simultaneously still appears elusive.

New Hampshire’s economy relies to a significant extent on the hospitality industry. This is not only to serve the state’s nearly 1.4 million residents, but to provide a backbone for the state’s lucrative tourism sector. Deterioration of hospitality services such as restaurants, hotels, resorts, amusement parks, theaters, and sporting venues will negatively impact tourism. The state of New Hampshire’s economy simply cannot afford to have that happen. Of course, we also cannot tolerate an adverse turnaround in the infection rate given the relatively favorable handling of the epidemic thus far in NH compared to many locations.

Salvaging and rebuilding hospitality requires a management and employee workforce with agility, creativity, and resourcefulness exercising ingenuity and moxie beyond what has been required during past garden variety economic downturns. To get a sense of what this determination and imagination looks like on the ground I had the opportunity to converse with Lexi Townsend, owner of the Corner House Restaurant and Bar in Center Sandwich, NH.

Lexi’s story is not only inspiring given the range of obstacles with which she was suddenly confronted, coupled with the ongoing originality she has had to muster to keep her business alive, but her situation and responses provide a glimpse into the kind of resilient decision making required to not only save a business, but an industry.

Lexi Townsend is a long-term hospitality professional with restaurant experience that includes work as a server, host, manager, and owner. Most of her career has been in management of fine dining establishments in both urban and rural settings. Just before Governor Sununu mandated restaurants were to no longer accept on-site patrons in mid-March her chef resigned. After the shut-down order nearly all her service staff followed stay-at-home orders from the state government.

Not wanting to close the business Townsend and one of two remaining employees took on chef duties and facilitated curbside pickup takeout orders from their website’s menu. Knowing many Squam Lake residents were shut in she offered local area delivery of both bulk and prepared food items. Many of these deliveries were done dockside, giving the service a Lakes Region flavor.

Other events included “Feed the Frontline” serving care staff from Speare Memorial Hospital and a drive-through Mothers Day/Memorial Day barbecue involving community volunteers.

Looking ahead to reopening, Lexi knew she needed to rebuild her server team. Offering employment and housing for J-1 visas to foreign nationals was considered, but that is now banned by the president. Instead, she has begun piloting a junior service program to train young staff members with limited server experience. Knowing the importance of safety, comfort, and visual communication she has purchased transparent face shields for servers in lieu of masks. The expectation is patrons need to feel not only secure, but also want to be understood and consoled by seeing the faces of their servers.

Overall, Lexi is optimistic for the future of her business. Although her expectation is that once the Paycheck Protection Program is concluded the economy will plunge further. Nevertheless, she believes her restaurant’s good reputation and obvious commitment to survival will sustain the business. A new chef was recently hired and plans for a safe and enjoyable in-house dining experience are underway.

Lexi’s advice for her fellow hospitality providers going forward is to persevere above all. Be mindful of changing times, be adaptable, and know customers want protection in addition to a rich experience. Also, to understand and to accept recovery will take a long time.

No question, these times are a stress test. Working smarter, not just harder, is essential.

After the Pandemic

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Bill Ryan

As I write this essay the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 is ongoing. This pandemic is breaking all of the rules. Among them is the enormous impact the contagion is having by upending national economies and the day-to-day lifestyles of many millions. To a greater extent however, we are being shaken from our oblivious slumber to suddenly find ourselves facing long term consequences of how global functioning and our individual lives are to continue as a result of this catastrophe. Unlike most news events in the modern era that seem to captivate attention dramatically, but briefly, before being swept aside by the next story this pandemic may well be a catalyst for changes in how the world’s citizens perceive priorities and policy strategies for years to come.

What strongly strikes me about the Covid-19 pandemic, aside from the conspicuous fear of contracting the disease, is that this may be an opportunity to jolt us from our provincial and staid world view, immersed as it is in a belief of limited repercussions for our actions, to rather an acceptance of the likelihood that we all share a much larger and more intricately woven realm of causality. Covid-19 serves as an example of a harsh lesson—the proverbial knock upside the head. It is a natural, albeit perverse, environmental phenomenon profoundly impacting our collective environment and forcing us to reorient how we live. We are being summoned to pay attention to something bigger than ourselves. Let us heed the call.

Our lives have always been subjected to the whims of nature. The conventional claim these days among environmental activists and other less strident observers is that we are witnessing, if not participating in, a growing tension between humans and nature. Certainly the data on climate change suggests a transformation is underway in the human-nature relationship. If we accept the premise that humans depend on nature, and given the power of humans to effect environmental change, that nature depends on humans, then the quality of this interaction becomes increasingly significant. As this insidious virus makes clear, mutual co-dependence of humans with their environment is worth a public re-examination and debate about how best to proceed, because something is evidently amiss.

Covid-19 (SARS-CoV-2), a type of Coronavirus that is similar to but characteristically different from flu virus, has been introduced into the human population with devastating consequences. An examination of how and why this has happened will help us to see if indeed this pandemic is part of a larger story about how we humans intercommunicate with the planet. And this story, along with any conclusions we may draw from it, can inform us about what are more sustainable and beneficial practices we could or should pursue moving forward.

As you may remember from a science class somewhere in your past there are tiny life forms known as microbes or microorganisms. Bacteria is the most commonly referred to microbe, but there are others. What all microbes have in common is that they are very small and are all comprised of cells. In fact, some are only one cell in size. Their purpose is to play a critical role in the overall health and richness of a biome and to a larger extent of an ecosystem.

Viruses on the other hand are a whole different kettle of fish. Think science fiction alien-like, ahh, thing. They have been creepily described as existing on the margin of living things. They are 1/100th the size of a typical microbe and not comprised of cells. Instead, a virus or virion is a collection of genetic material that encodes proteins. It is encapsulated by a protein seal and exists in one of two ways—either in a dormant state just ready to strike when a vector or host comes along or it becomes “alive” once it infects the hosts’ cells and begins executing its genetic codes, resulting in a rapid reproduction of itself. But of course, despite its treacherous demeanor, we shouldn’t forget that viruses are here for a good reason. By transferring genes they promote genetic diversity, similar to the role played by sexual reproduction. Life on this planet inherently needs adaptability in order to survive and horizontal gene transfer, what viruses do, helps life fulfill this need.

A clear big takeaway from the Covid-19 pandemic is that nature can still pack a wide-ranging punch, even to a population who thinks of itself as seasoned, sophisticated, enlightened, and prepared for anything. It can be useful to remind ourselves that epidemics and pandemics have occurred before and some fairly recently. History is replete with real-life horror stories of communities ranging from towns to civilizations being decimated to one degree or another by such invisible killers.

For example, during the war between Athens and Sparta around 430 BCE the besieged citizens of Athens fortified themselves behind what were called the “long walls”. The overcrowding over time is presumed to have led to a not yet definitively identified pathogen outbreak among the people. Impaired mental functioning, inflamed eyes and organs, bloody throats, and foul breath preceded death. Approximately 100,000 died.

Perhaps the most well know historic pandemic was The Black Death, also remembered as The Plague, which killed nearly half of Europe’s population roughly during the years 1346 and 1353. A now likely extinct bacterium was transmitted from fleas on infected rodents, causing death from Asia to Europe. The disease followed the Silk Road route. Once infected rats who stowed away on merchant vessels to the Mediterranean and Europe offloaded the sickness spread widely.

More recently, the so-called Spanish flu (1918-1920) killed perhaps up to 100 million people around the world. It came in three waves with the second wave in the fall of 1918 being the deadliest. The Asian flu in 1957 and 1958 killed 116,000 Americans. I could go on.

It is a fair hypothesis to state that environmental degradation and mishandling will lead to unintended and severe consequences, such as pandemics. Some would say we’re past hypothesizing as evidenced by measurable and demonstrable adverse ecological conditions of recent times. Given our obvious inherent fragility two questions naturally arise: Should we be interacting with nature in a more intentional and respectful way that ensures or at least improves the chances of better lives for all people? And correspondingly, how do we best mitigate and prepare for environmental disruptions that negatively impact our lives?

We can examine the veracity of the above supposition by seeing if there is a link between environmental deterioration and social welfare. Before proceeding let’s be clear on definitions. Environmental degradation includes: reduction of high quality life sustaining natural resources such as air, water, and soil; destruction of ecosystems; annihilation of habitats; wildlife extinction; pollution or the introduction of deleterious impurities into the environment. Social welfare includes those universal objectives that bring value and excellence to life such as: health and longevity; sustenance and abundance; peace and safety; freedom and equality; literacy and knowledge; or as Thomas Jefferson succinctly put it, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If a causal link can be established between human activity that leads to environmental decline or disruption and the worsening of social welfare, then we have highlighted an urgency and potential outline for constructive policy making, business practices, and individual behavior going forward.

Now is an optimal time to look at the factual information showing a connection between how we interact with nature and what She does to us as a consequence. As I’ve indicated, Covid-19 should be seen as a wake-up call. It’s impact has been so substantial that there is no question all of us are now paying attention. What is most evident is that a novel virus has arisen and penetrated our world. How exactly this happened is still being examined as of this writing, however epidemiological and genetic evidence points to it being very similar to a bat coronavirus seen in China and that a transfer from bats to intermediary animals and then to humans occurred. A California microbiology professor Kristian Andersen directed a team looking into the virus’s genesis. Their conclusion, “We propose two scenarios that can plausibly explain the origin of Sars-CoV-2: natural selection in an animal host before zoonotic [animal to human] transfer; and natural selection in humans following zoonotic transfer”. In other words, new pathogens are likely to continuously undergo evolution in the animal world and they can transfer to humans who can serve as adequate hosts.

On the surface zoonotic transfer appears to be a naturally occurring process, albeit a potentially dangerous one. However, as the line between the habitats of wild animals and the human world becomes increasingly porous as a result of greater human encroachment we may be boosting the chances of zoonotic transfer and therefore of the disease risk associated with it. For example, this wet market practice being practiced in some parts of the planet, in which live animal species are interacting unnaturally due to human commerce may be extremely hazardous. Given how localized outbreaks can become global so quickly in the modern era, the danger of such markets should be called into question despite their cultural history and local importance. Developing sound methods of engaging with wild animal populations that reduce instances of harmful zoonotic transmissions would seem to be lesson #1 from this disaster.

Given the severity of the Covid-19 disruption to our lives it’s natural to yearn for a “return to normal”. Let’s unpack what normal was just a few short months ago. Edward Cameron is an Irish climate scientist and strategist living in Vermont. His description of the month before the pandemic started in earnest, also fondly remembered as “normal” times, is useful to contemplate. Commenting on stimulus money being spent by governments in reaction to the public and economic threat of Covid-19 he wrote in May 2020, “There will be a temptation to seek a return to the economy as it was on 31 December 2019. Should we spend these trillions of dollars and succeed in rebuilding the stock market, while still living in a world where more than 3 billion people live on less than US$ 2.50 a day? Should we grow GDP back to pre-crisis levels and still live in a world where 22,000 children die each day due to poverty and 805 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat? Should we put people back to work but still live in a world where 750 million people lack adequate access to clean drinking water—killing an estimated 2,300 people per day? Should we resuscitate the price of oil and commodities and continue our long march towards climate catastrophe? Would we call that success? Would that world be a better world than the one we have now?”

Point taken. Going back to normal has a downside. Of course, we all want the security of living with familiar comforts and predictability. Such consolations provide us with happiness and mental health. Yet, it’s worth keeping in mind as we yearn for familiarity that many benefits come at an ecological price not often considered and these rewards are not as widely shared as we might like to think, thereby creating unresolved social tensions. A critical fact about epidemics historically is how they expose vulnerabilities in what had been normal prior to the scourge. These weaknesses inherent in societies’ living standards and political decisions are where infections take hold and tragedies ensue. Compounding the grief is the realization that while microbes and viruses seek to exploit soft pockets made available by human practices, it is those most at risk from these customs who bear the greatest brunt. We see this being repeated with Covid-19 as the infirm, poor, disadvantaged, and elderly are infected and die at the highest rates.

There are many like Edward Cameron calling for this crisis to be a moment of opportunity for ushering in a better world. Profound social changes have often followed epidemic disruptions. History shows social perspectives are altered impacting religion, economics, politics, and lifestyle habits in the aftermath of large-scaled cataclysms. Sometimes this leads to massive improvements like the loosening of the Roman Church’s dictatorial hold on Europe following the Bubonic Plague or what can result is disastrous such as the rise of the Nazi Party subsequent in part to the Spanish Flu pandemic. It’s naive to think there will not be a momentous reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic. The quality of the response depends on the excellence and persuasiveness of thought leaders and political talent.

An emerging line of reasoning hoping to direct the post-pandemic effort connects issues that often are viewed as separate challenges, specifically poverty, wealth inequality, and environmental devastation. Many of us first saw this amalgamated approach with the progressive left’s Green New Deal. The proponents of this process advocate for going really big, by tackling a range of environmental improvement and social welfare concerns, even racial injustice, all at once. The claim is there is an inherent inefficiency in tackling these problems separately or in a siloed manner. For example, if the focus is solely on emissions reduction to reduce global warming at the expense of addressing how agriculture, a leading emitter of particulate emissions, feeds the world’s population, then progress on favorable change is curtailed.

Despite the impassioned argument for going big with a set of multiple reforms simultaneously I’m left questioning the political practicality of initiating too sweeping of a reform movement all at once. An energized opposition is likely to become too much of an impediment, resulting in no substantial change occurring. To be clear, each component of a Green New Deal-type plan—poverty, wealth inequality, equal opportunity, and environmental devastation—seeks to remedy a critically pressing concern. And viewed holistically, a thread can be found linking these issues. However, making legislative progress on any one of these in isolation is a herculean task. Instituting meaningful policy on all of them together in a single comprehensive move seems like a very heavy lift indeed. So, whereas I can appreciate the desire to link environmental and social action at a policy level, the legislative impediments arising from this strategy could very likely weaken and dilute the attempt.

That said, I nevertheless find Cameron’s reference to socio-ecological resilience to be quite informative and promising. To be more specific, I find the term ‘resilience’ appealing, especially in the context of strategic resilience, which I believe is his intention. Progress, innovation, and change don’t happen unless there is an underlying ethic of reflection, preparedness, agility, and risk taking. These are traits that often seem to be in short supply among many groups of people, including those of us in the “first world”. Resilience as aptly described by Cameron pertains to the development of capability “to anticipate, avoid, accommodate, and recover from shocks”. Such thinking is in line with business continuity planning, a most useful and proven approach to executing strategic resilience. Business continuity planning is a systemic process designed to minimize threats, recover from disruptions, and maintain operations with just the right balance of sustainability and adaptability to allow for ongoing functionality. Covid-19 lays bare societies’ agility and viability vulnerabilities worldwide. A more premeditated methodology built around strategic resilience will better prepare us for the dangers and disorders yet to come.

“The main part of preparedness to face these events is that we need as human beings to realize that we’re all in this together, that what affects one person anywhere affects everyone everywhere, that we are therefore inevitably part of a species, and we need to think in that way rather than about divisions of race and ethnicity, economic status, and all the rest of it.” Frank M. Snowden, a professor emeritus of history and the history of medicine at Yale University. Professor Snowden articulates what is the greatest challenge for us to customize a post-pandemic world. It is not just waging a fight against invading pathogens. It is not immediately halting all ecological ruination. It is not instantly remediating the effects of world poverty and injustice. It is finding a way to work together, to find common ground, to forge partnerships across diverse and opposing ideologies and world views that take us collectively to a place of harmony with nature and universal social well being.

Political divisions will always be with us—and they should be. As much as Washington and Adams warned the young American nation about the drawbacks and pitfalls of partisanship our early countrymen quickly resorted to establishing institutions whereby like-minded people sharing political positions and philosophies could coalesce and compete. Bias and partiality drives politics in every nation in one form or another and varying levels of cooperation and animosity facilitate or diminish government action and decision making in each of these places. Rhetorical conflict can result in progress or not. In the best of situations leadership quality and citizen enlightenment merge to discover solutions that elevate conditions for the greatest number of people. It is not the eradication of disagreement that is needed, it is the crafting of positive options from the scrum of our differences that is called for more than ever in the post-Covid world.

“With all the riots and BS going on, I’m starting to miss the days of the #chinesevirus at least that was laughable nonsense. Where did all that go?” Conservative contributor to Twitter from New Mexico.

“I’m never wearing a mask…We ruined the economy for nothing.” Conservative contributor to Twitter from Washington, DC.

“Let’s all be honest. Democrat Governors all over the Country let criminals out of prison so they could show up for the riots. The plandemic was the lie they told. These riots were planned right down to the bricks.” Conservative contributor to Twitter from California.

The above quotes were taken from my Twitter feed on June 3, 2020. For the past week the nationwide protests have been occurring following the videotaped murder of an African American man by a white Minneapolis police officer. I could of course add many many more quotes of this type, but I think these make my point. There is a significant segment of America who dismiss and don’t accept the urgency of attacking a viral pandemic raging through their country. Can you imagine these folks rallying to combat climate change?! Whereas the marketplace of competing ideas yields the best solutions, as I’ve noted above, there does come a point where paralysis can set in due to unbridgeable chasms of opinion. We may very well be a this point.

I purposely follow a lot of conservative contributors on Twitter to help give me a sense of what this part of the population is thinking. Granted, Twitter seems to be a platform where MANY extreme views from the right and the left make their instantaneous presence, and despite the velocity of these well caffeinated and provocative conjectures, it may not be any more of an accurate reflection of mainstream viewpoints than any other source. But it is informative nevertheless, to read the thoughts of those who I do not encounter on a daily basis in real life. My grand takeaway is becoming that America is not only profoundly polarized politically, but now appears to be such a large and unwieldy country that to think of coalescing around a national purpose of any sort these days looks to be pathetically unrealistic. It makes thinking we can tackle threats that require national unity, rational problem solving, and concerted effort fanciful. And to be fair, the left can be soundly obnoxious themselves, particularly on the extreme end of the wing. Together our partisan palsy puts all of us at greater risk of mishandling future natural epidemics at a time of accelerated globalized change. This is not smart people.

The fundamental test therefore lies in comprehending, on a near universal scale, the common ground on which we all stand. Doing so involves a mind-shift toward seeing the world through everyone’s similarities, shared purpose, and sense of oneness. Of course there will be differences of opinion and perspective. But where is it written that any nation need cleave itself over these contrasts and disagreements? We should make clear to ourselves that collectively we can achieve greater liberty and prosperity for everyone by adhering to principles of equality in justice, brotherhood, and multicultural acceptance. I’ll drag out a banal, but incisive phrase—there is more that unites us than divides us. Or perhaps, we can simply listen to Desmond Tutu, “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

Finding common ground with those with whom we have disagreement does not start with sending links to articles highlighting one’s point of view, or by pointing out “incontrovertible” data, or by quoting experts in science, economics, education, and so forth. It starts with identifying shared values. We all live in communities we want to be prosperous and safe. We all want the best for our kids. We all want the freedom to live life as we choose. We all want to live long comfortable and flourishing lives. At our roots, we are moral, emotional, social, and intuitive, not rational. Reaching each other over how we feel about issues will forge alliances more than trying to get ourselves to think alike. Debate at a cognitive level can often be fruitless outside of a university-like setting. We think what we want to think. But appealing to our widespread sentiments of what feels right provides greater hope we can build coalitions.

Working within the framework of one’s civilization can reveal beneficial touch points in trying to find common humanity. Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist in Virginia recognizes care, fairness, liberty, loyalty, authority, and sanctity as supporting morality, which I’ll define as a culture’s sense of right and wrong. Exploring these areas with the goal of intentionally establishing areas of agreement among disparate people allows us to seek agreements and reach accord. Understanding the moral interests and human nature of others is the place to reach them. Developing trust makes it easier to agree on win/win approaches. When we figure out an improved way of collaboratively merging reason and intuition we will have a greater chance of productively connecting to face incoming environmental and social challenges that we will surely face together in the future, whether we are ready for them or not.

Covid-19 should be seen more as a forewarning than as a one-off unexpected cataclysm. We are being alerted to not only future pandemics, but to a range of calamities that can result from the lack of congruence between humans and nature, including the efficacy of how science and governments respond to these threats. Will we snap back to a normal goaded by pent-up demand as Pilita Clark in the Financial Times describes as spending, “…money we don’t have, on things we don’t need, to create impressions that don’t last, on people we don’t care about?” or will we be guided by a desire for preventative science-based planning and funding that is cooperatively engaged across disparate agencies, departments, businesses, and even nations? Resisting the fratricidal tendency many people have to express hate, xenophobia, and scapegoating when faced with fear, as these forthcoming scourges will likely engender, could be our biggest obstacle to the necessary teamwork such times will call for. If so, this will be enormously difficult.

All times are a stress test of one sort or another each with their own zeitgeist of idiosyncratic incitements that make or break the people of their age. The grand conflict of our epoch is integrally enmeshed in the quality of the relationship between the earth’s dominant life form and their planet. We have had a shot fired over our bow. The time for awareness and resolve is on. How we engage this struggle will determine the kind of world we bestow upon or deprive from future generations. Whatever turns out to be our legacy we cannot say we weren’t warned.

Ron Jacques, Teacher and Scriptwriter

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Bill Ryan

Ron Jacques of Laconia, New Hampshire is a professional educator. He has been a dedicated, caring, and hard working teacher of middle school students covering the subject area of Social Studies for many years. Ron’s interest in the components of Social Studies carry into his personal life as well. He is well versed in history, civics, politics, and geography. Conversations with Ron are often stimulating and enlightening.

As a devoted instructor Ron is among those teachers who go above and beyond to deliver quality education to his students. An example of this commitment is displayed in this segment of Guest Writings. The First Shots in Boston is an original play written for seventh grade students and performed annually by Ron’s classes. Enjoy peering into the how the fortunate students of Ron get to learn about American revolutionary history and the literary format of script writing—all while having fun.

THE FIRST SHOTS IN BOSTON

Characters:

Lydia Seider, Christopher Seider, Verity Stewart, Lance Corporal, Private Charles, Constance Taylor, Crispus Attucks, George Thatcher, John Wilson, Ebernezer Richardson, Thomas Knox, Robert Patterson, John Gray, Peter Woods, Patrick Walker, Robert Smith, Nicholas Ferriter, William Warren, Hugh White, Edward Langford, Henry Knox, James Bailey, Richard Palmes, Patrick Keaton, Captain Preston, Governor Thomas Hutchinson, Samuel Adams, Henry Pelham, Paul Revere, John Adams, James Warren, and Edward Gerrish

SCENE 1

Narrator: It is Thursday, February 22^nd, 1770 in the city of Boston. Recently, the British government has sent 2,000 British soldiers to the city to help keep order and to enforce new taxes and trade duties. Not only do the soldiers annoy the citizens of Boston because they don’t like the taxes and duties, but adding 2,000 mouths to feed to a city of 16,000 is putting a strain on the city’s limited resources. Since the soldiers are not paid very well, they often try to take part time jobs away from local workers.

There are three types of colonists in Boston: loyalists, who love being British and want to follow all of the rules of the British govern-ment; neutralists, who don’t like the rules of the British government but are afraid to stand up against them; and patriots, who don’t like the rules and want to do everything they can to fight against them even if it means getting in trouble and arrested. The patriots not only make life difficult for the British soldiers but they also make life difficult for the loyalists and the other people in the city who follow the governmental rules. As time goes on, tensions in the city increase.

Lydia Seider and her younger brother Christopher are walking from their house near the Water Mill down Back Street, across Princes Street, and onto Salem Street. Walking with them is Verity Stewart, Lydia’s and Christopher’s cousin. Lydia and Verity are going to go practice cross stitching with Lydia’s best friend, Constance Taylor. Christopher is walking along with them to Princes Street on his way to protest at a loyalist’s storefront with a bunch of his friends. As they come to Princes Street, they run into two British soldiers patrolling the North End, a Lance Corporal and a Private.

Lance Corporal: Hold on, there! Stop and identify yourselves!

Lydia: We are just local children going to our friend’s house on Salem Street. I am Lydia Seider, this is my brother Christopher, and this is my cousin, Verity Stewart. We mean no trouble!

Lance Corporal: I’m sorry, young ladies, but children like yourselves have been disrupting trade and commerce at local shops. It is our jobs to bring an end to this practice.

Lydia: I assure you, our family is loyal to the King. We would never do such a thing!

Narrator: The Private and Verity exchange glances and smile at each other when they can do so unobserved.

Lance Corporal: I am not concerned about you ladies. You look like respectable young ladies and there have never been any girls your age at any of these disturbances. Your brother, however, looks familiar. (He addresses Christopher) Have you ever been to any of these protests?

Lydia: (Before Christopher can respond) We have no mother, Sir, and our father works all day. I must watch my brother all the time and I can promise you that he never leaves my sight. He has not gone to any protests!

Lance Corporal: (Looking at Christopher) Is that true?

Christopher: It is, Sir.

Lance Corporal: Fine. You can continue to your friend’s house. (He points at Christopher) But I have better not see you around town in the future without your sister!

Christopher: You won’t, Sir.

Lance Corporal: Very good!

Narrator: The Lance Corporal and the Private start walking again down Princes Street. The Private looks back at Verity as they move away.

Lydia: (Quietly to her brother) Stay with us to Constance’s house. Then you can go your own way. (Christopher nods)

Verity: Nice lie! Your mother’s dead?

Lydia: It worked, didn’t it? Those idiots don’t deserve the truth!

Narrator: They remain silent until they arrive at Constance’s house. Lydia knocks on the door and Constance lets them all in.

Constance: (Looking at Christopher) Why are you here? Are you finally going to learn to cross stitch? I knew you always wanted to. (Christopher replies with a smirk)

Lydia: We were stopped by soldiers on the way here. I wanted Christopher to come here until the coast was clear. They were total jerks to him! That Officer was very pushy! Christopher, wait here behind the door for a few minutes and then go wherever you’re going to. But be very careful! Promise me that you will keep an eye out for those two soldiers and stay away from them!

Christopher: I will. Don’t worry! I’ll see you at home this afternoon!

Lydia: Okay. See you then!

Narrator: Christopher waits a while behind the door before going out to meet his friends. Lydia, Verity, and Constance go sit down by the fireplace and take their samplers out of their bags. They begin cross stitching.

Constance: I hate having those soldiers here in Boston! Why can’t they just leave us alone?

Lydia: I don’t know! I hate them too! They just love to harass us!

Verity: Still, did you see that young soldier? You have to admit that he was kind of cute.

Lydia: I don’t have to admit any such thing! I didn’t even look at him! All I saw were a couple of lobsterbacks. They aren’t even men to me! I can’t believe you! All you think about are cute guys!

Constance: Really, Verity, I can’t believe you either! They’re the enemy!

Verity: They’re only doing their jobs. Besides, we’re all British. There’s no cute guys here in Boston! The King doesn’t seem to want to do us any favors, so the least he can do is send us some cute soldiers.

SCENE 2

Narrator: It is later in the morning of February 22^nd. Three men, Crispus Attucks, John Wilson, and George Thatcher, are playing cards in the crew quarters of a merchant ship sailing from the Bahamas to Boston.

George: Crispus, you’re from the Massachusetts Colony, aren’t you? You must be looking forward to getting back home tomorrow!

Crispus: Yes, I was born in Framingham. As far as my looking forward to it, my answer is “yes” and “no.” I have friends there but there are also dangers for me there. I worry that I could get impressed into the British Navy while I’m there. Things are so tense in Boston now! Anything could happen now that so many redcoats are there.

John: We’re all worried about impressment! Sailors like us are getting forced to sail in the British Navy against our wills all the time!

Crispus: Yes, but you know they won’t treat me the same as they would treat you!

George: You mean because you are African?

Crispus: African and Indian! That’s two strikes against me! We always have to do the hardest labor!

John: Is it true that there is a reward out for you, that you’re an escaped slave?

Crispus: Not anymore! That was twenty years ago! I heard my old master is dead now. I have been a freeman a long time now.

George: What are you going to do while you’re in Boston?

Crispus: Work as much as I can. I’ve got a job in a couple weeks on a boat going to North Carolina. In the meantime, I’ve got a couple of part time jobs I can do in Boston. I sometimes work as a rope maker and, if I can’t do that, I can usually work on the docks.

George: You’re going to North Carolina! That doesn’t sound like a smart move!

Crispus: I won’t be there for long. The ship I’m going on is going there to get a load of tobacco to take over to England. I’ll try to get on another ship back to the Bahamas. There is no place that is very safe for me these days. Being on the sea is the safest place for me, as long as I stay on small ships that do legal trade. I always have to be looking over my shoulder.

George: Tell me something, Crispus, is rope making very hard work?

John: Here we go!

Crispus: No, it’s really boring but it’s not hard work. It’s just braiding fibers together, there’s no heavy lifting.

George: That sounds good! Do you think you could bring me along with you when you go work at the rope maker? I need to earn some extra money in Boston, too.

Crispus: Sure! There’s usually plenty of work at the rope maker shop. How about you, John, do you want to go with us to the rope maker, too?

John: No thanks! I’m not going to be in Boston for more than a day. I’m going to go to Fall River and get on a whaler.

George: A whaler! Whaling is really hard work! And dangerous, too!

John: I know! I’ve worked on a whaler before! I’m okay with it!

Crispus: It’s got to be easier to do if you have done it before!

George: Better you than me!

John: Speaking of work, we should make sure the ship is rigged for the afternoon and the night. I’ve got to do the night watch tonight.

Crispus: Okay, let’s go!

George: You guys go ahead, I’ll be up on deck in a moment!

John: (Quietly, so George doesn’t hear him) We won’t hold our breaths waiting for you!

SCENE 3

Narrator: It is still February 22^nd, later in the day, and Christopher has caught up with his friends. They are hanging outside the dry-goods shop of Theophilus Lillie on Middle Street in the North End. Earlier in the day, a member of the Sons of Liberty put an “Importer” sign up outside the shop indicating that Lillie was not cooperating with the boycott of British goods. In other words, he was selling only goods that were taxed by the British government. Patriots didn’t like merchants who did this.

Boys like Christopher and his friends would spend their days outside shops with the “Importer” sign posted on them and throw dirt, rotten food, and sticks at the customers coming out of those shops.

The man living next to Lillie’s shop was Ebenezer Richardson. He was a well-known loyalist and informer. The Sons of Liberty hated him because he told British authorities that John Hancock’s ship was carrying black market goods.

Ebenezer came out of his house and tried to tear down the “Importer” sign so they boys would go away. Before he could tear it down, the boys, including Christopher, starting throwing things at him. He ran back to his house to go back inside. Just before going inside, he looked across the street and saw two Sons of Liberty, Thomas Knox and Robert Patterson watching the scene with amusement.

Ebernezer: Perjury! Perjury! By the eternal God, I’ll make it too hot for you before night! (He went inside and locked the door)

Thomas: Come out! I’ll have your heart out, your liver out!

Ebernezer: (After unlocking the door and coming back outside, shaking his fists) You boys go home! Get out of the streets!

Narrator: Robert Patterson comes up to the front of the group of boys and picks up a rock.

Robert: Do your worse, boys! (He throws his rock. The boys immediately pick up rocks and throw them at Ebernezer’s house. Windows begin to shatter as Ebernezer goes back inside his house. Female voices inside the house can be heard screaming. A passerby, George Wilmot, runs around the back of the house to go in the back door and help Ebernezer.)

Thomas: Follow me, boys! (Thomas and a few of the boys run around the back of the house and start throwing rocks at the back of the house, too.)

Narrator: Ebernezer and George appear in the broken front window with muskets in their hands. The boys in the front of the house stop throwing rocks.

Ebernezer: You hit my wife and my daughters with your rocks! If you don’t leave now, I’ll make it too hot for you and, as sure as there is a God in Heaven, I’ll blow a lane through you! (The boys don’t move. They are shocked by this unexpected change in events. Ebernezer puts his gun on the windowsill and pulls the trigger. The pellets goes through Robert’s pants, through the hand of one of the boys, and through Christopher’s chest. Christopher collapses, wounded but still alive. He dies that night at nine o’clock.)

SCENE 4

Narrator: Christopher Seider’s funeral was held at Faneuil Hall on Monday, February 26^th. Two thousand people attended it. The city of Boston paid for it at the insistence of Samuel Adams.

On Wednesday, February 28^th, Verity is shopping for her family’s dinner at a popular North End marketplace. As she is waiting for a meat pie to be packaged up, a young man cautiously approaches her. It is the British Private who had admired her when he and his commanding officer had stopped Lydia, Christopher, and her on the morning of Christopher’s death. This time the Private is off-duty and in street clothes.

Private: Excuse me, your name is Verity, is it not?

(Verity turns to face him)

Verity: Yes. Do I know you?

Private: My Corporal and I stopped you and your cousins the other morning as you were walking to your friend’s house.

Verity: Oh, yes! Now I remember you. You look different when you don’t have your uniform on!

Private: The boy who was killed was your cousin that you were with, wasn’t he?

Verity: (Looking down) Yes.

Private: I can’t tell you how sorry I am about what happened! I feel horrible about it!

Verity: Thank you for saying so. It is tragic! It’s not your fault, of course.

Private: It is and it isn’t. It’s not directly my fault but it probably wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t here and our government wasn’t acting the way it is acting. I came here to Boston so I could see the colonies and to have some adventures. To be honest, it was the only job I could get! But sometimes, like now, I’m not very proud of what I am doing here!

Verity: I know what you mean. Sometimes, we all have to do things we don’t really want to do. Especially at time like these. Just know that I don’t hold you responsible! But I’m not sure the rest of my family, including my cousin, would agree with me!

Private: I understand. My name is Charles but my friends call me Charlie.

Verity: Nice to meet you, Charlie! I wish it was under better circum-stances.

Charlie: So do I. Do you come here to the market often?

Verity: I usually come a couple times a week. (The shop clerk hands her the boxed pie.)

Charlie: May I meet you sometimes and keep you company while you shop? Maybe we could get tea if you have time.

Verity: Okay, I guess. But only if you’re not in uniform. You under-stand, don’t you?

Charlie: Yes, I understand. It would be better for both of us to meet while I’m not in uniform!

Verity: Well, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to get home now. Hopefully, we will meet here again!

Charlie: Yes, I hope so! Good evening to you! Until we meet again!

Verity: (Smiling) Good evening to you, Charlie! (She turns and walks away)

SCENE 5

Narrator: It is Friday, March 2^nd and Crispus Attucks and George Thatcher are working at John Gray’s South End Ropeworks to make some extra money before they go back out to sea.

George: You’re right, Crispus! This work isn’t hard at all!

Crispus: You don’t find this boring?

George: I don’t care about boredom! I just want to do easy work and get paid for it!

Crispus: Well, we just starting doing this. Let’s see how you feel about this later on this afternoon.

George: We’ll see but right now, I’m happy with this work!

Crispus: I’m glad you’re happy.

Narrator: Three of their fellow workers, Peter Woods, Robert Smith, and Nicholas Ferriter, are standing by the open doorway looking out into the street. Peter sees a British soldier, Patrick Walker, going by the shop.

Peter: Do you want work?

Patrick: Yes, I do, by faith!

Peter: Well, go clean my stinking house. (Peter, Robert, and Nicholas laugh)

Patrick: By God, I’ll have satisfaction! (Patrick throws a punch at Nicholas but misses him. Nicholas doesn’t miss when he swings back. Patrick is knocked off his feet and his sword falls out of his coat. Nicholas, still laughing, picks up the sword and carries it into the shop to a rear storeroom.)

Patrick: Hey, bring that back! I need it!

Nicholas: You should have thought of that before you took a swing at me! (Patrick tries to follow Nicholas into the shop but John Gray, the owner of the shop, stops him)

John Gray: Hey, you, where do you think you’re going? You can’t come in here!

Patrick: He took my sword and I need it back!

John Gray: I don’t care if he took your underwear! You’re not coming in here!

Patrick: But what about my sword?

John Gray: Come back later this afternoon and I’ll see if I can get it back for you. Now leave! (Patrick turns around and walks out of the shop without his sword)

John Gray: Nicholas, bring me the lobsterback’s sword and get back to work!

Nicholas: Okay, boss!

Narrator: About twenty minutes later, Patrick comes back with twelve other armed soldiers and his commander, William Warren.

Patrick: I’ll have my sword back, now! (John Gray hands his sword back to him.)

William Warren: Why are these workers of yours abusing my soldier here?

John Gray: (Whispers to Peter) Go to the other nearby shops and tell them that we need help here! (Peter leaves and John Gray says to the commander) Your man here can’t take care of his own business? I told him I would give it back to him but we’re busy working here. He can’t just come in here to bother us!

William Warren: (To Patrick, pointing at Nicholas) Is this the one who took it from you?

Nicholas: He took a swing at me first!

William Warren: You probably deserved it! Didn’t you hit him back? You can’t assault a British soldier! I could arrest you right now!

Robert: Go ahead, try to arrest him! See how far you get! (He moves towards William Warren. A British soldier shoves him back.)

Robert: Keep your hands off of me, you lousy redcoat! (He pushes the soldier back. Now a few workers and soldiers get into a shoving and yelling match. Crispus starts to move forward but George grabs his arm to stop him.)

George: Hold back, Crispus! You can’t afford to get in trouble!

Narrator: Suddenly, several workers from other local shops show up at the door. Some of them come into the shop. Many of them are carrying clubs. William Warren sees them and realizes that he and his soldiers are suddenly outnumbered.

William Warren: Come on, men, we got the sword back. Let’s return to our barracks! (They work their way, receiving a few leftover shoves, out of the shop and into the street. A large number of workers follow them all the way back to their barracks.)

SCENE 6

Narrator: Over the next couple of days, there are similar confrontations all over the city. It is now the evening of Monday, March 5^th. Even though it is very cold out, bands of hundreds of rebels are wandering the streets, confronting British soldiers wherever they find them. British officers try to keep as many soldiers as possible in their barracks but some soldiers still have sentinel and guard duty.

Private Hugh White, for example, is assigned lone guard duty in the sentry box outside the Boston Customs House on King Street. A nearby barber’s apprentice, Edward Gerrish, and a dozen other apprentices from local shops gather around White. They begin pressing in on him and he uses his musket to push them away. The town constable, Edward Langford, is nearby and sees what is happening.

Edward Gerrish: I think this is the scoundrel who knocked me down the other day!

Hugh: It wasn’t me! I’ve never seen you before!

Edward Gerrish: Liar! Kill him! Kill him! Knock him down! (Soon other apprentices join him in his pronouncements)

Crowd: Kill him! Kill him!

Edward Langford: Leave the sentry alone, boys! (To Hugh) Don’t be afraid! They’re only boys! They won’t hurt you! They may swear and speak bad words but they won’t hurt you.

Narrator: Edward Langford moves on down King Street. A couple of loyalist boys run back to the barracks to tell the commander there that Hugh is in trouble. Hugh White leaves his sentry box and goes to stand on the Custom House’s steps. This gets him out of the crowd but they begin to press in on him again. Young men like Henry Knox and James Bailey lead the way. Hugh White lowers his gun into a firing position to try to scare them off.

Henry: If you fire, you must die for it!

Hugh: If you molest me, I will fire!

James: Fire and be sent to Hell!

Henry: We should knock him down just for snapping at us!

Narrator: Now snowballs and ice balls are being thrown at Hugh. Someone runs to ring the bell in the Brattle Street Church. People begin pouring out into the streets because the bell was the warning of a fire. They soon realize that it wasn’t ringing for a fire but for a fight. Now the crowd around the Custom House grows to fifty to sixty men. At the back of the crowd, new arrivals include Crispus Attucks, George Thatcher, and a new acquaintance, Patrick Keaton. At the same time, a rescue party of eight soldiers arrive to help out Hugh White. The soldiers are led by Captain Thomas Preston. They push their way through the crowd using their bayonets. They form a line between the crowd and Hugh. Captain Preston stands before his men, right in front of the crowd. Crispus starts pushing his way towards the front of the crowd. George stops him.

George: Crispus! Don’t do it! You’re supposed to leave in a couple of days. You can’t leave if you’re in jail!

Crispus: I know but sometimes you just have to make a stand!

George: Now is not the right time!

Crispus: For me, it’s never the right time. I just want to stop being afraid all the time.

George: I understand. Please be careful!

Crispus: I will.

Narrator: When Crispus makes it to the front of the crowd, Henry Knox, James Bailey, and Sons of Liberty member Richard Palmes are already there standing right next to Captain Preston. Since the crowd knows that the soldiers are not allowed to fire on civilians without a Riot Act being issued, they continue to taunt and threaten the soldiers. They also continue to throw snowballs, ice balls, and even oyster shells.

Henry Knox: (To Captain Preston) For God’s sake take care of your men for if they fire, your life must be answerable.

Captain Preston: I am aware of it! (One of his Privates points his bayonet at James Bailey, so Captain Preston says to him.) Leave him alone!

James Bailey: Why don’t you fire? You can’t kill us!

Richard Palmes: (Stepping between James and Captain Preston, he says to Captain Preston) Are your soldiers’ guns loaded?

Captain Preston: With powder and ball.

Richard Palmes: Sir, I hope you don’t intend on having your soldiers fire on civilians.

Captain Preston: By no means.

Narrator: Private Hugh Montgomery is standing next to Captain Preston. Someone throws a piece of wood and it hits Private Montgomery. As he staggers back, he raises his gun so it points at Crispus Attucks. Crispus grabs the end of Montgomery’s musket to point it away from his body. Private Montgomery, recovering from the blow from the piece of wood, realizes that Crispus had grabbed his gun so he tries to pull it back from him. The gun starts to point back up at Crispus when Private Montgomery pulls the trigger. The musket ball goes through Crispus’ lung and liver. He dies right away. Another soldier, Matthew Kilroy fires at the same time and his shot goes through civilian Samuel Gray’s head. Both of their bodies fall to the street.

Captain Preston: Why did you fire? (Three of his soldiers only heard the last word so they fired their guns. Another civilian, James Caldwell is hit in the back and dies. Soldiers begin to reload. Members of the crowd see this as their chance to do something.)

Patrick Keaton: Let’s go in upon them and stop them from firing again!

Narrator: The crowd doesn’t move fast enough. The soldiers get off a second round of shots. Civilians Robert Patterson, Christopher Monk, John Clark, Patrick Carr, Edward Payne, John Green, and David Parker are all wounded by the musket balls. Samuel Maverick, who is running away from the scene, is killed when a shot ricochets off of a building and hits him in the chest. While all this was going on, someone goes and tells Governor Thomas Hutchinson what is happening. He rushes down to King Street and gets there right after the second volley.

Governor Hutchinson: Where is the commanding officer?

Captain Preston: I am here, sir.

Governor Hutchinson: Why did you fire without a riot order?

Captain Preston: I was obliged to, to save my sentry.

Richard Palmes: Then you have murdered three or four men to save your sentry!

Governor Hutchinson: Captain, take your men back to the barracks and make sure they stay there! (All of the soldiers follow his orders. The Governor walks over to the Old State House across King Street and comes out on the balcony. From there, he addresses the crowd.) I assure you that justice will be done. I will live and die by the law. Now go home. (Reluctantly, the crowd begins to disperse. The bodies of the dead and wounded are carried off to places where they could be treated and taken care of.)

SCENE 7

Narrator: Late in the afternoon, the day after the shootings, Private Charlie went to the same North End marketplace hoping to find Verity there again. Sure enough, she was there. Once again, even though he was out of uniform, he approached her cautiously.

Charlie: Good afternoon, Verity.

Verity: Good afternoon.

Charlie: Did you hear what happened last night? It’s all so unbelievable!

Verity: I know. I can’t believe it either. What’s going on here, Charlie? I mean, where is this all going to end?

Charlie: I wish I knew. Things are going from bad to worse so quickly. I fear the worst is going to happen.

Verity: What could be worse than last night?

Charlie: We could end up in a war!

Verity: No one wants that!

Charlie: I don’t know. I think some of the Sons of Liberty do.

Verity: (Angry) No, they don’t! (There is a moment of silence as they find themselves in disagreement)

Charlie: Anyways, I have something to tell you. It seems that the Governor’s Council and the town of Boston have demanded that all British soldiers leave the city and relocate on Castle Island. Things are just too hot for us in the city right now! We are going to start moving there tomorrow.

Verity: Oh, I see. That’s probably for the best.

Charlie: I know. But it means that I won’t be able to visit you here as easily. I didn’t want you to think that, if I don’t show up for a while, that it was because I didn’t want to see you.

Verity: Right. I appreciate you letting me know. (Suddenly, she spots Lydia also in the market. To make matters worse, she sees that Lydia has seen her talking to Charlie) Oh, no!

Charlie: What?

Verity: You remember my cousin Lydia?

Charlie: Yes.

Verity: Well, she’s over there and she saw me talking to you. You better get out of here before she recognizes you.

Charlie: Oh. Okay. I’ll try to see you again as soon as I can.

Verity: Okay. I’ll see you then! (Charlie turns and walks away. As soon as he is gone, Lydia comes over to speak to Verity.)

Lydia: Good afternoon, Verity! Who was that guy I saw you talking to? He looks familiar.

Verity: Well, I might as well tell you. You remember the soldiers who stopped us the morning that poor Christopher was shot?

Lydia: Yes.

Verity: You remember that I thought one of them was cute?

Lydia: (Starting to sound upset) Yes.

Verity: That was him.

Lydia: (Now she is very upset) Verity, you can’t be serious! My brother, your cousin, is dead and you’re hanging out with his murderer!

Verity: He didn’t kill Christopher! A Bostonian shot Christopher.

Lydia: Maybe not but he is protecting the government whose policies led to Christopher’s death, the very same policies that the Bostonian who shot him supported. (Verity looks down ashamed) What would our family think if they knew you were friendly with a British soldier? I know what my parents would think! And I think I know what your parents would think if they knew. (Verity suddenly looks up in shock.)

Verity: Oh, Lydia! Please don’t say anything to my parents! I beg of you, don’t say anything!

Lydia: Okay, I won’t. But you have to promise me that you will never see him again!

Verity: I promise! It’s unlikely I could have seen him again anyways because, according to him, all of the soldiers are being taken out of the city and being relocated on Castle Island. That’s what he was here telling me.

Lydia: Finally, some good news! That’s where they belong. Good riddance, I say. (Lydia and Verity leave the marketplace to go home.)

SCENE 8

Narrator: City officials decided that the funerals for Crispus Attucks, Samuel Maverick, Samuel Gray, and James Caldwell should all be held on the same day, Thursday, March 8^th. Families had little choice but to agree. The fallen four were martyrs, so they now belonged to everybody. Families could hold their own separate funerals but their four funeral processions had to come together on King Street where all four men had died. The four caskets would then be carried to the cemetery and laid in a common plot together next to the casket of Christopher Seider.

Since Crispus Attucks had no local family left to make his funeral arrangements for him, Samuel Adams arranged for his funeral to be held in Fanueil Hall. Six pallbearers would be needed to carry his casket from Fanueil Hall to King Street and then to the cemetery. Since John Gray had been his boss at the rope making shop, Samuel Adams asked him to select the pallbearers.

On Wednesday, March 7^th, John Gray finds George Thatcher at Fanueil Hall silently showing respect next to the Crispus Attucks’ casket.

John Gray: Excuse me, George, may I have a word with you?

George: Of course.

John Gray: I’m glad I found you here. I have been hoping to see you before tomorrow. First of all, let me say, that I am very sorry for your loss.

George: Thank you. And for your loss, too. I didn’t know Crispus long but I knew him to be a good friend and a very brave man.

John Gray: I couldn’t agree more! You would consider yourself a friend of Crispus’ then?

George: Yes, I would.

John Gray: Good. I was wondering then if you might agree to serve as one of his pallbearers to carry him to the cemetery. I am also going to be a pallbearer. There would be six of us in all so it should not be a very heavy load for any of us. It should not be hard work.

George: I would be honor to! I don’t care how hard of work it is going to be, I will do it. I would carry his casket all by myself if I had to. Thank you for asking me!

John Gray: You’re welcome. I’ll see you here tomorrow then.

George: Yes. I will see you then.

SCENE 9

Right after the event of the evening of March 5^th, an artist named Henry Pelham made a drawing showing the event. The Sons of Liberty, including Samuel Adams wanted a picture like his that could be published in the other colonies to turn people against the British authorities. Samuel Adams liked Pelham’s drawing but felt it didn’t go far enough in condemning the British. On Monday, March 12^th, Adams took Pelham and his drawing to the shop of another Son of Liberty, Paul Revere. Revere was an accomplished silversmith and engraver. He would know how to make Pelham’s drawing give the message they wanted it to give. Revere greets Adams and Pelham at the door of his shop.

Paul: Come in gentlemen! Have a seat.

Samuel: Thank you, Paul. Please allow me to get directly to business.

Paul: By all means!

Samuel: You know that we need to get some pictorial representation of this event, what Henry here calls a bloody massacre, out to the other colonists so they can see how ruthless the British are. (Turning towards Henry Pelham.) Henry please show Paul your excellent drawing.

Henry: I would be happy to. (He takes the drawing out of his pocket and puts it on Paul Revere’s desk.)

Paul: (Paul looks it over.) This is excellent! Well done.

Samuel: Paul, as you know, this picture cannot be reproduced but, if we had an engraving based on this picture, it could be reproduced many times. Could you make such an engraving?

Paul: Of course!

Henry: Your engraving could be similar to mine but it would be your own version of the event, right?

Paul: Yes. I always do my own work. Could you please leave this with me to inspire me? I promise I will return it in pristine condition.

Henry: Sure. When can I be expecting it back?

Paul: How about a week from now?

Henry: That’s fine. Now, if you will excuse me, gentlemen, I have another appointment I must get to. I can show myself the way out.

Paul: Great, and thank you so much. This is great work!

Samuel: Yes, thank you, Henry. I will talk to you soon. (Henry Pelham leaves. After he is gone, Samuel and Paul discuss the picture more thoroughly) So, Paul, what do you really think of it?

Paul: It really is good but it doesn’t go far enough. I can make slight changes to it that will get our point across.

Samuel: That is exactly what I was thinking needed to be done. I want to make it look like the Custom House is more involved in the massacre. (He points to the drawing.) You see here how he put a small puff of smoke coming out of one of the windows?

Paul: Yes, but just barely. I can make the puff of smoke larger and I can show the barrel of a musket coming out of the window. I can also change the name of the Custom House on its sign. I can change it to the “Butcher’s Shop.” Another change I can make is to add a poem below the picture. I’ll write a poem that criticizes Preston, his men, and any judges that might find them not guilty.

Samuel: Excellent! I knew that you were the right man for this job. Please remember that the sooner we get this out there, the more effective it will be.

Paul: I will get on it right away!

Samuel: Thank you. I’ll leave you to your work! I will also show myself the way out.

Paul: Fine! Have a great rest of your day!

Samuel: You also!

SCENE 10

Narrator: It is now Wednesday, June 13^th and with the British soldiers out of the city, life is slowly returning to normal in Boston. There is still tension in the city. The taxes are still being applied and most people still don’t like them. There are more arguments between loyalists and patriots but everybody is careful not to take the arguments too far. No one wants another incident like what had happened on March 5^th.

Lydia never told anybody about Verity meeting up with the British Private. She is still very upset about losing her brother to all of the foolishness that went on during the winter but she puts on a brave face. The girls still get together to practice their cross stitching.

It had been over three months since Verity last saw Charlie. She has accepting the fact that she will probably never see him again. She’s not sure how she feels about it. On one hand, she is glad because she knows they couldn’t possibly have a future together. On the other hand, she misses the fact that he was a cute boy who showed some interest in her. They clearly had a connection. Verity is thinking these things as she makes her way through the marketplace. She looks up and suddenly sees Charlie coming her way. Her heart skips a beat as she is filled with mixed emotions.

Verity: Charlie, what are you doing here?

Charlie: I’m sorry but I had to see you one more time. I’m being transferred to New York so I doubt I will ever have the chance to see you again.

Verity: I promised my cousin that I would never see you again!

Charlie: This wasn’t your fault. It was never your fault. I was the one who always found you. You never came to find me. I just wanted you to know that I really think you’re special and I really care about you. And, I could be wrong about this, but I think you really care about me too.

Verity: Even if I do care about you, and I’m not saying I do, it would never work out between us. We’re on opposing sides in a conflict that shows no signs of letting up. Our relationship is doomed.

Charlie: I know. I’ve just have to know one thing and then I’ll leave you alone forever: Did you ever care about me?

Verity: I don’t know. I guess I did. I guess I still do. I mean, you seem like a very nice guy. I truly hope you have a long, happy, fulfilling life. I hope you find happiness, I really do.

Charlie: Thank you! And I hope the same for you. If we had only met in a different time, in a different place, things may have worked out for us.

Verity: Maybe so.

Charlie: Well, I guess I had better be getting back to my unit. Before I go, may I kiss you good-bye?

Verity: No! That is, I don’t think it would be a very good idea.

Charlie: A hand shake then?

Verity: A hand shake would be fine! (They shake hands.)

Charlie: Good-bye, Verity!

Verity: Good-bye, Charlie!

SCENE 11

Captain Preston surrendered himself to authorities on March 6^th, the day after the shootings. The other eight soldiers, including Hugh White, the sentry, were all arrested shortly after to await trial. Three local lawyers, including the future second president of the United States, John Adams, were convinced to defend the soldiers at trial.

Captain Preston was tried first and separately. His trial went from October 24^th to October 30^th, 1770. He was found not guilty of all charges because no witnesses said that they heard him say, “Fire!”

The trial of the other eight soldiers went from November 27^th to December 14^th, 1770. Six of the eight were also found not guilty. Two of them, Hugh Montgomery and Matthew Kilroy, were found guilty of manslaughter because witnesses said they saw the two of them shot directly into the crowd. The two soldiers were punished by having their thumbs branded, then they were released.

It is now Friday, December 21^st. John Adams is at his home in Quincy. The stress of the trials of the Boston Massacre are over and it is almost Christmas so John Adams is relaxing. His friend James Warren has come up from Plymouth to visit him. They are sitting in Adam’s study discussing the events of the day.

James Warren: You know, John, I have the upmost respect for you and your decisions professionally but there is one question that I just have to ask you.

John Adams: Why did I recently defend the British soldiers?

James Warren: Yes. Why?

John Adams: As you know, I’m as opposed to the policies of the British government as any other of the Sons of Liberty. My opposition to the Stamp Act is well known on both sides of the Atlantic.

James Warren: The British must have been as surprised by your willingness to defend their soldiers as the Sons of Liberty were!

John Adams: Quite! Despite my opposition to the British, I firmly believe that all men deserve legal representation and a fair trial. Then, after seeing and hearing the evidence of the trial, I realized that the nine defendants were not to blame for what happened. I think any of us would have reacted the way they did if we were confronted by a mob taunting, teasing, and throwing objects at us.

James Warren: So are you saying that it was really the mob that was to blame?

John Adams: Not at all. They had every right to protest against the injustices inflicted upon them. Their actions may not have been appropriate, but they were not guilty of a crime.

James Warren: So if the soldiers weren’t to blame and the mob wasn’t to blame, who was to blame?

John Adams: The ones to blame were the British leaders who made the rules and put the soldiers here. As we all now, they aren’t going to let us put them on trial, are they?

James Warren: Not likely.

John Adams: There’s another reason why I did it.

James Warren: What’s that?

John Adams: If those soldiers had been found guilty and executed, to the rest of the world, we would have looked like the people in Salem who hung the witches. We would have looked like uncivilized heathens or cannibals. If this conflict with the King continues, we will need the support of other nations to help us and if we had executed those soldiers, other nations would think that we are unworthy of their help, that we deserve all of the hardships the King throws at us.

James Warren: And is there a lesson to be learned here?

John Adams: Yes. This massacre is the strongest proof that standing armies are dangerous. Whenever you put a standing army and civilians together, bad things are going to happen.

THE END

Hospitality, Crisis and Promise

Posted on May 7, 2020February 6, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Such wreckage. Such devastation. Such uncertainty. The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the present, shattered futures, and taken lives. In a quick couple of months life, as we have known it has been turned upside down. There is much to despair about this shock to our previously well-constructed world. Looking for hope can seem unattainable, especially for those whose careers, livelihoods, and businesses have been heavily damaged.

I especially mourn for what is happening to the hospitality industry. Restaurants, hotels, resorts, amusement parks, theaters, concerts, sporting events and the like are where we go to refresh and rewind by enjoying time with friends and family, interacting with others, and being treated warmly by caring staffs.

Hospitality is in many ways one of the most human of all career choices. Here is where your value is largely determined by how well you engage with others and how well you make others feel. Being socially distant is aversive to hospitality. It is like trying to paint landscapes with only two colors. The genial experience is catastrophically abridged when we are apart.

Hospitality was to be the great redeemer for a world becoming increasingly technical, remote, and isolated. At its core, hospitality resisted the forces of automation and outsourcing, which is transforming so many other lines of work. It benefited from an economy relatively flush with disposable income. This industry really has made the world a better place to live. And now we ask ourselves, what happens to us all if our capacity to be social beings is painfully curtailed for the long term?

In the US it is unlikely we will see the government stepping in to support hospitality for more than several months. Projections point to the second half of 2021 before a widely distributed and effective vaccine is put into place. Therefore, social distancing is expected to be among the chief tactics we have available to mitigate outbreaks during our slow build up to herd immunity.

Then there is the very real fear people have about mingling as before. Think of the questions we could have while in crowds, such as who among these people is asymptomatic and carrying the virus? Why is that person coughing? Is it right to hug or shake hands with this friend anymore? How can I keep my glasses from fogging when wearing this darn mask? Many may and probably will opt for staying home.

There are no easy answers or quick fixes for hospitality. That said, two broad ideas come to mind that may point to some sort of solution for the future of those whose hospitality jobs are evaporating.

This is a time for hospitality professionals to reflect on their skills and the value they bring to the public. My advice is to inventory what it is about your engagements with people that activate your energy and bring deep satisfaction. Then think about other more employable areas where these talents can be expressed. For example, healthcare related services benefit from a workforce rich in soft hospitable skills infused with those of the technical expertise providers. Sales and customer services also are enhanced by those who can deliver personal, attentive, and solution-oriented care and advice. Think about it. There are many fields in which a hospitable mindset and presentation can find a home.

Secondly, now is a time for the entrepreneurial, innovative, resourceful, and ingenious among us to design and develop novel ways of offering hospitality contributions that have not been tried before. The pent-up public demand is certainly there. Necessity is still the mother of invention. Let us please be pleasantly surprised by having creative hospitality professionals discover new and refreshing ways of building community, strengthening social interaction, and giving us respite from these stressful times, all while maintaining safe and prudent distancing measures.

Times were dark in the economy ten years ago and they are even darker now. But if we are lucky, it may be our friends in hospitality who can shine a light when we most need it.

Book Review: The Virtue of Nationalism

Posted on April 19, 2020April 26, 2020 by Bill Ryan

The Virtue of Nationalism by Yoram Hazony

Basic Books, New York, 2018

The term Nationalism, as a descriptor of political philosophy, cultural identity, and governance methodology has been undergoing a reexamination in recent years. This evaluation is resulting in political lines being starkly drawn around how civil and partisan engagement is to be exercised among the citizens of 21st century sovereign states. The significant emergence of populist right-wing movements in a number of western countries during the 2010s is forcing us to review the advantages and disadvantages wrought upon societies and economies concerning the manner in which globalization’s interactions and integrations have been playing out over the past thirty or forty years. By investigating the way in which global exchange practices are developing in this increasingly hyper-connected world we can better determine whether nationalism, a profoundly universal social innovation, which emerged from the Enlightenment three centuries ago, continues to be a beneficial and relevant social organizing principle going forward.

Recent reading and podcast listening of mine in the areas of politics, economics, and philosophy has brought to my attention the latest work from Yoram Hazony, an Israeli political philosopher, entitled The Virtue of Nationalism. The impression initially given to me from the above sources is that this work is popular among conservative intellectuals as a serious promotion of nationalism’s positive effects and praiseworthy underpinnings going well beyond mere political theater and hyperbole to instead a revealing and scholarly justification of the concept’s current embrace among many on the political right.

Nationalism used to have a positive connotation with me, but since the Trump phenomenon its reputation now seems personally tarnished by its associations with xenophobia, jingoism, racism, and extremism. All told, this seemed like a good time to try understanding my political opposition more by peering into an erudite attempt to explain nationalism’s measure, worth, and modern relevance.

I went into this reading with a view of nationalism shaped largely by two influences, one my study of conventional American history, which by and large speaks of American nationalism as a blessed and hard fought gift to the world, created out of righteous revolution and gallantly sustained throughout numerous external threats and invasions. Secondly, beyond the American experience, I’ve observed nationalism as the glue that has held the world’s people together in an appropriate order of self-governing societies bound by common histories, languages, cultural traits, and religions. My key observations are that nationalism encourages pride, patriotism, and a rallying of collective spirit, leaving each citizen feeling as if they belong to something grand and historic. The national state model allows people to join in a synergistic manner to establish and protect their independent means of continuing prosperity and cultural longevity while safeguarding themselves against external threats. If one nation can’t defend its interests alone, then it joins in alliances with others whom they share concerns. I have always thought this arrangement was a marked improvement over the primitive feudalism of previous eras with its near constant bloodshed and tyrannical rule. Overall, nationalism has felt natural and fitting — until this time.

Nationalism has become a political hot potato and as with many topics of late with which there should not be widespread disagreement, such as environmental protection, universal access to healthcare, and shared prosperity, nationalism is now the cause célèbre, pitting those on the right, who seek a return to an allegedly diminished sovereignty, with liberals who view cooperative global connectivity among peoples as inevitable and positive.

For many, nationalism has revealed a dark side. Areas of contention include claims that a form of neo-nationalism in the west has arisen of late characterized by regressive and revisionist thinking; claims of racial superiority; intolerance of diversity; an embrace of outmoded social behaviors; denial or rejection of cultural and historical changes now underway; less respect for the rights of all citizens; a willingness to increase conflict with other countries such as allies; and less readiness to initiate and establish international alliances. In short, a debate now exists about whether or not nationalism contributes to universal welfare, peace, and prosperity around the planet or if it is instead an outdated relic of a more pugnacious and bellicose past.

Also, nationalism now has a novel and disturbing face to it. Donald Trump, Brexit supporters, eastern European strongmen, white supremacists, and angry old white men (and some women) many of whom possess only a basic level of formal education. It’s reasonable to ask, can there be anything redeemable of an idea endorsed enthusiastically by this lot?

To be fair, there have undoubtedly been tensions leading to a reassessment of how international relations are deployed and of globalization’s value more broadly. Growing numbers of Americans and Europeans see unsustainable and uncontrollable levels of immigration occurring; trade agreements that seem to favor cheap labor abroad at the expense of domestic workers; technological and business shifts overly favoring the highly educated; greater corporate empowerment leading to increased wealth inequality; terrorism targeted at the wealthy nations; and a sense that multi-state federations and alliances, such as the European Union, United Nations, and NATO, are weakening nations’ ability to determine their own policy initiatives and address adequately their own unique national interests.

Together these issues have called into question our rush to tightly connect the world technologically, economically, politically, and culturally. Many are welcoming this set of challenges as an excuse to reaffirm the benefits of nationalism and caution against any alternatives away from it.

Yoram Hazony constructs a thoughtful, well researched, ardent, and academic defense of nationalism, placing the practice in a long-term historical context. For critics of nationalism as it has become to be understood today, in particular as a reactionary political movement, it is worth reading this sober and reasoned rationale advocating a means of governing and ordering of societies that is still quite recent in the annals of history. One element of credibility I expected from Hazony was his perspective on the topic as an Israeli citizen and self-admitted Zionist. The Hebrew nation was intentionally forged from centuries of enmity, bigotry, conflict, and genocide, providing Hazony and perhaps all Israelis, with a profound reverence for a system codifying independence, self-reliance, and empowerment for the Jewish people. He did indeed deliver his thesis from this vantage point, giving his claims added authenticity, if not veracity.

A principal dichotomy Hazony relies on to gird his central argument is the fundamental choice countries must make between having governments rooted in self-determined independent sovereignty or authoritative and centrally planned multi-state aggregations. The question is which system is worthy of development that best advances freedom, prosperity, peace, and moral integrity. Is it a belief countries should be free to pursue their interests, further their cultural traditions, and navigate their way through a world brimming with threats and opportunities? Or is it one ingrained with the notion global integration is a requirement for reducing racism and belligerence, while promoting tolerance, fellowship, and fairness? In other words, Hazony views the essential preference as one between nationalism and imperialism.

Hazony reaches into history to provide guidance and justification for the crucial ruling decision nations must make today. Empire has a long track record in the western world stretching back to Assyria, Persia, Babylonia, and Egypt. It is due to the latter empire with its authoritarian brutality and forced devotion to polytheism and pharaonic command, which gave rise to the reactive origins of nationalism found in the Old Testament. The Bible became the first document to present a political order alternative to imperialism as well as the tradition preceding it, tribalism. Of note, Mosaic law prohibited Israelites from launching incursions into nearby kingdoms and stipulated internal governing standards, which together formed the early parameters of the national state.

Later significant expression of nationalism occurred during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Rejection of the imperialistic Roman Church, following the invention of the printing press, occurred in England, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, and Sweden, leading eventually to the Thirty Years’ War, which broke the Roman church’s hold over much of Europe, resulting in the formation of national states throughout the continent. A common attribute of these nations was a self-proclaimed right of self-determination and adoption of moral requirements determining the legitimacy of governments, often codified in constitutions. This continued to serve as the building model of most nations reaching into the 20th century.

Nationalism today has been altered substantially by two penetrating developments—the philosophical emergence of what Hazony calls the “liberal construction of the West” and Germany’s 20th century attempts to forcefully apply nationalism as a springboard for empire building. In the first case, western political thought has been dominated since John Locke (1689) by a sanctified belief in individual rights and consent. By superseding loyalty and kinship to cultural, religious, and tribal origins with individual freedom and equality the nation state loses its moral fiber and tradition-bound purpose. In addition, the rationale for national boundaries is diluted or seen as unnecessary in a liberal world where universal principles that improve the lives of all humankind can be put into practice the world over. Hazony complains that defense of old-styled nationalism is not even given the time of day among the multiparty educated elites who are all in with the Lockean paradigm.

Germany saw the nations of England, France, Spain, and Portugal forming colonial empires around the world and thought they should have one too. The difference with the Germans was in their belief that instead of colonizing far-flung parts of the world they could establish their empire in Europe. Hence, World Wars I and II. Following the atrocities of Nazi Germany, a conclusion widely accepted was to believe nationalism could be inherently extreme and the cause of such horrendous crimes. By taking away their status of nationhood peace and prosperity would instead reign over Europe.

The result of these traumas is that the true national state, as Hazony sees it, has given way to a neo-imperialism most glaringly expressed in the European Union, United Nations, and Pax Americana. The faith buttressing these entities assumes the western world has identified liberalism, by which is included the rule of law, market economies, and individual rights as the true all-encompassing way to achieve peace and prosperity. He contends this comes at the expense of a conviction in nationalism based on self-determination and moral allegiance principles as the correct and proper way to govern. As is obvious to him, this doctrine can best be achieved via international alliances and other state integration schemes, which smack of imperialism and a drift away from sovereignty. The current wave of nationalism in Europe. Brazil, the U.S. and elsewhere is a rejection of the liberal construction of the West and the neocolonialism it implies.

Mr. Hazony attempts a reasoned case for his preference of nationalism over the other major political order alternatives, those being clans/tribes and imperialism. He basis his claim not on mere emotional devotion or an infatuation with institutional tradition alone, but through a carefully constructed logic centered on the ultimate eminence of people’s mutual loyalty to one another. Beginning with an endorsement of the idea that political order needs to precede philosophies of government he goes on to recognize politics as a means of persuasion uniting like interests of a community toward achieving common goals. Members of any collective join for one of three reasons: they are coerced, paid off, or see the aims of the group as sharing in the same values as their own individual aspirations. This latter motive, the most influential of the three, leads to an all powerful mutual loyalty, which is foundational to the formation of families, clans, tribes, successful institutions, and nations themselves.

The precious bond of mutual loyalty, progressively arising as it does from families and clans to tribes and nations, outweighs in importance personal gain, one’s survival instinct, and even the ability to live totally free and independent, according to Hazony. Any philosophy of government must take into account this fundamental truth — group cohesion resulting from reciprocal fidelity creates the highest quality and sustainable associations and institutions. To diminish or to be blind to this tenet is to follow a path toward enabling organizations with weak attachments and a fragile ability to meet threats, to benefit from opportunities, or to satisfy the individual needs of constituents. He accuses the current liberal construction of the West as falling into this trap by relying solely on individual consent and freedom as the keystone of government.

Hazony offers a useful analogy to make his point, by which he compares the two institutions of business and family. In business, employees and customers engage with the organization to greater and lesser degrees depending primarily on an expectation of what benefits are to be derived which will enhance one’s lifestyle and material well being. We could say it is a consensual relationship. The family, on the other hand, is comprised of members to whom one is devoted well beyond what comforts they provide. Indeed, family members may be quite difficult, nevertheless parents largely accept the obligation to pass on cultural inheritances to their children, which they had received from their parents, grandparents, and ancestors. The commitment to one another within families is a much stronger bond than is found elsewhere, particularly more so than within commercial relations. The claim is therefore made that a true lasting connection to one another in a nation is much closer to family than to business.

Nationalism is the sweet spot between the rule of clans and tribes, which leads to near constant warfare and anarchy, and empire with its inevitability of subjugation. It is only in the national state where citizens of common heritage, language, religion, and history join to form and give allegiance to a political order that in turn provides national freedom to all. Hazony claims a collective freedom must precede individual freedom and to think any individual can be free when their family or fellow citizens are not is folly. National freedom as expressed in free institutions and domestic power centers strengthens domestic peace and common well-being. Moreover, national freedom is founded on a empirical belief that the truths which hold a people together must result from a plurality of viewpoints over time rather than from a single universal precept delivered on high.

Hazony concludes his book by trying to address one persistent criticism of nationalism — the charge it promotes intolerance and hatred. The counter argument boils down basically to: ‘Well, imperialist movements do so too.’ Finally, much time is spent defending Israel’s nationalism, which frankly to me appears as an open and shut case given the history Jews have faced, despite their inability thus far to temper or mitigate the aggressiveness imposed by them onto their neighbors.

In general, I have to give Hazony credit for laying out a solid case for the continuance of nationalism. I agree with much of his rationale. Primarily, his placement of nationalism between tribalism and imperialism and his critique of these extremes is credible. A political order whereby individuals are able to benefit from established cultural teachings, uphold the future of their civilization, and further an idiosyncratic but legitimate expression of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is clearly acceptable. I embrace an approval of intercultural diversity, tolerance of differences among peoples, and a context requiring negotiation among disparate parties. A world of national states sets the stage for such interaction. He makes an obvious case that tribalism and imperialism impede such a scrum in favor of a more minimized and overly reductionist outlook favoring restricted thinking of how communal interplay should occur.

It’s also hard to quarrel with the value of mutual loyalty among like people, a fundamental dogma of his pro-nationalism argument. The bond folk experience from common backgrounds, values, and interests is profound and motivating. The sense of belonging is integral to personal mental and therefore collective health. Anyone who feels pride in their heritage, which is most individuals, knows how significant fealty and homage to one’s people is. Such fidelity to a group’s ancestors and the culture they imparted over generations should be honored, refined, and respected. However, it is on this overarching topic of mutual loyalty where I begin to question Hazony’s premise.

He makes clear that there are limits to mutual loyalty. In Hazony’s nationalistic world citizens begin forming the bonds of loyalty first to their families and from there to their local communities and to country. Historically, loyalty followed a path from family to clan to tribe and over time to nation. But that is as far as collaborative devotion can apparently reach. His claim is that without the ties of tradition loyalty toward others dissolves. What we are left with at best is a grasping of like interests from which to form political alliances with those outside of our cultural and national sphere. The default position is that members of a nation exclusively contain a limited and unique set of objectives necessary to sustain their people which are not shared with foreigners. And because there is not a universal commonly accepted principle that applies to everyone around the planet, or so he says, there is a natural constraint as to how far mutual loyalty can go. I ask myself, are the world’s inhabitants really that separate and different from each another?

Technology and a global economy join people in interdependent ways. We rely on each other for our common welfare and bounty in ways that is increasingly difficult to do at just a national level alone. International trade and cultural exchanges benefit a nation beyond what domestic practices, policies, and programs alone can do in the modern era. Not only that, but global climate change places everyone in the same existential boat. Our very survival no matter where we live is largely subservient to how global decision makers react to the scientific data beckoning us to act in a coordinated manner. Do we not jointly participate in a world marked more by what unites us than what divides us? Is not our common need to live fruitful lives in the here and now, while fashioning a plentiful future for our children, the elusive universal principle Hazony claims does not exist?

Hazony seems to have a limited view regarding the foundational thinking pertaining to political order, which emerged from the 18th century’s age of reason known as the Enlightenment. He restricts it to Locke’s reasoned claim of “perfect freedom” and “perfect equality” or in short, individual freedom, as the one grand unifying principle driving the theory of government that now dominates the West. However, I suggest expanding the notion of what qualifies as ordering principles derived from the Enlightenment beyond just individual freedom, as noteworthy as it is. Other conditions conventionally thought of as forming the basis of the good life inspire contemporary political action as well. Steven Pinker highlighted such requirements in his book Enlightenment Now (2018). In addition to freedom and happiness he identifies health and longevity; sustenance and abundance; peace and safety; literacy and knowledge; and environmental quality as critical outcomes all people should experience. Surely, attempts to ensure individual freedom and results such as those noted by Pinker together serve as a more complete unifying principle agreeable to all nations supporting a theory of government. Perhaps Martin Luther King put it best: “We are tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

To be clear, the above criticism is not a rationale for empire building. Hazony lays out quite well the pitfalls of a single multinational governmental structure. I agree the loss of national sovereignty can lead to a weakening of culture and a reduction of local decision making, both of which fly in the face of self-determination.

Be that as it may, Hazony singles out the European Union as a particularly flawed imperialistic gamble personifying the way nations should not be going. As is obvious, the EU is modeled on federalism and is populated largely with nations and citizens who want to be a part of it, especially now that the UK is gone. Advantages of the union include protection of basic political, social, and economic rights through implementation of a single market with no cross-border transaction fees; high uniform standards of food safety, consumer and employment rights, and environmental regulations; added global relations clout coming from a unified voice instead of 27 smaller voices; enhanced minority citizen rights; and more. Above all, the greatest benefit to date is the degree of relative peace throughout the European continent. After the bellicose debacles of the twentieth century this is no small achievement. I find it difficult to share Hazony’s glum assessment of the EU’s impact on governance and on the lives of European citizens.

Lest one think Yoram Hazony is simply a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, I would like to point out a fundamental point of his that popular liberalism can take comfort in. He goes to some lengths criticizing individual consent or freedom as inadequate on its own for basing a political theory. Indeed, this is the crux of his problem with the historic liberal construction of the West. Rather, he expounds on the virtues of mutual loyalty as the crucial missing component of current western political thought. What Hazony then actually does is to promote collectivism, community, and public cooperation as paramount while debasing an over-reliance on individualism. This plays right into the popular liberalism of American Democrats and European Social Democrats and says to popular conservatism in the West that its ideology is left wanting.

In summary, Yoram Hazony has prepared a sagacious defense of nationalism that I recommend to anyone drawn to a consideration of political theory, governing principles, and what is motivating the political right these days. Yet, I’m still left with the feeling that to promote nationalism without explicitly condemning its obvious shortcomings in the areas of racism and intolerance, not to mention the impracticality of isolation in a commercially globalized world, is leaving me somewhat unconvinced of Hazony’s brand of nationalism’s purity. Also, I don’t get that if in an empire one member’s national views are disregarded by the empire’s leaders it is despotism, but within the nation state if a minority’s views are ignored by a nation’s leaders it is an accepted price to be paid for the larger good of nationalism, then I see an inconsistency.

But even with these foibles I cannot support a removal of nationalism in favor of a one-world government. Nationalism is a system that may need reform, but not revolution. And thanks to Hazony, I can now better separate nationalism’s true value from the lunatic rhetoric delivered by the cast of nationalistic characters on today’s political stage.

Distributive Work Gets A Boost

Posted on April 4, 2020October 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

One of the significant consequences foisted upon the economy during the Covid-19 outbreak has been the rapid scaling of work completed outside of the office, i.e., at home. What is commonly known as remote work, now increasingly being referred to as distributive work, has been increasing over the past twenty years or so. But in its short history it never has experienced a shot of practice like it is getting now.

My guess is that distributive work is conventionally thought of across most businesses as secondary in its productive impact relative to being onsite, not unlike the way online courses have tried shaking off their reputation of being course lite. However, the severity of social distancing to break the chain of virus transmission is forcing the knowledge economy to rely on high quality distributive work to stay alive as never before. Indeed, it is in the knowledge economy, comprised of smart and skilled workers producing goods and services worldwide, where distributive work holds its greatest promise.

It may be useful to know the thoughts of someone who has pioneered and cultivated distributive work for years and is now a leading voice in the movement. Matt Mullenweg was one of the founding developers of WordPress, the digital content management system, and founder of the diversified internet company Automattic with ~1200 employees distributed over 70 countries. He continues to not only evangelize distributive work but leads a set of companies that practice it daily.

He is also convinced distributive work need not be just an off-the-shelf option management reaches for during times of disruption, but a model of productivity capable of surpassing the performance of traditional office-setting work.

Mullenweg promotes worker autonomy as key to motivation and efficiency and is much more concerned with worker output than input. While retaining some in-person collaboration, but in a much more reduced and targeted manner, he recognizes the impediments of cramming a lot of people onto a single site. A myriad of distractions such as office politics, intrusive co-workers and managers, long off-topic chats with co-workers, shared facilitates, a narrow set of expected in-house behaviors, and a feeling of having little control over likes and dislikes from the office temperature to the smell of someone’s lunch can all negatively factor into the worker feeling a lack of autonomy.

With that in mind he identifies five levels of distributive work from low to high effectiveness. To quickly summarize:

Level 1, which is now old-school, has workers using telephone and email offsite to augment their work, but with the belief that the “real” work is done at the office.
Level 2 is an attempt to recreate the office elsewhere by use of VPN and conferencing software to supplement voice and email. Most business is still mired in levels 1 and 2.
Level 3 demonstrates an intentional effort to adopt the best software and equipment available to share knowledge seamlessly and transparently across the organization. This can include good lighting, microphones, and communication tools like Zoom, Slack, and P2.
Level 4 places a premium on asynchronous and written communication, meaning to move away from an over-reliance on live interactions. The goal here is to improve the quality of decision making even if its pace is slowed.
Level 5 is where production capability is shown to be measurably improved over traditional work methods.

Mullenweg contends the manufacturing factory model of all employees looking busy at the same time and in the same place does not always translate well into the cognitive economy. By valuing quantifiable and qualitative output primarily and providing workers with the means necessary to cooperatively join forces across distance the “workplace” can be not only redefined but rendered more fruitful.

Looking for a humane and profitable opportunity amidst a global contagion may be difficult. Perhaps, refining distributive work is one such occasion.

Blame It On Spain

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Bill Ryan

I haven’t written much over the past three months. Some, but not as much as I expected to given I had a three-month period with precious few things needing productive attention and which were largely months that were mine to use as I chose. I can’t point to my lack of output to a busy schedule, or identify others as making too many demands of me, or even claim I was the victim of a damnable unexpected obstruction life sometimes throws across our paths without warning. Instead, I think I’ll blame it on Spain. After all, this is where those three months were spent.

Spain, or to be more specific, Andalusia, the autonomous southern region of the country where this time was almost exclusively passed, is a total distraction for an introverted, goal-oriented, New England-bred old man with an imagination deficit. I’m used to getting things done concretely in an environment where cultural and meteorological conditions are conducive to setting aside scheduled time dedicated to accomplishing large and small tasks every day. Especially during winter, with its sharp and biting edges, urging us poor souls to find warm shelter where we’re forced to occupy our time with meaningful indoor pursuits that keep us grounded and somewhat sane.

But winter in Andalusia generates no such exigency. Nearly every day exhibits traits seemingly designed to prevent an over-indulgence of objective-achieving activities. Plans to work on something can be easily thwarted. One’s normal laser-like focus can become refracted illuminating options for your day you didn’t earlier consider. Days can slip through your fingers with velvety abandon. Another night makes its presence and you are again surprised how smoothly the retreating day slid by like a passing skater effortlessly flowing down the paseo maritimo.

This part of Spain sends a message that living matters and we should be here on this earth to enjoy it. Rather quickly upon settling into these surroundings the senses begin influencing the brain to divert dusty patterned and sequestered thoughts and feelings outwardly toward possibilities only revealed by an abundance of sunshine filled skies and the big blue sea. The charm of Spanish culture ushers American sensibilities to a seat at any one of many cafes or bars where attentive and unhurried service awaits. Sipping this existence slowly can relax jumpy minds, reverse impatience, and if allowed, excite. Andalusia has a distinctive style shaped from a rich and turbulent history to share with those who go there willing to look, listen, and learn. It is a place confoundingly compelling and engaging and enticing. And that is why I haven’t written much in the past three months.

Arriving in Spain at the beginning of December for a pre-planned stay that involved living in a rented casa along the Mediterranean’s Costa del Sol for as long as the European Union visa laws allowed (three months) meant we were here for a relatively long haul. On the docket was a desire to visit other parts of Andalusia in addition to venturing out of Spain briefly. What eventually transpired was a two-week trip to southern Germany and Austria in late January. Other than this out-of-country trip, our time was encircled in Andalusia, including greater Malaga and the cities of Granada, Sevilla, Cordaba, and Cadiz. Also of note, this was not our first trip to Spain or to Andalusia. We rented a casa in the same locale for two months during the winter of 2015. So, we had a pretty good idea of what we were likely to face. Nevertheless, this fresh encounter with Spain expanded my appreciation of its more salient and positive traits.

High on my list of observed positive Spanish attributes, and one counter-intuitive to my own manner of being, is the Andaluz passion for life. The people strike me as very social and outgoing, especially among each other. Much time is devoted to long visits and energetic conversations, particularly over food and drink. Meals can go on for hours consuming entire afternoons or stretching late into the night. Family and community are revered. Time is gratefully committed to growing relationships. As has been observed by others assessing the Spanish psyche, the Spanish don’t live to work, they work to live.

This is not to say Spain is an unproductive country. On the contrary, it appears to function quite well. Municipal and private services abound. One observes things getting done, although patience is sometimes necessary. The manaña syndrome, or tendency to get around to task completion when one is good and ready, does make a not infrequent presence, or so I’m told. Urgency may not match northern European or American levels, but by adjusting to the Iberian pace quality of life need not suffer a decline, rather it can possibly be improved.

Another appealing feature is the weather. My, but the sun shines a lot there. Costa del sol is an apt description. Real estate agents, backed up by the country’s national meteorological agency, claim there are 320 days of sunshine per year. A harsh winter day is a cool, cloudy day with some rain and temperatures in the mid-fifties Fahrenheit. Coming from New Hampshire, this is a joy to take. Most days over the three months in Andalusia were sunny and in the sixties. Perfect winter weather!

Over recent years, I’ve noticed that I really like sunny days. Sunshine lifts my spirits, improves how I feel, and assists me in having a more positive outlook on life. These consequences appear to be having a greater impact as I age. It’s said sunshine boosts the brain’s delivery of the hormone serotonin, resulting in enhanced mood, calmness, and focus. Given my need for help in all of these areas I was very grateful for the daily solar exposure.

My daily walks were a pleasure. Energetic romps through the streets of town and especially along the paseo which followed the shoreline of the Mediterranean gave me not only exercise and time to think, but contact with the aforementioned sun. I often explored the streets where tourists did not venture, but instead where generations of local residents made their homes. Sure, they sniffed me out as someone not from there, but I was never made to feel uncomfortable. Whenever I travel I love wandering and observing people and places different from own experience. I am not so naive to know this is impracticable and unsafe to do in many locations around the world, but so far my excursions in many far flung spots has been rewarding.

To imply my stay in Spain was all comfort and leisure free of any mental exertion, leading to my dearth of writing is not completely accurate. There was another reason. I seriously tried to take my understanding of the Spanish language to the next level. This was really hard and pushed my brain to what felt at times like its limit.

Let me back up to make a disclosure. The learning of another language has been an unfulfilled lifelong desire. I studied my mother’s native tongue, German, for all four years of high school and one year of college. But as most of us know, this encounter rarely produces a proficient speaker, listener, reader, and writer of another language. Life went on and I never was able to comprehend and express myself in German beyond a rudimentary degree. Then, after our 2015 stay in Spain, I developed an enthusiasm for their language. Given its widespread use across the western world, including its growing presence in the US, I thought I could and should handle this one. I still think someday I will.

Learning a new language in one’s sixties is considered tough to pull off. I recently heard a linguist contend the older one gets the more difficult it is to learn a new language. Agreed. He went on to disclose, perhaps in an attempt to make people like me feel better, it was only necessary to learn about 500 keywords to become functional in a language. However, he didn’t say which 500 they were. Nevertheless, I persisted. And I made progress I’m happy to report.

As a base from which to build more Spanish language aptitude I had a year and a half of occasional lessons with a teacher in Mexico conducted via Skype over 2017 and 2018. This helpful introduction in combination with some more recent online grammar work, or should I say dabbling, provided me with a little background from which to extend my learning.

The approach I began with during this three-month language intensive largely consisted of trying to master those words and phrases most needed to conduct business in stores, restaurants, and other commercial contexts. From there I ventured into conversational attempts with locals. I relied heavily on two aids in tandem to accomplish this. One, the Google Translate app on my phone and two, my memory. I can’t applaud Google Translate enough. I would anticipate what I wanted to say prior to an engagement, look it up on the app, and then try to memorize as much of the text as possible. This exercised my visual memory in ways I haven’t done in years. Over time, this approach increased my learned vocabulary and communicative functionality immensely, not to mention giving my memory a well deserved workout. Before long I had a serviceable list of words and phrases I could speak in a natural manner without relying as much on the app. This was satisfying, indeed.

My most demanding situations were social ones, during which I tried conversing with native speakers who knew little to no English. Granted, these discussions didn’t get into great depth, but I found that when pressed I could conjure a large enough number of words to make myself mostly, or ahhh, should I say somewhat understood. To be honest, these sessions were mentally exhausting. Nevertheless, it was exciting to see myself begin to learn a new skill. As we age we typically rely on engaging in activities with which we already have some familiarity. It’s part of our chosen need to remain in our comfort zones. Trying to expand my ability to speak Spanish was a deliberate attempt to step out of that zone.

Of course, every glass is at least half empty, right? Being more a visual rather than an auditory learner in general I anticipated difficulty in comprehending the Spanish spoken word. Was I ever right. I left Spain knowing I never made as much progress in listening to people speak and understanding what was said as I wanted to. If the language is in print, it is much easier for me to process. Coming at me as verbal speech and I’m often lost. The one shred of progress I can claim in this auditory area is that spoken Spanish doesn’t sound as rapid fire as it used to. For most of my life I always thought Spanish speakers talked really fast. Now that isn’t necessarily the case. The speech now strikes me as slower, but unfortunately so is my ability to understand it sonically.

So, I have left Spain physically behind for now, but have taken a piece of it with me. I will continue to practice the language with the hope of one day being able to say and demonstrate that I can speak, read, write, and LISTEN to Spanish fluently. Also the pace of life revealed to me in Spain is one I hope to incorporate into my retired life. If not now, when as they say? And though I can’t take the Spanish sun with me wherever I go I can always carry the memory picture. I look forward to returning.

And now no more excuses. Back to writing!

A View from Spain

Posted on February 24, 2020February 6, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I have been fortunate to have spent much of the winter of 2019-2020 living along the southern coast of Spain. Occupying a rented casa near the center of an old town for an extended time, which inevitably involved engaging with locals, including commercially with shop keepers and the like, gave me a great opportunity to observe how daily economic life is lived in a place far from my New Hampshire home.

To be clear, I really do have a life outside of economic and career monitoring, but for purposes of this piece, I will focus on a small anecdotal contrast between how people conduct commercial exchange in a corner of Spain and in NH. To further set this up, note that I deliberately lived without a car and had no data plan for 3 months, relying instead on public transportation and WiFi (or Wee-Fee as they cutely say there).

These near-monastic practices aside, let me tell you a bit about my provisional Spanish hometown. Fuengirola, a small city of about 75K residents, lies along the Mediterranean coast about 25 miles west of Malaga, the big city in those parts. It is in the autonomous region of Andalusia (like a US state), which is the largest of these self-governing areas in Spain. Given that it was controlled by the Islamic Moors for about seven centuries the architecture and culture is a unique blend of Christian and Muslim influences not seen elsewhere in Europe. Andalusians have a reputation for being emotional and fun-loving. I concur.

What is most evident commercially is how old-fashioned things seem, at least to a guy in his late sixties. In NH of course we get in our cars and drive to large supermarkets and big box stores to purchase our stuff, or as is increasingly the case, we order things online and have them shipped to our homes. But here, the small “Mom & Pop” shops are alive and seemingly well. The sidewalks each day, except Sunday, are teeming with people doing their daily marketing of fruits, vegetables, medicines, clothing, breads/pastries, alcohol, and lottery tickets (Really big here!).

I must admit that despite an apparent inefficiency with going to one shop for your bread, to another for your vegetables, and to another for meat, I enjoyed the quaintness and personal touch of getting to know the people who worked at these establishments. Levels of personal service always seemed high, and I never felt rushed. Sure Amazon.es and big box stores like El Corte Ingles exist, but small brick & mortar retail is hanging on here quite well.

The cafe culture of Europe is legendary, and it is in full swing in Fuengirola. People sit with family and friends for what seems like hours chatting over coffee and beer during workdays and weekends alike. Cafes and bars are everywhere spilling onto sidewalks. The jabber is lively and boisterous and leaves a Yank with the impression that life really should be fun and lived with gusto.

I must admit I have wondered more than once, “How does any work get done around here?” But it does. It is a highly functioning, prosperous, and safe feeling community. Police presence is minimal.

The Euro is the currency. And right now, its value is only about 10% higher than the US dollar. However, prices for most commodities seem lower here. I am often struck by how much value I am getting for so little money. Granted, gasoline is more than in NH and I do not have a good sense of the costs of other energy and big-ticket items, but overall costs seem cheaper in Spain.

Also, this is a more cash-based society. My pocket often is weighed down with these heavy coins (a First World problem, I know). Sure, people use credit cards and phone pay apps, but cash is still quite prevalent.

I could go on, but I will finish by saying that one expression of a culture is how commerce is conducted. In Spain, it is refreshingly traditional and effective indeed.

The Impracticality of Too Much Socialism

Posted on January 24, 2020October 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Socialism as an answer to our nation’s economic problems just will not go away. And it is not likely to during any period, such as ours, when there is a widely accepted view that wealth inequality is too flagrant and demeaning to lower- and middle-income Americans.

Inadequate social cohesion or a feeling that society is too fractured between those that have and those who do not have enough wealth and resources, leading to a lack of shared prosperity, continues to fester in the public mind. A strong case can be made broadly identifying economic collectivism as a unifying principle, which best ensures financial stability across all class and demographic sectors. If we agree societies are best measured by how all people are treated, particularly those at the edges, then an economic system, in which production and distribution of goods and services is a collective responsibility, as socialism claims to be, can look appealing.

However, there is a serious theoretical disconnect between the widespread ends socialism proposes and the practical means of getting there, especially given the American values mindset and economic tradition, based as it is on capitalism and individualism.

Socialism prides itself on believing there really does exist a profound rational approach to achieve a moral objective. Well defined policies, detailed planning, targeted interventions, distributive actions, and data-driven predictions, all executed by like-minded proficient and professional managers will achieve universal goals from which all will benefit. All that is needed, we are told, is for the country to place its trust in a single administrative class of skillful specialists and what will follow are resources being allocated reasonably and wisely, thereby eliminating all want and suffering.

Of course, this socialist managerial group of supervisors need unfettered power and control to achieve these ends. They cannot have their time interfered with by negotiations and compromising with others who may disagree with their approaches. To do so would dilute the effectiveness of their policies. Insular command and control of the nation’s decision-making apparatus must be maintained if progress is to be realized. Indeed, a unified rationalist process is foremost in a socialist governance structure. A single on-high leading voice must be heard for economic benefits to best be disseminated.

Socialism is highly concerned with distribution. In fact, apportionment of wealth would appear to be the only concern we need to address. What is glaringly absent in socialist rhetoric is barely any mention of production. Where does the money to be distributed come from? As best I can make out, socialist production is to come from mandated and deliberate economic planning, supported by a commonly accepted ethic stating we are all in this together and therefore we will all work for the common good, like it or not. Can we look to examples throughout history where this has successfully worked? China and Vietnam, maybe. Are these realistically models for the United States?

There are those who give rise to wealth. Entrepreneurs, corporatists, and businesspeople generate economic value, but they are disparagingly referred to as the problem, because they hoard wealth for themselves and their ilk. Raiding their coffers is just and fair, because they are greedy and self-interested, or so the rationale goes.

Perhaps socialists and far-left liberals should find solace in the meaningful ways socialism has already permeated our lives at a policy level. Let’s face it. We already are partly socialist. Social security, Medicare, Medicaid, labor protection laws, minimum wage, industry subsidies, government mandated work standards, and soon to be universal healthcare are obvious examples. The political debate is about balancing socialism with free-market neoliberalism, not choosing one solely over the other.

No one ideological group holds the all the required reason and knowledge to dictate a one-size-fits-all economic order. A mix of views debated vigorously brings any hope all constituents’ interests will be addressed.

My Secret Friend

Posted on December 30, 2019December 30, 2019 by Bill Ryan

Short story from late 2019

I have seen you closely. I have seen you from afar. Your story reverberates in a continuous loop that saddens, warms, and captivates me. I can’t and won’t turn away from you. Ever.

You clearly remember the whoop of excitement ringing out from your colleagues working closely by you in the kiln test pit the group was carefully revealing. One group member, Madeline, called to you by name urging you to see the pottery sherd they had just discovered. It was a reddish jagged ceramic fragment measuring about 12 cm by 7 cm and clearly part of a larger work given its image of a single eye with its deep red swoosh of an eyebrow flowing down the left side of a partially revealed nose bridge. At that moment you were more thrilled to hear her wanting you to join in her excitement than by the discovery of the actual artifact itself. Being invited into someone else’s joy was still a novel experience. You let the pleasure radiate for a moment before congratulating Madeline and the others on their find.

As one of six first-year students from UCLA’s graduate institute of archeology, who were all selected to participate that summer with Spanish archeological officials to assist in the excavation of a newly discovered Roman site on a hill overlooking the southeastern Andalusian coast, you were living the dream. This is what you worked and studied for, an opportunity to systematically excavate with a team of like-minded enthusiasts while being supervised and taught by masters in the field. Your emotions ranged from pride to profound satisfaction as you emerged from the long slumber of stultifying childhood into assuredness and professionalism.

You’ve reflected on that moment in the kiln test pit often. It has attained a symbolic status rooting you to a brief but significant apex in your development as a person. Sometimes you still carry regret for what might have been, but maybe not as often as you used to. Self-reflection was never something that came to you easily. Why should it? Your parents never seemed to encourage or even practice anything approaching rumination. But feeling badly for yourself. Now that always came more easily. It’s at these times you recall the meticulous unearthing of the stone column centered within the round brick kiln dating from the second to third century with people who felt like friends and remember what happiness was like.

Although being a child didn’t bring for you many moments of exhilaration there were times of contentment. These moments stemmed largely from you not minding to be alone. You actually preferred solitude most of the time. Your interests were your best friends. They consisted of situations and characters involving meeting challenges head on, overcoming hardships, clever problem solving, gutsy self-reliance, and codes of honor. In short, gallantry. However, when you read stories and watched movies replete with such incidents, they weren’t enough to fully satisfy your attraction to these themes. In your search for more information on these topics what developed was a pursuit of understanding people from far off places and times, stepping stones really which led eventually to your love of archeology.

Archeology represented for you opportunities to interact and commune with tangible links to ages in which you imagined such valiant deeds most often occurring. Your fascination began with weaponry, armor, and all things militaristic, but in time involved an appreciation of the primitive and mundane technologies, such as the development of pottery, fabrics, tools, and other material culture. You would envision simple people carving and shaping an existence out of the world as they found it. Individuals and communities battling with challenges presented by nature and fellow humans, while they also fashioned art and religion. This enchanted you. It still does.

You spent time alone in the woods and fields around your home practicing archeology as a boy. Despite knowing western New Hampshire had been occupied by peoples for thousands of years it wasn’t as if you could easily find human skeletal remains, Native American artifacts, or musket balls from early English settlers. You sure tried hard to do so, though. Rather, you learned about the historic record told by the woods themselves, especially of the many topographic mounds and cavities that told of tree blow down events from long ago, the intent of the builders behind the peculiarities of stonewall constructions, and what prompted placement of colonial era homes as evidenced by long abandoned cellar holes. You felt peace and purpose during those outdoor explorations and adventures.

As inconsistent as this may sound, another observation about your past is that you did care about what others thought of you. You cared very much, especially from members of your peer group. There were several, although few, other boys in school who shared at least part of your interest in things historic and archeological. Together you shared stories, played games, searched for artifacts, and watched movies. There was that Saturday when you and Joey made cavemen dioramas in his basement and the time Thomas’s mother took three of you to visit America’s Stonehenge in Salem. These are still good memories. But for the most part you were seen as aloof and well, weird. You realized quickly how feeble your attempts to interact with regular kids often led to embarrassment and self-doubt. It became easier for you to retreat into your own safe self-devised frameworks.

Of the little more than 500 students in attendance at your high school, coming as they did from your downcast hometown, a former cotton and woolen textile mill town having seen better days, there was hardly anyone you really knew or cared to know. The feeling seemed to be fully reciprocated. Not many of them wanted to know you either, except for you to serve as a ready recipient of teasing, bullying, and general harassment. There was a rock hound club that met after school on Tuesdays, which came close to an interesting school activity. However, the teacher who ran the club was young and although he had minored in geology, he wasn’t terribly inspiring. The numbers of student members attending continued to drop. It’s fair to say, your time in that school was often a silent and lonely hell.

You were smart, though. Grades throughout high school were very good, such that it wasn’t a stretch for you to get accepted into the University of New Hampshire to study anthropology, which you planned to use as a launch pad into your eventual field of archeology. Your time at UNH was certainly a life improvement. It got you out of your hometown and meeting other people. There were a few you could actually call friends. Not being into the college party scene disadvantaged you socially, however. There was a lot of time spent in your room and at the library. Overall, you were more accepted in college, enjoyed your studies, and continued meeting with success academically. You also found yourself wanting to stay in Durham more than returning to your parent’s home when school breaks came.

Then during your senior year came the big break! Acceptance to the University of California Los Angeles’s graduate institute of archeology with a generous financial aid package. You felt elation at the prospect of living so far from home studying a topic that always spellbound you and at a university that seemed alluring and exotic. The Westwood section of Los Angeles was trendy, bustling, and engaging with a warm winter and a cosmopolitan atmosphere. You dove into your classes and other program offerings at the institute. You enjoyed the city’s diversions. And what started as an intent focus on the historic story behind buried artifacts quickly turned into an appreciation and enthusiasm for disseminating this rich body of knowledge to localities and communities hungry for specific information about their pasts. You thrived on opportunities to share the work being done on conservation and field projects with community groups, museum guests, and public school students. The more subject matter you absorbed the more you wanted to share it with others. Occasionally, a thought would actually cross your mind that you might enjoy becoming a teacher in addition to an archeological research expert and scholar.

Given the related pursuits of your college peers you made friends and acquaintances surprisingly easy. These relationships began simply enough due to assigned collaborations on class projects, but in time several of these interactions developed into true friendships — some of them the most genuine and satisfying of your life. Over the course of your first months in LA, it was as if a great weight of insecurity and dearth of confidence had been lifted. Your intellectual self was merging with a social identity, creating in you an certitude and conviction never before realized. Optimism started to make appearances into the back streets and hideaways of your days. You had never been happier.

Alas, this gratification, this enlightenment, this indulgence was not to last for you. About a month into your second year at the institute you received the frantic call from your mother in New Hampshire. There had been an accident involving your father. Your dad had a small excavating business, which he had started as a young man after a stint in the Army. He generated a small name for himself in your area and managed to secure just enough business to keep your family afloat financially. Each fall it was his habit to pick up as much work as possible before the winter settled in when he would again rely on his snowplow. This fall was no different. One late afternoon in mid-October your dad was operating his bulldozer alone at a remote site some distance from town. He apparently stepped out of his machine to pull on something of interest from the freshly scraped earth when the idling dozer suddenly advanced pinning him to a large white pine. He wasn’t found until the next morning. You were told with precious little tact by the land owner that he was found unresponsive with a swollen blue face and well beyond the use of any life saving techniques. Your mother was called by the police and told an investigation was ongoing, but that it appeared this was simply a “tragic accident”.

You are an only child. And in your family in-depth disclosures of feelings were never typical conversation topics. Hearing your mother’s anguish on your phone was unlike anything you had ever heard before. Her voice was so profoundly sorrowful. This sound shocked you more than the actual news of your father’s death. There was no question, but that everything you had going on at UCLA would have to be immediately dropped, so you could be with your mother straight away. In a stupor, you arranged to fly from LAX to Boston and from there took a Dartmouth Coach to Lebanon where you had arranged for a ride to take you home. The silence and darkness that awaited you in your house was more than unnerving. Your mom was sitting alone in her easy chair. She looked up at you once when you turned on the light, but said nothing. She didn’t need to. The woeful look and swollen eyes said enough.

Your mother needed help and you had just lost your father. You were unquestionably in mourning for both of your parents, but the event didn’t paralyze you. It felt odd to you that you could carry on with burying your father and helping your mother put one foot in front of the other. In retrospect, you see it was a show of strength. But at the time, you were just doing what needed to be done. Not to say any of this was easy for you. Once your dad was laid to rest there was the matter of closing his business, dealing with his creditors, finding other excavators to complete his unfinished jobs, and selling off his equipment. You approached these tasks as if they were school assignments. You researched, formulated strategies, developed processes, and implemented each step systematically. This approach would have been improbable had you not had the training provided to you in college. For that you were grateful.

There was never any going back to normal for your mother. She descended into an incoherent, depressed, and agitated state, which fluctuated greatly. Not very social to begin with, she withdrew almost entirely from friends and the community. Continuing her office administration job at the furniture and lighting fixture retail store where she had been employed for years was impossible. Anxiety ruled her days. She would veer from days of staying in bed for hours upon hours to pacing around the house during early mornings, because she couldn’t sleep. Soon it was clear to you that by remaining a constant presence in her life was helping her to achieve relatively functioning plateaus. This realization solidified a decision you were hoping to avoid. You were not going back to Los Angeles and school.

Your degree in archeology was never completed. You never accepted this. Why should you? Rather, you only surrendered to it. This distinction left you feeling forsaken. Nevertheless, the pressure to find work took hold. The thought of your mother losing her home in addition to the upheaval her life had already become turned into an urgency. Fortunately, in short time your passion for learning and your disdain for taking a less than stimulating job combined to crystalize a pursuit you never considered before.

While walking in your old woods one afternoon, feeling wracked with uncertainty and confusion about how to carry on with a job search, you were struck by the stature of a grand red oak. This beast of a tree was probably one hundred and fifty to two hundred years old. Being winter, only a few brown crinkled leaves remained of its crown. Still, the massive diameter of its trunk and reach of its stout limbs spoke to you of strength, endurance, and fortitude. Standing at the tree’s base you removed your gloves and placed the palms of your hands on its gray deeply crevassed bark. In the field of archeology, you were practiced at holding artifacts both precious and mundane and would feel their presence. You perceived an aura from these objects as if waves of long past human experience were being communicated to you. You found these encounters extremely satisfying.

As you pressed your hands against the magnificent oak it too spoke to you. An ancient wisdom, viscerally tasted, produced a connection between the plant and you. Minutes passed. The tree continued to transmit and articulate its message, obscure at first, but increasingly evident. The environment in which you were destined to remain rooted was heavily forested. Trees could be the living and tangible artifacts of your life going forward. A notion began to take shape, transferring your thirst for knowledge about concrete substances and materials from the past to actual, palpable, and physical entities of the present may lead to a possible path out of your despair.

Today, you are working toward building a specialty in the creation and maintenance of groves and orchards. Spaces that are often functional or aesthetic for your customers, but which are to you are sacred. Knowing things could have been different continues to interfere with what is. Your salvation, such as it is, involves being in these woodland places of light and growth where you need to forget what was and envision what can be.

I remain ever hopeful for you.

The Good and Bad of Personality Testing

Posted on November 28, 2019February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I’ve always been fascinated by personality tests, in particular the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). As a young education major many years ago, focused on the psychology of growth and learning, it seemed natural to accept a need to categorize people, whether students or employees with all their variability and complexity, into types, identities, and groupings. I came to believe that this knowledge could be used in many organizational ways including team building, workplace efficiency, student body cohesion, leadership training, personnel development, and general hiring to name a few.

Today, there are many personality tests on the market with the MBTI remaining among the most popular in use with HR departments and management/training teams. DiSC, Color Code, CliftonStrengths, and Insights Discovery are also well known tools in this field. Other personality inventories are continuing to come on the scene as the science of type and application of AI becomes more refined.

We are now looking at a $500 million industry with future growth rates estimated to be robust. Corporate, and in some cases small business America, are always in search of higher efficiencies. Some see personality testing as a means of achieving such an outcome.

Business leadership may ask themselves, “Why wait for organizational culture to evolve when it can be shaped and structured according to my wishes?” As flippant as this sounds, there may be a sound rationale embedded in the question. Throwing a group of people together in the hope that company goals will be realized based on the strengths and experiences as seen on resumes and evaluations alone may be strategically weak.

Individuals bring a myriad of personality characteristics, some of which may translate into positive contributions, while others may interfere with business processes. Applying tools that assist management in assessing their direct reports’ strengths and weaknesses more effectively could potentially result in more efficient sorting and assignment of talent.

A doctrine underpinning personality testing is that there are no bad people, only bad fits of people. Someone who fits well with kindergarten students will probably make a lousy state trooper and vice versa. Cooperation, collaboration, and camaraderie are critical soft-skill practices for any workforce. Establishing conditions to encourage developing these soft skills can be a worthy management goal. If the edges of chaotic interpersonal dynamics can be smoothed and negative workplace politics mitigated, then why not intervene with data internally yielded by widespread use of personality inventories? It stands to reason productivity will be improved within a more satisfying work environment.

A powerful criticism leveled for years concerns the lack of scientific validity of personality tests. Indeed, the MBTI is the least scientific of them all despite its prevalent use. Based on type theory developed by Carl Jung, a psychologist contemporary of Sigmund Freud, it can be said to be more art than science. Despite the MBTI’s uncanny ability to accurately identify a range of personal attributes as noted by the many people who have used it satisfactorily, including myself, there remains a persistent skepticism of its applicability due to a lack of experimental stringency regarding its claims.

Additionally, there are claims by workers of being denied promotions, hiring, or leadership opportunities because of personality instrument results. Is it reasonable to expect there will be misapplications of these tests by managers whose skills lie in areas outside of psychology? As one who was trained in the interpretation and administration of the MBTI, I can attest to the deep levels of complexity and nuance to be considered in its use. Worth mentioning also is the likelihood of having employees who simply are uncomfortable with the ‘hocus-pocus’ of anything based on psychology.

Whichever test is used, there should be trained professionals involved in an appropriate application of results. Regardless of potential downsides, personality instruments can occupy a favorable and constructive place in organizational management.

America’s Challenge

Posted on November 26, 2019December 30, 2019 by Bill Ryan

An opinion written during the fall of 2019

The great challenge for the people of the United States as we move deeper into this century is to extend the privileges of democratic engagement, economic opportunity, and the capacity to shape cultural assimilation and definition within an increasingly complex and diverse citizenry.

For more than 240 years America has been continually faced with an epic mission presented to us by the nation’s Founders. It was simply to create a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Doing just this, however, has been anything but easy. Demonstrating democracy with its inherent need for political participation and engagement within a pluralistic society, one which is comprised of traditional and shifting ideals and principles, has been and continues to be an existential exercise of both profound significance and enormous difficulty. Despite all of the practice and history we as a people have with perfecting democracy there is much progress yet to be made.

It can be disheartening to realize there is no fully successful period we can look back to over the past two and a half centuries to claim American democracy had reached superiority. At no time has there been a commonly shared fortune of power apportioning, wealth allocation, or a broad set of mutually recognized voices determining who we are as a nation. Power and wealth tend to concentrate among those making up preferential groups. Historically, governments were organized around the ideals of aristocracy or some other form of autocracy, in which it was widely accepted that all-powerful authorities held reign. America was supposed to be different. Our revolution stated control was to be self-assigned equally. All would have a say in how the pursuit of happiness was to be achieved. To date, we have fallen short in honoring and realizing this value.

As socially divergent as America was from European aristocracies at the time of its founding the country simultaneously carried the burden of class and race segregation adopted from Europe. While we were giving expression to Enlightenment principles at a scale never before done in the history of the world, we were also furthering many of the features of group domination over those people deemed to be weaker. This was consistent with despotic rule. Our country’s story is replete with examples of dominion, most often by white male and monied interests, lording over ethnicities, races, and genders not fitting into this Euro-centric mold.

Each generation has included and elevated those individuals with passions for universal fairness, inclusion, and equality. Though up against great and at times insurmountable odds these circumspect and forward-leaning patriots have led movements and missions that over time have integrated deep-seated and liberating levels of egalitarian practice and recognition among the people. Prime examples include ending slavery, child labor, and civil rights discrimination, while instituting women’s right to vote, labor unions, and gay marriage. Now, as we burrow into the 21st century we are acclimated as a people to readily voice fairness concerns when any group is disenfranchised, including even those who once represented cultural, racial, and economic leadership.

This time is no different. Discrimination and racism are still with us. The needs of large swaths of Americans are underserved and underrepresented. Cultural and economic ascendancy for a finite few can easily be recognized. In short, the rewards of prosperity and inclusion are not widely enough distributed. Inequality continues to reign, justice is denied, dreams are unrealized, and lives are unfulfilled.

However, while we remain stuck in social disparity America’s challenge at this point in its history does present a unique arrangement of conditions. The current conflict is centered on two major problems, one primarily economic and the other cultural. Economically, we are living with the consequences of decades of neoliberal, free market fundamentalism in the corporate sector that has boosted Gross Domestic Product and for the most part Wall Street, but has not lifted the living standards of all citizens. Secondly, we are now in the midst of a long-term demographic realignment that is presenting as an increase in the numbers of formerly minority populations of African Americans, Latinx, and Asians with a corresponding decline in the percentage of the overall population occupied by Euro-based Caucasians.

Both of these significant phenomena, which are occurring simultaneously, require not only weighty political interventions, but an all-hands-on-deck grappling of what it means to be an American. To repeat, the Founders laid down a dare for themselves and for future generations—are we going to fashion a representative government that allows everyone to participate in national gain or are we going to continue the long unjust and inequitable governing traditions of our past? This choice is unmistakable and unavoidable. What follows are thoughts concerning the achievement of successful results on both fronts, in particular regarding democratic engagement, economic opportunity, and cultural inclusion.

••••

The basic economic outcomes being sought by most people adding up to a decent life are not complicated. Nor should they be elusive. They include employment with fair pay; safety and security for oneself and one’s family; an ability to be educated and to educate one’s children; having a long-term home; good healthcare; and means to live a dignified retirement. Relative equality in these critical and much desired areas should not be too much to ask from the citizens and leaders of a rich country. When there is widespread cultural adherence to the values of social justice and universal opportunity these outcomes should result. However, given 11.8% (2018) or 38+ million Americans live below the poverty rate (family of four living below an income of $25,465) and with many others living close to this edge we are faced with a reality that too many citizens are not realizing basic humanitarian living outcomes in this country.

There doesn’t appear to be prevalent agreement that the conditions stated above are a problem. For example, a common refrain heard from supporters of President Trump is that too many losers, troublemakers, outsiders, criminals, perverts, etc. are quick to take handouts from hard working average Americans who are having all they can do to make ends meet. The idea of giving healthcare to illegal immigrants yearning to be American, for example, is particularly upsetting. In general, poor minorities are seen by many as somehow deviant. Since they were not raised with all of the same values and behaviors, never mind the looks, of the white dominant class they are not worthy of assistance or care. It’s worth noting 76.5% of the U.S. population is white and that proportion is in decline. Moving beyond systemic racism must precede debates about what is fair and what we should expect from one another as Americans.

Acceptance and inclusion of all people able to call themselves American must occur before the fruits of economic well-being are to be shared in a reasonably equitable manner. Cultures historically seem to have a default mode of self-imposed segregation and preservation rather than an inclination toward tolerance of differences and assimilation. As the late Samuel P. Huntington, a political scientist, wrote during the 1990s, sustaining the characteristics of civilizations will continue to shape the nature of global politics more powerfully than ideologies or even nation states. Culture, or the traits that define shared behavior and thoughts, form the underpinning of the organizational development of like citizens known as civilization. The visceral power of culture and by extension civilization cannot be understated when determining the interactions of people around the world.

America claims to be exceptional. Our unique founding with its philosophical foundation based in republican ideals rather than centered in a single ethnicity or conventional heritage makes our experiment extraordinary. Despite the culturally English and monarchical background of the founders they nevertheless were inspired to institute a representative democracy, a form of government never before brought to such a large scale. Fundamentally, this was an expression of the nation being of the people and not the sole possession of any family or divine ruler. By declaring itself as a representative democracy the young nation announced to the world that this place was different, better, and welcoming. This concept was and still is revolutionary.

Given our history of not entirely living up to a pervasive representation of all members of our diverse society and also given the present moment of our political polarization, it is of great importance that all Americans unite culturally, societal, and enthusiastically to reassert our collective pledge to honor universal inclusion of all Americans, no matter one’s race, ethnicity, background, or religion, and to dismantle any remaining barriers or future designs intended to discourage full democratic participation. As the American writer-activist James Baldwin put in in the 1960s, “We are trying to forge a new identity for which we need each other…”. We are indeed.

Principal impediments to this ideal are expressed by antiquated beliefs of racial purity, a long-standing expectation that minorities should aspire to conditions set by the dominant class, and a profound inability to comprehend the perceptions and prospects of those born and raised in other communities and circumstances. These handicaps lead to disjointed interactions among the citizenry with the result being some people are disenfranchised while others belong. And it is difficult for the in-crowd to see this disassociation. Psychiatrist Karl Menninger once wrote, “It is hard for a free fish to understand what is happening to a hooked one.” Hard, yes. Impossible, no.

The United States of America has achieved iconic greatness as evidenced by countless countrymen and countrywomen bearing and fostering lives of delectation, purpose, and abundance. America’s challenge, therefore is that there should be no rest, no complacency, and no satisfaction until collective purpose as exemplified by general opportunity, means, and fellowship are afforded to each and every American. It is what we owe one another as allied compatriots.

Shareholders, Stakeholders, and Careers

Posted on October 27, 2019February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

When an assessment of a long-term economic operating procedure and theory becomes a key element of debate during a presidential election, then the practice in question, and its rationale, has reached a level of weighty significance. Such is the ongoing case of a possible post-neoliberal corporate economy. Neoliberalism, a commonly used term by economists referring to the late 20th century style of free market fundamentalism, is facing its biggest challenge to date.

Going back to the mid-century writings of Milton Friedman, which focused on monetary policy, taxation, deregulation, and privatization, there has been widespread acceptance of his economic philosophy of unfettered free markets as the best way to support both a free society and national economic wellbeing. The economic low tax, low regulation, and small government principles of the Republican Party continue to be driven by the Chicago school of economics, of which Friedman was a principal contributor.

A current widely held view, particularly by the political left, and increasingly the center, is that this neoliberal style of capitalism has led to well documented wealth inequality being blamed for much of our economic and political angst today. It is argued that despite the claim of free markets as best providing economic expansion, the benefit of such growth is limited to a small and wealthy segmented slice of the population and therefore is an inadequate model for the greater good.

To a large degree, the public debate emerging in the presidential election race is a referendum on whether free market economic conservatism first preached by Barry Goldwater, a Republican presidential candidate in 1964, is relevant any longer when so many Americans are struggling to maintain a middle-class lifestyle.

Shared prosperity is the new buzz term. It suggests that a system, including government and private business, should together have a more inclusive outlook about how generated wealth should be diffused across the country and citizenry. This contention goes on to state that wealth inequality is not just unfair, but contrary to robust economic growth, because most of the people who would spend broadly for goods and services are unable to do so if capital is sequestered to the richest top strata. In other words, there is a call for both social responsibility and economic invigoration.

To take this thinking to the employment level, especially among corporations, it is enlightening to look at the production and governance paradigm used by many large businesses. Friedman advanced the notion of shareholder primacy. Shareholders assume the greatest risk through their investments and therefore should receive the largest reward. Employees and management exist to create wealth for shareholders. Plain, simple, and very hierarchical.

It turns out however, there are other stakeholders within or close to a corporation who also have a vested interest. They include employees, management, and the ancillary businesses relying on corporate success in their communities. Marginalizing these other stakeholder groups can minimize the financial gain they receive.

Milton Friedman once said, “Few trends could so thoroughly undermine the very foundation of our free society as the acceptance by corporate officials of a social responsibility…” (Adam Smith Institute). Extrapolating from this belief to the practice of shareholder primacy is not hard to do. Could exceptionally high executive compensation also stem from this persuasion?

And what of your career? I hypothesize not many employees are content with simply serving shareholders. True, shareholders make possible their very jobs, but would not productivity, innovation, and morale be enhanced if there was an ethic of shared gain in corporations’ achievements? Perhaps, a more intentional perspective of collective advantage could boost profits for all involved.

The election appears poised to devolve into a silly, “Which is better, Socialism or Capitalism?” debate. Let’s not get caught up in that bumper sticker. This is a time for a serious and measured examination by all of us to decide for whom an economy is supposed to work.

Ten Poems

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Bill Ryan

Wanting

A child

Sees the clear difference

Between what she and others have

Material riches, self-worth, dignity

Not sure what is wrong

But something definitely is wrong

Work hard. Be like us.

The message others give

Nighttime hunger, outgrown clothes

No new shoes at the start of school

Fatigue, vagueness, fog, indignation

Hard to be what they want me to be

Depression, misbehavior, stern looks from teachers

Why not?

Life is unfair

Living from rental to rental to rental

Despairing parents

Missing future

Absent opportunity

She stares into space

Dying

Brain takes command

as always

to prepare for death

No more plans to make

short-term memory

loses importance

replaced by life review

decades-old events

revisited

Sleep prevails

systems slow

consciousness wanes

peace descends

Food and water

are rejected

for days and days

while the catheter

fills less and less

The body

dwindles and declines

sliding into

cocoon-like embrace

slow reach to

terminal stillness

An Old Picture

I ran across

An old picture of my daughter

Taken during the 1990s.

It makes me sad

That I can’t relive just one day

Of her at that age

Ever again.

Moments

To feel

Moods strike stealthily

Good humor, bad sentiment

Push and pull of psyche

Habits hard to break

Circumstances take control

Stronger than mind

Stronger than heart

Peer through haze

Touch habitual responses

Cultivate curiosity

Embrace growth

Gamble with uncertainty

Impulses emerge

Patterns arise

Pleasure and pain are what they are

Observe their nuance

Free of judgment

Live with what is

Like never before

Folk

Family

Wife, Son, Daughter

Extraordinary lives

Core of being

Live in love

Live in fear

Don’t be taken away

Appreciation is lacking

Immeasurable passion

Devotion to die for

The choice is mine alone

Young families

Coordinate child care

Am now free of that burden

But at what cost?

Groundlessness and self-centeredness

Poor substitutes for nurturing

Los Angeles

Density

Drone of ‘The 2’

Voices across properties

Layered aircraft

Hot days

Cool nights

Dry polluted air

The Moon shines here too

Mixed cultures

Brown skin

Interaction

So many stories

Sea of humanity

Neighborhood islands

Small houses

Eccentric styling

Reputation

Creative flow

Music and acting

Hub of entertainment

Domingo

Highland Park supermercado

Barbacoa de pollo e carne

Bueno con cerveza fria

Walk along Verdugo

LA middle class

Din of cars

Birdsong background

Orange

Orange needles, once green, lie on the ground

Orange leaves cling ever tenuously to maple trees

Ripe pumpkins sit on a stonewall

Passing light displays an orange radiance

Once inside, the first warming fires cast an orange glow

The calmness of yellow merges with the urgency of red

To signal the demise of summer and winter’s inception

This pigmented time of year produces associations

And reminders of traditions

Walks across campus quads and leaf strewn trails

Establishment of studious and productive mindsets

Plans made previously unfold with predictability and anticipation

Gardens put to bed and warm weather paraphernalia packed away

Sweaters and corduroys briefly forgotten are reintroduced

Oaks foretell mice, chipmunk, hawk, and fox populations

By the volume of their acorn drops

Floral life, verdant and full not so long ago, languishes

Mountain sides pop as palettes of complexion

Auburn crowned birches lean over running brooks

Lakes reflect angled beams of light, yielding their annual shimmer

Air carries the pungent smell of decay and disintegration

Cool air prompts more campfires

There is still dried pine to eliminate

The flames dance with orange brilliance

Against hard granite stones

Staring for hours into the blaze

Contemplating the present moment

And the frigid winter to come

Dogs

Their soulful, expressive eyes

Short fur on tops of heads

calling to be stroked and scratched

Layers of affection and anxiety

We finessed, managed, and loved them

for so many years

Rusty was the first

When I was a little boy

The big shaggy Collie didn’t last long

Chasing cars, chewing shoes

My earliest remembered profound sadness

to know he had been given away

Kemo came from a New Bedford shelter

My life partner loved dogs

We tried together to keep him

Nervous, desperate, unpredictable

“Damaged goods” is a usable phrase

to best describe the poor boy

Karga was on loan for a year or two

A huge German Shepard and

gentle giant

Diligently guarding our son’s home birth

in a rural New Hampshire farmhouse

Sikkum, the Lhasa Apso

could turn women’s heads

when I walked him on Concord streets

Our boy’s first dog

who required more patience than I showed

Ahh, Else, the “girl biter”

The Chocolate Lab lasted fifteen years

A true family dog

Was present when our daughter arrived

Beautiful dog, loving relationship

who would sell her soul for just one more bite

of food

Elwood, a most handsome German Short-haired Pointer

needed a new home

We were seduced by his tri-color palette

but tested by his fears

which grew worse over nine years

We all tried so hard

We all tried, Elwood

Regal Tess had been abandoned

An aloof and strong-willed Standard Poodle

who preferred women over men

A curly gray ghost with a singular agenda

that was hard to penetrate

I think, but am not sure

she was grateful for what she was given

Pepper stayed for her final eighteen months

Her old owners had to depart

for a nursing home

She departed for our home

A ragamuffin mix of Terrier this and that

My only regret is that

she had not spent her whole life with us

Ernest came to retire in New Hampshire

from urban California

Our first hound. A howling experience

Between us he sat

on cold winter days and nights

before the flickering woodstove

melting our hearts

Cringeworthy

An uncomfortable

but valuable (I think)

phenomenon is occurring

now that I’m retired.

Unprompted and spontaneous memories of

stupid-ass,

embarrassing,

awkward,

tactless,

faux pas situations

I committed

over many years

are stinging my consciousness.

There are many years to cover

and numerous instances on which to reflect.

Having stepped into it

as frequently as I have

gives my deep memory

much grist for my mental mill.

Why this is happening

I am not sure.

Perhaps I’m primed

for a life review

coupled with a slap

upside the head.

God knows I deserve it.

My response

after my initial cringe

is resolve.

Live more present.

Observe more acutely.

Be kinder.

Reach out intentionally.

Add and not subtract

from future interactions.

Beats just feeling like shit.

Rooted Aimlessness

Physics takes a recess while

disparate experiences blend.

Dream-like views prevail and

suggestion becomes what it is.

Like counting blueberries picked

during moments leading to death.

Also, weather becomes predictable

like it has all happened before.

Mothers and fathers fade away

while suns burn hot.

The aging actor only gets roles

for characters who are old.

Nurses heal, teachers teach, and

everyone tries to carry on.

The bridge’s incline keeps rising

leaving me scared to gape over the peak.

Peering into the eyes of dogs and horses

is like seeing life itself.

I miss the country when

I’m too long in urban sprawl.

Can I please be excused?

Factor AI into Your Career Plans

Posted on September 26, 2019October 2, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It does not matter what career field you are in, anything from finance to fashion is being and will increasingly be impacted by Artificial Intelligence or AI. Whether you believe AI will create lives of no-work luxury for us all or will end civilization as we know it, our challenge in the 21st century is to understand and participate in shaping AI’s repercussions. Therefore, when pondering your career long-game a critical planning component is to consider the impact AI will have on what you do for a living.

So, what is AI? I like Kathryn Hume’s working definition (Director, Product & Business Development Product for Borealis AI), which is that AI is whatever computers cannot do until they can. This implies that AI is a moving target, compiling and sorting vast amounts of data one year to leveraging machine learning that promotes employment obsolescence the next.

What once passed for AI is now integrated into standard operating procedures across many industries. Currently, we are wondering about and bracing for unexpected consequences derived from ever more sophisticated machines “thinking” like superhumans.

AI certainly engenders anxiety. Sam Daly (Builtin.com) reports on a 2018 survey in which 72% of respondents conveyed concern for human jobs being subsumed by technology. Even Elon Musk of electric car and SpaceX fame refers to AI as more dangerous than nukes. And of course, the current US Presidential campaign includes a candidate, Andrew Yang, who showcases a universal basic income for all Americans to help offset the workforce changes and employment displacement being caused by increased automation or AI.

Given this AI anguish, what is a career planner to do? To begin, it may help to view AI as something old-school, as in business development processes which require change management procedures aimed toward adoption of innovations which lead to competitive advantages. In other words, AI may be no more threatening than any other big change. In this case, the adjustment is in the area of human-machine collaboration. (But we did that once during the Industrial Revolution, right?)

Also, let us not think of AI as Alien Intelligence. There is nothing otherworldly going on here despite how opaque AI may seem to the layman. AI is constructed by the design and application of algorithms, which are sets of executable instructions leading to an output. Algorithms can be written to consist of one or many criteria or inputs, ranging from if…then… statements to text, images, videos, voice, and more. As the algorithms become more complex it can be unclear which criterion establishes dominance, but this does not diminish the validity and importance of the outputs.

The quality of the inputs determines the caliber of the results. For example, if data sets that “train” algorithms are too narrowly selected, i.e., too old or demographically skewed, then that limits the scope of the output. We can think of such algorithms as biased. When relying on AI to plan market capture strategies, for instance, this can matter a lot.

“Decisions” made by computers can also be fickle, as in different from one day to the next, requiring retrospective pattern analysis. In short, algorithms now are good at processing relatively restricted tasks, but far from totally taking over the universe of human capabilities.

Many professional job descriptions will change due to AI. To prepare, develop a nimble and adaptable perspective to change. Do not wait to have your job transformation be forced onto you. Get out in front of the inevitable and think, for example about how AI can be used to eliminate mundane parts of your job to free you up for more innovative endeavors.

Influence the way AI can improve your performance and the service you provide. By thinking critically about what AI can and cannot do you have a better chance of determining your professional relevance moving forward.

The Bob Pearson Writings

Posted on September 13, 2019September 13, 2019 by Bill Ryan

THE BOB PEARSON WRITINGS

Preface

I first met Bob Pearson during early September 1981. A group of teachers were having a start-of-the-new-school-year party at a colleague’s house after school one day. I had just started teaching in the Concord, New Hampshire school district with the wonderful Barbara Pearson as one of my teammates. Fortunately, she brought her husband Bob, another Concord educator, to the gathering and he and I hit it off instantly. Bob and I were close friends from that time until his passing on June 28, 2019, five days after his 87th birthday.

I found Bob to be a cultured local. He lived his entire life in either Penacook or Concord, but he developed a veritable passion for education; literature; classical music, including opera; film; politics; travel; and theater. I enjoyed my times with Bob immensely and learned a lot from him, often over bourbon. My greatest lesson however, and one I don’t believe Bob ever intentionally tried to teach me, was how to conduct a life well lived. Such was Bob’s.

Over the last two years of Bob’s life he and I shared pieces of writing. I like to think that my encouragement aided him in this pursuit, despite his declining health. Regardless, Bob wrote and in some cases resurrected about twenty pieces, many eclectic anecdotes or memoir tales of stand-out events from his life, while others are fiction and poetry samplings. All are descriptions containing his characteristic grace and humor. These pieces are collected here roughly in the order in which I received them from Bob.

From memorable events of life to imaginative flights of fancy, Bob Pearson paints his narratives consistently with a goal to entertain. This was often his purpose and it didn’t require much effort on his part. He was a natural performer. I encourage readers to sip these stories slowly and to enjoy—perhaps over bourbon. Bob would be touched.

A STRANGE DAY IN JULY

It started as a silly game—who could throw a rock farther into the lake? Of course, my

Uncle Pete always won—I was only twelve—but then we moved on to stone skipping and the score evened up just a bit. He usually got a few more skips, but sometimes I won. Then we kicked it up a notch.

The lake near his cabin had a wide inlet, about 25 feet across. We would stand on opposite sides and try to skip the stones so they would actually land on the shore. The game was to keep the same stone going between us for as long as we could. A lot of the stones went to their watery graves, but after a while we got three or four stones going back and forth. Those we finally set aside as the very best.

We had bigger plans for the game—maybe a championship tournament with trophies. But those plans were put on hold until Uncle Pete came back from Iraq. But the army pulled a dirty trick—they sent back another man.

My Uncle Pete was easy going, always laughing, always ready to try almost anything, always thinking of a new adventure. I wanted to be just like him when I got older. This other man was bitter and quiet and always angry He didn’t talk much and when he did he said awful things about himself. Nothing I could say to him mattered. He would sit for hours that July, just staring out at the lake and brushing back the empty sleeve where his pitching arm used to be. No more baseball, no more skipping stones, just sitting and staring and complaining. Any suggestion I tried to make was met by a “no” or a grunt or a shake of the head. Even worse was a quick, “I can’t do that anymore”. He was defeated and so was I. I wanted my Uncle Pete back again. I don’t know what happened that July day, but somehow I got up enough courage to try to shake him.

“Uncle Pete, can’t we just try some stone skipping?” I asked him. “What are you, blind?” he spat out. “You know I can’t do that. I can’t do anything”, and he slapped his stump hard enough to make him wince. “You could maybe use your other arm,” I suggested. Uncle Pete’s face got red. “Leave me alone, Jack. Go play with your rocks”.

But I kept at it and Uncle Pete’s face got redder and redder and his voice got louder and louder as he repeated “ I can’t! I can’t!.” Just when I thought he was going to strike out at me, his voice got quiet and cold.

“All right, Jack”’ he said. “You need convincing that I’m crippled, don’t you?—that I’m useless, and not good anymore. You’re cruel, Jack, you are. But you’ll see. Get the stones”.

Silently we walked down to the inlet and he watched while I gathered a pile of stones from the shore and I watched him cross the tiny bridge we had built back when he had both arms. “Ready?” I asked. Uncle Pete only muttered, “You’ll see”.

At first the stones just went into the water. Uncle Pete was awkward. His left arm wouldn’t do what he wanted it to do. His face began to redden and I could hear his mantra, “I can’t! I can’t!.” But then one of his stones managed to dip into the water and emerge briefly before sinking.

I gathered more stones and for an hour we threw. I got a few all the way across to Uncle Pete, but he just shook his head and watched the stones he threw back disappear and he continued his mantra.

Finally he’d had enough.“I quit”, he yelled. “See? I told you I can’t do it! I quit!” I couldn’t let it go.

“Wait a minute. Stay right there.” Five minutes later I was back with The Stones. These were the three special stones we had saved, the ones that had skipped back and forth between us and seemed to bring us good luck. We even numbered them, backward, yes, but it had made sense at the time. Number one was painted in bronze, number two in silver and number three, of course, in gold, our own Olympic Stones.

“Not those,”’ Uncle Pete protested, “Those aren’t to be used. They’re keepers”. I said nothing. I held Stone number 1 and with a flick of my wrist, hurled it and watched it slip through the water and land perfectly on the other side.

“Try that one,” I said. “It’s a good one”. “I’ll just lose it,”’ he called back.

“I told you I’m quitting”.

“Just throw it. It’s only the bronze”.

He looked at me for a moment and I thought I saw the tiniest spark in his eye. He adjusted his fingers around the stone and threw, cringing when he heard the plop of the stone as it sank.

Without thinking I quickly tossed the silver stone through the water to the opposite side. Uncle Pete picked it up, shook his head, took a different stance and tried again. The stone went further but also sank.

My heart dropped. Number three, the gold stone, was the champion. We had planned to make it part of our trophy someday. But I couldn’t go back now. With a quiet sigh, I threw the stone. I counted five skips before it reached the other side.

My uncle picked it up, looked at it and put it in his pocket.

“Throw it back,” I cried. “That one can’t miss!”

“This one stays”, he said. “I’m never going to throw another stone. I mean it. I’m not good for anything. I’m never going to be good for anything again. I quit!” He turned his back to me and I could see his head was down and his shoulders were shaking. And I got angry.

“OK, quit then. You’re a quitter, just like you told me. I don’t know you anymore.

You’re not my uncle! Why don’t you go back? Go back to Iraq and stay there. Send back my Uncle Pete. He’s not a quitter—never was. I love that Uncle Pete. You, I don’t know. Go on and quit, ‘cause I’m quitting, too. I’m quitting on you!”

Out of breath, I stopped and I was crying, too. Uncle Pete turned slowly, blinking as the tears ran down his face. For a long moment he stared across the water at me.

Carefully he took Stone number three, the Gold Stone, the Champion, out of his pocket and looked at it. Then he threw with all his might, and the third stone came skipping back and landed at my feet.

A STRANGE DAY IN JULY (Version 2)

He threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back.

“Whoa!” thought Tommy, staring down at the flat, oval stone lying near his feet. He picked it up and noted that it was as curiously warm as it had been when he had thrown it out into the fog-draped water.

He had hoped to take one quiet last visit to the lake he had enjoyed so much before the family headed home from their vacation. But there was no lake to see except the narrow fringe of water between the sandy shore and the grey line of fog that blocked his view.

“Just one more look”, he had told his mother in answer to her question, “and, yes, I’m all packed.”

Irene had wanted to go with him but she still had to determine which of the rocks and driftwood would fit into the nature basket she was bringing home with her.

“I’ll be down as soon as I can”, the eight year old had promised him. Tommy, at 12 and wise in his old age, knew he would have some time to himself and had suppressed a small grin. “See you there”, he had called back as he headed down the path to the shore, just out of sight of the small log cabin his folks had rented every year.

He had been surprised to see the small cairn of stones piled just out of reach of the lapping water. There were no other cottages near, not for at least a mile, and no footprints on the sand. The stones hadn’t been there yesterday. Who could have left them? And why were they so warm to the touch?

He had hurled the first two stones into the fog and had heard the satisfying plop! beyond the fog line. But the third stone that followed the other two had had no sound at all.

“Strange,” Tommy said out loud. “And now this. Well, let’s try it again.”

Holding the still warm stone firmly, he wound up and threw it as hard as he could and watched as the stone flew unerringly into a small pocket in the fog and disappeared. Tommy waited. Nothing. No sound. No returning missile.

And then he saw vaguely the prow of a small boat, cutting through the heavy mist and gliding directly toward him. Tommy could see no ripples in the water, as if the boat were floating just above the lake. When it bumped against the sandy shore in front of him, he reached out and touched its side. It was warm, just like the stone.

“Somebody’s lost a boat,” Tommy thought. “Strange.”

He jumped in, hoping to find some identification, but as he did the boat suddenly jerked and backed rapidly toward the deeper water. The move threw Tommy onto the seat and then onto his back in the bottom of the boat, his feet flying wildly into the air.

By the time he righted himself the shore was out of sight and he was surrounded by the grey fog. He shouted but sensed that no one would hear him.

Suddenly he emerged into bright sunlight. He had left the fog behind and the lake was sparkling and still. The boat had now stopped as if at anchor. Tommy noticed there was no sound—no bird calls, no splashing from jumping fish, not even insects buzzing.

He looked down and saw his reflection staring up at him—so clear and perfect, like looking in the hall mirror at home. And yet, his other face had a hint of a smile that Tommy knew was not on his own. As he watched he saw the image’s smile grow wider and longer and Tommy knew this could not be happening. But still the smile grew broader and the lip parted and the mouth began to open. Tommy, mesmerized, could not move his eyes as the mouth continued to grow, indeed, the whole face began to enlarge. His reflected features, the eyes, nose and dark thatched hair ran together and blended into that awful black chasm that had once been his mouth.

He heard a scraping noise behind him and started to turn when he felt a cold, slimy something brush across his shoulders and wrap around his shivering body. The thought quickly flashed through him.

“Tentacles, that’s what they are, but this is crazy. In a lake?”

He opened his mouth but the scream died in his throat as he felt the little sucker mouths coldly attach themselves to his body like masses of tiny needles. He was now lifted up over the wide, gaping mouth and lowered closer and closer to the row of sharp, glistening teeth.

From a distance somewhere beyond the fog he heard a voice calling his name, but all he felt was the tearing of his flesh and then blackness.

“Tommy! Where did you go?” Irene stood by the lake staring out into the fog and calling. There was no answer—no sound at all.

“He’s got to be somewhere. He’s hiding on me”, she thought.

She looked down at the small pile of rocks. She picked one up and threw it, calling “Tommy” as she saw it drop close to shore. She called his name again with the second throw and was amazed by her strength when it flew over the water and into the fog. The flat, oval, warm stone was next. She threw with all her might and the third stone came skipping back.

THE MARTINI STORY

Back in the late 60’s when we were all immortal, the New England Reading Association was holding its conference in Boston and Barbara and I were invited to handle the information desk for a few hours. The textbook publishers had receptions with plenty of free food and drinks. On our modest teachers’ salaries, the word “free” sparkled like the lights of Las Vegas. The plan was simple; Barbara’s mother would stay with Liz, our three year old, we’d run down to Boston, do our two hour stint, enjoy a couple of drinks and a lavish dinner, and head for home. Simple, right?

Luckily we found a parking place about a block away from the Sheraton Hotel, reported for duty and gave out all the information or misinformation we had. A couple of sales representatives I knew dropped by with invitations to their receptions, which we cheerfully accepted. One of the reps, Ralph, insisted we come up to his party to see the view from the 23rd floor—”The best in town” he bragged.

When our shift was over, we stopped in at one of the events. The lavish feast was, well, not so lavish–cheese and crackers, small sandwiches, a few platters of mystery food, but the drinks were plentiful and more food awaited us on the 23rd floor. Barbara opted for a Martini and I asked for bourbon and seltzer. We were moderate drinkers, generally no more than two, and even then, the second could sometimes bring us a bit close to the edge.

“How’s the drink? I asked.

“I can’t taste much of anything”, Barbara answered. “I think it’s been watered down”.

I pondered that. Most reps like their clients in a happy and careless mood that doesn’t always occur with water. The pondering ended quickly when the tray came around and we both took a second drink.

While we were talking to some of the other guests more drinks were offered and, having finished the second, Barbara took a third. I raised my eyebrow and she said, “I’m just thirsty. They’re mostly water anyway”.

The tiniest warning bell sounded in my ear, but Barbara looked and acted completely sober, so I ignored it and took a third bourbon.

This time I slowed down as I remembered the drive ahead. We both sipped, although Barbara’s sips seemed larger than mine. And when her glass was empty mine was hardly dented.

“I’ll just have one more“, she said and grabbed a fourth Martini. Before I could say anything, she smiled and said, “It’s all right. They aren’t affecting me at all”, and from what I could tell, she was right. But she did slow down, while I continued to nurse mine.

Finally, when the glasses were empty, she said. “I’m tired. Let’s go home”.

“I’m ready to go” I answered. “But I did promise Ralph that we’d drop by. Let’s just go up to see the view and then head home.”

“Well,” she said, “I don’t want any more to drink.”

“Neither do I,” I replied. And that’s when I spoke the fateful words. “We’ll order a couple of drinks and just hold them until we leave. We don’t have to drink them.”

The elevator eased us upward slowly and gracefully. Sheraton elevators tend to make you feel you have all the time in the world to stop and smell the luxury. When we reached the 23rd floor we followed the sound of partiers to Ralph’s suite. There were probably fifteen to twenty people there, each with a glass in their hand. Ralph spotted us as soon as we stepped in.

“What are you drinking?” were his first words and before I could say anything, Barbara spoke up. “I’ve been drinking Martinis”, she offered. I ordered my usual.

Ralph pointed to the window. “Have a look while I get your drinks”. The view was gorgeous. Boston was spread out before us, its lights competing with the setting sun. We looked at each other and smiled; we were millionaires sharing our own private view.

Ralph appeared and handed us the drinks. Barbara sipped hers and said, “This is really good!” I just held mine. Unlike Barbara, I was beginning to feel the effects of the earlier drinks. Ralph chatted for several minutes about his textbooks and the view, especially the view. I watched Barbara take a few more sips.

Ralph left us then and we were soon joined by a young man, another rep, who also remarked about the view and then asked us where we lived. Barbara cheerfully countered with, ”And where are YOU from?”

“Well, said the young man, “I’m from California”.

“Really,” Barbara smiled. “My nephew lives in California. He’s ten and his name is Todd.” Somehow Todd’s parents had disappeared into the ether.

“What a coincidence,” replied the young man. “My son is almost ten. Let me show you his picture.” He reached for his wallet. There must have been a full moon that night, for suddenly a werewolf appeared by my side.

“I don’t want to see your damn kid,” she snarled. “I don’t care about any of your damn kids. I want to tell you about my Todd, my little Toddywink.” Where was my sweet, gentle Barbara?

The young man froze and took a step away from the glare of the werewolf and suddenly discovered someone across the room who needed his immediate attention.

A cloud must have passed over the moon because my Barbara was suddenly back. She smiled and sighed, “My Toddywink. I love my Toddywink.” She turned back to the view and raised her glass to her lips. And that’s when it happened. The glass slipped from her fingers and headed downward. Quick as a Toddywink her other hand whipped out and caught the glass at just below waist level, not a drop spilled, a sight I had never seen before and never expect to see again.. She smiled at me, raised the glass again and took a big gulp and I knew we needed to leave right away.

“OK”, she said and finished the rest of the Martini in one more gulp. It hit her hard. Her eyes were now glassy and she began to sway. I grabbed her arm and we began to weave toward the door. The young man noticed us and came to what I thought was the rescue.

“Can I help?” he asked. I nodded and he took Barbara’s other arm, led us to the door and opened it. We went through; I heard the door close behind us and we were alone in the corridor.

Fortunately the elevator was only a few steps away. As I pressed the down button I watched Barbara slip quietly to the floor and sprawl on her back directly in front of the elevator doors. If anyone had emerged at that moment, there would have been a pileup with Barbara on the bottom.

By the time the elevator arrived I had gotten her in a more or less vertical position and our luck held. The elevator was empty. I managed to get Barbara situated in a corner and we started the slow Sheraton descent. All went well until the 11th floor when the elevator stopped and the door opened, revealing an older couple dressed for a charity ball or an opera performance. He had white hair and a trim white beard and was wearing a tuxedo. She was blue haired with a gown to match. He nodded at me and then gazed at Barbara, wedged in the corner with her eyes closed. His wife glared.

He looked at me again with understanding and asked, “Do you need some help?”

“Oh, I think we’ll be fine,” I answered with false confidence.

He nodded again and the elevator resumed its stately journey. Then Barbara slumped further and I knew the challenge ahead was greater than expected. As the elevator neared the lobby, I faced reality.

“Excuse me, sir, but I may need a bit of help after all, but only to the door.”

The man nodded while his wife glared and hissed, “We’ll be late!” The man only smiled at me.

As the doors opened, we each took an arm and headed across the lobby. By this time Barbara’s knees were bent and her legs trailed after her. One of her shoes came off and his frantic wife snatched it up and ran behind us. Apparently, the Sheraton’s efforts to please included placing a cement block just outside its doors where we could ease Barbara onto it.

“Please, sir,” I begged. “Could you stay with her while I get the car? I’ll be less than five minutes.”

“Of course,” he replied. “We’re going to be very late!” his glaring wife reminded him.

I dashed around the corner, dodged the traffic and in three minutes our red Beetle was parked directly in front of the hotel. Together we managed to get Barbara to the car and spilled into the passenger seat. The glaring woman threw the shoe into Barbara’s lap and grabbed her husband’s arm.

“We are very late!” she announced.

I thanked the gentleman profusely and he nodded. “It’s fine,” he smiled. “Good luck!”

As the blue hair dragged him off, he turned back and waved and I knew he was remembering some idiotic adventure of his earlier days.

We now headed for N.H. Somewhere along the route I spotted a hamburger joint and remembered black coffee is the perfect cure for the overindulgent. I was soon back with a steaming cup of antidote, forgetting coffee only works its magic from the inside. Try as I might, Barbara refused even the tiniest sip and I had no intravenous tubing in the car.

The rest of the trip remains a haze. I remember not going too fast or too slow and concentrating very hard on painted lines. If there is a god, he or she must have a soft heart for fools, because we finally arrived safely on Jordan Avenue.

Across the street from our house was the Neighborhood Watch Society, namely Edith. Edith took her work seriously. She patrolled the street from her window on a twenty-four hour basis and duly reported any movement to other neighbors. I knew Barbara would be totally embarrassed if she were reported, so I drove the little car into the garage and closed the door.

The next task was to get Barbara inside and past my mother-in-law. The plan was to somehow walk Barbara through the dining room and up to our bedroom. But I looked at Barbara, still asleep in the car and knew it would be easier to climb K-2 without ropes and crampons than to attempt the stairs.

So it was Plan B. I rushed into the house past her mother, who by now was standing in the kitchen.

“Barbara’s not feeling well,” I tossed over my shoulder as I headed into the den where I opened the sleep sofa. “She’ll be fine in the morning,” I added as I headed back to the car.

Barbara seemed to have gained some mobility by now, even though her eyes were still closed. Half piloting and half dragging, I managed to get her to the bed and covered with a blanket. I returned to the kitchen where her mother was still standing with wide, unbelieving eyes. She had not spoken a word.

“Well,” I said cheerfully. “Can I take you home now?” She just nodded, so I checked on Liz, locked the door and we were off. Luckily, she lived only five minutes away and I made it in three.

“Much traffic?” was the only question her mother asked. No word about Barbara’s condition.

I left Mary Ellen in her apartment and made it back home in two minutes. All was well. I wrestled Barbara’s dress off and left the rest. I slipped in beside her and fell asleep immediately.

Sometime in the night I heard Liz cry and, forgetting where I was, jumped up and crashed into the den wall where the bedroom door was supposed to be. Her uncle’s handmade clock, a wedding gift, hit the floor and disintegrated, but I sorted out my location and went upstairs. After calming and watering Liz, I sat down on the floor and waited a few minutes for her to fall asleep.

When dawn struck, I found myself sprawled on the floor, Liz still asleep. A bit stiff, I went downstairs to the den. Barbara was lying on her back with her eyes focused upward. She turned to me and asked, “Where were you? And why am I down here?”

All the data of last night had been deleted. Without waiting for an answer she turned back and stared upward again. “You know?” she said. “For a moment I thought heaven looked like a dusty white ceiling.”

And that’s the Martini story. I can’t say I’m proud of my actions that night. It was foolish and dangerous, but it happened and we moved on, older and, I hope, wiser. For two years Barbara wouldn’t allow me to tell the story to anyone, but then she relented and after awhile insisted on telling the story herself. And that was that.

There are some people who insist a story like this has to have a moral. So for them, the lesson might be this: If you are intent on duplicating the glass dropping trick, don’t bother to practice: It comes naturally with the fifth Martini.

THE THIRD FLOOR BEDROOM

Arnhem, The Netherlands 1908

It all began when someone left the window open. But that was later. Now he awoke in the darkness in a strange room. He had no idea of how he had gotten there. He was hot and his throat hurt.

Slowly the images came back. He could remember only yesterday Mama crying and the doctor comforting her. “The high temperature and the rash are signs of measles, madam, but with good care and this medicine, he should recover,” he told her.

“Then he won’t die?” she asked.

“That is a possibility, of course, if we aren’t cautious, but I think he has a good chance of recovery. The important thing is to isolate him from your other children so they will not become sick also. And light―there must be no light or he could lose his eyesight.”

“Papa”, Mama said, “Where can we put him? We have no other room away from the others. And it must be dark.”

“There is the room on the third floor,” replied Papa, “the one we use for storage. I’ll clean that out and move his bed upstairs.”

“But the light,” Mama reminded him. “There can’t be any light.”

“I’ll paint the glass black,” said Papa. “That will do for now.”

The doctor left after handing Mama a large bottle of brown liquid, and Papa cleaned out the storeroom which had been a bedroom many years ago. Once Morrie’s bed had been moved and the windows painted, Papa carried the boy up to the third floor bedroom.

During the next two weeks, Morrie lay in total darkness. He saw no one except Mama, and occasionally Papa. Mama brought him food and medicine and comfort.

“Mama,” he had asked, “Why do I have to stay in the dark?”

“It is for your eyesight, darling boy,” she had answered. “We don’t want you to be blind. How could we live without your little drawings?”

Morrie’s family enjoyed the little sketches the ten-year old made to amuse himself when he had time. “It won’t be long before you will be better.”

The days passed. One morning Morrie awoke to a blinding light. During the hot August night someone had opened the bedroom window for the cooler air and had neglected to close it before morning. The bright sunlight stung Morrie’s eyes at first, but gradually things came into focus. He sat up and looked around. He was surrounded by birds―flying birds everywhere. As his eyes adjusted, he saw they were only a part of the wallpaper, old, dusty and faded, perhaps, but to Morrie it was the most beautiful paper he had ever seen.

“Morrie! The light!” Mama cried as she ran into the room.

“No, Mama, it’s all right. My eyes are good and I feel so much better. And Mama,” he continued, “I love this room. I want this for my bedroom forever.”

And so it became Morrie’s own bedroom. He sketched the birds in the wallpaper over and over again in all different positions. When he went to bed at night, the half-light from the window, now scraped clean of paint, made the birds appear to move, to gather close together and merge into each other. Morrie knew it was only a trick of the light, but he sketched them like that also.

A few years went by. Morrie continued to draw pictures of animals, of waterfalls, of abstract designs and of buildings. Buildings intrigued him. He sketched them from all angles and decided to become an architect. But he continued to draw birds also, perhaps his favorite. All these drawings he kept in a box on the floor of his closet.

When his first year at architectural school ended, he returned to Arnhem. Mama and Papa greeted him with a surprise. “Go to your bedroom,” they told him.

Morrie rushed up the stairs to the third floor and opened the bedroom door. He saw new furniture, bright curtains at the window, and freshly painted white walls. The birds were gone.

“The paper was so old and faded we took it down,” Papa explained. “You now have a new bedroom!”

Morrie was silent. His birds, the beautiful birds, were gone forever. “Thank you, Papa. Thank you, Mama. It looks so nice.” But his heart was broken.

Over the next few days Morrie pondered, then talked to Mama and Papa. They agreed and Morrie went to work. By the end of the week his bedroom walls were covered with birds flying together, melting into one another, turning into fish and back again into birds, all painted with Morrie’s sure brush.

“Ah!” Papa exclaimed. “These are wonderful! But you must share these with others! They are too good to be seen only here!”

Morrie laughed. “Yes, Papa, I intend to, and that is my surprise. I have shown my drawings to an art dealer in Amsterdam and he wants to buy them and have me create more. I have a new career, Mama! And it is what I’ve always wanted!”

“I love what you’ve painted here, my darling boy,” Mama said. “I will come up here often to see your work.”

“Thank you, Mama. But I have yet to sign this work.” Morrie picked up his brush, and in one corner of the wall he placed his signature―Maurits C.Escher.

THE THIRD FLOOR BEDROOM (Revisited)

From the Journal of Charles, August 4, 1912

I am not mad. Mother has said that I am, but she is wrong. I heard her tell Aunt Nell that I am mad and that they needed to do something. I was listening with my ear pressed against the door. Mad? Perhaps clever, but not mad.

Yes, I am clever. I know things that others do not, like how to talk with the birds. Yes, with the birds. It all began when SOMEONE left the window open. Mother never likes the window left open because it would be very easy for anyone to fall and it is a very long way down. But SOMEONE left the window open and the birds came in. They all flew in and settled quietly behind the wallpaper. They are still there. Mother says they have always been there, but she is wrong. They were not there before the window was left open. I saw them fly in and go into the wallpaper.

They are very quiet at the moment. They are resting. I hear them mostly at night, rustling their wings and cooing. Sometimes they invite me behind the wallpaper with them. I press my back against the wall, feeling their fuzzy wings behind me. I blink three times. That is the secret signal, and I am behind the wallpaper with them. We have long conversations and we share secrets. I can look out and see everything from there, and no one can see me. It feels safe there.

Sometimes when Mother unlocks the bedroom door and comes in, I hide there. “Oh, dear,” Mother says, “Charles is not here. Where could he have gone? Nell, have you seen Charles?”

Aunt Nell looks all around the room. She looks right where I am, as if she is looking right into my eyes, but she doesn’t see me. She just smiles broadly and replies, “Perhaps if we go out and come back, Charles will be here again.” They smile at each other and I watch them close the door behind them. I come out from the wallpaper and hear them laughing softly from the other side of the door. They come back in and I say, “Here I am!”

“Oh Charles”, Mother says, “Where were you?” I only smile. I am too clever to let them know I was with the birds behind the wallpaper. No one can ever find me there. Mother and Aunt Nell exchange mysterious smiles.

I am not always locked in the third floor bedroom. Almost every day I am allowed to go into all the rooms in the house to look at the little figurines and dishes in the cabinets and to gaze at the pretty pictures on the walls. I like the shiny silverware in the drawers, especially the sharp knives, but I am not allowed to handle those. Someday I might hide one in my pocket and play with it when I am alone in my bedroom, but not now.

I don’t leave the house because Mother says being outdoors is too dangerous and I should always stay inside. I have not been outside since that bad time with the neighbor’s cat. Mother says I should never have done what I did, that cats always chase birds, that is just Nature’s Way. I said I was sorry, but I was too clever to let her know that inside I was glad I had done what I did. I was sorry that the neighbor was so upset, though, and that the bird was dead. It was just before that when the birds came to stay in the wallpaper. They told me I had done the right thing and Mother was wrong about Nature’s Way.

This morning after Mother let me out of the bedroom, I explored the closets of the house. It can be fun to sit in a darkened closet and believe I am far off in a dark jungle with leaves and vines brushing my face and hair, even though I am clever enough to know it is really Mother’s dresses and belts hanging over my head.

That’s when I heard Mother telling Aunt Nell that I was almost twenty-one now and the madness was getting worse. She was afraid of what might happen if something wasn’t done and that was why some people were coming this afternoon to take me to a place where I could be cared for and watched carefully. Aunt Nell agreed with Mother and they both cried. But I just smiled because I know I am not mad. I am clever enough to know it was only a game they were playing. Mother would never send me away. They must have known I was in the closet and were teasing me.

Later, after Mother locked the bedroom door again, I told the birds what I had heard, but they didn’t laugh. They said that people might come and if they did, I had to stop them. They suggested a plan that would scare the people away.

Just a little while ago I heard an automobile come up the road and stop near the house. I watched an unfamiliar man and woman get out and disappear around the side of the house. I heard several footsteps on the stairs and Mother said quietly, “If he is standing with his back to the wall, pretend not to see him”. I don’t know what she meant by that.

Then I heard the key in the lock. I was hiding behind the wallpaper again. Mother stood in the doorway while the strange lady came in and looked around, her eyes sliding past where I was hidden in the wallpaper. SOMEONE had opened the bedroom window again and she strolled over to it. While she was looking out SOMEONE pushed her hard. Her scream made the birds rustle their wings softly, not like the time the cat fell, when they made a happy, cheerful sound. I heard a loud cry from the doorway and the sound of Mother’s feet clattering down the stairs.

Now I am looking down at the lady lying there, sprawled on the grass like a rag doll.

Mother and Aunt Nell and the man are kneeling around her. And now they look up and see SOMEONE at the third floor bedroom window. But I am safe because I followed Mother downstairs and got a shiny knife from the silverware drawer. I have locked the bedroom door from the inside. When the man leaves, Mother and Aunt Nell will come to the bedroom and I will unlock the door and show them how to blink their eyes three times. They will see how clever I have been and know that I am not mad.

The birds say the man may come back with others, but I will lock the door again. I have the sharp knife in my hand and they will never find the three of us because we will be hiding behind the wallpaper, safe with the birds.

BECKY

Will you be there

When the cold light of December

Touches down between the trees?

Girl of golden hair, so young, so thin,

Must you leave the two behind?

Eyes of one filled with wonder

Not comprehending the commotion,

The whispered stories, questions not yet answered.

The other, too occupied with little ducks and bears

Dangling noisily over the rocking cradle

To notice a life slipping slowly down the pathway.

Though memory fades with time

And you become a flattened image

Pressed between the leather coated pages,

A trace of you will remain within them

Unspoken and unknowing,

But still there.

Becky Morrissey, Died November, 1986

Written September, 1986

SHARED LAUGHTER

Seoul, Korea, 1955

Hot, bright light from sandy soil,

A small stream spread thin and rushing

Over cobblestones of red and yellow.

Women, chattering, laughing, sharing idle gossip;

Beating white cloth with rock on rock.

We stood above them on the bridge, at one with them,

Sharing our sun’s warm rays

Until we heard, from the bridge’s other side

The laughing and calling of three young men.

Soldiers, perhaps, indifferent now to life’s importance,

Beckoning us, pointing, nudging each other,

Watching us intently.

And there below we saw, rising, falling, floating in the clear bright water

That rushed toward and past the unknowing women,

Caught among the cruel and grasping rocks,

A naked corpse.

BASIC BASIC TRAINING

College graduation. The Korean War was over, but so was our college deferment. Selective Service was rubbing its hands with glee. All those newly graduated college boys were now eligible.

Signing up for the draft meant we could get it over with and if we signed up right away, as we did, we’d have the summer before the Army got around to finding us. For college graduates, we were pretty naive. Two weeks later, the letter arrived: I was to report to the Selective Service Agency on July 5th, dashing my summer plans completely.

Now, I never hated the Army. Actually, I was grateful for them sending me half-way around the world to a place I would never have seen otherwise. Basic training, however, was the fourth ring of Hell. Years later I even had nightmares that the Army had lost my papers and I was forced to go back and repeat this training. I would literally awake in a sweat.

On the appointed day, I said my goodbyes and reported to the office at 9 A.M. where I was happy to see some of my college buddies waiting. Someone gave the tallest man all the tickets and appointed him our leader. We were escorted to the bus for the Manchester Railroad Station where we were met by a gentleman who informed us we had the rest of the day free until 9 P.M. when the train would arrive. Apparently, “efficiency” was not a word the system used often.

As we gathered at the appointed time, the train rolled in, we boarded, and were off, heading for Fort Dix, New Jersey. We even had sleeping bunks, which was a novelty. I was excited to watch New York City slide by from my upper bunk.

In the morning we detrained and rode a bus to our 8-week detention quarters. We were given new uniforms and handed a box for our “civvies” to be shipped home. I imagined my parents suddenly receiving a package with nothing but the clothes they had last seen several days before filled with their son. I was sure Mother shed tears.

We were issued several odds and ends and assigned to our new living space for the duration, my classmates being scattered among the various barracks. In my barracks, at least, no one knew anyone else, but we were quick to share our misery.

Our second day was a preview of how our life would be led. After some lessons in lining up and marching and a lecture on what to do and what not to do (mostly what not) a large group of us were gathered in front of a warehouse with a platform holding several battle-scarred corporals. The weather was hot and humid, but this was New Jersey, after all. What else would you expect?

“We’ve got some jobs here for you,” said one tough older corporal. “Who has a driver’s license?” A lot of eager hands went up immediately. Although it had been my college philosophy to try to volunteer first for reports or projects as it could mean the professor would be impressed and the job would be over with, driving a truck was not one of my life’s goals, so I passed.

The corporal chose six or eight men, called them to the platform and handed each a broom. “Here,” he said, “drive these around the warehouse!” O.K, I thought. So we’re here to play games. I was immediately on guard and ready to match wits.

“All right, picking fruit. Who’s up for that?”” Although we were mostly recent graduates who should have known better, again many hands were raised. The men selected were given shovels and told, “We need to get the trees planted first”, so off they went to dig holes for the day.

This game went on with each job seeming more difficult, and I was getting more wary. When it came down to a group of 15 or so, I knew we were close to the end. I was sure the last group would have the worst job of all so when they mentioned Utilities, my brain froze. Utilities? Only telephones came to mind. I took a chance and raised my hand, as did five other men.

“All right”, said the corporal. “That’s it. The rest of you men are dismissed for the day.” We had been tricked. Again. The freed men marched off, all with smirks on their faces. We unlucky ones were lined up and marched out behind the warehouse to an enormous pile of heavy railroad ties. I should have remembered the Monopoly game, Railroads were considered Utilities.

“OK men,” said the corporal, “the ties need to be loaded onto the trucks, then we’ll show you where to unload them”. It was a very long, hot day.

What we had learned was the old Army adage, “Never volunteer”, and we didn’t. Except for R.A. We never did know his name, but we all called him R.A. R.A. actually stood for “Regular Army”, meaning those suckers who volunteered for at least a three-year hitch. Draftees were known as U.S. and served for two years.

Our R.A. was actually a U.S. He was bright-eyed and eager to please, telling everyone who would listen how great Army life was going to be. He volunteered for everything. I was sure R.A, drove his broom around that warehouse at least three times and then sought to do something else.

We thought R.A. was a bit loony, but harmless. About six months later, we heard a rumor that R.A., wherever he was, had lost it and tried to burn down his barracks. It didn’t surprise us, but we never heard any more about him.

As the days passed, we learned all the important skills of warfare, including the most basic: how to make the sheets and blanket on the bunk so tight a quarter could be bounced on it, and that meant literally; how to organize your footlocker so that the inspecting officer could find your underwear immediately; and how to buff your boots with spit and polish so the sun’s rays could blind the enemy.

I often wondered whether the idea was to confront our foes with “Nyah, Nyah. My bunk is tighter than yours!”, whereby the enemy would immediately turn and run for their barracks to practice bunk making skills, thus leaving the field to us.

Oh, we also learned how to take an M1 gun apart, clean it and eventually put it back together with all the pieces inside. And we learned how and when and who to salute. Once we learned that, some of us added a twist: when walking up to an officer, we would wait until we were nearly past him to salute, making the officer salute so fast he would usually slap his forehead.

That was enjoyable, but basic training still puzzled me: there seemed to be an undercurrent of purpose I didn’t recognize. And then one day I discovered what I was looking for. It occurred during one of our bivouacs (French for sleeping on the ground). For some reason, I forget what, I approached an officer, perhaps a lieutenant, to ask a question. Bad timing, I admit. He was holding a tray and was eating while standing. When I drew near him and saluted, he looked at me and yelled, “Git off ma mess tray!”. He was clearly a white southerner. I backed away.

“Excuse me, Sir,” I replied. “I thought…”

“Yer a sodjer”, he yelled louder. “Yer not sapposed ta thiank. Yer sapposed ta do whatcher tole ta do. Now git!”

That was the key. We were being trained as robots! Not to think, but to do. I can understand the logic. During battle, ordinary grunts can’t spend time making decisions, but just do exactly what the thinking officers have decided for us. But still…….

I began to see that others of us had already figured out what I had just learned. Little acts of subversion were becoming clear. The challenge was to think without showing any sign that we were thinking. For instance, once when a group of us were heading toward the base pub, we spied our captain approaching. Knowing his penchant for tasks for any idle soldier, we immediately formed into two lines, with the tallest man keeping cadence―“Hep two three four”. We marched past the captain, making him slap his forehead with a late salute. “Good job, men,” we heard from behind us as we continued down the road.

A more sinister act of subversion occurred at the firing range. Each man had to ‘qualify’ for target practice midway through our training. This meant firing at distant white sheets with a bull’s eye painted on them. Five or six of us lay on our stomachs, aimed our M1’s, and pulled the trigger. Each time we fired a round the target was pulled down and a pole with a number on it was raised. Hitting the bull’s eye got us a 5, piercing the outer circle got you a 1, and a 3 for somewhere in between.

After 10 rounds our score was added up and we qualified―or not. I had little hope; the only rifle I had ever fired had “Ranger Rob” painted on the side and popped out a small cork when the trigger was pulled, and that was when I was about 8. But I aimed carefully and pulled. The shot went wild, I knew. With great surprise I looked up at the score―a 3! My eyes must be better than I thought. My second shot earned me a 5, a bull’s eye, as did the third. Next I was off, only a 1, but I rallied with another 5, before settling down to a couple of 3’s.

When the ten rounds had been fired, I discovered that I had qualified. I looked around. Actually we all qualified, although with different scores. But we certainly felt proud of our ability.

Then it was our turn to pull the targets. We marched down the field and into a wide trench, safely well below the firing range. I wondered if this was where the fruit trees were supposedly being planted. Each of us was assigned a station. We were to pull the target up, wait till all guns had been fired, pull the targets down, and held up the score. Last we patched the holes, if any.

When all was ready, we heard the cry, “Fire!” and a barrage followed. We pulled the targets down. Mine was pristine. A seasoned corporal who was in charge looked at it and said, “Looks like a 1 to me.” I opened my mouth, but shut it again when he stared at me and then went on, giving similar advice to the other pullers. I held up a 1.

When we checked the next round, I saw that my man had at least hit the target, if just barely. The corporal came back. “Your guy’s improving”, he said, “Worth a 5.” I looked at him. “We’re all buddies here, Just don’t go overboard.” and with that he moved on to the next station. I held up a 5.

No wonder we scored so well. It was an act of subversion and I appreciated it. I learned later that the sooner soldiers qualified, the sooner corporals could get to the pub. It was a bit self-serving, but so what? I joined the game until all had made acceptable scores. I don’t know how R.A. handled this; he must have been horrified, but he never reported it, as far as I know.

I engaged in a bit of subversion myself at times. For instance, one day we were being trained to use gas masks and what tear gas was like. Then eight of us were sent into a large dark hut with two doors. When we heard the gas turn on we were to take off our masks, count to ten and wait for a sergeant, wearing a mask, of course, to pat us on the shoulder to go out the exit door. I was able to be the second or third man in and made sure I was as close to the sergeant as possible. At the signal we removed our masks. Damn, it stung! At the count of 4, I stumbled slightly against the sergeant, he put his hand on my shoulder to steady me and I was out! When all eight men were freed, the sergeant came out and looked at us suspiciously, but said nothing. I’d won a minor victory.

Another time we did the “Crawl Under Fire” exercise. There was a cage-like structure, maybe 50 feet long with ten lanes that led to a platform, on which sat a soldier behind a deadly looking machine gun. The whole pen was covered with barbed wire. We were to crawl toward the platform while bullets raked back and forth about 4 feet over our heads, the barbed wire keeping us from standing up, not that any of us ever considered doing that, so it seemed relatively safe, but still worrisome.

I had lucked out again; I was in the second lane (I’m sure R.A. would have gotten into the middle track somehow) and saw that after about 10feet I’d be out of range. So I began crawling slowly and then moved over to now empty lane 1, meaning I’d be crawling the last 45 feet completely bullet free. No one seemed to notice or care, but I was happy.

I have said that basic training was hell. It was, but the worst parts have disappeared from my memory, and that’s all to the good. The training was, I’m sure, necessary to condition us if another war broke out and to give us survival techniques. But I think our resentment stemmed from another source. We had been dependent on our families through high school. College had changed that; it was our first experience in what we felt was independence. Now we were dependent again, doing what we were told to do without question. The resentment was a natural result. It galled us to feel our newly found freedom had been snatched away so quickly.

One of our last activities on the base was a hike and camping out for several days, perhaps a kind of wrapping up exercise. We had to get up early, get our backpacks ready and report to the field. The backpack was supposed to carry everything essential, pup tent and poles, blanket, mess kit, and sundry other things. It even contained a tube of atropine, with an ugly, lethal looking needle. In case we were attacked with nerve gas, we were to uncap the needle, jab it fully into the back of our leg and squeeze the tube. I felt our greater problem might be distinguishing the nerve gas from the New Jersey air.

Back packing took a lot of practice. Everything is arranged inside just so and then the tent poles are rolled into the blanket. The blanket is then tied to the top of the pack and the two ends are folded down and tied, making a neat, orderly appearance. By 7:50 everything was ready to go, except for tying the two ends down, and that’s where it stayed. No matter what I did, I couldn’t bend the blanket around. I repositioned the poles and rerolled the blanket but that didn’t help. Several of my buddies tried to help me, but to no avail. The blanket just wouldn’t move. With 2 minutes to go, my buddies ran out to formation, leaving me with a less than regulation backpack. So I placed what I had on my back, the blanket ends straight out. I grabbed my M1 and sneaked into formation with 30 seconds to spare.

Our drill sergeant was tall, at least 6 feet, muscular, deep black and formidable. He was very strict, but I admired him. He was honest and didn’t play games. Now he was standing on a platform in front of us and at exactly 8 A.M. called us to attention, “Now men,” he began, and his eyes swept the formation, passed me, then jerked back. His laser eyes widened. In front of him was a soldier looking more like a single winged, stubby airplane. Our eyes met. There was a momentary pause. He raised his long arm and pointed directly at me. In his deep stentorian voice, he roared, “That man is a disgrace to the Army!” He held my gaze for a minute longer and then turned and finished his instructions.

Just before ordering us to march off the field, he turned back to me and stared. I swear he raised his eyebrow just an iota and bit his lip, and I’m almost positive there was a twinkle in his eye. I held my gaze until he looked away. As we were marching to the trucks, the man next to me said quietly, “I think you won,” And I thought to myself proudly, “Yeah, I think I did.”

BROKEN COUNTRY

And so we live―

A mind of trouble and grief and fate

With a feel of touch and that is why

The rabbit runs with even pregnancy.

Not a song we sing,

But a dusty prose of distant fortune

Followed first by talk of night

And grime of long-burst buildings.

The hills have given

What rock and coin could change the valleys,

And still we labor for bread and moldy rice.

Our children, silent, will silently hunger.

The world will note

The sea that cruelly chews our rocky shore

To pity and neglect with falsely aching heart

Our hollow cries of misery.

AN ADVENTURE IN MOSCOW

We were in Moscow. Our clothing wasn’t. An explanation:

Our family, Barbara and I, Liz and Cara, had chosen Russia as our third overseas vacation. Why Russia? I guess the best answer is: “why not?” However a mix-up with flights made lost luggage inevitable, although we didn’t realize it at the time. We were nervous enough as it was. After all, in those days Russia was supposedly forbidding and possibly dangerous. In addition, I had been, years before, in the U.S. Army Security Agency. Would the Soviets be watching out for me?

Our tour flight had been booked on LOT, the Polish airline. We were to fly from NYC to Warsaw, where we would have a city tour before flying into Moscow. However when we arrived from Boston and found the LOT terminal, we saw a large notice saying, “Due to technical problems the LOT flight has been cancelled. Please report to the Pan Am desk.”

There we discovered we were now booked on a Pam Am flight which didn’t leave until four hours later, leaving plenty of time to increase our anxiety and question whether a trip to the Galapagos might have been a better choice.

Finally, the flight took off and hours later landed in Frankfort, where we boarded a Lufthansa to Warsaw. Our last flight was to be on LOT. Four flights on four airlines. Our luggage never had a chance.

A brief aside. At the time, and perhaps still, the Polish were subjects of many jokes: “How many Poles does it take to change a light bulb?” But you do have to give them credit for attempting to be progressive. LOT came up with several innovations. One was a small basket that slid under each seat in which to place a baby during flight. Maybe not great sight lines for the baby, but it was convenient for parents.

The other innovation was even more progressive. In the 80’s smoking was still allowed during flights in all countries. LOT went further by designating specific smoking sections. Smokers were placed on the right hand side; non-smokers were seated on the left. We watched the smoke drift slowly across the aisle toward us and just shook our heads.

When the plane landed in Warsaw we met the rest of our tour, about twenty of us. It was very late and no one was there to meet us. There was no tour of the city, of course, Our little band, looking weary and forlorn, huddled together like refugees lost in a storm. We introduced ourselves and commiserated over our ominous beginnings.

Finally, after hours of waiting in the dark, deserted airport, our flight was called. Eventually, we were in Moscow, but without our luggage. Correction: Liz’s suitcase did finally come sliding down the luggage chute, giving us temporary hope that was soon extinguished when the gate closed.

Customs took a long time as each suitcase was examined, item by item, by possible secret KGB agents searching diligently for any contraband our group might sneaking into the country. Naturally, they spent little time with our family with its one lonely bag. When we were released and were marched to the bus that took us to our hotel, just off Red Square. It was late and we were very tired, so even the prospect of no toothbrush and deodorant didn’t bother us.

The next morning our group gathered for breakfast in our private dining room (ham, toast and eggs) and we were able to slip out and buy some essentials. Then we gathered in the lobby and met our guide. She was tall and thin with long black hair and had a suspicious look on her face. Her name was Tanya, although she looked more like Rocky and Bullwinkle’s evil Natasha. I didn’t trust her.

After preliminaries and rules―there were always rules―I was able to speak to her about our luggage. “Ah,” she said, avoiding my eyes, “Zhey are not open today. I call tomorrow. Today I show you Moscow.”

The next morning, I reminded Tanya/Natasha of our problem. “Ah, yes’, she said. “I call now”. She went to a phone and had a long and apparently unpleasant conversation with a LOT agent. Finally she returned, shaking her head.“No bags. Zhey vill look,” she said. “But they haf to see your claim in person”. She shook her head. “LOT!” she snarled,” Vot can you expect? Zhair POLISH!”, making the last word sound like something you might step in at a dog park.

She then explained we would be traveling on the Moskva River that morning and to the Metro subway in the afternoon. The Metro, by the way, was well known for its architecture and beauty. However, instead of the subway, she would be sending me to the LOT offices to clear up the problem. She would give me instructions and addresses.

The river trip was interesting and we got acquainted with our fellow travelers. Sometime in the afternoon the boat docked in a place we had not seen before and were escorted to a restaurant for lunch (ham sandwiches, warm beer). Tanya/Natasha pulled me aside and handed me a business card with the Hotel address. On the back she had hand-written the address of my destination. “Show dis to the taxi man and he vill take you zhair”, she instructed, “and DO NOT let your baggage claims out of your hand! Remember, dere POLISH!”. She then hailed a taxi; I got in next to him, waved to my worried family and we were off.

The driver was large, heavy-set and sullen, and I was sure he was another KGB agent. I had an image of being driven straight to interrogation headquarters and then off to a gulag in Siberia. There was no conversation. We did communicate slightly, me pointing to something and he shaking his head no and we continued heading away from where I judged the center of the city was.

After a number of twists and turns we were on a broad street in a run-down section of the city. Finally, he pulled up in front of a series of low, boarded up buildings. I looked at him. He shook his head yes and pointed to the card with the address. This was obviously not the right place. I shook my head no. He glared and pointed again at the card and then at the building. I was insistent, as insistent as one can be without using words.

Finally, he reached across me and opened the passenger side door, and firmly pushed me out of the cab. He held out his hand for the fare. Reluctantly, I handed him a ruble or two. He again pointed to the building, shook his head and drove off. and there I was, somewhere in the outskirts of a large, unfamiliar city.

It came to me that, either accidentally or purposefully, Tanya/Natasha had written “South” rather than “North”, so all I had to do was to go in the opposite direction from where the driver had pointed. Besides, the way south looked was even more dreary than the buildings I saw in front of me.

As I made my way north, I noticed shops beginning to appear. True, they weren’t that much different from the abandoned buildings I had left behind, but at least I was seeing people, and the buildings ahead were taller and more substantial.

And then ahead I saw rescue―a policeman who would straighten out the situation. I went up to him, smiled and handed him the directions. He took the paper, studied it and pointed to the way I had come. I shook my head no; he shook his head yes, and we stood facing each other shaking our heads in opposition. When he had had enough, he placed his large, beefy hands on my shoulders and turned me around, giving a push back the way I had come. I turned to him nodded my head to thank him and started to walk away. After a few steps I looked back. He was now engaged in a deep conversation with an older lady by the curb, so I headed back toward him with my head down and managed to slip by him and continued heading north.

And then, there it was. I was standing in front of an old, deteriorating building with a LOT sign attached and an arrow pointing up. The stairs were well worn, no doubt from all the travelers whose baggage had been lost. The hall smelled strongly of old cabbage and beets. On the left of the second floor was a door with LOT etched on the glass. I was at my destination.

When I walked in I saw seated behind an ancient wooden desk a middle aged woman with a blonde wig slightly askew and lipstick that seemed to have been applied with a trowel. She looked me up and down without expression and waited. I said, “English?” She continued to examine me and then drawled, “Yas.” I slowly explained the situations while she stared at me stone faced. She nodded her head and asked me for my claim check. I took it out and showed it to her, holding it firmly in my hand. She reached for it and tried to take it and it became a power struggle. Finally she sighed and gave up.

“You vill haf to fill out a form”. she said. She turned to a battered filing cabinet and rifled through it, coming up a document in English and presumably Polish. She handed this to me and pointed to a spot in the corner with a tiny desk and chair. I sat down and proceeded to fill it out, keeping a close eye on my claim tags as the woman stared at me.

When I handed her the completed form, she inspected it closely and nodded. “We vill let you know about dis,” she said handing me a receipt. I nodded and turned to go. Feeling generous, I turned back to her and said, “Spa sibo” (Russian for “thank you,”)

She froze and glared at me. In a loud, cold voice she snarled, “I’m Polish; Dat’s HROOSIAN”, making the last word sound like something you might step in at a dog park.

Once outside I began looking for a taxi to get me back to the hotel, wherever it was. Tanya/Natasha had warned me to find transportation as quickly as possible as most taxis in the city went off duty at 5 PM, except for major spots in the city. It seemed clear I wasn’t in such a place.

It was quarter to five and already the street was full of taxis, most of them with their overhead lights out. I stepped out into the street and began waving my arms. One car stopped and I showed the driver the hotel card. He read it, shook his head no and drove off. Another taxi soon stopped, with the same reaction, and then another. No one seemed to be going anywhere near the hotel.

As 5 o’clock drew near, I became a bit panicky. I hadn’t thought of myself as particularly brave and the idea of being stranded in an unknown part of town didn’t help. The cars raced by. Then a car stopped. This wasn’t a taxi but an ordinary Russian citizen. I quickly showed him the card, and he shook his head and shrugged. Sadly I watched him drive off.

And out of the blue I had an epiphany. I don’t know why I felt that way, but I suddenly knew I’d get back to the hotel and that everything would work out well. I would be reunited with my family and we’d have a wonderful tour. I was no longer worried. I think I even laughed out loud.

I began waving at any car that passed by and in just a short while, another passenger car stopped. The driver looked at the card, smiled and reached across to open the door. Without a thought, I jumped in. “You American?” he asked. “I learn English”. And for the next half hour we were able to communicate fairly easily. His English was far from perfect, but he enjoyed being able to practice what he had learned. And he never asked for state secrets.

We finally arrived at the hotel and we shook hands as I thanked him. He waved as he drove off. I had made a friend. If I had been thinking, we might have exchanged addresses for later correspondence.

The group was just beginning dinner (ham, potatoes, vegetables and warm beer) and was talking about what they had seen. Tanya/Natasha looked a little disappointed when she saw me I thought, but she only asked how things went. I related my story to the group and Barbara told me how she had worried. I reassured her that it was an unexpected adventure and I had learned a lot from it. I did miss the Metro tour, but did see a part of Moscow that is unlikely to be on any tourist map. I was happy.

As for the luggage, it did turn up…..eventually. But that’s another story.

A MUSICAL EDUCATION

SPOILER ALERT! If you enjoy classical music, read no further. What follows may corrupt your listening pleasure.

When I was young, I didn’t think much about music, Both my mother and father had good singing voices and sang in the church choir, although I believe she stopped after I was born. My father continued into his sixties. He was a soloist and also sang in oratorios and the like in both Penacook and Concord. Neither parent paid much attention, as I recall, to classical music.

My introduction to the genre came in elementary school. We had a traveling music teacher, Martha Gale. She had white hair with tiny curls, a robust figure, and had what looked like one long, rectangular breast above her stomach. Her head seemed too small for her body, making her look like one of the Weebles, if you remember those.

Miss Gale instituted a music appreciation course meant to cover grades one through eight. Each year she would introduce us to five classical music pieces, so they would accumulate to forty by the time we finished. We were expected to recognize each piece at the drop of a phonograph needle. We kept a list of each piece of music by dividing a paper into three neat columns, and copying the information from the blackboard, thus: NAME • SOURCE • COMPOSER, for example: To a Wild Rose • Ten Woodland Sketches • Edward McDowell.

My memory fails me as to when the list was started. Likely it was second grade when writing would have been more fluent. but whether the list followed us each year or we recreated it annually, I have no recollection.

We also had tests. Miss Gale would crank up the old Victrola and place the 78 records in random order while we wrote down the title of each piece. As an aid to recognition, Miss Gale wrote lyrics to most of the selections. Sadly, as I recognized much later, her talent was less than we thought. For example: Waltz of the Flowers • Nutcracker Suite • Peter Tchaikovsky, “Waltz of the flowers fair, Waltz of the flowers so fair.” Her intentions were good, but her creativity could have used some work.

Yes, the technique did help, but I didn’t realize at the time how intrusive the words would be in later life, and, once learned, never forgotten. They get in the way of truly enjoying the music. ‘Humoresque’ by Anton Dvorak; This is Dvorak’s Humoresque, Oh, this is Dvorak’s Humoresque; This is Dvorak’s Humoresque; Dee dah, dee dah, dee dah, dee dah.” She ran out of creative steam on this one but it didn’t bother her.

Perhaps the “dee dahs” were place holders for future work. It didn’t matter that none of us had the slightest idea of what ‘Humoresque’ meant. She would just drop the needle and point to us at the right moment and we would burst in song. Morning • Peer Gynt Suite • Edvard Grieg; “Morning is coming, Oh, morning is coming; Oh, morning is coming; Oh, morning is here.”

Most of the pieces had Gale lyrics, but a few were more descriptive. For the ‘Introduction to Nutcracker Suite’, we were to listen to the curtain going up. The music actually does glide upward and I still have a mental picture of a red curtain ascending while the stage lights go on. For ‘The Storm’ from Overture • William Tell • Giacomo Rossini the sound of lightning and thunder from the orchestra was enough, and the final section needed no help at all. The moment it was played all of us inwardly cried “Hi ho Silver! Away!” as the “Lone Ranger” radio program theme burst from the phonograph.

Somewhere in the upper grades the overture to ‘Carmen’ was supposed to bring gypsies into our classroom. She painted a word picture of women in bright costumes dancing wildly and clicking their castanets. It worked. Perhaps to prevent gypsy confusion, Miss Gale wrote more lyrics to: Anvil Chorus • Il Trovatore • Giuseppe Verdi; “Gypsies are singing, While hammers are ringing, On anvils so shiny bright!”

While this might not have been much better than previous attempts, Miss Gale had at least discovered rhyme. Not even ‘Liebestraum’ by Franz Liszt was safe from the Gale treatment. I can still hear the words: “Oh, dream of love, Oh dream of love di-vi-ine, Beautiful dream of love.”

While we never thought about it, we never heard more of the selection than the first few bars, but enough to sing along with. We knew, of course, there had to be more to each piece. Yet there was always a tiny bit of surprise when I later heard the entire selection.

Then Miss Gale introduced a story line for: Surprise Symphony • Andante • Joseph Haydn. Apparently Herr Haydn, referred to sometimes as ‘Papa’, was angry that audiences often fell asleep during his concerts, so he wrote the second movement softly with a loud crash at the end. That this story had little to do with the truth didn’t matter. Miss Gale outdid herself with the lyrics: “Papa Haydn played a joke; On the people fast asleep; When the people all awoke; Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, HA!” I admit I am now a bit suspicious. The other Gale lyrics lack the sophistication of this work. I hesitate to use the word plagiarism, but it seems out of character for her. Otherwise, I would have to say she had reached the heights with this one.

And now we come to the ultimate. This one included physical motion, the only one like that I can recall of the Gale repertoire. ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ by Camille Saint-Saens. (! AGAIN: SPOILER ALERT!) Everyone knows this one, a quiet, lovely melody that rises and falls gracefully, played on the cello. You can close your eyes and see in your mind’s eye that peaceful swan gliding smoothly over a mirrored surface of a lake lake: “Beau-ti-ful swa-an; How white you are; Raising your heh-ed; Up so-o-o-o-o high”. While singing, our hand forms the head by holding the fingers together with thumb touching the tip of the index finger, with wrist bent, at the word “raising”, the arm moves sinuously upward while the “head’ moves from side to side. This may take some practice, but is something that may be safely tried at home.

My memory is faulty, but as far as I know, Miss Gale never mentioned the three major composers, Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Perhaps she thought these giants were untouchable or perhaps she recognized her talent wasn’t sufficient for tackling such greatness. I am grateful for that.

Lyrics from other pieces are lurking out there somewhere, but for the moment have escaped my memory. After all, forty selections had to provide many more. I am sure that words to other pieces will pop into my head when I encounter the music. Case in point: Earlier in this essay I had written that somehow ‘Liebestraum’ had escaped the Gale treatment. Upon hearing the piece recently, though, I automatically began singing the words, making a rewrite here necessary.

So that was my introduction to classical music. It’s not pretty, but it worked. My suggestion to you is forget everything that has been written here, but you WERE warned. So when you attend future concerts and during an encore you see in the audience one or two arms slowly rising snake-like into the air, you will know the Gale method is still out there. You can’t escape.

THE WITCH IN THE WOODSHED

Games were always a big part of our childhood. Ten to twelve children lived in our neighborhood, and sometimes others joined in. A dead end street gave us plenty of space to play, as well as our backyards. We played the usual games: Tag, Hide and Seek, Red Light, Red Rover, Giant Steps, Kitty in the Corner (we called it something else in our innocent days) and Cowboys and Indians (or more politically correct: Beef Technicians vs. Pre-Illegal-Immigrant People).

One game was called “Witch in the Woodshed”. I’ve never run into it anywhere since those early days, so I believe it was an invention of our own. It required a minimum of five people, with no maximum and needed three locations: home, a woodshed and the witch’s house. We played it only in my backyard. Home was the small open porch off my aunt’s kitchen, the woodshed was an apple tree a little distance away and the witch’s house was somewhere in my uncle’s disused flower garden.

This game involved imagination, dramatics, speed and even B&D, well, spanking anyway. The game was pretty much scripted, but still allowed for creativity. What follows is the complete guide to the game, in case anyone wishes to liven up the next cocktail party:

The cast: a mother who could be played by either sex, we were indifferent, a witch, and three or more children. The mother asks one of the children to go to the woodshed to get wood for the oven. The child goes to the tree and the witch jumps out. The child runs home to tell the mother there is a witch in the woodshed. The mother scoffs, saying. “That is nonsense”, and sends the child back twice more. On the third time the witch grabs the child and put him behind the tree. Mother then sends the second child to the woodshed using the same script. This is repeated until all the children have been captured by the witch.

The witch then takes all the children to her house in the garden, and gives each child the name of a pie and goes back to the woodshed. The mother goes to the witch and asks the witch if she has seen her children. The witch replies, “I think I saw them on…(here the witch names a street that indicates action, such as “Rolling Street”, “Briar Street”, “Tickle Street”, or “Scissors Street”) The mother then reacts appropriately with cries of “ouch”, giggles, or rolling on the ground. Here imagination takes center stage. This is done three times. When the mother comes back the third time she tells the witch she is hungry after all that work. The witch invites her to the house in the garden as she has some pies there.

Once there, the witch asks the mother what kind of pie she would like and the mother names a pie. If the mother chooses a pie, which one of the children has been given, the child starts running for home with the mother chasing him. This often involves a chase all over the yard. If the child reaches home first, she is safe. However if the mother catches the child she gives him, gasp!, a spanking. Spankings were generally light as the mother is aware in the next game she might be a child. Then the mother returns to the witch for another pie. When the last child is freed, the game is over, and the roles are recast.

If this game were truly developed by our neighborhood, were there others? And could we have made a fortune by marketing it? There were no entrepreneurs among us to reap fortunes from Wall Street. Perhaps some enterprising reader can turn this into a video game, if a spanking attachment is added. Who knows the heights that can be attained? At least it might be an interesting adult party game!

HELLO, MR. CELEBRITY

Some years ago ten members of the Community Players packed into a van and headed for New York City for a weekend of theater, dining and sightseeing. Ten people and luggage in a van may be efficient and cost effective, but it’s also a windfall for chiropractors. That didn’t stop us, though.

When we arrived at our hotel, we oozed out of the van, quickly registered and scattered to the theaters for a matinee. I chose one of my favorites, a revival of Sondheim’s “Follies”. It starred Polly Bergen and Marge Champion, among others, and involved a reunion of former show girls. The songs are wonderful (I’m sure almost everyone knows “I’m Still Here”) and the plot is heartbreaking.

After the performance, several of our group talked about it and about our choices for the evening show. I wanted to see a revival of “Bells are Ringing” starring Faith Prince

whose star was rising at the time. Songs from the show are still popular, like “Just in Time” and “The Party’s Over”. One of our group, Eileen, said she would go with me. We picked up tickets and met the others for dinner.

We had great seats, on the left side, about 5 rows from the stage. As I was reading the playbill, Eileen suddenly clutched my arm. She pointed and coming down the aisle were Adolf Green and Betty Comden, the show’s writers and lyricists. Their work is legendary, like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Wonderful Town”.

We then realized they were going to sit directly in front of us!. They came into the row with Comden in front of Eileen and Green in front of me. And then it happened. Green began to sit but his seat was still up and he went down and was wedged between the seats, gasping and floundering. Without thought we rose to the rescue, Eileen under one arm and I under the other. We soon discovered Mr. Green was no light weight. We tugged and pulled, while a smiling young man sitting next to him and apparently Mr. Green’s aide, watched us struggling, Eileen and I looked at each other.

I’m not sure what she was thinking, but my thoughts were of my back; one wrong move and I’d be hobbling all the way back to the hotel. With some extra effort, we finally managed to get Mr. Green standing upright. I put his seat down and the three of us talked a bit until the show began.

During intermission, perhaps feeling he owed us something. he talked with us some more and we got autographs from both members of the team, having the opportunity also to talk with Ms. Comden. When the show ended we told them how much we enjoyed the show and hoped it would run for years. Of course, we both had visions of being invited to the after-show party, but our luck didn’t get us that far. Heroic rescues are sometimes unsung.

Sadly, the show was panned and lasted only 56 performances. But what was lost to the public was a great celebrity meeting for the two of us. For a few minutes we were with the doyens of the theater world. and that was enough for us.

LUCILLE IN SIX CHAPTERS

Chapter 1

A week or two by the ocean would be perfect. We had driven across the country; traveled to various countries in South America, Asia, and Europe; spent 6 years, off and on, in the mountains of North Conway; and enjoyed weeks on Webster Lake; but never by the Atlantic. So we said, “Why not?”.

We had recently retired and were looking for someplace to relax for a while. Retirement can be exhausting; why else would “tire” be in the word? We loved the ocean and visited it often. We had collected enough rocks over the years to build our own stone wall, indeed, enough to build stone walls for all of our neighbors. Not that we ever did; the rocks we amassed were round and slippery. Perhaps gluing them? It was not to be.

Once we even transferred an abandoned lobster trap from a cove in Rye to our garage, A gentleman who saw us carrying it to our car made some comment but the wind was strong and his words blew away as he spoke them so we weren’t quite sure of what he said. The word “illegal” might have been used, so we put the trap back until he left, then rescued it. It was meant as a coffee table once we found a glass top for it. However, we never did finish that project and at some point it ended up in a yard sale, going to someone who presumably had more ambition than we did, or else the person intended to do some trapping. But I digress.

One nice spring day the five of us, Barbara, Liz, Cara, Murphy and I, drove to York, Maine and began to look for rental signs. There were plenty of places, but nothing that appealed to us. Cottages were either too close, too crowded, too rundown, or too expensive. Most of all, though, very few places allowed dogs. Murphy was a retired greyhound and we had sworn we’d never leave her in a kennel. She’d had that experience and we knew she would be extremely unhappy. At one cottage a fellow told us there was a kennel not too far away and we could visit her every day, but that wasn’t what we wanted.

Somewhat discouraged, we stopped at the Nubble to view the lighthouse, a habit of ours each time we came to Maine. We noticed some small cottages as we drove into the parking area. A sign was posted on one of the cottages, so we drove past the notice, “Residents Only”, and sure enough, a “For Rent” sign was tacked to the grey shingled building. We copied the telephone number, noting it was owned by someone in Meredith, N.H. There was some hope anyway.

The next day we called and inquired. Yes, the cottage was indeed for rent and yes, dogs were allowed. In fact, Lucille had several dogs and cats and she really loved animals. We were high. Then she told us she was booked up and had no free weeks. We were low. She did say she would keep our telephone number and call if she had an opening the following year. So that was that. We decided our ocean vacation would have to wait and moved on to other plans. We could have continued looking but somehow we put things on hold and forgot about this.

In 1996 Barbara was discovered to have breast cancer and all thoughts of vacations took last place in our plans. After chemotherapy and near death situations, she stabilized and things looked better. In February, 1998, four years after we contacted her, Lucille called. We had completely forgotten her. She told us she had a free week in July if we were still interested. We told her we would get back to her, and the next day all five of us headed for York to take another look.

No one was around, of course, but we were able to look through the windows of the cottage. It looked fine to us, a bit run down and basic, and in the living room was a stack of new windows waiting to be installed. This was a sign of good upkeep and we said “yes”.

In April, Barbara died. This made a difference; we had envisioned the change of scenery and the sun would make her happy. After consideration, we decided to go anyway. It wouldn’t be the same without her, of course, but life goes on.

When we arrived in July, it didn’t surprise us to find a woman with grey/white hair and a nice smile. She said she was there to fix a couple of the cement blocks that held the cottage off the ground, but of course we knew she was checking her new tenants out. I helped her with the blocks (it does give an idea of what the cottage was like. All the others in the complex had cement foundations and were more up to date.). She asked me when my wife was arriving, then told me her husband had died in December.

We had an enjoyable time that week. We met several people who either rented or owned the other cottages. There was a couple from Chichester, N.H., only about 20 minutes from our Concord home. They became good friends for years. Murphy, greyhounds being unusual at that time, thoroughly enjoyed all the attention she was getting and loved lying in the sun beside the water. She quickly learned that when tourist buses drove into the Park, she needed to be out there to greet them. The tourists loved her, taking more pictures of her than the lighthouse. The moment she heard a bus driving in, she was up and tugging at her leash.

We spent our time sitting by the ocean, climbing on the rocks, exploring the town and eating out, things anyone does at the ocean. We decided to come back the next year and perhaps rent a second week, if possible. When we called to ask, Lucille told us that she was able to get us a second week, but only a week in July and one in August, which we accepted as better than nothing. The following year, and the rest of our time there, we had consecutive weeks in July, which was much more convenient.

And so we had found our Eden by the sea to relax and take us away from the outside world. While the cottage was more rustic than we hoped, it wasn’t that expensive and made us feel like we “belonged”. Our heads and noses raised a bit whenever we drove past the “Residents Only” sign. We had arrived.

Chapter 2

We enjoyed the seaside cottage. While it was in the second row, the other cottages were placed in such a manner, the back row buildings still had a good view between the others. For a few years, we saw something had been added to the cottage each time we arrived. Windows were installed the first year, a new and larger than needed refrigerator the second. The third year saw a new rug in the sitting area and the fourth year a new bedspread. A new table runner was next and after that the lessening renovations came to a halt.

We had hoped Lucille would replace the old shower in the bathroom. It was metal and narrow. Each shower was accompanied by the drum beats of elbows connecting with the metal sides. However, the old shower remained.

We almost always went to Fox’s Restaurant right across from the cottages. No other fried clams taste quite the same and it is so close. We also ate at the Lighthouse Restaurant, again almost next door. Sadly that was torn down a few years later and a monster mansion took its place. There were other places also. One year we splurged and ate out every night for two weeks We tried most of the restaurants in the vicinity and found places that became our favorites.

We also cooked in the cottage. The kitchen was small; two people, if they were skinny, could fit, but that was the limit. The stove was small and the refrigerator large. Storage was tight and we kept the food in a couple of drawers in one of the bedrooms. There were plates and cups and saucers and bowls enough to feed twelve, though not enough room inside to feed that many people.

We also tried barbecuing. This is not easy at the ocean if you are in line with the wind. We often used up a couple of packs of matches to light our little hibachi, and more than once, gave up and baked the chicken inside.

On one occasion, I had the idea of placing our hibachi on one of Lucille’s wooden benches from her outdoor dining set. That consisted of a very large and heavy round table and four matching benches. I realized wood probably wasn’t the best surface to place a hibachi, so had the brilliant thought of lining the bench with aluminum foil. What was I thinking?

After dinner I removed the foil and discovered a large charred spot in the middle of the bench, one that couldn’t be explained as a freak of nature or the work of termites. The only thing to do was to somehow repair it. It looked like it had been painted a redwood color, and one of the people there chipped off a tiny piece and agreed with me. So I carefully dug away and cleaned all the burned spots and then purchased a similar color paint. It didn’t take long to make it look like the rest of the set. However, when the paint dried, it had a distinctly different look. There was nothing to do but buy more paint and do the entire set. When I was finished I was quite proud of my work, but my conscience bothered me. Lucille would certainly notice the difference.

When we returned home, I wrote a letter to her, explaining just what had happened, that I apologized, and if she wished I would replace at least the bench. I also said I would be willing to do anything else around the cottage to atone and that I enjoyed doing small jobs while vacationing. In return, Lucille sent a long letter forgiving me. I wish I had saved it, but it was along the following lines: “Don’t worry about the bench. I should provide the cottage with some small metal table to cook outdoors on. That set was made by an old craftsman from Maine, but it’s no matter. He died a few years ago and I don’t know anyone else who makes these sets, but don’t you think about it anymore. I’m sure the set looks fine. The old fellow did such good work. You just can’t find anyone who works like he did.”

This is the kind of letter that makes one feel relieved, doesn’t it? And she also mentioned, if I enjoyed that sort of thing, the rose bushes would need trimming next July, if she didn’t get down before then. I wrote back that I actually did like cutting bushes and would be happy to accommodate her.

Rosebushes indeed did need trimming when we arrived the following year. They were large and covered the front of the cottage and had been given a cursory working over, but, being a sort of perfectionist, I knew I could do better. I had brought long sleeved working clothes, clippers and heavy gloves, and with vengeance tackled the work. Lots of dead branches and other debris soon was cleared out and deposited in the trash bins. When finished, I felt proud of the job; it looked quite professional, I thought.

Other people there also mentioned how nice it looked and hoped I got paid or at least got a cut on the rent, but nothing like that happened and I wasn’t expecting it anyway.

In another letter, Lucille mentioned she knew the cottage needed staining, but she hadn’t gotten around to doing that. This was more of a challenge, but I replied I wouldn’t mind staining; the cottage wasn’t large and most of the sides were low enough for a stepladder. A longer one was needed for the peaks, but also not that high off the ground. I was a restless person. While I enjoyed sitting and reading by the water, I could take only so much of that and needed to be doing something, constructive or otherwise. So, a few odd jobs was fine with me.

However, I was beginning to see Lucille was not above a bit of conniving, so I told her I didn’t mind doing this if she would get the stain and leave it in the cottage for the coming year. It would only take parts of two days to do this. A quick response to my offer showed up. Apparently, she was less interested in paying the cost of the stain, but she covered this glitch easily. Her letter said she was not sure I should do this as I might fall off the ladder and my daughters would sue her. Not a word of possible injuries, although she did mention she knew of a fellow who had fallen off a ladder and broken his back.

In another letter, and yes, we exchanged a number of letters, she mentioned she hoped to get around to repainting the cottage door, so, if I had the time…and she reminded me the roses needed trimming again.

Chapter 3

Yes, I had the time and the inclination. The door did look bad and it took little time to paint. I did buy the blue paint and the door came out well. I was pleased and I expect Lucille was also, although I never heard from her about it.

When we arrived one year, we opened the door to be greeted with a pungent odor coming from the bedroom I slept in. It was obvious it was where her pets slept also. We opened the windows and tried to air the room out. I tried sleeping there, but finally had to go to the living room and sleep on the old sofa. (The word “sofa” is an exaggeration. It was actually two twin mattresses on top of an old cot with a bed cover over it.) With the door to the bedroom closed it wasn’t too bad, but I didn’t intend to sleep on the lumpy couch for two weeks. We decided the smell came from the large rug which covered much of the bedroom floor, so we bought some heavy plastic sheets, rolled the rug up, and tied it securely. We then carried the package out and left it in the little shed behind the cottage.

That was a good idea. However, the odor lessened, but remained. Apparently, the urine had seeped into the floor. Our next step was washing and we moved the furniture out. As the room contained a bed, bureau, end table, and small chair that step was easily handled. We scrubbed furiously to no avail. The odor remained.

We had a choice―go home and give up the cottage or to take a bold step. I chose bold. I purchased a can of varnish and a brush. Now for some people this might seem incredibly brash, perhaps illegal. If I had owned a cottage and had renters paint it or do some other sort of permanent action, I’d have been upset. It is not something a renter should do.

However, we couldn’t think of anything else. We couldn’t spend two weeks with the odor. We couldn’t contact Lucille easily. By this time she wasn’t answering her phone and had no recording device. We could have driven up to Meredith or sent her a letter, but that didn’t seem practical. By this time we had figured out we were the only renters and Lucille needed us. She seemed willing to accept whatever we did to the cottage and the cottage was being improved with no cost to her. So I felt confident she wouldn’t object to almost anything we did, short of burning it down. That would have taken care of the odor but would create other problems.

So, we varnished the floor and the odor disappeared. We moved the furniture back in, and the room looked and smelled much improved. Things were back to normal. The night before we left, we pulled the rug inside, unwrapped it and laid it down, and the odor returned. I slept that last night on the living room “couch”.

When we returned home, I wrote to Lucille, explaining we thought the floor could use another coat of varnish and hoped she would approve. I was sure she would have taken offense, if I had mentioned the urine smell, although I can’t imagine she didn’t already know about that.

Her response was typical. She made a mild objection, (“I never varnished the floor because I didn’t want to make the floor slippery”), but said nothing more. She apparently forgot most of the floor was covered by a rug and wasn’t slippery at all; just smelly, but it was her problem now. And the following year, both the rug and the odor were gone and she had a couple of bright small rugs in the bedroom. She had accepted our work. And the rosebushes had been trimmed.

Chapter 4

A year or two later, we arrived in York and were greeted by the owner of a nearby cottage. He told me Lucille’s cottage had a water problem, not a good start to our vacation. Lucille had left us a note. By this time, communication with her had dwindled. She had sent one letter each year asking for our commitment to the two weeks and what the rent would be, but that was all. I’m including the note in full and verbatim:

Bob,

You have electricity and a water meter — no water coming through.

I’ve left you water jug to make do. You can fill it next door!!

Leave empty jug under cottage near rose bushes.

The rose bushes need to be trimmed a bit so you can put screens in

front windows!

This is what they call camping.

I’ll work on getting you phone service + gas next week.

Have fun!

I was here Friday in the rain.

Lucille

“This what they call camping”? She had increased the rent that year and now we are “camping”? No water? No gas for the hot water tank and no phone? In addition to that, “filling the water jug next door” works only if the people next door are there. They weren’t. In fact they never showed up for the two weeks we were there. And cold water showers are very low on our “fun things to do on our vacation” list. Installing the screens was a new request. I’m not quite sure why they hadn’t been left on or at least put on in May or June. Another indication that why she had lost her other renters.

We had a decision to make: do we stay or go back home? We would have a tough time getting our money back, that I knew. The telephone was not a problem; we had our mobile phones. (Not that the reception was worth much there. The only way we could get a signal usually was standing on a large rock by the entrance to the parking lot). The other problems were more serious. Incidentally, the phone issue never was solved as far as I know.

I decided to check the water. I knew the shut off valve was under the cottage, so I crawled under, turned the valve and the water came on immediately. Why no one else thought of this, I’m not sure. Why Lucille didn’t mention it, is beyond me―but at least one problem was solved.

I decided to call the gas company to see what could be done. The gentleman who answered was understanding but told me that Lucille owed about $90 and that had to be paid before anything could be done. He suggested I pay the bill and then be reimbursed by Lucille. For me, this was not an option. I knew Lucille only too well.

When he said he would call Lucille and talk with her about this, I gave him Lucille’s telephone number and wished him good luck. He said there wasn’t anything he could do until Monday anyway, but he’d work on it. It took a while to figure that statement out. Just then one of the residents, Jan, walked by and asked how we were doing. She then offered to let us shower in her cottage as long as we needed to and that gave us all we needed to stay. We “camped out” that weekend.

On Monday morning I was about to call the gas company when I saw the truck pull into the parking lot. The worker told me he was there to fill the gas tank. Apparently, things had been worked out; whether Lucille had been contacted or not was unknown. This fellow then discovered the tank was full. All that was needed was to turn the valve on, However, he was not authorized to do that; he knew how but someone else was supposed to do this. Bureaucracy never changes! Bending to my pleading looks, he called his supervisor and after a long conversation, told me he had gotten permission and that it would have taken three or four days for someone to come and turn on a valve. The fellow then suggested he go inside and check the heater. I said I didn’t think it was necessary, but he said it was part of the job. He came in, looked the heater over carefully and declared, “The gas goes to the cottage furnace in the living room; the water heater, is electric!” All I had to do was turn on the switch in the fuse box in the kitchen.

We had never turned on the water heater in all the times we had rented. Perhaps, Lucille used the gas furnace in the fall or spring, but we never had. This was one more problem we didn’t have to deal with, anyway. I offered our Saint Gas Man a tip, but he refused it and wished us good luck.

While the rest of our time there that summer went smoothly, we began to think it was time, indeed past time, to consider renting elsewhere. The cottage rent went up and the place seemed to get shabbier. Well, except for the rose bushes. Those got trimmed nicely each year.

Chapter 5

Gradually my correspondence with Lucille waned. There seemed little to say except for the possible dates to rent, and it became my job to ask. She would write back and agree. Then the year after our “camping” experience, we got no response from her. We waited and waited. As time grew short, we began to wonder what had happened. Telephoning did no good; she never answered the phone and had no answering machine. She had told me that she didn’t answer the phone because it was in the kitchen, and she was seldom in the kitchen.

One day in mid-June Liz and I headed north to Meredith to confront Lucille in person. After inquiries, we found her house, an average sized home built on a hill and from the bottom looked quite high. We rang the front door bell but no one answered. We went down the hill to the back and rang the bell at the garage door. We heard a bark and saw a dog, perhaps two, on the side porch above our heads, but again no human stirred. We checked the mailbox by the road. It was full, no, more than full. A tiny elf couldn’t have found a place to curl up for a nap. The door wouldn’t close. I wondered why the mailman wasn’t more curious. A station wagon with current license plates was parked in the back yard and when we peered into the garage windows we saw another car, also currently licensed. This was surrounded by piles and piles of yellowed newspapers, neatly stacked. Boxes, tools and odds and ends filled the entire space except for a narrow path from the stairs into the house to the door on the side of the garage.

We heard no other sound from the house, so decided we had been defeated and left. As it was nearly lunch time, we stopped in town to grab something to eat. When we finished, I suggested we try once again, just in case Lucille had returned, if indeed she had ever left.

We rang the bell again and were surprised to hear sounds of movement from the house and a minute or so later the side door of the garage opened and there, standing with one hand on her hip, was our elusive prey, Lucille, looking a bit suspicious. I wondered if she might be holding a double-barreled shotgun behind her back.

I quickly introduced ourselves and she seemed to relax and recognized us. We passed a few general comments and then I asked about renting, which she was agreeable to. I explained I had written to her but hadn’t gotten any reply. She countered she seldom got to her mailbox. I offered to get the mail from the box and she quickly replied that she left her mail out there because she had no room in the house for it. We continued chatting, she still standing in the doorway, we in the yard. It was pretty obvious we weren’t going to be asked in for coffee or anything else.

She began talking about her family, primarily her sons. She had referred to them in her early letters as her “ex-sons”, although never gave reasons for that name. She told us about an encounter with one of them earlier that month. It went something like this:

She had been in town eating lunch when she noticed a younger couple sitting at another booth close to her. They seemed to be staring at her, and then the man got up, walked over to her and asked if they might sit with her. She agreed and they joined her. After a few moments of idle chat, Lucille asked him to remove his cap as she felt all gentlemen should do at table. He obliged and then said, “Don’t you recognize me?” It was her younger son, Jon. The last she had known he was in Alaska. He told her they had come to New Hampshire and thought they would visit her. She invited them back to her house, had a “nice” visit, and hadn’t heard from him since.

Lucille then proceeded to tell us both sons had been adopted. Her other son, Steven, lived in Laconia, N.H. and owned one of the cottages in York near hers, while his ex-wife owned another of them. They apparently weren’t on speaking terms either.

After a few more minutes of inconsequential talk, we left and drove home. I immediately sent the rental fee, which had been raised again, and once more we were able to spend two summer weeks in York.

A few years later, after Lucille died, I received a letter from her lawyer stating that she had never cashed that check and would I please issue another so the estate could be settled? Was I tempted to ignore this? Of course, but I knew better. They probably found it somewhere in her mailbox.

Chapter 6

We had had enough dealings with Lucille. It was time for a change. We had been thinking of moving into another cottage in the same complex. By this time, Murphy had departed us and now rests on our fireplace mantle. Jan gave us a list of the cottages that were rentable and there we saw the name of someone from Concord, whom we had met briefly once some years ago. We immediately called Jane as soon as we got home from York that year.

She was pleasant and open to renting, but we would have to talk with her friend and companion, Karen, who took care of Jane’s business dealings and who would get back to us. As is usual, “getting back to us” is some sort of code, meaning. “we’ll call you if we happen to think of it”. We waited a few months, and called again. Naturally, the answer was “She hasn’t contacted you yet? I’ll remind her”.

We decided not to wait. We had friends who owned a condo in Ogunquit and asked them if they would rent it to us for a couple of weeks, which they were happy to do. It was a nice place, not directly on the ocean, but close and from their second story balcony you could see the water and Marginal Way. We thought it might be fun to see what Ogunquit was like up close and personal. The condo was small, living-dining area, tiny kitchen, one bedroom, a murphy bed, and two bathrooms with a heated pool was on the property.

Within a week of making these arrangements, Karen called, saying she had one week open; luckily it was the week following our last week in Ogunquit, which made it very convenient to leave the condo and move directly to York.

This cottage is in the front row with two bedrooms, kitchen and living room with a large picture window framing a gorgeous view of the ocean, with lobster boats, kayakers, and in the distance, the Isles of Shoals. Yes, it is nearly the same view from Lucille’s cottage, but now, instead of looking between other cottages, we had the whole ocean at our feet. And, even better, the whole place had been renovated. No more creaky floors, no more metal shower, no large heater in the living room, and best of all, no more “camping”.

The following years saw us increasing our time to three weeks, which is about right for us.

One summer, York celebrated their 350th Anniversary, including fireworks. They were set off from a barge anchored just off our complex. So while hordes of people gathered at Long Sands beach and the Nubble, we had our own “private” showing close up and personal. We had arrived!

From what we have heard, Lucille’s ex-son Steve helped her to get care, although the details are hazy and when she died, the bulk of her estate, or perhaps all, went to an animal rescue group. The cottage was sold and torn down. According to the owner’s organization, at least one original wall had to remain, but the two story replacement effectively erased Lucille’s cottage forever.

In spite of the conditions and the problems we had with Lucille, we did enjoy our time in the old cottage. The memories are still with us. And now there are no rosebushes to trim.

THE PIANO

This story, while true, contains memory blanks. I don’t remember some of the details and am not sure why. Bear with me.

I was 11 or 12 when my mother came home one afternoon, probably after a bridge game, and told us one of her friends wanted to get rid of a piano that belonged to her daughter and had not been used for a while. The woman wanted the space for some other piece of furniture.

I don’t recall my father’s reaction to the news. He was something of a stoic, so he was probably noncommittal. My mother apparently thought I wanted to learn how to play. I wasn’t averse to doing so, but had never actively campaigned for a piano. Somewhere in the back of my mind I have the feeling that my mother knew how to play the piano, although I had never seen her play and never knew where she might have had access to one, unless it was the old pump organ in my grandparents’ parlor.

My father discussed this offer with my aunt and uncle, Harry and Edith, who owned the house. Harry was actually was my mother’s cousin and we lived above them in an apartment consisting of two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and dining room, which was the largest room and the only one that could possibly contain an upright piano. They agreed and gave us permission, not realizing what lay ahead.

My mother called the woman and we acquired a piano. A week or so afterward on a Saturday, a truck showed up with the piano and three or four men. Whether my father hired the truck and men or whether he had gotten some of his friends to help, I’m not sure. The truck backed up to the front of the house. Our back stairs were too narrow and the angle too sharp to turn, so the front door was the only access. To get the piano into the house, it had to be carried up three granite steps, over 8 feet of walkway and then up three more steps into the hall. From there it was up a flight of stairs and a right turn.

My job in this venture was to keep out of the way. I stood on the side of the upstairs hall overlooking the stairs. My uncle stood in the downstairs hallway where I couldn’t see him but could hear him well. He seemed to be very nervous about the bannister, which might have been difficult to repair. The men began to move up the stairs slowly, grunting and no doubt using colorful language under their breath. Partway up I heard my Uncle crying out something about the bannister which made the men lurch into the opposite side, ramming a corner into the wall and creating a large dent and torn wallpaper. I remember a loud, unintelligible noise from my uncle.

When the piano finally rested at the top of the stairs, the next step began. Our dining room was one step down from the living room and bedrooms. The doorway was a bit narrow. In addition, a heavy pull out couch sat next to the door and partially blocked it. The couch had to be moved.

The designated place for the piano was occupied by a sideboard where the silverware, napkins, and table cloths were kept, so that also had to be moved. To where? I can’t remember. It was either placed in the corner or in the shed next to the kitchen. When all this moving was finished, the piano was carried into the dining room and the men left. From below I could hear my uncle’s voice, but although I couldn’t make out the words, I could tell he wasn’t happy.

I enjoyed the piano for several weeks, experimenting with the sound of random notes and trying to pick out tunes I knew. I tried writing my own music, although that didn’t amount to much. My aunt finally requested me to use the soft pedal whenever I sat down at the piano. It didn’t take long for my mother to contact Miss Gale, our school’s music teacher, for piano lessons. When school started again, she was to come once a week in the late afternoon. By now I had gotten excited. I imagined playing in front of a vast audience and taking bow after bow. Then came the phone call.

The woman who had given us the piano told my mother the piano meant more to her daughter than she had thought. She wanted it back. By rights, of course, the piano was ours. It had been given and accepted in good faith, but my folks weren’t like that. The piano had to go back.

I wasn’t there when my father broke the news to Uncle Harry, but I can tell you he was less than pleased. After a while my father came back upstairs and told us Harry had refused to allow the piano to come down the stairs. Perhaps he was still worried about the bannister or perhaps it was the threat of a law suit if anyone was crushed by a wayward piano. He suggested using the living room window. At least it was better than completely dismantling the piano and carrying it down in pieces.

The window was taken out and I remember seeing the large gaping hole where the window was with the piano teetering on the window sill. Again I was doing my job: keeping out of the way. How was the piano lowered? There had to have been some sort of winch and pulley system, but where were they anchored? I have no answer.

I clearly remember hearing the sound of glass breaking from below and Uncle Harry’s loud cry of, “JESUS CHRIST!”. Harry went to church only once a year, on Easter. so he obviously wasn’t religiously inclined. I was pretty sure Harry wasn’t praying when the piano went through his living room window.

The piano was loaded onto the truck and I watched it being driven out of sight, the last I ever saw of it. The window was repaired, the hallway was patched and re-papered, and no mention was ever made in my hearing of the incident. I’m sure my parents had a long discussion with each other and with Uncle Harry, but never in my presence.

You must know by now there was never another piano in our apartment and I never took lessons. When I was in college, my frat house did have a piano on the back closed-in porch, along with some sheet music. I did teach myself how to partly play a simple version of “Girl of my Dreams”, but it didn’t amount to much.

Later, when I was a teacher, the music teacher showed me how to play simple chords to music, but I didn’t have much success with that. One colleague brought me sheet music for “Moonlight Sonata―the simplified version, and I practiced that during lunch breaks until the other teachers asked me to stop. I did learn to play Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in C sharp Minor”, but only the first three notes. It was exciting, though, to sit down, hold my hands above the keys dramatically and play those three notes, especially when others were waiting expectantly for more.

But, alas, the trauma of the lost piano cut short my potential career as a world class concert pianist, one that I will forever mourn. Well, for a minute or so, anyway.

HAVING FUN WITH PHONE MARKETERS

Do you have time on your hands? Do you enjoy upsetting those pests that try to sell you things you don’t need? Let me give you some ideas. Some years ago I began to play with misdialed calls. That was when you actually did dial. The phones were larger and had a circular piece with holes in it so you could put your finger in and move it around for each number you needed. You can see those phones in some museums now.

Our phone number was one digit off from that of the local convent, so when someone called and asked for Sister Margaret, I would tell them, “I’m sorry Sister is upstairs with a customer right now”, and hang up. Or sometimes, “Bless you, my child. Say 20 Hail Mary’s and call me in the morning”. One line I wanted to use, but never did, was, “I’m sorry. Sister Theresa is cleaning her chastity whip right now”.

For other calls, I might just go along with whatever was being asked. “Sure I can meet you at the restaurant today”, or “I’ll give Sally that message”. This is sort of mean, so I stopped. After all, they were not bad people, just bad dialers.

I switched to targeting those callers who were trying to sell me things. One approach was telling the caller I was busy, but if the person would give me his/her home phone number I would call them back. When the person said that wasn’t possible, I would say, “You don’t do your business from home?” Upon the response, I would then offer, “Actually I don’t either”, and hang up.

Another technique which I still occasionally use: When the caller asks, as most do, “How are you today ?” I will respond, “I’m fairly well, and thank you so much for calling and asking”, then quickly hang up. Or give them a long description of my aches and pains, inventing symptoms rapidly. I’ve also used George Carlin’s response, “I’m moderately not unwell, thank you”, stopping the caller cold to try to untangle the double negative. By that time I will have hung up.

Then I decided to go on the attack. I wrote a three page script and had it ready by the phone. When the caller started in, I began reading: “I’m glad you called. I’d like to tell you about a new insurance policy you might be interested in”, and, ignoring any interruption, went on reading the script that started normally, but then got more and more ludicrous. It included pet-driveway fire insurance (in case your pet caught on fire in the driveway), broken bed insurance (in case your bed breaks during intimacy), and more.

I concluded my sales pitch with a special offer described as a two for one deal, in which two policies could be gotten for the cost of the lower priced one. “For instance, if you purchase a $1000 life insurance policy and a $20 cat-on-fire policy, you pay only $20 for both. However, this offer is good only today, so if I could have your credit card number…..”

I did not expect to ever get to the end of my routine, and most callers hung up long before, but I was surprised some lasted to the end. During one call, I could hear laughter in the background. Almost immediately the salesman called back, saying he had put me on speaker phone so the entire room could hear and it made their day. They wanted me to repeat it, but I told them to call another time.

More recently I’ve been getting multiple calls, mostly from men speaking in heavy accents. They were named Roy Smith, Peter Williams, and the like. I begin by telling them I like to write down the names of people who call me and to please give me their first and last names. I always spell their names wrong and that takes time to straighten out. Then I ask where they are calling from and what the weather is like there. Sometimes I ask about their state and get some interesting answers, such as the Grand Canyon being in Louisiana and the Alamo in Indiana. People from other countries really should check out the state they purport to inhabit.

These calls concern the danger I am in from my Windows account (never mind that I own a Mac laptop). I will tell them I think my windows are fine. I’ve just washed them and they look good. It takes a while for them to convince me they are talking about the window on my PC. Of course, I have to tell them I didn’t realize my computer had a window and whether I can actually see inside. When asked to sit in front of the computer, I tell them my computer is upstairs, but I will go up and sit in front of it. I’m slow on the stairs, so it might take a while. They are patient. After waiting five or six minutes I pick up the phone and tell them I have been sitting in front of the computer, but nothing happened, so I came back downstairs to talk with them again. They ask about my phone and I tell them it is on a long cord downstairs. I can go partway upstairs with it, but that’s as far as it reaches, and if he wants me to sit on the stairs and talk with him I could do that. By this time, the caller usually says good bye or just hangs up, but sometimes they put their supervisor on the line and the conversation begins again. Even better, twice I’ve been told “F— Y–!” which is clearly a win.

Other times they have been told how honest they are and how proud their mothers must be of the work they do and urge them to call their mother and let her know she was complimented.

On several occasions I have told them I had the solution to my computer problem. My granddaughter will be coming to visit in 15 minutes. She is a computer expert and I could have her talk to the caller. He then tells me he will call back shortly and hangs up. I never hear from him again.

My most unusual call was one lasting 45 minutes. It started out as usual, with the warning of hackers in my Windows, but suddenly the caller asked my age and if I was married. He proceeded to talk about his love life. It seems he is in love with a girl who doesn’t show much interest in him, and another girl he doesn’t care for that much does love him. He asked my advice, and discussed his feelings and what he thought about each girl, their good points and bad. At the end of the conversation he thanked me and said he was going to take my advice and hung up, with no further sales pitch.

Lately the calls, mostly by women, have been from a Medicare related company who wishes to help my pain with a brace for shoulder or knee. All is free, of course. I pretend to not understand what she means. We talk about where the pain is located and how the brace will help. I often say the only pain I have is from a cut on my finger and whether a knee brace will help. I ask if they have free bandages or band-aids for my finger. One woman, who caught on to what I was doing, remarked, “And it’s your middle finger isn’t it?” I laughed and admitted it and she thanked me for my time and hung up.

I’m sure there are other ways of countering such calls, but right now these are ones that work well. In a way, I am doing a social service. The more time I can keep these leeches on the line with me, the fewer calls they can make to others. It’s my gift to humanity. And for me, it is fun.

If you are so inclined, please feel free to use any of my ideas. One warning I was given, though. Avoid saying “yes” on the phone. It’s easy to do, but apparently it can be recorded and then used as proof that you have agreed to some sort of business deal. Whether this is true or not, I am not sure, but don’t take chances. Don’t waste your time arguing with or threatening these people. Telling them you are on the Do Not Call List only gives them a chance to laugh at you. One caller actually told me they change numbers daily so chances of tracing them are low. And remember, cleaning the phone lines of cheaters and scammers is an act of environmental integrity. It is a blow for humanity.

FUNERAL FUN

I lied. This isn’t really about funerals, but it’s a better title than “Death” or “Corpses”, though the three short stories here deal with those subjects. I hope you enjoy them.

This one was told to me by (get ready for this) my wife’s brother-in-law’s mother’s second husband, Jim. While I can’t verify his story, I have no reason to doubt him. He was a stoic, rough around the edges guy and could be contrary, but I always found him truthful. Jim had different jobs in his life, among them administrator of the fish hatchery in New Hampton, N.H. When he was younger, he was an assistant to an undertaker. He, along with another fellow, would transport the corpses from their place of death to the undertaker’s work room.

One night he got a call to pick up a body from a rural farmhouse on the outskirts of New Hampton. He and the other man drove out to the house and were shown to the grandmother’s upstairs bedroom. She had died sitting up in her chair, but wasn’t discovered for quite a while so rigor mortis had set in. Pretty obviously she couldn’t fit easily in the wicker basket usually used. The solution was to carry her down the stairs as she was.

They quietly closed the door to the sitting room where the mourners had gathered, then carried the corpse to the top of the narrow stairs. They quickly decided to slide the corpse down the bannister, then carried the body to the hearse and placed it sitting up in the passenger seat. As Jim said, ”It was lucky it was night and dark; it was a small town and people might have seen her, waved and wondered why she wasn’t being friendly”.

#II

My friend Wendell and I grew up together. According to my mother, she and Wendell’s mother were in the same hospital room when we were born only three days apart. He was born first and I’ve often bragged he was older than I was. We officially met in first grade and went through the grades together. Wendell was my best man when Barbara and I married.

When Wendell returned from serving in the military, he apprenticed himself to his father, who was a mortician and funeral director. He thought at the time he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. In the winter, Wendell would drive the hearse around to make sure it was running well. I would often accompany him. He would never pick me up at my house, rumors would start quickly. He would park in a dark place next to the schoolhouse and blow the horn.

We would drive almost anywhere, listening to the radio and talking. Many plans were laid but few ever were realized. One night I got a call from Wendell, asking if I wanted to accompany him to pick up a corpse in Manchester. A veteran had died and had been brought to a well-known undertaker for preparation. Wendell said all we had to do was drive down to the funeral home, have the body loaded into the hearse and drive back.

When we arrived, we were met by the funeral director and taken to the preparation room where the body lay on the table covered by a sheet. With a flourish the man whipped off the sheet as though the body were an art piece being unveiled. On the table lay the body of a man probably in his sixties, and wearing nothing but a skimpy loincloth. He was enormous. If he were able to gain another twenty pounds he could easily pass as a sumo wrestler.

The director proceed to give us a rundown of how he had prepared the body and what difficulties he had run into. I looked at Wendell, he just rolled his eyes. While he was used to this, he knew this was a whole new world for me and was somewhat embarrassed. Then the fellow told us the body was all ours. Wendell and I looked around. Where were the people to load the body into the hearse? It seemed that was to be us.

Wendell and I looked at each other. Wendell was upset for me. I just shrugged and nodded my head. Wendell told me to take the feet and he would take the shoulders as the body’s mouth might have been wired shut and he didn’t want anything to go wrong with that. I grabbed the feet. I had never touched a dead body before and was momentarily shocked at how cold it was. Lifting a sumo wrestler was not easy, but after several attempts and a tiny bit of help from the funeral director, we managed to get the body into the wicker basket we had brought along.

Then, lugging and grunting, we carried the package out to the hearse and slid it in. Wendell then told me to wash my hands in the dirty snow that was still on the ground. He explained the body sometimes had some traces of formaldehyde and it was safer. When I asked him why we didn’t ask to wash up in the home, he said he wanted to get out as fast as he could. Wendell spent the drive back apologizing for the unexpected experience, but I reassured him I hadn’t been traumatized. The funeral director assumed we were both assistants and used to this sort of thing. Wendell’s father was livid when he heard of our adventure. He insisted on paying me, though I tried to resist. Perhaps it was hush money. For me it was another experience.

After two years, Wendell decided a funeral director’s life was not for him and he eventually became a psychologist. I think he made a wise choice.

#III

When Barbara died, I bought a cemetery plot, and, seeing as the spot next to us was available, bought that also for our girls, just in case. We chose the headstone and four corner posts. It is a nice spot and several neighbors and friends are buried close.

Some years later, on a visit to the grave, I noticed a headstone that looked too close to ours. There didn’t seem to be enough room to place a couple more bodies. I went home and dug out the deed to study, then went to the cemetery office. The woman checked the records, showed me the map and reassured me everything was fine. Just then a man dropped in. He was in charge of the burials. The woman explained the situation and asked him to bring me to the grave so he could assure me things were fine.

We got in our cars and drove to the grave site. The man had his map with him and standing in front of the stones, looked from one to the other. He did this several times, even turning the map around, then uttered one word, “Oops”. It seems Mr. Schmidt had taken over our empty lot. When I asked him what came next he said simply, “We’ll have to dig up Mr. Schmidt”, and he told me not to worry. It would be done shortly. It was and everything, as far as I know, went well. We asked that the corner stones be moved to include our empty plot and they were, at no cost.

As Mr. Schmidt had died only a week or two before I have had mixed feelings of whether or not I wanted to hear the reactions when the cemetery office called his widow to say, “Mrs. Schmidt, we seem to have a little problem”. Part of me wishes he would have included his little word, “Oops”.

ENGLAND, HERE WE COME!

Barbara and I often thought alike. For example, one day in 1972 we were cleaning the cellar and talking about possible vacation trips. We said we’d like to visit foreign countries, perhaps England as a start. Then maybe Japan. After that, who knows? We thought when the girls got older, Liz being 9 and Cara 4, we could plan something.

One moment later, we looked at each other and exclaimed in unison, “Why are we waiting?” ‘Great minds’, as the saying goes.

We were excited. England would be perfect. We knew the language, more or less, the natives would be welcoming and friendly, and the sights wonderful. Stratford on Avon, Big Ben, Windsor Castle, things we read about, films we had seen.

Then Barbara got cold feet. She had never flown, and the thought made her ill. I had been in the air six or seven times, but couldn’t convince her it was safe. So we compromised. We drove across country to visit her sister in California. We stopped at numerous places and got to know our country much better. But that’s another story. Looking back, statistics seem to show that air travel is safer than driving, but Barbara wouldn’t be convinced by that.

The next year Barbara bit the bullet. She got up her courage and agreed on England in the summer. To prepare, she bought a novel called, “Fear of Flying” by Erica Jong in hopes she would learn from it. What she learned was quite different. She didn’t realize until she started reading “Fear of Flying” that it had nothing to do with air flight. It was more earthy, and the book featured the term “zipless fuck”. I read the book also, but failed to see, besides the obvious, what zippers had to do with sex.

We had no idea of what to bring, this being our first trip out of the country. My flights all had been arranged by the military, and they knew what was needed, so there was no help there. We overpacked, of course. Everyone does. We chose a fly-drive plan, that is, our flight, a two week rental car, and several vouchers for hotels as one package. We were free to go where we wanted and all we needed was a road map.

Several places were a must. London, of course, and a small village called Ashton-under-Lynne where my grandparents were born. Then there was Stratford-on-Avon, and several cathedrals. We planned a route and were ready to go.

We were driven to Logan airport by a friend, and boarded a late night plane. Barbara and Cara sat across the aisle from Liz and me. The engines started up and the plane began to move. When we felt the lift off, I turned and looked at Liz. One tiny tear ran down her cheek but she smiled at me and I knew we would be fine.

This plane actually had a cocktail lounge, but for first class passengers only. One had to go up a narrow spiral staircase to get there. I don’t think that feature lasted long in planes. Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights” was being shown. “Good”, I thought, a silent film means we can sleep. The film was silent but the audience wasn’t, the laughter making it nearly impossible to even doze off. Barbara and I were awake most of the flight. The girls slept easily.

After collecting our luggage we looked for the car rental station, but not before running into a former school music teacher and his family. It was a total surprise on both our parts. They had just flown in from Washington, D.C. where they were now living. At the rental booth we were given the keys to a small British car and told where to pick it up.

Driving was not easy. I had forgotten the steering wheel was on the right side, and we had to drive on the right side as well. We were about eighteen miles from the center of London and traffic was very heavy, going probably no more than twenty-five miles per hour, but that was fine with me. I got used to driving the “English Way”. We got to our hotel and left the car in the garage for the five days we spent in the city. Due to time differences it was about 1 PM, but Barbara and I desperately needed sleep. The girls needed activity. We slept; they read or played with whatever they could find.

When we awoke, we walked outside and found a park right across from the hotel where the girls ran around and used the swings and other equipment. Afterwards, we ate dinner and spent time planning where to go in London. Before we left home Barbara promised we would go out twice together by ourselves. I knew hotels often hired baby sitters for tourists, so there was nothing to worry about.

A new show had opened in London, called “O Calcutta” which had good reviews. So one morning we went to the theater to get tickets for the evening performance. While I bought the tickets, Barbara and the girls looked around, evidently missing the pictures in the lobby. When the baby sitter arrived, we went to dinner at an interesting little pub featuring mismatched chairs and a really lived-in atmosphere, as though we had moved back to an earlier century. We ordered steak and kidney pie, just to get in the “English” mood. It was passable, but kidney is far from our favorite dish.

We then attended the performance. The first number was entitled, “Taking off the Robe”, in which the four couples came out dressed in robes singing the glories of the human body and then demonstrated the title, disposing of them like candy wrappers. The audiences cheered. Barbara grabbed my arm hard. “My God, they’re naked!” she exclaimed loudly. Some people turned to her and smiled. “I told you this was a nude show!” I whispered back. “Nude?”, she responded. “I thought you said it was a NEW show!” After the initial shock, she settled back and began to enjoy the show. And it was really a lot of fun. After a while you could easily forget (well “easily” may not be accurate) naked people were performing in front of you. We returned to our hotel, where we found the girls had not been kidnapped, but eager to tell us the fun they had in the park.

During our time in London we visited the British Museum; the zoo where we saw the featured panda; and walked through the bird aviary. We watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (where Christopher Robin went with Alice);10 Downing Street up close; toured Charles Dickens’ home; and many other sights. We toured the Tower of London and took a boat ride on the Thames. Of course, we couldn’t pass up Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum where we ate watercress sandwiches for lunch. We stopped in front of 32A Baker Street, though Mr. Holmes wasn’t at home. We also visited Somerset House where vital statistics were kept and found mention of my grandparents, though not enough to give much information.

While London was wonderful, there were other places we wanted to visit. So we got into the car and slowly drove out of the city toward Hampton Palace. We found a hotel in Maidenhead, near the palace, and just by chance ran across a tiny village for children called Bekonscot. We walked on the pathway through the village, avoiding the train that ran around it and feeling a bit like Gulliver. The girls loved it, going around the trail several times and peering in the windows of the houses.

The next day we toured the palace, expecting to see the ghost of Catherine Howard that runs screaming through the building. Alas, no luck, but we did enjoy the maze, and, like most others, had difficulty finding the exit. The gardens were gorgeous.

On we went. A highlight of our trip was being in Stratford on Avon. I was feeling more comfortable driving the “English way”, but on the way a car passed us and the passenger was pointing downward to our car. I stopped and checked to see we had a flat tire (or, if you prefer,“tyre”). I sat on the side of the road poring over the directions, but it was twenty minutes before I understood how to change the tyre.

We were lucky to have made reservations to stay in Stratford at the White Swan Inn, a sixteenth century hotel right next to a garage where the tyre could be repaired. Our room was in the front so we had a great view of street activity, although we wondered why the spot directly across was just an empty lot.

We owed it to ourselves to see a Shakespeare play, so we went to get tickets for “Comedy of Errors”. Unfortunately, there were none left, but we could have some for “Coriolanus” the next night. As we had no schedule, we said, “why not?” and bought two tickets. We visited the bard’s birthplace and Trinity Church where he is buried, birth and death combined in one visit. We particularly enjoyed eating cornets (ice cream cones to those of you who don’t speak English English) served from a flat boat tied to the bank of the Avon. Many swans gather there and we ate among them. And, yes, we had a long boat ride on the river.

After dinner we arranged for a babysitter for the next night and sat in the tavern enjoying good English stout. When, at 10 PM playgoers began coming in, Barbara sighed relief the play was short so we wouldn’t worry about the girls. Barbara had seen the Bette Davis film, “The Nanny” and wished she hadn’t.

The next day we awoke at 6 AM to loud noises across the street. The empty lot was empty no longer; it was filled with stalls of homemade goods and food. It was market day. We had fun wandering around and buying souvenirs. We walked around Stratford. The girls were invited to sit on the bench in Anne Hathaway’s cottage where William wooed Anne (and according to history got her pregnant, but that wasn’t mentioned). We had lunch at the Black Swan Tavern, also called the Dirty Duck. The beer is excellent! Then we drove to the home of Mary Arden, Will’s mother. It was a working farm as it would have been in Will’s day. In the evening we had dinner, welcomed the babysitter and went off to the theater.

We were especially pleased to learn playing a large role was Margaret Tyzak, one of our favorite actresses from the television series “Forsythe Saga”. Coriolanus is a very different play. It’s not comedy, far from it. The scene that stands out in my mind, besides every word that Tyzak spoke, was near the end when Coriolanus face is pushed into a pot of flame and rises blackened. Gruesome, yes, but effective. I’ve never seen that done before or since.

What affected Barbara more was the time. The show was at least an hour longer than “Comedy”, and Barbara was getting nervous. I told her I had no idea the play was longer, but if she really, really wanted to leave we would. She said she’d stick it out, but spent much of the time checking her watch. When the play ended, I knew there was no time for us to see if we could get a close glimpse of Tyzak, or even an autograph, so we hurried back to the Inn where we found the girls very happy with whatever they had been doing with the babysitter. And the bathtub was dry.

Our journey continued. We were headed for Manchester, of which Ashton-under-Lyme was a suburb. We stopped at Blenheim Palace, the Churchill Estate where Winston was born in a small anteroom off the main hallway. The palace is enormous and the grounds beside the Thames are beautiful.

We finally reached our destination. Ashton-under-Lyme was a quiet, peaceful village with thatched roof houses, sheep roaming the hillside, and the tiny church sat patiently awaiting us and ready to divulge all the records of my ancestors. Unfortunately, that Ashton-under-Lyme existed only in my mind. I’m sure the place did look like that once, but now it is a poor extension of Manchester; rows and rows of factories and row houses. Dusty, dirty and unpleasant. There are at least twelve churches, which would have taken us a very long time to explore for records. So, I packed up my dream and we drove back to Manchester, where we spent the night in a gloomy old hotel. Mr. Hyde might have been prowling the hallways, as far as we knew.

We left early in the morning; we had seen enough of this part of England. I felt sorry we hadn’t found what we were looking for, but happy to see other parts of the country. We stopped at Stonehenge and climbed on the rocks. We have pictures of the girls sitting and waving on one of them, and also of a little girl crying. She was obnoxious, making loud rude noises, and complaining constantly, so when she fell and cut her chin, I bit my lip to stop chuckling and snapped her picture. Today, the whole site is off limits, You can get close, but touching the stones is out of reach.

We stopped to see the cathedrals of Salisbury and Winchester and of course they are magnificent, but cathedrals are, after all, just cathedrals. We finally got to Portsmouth where we expected to see the English Channel, but that didn’t happen. We arrived after dark and all the hotels were full as the Regatta was in town that week. The clerk asked where we were headed and when we told him we were going back to London, he called an associate hotel and made us reservations for Dorking, another small marketing town.

We drove about 40 miles north and came to the town, a lovely little old fashioned place right out of the story books. And we were booked into another 16th century Inn, similar to the White Swan. Like Stratford, it also had a market place across from the hotel. And, like Stratford, the market was going full blast when we awoke the next morning.

Sadly the panda we had seen in London had died. The girls bought stuffed pandas to remember Ling Ling. We wandered around a bit then headed back to London. The next day, seeing as it was our last, was spent on making sure we had visited everyplace. One of the most memorable was Westminster Abby. Not only beautiful, it was filled with the tombs of poets, statesmen, inventors, royalty, and other citizens of honor.

We were standing beside the grave of Queen Elizabeth when a bell rang and a stentorian voice called for prayers for anyone traveling the next day. It seemed someone beside our travel agent knew we were flying home that day. Barbara looked reassured.

The flight back was uneventful, smooth and safe. Home, as always, looked welcoming. We were happy to be back and were already looking forward to our next trip.

THEATER MOMENTS

I have loved theater since early childhood. My first exposure to stage work happened at about five. My mother took me to a matinee live performance at the Palace movie theater in Penacook. It was thrilling to see “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” right before us up on stage. They were real! I was horrified when my father came home from downtown and told me he had seen the characters getting on the bus together. I worried all night the wicked witch would get too close to Snow White and harm her.

My first stage performance occurred in third grade when I stopped the show, literally. In “Peter Rabbit” I was cast as the second carrot from the end in Mr. McGregor’s garden. My costume consisted of an orange top and green trousers. Evidently the costumer had a vague understanding of how carrots grow. The carrots’ only duty entailed no lines, only one chorus song and a dance around the garden for the fairy princess, a neighborhood girl on whom I had a crush. The song went well, but the dance was another matter. I hadn’t been feeling well that day and each time we circled by the princess I threw up at her feet. The horror on her face as I approached her is still seared in my mind. Clearly my chances of a romance were dim.

The director ordered the curtain dropped and my mother came backstage to take me home. As there was only one exit from the theater, we had to walk through the audience, a very embarrassing experience. The teachers must have cleaned the floor and restarted the play. By that time I was home in bed.

My second performance was in 7th grade. I was dancing once more, this time the minuet. Again the performance stopped briefly, though this time it wasn’t my fault. The girl I was dancing with wore a long gown, which, when the curtain rolled up, was caught by the hem and rolled up with it. By the time the dress had reached her waist. the show was stopped and we started again.

I performed once in high school and several times in college, including a blonde wigged Little Eva in the annual Alpha Opera. I delivered the immortal lines, “Ahh, thank ah’ll die now. Give mah wig to Miz Merrill (the college’s art teacher)”.

Spending four summers in New York City while working on my Master’s Degree at Columbia, gave me lots of opportunities to attend live theater on Broadway. I’ll never forget seeing Ethel Merman making her appearance from the audience in “Gypsy” nor having Tammy Grimes using my hands so she could sign autographs.

I’ve been a member of the Community Players of Concord for thirty-six years and have experienced nearly all aspects of theater. It has been a rewarding experience.

My cousin Sandy reminded me of the following story. Barbara and I often went to Boston to see shows before they opened on Broadway. We saw some winners and some losers. Sadly I was not a great judge of selections. When we saw “A Little Night Music” I thought it would never make it on Broadway. It was unlike other shows and the music was boring. The only enjoyable piece was something called “Send in the Clouds”, but that made little sense to me. How do you send in clouds? Perhaps hearing aids might have helped.

Fairly soon though, I discovered the wonder that is Sondheim. So when we asked my cousin and her husband Bob to join us for a Boston theater experience, I wanted to be sure we picked a winner. There were two shows in town. One was obviously going to be a hit. It was called “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, produced by theater miracle man, David Merrick, book by Abe Burrows, based on Truman Capote’s book and film. It starred Mary Tyler Moore and Richard Chamberlain, so how could it miss? The other choice, if you could even call it that, was going to be a flop. It was a musical about life in Berlin in the early thirties. Who would want to see that?

Yes, it was that show. And “Cabaret” is still an important piece of theater today. “Breakfast” closed two weeks before it was to open on Broadway and, except for a show album made years later with a different cast, is hardly mentioned. However, we did enjoy the experience. And to top it off, afterward, as we were headed to a restaurant, just ahead of us and walking at our pace, was Mary Tyler Moore, alone. I made a start to catch up with her and speak to her, perhaps get an autograph, but Barbara put her hand on my arm and told me to leave her alone. She obviously didn’t want company. Regretfully I acquiesced.

One last piece of this story, which Sandy remembered: In Boston we frequented a restaurant called Jake Wirth’s. It was established in 1868 and remains open today. It serves German food and at that time it served two kinds of beer, a lager from a bottle or Jake Wirth’s dark from the tap, a smooth and tasty stout, no choice, really. Sawdust was sprinkled on the floor, since removed as a fire hazard, and the waiters were old. We used to joke they had been there since it opened. They wore black coats and white shirts, with a towel draped over their arm. They never smiled. When you finished eating and lingered, the waiter would stand close to the table and wait, clearing his throat often.

We ordered our usual, ham and cheese on rye, a very filling sandwich with a side dish of cole slaw. As we were eating, Barbara discovered a piece of glass in her cole slaw. Calling the waiter over, she showed him what she had been served, In response he assured her the glass had to have come from the kitchen which meant the glass was clean so she need not worry. He then offered another dish of cole slaw, which she refused. There was no other compensation for her unhappy situation.

All in all, it was a good day and created fond memories and a few laughs of our theater trip. More trips were in store.

GUANO

In my second year of teaching, my principal asked if I would mentor a student teacher. Sensing some hesitation, he assured me of his confidence, so I agreed. Many more student teachers followed, almost all of whom turned out well. One of them stood out. Ruth was a strong teacher who began playing little games.

One day Ruth was teaching a geography lesson on Peru. The textbook briefly mentioned one of the leading exports was guano, although it didn’t mention exactly what it was. Ruth wasn’t going to get into that. In case you don’t know, guano is bird droppings used as fertilizer. This was in the late fifties, when even mentioning that term in front of children would cause much giggling and red faces. It was a more innocent era.

I was watching from the back and quickly wrote a note asking Ruth what guano was and slipped it to a student who promptly raised her hand and read the question. Ruth’s face turned red and she hesitated before giving her an answer. “It’s fertilizer”, she said and quickly moved on. Afterward she berated me before we both began to laugh. It was that kind of relationship.

That summer I was in Manhattan, working on a Master’s degree at Columbia, when I remembered that moment. A sample of guano for Ruth would be a good joke. I checked the telephone book and found a corporation, which sold the stuff and gave them a call. A gentleman answered and inquired as to how many boxcars would be needed. Correcting him, I informed him I was a teacher who needed a sample for my students to analyze to determine just what the stuff was. He understood and invited me to his office to pick some up.

The office, was located on the 40th floor of a building on Madison Avenue and it was very classy, almost like a movie set. The gentleman greeted me and gave me a tour. There were probably fifty workers scattered among all the little rooms. Art work on the walls, flowers in vases, expensive looking curtains. Who would have thought bird droppings would have created such a place? Those birds would have been proud of their work, if they had known.

At the conclusion of the tour, the gentleman assured me he would be happy to help in any way he could. He handed me a large jar of a reddish powdery material and wished me and my students well. Arriving home after my time in the city, I carefully wrapped the jar in colorful paper, attached a brightly colored ribbon and brought it to Ruth, who screamed with delight when she discovered just what was in the jar.

This little story has no purpose except as a brief remembrance. It’s just an example of a bit of silliness and of the willingness of people to help others.

MY FILM CAREER

I have arrived! Google me! Eventually you will see “Bob Pearson, actor” And no, that isn’t me standing in the bow of the Titanic, screaming “I’m the king of the world!”, my many fans to the contrary. I haven’t yet arrived that much. But I did do a film. I actually got third billing. Here’s the story of how my career started.

I had a friend, well, let’s call Jeff an acquaintance. We had met when Jeff joined the Community Players sometime in the early 2000’s. We chatted a lot on IM, if you remember that messenger service. One evening he told me a friend of his was making a movie and was looking for an old man (Jeff is not particularly tactful) to play a big part. He was going to be in it as well. Although I have done amateur acting numerous times, I had never done a film and was intrigued.

A few days later I received a phone call from someone named Jamie, who said he was the director of the film and would like me to audition. We arranged a time and a week or so later we met in Derry. I found a large white farm house just off the main street and parked. As I removed my glasses. The frame broke with the lens falling to the floor. I needed my glasses to read.

Inside the house was quiet and looked, well, lived in, discovering later it was the home of several disparate people. It was never clear just who lived there as people would come and go at all times, day or night. A large friendly fellow named Eric introduced himself as the producer. He told me Jamie was running late, but would be there shortly. It was a phrase used often in the coming weeks. Eric then left me alone in the dining room.

About thirty minutes later, Jaime showed up and introduced himself. He was stocky, somewhat heavy, with a dark beard and piercing eyes. He found Eric and the three of us went to the glassed in porch. They quizzed me about my experience. When I mentioned producing for the Community Players, Eric immediately asked if I had any interest in producing the film. Eric looked quite disappointed when I told him live theater is very different from film. I got the distinct feeling he was not that enthusiastic about this project.

With the broken glasses, it was not easy reading the script, but I persevered and at the conclusion, was immediately given the role. They told me two other people had tried out, but I was better. I knew the two people they mentioned, and could see Jamie and Eric were, if nothing else too honest, or at least naive. They gave me a copy of the script to read along with a request to ask others if they cared to join the cast. I sent out a general email to a group of Players who might be interested. Jamie cast three or four others from our amateur group.

There was never a full cast meeting. The filming was on a scene by scene basis; but that’s the way filming works. I saw my friends’ work only after the film had been completed. Reading the script, I discovered there was a gay sub plot. It was so incidental it could easily have been dropped. With the director and producer being gay, I suppose it made them feel better.

The story line concerned a cult that was attempting to gain power over a town. In order to gain this power, a sacrifice in front of the skulls of past leaders had to be carried out. The cult’s leader (me) sends his grandson, David, to recruit Rob, the new boy in town as that lamb. Simple plot, simple dialogue.

Unlike stage plays, movies are made in assorted scenes, many times out of order and almost always filmed several times at different angles. One scene may be done a number of times, all to be sorted out later in some small, crowded dark room somewhere. I never did know where.

My first scene was in an antique shop in Derry. There were a number of “takes” as I was having problems with my lines, but Jamie was very patient. Looking at the finished product, I thought my performance was weak, but Jamie said he liked it. In this scene, I make a remark about going upstairs to where the books were kept. Weeks later we “went upstairs”―in York, Maine. The bookshop in that town has since gone out of business, but it was a nice place to film. While the shop in Derry is in the middle of town with shops all around, the upstairs windows in York shows we were in the middle of a forest. Jamie was not especially concerned with consistency.

One scene was done in a nature preserve in Derry. Dressed in a black robe I was filmed limping down a path and through the woods and over a bridge. That was it, although it took hours to get it just right for Jamie. Later Jamie wanted me to go to some place near the coast to film me going into a house. That was it, going into a house. Driving to the coast and back to film a ten second bit when anyone there could don a robe and do the role was a bad investment of time, so I refused. Jamie agreed and someone took my place, but without the limp.

One of the more memorable filming sessions took place at night. I was supposed to be threatening Rob in the back seat of a car driven by one of my minions. We were to meet at the Derry house at 7. Jamie and Eric showed up at 8; Rob came in at 8:30. I wanted to go over our lines. Rob wanted to make calls to his girlfriend. Reluctantly he agreed to go over them once. Jamie wasn’t happy. And predictably, Rob had lots of difficulty once the camera began rolling.

It was Halloween, so the car had to be driven slowly, both for safety and to get a steady picture. Rob and I sat in the back with lamps pointed up at our faces. making it look spooky to trick or treaters. Jamie was kneeling on the passenger seat while Eric drove. The scene actually came out well, but looking at the finished product we could easily have filmed it parked in the driveway. As it was dark, there is no indication the car ever moved.

Another interesting scene took place in a Derry church graveyard. We were dressed in black robes again, with shovels and buckets of dirt. We were supposedly digging up a body to recover a skull. The digging was fake, of course. We used the dirt to pretend we were actually digging. It was on a Sunday, around noon, and just in time for the end of church services, so we managed to startle a number of passersby. One member of our crew didn’t sooth them by yelling out, “We’re just looking for our ancestors!” One man smiled and waved. A woman who looked startled grabbed her daughter’s hand and hurried along. The scene was darkened through some photo magic to make it seem it was night. When the skull was found, it was handed to me. I held it up, said a couple of lines in Latin, wrapped up the skull, and off I limped, camera following me out of the graveyard.

SPOILER ALERT ! Near the end of the film I lose my head, which required a mask of my face. A plaster casting was needed. Jamie had a friend who had done makeup and odds and ends in Hollywood and he was willing to work on me. He had done makeup on Kevin Bacon, which puts me as two degrees of separation from Mr. Bacon. I do give autographs!

I was startled to walk into the Derry house to see David stark naked in the middle of the living room. Three or four people were watching a televised football game while two girls painted scars all over his body. He seemed oblivious to all of this. The purpose was to test the material for a later scene, but it seemed to me all he had to do was remove his shirt. David seemed to be a bit of an exhibitionist.

I was on my back with goop all over my face, a straw in each nostril for twenty long minutes. What we actors do for our art! The finished product, which I saw several weeks later turned out well. My head is somewhere in a bag in the garage.

Jamie saved the climax of the film for last when the leadership is contested. At some point my character is supposed to swing at a skull and crush it. As this was constructed especially for that, it had to be done in one take. Not having great eye-hand coordination, I backed off and insisted Jamie do the honors, which, in my black robe and hood, he did.

The garage at the Derry house had been turned into the “sacrifice” room. Jamie and Eric had cleaned the building out and draped the entire space with black cloth with a sacrificial altar as the focal point. Candles were lit. Skulls lined the wall. For the head cutting, Jamie wanted a stream of blood shooting out from my neck. Again, this was a one take scene as the blood would be everywhere. Jamie insisted on doing a test run of the blood spurt but it had to be done outside so the blood wouldn’t be noticed in earlier shots. This was in April, with a small amount of snow on the ground and it was cold. I was rigged up with hose and the blood pack. Air was pumped into the pack. The idea was, at the crucial point, I was to press some sort of button and the air and blood was to shoot out of the tube attached to my neck. It took some time to get the whole thing adjusted and the rest of the actors came out to watch, including David, who was by now completely naked again. My first thought was of how cold he must be. He was standing in snow, but seemed as oblivious of that as he was of being naked. Eric was much more concerned about what the neighbors might think and insisted

David cover himself. Reluctantly David got a blanket and threw it over his shoulders, although left gaping enough so he was still somewhat exposed.

The test went well, although Jamie wasn’t completely happy and insisted on putting more air into the pack. He added quite a bit more and we went inside to begin the scene. As I was standing there, delivering my last line, David swung a machete. I immediately pushed the button and the spray shot out. As I fell to the floor, twisting my body, the blood covered everyone and everywhere―except me. Well, some dribbled down my robe, but I was clean. I lay there while the filming went on, but it was hard to not laugh at all the bloody faces and clothes surrounding me. Jamie decided the blood looked good and added a brief scene of David flailing at my body and spreading the blood even more.

I was able to watch the rest of the scene as it was being filmed. David was naked and bouncing around, first with a fight scene and then with a machete and staff fight. He had insisted he didn’t mind being naked in the scene, but did not want his penis shown. It must have been very difficult editing that scene, as his penis was everywhere.

That was my last scene and I was no longer involved for a while, but filming continued. Then there was quiet. I heard nothing for some time. The boys were busy, cutting, pasting, editing, adding music, and in general getting the film together. With the film completed, Jamie called some of the actors together for a screening. The film actually looked better once it was in order and edited.

Jamie wanted a “The Making of….” feature, so we reran the film with Jamie recording our commentary on the scenes in front of us. The film actually made it to Amazon, and today it is still available from there. Several other films have the same title, but the cover for this one is that of a gravestone with a skull and pentagram in red imposed on the stone.

One day, I got a call. The film had been accepted for the Gaylaxia Film Festival in Boston and cast and crew members were invited to attend our presentation. Gaylaxia is a club for fans of gay science fiction films (talk about a niche group!). Some of us decided it would be fun to see how this works. On the night of the screening, with David driving his van, we headed to Boston to watch the film and get the audience’s reaction. No one said anything negative and there were a lot of great comments, especially on the acting. And David actually kept his clothes on.

Jamie mentioned he had toyed with having the two leads kiss, but Rob was averse to that. However the audience strongly urged for that bit to be added. Rob changed his mind and agreed. The kiss is now in the film.

By this time Dave and Rob had been bitten by the acting bug. They urged Jamie to do another film. Jamie had been writing a sequel to Sacrifice but they wanted a short film based on some sort of futurist tale that was popular at the time. Jamie was a bit reluctant, but finally agreed.

He wrote in a small part for me before he asked if I would do it. I agreed and we had a couple of short scenes, mostly just me and the camera. I don’t recall much of anything concerning this as it was never finished. Then came the sequel, this one called, “Resurrection”. Again, Jamie wrote me into the script. As I ended the original film headless, I couldn’t see where I fit in, but Jamie explained I was to be the spirit haunting my grandson. It would be a smaller role, but that was fine with me. I had gotten tired of the delays and unpreparedness of Jamie and Eric and had other things to do.

Let me tell you of the last, and only scene I did on that picture. We were to meet at noon at a farmhouse someplace near Derry. I arrived promptly at 12, introduced myself to the farm owner and waited. Jamie and Eric managed to get there at 1, along with two crew members. Jamie had forgotten the red food dye for painting blood on David and asked the farmer’s wife for some, which she didn’t have, Jamie then sent the two crew members to the market seven miles away to get some. They were gone for an hour, with various phone conversations concerning directions, what brand of dye, and other meaningless items.

While we were waiting, Rob and David showed up. They apparently were converting to “Jamie Time”, in which appointed arrival times were flexible. When the long awaited dye finally arrived, Jamie applied the red color to David’s body. For a change, David was NOT naked. He wore a very mini-sized white bikini and was supposed to be hung from a sort of X shaped cross. While filming, several cars drove by and slowed down. When we waved at them, they sped up. We wondered what story the drivers told at the dinner table that night.

Let me say Jamie was not the most efficient director I have worked with. He got David tied up to the cross, then set the camera up, talked to David about his lines and began the scene. The problem was he didn’t want David in that position for longer than 15 minutes because of blood circulation, so after a few minutes he would untie David and get him down. While David was exercising his arms, Jamie filmed one of my lines, then got David back up on the cross, readjusted the camera, and so on. It took hours. I told Jamie I intended to leave by four, so he got just a bit more efficient, and I left on time.

This was the last I saw of Jamie and company. I later heard from one member of the cast that there was some more filming done, but then that seemed to stop. Whether Jamie ran out of material, cast, inspiration and/or money, I’m not sure. He was puzzling over how to film a woman being run over by a steam road paver and perhaps that was the sticking problem. I had visions of the film turning into a Flat Stanley animation.

Other than a couple of nursing home commercials, that is the extent of my film career. It was fun to do, but I am now officially turning in my dressing room star and becoming once again one of the little people out there in the dark.

Living with Entropy

Posted on August 27, 2019 by Bill Ryan

A reflection written during the summer of 2019

The day begins as many do with the making of coffee. While the water is heating to a boil and during the time it takes for the hot water to drip through ground coffee, I begin to arrange dishes, cups, glasses, and silverware, which have been air drying overnight onto and into their respective places on shelves, drawers, and cupboards.

While sipping caffeine my mind turns to the day’s tasks before me. Clothes need to be washed, dried, folded, and arrayed in dressers; the house needs to be cleaned and made to look orderly for guests arriving later today; the garage has descended into an unorganized mess, such that I can’t slide my car in; the refrigerator and pantry require restocking; unopened mail is stacked on my desk calling for attention; and on and on and on.

Many days are like this. A significant part of the mundane life involves putting things in their place. Another day, another corralling of cats. The multitude of variables attached to physical entities that occupy, crowd, intrude, define, and fill our lives call out to us continually, forcing us to decide on any number of organizing courses to take. For all of our possessions demand choices to be made. Do we ignore, dispose, categorize, save, give, sell, bequeath, or destroy each of these countless items we’ve bought, acquired, or adopted? These decisions can’t be avoided, because the natural order of things is that our stuff and consequently our lives progressively descend into disorder.

The list of must-dos we assign ourselves is vast indeed. They include an endless list of activities related to maintaining a home, occupation, family, community, and environment. Efficiency and custom dictate that everything has its place, so we engage in unceasing arranging and re-arranging of materials in a never-ending energy and time expenditure. Pick up, shelve, store, tidy, clean, and pack. And to what avail? Is the effort worth it?

I’ve often questioned whether the vast amounts of time spent on combating muddle has value. Why, after all, can’t we just live life as it is without feeling this urgency to establish and maintain countless patterns and systems? Isn’t the universe unfolding as it should without need for our frantic and artificial human interventions?

Entropy is a term borrowed from physics, more specifically thermodynamics. Technically it refers to the naturally occurring disorder and randomness of a system’s thermal energy, rendering the energy less available for conversion into mechanical work. For the layman, it is a useful word for describing everyday chaos, turmoil, and disarray that can occur if left unattended. As seems to be our common perception, the disparate yet connected domains that make up our worlds do seem to be forever crumbling before us, urging us to sandbag against an impending flood of clutter time and time again. So there. Entropy. We now have a word for it.

It undoubtedly appears that I have tipped my hand in this piece by explicitly leaning in a critical direction when suggesting there may be liabilities of too much entropy-reducing indulgence. After all, isn’t there more to life than marshalling belongings? Do we run a risk of enslaving ourselves to a life of constant orderliness, leaving little time and energy for more enriching pursuits? Yes, I do believe this is a condition we must guard against. When the realization snaps into focus that nearly every waking hour is dedicated to some manner of organization is a good time to consider the possibility of alternatives.

The trick for me, and I suspect for many other people, is in determining how to live with just enough life-sustaining upkeep to enjoy the benefits of a well-ordered world, while not becoming consumed by an over-maintenance of seemingly humdrum details. Perhaps a means of identifying where on the ‘neat-freak/c’est la vie’ spectrum one is can be approached by conducting a type of cost-benefit or SWOT analysis. (SWOT, by the way, stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. It’s a business school thing.) A purposeful self-examination can get us focused on the potential and actual gains of combatting entropy and how much outlay of time, energy, and stress is worth expending to realize these rewards.

We all have an individualized way of approaching such a personal inquiry. For example, let’s say I am examining my disheveled surroundings. I have a tertiary choice. Leave it as it is, add to the mess, or intervene by cleaning. What drives my decision? Ultimately it comes down to what will make feel better. Will I find greater satisfaction by preserving the status quo, by contributing to the chaos, or by tidying up? So, which will it be?

My strength is in doing what feels right to me. My version of propriety means I am following a valued course of action, which has the added value of creating an incentive or opportunity to perform other acts of decorum. To give into my weakness would be to procrastinate and avoid action, possibly setting the stage for other confrontations, which may leave me unable to cope. Do I want to feel empowered or not? Emotion governs behavior.

Perhaps, nature can serve as a guide. Free of human involvement the earth’s other life forms, the most conspicuous being plants and animals, just go about their business of sheltering, feeding, and procreating. No muss, no fuss. The process appears pre-determined and programmed and there are challenges to be sure, but overall the generations manage to burn brightly for their allotted time, followed by a convenient decomposition, providing grist for succeeding lifetimes.

We humans in contrast have certainly arranged to complicate our time on earth considerably. To live in a manner inspired by nature may simplify our range of freewill demands. We could give ourselves permission to match the rhythm and pace of the natural world by calibrating mindfully the amount of demands we cram into a day with the potential freedom that can come from a more intrinsic outlook.

Free of an unforced over-organizing tyranny it becomes possible to glide through life unhurried, with less stress, and fewer regulations. We are liberated to enjoy life as it is and consciously feel gratitude for our surroundings, even if they are somewhat disordered. To stand in our own power without worrying what others think becomes easier to do. Getting control of our own lives and schedules can be the tangible result of intentionally letting go of the incidentals.

On the other hand, a degree of order enhances life and ties us to a comforting sense of place. In a chaotic world we need predictability and stability to ground and center us. Immersing ourselves in an environment that increases both situational efficiency in that we know where things are when we need them, but that also soothes our souls as we take in our pre-arranged décor, art, and sentimental objects tastefully configured around us.

In truth, the choice before us is not one of selecting entropy-reducing enslavement versus living a life of disarray absent order or organization. The answer for each of us individually is to find our own plot point on the spectrum between these extremes. However, broadening our awareness about how and why we confront entropy in the manner we typically do on a daily basis can be self-informative about how we meet life’s challenges, the allocation of time and energy we expend addressing what we think is important, and the level of joy we derive from each day.

The Impact of Cannabis on the Workplace

Posted on August 27, 2019February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I observed some tree service experts helping me to steward a 200-year-old white oak on my property recently. This involved bringing into a tight spot, which was occupied by my home, a fence, and accompanying power lines, a huge crane and bucket loader. As I watched them perform dangerous work skillfully and carefully to remove and lower many hundreds of pounds of wood that was suspended over my house the thought struck me that this is not work for stoners.

Given the proliferation of states moving toward liberalization of cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes employers are faced with a new reality that many of their employees, if they aren’t already, may very well become users of cannabis, raising questions about what that will mean for workplace safety and productivity.

Despite the federal designation of cannabis as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning a substance with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, the states in their role of democracy laboratories are rapidly adopting legalization of pot and with it a predicament for employers in these states regarding an appropriate response.

To be clear, I get the reasons for the termination of the cannabis prohibition. The number of incarcerations, money spent dubiously on the war on drugs, lost employment, and lives ruined resulting from over-punitive measures for use of a relatively inoffensive intoxicant has finally caught up with outmoded cannabis laws. Citizens are increasingly being given a choice, as they have been with alcohol and tobacco, to indulge free of legal encroachment. Seen from a libertarian perspective, this is progress.

However, there is a growing sentiment that with cannabis deregulation comes a belief that the drug must not be so bad after all. In other words, there is a declining perception of risk with marijuana. This sense itself carries a hazard. Alcohol and tobacco, despite their legal status, are still dangerous substances that can endanger lives and negatively impact places of work. Cannabis usage as well involves potential jeopardy, and its legalization should not imply its consumption is merely a docile activity. Despite expanded social acceptance of cannabis its downside should not be marginalized.

In the context of employment, management is clearly justified in seeking to maintain a safe and productive work environment. Problems associated with cannabis in the workplace include increased accidents, injuries, absenteeism, worker compensation claims, and staff turnover with a corresponding decrease in productivity according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Maintaining a sober workforce enhances professionalism and efficiency. An erosion of this standard should not result from greater cannabis availability.

Drug screenings have been around a long time and the drug most often detected is cannabis, leading to non-hires and terminations. Fairness questions arise though when employees are legally entitled to use cannabis either medically or for leisure.

If intoxication from alcohol is evident on the job, then dismissal becomes straightforward. Cannabis on the other hand can stay in the user’s system for up to two days and up to a month for chronic users. Should employees be disciplined for indulging legally during their off hours even if residuals can be discovered long after the event via employers’ drug tests? Balancing clearly defined usage parameters in the workplace with employees’ legal rights is becoming trickier in this new age.

Nevertheless, employees who work in positions requiring focus, concentration, and astuteness should feel obligated to self-monitor their cannabis usage free of external guidance. If you want to fly a plane, operate precision machinery, or lower 1800 lb. tree limbs over a residence, then you are choosing to sustain an alert and highly functioning mind without the desire to get stoned. The desire to master jobs of these sorts and to be counted on as a go-to expert in your field should hopefully provide enough incentive to self-regulate and maintain high standards of workplace conduct. Safety and effectiveness should be a shared concern among stakeholders across any workforce.

My Political Evolution

Posted on July 31, 2019December 30, 2020 by Bill Ryan

A reflection written during the Spring of 2019

My earliest political memory is from the early evening of Tuesday, November 8, 1960. It was the night John F. Kennedy won the presidency. My mother needed to run out to a store of some sort and I sat in the back seat of the car. It was cold and dark. I was seven years old and living in Lenox, Massachusetts. My mother’s nervous energy and intense concern were palpable. She and my Massachusetts Irish Roman Catholic Democrat father wanted very much for Kennedy to win. The car radio crackled, because my Mom was desperate to not miss any news about the election that on this special night was dominating all broadcasting. This was the night I began to learn that politics was a big deal.

In many ways my reverence for politics, history, and the importance of government came from those few years of President Kennedy’s administration. The Massachusetts Irish Catholic Democrat side of my family adored Kennedy. He was held up as the best thing to ever happen to this world—just shy of Jesus of course. My mother was a young German immigrant and she took her cues of what to believe in America from my father’s family. Regardless, she readily embraced the adoration of Kennedy. As a result, politics and the government were introduced to me as hopeful, inspiring, and fundamentally positive constructs. This belief shaped my approach to politics that in many ways continues to this day.

The Kennedy story ended tragically of course. It was the afternoon of Friday, November 22, 1963. I was sitting in my fifth-grade classroom at Lenox Elementary School listening to a lesson our teacher Miss Neill was presenting, when our principal walked into the room, walked up to Miss Neill and whispered the news of the president’s assassination into our teacher’s ear. The shocked look on her face sent waves of anxiety throughout the room. In retrospect Miss Neill handled it all very well. She calmly, respectfully, but with obvious pain told a room full of ten and eleven-year old boys and girls what had happened to the president. It couldn’t have been easy to announce this news to us and it wasn’t easy for me to hear it.

My mother cried for four days. The black & white television was on continuously carrying news of the shocking account. The grief was cutting and profound. I remember watching Oswald being shot on live TV, the president’s casket lying in state under the Capitol rotunda, and the salute John-John gave the funeral procession. To this day, I can relive the sorrow and gloom. It will never go away.

One afternoon during the summer of 1964 my friend John and I made Johnson for President signs and held them up to traffic traveling on Walker Street in Lenox Dale. No one prompted us to do this. It was our idea of having fun and doing something meaningful. By then politics was of high interest. Although I don’t remember having a fondness for LBJ, nevertheless he was President Kennedy’s VP and had been sworn in on the day JFK died. That was enough reason to support him and I did so enthusiastically. Barry Goldwater, Johnson’s Republican opponent, was successfully portrayed across the country and in my circle of family and friends as a dangerous and unpredictable menace, who must be defeated at all costs. The election of 1964 cemented in my mind that Republicans were menacing and Democrats virtuous. For better or worse, the political narrative of my life has largely followed this course.

1968 was a tumultuous year in American politics. I was in high school by then and totally drawn into the drama of civil rights and anti-war protests rocking the nation. Eugene McCarthy, a U.S. Senator from Minnesota, emerged early in the election cycle as liberal provocateur running for the Democratic presidential nomination with a demand to end the war in Vietnam as his principal issue. By this time young people were quite politically active, certainly compared to later periods. Many youthful, anti-war, counterculture types found McCarthy appealing. And therefore, so did I. My path of teenaged individuation hitched itself to this rainbow-colored, daisy-decaled bus.

Prior to the election of 1972 I was old enough to vote. Full of urgency, I asked my father to take me to the town hall so I could register to vote as soon as I turned eighteen. The desire to vote continues to attract. I may have missed a few local elections held on a rainy Tuesday for offices seemingly far removed from my life. You know, the kind that garner 20% of the possible electorate, if that. But in general, I have been a loyal and devoted practitioner of the voting franchise. I have never missed a presidential or midterm election. Not one in 47 years.

***

Politics is about values. History has taught us that for people to live in harmony with shared values is quite difficult and has too many times devolved into a deadly endeavor. Although articulated by an erudite American, the universal quest of citizens across the globe can reliably be said to converge on the pursuit of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Realizing the serious consequences of getting politics right occurred to me early on as profoundly important. Having had two parents whose young lives were consumed by World War II, one as a young girl in war-torn Germany and the other as a teenager fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific, I learned early about the repercussions of societal and cultural breakdown.

I am also the product of the positive story America tells itself about our history and exceptionality. The myth of America as the Land of Opportunity, forged from a righteous revolution against tyranny, designed by an exceptional group of enlightened founders ordained to bring light and hope to the world was an exciting and inspiring tale to behold. It fit in naturally with a feeling that I was born into a country unparalleled in greatness and capability. We were the ones who won World War II, sent astronauts to the moon, invented products the world craved, and were large and powerful. This place and people must be special. I grew up proud to be an American.

My patriotic optimism was soon tempered during my junior high school and high school years by the war in Vietnam. Early memories of the war are from Walter Cronkite and The Huntley Brinkley Report giving daily battle updates, news of troop movements and enemy atrocities, and the grizzly broadcasts of weekly casualty totals from Vietnam. The Viet Cong and North Vietnamese combined totals were always higher than American losses, which gave a sense of American fighting superiority. But I was a history enthusiast and remember thinking, does every generation of Americans have to fight in a war? And is this the one I will need to fight and possibly die in? It was not a comforting thought. This recognition was reinforced in 1973 when the Selective Service lottery drawing for my birth year (1953) was held. My number was 117, which was a relatively high and therefore safe number that year. I was relieved. It looked like I wasn’t going to Vietnam.

As an aside, I did end up visiting Vietnam in 2014 with my wife. We spent a month working our way from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Hanoi. It is a lovely country. My memories are fond. Regarding any connection to the war, there were visits to jarring and sobering war museums, but most significantly for me was to focus on the reception we received from the Vietnamese, who knew we were Americans. It was genuinely warm with no sense of animus, even in Hanoi, the locus of the former enemy. While on the streets of that city one afternoon my eye caught a group of local middle school-aged girls walking together on a sidewalk. Having once been a middle school teacher this was of interest to me. Amidst that cohort of friends as they receded from view revealing their backpacks was one who had on it stitched an American flag. Time can heal, I thought.

By 1968 the war in Vietnam and the protests made me a cynic. I accepted rather briskly the idea that there was a dark side to the American enterprise. Why I found that my home country was capable of imperialist and grievous behavior and why many of my peers, as I’ve learned over the course of my life, did not is a mystery I’m stilling trying to solve. Needless to say, I became sympathetic to counterculture memes and the politics of liberalism, civil rights, toleration, peace, and a Rousseauian back-to-the-earth naturalism, infused with an anti-business/anti-capitalist belief. These influences guided my political thinking for many years and are addressed to this day in my political musings, but with greater maturity and sophistication—or so I would like to think.

I have been a reliable Democrat voter. I’ve voted Democrat for every presidential candidate election since 1972, save one. In 1980 I voted for John Anderson, an independent challenging Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. I have regretted that vote ever since, wishing I had voted for Jimmy Carter’s reelection, even now despite knowing the outcome. The pattern is the same for other elective offices. Almost always I voted for Democrats, occasionally for independents, but never for Republicans. I’ve clearly had a loyalty to the party. I remember my Aunt Betty telling me once while chatting with her about candidates in an upcoming election as we sat on Seabrook Beach, New Hampshire one afternoon when I was about twelve or thirteen years old that she routinely voted “straight ticket” for Democrats. I asked her to tell me what that meant. She said that a ballot gave a voter an option to vote for every candidate of a given party without having to select each one individually and that this was how she usually voted. This admission was another influence in my becoming a Democrat.

***

A lifetime of interest in a particular field produces a depth of understanding. Much of my reading on a daily basis is political news. Since the creation of the internet it is easy to get deluged in political reporting and commentary. I love it. In addition to such study, I have found it very useful over the years to not just reinforce my political perceptions, but to challenge them. Indeed, much of the growth or maturation of my political beliefs is due to this simple dictum. Another useful practice has been to engage with others in vigorous political debate. This is a time that tests conjectures to see how they hold up to critical scrutiny, especially if communicating with others of differing persuasions. Together these habits have helped me to shape a personal ideology, dynamic to be sure, but serviceable in determining what I believe at any given time. Values clarification is grounding and political thought is really not much more than that.

Despite George Washington’s reservations about Americans bifurcating themselves into two principal political parties it happened as soon as his term as president was over. The names and governing themes of both parties have changed over our history, but the paradigm of two competing political powerhouses ascertaining and articulating the values and ruling priorities of the country remains constant. To a large extent the popular will of the people can be comprehended by understanding the preferences of each party. Following is my objective assessment of the Republicans and the Democrats in 2019.

Today’s Republican Party is harder to define than in recent years due to the rise of Trumpism. Prior to the presidential candidacy announcement of Donald Trump in 2015 I would have ascribed the following characteristics to Republicans: They believed in small government, low taxes, little regulation, personal freedom/responsibility, hawkish foreign policy, free trade, a right to gun ownership, and the facilitation of business growth. But since the rise of Newt Gingrich in the 1990s Republican campaign and governing tactics took a sharp turn toward abandoning democratic norms of mutual tolerance for political opponents and forbearance, by which is meant applying restraint when exercising institutional leverage. Gingrich advocated for hyper-partisanship and enhanced combativeness in dealing with political rivals that is now commonplace, reaching its zenith in the presidency of Donald Trump.

The Republican Party has become an amalgamation of anti-establishment, anti-institutional, anti-immigration activists motivated by a populist return to a time when white men were the controlling demographic group. They are threatened by multiculturalism, claims of climate change, economic globalization, women equality, gun regulations, free trade, and pressures to curb corporate intervention in governance. Republicans have also adopted a much more non-interventionist approach to foreign policy, abandoning traditional international alliances and holding back on committing American troops to overseas hotspots. Despite this they see fit to increase military spending. What remains from Republicans of old is a penchant for low taxes of the rich, pro-business policies, and individual freedom.

The Democratic Party, with which I am affiliated due to cultural and familial reasons already mentioned, and with a history reaching back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison is the oldest active political party in the world. It went through significant changes over this time and its background is a blend of both admirable and egregious positions. The current Democratic Party can be traced back to the robust federal interventionism, some would say intrusion, of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal programs of the 1930s. The result is a modern party that promotes the interests of labor, minorities, women’s rights, gay rights, immigrant assimilation, universal healthcare, environmental protections, opportunities for the disenfranchised, consumer safeguards, higher education, and urban issues.

Democrats are faced with a big challenge at present concerning wealth inequality. From the time of its founding in the early 19th century the party aligned itself with agrarian concerns and away from banking and business interests. In short, it has a long history of being the party of the “people”, by which is meant in today’s vernacular the working class. However, in recent decades an unforeseen abnormality has occurred. As many of the Baby Boomer children of the mid 20th century received college educations and correspondingly higher standards of living than their parents the affairs of the working class increasingly receded from among affluent Democrats. This became glaringly obvious when many of the types of voters who historically would have voted Democratic voted for Trump and the Republicans instead in 2016. This has led to a bifurcated party of progressives, who in part want to re-establish outreach to those lower on the socioeconomic spectrum primarily through wealth redistribution and the centrists, who see capitalism and economic growth along with redistribution as a foundation for financing programs for the poor and lower middle class.

An argument can be made that we may be seeing another realignment of the party system, in which former working-class Democrats are shifting to Republicans permanently and educated high income suburban voters who in the past leaned Republican are shifting to the Democratic Party. The 2018 midterm elections supported this view and the 2020 election may reveal more about whether such a partisan transformation is in fact occurring. My sense tells me that it is.

***

What I have presented thus far is a prelude to my prevailing political thought. It is worth noting in describing these values that I am consciously and intentionally trying to avoid animus, malevolence, and acrimony despite my day to day strident feelings toward the political opposition. Rather, I am relying on a combination of innate optimism regarding human nature and what I see as a refined observational astuteness of contemporary conditions within a historic context. Afterall, I have been paying attention to this stuff for about 50 years.

In describing my ideology, I intend to paint with a rather broad brush, finding it unnecessary at this time to “get into the weeds” concerning political positions. This will not be a well-researched white paper detailing policy prerogatives supported by sophisticated rationales. Relatively expansive themes concerning what I see to be political fundamentals will instead be the order of the day.

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I begin by laying out what I’ve been calling for some years the “3 dichotomies”. At around 2007 or so I had this epiphany that explained to me some, if not the, elemental differences between liberal and conservative thinking. Boiled down they are:

Distribution vs Production, Community vs Individual, Equality vs Liberty

The left side of each “vs” is predominately a liberal value and the right side is chiefly a conservative value. When I first concluded these dualities made sense, I quickly realized that I was a political moderate or centrist. And that was fine. All of these values I shared. Sure, I leaned left historically and emotionally, but it was now much easier to not demonize those on the right. I felt relieved at not having to remain in a defensive posture supporting liberalism as the only valid dogma. Tension between each of these dichotomies is how the political philosophies struggle, engage, and debate. If conditions skew too far in any one direction, then the balancing tendency of American democracy asserts itself. I am still comfortable thinking this simplistic rationalization is functionally accurate. To me it explains a lot of partisan wrangling.

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Politics is largely about economics or the distribution of wealth and power throughout the population. Individuals want to know that the system of resource apportionment is fair. Of course, political conflict comes from how all of the disparate people of a nation define ‘fair’. As a result, questions of policy, programs, and initiatives often seem to be about what priorities are worth the appropriations of tax revenue. However, I think all of this activity, while incredibly valuable, masks or distracts from what is most fundamental and paramount regarding politics — the continuation of cultural traditions and identity.

Culture, more than politics or even nationalism binds us as a people viscerally and elementally. It’s what ties us to our past, informs our present, and inspires our future. Languages, religions, values, histories, holidays, shared knowledge, proverbs, and accepted behaviors just begin to describe the unifying power of culture. That which we believe sustains our civilization motivates our politics. The force of cultural expression cannot be easily understated or challenged.

The deep sensibility of culture needs to be calculated when appraising the cogency of a political focus. Appealing to tradition can take a positive or a negative turn. For example, Ronald Reagan was smart to entice voters with images, such as “Morning in America” and America as a “City on a Hill” that poetically reached into the heart of the nation. Donald Trump on the other hand conjured trepidations of immigrant invaders and the rise of the ‘other’, by which is meant non-whites, taking over our way of life. Such fear-mongering significantly contributed to his 2016 win.

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A quote from Zen teacher Diane Musho Hamilton serves as a good opening to my next value: “Rather than relying on a thin, idealized hope that we will all one day just get along, we can approach conflict resolution as an art form that we are privileged to develop and hone.”

I long ago abandoned the fantasy that there is only one right way to think. Especially when it comes to the best way to solve problems or improve the world. Politics emerges as soon as two people confront a shared reality. If there is motivation by one or both individuals to alter in any way that reality a negotiation takes place. The ensuing transaction is almost always influenced by a power dynamic. Each person tries to exert compelling leverage to most influence the outcome. The individual most able to persuade, generally achieves that goal. This everyday practice seems natural to me.

I link political power and persuasion as foundational to a democracy. The more convincing one is the more powerful they become. Democracy assumes an equal footing for all individuals and groups to practice persuasion in order to effect change or continue traditions. If that basis is perverted by one party grasping political power through unjust means, such as over-exerting the inducement of money or taking control by military-style force, then democracy ceases as a practical governing model.

I am most often impressed with political exchanges that yield progress by reflecting an amalgamation of differing viewpoints constructed from the persuasive attempts of multiple parties. In short, compromise. Forging agreement among opposing interests is very difficult. It requires four things:

All negotiating groups are committed to the concept of compromise as a fundamentally fair practice and agree to negotiate in a civil manner.

A search for common ground or shared interests is conducted.

All sides are able to claim a win to some degree in whatever the final outcome turns out to be.

Everyone agrees to abide by the terms and conditions of the comprise until a renegotiation occurs.

Political maneuvering that is fair, mature, courteous, and respectful while also being calculated, tough-minded, strategic, and forceful can be a beautiful thing to behold.

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Much is made of American exceptionalism. Interpretation of the concept is multifarious. And it seems everyone who uses the term seems is exceptionally confident they have the right meaning. There are variations of American exceptionalism espoused. They range from a view that the United States has a historically unique origin born from ideology and revolution to the notion that we have a missionary imperative to spread the ideals of liberty, egalitarianism, and democracy across the globe to a belief Americans are ascendant. I’m comfortable with all of this conviction except for American superiority. Accepting we are better than everyone else smacks of tribalism and plants the seeds of unnecessary conflict.

I recognize and embrace that we have something special here in America. In particular and perhaps most important is our 243-year experiment in representative democracy. Within a group of like-minded individuals, who share similar histories, ethnic backgrounds, and cultural traits democracy is not an especially challenging governing method. Majority opinion is easily formed and debate about how to best approach issues is reasonably tame. This is not our experience. The United States is a multicultural nation in which a diverse set of influences flow to form a volatile and ever contentious mix of power, rights, beliefs, assessments, and perspectives. Reaching consensus among the many disparate interests that make up our country is incredibly arduous.

As Winston Churchill said in part during a speech before the House of Commons in 1947 “…democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried…”. How true. I have a deep reverence for democracy. It blends the best parts of individualism and collectivism, representing a mature form of governance. To be sure, if not well managed, it can lead to oppressive majority rule. After all, Adolf Hitler rose to leadership as a result of a democratic process. We should never be complacent in thinking democracy once established is permanently to remain in place. Democratic governance has not been the norm throughout human history and there remain powerful forces, even here in the United States, which could topple democracy.

For democracy to remain vibrant and useful the people of the country must respect each other. Fundamental conditions include mutual toleration, accepting the political legitimacy of competing political forces, and the results of free and fair elections. Without this basic level of regard for our fellow citizens, then we cannot work in political harmony even as we vigorously oppose each other’s positions. Democracy sets up rules of engagement that all agree to adhere to. Sometimes your side wins, sometimes it loses. Developing the art of persuasion becomes paramount within a democratic system. Exercising inordinate force that delegitimizes or overly weakens one’s political opponents threatens democracy, the nation, and the citizenry. Therefore, I revere democracy over ideology. An ideal that triumphs as a result of extra-democratic power is not an ideology worth celebrating.

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The two grand pillars that support and define politics are culture and economics. I pay a lot of attention to how these foundational concepts play out both in contemporary politics and historically. However, it is the latter of these two principles that I would like to address the following thoughts.

A dominant view is economics boiling down simply to the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. With regards to politics, I include the general welfare of people as the core point of the economic activity just identified. All individuals and communities need both goods and services, otherwise known as resources, to consume in order to establish and sustain quality lives. Also crucial is the dignity and purpose involved in producing and distributing those goods and services to others. We are all economic agents. How and for whom many resources are produced, distributed, and consumed informs much of political discourse and government intervention.

The “pie” continues to be a useful metaphor for reducing a complex social science to a comprehendible instrument for lay people. This economic pie shrinks and grows and is sliced in any number of ways. It is these three actions—growing, shrinking, and slicing—that consume much of the discussion about the pie. Correctly calibrating the right amounts of pie growing, shrinking, and slicing to induce social benefits, such as full employment and relative wealth equality, but also business benefits like maximum production of high value goods and services is a most difficult undertaking.

Systemizing this challenge has been tried worldwide with a variety of economic models over recent history, ranging from highly centralized government command measures (Socialism and Communism) to laissez faire free market systems (Capitalism). In reality, what emerges from the philosophical give and take of politics is an amalgamation of the two extremities. I’m fine with the tug-a-war between Socialism and Capitalism. The struggle strikes me as natural. However, I recognize that over the arc of my political thought, I have moved from a greater belief in the merits of Socialism to an adherence of Capitalism.

Although well intended Socialism requires a heavy concentration of power in government. It is this notion of condensed power, whether in government or any entity for that matter, where I get uncomfortable. Diffusion of authority across several institutions or agencies, such as government, business, and a free media creates a check and balance system not unlike the self-regulating arrangement within the federal government of executive, legislative, and the judicial. Socialism assumes there is an all-knowing group of decision makers who put the economic interests of everyone first. The problem is as history has shown multiple times that those in charge of socialist regimes tend to fortify themselves with levels of power not susceptible to democratic criticism or compromise. Additionally, socialism typically produces slow economic growth and reduced motivation and innovation among workers.

Capitalism assumes private ownership of industry with profit as the prime motivator. History shows capitalism to provide robust economic growth, characterized by innovations that have improved lives worldwide. Since the onset of market economies, which were a key result of the values of individualism and reason spurred by the Age of Enlightenment, capitalism has contributed significantly to modernity and many of the benefits millions enjoy today. Of course, any paradigm has its shortcomings and capitalism is not exempt. Without regulatory controls capitalism can lead to wealth inequalities with a small number of very rich people controlling most of the capital, an exploited working class experiencing hard work and low wages, manipulated consumer prices, and an unstable series of booms and busts.

Simplistically stated, capitalism determines the size of the economic pie and socialism, or a term I prefer—liberalism, decides how many slices are carved. The resulting tension between these two philosophies is natural to me. And played out in the context of democracy everyone’s interests can be addressed.

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This discourse is a snapshot in time. Political thought is dynamic. It will undoubtedly change more over the years I have left. The boy who first recognized the significance of politics and the man who continues to follow its importance will remain engaged by observing, reading, writing, and in other ways weighing in on political topics of the day. To me, doing so is more than just interesting, it’s fun!

The Hills of Western New Hampshire

Posted on July 31, 2019December 30, 2019 by Bill Ryan

A reflection written during the Spring of 2019

I live in the hills of western New Hampshire.

Rocky and forested it is a place of lakes, ponds, and rushing streams. Especially in the late winter and early spring. The hills of western New Hampshire are sparsely populated. Of the 3,000 plus square miles that make up this region there live around 200,000 people. We’re pressed up against the megalopolis, but not subsumed by it. At least not yet.

Someone wise once said your paradise is where you choose to make it. I take this to mean one need not travel to all of the world’s glorified and hyped hot spots to find wonderland, but rather it can be right outside your door. Now I’m not sure I can call the hills of western New Hampshire Shangri-la—indeed I know I cannot—but I’m happy to call it home. The hills of western New Hampshire exemplify an intricate sense of place, one reaching to my youth and stimulating lifelong sensorial benchmarks along the way. I feel the hearthstone of these hills.

It makes a difference to live in a place with distinguishing characteristics. It matters to discern and delight in the exceptional traits a place exhibits. To feel connected is to feel at home. To bond with the environment, its nature and its cadence can unite a person with an entity beyond oneself.

The hills of western New Hampshire await personal attention. The relationship can be austere, but also cordial. To live here calls for stamina. Resilience is rewarded. Solitude awaits, ready for the asking. Becoming charmed is always a possibility.

My granddaughter

seven years old

from Los Angeles

visits the hills of western New Hampshire

during winter

eagerly anticipates northland climate

it is novel and unique

like her beloved movie, Frozen

snow and ice and cold

my expectation

she would remain beside the warm woodstove

did not happen

dressed in seasonable garb provided by her grandmother

winter coat, snow pants, boots, mittens, and warm hat

she plays outside

snow appeals

cold does not intimidate

air tastes fresher

I am pleasantly surprised

The comforting sense of place can happen almost anywhere. The wide plains of the heartland, the misty mountains of a northwest peninsula, the bustling streets of an eastern city and countless other settings become sources of visceral bonding. It depends on where you were raised. If that space is where an initial and sustained awareness of surroundings occurred, then the profound connection is made. Helpful too, is if a correlation becomes established between the comforts of life and the site where they were first sensed.

For me this transpired in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. I was raised there. The rolling green hills morphing into splashes of October color and eventually yielding to snow encrustation afforded me a panoply of visual beauty and regularity that was annually anticipated and unconsciously respected. All of life’s dramas, joys, anxieties, and expectations materialized against the backdrop of this place. It was the way things were and the features of the place have always been with me.

My current corner of the hills of western New Hampshire sits only about 160 miles northeast of where I rode my bike, played in the brook, and sledded as a boy. Given that both locations are fragments of the larger Appalachian mountain chain they are similar in appearance and feel.

After raising children and constructing a career elsewhere in New Hampshire this geographic familiarity had an influence in driving my residential decision as I neared retirement. The appeal of the hills of western New Hampshire is that they remind me of where I grew up while permitting me to remain in a state I know well.

Nostalgia has a way of playing a supporting role in the thoughts of an aging person. Memories percolate to the surface, long-held familiar feelings are triggered by prevailing stimuli, and lessons learned—or unlearned—meld into a reoccurring reckoning of what is and has been important. Linking location with its lasting peculiarities triggers a personal values clarification.

Winter loses its firm grip

clouds coat horizon to horizon

light filters through robed evergreens and naked deciduous

the lake, a white plain with ice out weeks away

distant woodpecker taps rhythmically

crow caws

Winter stirs and ponders a morning stretch

hilltops rounded by glacial activity

eons of weathering

cold nights, days above freezing

sap should be running well

dirty snow banks line muddy roads

cool breeze

urges hemlock boughs to sway

nature’s pulse is apparent

Be still

align with subtle inflection

discover

refresh and ruminate with Nature

offset modernity

This is the New Year

not some random day in early winter

hope, rebirth, imagine new beginnings

The sun breaks through

illuminate granite hills

throw shadows

photons reflect off snow

blinding

the future feels imminent

The hills of western New Hampshire, as much of the northern half of the northern hemisphere, was molded and configured by four repeated glaciations during the Pleistocene Epoch. The age began about 2.6 million years ago and ended a bit more than 10,000 years ago when the last of this series of glaciers finally receded to the north. These mammoth mile-thick masses of ice sliding across a granite surface left an impact. The resulting churn shaped the state’s current mountains, valleys, lake beds, and coastal plain. Cape Cod and Long Island to the south, really just alluvial deposits of moraine, in part consist of New Hampshire material plowed to those locations by the glaciers.

In the western part of the state we are blessed with genteel hills and small mountains ranging in elevation from 1000 to 3000 feet above sea level. What strikes visitor and resident alike are large granite rocks once formed from ancient magma flows. Scattered among this region are the many lakes and ponds that owe their idiosyncratic configurations to long ago glacial activity, which today draw both wildlife and people. The two largest of these gems being lakes called Sunapee and Newfound. The Connecticut River flowing southward carves a sharp boundary with our western neighbor Vermont.

Much of these hills are forested with a mix of temperate broadleaf, conifers, and northern hardwoods. Large sturdy trees bespeckle much of the area. Old growth forests still persist in some remote spots. Outside our small yellow house, which sits within a wildwood stand, tower three large white oaks in a row. The middle and largest of these is estimated to be about two hundred years old. We are stewards of these gentle beasts committed to their welfare and longevity. The combined summer crown of these three sisters leave us feeling we live under a dome. The grand foliage laden boughs stretch and reach above us. As are the trees, we are rooted to this place where stagecoaches and drovers rumbled by transporting people and goods in an earlier America.

Gray-haired man

closely cut, clean shaven

goes about his business in a taciturn manner

not unlike many others of this place

Appearance is often uniform

worn denim pants

high topped work boots, mink-oiled many times

red plaid wool shirt

khaki cap

the visor’s edge beginning to show tattered wear

Calloused hands molded from years of labor

physical work

accomplished masterfully with care and respect

He doesn’t ask much of others

self-reliance is valued

and lived as much as possible

he’s faithful

to his wife, church, grown children,

several grandchildren,

the community

Climbs slowly into his pickup

to drive 3 miles home

through hemlock woods

and over the hill

time to get evening’s wood in

supper will be soon

In-migration to New Hampshire has increased in recent years among people in their twenties and thirties. Good news for a state that is a graying state. Graying? Like the color of granite? Yes. New Hampshire sustains a population of old people. There are a lot of us. We are ranked third by age of population among all of the states. Only Maine and Vermont have older populations than New Hampshire’s. So, it’s good news if younger people want to start living here. We need the workforce. Low taxes, which New Hampshire has, may be good for business, but not having enough working-aged people is not good for business.

The old-fashioned and traditional virtues of New Hampshire self-reliance, independence, and grit continue to be evident in the hills of western New Hampshire. From that culture springs an economy that is tied to the land, to history, and to a present-day macroeconomic transformation fueled by amplified globalization and advanced automation.

Naturally, we might think of the kind of work done in these wooded hills as primarily involving lumbering, maple sugaring, landscaping, and farming. These are but a small slice of the area’s occupations despite their iconic imagery. Most employees work in less glamorous, but more financially fruitful pursuits that include healthcare, office administration, manufacturing, sales, and hospitality. To lesser extents workers earn a living performing in small businesses, education, technology/sciences, and construction. It’s a busy and largely prosperous rustic location.

Statewide New Hampshire’s economy is quite robust, at least according to some key metrics. The state enjoys the second lowest unemployment rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and the lowest poverty rate in the nation (US Census Bureau). And we are continually in the top ten states ranked by both per capita and median household income (US Census Bureau). Also, while looking at the newest hot topic economic measurement known as the Gini Coefficient — a measurement of income and wealth inequality among individuals — New Hampshire has the third lowest level of income concentration in the country (US Census Bureau). Wealth is spread relatively evenly.

Healthcare is a big employer in the hills of western New Hampshire. The state’s largest hospital is located here. Aging population and healthcare go together nicely. In fact, New Hampshire enjoys a ranking as the third healthiest state for older people in the U.S. (2019 New Hampshire Healthy Aging Data Report). Education, including higher education, employs many. This stimulates entrepreneurial enterprises. There is an outdoor ethic that pervades the area. Many residents relish being on trails, slopes, and lake fronts. This contributes to the health and wellbeing of people here. If you’re going to grow old in New Hampshire, appreciating the environment adds to the quality of life. Given how many elderly citizens choose to live in these hills we appear to be on the right path.

Work tied to land

shape, sculpt, move, knead earth

with machines and hands

sweat and toil

brains and technology

experience

reading the land’s behavior

align with its rhythm

to create practical solutions

nest in the embrace

of this hardscrabble place

He works the Bobcat with skill

among strewn stones and boulders

lift, carry, set rocks

stair here

wall there

the shovel swivels fluidly

to pry an elusive target

arrange land anew

The old stone wall is dismantled

new bed installed

stones reset

strategically

beautifully

large stone support small stone

tabletop finish

400-foot run

form and function

exquisitely rendered

Driving around the hills of western New Hampshire is a simple pleasure. The roads pass through valleys, follow stream beds, hug lake fronts, and traverse old main streets of small towns whose histories reach back two to three hundred years. Some towns are tony, many are not. For those of a certain age taking such a drive conjures feelings of nostalgia, scenes remembered but rarely recalled, from the viewpoint of a long-ago child sitting in the back of Chevy station wagon.

I enjoy seeing the general stores, Mom & Pop diners, antique emporiums, barns in various stages of solvency, Colonials, New England frames, the ever-present woods, and stone walls, lots of them, that can be unearthed while winding along these old byways. It is estimated there are in excess of 200,000 miles of stone walls in New England. Western New Hampshire has its share of them. In general, large stones are from walls that once housed livestock. Small stones are an indicator of former garden walls. Stones were gathered by laborers and beasts of old, piled in a field, and used to create boundaries, enclosures, foundations, and mills.

From the green at Dartmouth College with its late eighteenth/early nineteenth century ambiance to highpoints on the road exhibiting vistas of consecutive mountain ranges, each flaunting a different hue of blue, a random journey through these hills can bring enjoyment and contentment. Place matters. As do roots, history, and where one builds and lives a life. Many of us have a choice of where to be. For me it is in the hills of western New Hampshire.

Careers that Create Value

Posted on July 24, 2019February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

We want our careers to be fulfilling, sustainable, and enriching in several ways. Beyond obtaining desirable compensation other paths involve intrinsic satisfaction with an important one being a belief we are contributing to making the world a better place. When reflecting on how effectively our careers are performing toward achieving such a lofty but worthwhile goal it may be beneficial to determine if value is being created as a result of all the hard work we do.

A way to begin this career assessment is by asking ourselves if our professional pursuits add prosperity to society as a whole or detract from it. Simply put, we are either creating wealth or we are just transferring it from one party to another. By wealth I am not restricting myself to capital alone but refer more broadly to a wide range of functional and emotional life improving gains. Creating value powerfully addresses the needs of many consumers and by extension the greater society, whereas orchestrated wealth shifts benefit a relatively small segment of society.

Economists identify rent seeking as a concept pertaining to the practice of acquiring shares of wealth created by others. Visualize the ubiquitous economic pie. Value creators are best at growing the pie’s size. Rent seekers in contrast are adept in figuring out ways to grab more slices of the existing pie. Rent seeking is expressed in various forms, for example corporate monopolization, opaque government subsidies, reduction of competitiveness, and exclusive resource ownership.

In short ask yourself, does my career serve the greater population by expanding the pie or is it designed to assist relatively few, generally wealthy people, by shifting more slices their way?

Diving more deeply into defining value creation we can look at the elements that comprise value. A few years ago, several marketing strategists from Bain & Company, the management consultancy, comprehensively identified four kinds of consumer needs that can be met with combinations of thirty different “elements of value”. They arrange these four domains and corresponding elements into a pyramid for easy comprehension. Their rationale is that by appealing to the right amount and configuration of consumer needs business will grow and customers will be retained.

I suggest applying the same model to our careers. If we can assert that our work enhances people’s lives by producing value elements, we should be able to feel confident we are creating value.

To summarize this model, recall another pyramid, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. You may have run across this visual in one college class or another. That pyramid is structured to display a progressive arrangement of psychological needs ranging from base requirements such as food, water, and warmth to an optimal state of self-actualization.

The Elements of Value Pyramid, on the other hand, presents the four fundamental clusters of consumer needs: Functional, Emotional, Life Changing, and Social Impact. Within each category are the elements that describe the nuanced values of products and services as perceived by the consumer. For example, Functional needs include value elements such as reduced effort, time saving, improved organization, and cost reduction. Emotional needs include items like anxiety reduction, therapeutic value, attractiveness, and fun. Life Changing needs contain motivation, providing hope, and affiliation. The Social Impact need is solely comprised by self-transcendence, which means a paradigm shift in vastly improved personal growth.

We do not have to match in scale the impact realized by such power value creators like Steve Jobs, or Kia Silverbrook, inventor of high-speed color printing technology, or Sally Fox who developed a means of mitigating pollution found to be inherent in the bleaching and dying of cotton. Rather we can distinguish those discreet and profound ways we do make lives better every day by adding beneficial features to people’s lives like enhanced speed, quality, convenience, customer service, etc.

Careers that create value are what make this a better world.

How Neurodiversity May Improve Your Workforce

Posted on June 27, 2019February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Trying to recruit and retain talented workers who can assist in producing and delivering high quality products and services, leading to business growth and enhanced profits, has always been a formidable challenge. Typically, hiring teams seek individuals who not only most closely match the letter of the job description, but who also are predicted to be a good fit for the organization. In other words, companies want employees who can execute at what has been determined over time to be an optimal level that is consistent with the firm’s performance culture.

Let us set aside for the purpose of this piece an admittedly huge hiring consideration, talent and ability, and ask might there be an inherent and unforeseen flaw in settling for only those candidates who appear during the hiring process to be consistent with traditional workforce practices and operational structures? By limiting a hiring search to simply those foreshadowed to be team players, could organizations be potentially restricting their chances of introducing and benefiting from innovative thinkers and value-added achievers? An increasing number of talent managers and human resource departments say this conventional thinking may indeed be a liability.

There is a largely untapped element in the general candidate pool that may deserve a closer look. This cohort is becoming known as the neurodiverse. Neurodiversity refers to those workers possessing conditions frequently labeled as disorders, including autism, dyslexia, attention deficit, and social anxiety. You might be inclined to think that these types of job candidates should be weeded out of the search process due to their disruptive potential, but others are taking a chance at reframing the common perceptions of the neurodiverse and noticing positive traits where others see possible burdens.

So, what might be favorable attributes of co-workers who may be seen by many as idiosyncratic, standoffish, ambiguous, or just plain different? Consider for a moment an organization comprised of workers who think largely in terms of doing things the way they have always been done. Change is minimal because it is seen as disorderly and therefore unnecessary. Risk aversion and homogeneity are commonplace. Company culture and individual behaviors are driven by such values and will perform accordingly.

Sounds like a possible recipe for competitive disaster given current market requirements for innovation and agility. Neurodiverse employees could bring fresh perspectives and abilities not typically present to the work site.

Neurodiverse skill sets can include high levels of intelligence, pattern recognition, systemic approaches to problem solving, exacting attention, comfort with repetition, deep-dive analysis, and even customer facing. Numerous industries can use resources with these skills, particularly technical and data-oriented ones.

Another advantage can come from workers who are not motivated by office politics and the phrasing of opinions and conclusions in a group-think manner. As hard as it may be to hear, sometimes the straightforward truth is the best information to be communicated to colleagues and management. Neurodiverse employees may be best at delivering such news.

Of course, recruiting and positioning neurodiverse talent can present difficulties, perhaps novel ones, for human resources and other department managers. Rather than using traditional interviewing it may be useful to set up teamwork simulations, case studies, or actual problem-solving sessions to see how productively all candidates function.

Strategically integrating personnel who may provide unique services, but also potential breaches of protocol, could require careful planning, diplomacy, and tact. Flexibility and nimbleness, characteristics in short supply in many established organizations, may need to be adopted by company culture.

We have reached a historic point where differences among people are more accepted than in the past. In fact, this seems to be a desirable attribute of the millennial generation. Developing such an ethic could aid businesses while also fostering more humane treatment of all people.

Thoughts on Career-Long Learning

Posted on May 23, 2019February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

As has been frequently reported, the nature of work is undergoing profound changes due largely to automation, technology, artificial intelligence, and globalization. This exacerbates fears among students and workers of how to succeed in an ever-transformative economy and contributes to the current and expanding situation of a workforce not possessing the skills required by modern and future-oriented employers.

To keep up with groundbreaking changes in employment requires an educational approach to training and learning that is flexible, relevant, and targeted to the capricious and volatile state of the economy. At present, traditional education institutions of high school and customary higher ed bachelor’s degrees appear to be lagging behind innovative industry methodologies like short-term credentialing and user-responsive professional development. Businesses recognize the value in foresight and pliable learning strategies necessary to uphold a workforce prepared for unpredictability.

Education systems are not known for their elasticity and capacity to adjust to change. Take a typical public high school curriculum, the stage through which most American workers first pass on their way to employability. Has there been much reorganization in the basic course load or method of earning a diploma since the mid-twentieth century? I think not. This is an area where increased pressure to innovate is warranted.

Beside a reassessment of curriculum relevance, another key concept we can hope for from high schools is that the message is getting through loud and clear to students that education does not stop with a diploma. The modern world is one in which continuous learning needs to be embraced if there is any hope for enjoying the fruits of professional mastery and robust compensation. Linking the pursuit of happiness with the pursuit of learning is a valuable lifelong lesson.

To this end, workers will benefit from a more accommodating and welcoming world of pathways designed to prepare entry-level professionals, upskill existing workers, and assist career changers in a manner consistent with the metamorphosing economy of work. In addition to an acceptance of the importance of career-long learning is to realize credentials matter.

From a college degree to a professional license to an industry-specific certification, possessing evidence from a reputable instructional source, in which a worker can demonstrate training and education within an area of expertise is critical to advancing one’s career. The challenge becomes how to best earn pertinent credentials in a time effective and affordable manner.

Career, employment specialists, and economists are suggesting several practices to ease credential acquisition. Kelsey Berkowitz is a Policy Advisor for Third Way’s Economic Program and has looked closely into this issue. Among the suggestions she makes is to:

Increase the amount of credential stacking that is available. In other words, design short-term credential modules that can be combined into larger certifications or degrees. This could provide highly relevant on-demand training while also providing a means for adult workers to achieve higher education goals in more easily managed steps.
Develop more apprenticeship programs. Evidence exists, particularly in Europe, of the effectiveness of industry-based programs that onboard entry-level workers and within a year or two produce trained and credentialed employees committed to the profession.
Recognize prior experiences related to work by offering credit. It is not unusual for individuals to gain skills and insights applicable to their current jobs from events that occurred before being hired. Examples include acquired knowledge from the military, school programs, previous jobs, or other situations where pertinent learning took place.
Streamline onerous licensing mobility. Twenty-five percent of all workers today are in fields requiring a professional license. However, in too many instances licenses are not reciprocal across state lines, creating burdens to reacquire licenses for those pros relocating to a new state.

The need for instructional and training flexibility will become increasingly necessary in order to keep a nimble and ready workforce. Let us reform learning to better address this imperative.

A Call to Appreciate the Direct Care Workforce

Posted on April 10, 2019February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Rebecca Bryant, the president and CEO of Lakes Region Community Services, a New Hampshire social services organization, penned an impressive opinion piece in the March 1-14 issue of the New Hampshire Business Review that concretely highlighted the plight of direct support professionals, those who care for the elderly and disabled. To this cohort I would also add childcare workers.

As a whole, this segment of the New Hampshire workforce is underpaid, under-appreciated, disrespected, and lacking in the placement of esteem they deserve as employees tasked with providing key services to needy populations.

Why is this? Unfortunately, social services have historically been viewed as somehow less urgent or worthwhile than economic pursuits resulting in manufactured goods and services supporting commercial viability. The money has not flowed to caregivers. Since money appears to be a solid metric of worth and value the unmistakable conclusion drawn is that giving care to young children, old citizens, and the disabled just does not carry that much weight.

Interesting. Economics is all about the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services to improve lives. How is it that the life improving work of caregivers is different?

Many would say that the individuals who make up the direct care workforce are generally under-educated with many also coming from low income backgrounds. Thus, the thinking goes they are not meritorious or qualified enough to receive living wage compensation. The time has come for us to stop assuming there is a causal relationship between low valued work and low paid workers in the direct care context.

We are faced with a contrarian situation of low paid workers toiling through high valued work. Even though low paid direct care services continue to attract, albeit at inadequate levels, those willing to work for low pay in order to do something they like and are good at doing is no reason to continue the practice. It is time right a wrong.

Let us first look at the root of the problem. Direct care services are historically performed by women. Presumably, they have been drawn to this work, because of the longstanding social and cultural expectations for women to nurture others. It is fair to say that women have performed laudably with direct care services for many years. The benefit to society is immeasurable.

However, as we know, compensatory equity has been and continues to be elusive for women. “Women’s work” has rarely if ever received reparation on par with what men make. Let’s be honest. Traditional views regarding remuneration says that an occupation primarily composed of women will not be seen as worth paying much for.

It took men becoming teachers and nurses to spur the evolution of living wages in those fields. Regardless, it should not take a replay of that model to boost the earnings of competent and hardworking direct care service providers, whether female or male.

There are two reasons for a balancing of resources to occur. Firstly, we should recognize that high quality care directed to those among us who are not or can no longer be high producers is virtuous and enriches lives. This alone should diminish any resistance to fair pay. That said, there is another factor to consider: unequivocal changes already underway to reshape the nature of employment are ushering in a reevaluation of what it means to “work”.

Many jobs will be refashioned and eliminated as automation and artificial intelligence increasingly impact the economy. Labor directed to personal care may emerge as progressively appreciated employment. A paradigm shift recognition of the value added to society by direct care givers may finally remediate this excessive pay disparity. This transformation in attitude is needed.

In a state ranked third for the percentage of the population growing old you would think New Hampshire would be intentionally reaching out to strengthen its direct care workforce. We have a chance now to show the country how fair pay for our direct care providers can be accomplished.

Entrepreneurism’s Evolving Promise

Posted on March 18, 2019February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Entrepreneurism has a strong and positive brand…and it should. Its contribution to the growth of the economy and by extension to the betterment of lives is immeasurable. Counting the total costs of national goods and services only begins to calculate the value of entrepreneurial activity.

A harder metric to identify, but no less important, is the qualitative significance of longer, healthier, and happier lives we collectively enjoy due to the innovation, risk taking, and intelligence of successful entrepreneurs.

It could be said that the popular image of the entrepreneur is the self-confident driven performer productively balancing inspiration and perspiration, flawlessly timing the market, persevering with a laser-like focus, and venturing forward willingly into uncertainty, all leading to the realization of sweet success and generous profits as a just reward. We value that illustration. It is reassuring. It goes a long way to shaping our national and cultural identity.

It is known too that start-ups with an eye toward growth furnish boosts in hiring, strengthened competition, and improved productivity by injecting fresh products, services, and business designs into new markets.

Given the near universal gains we receive from entrepreneurism what possible improvements can be expected from the practice? Well, I can suggest one. A quarter in which we desperately need entrepreneurs’ creative problem solving is in the promotion of shared prosperity. The time is right for an entrepreneurism that cares less about concentrated wealth and more about dispersing capital, particularly to key stakeholders such as employees and citizens of communities in which businesses operate.

We do not need corporate social responsibility manifestos to get there, just energetic, aware, and engaged business owners who choose to direct their talents toward providing a greater degree of distributed benefits over the more common asset consolidation we more typically associate with entrepreneurs. An alternative form of enthusiasm and sense of reward can be derived from constructing enterprises that intentionally advance expanded economic growth and strong job creation among the greatest number possible.

The political pressure to confront wealth inequality is growing and looks to be a key issue in the upcoming election season. If the current trajectory of wealth amassing does not change, then the call for government intervention will only increase. Some or most governmental intercessions will undoubtedly be seen as interference and obstruction among many in business. Encouraging executives both young and old to integrate into a shared prosperity ethic may mitigate policy making coercion.

It is not as if entrepreneurs and business leaders have not practiced this approach before. It has been widely reported that the period from the end of World War II until the 1970s was more economically stable due largely in part to the relative lack of discrepancy between management and rank & file. Granted this was a time of strong unions and more widespread political endorsement of income flattening approaches by government. However, one cannot help but wonder if the shared sacrifice evident during the war spurred a nationwide value system whereby wealth distribution was more easily realized. Can we care for each other similarly now?

Perhaps the most endearing gift entrepreneurs give us is tangible creativity. They model and encourage thinking, which develops into options from which consumers can select the most solution-oriented or life augmenting potentialities. This has historically sparked human progress. It continues to do so.

Given the current and ever-present range of problems in the world calling for answers and resources we look to the influencers, thought leaders, and groundbreakers to develop and implement transformative strategies, services, and products.

Purposely including and addressing those Americans being left behind by a shifting and segregating economy could turn out to not only be nationally unifying, but also good business.

Weaponizing Employment Against the Poor

Posted on December 17, 2018February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Albert Einstein elegantly once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting different results. This adage comes to mind when we see that yet again work requirements are being used as a bludgeon to combat Americans who live in poverty and who need safety-net programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), HUD housing assistance, and if President Trump has his way, even Medicaid.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers has recommended work requirements for the most extensive welfare programs and the current administration has mandated that federal agencies alter their presumably lax welfare program standards. These moves are premised on the continuing notion that the poor are a drain on federal resources due to their laziness, recklessness, and lack of ambition. So here we go again, concluding that the poor are so, solely because of their own deficient behavior and must be made to work harder to receive assistance from this government.

It is not that simple.

Is this work requirement approach fair that those recipients of aid (excluding children, elderly and disabled) should be made to show an attempt to earn their government supports, which allegedly incentives people to not be poor, or is this a kick to the poor and disenfranchised when they are already down?

It is worth examining a few of points about welfare work requirements:

According to the US Census Bureau the 2017 poverty rate was 12.3%, a 0.4% decrease from the year before. Since 2014 the poverty rate has fallen 2.5%. So, if the current trend line is a declining poverty rate why is a harsh condition like work requirements for the poor necessary currently?
This effort was last tried under Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich with their 1996 welfare reform legislation. We have had a couple decades to see how that has gone and studies like those from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and in the book Making Ends Meet (Edin and Lein) show that despite short term marginal improvements in employment they were not sustainable, mostly due to necessary and increased living expenses, absorbing any work generated financial gains.
Where are these jobs that the poor are supposed to get? If you have spent most of your life in poverty, chances are quite low you can pick up a knowledge-economy job quickly. We have all heard how the traditional manual labor jobs are drying up, so what is left? Lousy-waged part-time jobs with unpredictable and changeable hours is what’s left.
If the government feels the need to pick on somebody shouldn’t it be the employers of vast numbers of unskilled and low-skilled who pay their workers, including the working poor, insufficient wages that in turn need to be underwritten by the American taxpayers?

Now one place where there could be political agreement is in the government providing subsidized high quality work training requirements targeted to helping the poor get the knowledge and skills needed for a globalized and digitized economy. Currently, training requirements can be in lieu of work requirements, but their effectiveness remains questionable.

The causes and cures for poverty are varied, complex, and far beyond the scope of this piece. But if we as a society are truly interested in ameliorating the condition of poverty (as we should be!) we need to be looking for demonstrably beneficial interventions that measurably make positive differences. Requiring the poor to get a low-end job that increases their childcare and transportation costs just to prove they are not milking the system or making them pay unreasonably for a hand-up from those of us with tax paying means is not a humane way to go about it.

The State Experiencing an Economic Revival

Posted on November 21, 2018February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

In rural 19th century Sutton, New Hampshire population declined following the sheep boom in the late 1840s as farmers abandoned their farms in search of better land in places like Ohio and Indiana. Sutton was not alone. Rural living was proving to be too difficult for many New Hampshire residents of small towns. Young women, if they could, were among those who traveled to Lowell, Massachusetts to work in textile mills and live in boarding houses. This was seen as a step up and better than a life of struggle on desolate unproductive farms.

At America’s Credit Union Museum on the west side of Manchester is a turn of the last century photograph of hardscrabble young boys posing not in front of their school, but rather beside one of the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company’s mills in which they worked. Injuries, death, and child labor among both boys and girls, were common then. The closing of the mills in 1935 hit the Manchester economy hard as did the closing of the Nashua Manufacturing Company in Nashua and the Brown Company paper mill in Berlin, both of which occurred in the 1940s.

During the summer of 1987 Allied Leather Corp. of Penacook, NH announced it was closing, putting 300 out of work. The New York owners referred to the “tight labor market” and “continuing problems” treating the tannery’s waste. The company had been fined the year before for moving chemicals without a permit. Most of the employees were on their summer vacation when the news of their job losses broke. Plans were made for combining the tannery’s operations with other plants in New York and Pennsylvania.

New Hampshire has many such economic hardship tales from its 230 years of statehood. When I was young in the 1960s and 1970s, and from Massachusetts, we would hear of the poor people in New Hampshire or “Cow Hampshire” as it was disparagingly called. The people were known as tough, conservative, and independent, but hardly prosperous.

So, it caught my eye when U.S. News and World Report released its rankings of the Best States for Opportunity this fall. And guess who came out on top, Numero Uno, King of the Hill, #1 out of 50…you guessed it, New Hampshire! To quote them, “New Hampshire, which enjoys among the highest median household incomes in the nation, stood out as No. 1 for opportunity.”

Let us take a moment to soak this in. Yes, we are surrounded by rancor, political polarization, culture wars, stagnant wages, opioids, automation, globalization, white nationalism, and on and on, but here on this rocky, thinned soiled, forested, mountainous, tick infested, small patch of America we are in the estimation of one journalistic source, with a methodology to back up their claim, the best state in the nation for opportunity. Wow!

What happened? Some fun facts may help to explain why New Hampshire is now enjoying the most prosperous time in its history. Advanced manufacturing, technology, professional services, healthcare, and of course tourism are strong economic sectors here. Median household income in 2016 was $70,936. Given that the national average that year was $57, 617, we are not doing too badly.

No personal income or sales tax probably helps, but that has been the case for a long time. Lots of retirees like it here. In fact, we are among the top 3 states with lots of old people. During the Great Recession and its aftermath 246,000 people moved away, but another 247,000 moved in.

I cannot say exactly what has been New Hampshire’s secret success sauce, but one obvious observation is that modernity is being kind to the state. Somehow, we seem to be converting economic, social, and demographic changes into prosperity. Despite all the bad sky-is-falling news we are bombarded with daily this is a cause for all 1.3 million of us in NH to celebrate.

Applying Technology in Hiring

Posted on September 24, 2018February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Human contact, whether through professional networking, social connections, or by earned reputation still matters significantly and should in no way be minimized when describing the recruitment and hiring process. If anything, it is paramount. However, another very important track to cover when developing one’s career is the one driven by existing and emerging technologies meant to streamline and optimize the employment process.

Today this ranges from online job boards advertising positions to Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that parse resumes for HR and recruiters. Also, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools, designed to assess the employability of candidates, are now present.

How to advantageously position yourself for these digital aides and gatekeepers needs to be a key component of a well-planned career growth strategy. Let us take a current look at each of these technical features.

Online job boards are not very new, in short supply, or complicated. They are little more than interactive web sites that post job descriptions from employers. More recent are job search engines like Indeed and Simply Hired that rummage the internet aggregating job postings from a variety of sources.

These sites are seductive in that they give the appearance of a job store with profuse amounts of positions just ready for you to pick up while shopping. A common and ineffective ploy is to spend hours responding to jobs on the boards with the only thing generated being recruiters trying to lure you to high turnover 100% commission sales jobs.

Nonetheless, working with job boards is not a complete waste of time and decent jobs can be yielded. Recommended is to spend about 10% to 20% of your job search time utilizing the boards while being careful and discriminating about what you respond to.

ATS software allows recruiters to organize vast lists of applicants and their pertinent criteria such as qualifications, employment history, degrees earned, etc., which are most useful to hiring managers when determining who to contact for interviews. For those of us trying to secure an interview we need to be mindful of preparing resumes (and LinkedIn Profiles) that are keyword-rich with contextually used terms aligning our skills and knowledge with responsibilities and deliverables mentioned in job descriptions.

Therefore, given the need for an ATS-friendly resume that simultaneously is attractive for human readers the challenge is to strike a visually appealing format that won’t confuse the ATS. This can be tricky. If you want a designer resume that looks like those on Pinterest, then forget about passing ATS muster. And with so many companies employing ATS the best strategy may be to pay homage to the many conditions needed to not be digitally rejected in a millisecond, while adding enough optics, and of course solid content, to not have your resume look like just another slice of white bread. Achieving this level of resume optimization is a necessary goal.

The latest trend, which is expected to proliferate in use and sophistication, involves the impact of AI in hiring decision making. There is a growing perception that relying on a candidate’s skills alone is not consistently producing better employees. The evolving thought is to assess personality more with the goal of finding a well-rounded and compatible colleague.

To this end, AI is being deployed to identify personality traits gleaned from resumes, online profiles, social media presences, video appearances, you name it. Apparently, this is seen as less biased than human observers. We shall see. (Cannot algorithms be biased too?)

At any rate, developing a consistent brand and value proposition that includes both your technical talents and your work style/interpersonal characteristics across all platforms may be wise for presenting to human and technological appraisers alike.

Being prepared for the changes and encroachment of technology into hiring decisions, and by extension career development, has become imperative in today’s employment world.

Is an MBA Worth Pursuing?

Posted on July 30, 2018August 2, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Earning a Master’s in Business Administration or MBA has long been considered both a difficult challenge to confront, but also a career boosting achievement. An MBA has been shown to increase promotion and employment opportunities and to jump start compensation. However, by the time most business professionals consider returning to school to earn the degree chances are good there is a family with children in place needing considerable attention and a mountain of bills to juggle, including a mortgage. Not to mention, MBAs can cost from $25K up to $100K in tuition, fees, and transportation costs.

The inevitable question business managers ask themselves is, “Is this worth it?”. Don’t you hate it when someone answers such a question with, “Well, it depends.” So here goes, the answer to whether an MBA is worth pursuing or not is, “Well, it depends”.

The value of an MBA should depend on more than compensation and promotions as alluring as those are. To obtain the most benefit from the work and expense of earning the degree largely comes down to if you think it is in your career’s interest to develop your talent in several key areas. And it turns out, these are the same attributes many executive managers look for when considering whether to hire a candidate who holds an MBA.

You probably think I’m talking about astuteness in topics like organizational behavior, finance, accounting, supply chain management, enterprise IT systems, and economics. Of course, these and other subjects comprising an MBA curriculum are important, but what really sells the executive hiring managers are competencies like leadership, communication ability, strategical thinking, interpersonal relationships, and entrepreneurial spirit. These traits can be thought of as the building blocks to managerial excellence. Therefore, it is important to select an MBA program that assists you in developing these strengths.

Some other useful facts about MBA programs can assist one in their decision making about whether to take the plunge or not. MBA programs most often occur over 18-month to 2-year time periods with students typically earning approximately 40−60 credits representing about 500−600 class hours of graduate-level work. Some programs allow up to 6 years to complete the program.

A full time student must be dedicated to a concentrated approach but given that many mature MBA students are full time employees there are several alternatives. These include:

Accelerated: Fast-tracked program with a greater course load and more condensed class and examination schedule over one year.

Part-Time: Taking three or more years students attend classes after usual working hours, including weekday evenings and/or weekends.

Modular: A tightly prescribed approach involving a progressive curriculum of class components presented in one to three-week segments. These programs seemed most often to be aligned with EMBA degree programs (see below) or Accelerated programs and are most often to be completed within one to two years. Also, modular often means on-site residency for the length of the given module.

Executive MBA (EMBA): Designed for working professionals with 10 or more years of management or executive experience. These programs allow earning the degree in two years or less while working full time.

Distance Learning: Involves classes held off-site from a campus and can include courses held via correspondence, broadcasts, videos, teleconferences, videoconferences, and online formats.

Hybrid: Also known as blended programs these are a fusion of distance learning with traditionally styled face to face classroom instruction.

Mini-MBA: This method combines on the job training regimens and requirements that can also be counted as credit-earning coursework toward a university MBA program. Typically, this requires a partnership between a work setting’s training program and a university MBA program.

Finally, it is important to make sure the program you select is reputable within your industry. Not all MBA programs are of the same caliber, and you do not want to work hard only to find out later that your degree is not enthusiastically embraced by your superiors.

It is a lot to consider but seeking this level of mastery may just lead to the breakthrough your management career needs.

A Reason for Employment Inequality

Posted on May 11, 2018February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Much is made of the dearth of economic opportunity and income equality across the U.S. workforce. Though a perennial issue, the conventional wisdom these days more than most appears to be that there are segments of the American population for whom high paying jobs are elusive or non-existent. This belief persists despite the lowest unemployment rate we have seen in nearly twenty years.

The primary reason, we are told, for this situation boils down to the fact that an automated, globalized, and corporate-led economy produces winners and losers — a somewhat different set of winners and losers apparently than the more nationally-based economy of yesteryear.

Inequality, or even the perception of it, tends to raise the hackles of key constituencies such as left-leaning individuals and nowadays working class folks who find that many low to mid-skilled jobs are evaporating. These groups agree there is a fundamental unfairness to inequality, and they are inspired to fight against it, sometimes in dramatically different ways, whenever possible.

One element of inequality that I do not see getting too much attention however pertains to the number of people with a college education vs. those without one. As we look over the last half century or so we can see that this is a significant economic phenomenon. Indeed, the discrepancy between those with and without higher education impacts a variety of inequality factors, including not just income, but housing, community makeups, cultural upbringing, socioeconomics, and social status.

The number of working-aged Americans with college degrees is steadily rising and now is at or slightly above 40% according to the Lumina Foundation. That is ten times the number compared to a hundred plus years ago when Andrew Carnegie, of all people, claimed college was irrelevant and even damaging. Despite the high cost of college, projections are that attendance will continue to grow another 15% by 2025 (Inside Higher Ed).

Bruce Cain, a Stanford University political scientist, points out that people with knowledge-based characteristics attributed to being college educated, such as professionally oriented behaviors, digital familiarity, an understanding of financial services, and innovative inclinations, tend to congregate residentially and in employment. In today’s world the “Haves” are most often the ones with a college education, and they like to stick with and hire others of their own kind. It is easy to see how this can appear unequal.

Many Baby Boomers were raised with the notion that getting a college education would lead to greater economic gain. Although the message is more nuanced these days the central point remains the same. One unintended consequence of this virtue is that it also leads to economic inequality and resentment among those not sharing in the bounty. This acrimony can sometimes be heard among those who have taken an anti-intellectual / anti-education stance, such as when expressing skepticism (to put it politely) regarding the viewpoints of the “elites” and the “establishment”.

Addressing this imbalance requires initially a level of respect and acknowledgement that we all have something of value to offer. Working toward an economic system that honors and tries to achieve an opportunity-for-all ethic could arise from such a belief. Those who benefit from the hard work and commitment of pursuing higher education can assist those for whom college has not been a viable option through assistance measures designed to encourage greater and more affordable college attendance.

And for those not choosing to pursue higher ed? The means of providing employment training, entrepreneurial support, and apprenticeship alternatives, along with other opportunity options, could be made more available. Full employment across all socioeconomic groups should always be our collective objective.

Sharing prosperity across all segments of a pluralistic society is a great challenge. Perhaps we need to see more committed action from those who have succeeded, many of whom profess liberal leanings, to drive opportunity-for-all programs so that no one’s economic prospects are left behind.

Avoiding Employment Burnout

Posted on April 8, 2018July 26, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It is widely agreed that burning out on the job, any job, is anathema to a satisfying professional life. To be clear, by burnout I am not referring to boredom or lack of inspiration with work, but rather the fear-based high anxiety and psychological debilitation that is the result of overly stressful attributes associated with your job.

There are some broad points to highlight about employment burnout. For starters, it leads to depressed economic activity. Also, it arises following repeatedly demoralizing dynamics that taken together is negative for the individuals involved and for those close to them. Finally, efforts to structure workplaces and assist people in making wise career choices so that burnout does not occur is progressive.

I suggest approaching the issue by looking at mitigation solutions that can be practiced by both employers and employees. My premise is that employment burnout is transactional, meaning that both parties play significant roles in its emergence, and they can also collaborate to see its demise.

It is in employers’ interest to not contribute to the burnout of their talent. Employees cost money to recruit, onboard, and train and they provide the productivity skills needed to keep an enterprise profitable. What employees are not is a consumable resource. Yet, this is how they are often treated. Too many workers toil for longer hours with no appreciable boost in compensation. This includes receiving after-hours emails from management.

A downside for technology is the way it allows for the workday to be extended and therefore the workload to grow. Reasonable limits on work-creep need to be instituted or employers will see their workforce turnover rate increase.

In addition to management exhausting their labor pool there is the issue of too many employers not showing adequate understanding of what motivates and energizes employees. High compensation and judicious work hours certainly help, but also to be considered are the conditions that feed the career aspirations of workers, and by extension the profits of companies. When management recognizes the synergy between employee career development wishes and how those can best align with company productivity or organizational mission, we create a win/win situation. Such a happy union is not fertile ground for burnout.

It is easy to pin all the blame on employers for employee burnout. But that is not entirely fair. When a worker goes into a job with their eyes wide open, knows clearly what is required to succeed, and intentionally tries to find the alignment between their own career development needs and employer enrichment they take ownership and responsibility for avoiding their own burnout.

I recommend that an employee be guided by some fundamental principles when deciding to select and sustain a particular job. One is to always try to put yourself in a context where you are capitalizing on your strengths and managing your weaknesses. Do well what you are best at doing and allocate as little time as possible to handling those aspects of the job you just are not that good at performing. If these priorities are out of balance in your job, burnout is sure to follow.

Also important is to make sure your job allows for and hopefully encourages you to continually develop your professional skillset; to interact and collaborate with colleagues and partners such that you are contributing optimally given your talent level; and that you leave each work shift feeling as if you are making a significant difference for yourself, your employer, and the world. With these arrangements in place, you are unlikely to feel the drain leading to burnout.

Jobs, markets, competition, business success, and profitability are all tough to get just right. It can often seem things are beyond our control. But reducing and eradicating employee burnout is a goal employers and employees can achieve together and prosper from mutually.

Employment Skills Gap or Lack of Fit

Posted on February 25, 2018February 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

During the Great Recession and ever since we have heard about a skills gap in America. This is in part responsible for slow productivity, and by extension, slow economic growth. There does seem to be evidence of an employment gap. There are currently 6.2 million jobs unfilled, up from 5.6 in 2016 (Forbes); 45% of small businesses cannot find work-ready candidates (National Federation of Independent Business); and the results of a January 2018 survey of 500 senior executives found that 92% think the candidate pool is not as skilled as it needs to be (Adecco).

There is plenty of finger pointing going on. Some of the principal criticisms include:

The education system is outdated and is poorly adapted to preparing students for a fluid economy — one that is heavy on technical and math-based skills.

Employers at both the corporate and small business levels are not allocating adequate resources to training and apprenticeship programs, leaving workforces skill deficient.

There is a growing cultural bias against the machine and tool-oriented skills useful in construction, manufacturing, and the trades, discouraging younger workers from selecting those careers.

Increased automation is creating demand for a more technically proficient job candidate than the current labor market can supply.

Old jobs are becoming obsolete while newly created ones are being generated at a brisk pace which the economy struggles to keep up with.

Soft skills, such as those which emphasize collaboration, communication, and teamwork are not being acquired sufficiently at home, school, and in the community.

Job creation is so fast and unemployment so low given the robust economy that labor does not have the time or means to adjust.

The problem is unmotivated workers who do not want to take menial jobs or work the night shift, or who like their drugs more than work, or who are spoiled youngsters used to having everything handed to them.

It is likely that all these factors play some role in why there are so many unfilled jobs. One would think this is a simple supply and demand problem to remedy. Identify the specific skills needed by most employers and then have the education and training providers upskill students and workers to learn and master the required competencies. But apparently doing so is not so simple.

What strikes me in the research on this topic is that there are practically no lists of specific skills that are in short supply. We can find the career areas where there are shortages, for example in nursing, industrial technicians, computer network specialists, and so on, but exactly what the elusive skills are appears to be largely a mystery.

This suggests to me that there may not be a skills gap at all, but rather a failing in the way individuals are aligned with work for which they are best suited. In other words, there may be a lack of fit between too many workers and employment opportunities.

This lack of fit problem is not new. Over the past century or so it has been a challenge to match increased numbers of workers with burgeoning career options. Indeed, the career development field arose out of a need to address this issue.

What is new, perhaps, is the escalating scale and scope of unprecedented numbers of prospective workers and career opportunities. The degree of guidance, counseling, and training by schools, businesses, professional associations, and other stakeholders to better improve aligning available labor with employment demand may need greater attention than has been accessible to date.

If true full employment is to be achieved, and with it the benefits of economic growth and widely spread prosperity, then it seems it is in everyone’s interest to insist on refining the processes whereby workers can access high quality counseling and training to best meet employment scarcity. Government, education, and business could partner more effectively to forge solutions.

The gap we are now facing may be more of shared commitment and engagement rather than of skills.

Reclaiming Civility in the Workplace

Posted on December 29, 2017January 9, 2023 by Bill Ryan

As I pen this piece, during one of the final days of 2017, my mind reflects over the tumultuous year just passed. In my judgment, it has not been a good one. A dominant reason for my opinion has to do with what I see as stark evidence of the deterioration of civil behavior.

This year exhibited degradation of civility on two fronts. One is the startling revelations in recent months of sexual impropriety in the workplace and beyond that are historic and pervasive. The second, which is relatively new to the scene, is the detestable leadership style being practiced and modeled by the President of the United States.

The civility downturn issue I raise here elevates to a cultural level, but in keeping with the career and employment theme of these pieces, I’ll confine my thoughts to the effect declining civil discourse and offensive interactions are having and could continue to have in the places where we work.

To begin, let us contemplate the monumental disclosures and resulting tolerance shift commonly known as the #MeToo movement. Since women increased the pace of sharing professional employment roles in far greater numbers than ever approximately fifty years ago, true workforce equity has been elusive. The combination of rigid gender stereotypes, the inherent inequality of hierarchical structures, and the sexual tension palpable among some co-workers establishes an environment in which predatory behavior occurs. Women who forcefully reject such treatment and men who understand its fundamental unfairness are now letting those in power know enough is enough.

This social shift is long overdue and compels management across all industries, still mostly occupied by men, to participate and collaborate with female colleagues on equal footing and to dissolve outdated norms. It is hard to imagine that the clock will ever turn back. Managers and co-workers alike are on notice that behavior which violates basic decency against others in a sexual manner could well result in career ending consequences.

The other and more recent challenge to our declining pattern of civil engagement with potential impact to the workplace is embodied by President Trump. To be clear, I am not interested in scoring political points and my claim here is not intended to be partisan, but Donald Trump’s model for success and leadership is debased, contrary to decency, and a disgraceful example of how those in powerful positions should act.

The serial lying, bullying provocations, juvenile name calling, lack of intellectual engrossment, and pathetic narcissism represent leadership at its worst. Is there really a political ideology or set of guiding principles so valuable that it justifies these leadership behaviors? Having such a role model speaking on behalf of our nation, occupying a position that influences our youth, and demonstrating that this is what American success now looks like is an embarrassment and affront to our values as a country.

It is imperative that Americans of moral character and basic virtue rise above the example set by our president and to show the true spirit of civility in the workplace and elsewhere. It can reasonably be argued that as a people over time we have abandoned shared responsibility in a move toward a selfish and a self-centered style of economic individualism. Perhaps President Trump’s mannerisms reflect how far this has gone.

The year 2017 has given us a wake-up call. We can rally and repair by first admitting some deep-seated flaws exist in the way we interact in the areas of mutual respect and collective caring. The forces against us are formidable. Our positive tendencies are for the time sidelined. Let us not just hope for a better and more civil 2018 but let us actively work toward making it happen. We are better than this.

The Age of Mobility

Posted on November 27, 2017January 9, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Mobility has become something of a buzz word these days, particularly in the context of one’s economic and employment condition. Increasingly we see movement among people, whether in terms of place, jobs, education, or social groups as more common, at least among a growing segment of the population.

There has always been the phenomenon of socioeconomic mobility, the upward or downward movement of economic status with its resulting standard of living levels. As Americans, we pride ourselves on having created a meritocratic system, in which ability and talent rather than simply inherited wealth and privilege, can lead to upward mobility. And ingrained in that potential is of course the risk of failure and descent.

The mobility I am emphasizing, however, goes beyond this more historic form. It is a mobility that in part defines the changing nature of career and economic success in an evolving economy. It is mobility that is encouraged and motivated by discovering and acquiring that increasingly elusive premium known as opportunity.

If the work you want to do is more likely to be found in Los Angeles, then you leave your home in New Hampshire. If hiring is more robust in accounting, then you do not follow your parents’ careers as teachers. If the variety of diverse lifestyle and work choices within a multicultural neighborhood is more appealing, then you leave your mostly white and Protestant hometown. If your impetus is to develop truly innovative and groundbreaking services, then you don’t follow the path of anyone else.

As one prepares for adulthood and career there appears to be a fundamental choice to be made — opt for a career characterized more by features of mobility or more by tradition. Throughout much of our history we were content to stay close to where we were born and to do work, whether in or out of the home, that was done by our parents. We continued family farming, worked in the same paper mill as our father and grandfather, raised children full time at home, and provided goods and services for families much like ours in the area. There were social and economic benefits, in short the opportunity, to carry on these traditions. That continuity still has appeal for many, but perhaps for a decreasing number of people.

Economic opportunity now is seen by an expanding number of people as requiring mobility. For home grown and newly arrived Americans the ticket to a broader range of career options is education. It may be difficult to know exactly what the right thing is to study at first, but a belief is widely accepted that continuing education beyond high school and indeed throughout one’s working years is necessary to keep one economically viable and marketable. Similarly, is the understanding that one’s career now has an inherent mobility with many twists, turns, and iterations. (For example, most CEOs did not major in business administration, but rather in subjects like history, political science, and communications, according to Investopedia).

Immigrants continue to serve as examples of assertive mobility. Sure, the attraction of the US has long been there for those from abroad who have wanted to put America’s socioeconomic upward mobility reputation and principles to the test. Indeed, that continues to happen. But many of today’s immigrants to America also know that to achieve a decent or higher standard of living they need to more intelligently hunt for and snag opportunity. The word is that opportunity will not be handed to them. Immigrants disrupted their lives intentionally, leaving much of their past and what is familiar behind. Their energy, enthusiasm, and drive are worth paying attention to and perhaps emulating as much now as ever.

Hopefully, we can make our world friendly and prosperous for those with inclinations toward both mobility and tradition. Collectively, we should not have to conclude one way of life survives and the other does not. Yet, the trend toward mobility is mobilized and gathering steam. No matter how you choose to engage your career and livelihood your relationship with mobility must be considered.

Networking Can be More than Self-Promotion

Posted on October 30, 2017January 9, 2023 by Bill Ryan

A difficult career development concept for many to accept is the notion that networking, by which means the building and cultivating of a group of professionally oriented contacts, is necessary to grow and flourish a career. Many smart and valued contributors to the workplace are uncomfortable with an exercise that for them feels unnatural, contrived, and manipulative. There are of course those who are extroverted and who blossom at opportunities to engage in lively social interaction, but for many others the tedium of incessant outreach is viewed as an awkward burden and obligation.

However, networking is not to be entirely avoided. One does not have to research too deeply to find that networking has powerful advantages such as increasing the amount of job, business, and advancement opportunities available; deepening one’s understanding of their profession’s best practices and current trends; and enhancing one’s reputation and status within their chosen profession. Taken together it is reasonable to say that networking leads to greater career satisfaction.

So how can one bridge the gap between a practice that should be followed, but which also invokes such negative feelings? The answer may be in re-framing how networking can be viewed. Instead of seeing it as an inauthentic and unscrupulous display of self-promotion, try embracing one or more of several different outlooks. These can include:

Networking as a learning opportunity: Approach interactions with fellow professionals and others related in some way to what you do as chances to learn. Other stakeholders in your career field have had similar, different, and varied experiences that together can provide you with valuable information and perspectives leaving you more informed and open to more possibilities. As you approach more knowledgeable resources for assistance to become more educated when needed, think of the individuals with whom you interact in networking similarly.

Networking as sharing and teaching: The converse of the point made above is another method to be considered. You undoubtedly have information that can enrich and inform others in your field thereby initiating and establishing quality relationships simply through sharing. Be open to disclosing what you understand professionally in addition to what you do not know. Also, be clear in your own mind about what you have to offer others. Comprehending what you know that may be of value to others could be difficult, especially if you are reticent to recognize your accomplishments. Therefore, try to not hesitate to share your achievements in the spirit of helping others.

Networking as finding common ground and shared concerns: It is a typical practice when we meet someone for the first time to look for a piece of information or experience that we have in common. Doing so gives us a connection from which we can build a relationship. Networking is no different. Reach out to others with the goal of finding common ground, areas of agreement, identical perceptions on trends, similar problems to solve, or networking contacts you both share. The list can go on. Finding where your spheres of experience intersect can make these types of interactions more pleasurable and productive.

Networking as group representation: A significant part of the discomfort with networking is that it is seen as too self-centered. What if you engaged in the practice by seeing yourself as a proxy for your employer, professional association, or for your career field as a whole? By doing so your promotional oriented outreach becomes part of a larger goal or aspiration intended to benefit others on behalf of your profession and not just abetting yourself. While presenting yourself on behalf of others you will necessarily be authenticating your own position, standing, and reputation.

In a world where extroverts are in the majority, it can be arduous for the one third to one half of the population who are introverted to function in highly social situations. Hopefully, re-orienting how you view networking activities can make them more positive and advantageous for your career.

Consider a Career in Gaming

Posted on July 22, 2017January 9, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I recently conversed with an old friend who was transitioning into retirement from a lifelong career as a golf course owner and superintendent. He shared with me his observation of a decline in the golf business in recent years not only at his course, but at others in his region (South Coast Massachusetts), and indeed nationally.

Not being a golfer myself I did a little research and found that the industry is either thriving or declining depending on who you talk to. PGA officials point to statistics that paint a rosy picture of the game’s future, but other sources, such as The Economist for instance, show years of net golf course closures since 2006 and a drop of five million players since the game’s participant high point.

In the case of my friend there was an unmistakable reduction in players at his course. I asked why this was the case thinking that recreational activity in general seems robust. His unscientific conclusion is that younger game players are choosing online gaming over golf.

Online or digital gaming is big business. In looking at sources that track gaming data I found the following: Worldwide revenues in 2017 reaching $109B this year with 42% coming from mobile gaming (Newzoo); $18.4B of those revenues are being generated in the U.S. alone (Statista); and in May 2017, 9% year-over-year market growth was measured (SuperData Research). Unless you live in a cave, it is obvious anecdotally that lots of people enjoy spending lots of time gaming on devices.

To try getting a better understanding of this phenomenon and how it relates to current and future careers I spoke with Ryan Smith, a New Hampshire-based game programmer, consultant, and game design instructor. Before our conversation, my image of a video gamer was restricted to adolescent boys in front of a console tethered to the family television. Ryan, who has been a gamer all his life and who earned a degree in game design from SNHU, has considerable background in this field both technically and culturally.

Ryan began by sharing that digital gaming is now an entertainment industry double in size to the movie and music industries combined. Increasingly, women and older players are indulging in digital gaming. Gaming devices are grouped into PCs, consoles, and mobile categories with the first two losing market share to mobile.

As interesting as these facts are, what I really wanted was a sense of what motivated players to play. Not being a gamer myself, I was curious about what is so appealing about this pastime to produce such a high level of engagement.

According to Ryan, the attraction rests in otherworldly immersion where one can live out dreams and fantasies not possible in reality. There exists a level of interactive control, instant gratification, and risk taking that is not possible in ordinary day to day life. This leads to an expressive activity that is more stimulating and satisfying than the passive receptivity one gets from watching movies or listening to music — and it would seem more provocative than trying to refine a physical skill such as golfing. This type of engrossment is centered around action themes, stories, and scenarios, but is so enthralling apparently as to become a unique experience not found in more traditional amusements.

The industry is trending toward more social, networked, and global gaming experiences with platforms known as Massively Multiplayer Online or MMOs and identity/community simulations. The other game changer, if you will, is the introduction of Virtual Reality (VR), a technological sensation that places a player more realistically into an imaginary environment.

There are benefits to gaming aside from entertainment says Ryan. Discipline, motivation, eye-hand coordination, faster decision making, brain training and yes, even social skills can be enhanced through gaming.

Digital gaming is a classic case of a newly disruptive industry changing a traditional landscape and presenting new employment opportunities not previously available. Despite the playfulness implied in gaming, a market this big must be taken seriously.

Educating for Impending Careers

Posted on April 17, 2017January 9, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Many of us in the United States were educated as children and young adults so that we could succeed both as citizens sustaining our democratic way of life and as productive workers able to sustain ourselves and our families economically. For the most part, the combination of public and private K–12 schools and higher education universities and colleges has served us quite well. We are by and large a well-educated and constructive populace.

But can we rely on the old-school methodologies to sustain us for a world of work that will be characterized as mercurial and erratic calling for agility, adaptability, and rapid evolution? There is reason to think not. An economy that is experiencing increased speed and transformation will not be well served by an educational structure and model designed to prepare students for a relatively static and predictable work world.

Let us examine the existing paradigm that traditionally and currently defines most American high schools and colleges. There are two patterns at play based on the concepts of liberal education and career-focused education. By the time a student reaches high school they select or have selected for them one of these persuasions or the other.

Liberal (or liberal arts) education refers to an approach that encourages a broad and diverse exposure to fundamental and diverse subject matter with the goal being to educate a student for a complex world requiring a variety of perspectives, skills, and areas of knowledge. When and if college is reached, the student fits into this mix a concentrated focus in one or more disciplines.

A career-focused or vocational path on the other hand focuses much more on preparing the student for a relevant job that is in demand in the workforce. Breadth gives way to depth in that a craft or skillset demonstrably employable is chosen, studied, and eventually mastered by the student.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that there is anything fundamentally wrong with these models. My concern is in the traditional modes of delivery of the designs. We are still under the assumption that a high school diploma and/or college degree program that terminates upon graduation is enough to provide a student for a lifetime career. It used to be. However, projections are that it will not be enough going forward.

The workplace and its career needs are becoming increasingly digitized and globalized, resulting in an urgency for malleable, resilient, and entrepreneurial workers to address the ever-vibrant economic demands across the planet. To maintain these attributes workers will need to accept and embrace continuous lifelong learning, upskilling, and training to keep up and stay ahead. Schooling will never end. In fact, it will become an integral and ongoing part of any advantageous job worth having for most people.

We will likely see a time when liberal and career-focused methods become more of an as-needed hybrid with a greater proliferation of skill and knowledge-based certification and training programs not necessarily tied to slow moving traditional education settings. Students, employees, and educators will begin migrating more intentionally into online, virtual, and yes, brick & mortar learning facilities that offer the highest quality, data driven, short and long-term instruction essential to the requirements of the emerging economy.

As an educator myself with 31 years in public schools and 5 years as a part time college adjunct I can say with some certainty that this industry will not on its own move in this direction without a lot of resistance. There are many entrenched interests compelled to resist such changes.

A more responsive and pragmatic instructional delivery will likely arise from a combination of innovative educators and demanding students and employees requiring relevant reactive instruction. We can all begin by getting our heads around the concept of lifelong learning. I predict it will be far more energizing and efficient and much less stuck and draining.

The Continued Evolution of LinkedIn

Posted on February 26, 2017July 7, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The professional, business, and employment social media online platform LinkedIn is at it again, but in a bigger way this time. As individuals who regularly use LinkedIn to source talent, post jobs, display professional profiles, or network with other users we know that LinkedIn frequently tinkers with the interface to “improve” usability. It has always been a dynamic and growing service and one must assume they are doing something right with $3B+ in annual revenue and 460+ million user accounts worldwide. Not bad for a novel concept that first went live in 2003.

The latest big set of changes has been rolling out for the past couple of months following the completed acquisition of LinkedIn by Microsoft in December 2016. Time will tell of course if this will be a good move for both parties. Let us hope this deal does not go the way of doomed Microsoft ventures like Nokia’s handset and aQuantive software. However, given the financial heft and prominent position in the digital services market Microsoft enjoys it is reasonable to expect that this takeover will boost LinkedIn’s standing and influence in the career and employment services space.

Without getting into the weeds of all the many new minute interaction changes of the website, and there are enough, so that a new learning curve has appeared to get familiar with the site, it nevertheless appears to someone like me that I am increasingly finding LinkedIn to be my digital place to go to work. And I am not alone, Logging into LinkedIn.com is becoming my virtual commute to a real job.

As in a traditional workplace there are those I work with frequently and closely on a project, those I know remotely, and those I am reaching out to as potential sources of value and opportunity. It is in these areas of taking connectivity among professional people to a more functional, transparent, and far-reaching level where LinkedIn holds great promise.

The effects of globalization have thankfully become a hotly debated issue politically, but in the world of e-commerce impacted as it is by the powers of social media and crowd sourcing, the players are not waiting around for slow moving governments to set the rules. Global inter-connectivity and commerce is just starting to get ramped-up via international platforms like LinkedIn. It looks like we are heading into a world in which small-scaled and remote outreaches among millions of entrepreneurs, freelancers, microbusinesses, and small businesses across the planet can be exchanged 24/7.

LinkedIn, and now by extension Microsoft, are betting on this proliferation of e-business, so much so that there is a mission to “economically graph” the world through its site. What does this mean? As Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s CEO puts it, they are committed to digitally mapping the global economy by building a profile for every member of the international workforce and for every company in the world.

Further they intend to digitally list every available job in real refreshed time, list every skill needed to perform those jobs, and identify every school or training facility providing the skill instruction needed to perform these jobs. Facilitating an efficient, timely, and rich flow of information that connects these dots completes the goal.

Given this infrastructure the potential for enriching current employment, business development, and career needs while also fulfilling the talent requirements for the innumerable jobs of the future seems highly likely.

An expansive vision of the possibilities e-commerce and e-networking can deliver should be embraced. Many new careers can be made from leveraging a dynamic global economy. Engaging in international business does not any longer have to just be reserved for large multi-national corporations. If one can get a higher quality business or career solution from New Zealand rather than from New Hampshire no matter where in the world one lives, we should expect that to be the new normal and compete appropriately.

Manufacturing Careers, Decline or Growth?

Posted on January 18, 2017January 9, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I had a conversation with a Manchester, NH stockbroker the other day who was bullish on the future of U.S. manufacturing. Parenthetically, this claim and others he made reminded me of two things about stockbrokers. One is, they necessarily have an eye to the future, and two they can disrupt conventional wisdom with their insights.

So, what are we to believe about the current state and future of manufacturing careers in the U.S.? Recent history and economic news have shown a declining trend for manufacturing jobs for some time now. A combination of developing nations exercising their newly found means of competing with advanced economies and the Great Recession with its sharp decline in manufacturing employment leave many thinking that work in the manufacturing sector has been left behind in the 20th century.

To see why, let us look at the reasons manufacturing declined in the U.S. in the first place. The most obvious factor was the relatively high costs for energy and labor that were determined to be less burdensome for employers overseas. In my view, other factors also contributed such as weaker or nonexistent unions and less stringent environmental laws. For the past few decades, the practice of offshoring manufacturing jobs has been seen as a benefit for owners and stockholders of U.S. manufacturing facilities and a commonplace practice.

However, it may be premature to call U.S. manufacturing finished even though many of these same conditions still exist. So, where is the optimism for U.S. manufacturing? It comes from a confluence of emerging factors that over time may mean a possible manufacturing resurgence.

For example, we are seeing:

Lower energy costs domestically thanks largely to more natural gas;
Logistical costs involved in procuring raw materials and shipping finished goods from overseas are increasingly onerous;
It turns out the quality of many products made abroad are not consistently high;
International labor costs can change abruptly and sometimes considerably;
Manufacturing is becoming more sophisticated requiring a more educated workforce;
And we are experiencing growth of a patriotic ethic that discourages shipping jobs overseas.

To what extent these circumstances will boost manufacturing has yet to be seen, but it is worth tracking if you are thinking of a career in goods production.

Speaking of manufacturing careers, they are more varied than many may think. Of course, we think of machinists and production technicians, and the like, but there are more careers in this sector than those involved in operating machines. Jobs requiring managing and developing personnel should continue to thrive. It is also worth noting The McKinsey Global Institute pointing out that approximately 1/5 of every dollar of product output is in professional services ranging from engineering to marketing to transportation to office administration. When manufacturing expands, so do these supportive careers.

Another class of careers to consider are those in manufacturing that have yet to be invented. Let me explain. We know that jobs heavy in routine procedures performed in predictable environments are at risk for automation. We also know the manufacturing tasks that are technically feasible for automation are moving targets depending on the state of robotics and artificial intelligence, which together are exceptionally dynamic.

The work in this sector that is relatively safe from automation for now involves jobs providing innovative ways of improving production and jobs that increase the collaborative engagement between humans and machines. Tasks that are enhanced by creative and productive partnerships between people free to be inventive who direct their robotics to handle the relatively rote work is where much of the future of manufacturing could be.

To be clear, a vibrant manufacturing sector is needed to employ many who feel left out of the globalized and automation-heavy economy, but it is not our grandfather’s manufacturing that is returning. So yes, let’s be both bullish and prepared for the manufacturing careers of the future.

The Challenge of Working Class Employment

Posted on November 18, 2016January 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

The recent presidential election has put the demands and anger of the working class front and center in America’s attention. The economic and cultural influences brought on by encroaching globalization and automation are changing employment — and by extension many people’s lives, in ways that are deeply unsettling and unpredictable.

The short-term fix appears to be an electorate choosing a new president who has a penchant for, shall we say, over-promising what he can do about the situation. If these promises are combined with under-delivering in the creation of jobs for this cohort over the next few years, then we will likely be playing out another struggle for what, if anything, the government can do about employment during the 2020 election.

I hesitate to look to the professional class for solutions to the employment and lifestyle anxiety being felt by the working class. Ultimately, this more economically disadvantaged group needs leadership to help them assess and adapt to the new world order that is increasingly being driven by globalization and automation.

Neither political party is adequately providing the needed tough love leadership and straight talk to the working class. We hear plenty about nostalgia for the good old days or that the real problem was due to hoarding by the rich, but when has anyone acknowledged that world markets are moving toward knowledge-based economies that call for fundamental changes in the way workers plan for employment? Unfortunately, we never hear it.

We are witnessing large-scale worker displacement. I for one do not see an end in sight. So, when contemplating the best course of action for those who have chosen to curtail their education at the high school level and work in traditional industries it is difficult to see a quick and easy fix.

To say everyone should go to college is over-simplistic. To say we should reverse the march of time is unrealistic. This country has a serious problem on its hands and if nothing else the presidential election of 2016 has given us substance for a serious debate about where we go from here.

One thing is clear — employment will continue to go to those with skills and expertise that are marketable. Increasingly, these jobs will be technical and specialized and require considerable education and training. However, not everyone is going to be driven to be a maven in some area. It still should be okay that some people just want a half-way decent job with reasonable compensation and not be looking to set the world on fire with their careers. The question becomes how should an individual with limited education and a strong desire to work in a traditional or straightforward job plan for their future?

I was recently drawn to the November 2016 New Hampshire Economic Conditions issue published by the state’s Employment Security department’s Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau. Their feature story looks at both “Specialized” and “Baseline” skills most in demand in New Hampshire’s labor markets as derived from an analysis of online job postings. What struck me when reading this report is that it is a window, albeit a small one, into a way of measuring what employers want, in other words what is marketable. And given the context of this piece it is the baseline skills I’m most interested in, since as the qualifier suggests these are skills that do not require a lot of education.

The most frequently listed baseline skills were communication, writing, multi-tasking, time management, detail orientation, planning, and being organized. Nothing too earth- shattering here. These are the kinds of things someone can do that are desired in the workplace and do not require sophisticated preparation. Perhaps, identifying the basic old-school abilities is where the working class should look to begin or restore their marketability in an uncertain world.

Let us keep this conversation going. The people showed they are willing to overlook a lot of things in a new president in order to be heard. So, what should they be hearing?

Workforce Shortages and Your Career

Posted on October 1, 2016January 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I guess it is a sign of improvement when a new problem can be seen as less egregious than a previously harder to solve problem. For much of the past eight years we have concerned ourselves with getting people back to work — any work. To a large extent that has happened. Unemployment rates and the number of workers who can say they have a job are back to pre-recession levels. So now we have the “luxury” of concentrating on a replacement problem. That is the issue of workforce and labor shortages.

U.S. employers are struggling to find qualified workers in several fields, resulting in business expansion difficulties and by extension national economic constraints. It does not sound as bad as the employment bounce-back the recession threw at us, and it should not be. However, if left unsolved it could become another factor reducing our global competitiveness and economic growth, spurring calls for talent immigration, automation, and offshoring.

At an individual level, the college student trying to select a major; the college graduate attempting to launch a career; the established professional looking to make a career transition; and the entrepreneur seeking lucrative opportunities, are among those who may benefit from an analysis of where the workforce shortages currently exist and where employment projections are anticipated. Although such knowledge and considerations are not necessarily paramount determiners of one’s career development, they are worth investigating to see if an alignment exists between these trends and one’s enduring or potential value proposition.

There are several reasons for the decline in qualified workers with demographics being the big one. The aging of Baby Boomers is naturally leading to more retirements. Domestically, there are not enough replacements for these retirees. Ten years ago, 400,000 workers retired per year . That number has risen to 1.2 million today.

Also, the older population creates increased demand in fields such as healthcare where more workers are needed than in the past. For example, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and even doctors are already in short supply and are still expected to be in the future.

However, it is not just in healthcare where shortages exist. To be honest it does not appear that labor deficits are confined to just several industries, but rather that it is a more widespread phenomenon. Even declining industries, such as manufacturing, are experiencing acute scarcities.

Of course, not having enough workers trained with specific skillsets compounds the problem, but largely it is coming down to some basic math. Our bench is not populated enough to fill the number of vacating positions.

This should be good news for working-aged people. It suggests there could potentially be many fields and openings to pick from. Other benefits over time should include rising wages and continuously improving working conditions designed to retain talent.

To best position yourself to take advantage of this general opportunity some other trend lines should be considered. The Bureau of Labor Statistics foresees service sector jobs capturing 95% of newly created positions between now and 2024. Healthcare as mentioned above, and social assistance jobs together will become the largest area of employment, surpassing government and business services jobs.

Technical occupations will also grow in number and demand will increase looking forward. Automation will eliminate some jobs to be sure, but more likely is that technology will transform jobs that still need a person involved. The energy, transportation, and data analysis sectors are among those in need of technically trained people who can interact with and leverage technology productively.

I do not want to treat too lightly the menace workforce shortages can have economically and socially. It is a serious issue, especially for some businesses poised to grow and expand. Yet, compared to the recessionary years, I see more opportunity here than threat for the existing workforce. This allows new workforce entries to ensure they are selecting careers that can best fit their skillsets.

Being What You Were Meant to Be

Posted on August 22, 2016January 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

In general, career competitiveness is likely to get, well, more competitive in the coming years. There are several factors indicating that to secure and retain a truly meaningful and satisfying career each of us will need to manage stiffer headwinds. We may not be able to change the wind velocity or direction, but we can adjust our sails.

What headwinds am I referring to? Well, as anyone who has read my pieces before knows the two principal factors impacting the future of work in the U.S. and around the world are globalization and automation. These alone are introducing a host of competitive actors, both living and non-living. Being able to offer more employment value than other people around the planet, and more than the machines which are getting better at reproducing routine and now even sophisticated tasks, makes for a tough challenge.

Beyond the gales emanating from an increasingly integrated and technology-based economy are those of our own making. We all tend to make unforced errors that result in establishing the right career more difficult. These are the impediments we throw in front of ourselves that come from flawed thinking and behavior patterns residing deep in our psyches. And with career competition expanding due to forces beyond our control, let us at least agree it is wise to confront the missteps we tend to cause ourselves.

Who among us cannot identify imperfect responses of our own making, many of which are based in the way we make decisions? Perhaps, we are too impatient and restless wanting quick resolutions to problems and clarity to uncertainty before the best course of action has been adequately determined.

Stress also affects the way we decide, and it usually does so in a way that quickly mitigates temporarily the stress at the expense of a better longer-term outcome. Any actions that take us away from a carefully planned and systematic approach to making the big decisions in our lives, such as choosing and setting courses for a career, will weaken our competitiveness.

Decision making can be thought of as a process with sequential steps to be followed. It begins with clearly identifying the decision to be made, then gathering necessary information, spotting alternatives, assessing evidence, selecting options, acting, and reviewing the chosen conclusion. Doing this well requires discipline and strength of mind, but the higher quality decision making that can emerge better positions us for career competition we will face.

The practice of reflection also can play a powerful role in navigating through uncharted waters. The Benedictine nun, author, and speaker Joan Chittister is quoted as saying, “Find the thing that stirs your heart and make room for it. Life is about the development of self to the point of unbridled joy.”

The same can be said about our careers. As we reflect on what matters most to us and what jobs need to be done in the world, then we can best merge the two to find our career choice. Our way to realizing our career becomes more apparent.

The signs of how we should work have always been there. They began in childhood and have followed us through maturity. How we perceive and become aware of things, people, events, and ideas followed by the conclusions we make about these phenomena shape who we become as people and as career professionals.

The interests we cultivate, the values we hold dear, the motivations that propel us, and the skills we develop lead to a unique set of criteria that form the foundation of our value proposition. In other words, they make us competitive. Reflect on what that is for you.

We can look ahead and fear the storm clouds, or we can accept the adverse winds as a call to action to improve our competitiveness and to be the professionals we were meant to be.

What Valuable Career Has Yet to be Established?

Posted on June 30, 2016January 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

In the career space, it is becoming increasingly certain that the future of careers is increasingly uncertain. The headwinds of change are strengthening and what in traditional employment has looked stable is now looking unstable.

There are a variety of economic and social shifts ushering in this climate of modification and adjustment, influenced largely by globalization, technology, and changing demographics with these trends looking irreversible. Given that significant change has a way of making people nervous and anxious, it could seem that the future may be something to fear. But what if we were to reframe this phenomenon as an opportunity? It can be done.

Viewing undetermined career variations favorably begins with asking the question, “What valuable career(s) has/have yet to be established?” To begin answering the question let us pass through a portal, which allows us to view the world’s many challenges. There is certainly no shortage of problems in need of resolutions. The demands are countless and the need for bold, positive, and progressive actions, leading to widespread beneficial advances is urgent.

So where do we begin? Following are my picks for top categories where future talent can best direct their energies — in ways about which we can only today dream.

Poverty: The most egregious plight continuing to poison humankind is the plague of poverty. It burdens us all economically, in terms of security, and of course morally. Must we continue to accept that so many of the planet’s people struggle to live healthy lives of happiness and fulfillment?

Economics: If there is one thing we learned from the recent recession it is that our economic health is far from secure. Expertise in the financial industry and among the monetary decision makers is required to maintain a fiscal model free of the wild and dangerous speculative swings that can so devastate Main Street.

Healthcare: Preventing and treating disease, promoting wellness, and leveraging recent breakthroughs in science and medicine contribute immeasurably to the number of career opportunities. Projections are that Healthcare will see very strong growth. Many lives are just waiting to be made healthier and better.

Environment: Managing a growing global population that demands more use of finite resources and higher living standards is our collective reality for the foreseeable future. There will be no shortage of creative solutions to be discovered assisting the planet in supporting the burgeoning masses.

Business Services: Aiding business to provide the necessary and desired goods and services, which will elevate and sustain enjoyable and productive lives remains important. Profitable and rewarding models and techniques are still in need of detection and development.

Lifestyle: Crafting the zeitgeist of new eras will be in the hands and minds of those involved in the arts, fashion, music, literature, and culture as they seek novel ways of expressing their times. Creative facility is waiting to be unleashed to communicate the spirit and meaning of ages yet to come.

I could go on. Energy, International Relations, Social Work, and many other fields hold promise as areas for future career development. Societies yearn for original and fresh approaches to improve and better the world. All of us, young and old, have the capacity to meet this demand.

We owe it to ourselves to nurture and expand an entrepreneurial mindset, leading to innovative problem solving and wealth creation. Let us train and orient our youth especially to be entrepreneurial success stories and not merely laborers practicing routine procedures.

Discovering concepts new, untried, and effective should be encouraged as much if not more than reproducing commodities. Permit and reassure our students and children to take reasonable risks, collaborate with like-minded entrepreneurs, and allow intelligence to be applied in peculiar and offbeat ways.

It can be exciting and energizing to think that original and valuable careers are waiting to be spawned. It gives us hope.

The Growth of Cognitive Careers

Posted on May 30, 2016January 5, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Economies, and by extension careers, reward those human characteristics most in demand. When muscular strength was most in need during times dominated by agriculture and mechanical ability became required to operate and maintain machinery during the industrial age, those abilities were rewarded and revered leading to employment for those possessing such skills.

The age we have now entered, particularly since the invention of the microprocessor, is one around which cognitive competency or intelligence is highly honored. High paying and stimulating jobs are increasingly going to the smartest among us and there is no end in sight of this trend.

Historically, there has always been a need for intelligent people, but the correlation between cognitive ability and compensation was never as strong as it is today. One could have been an astute lawyer, financial planner, or mathematician at the turn of the 20th century, but the economy just did not reward those people at the levels that can be done today. We have created a much more complex economy requiring well-informed, inventive, and knowledgeable people who can navigate and derive value from what is for many of us a puzzling network of esoteric information in so many areas. The employment landscape for people with certain kinds of cognitive capacity is flourishing.

For years we have heard about high unemployment rates and at the same time we have heard there is not enough talent to hire for hard to fill positions. The jobs that are vacant seek individuals with know-how in management, engineering, data analysis, and many other areas where information processing, creativity, and workforce resourcefulness is called for.

Professionalism is deepening across fields that include medicine/healthcare, law, higher education, the sciences, the military, advanced manufacturing, and finance. Routine and relatively low-skilled operations will not bring competitive advantages to these career categories. Only accelerated thinking will.

As a result, we are seeing the growth of an educated class. According to the U.S. Census Bureau only 4.6% of the U.S. population had attained bachelor’s degrees or higher in 1940. Today it is 32%. As this educated class continues to earn at relatively robust rates it appears to create an impression of inequality and disenfranchisement, such as we see being exploited in our current presidential election.

However, meeting the cognitive demands of a more intricate and perplexing economy requires educated people. Blaming success is not enough to improve the lot of us all. Directing one’s individual energies to where the expertise is most needed will.

The number of us prepared to optimally function in the globalized cognitive economy is not enough if we are to continue being among the world’s leaders in innovation, business, and social transformation. Without relatively easy access to higher education for those with the potential to take the most advantage of this opportunity means we all lose. Let us agree that lifelong learning is essential for each one of us and entry into a college experience that challenges and pushes us to maximize our cerebral capacity benefits us personally and collectively.

However, the expense of higher education is too high and makes going to college prohibitive for too many Americans. The cost of college has risen too much and too fast. To put this cost hike into perspective the New York Times’ Economix blog shows that since 1985 the cost of general consumer items has jumped 200+%, gasoline prices have risen approximately 300%, and medical care 350%. But college tuition and fees — 575%! Are you kidding me? How is this in our best interests? This destructive level of inflation needs to be controlled. Our long-term economic development relies on it.

Equality of opportunity is a virtue and should be the basis of much of our public policy. Opportunity is stifled when only the rich can afford to go to college. Opening the doors to higher education invites more participation in cognitive careers and expands the education class to more inclusiveness.

The 2016 College Graduate

Posted on April 30, 2016January 4, 2023 by Bill Ryan

“Finally! I finished! What a slog! I am a 2016 college graduate — proud, tired, and like Robert Redford’s character at the end of that old movie The Candidate asking, ‘What do we do now?’

This endeavor turned out to be harder than I thought. I knew it would be a lot of work, but not this much. It’s hard to remember what life was like before college. I guess I was a kid. I don’t feel like a kid anymore, but I’m not sure I’m an adult either.

So, in the beginning I thought I would be an accountant like my uncle, and I went to a school known for accounting and finance. During my first year, I must admit, I didn’t work very hard. Dorm life meant freedom and I took advantage of it. The parties, new friends, and lack of rules compared to home were seductive. My grades stunk and I ended up on probation by the end of my first year.

My parents aren’t rich. They were angry when they realized they had spent their hard-earned money on that year and that I had little to show for it. The message from them became that if college was important to me, then I would figure out a way to go back and make it work. And by the way, part of that figuring was how to pay for it, because they weren’t going to.

During the summer I resolved to go back, but to a different school where I could have a fresh beginning. A big part of the motivation was in learning that a college graduate on average earns $17,500 more annually than someone with just a high school diploma. Over a 40-year career that could really add up. Also, I did want the satisfaction of showing my family, friends, and myself that I could succeed with this challenge.

So, I found a liberal arts college with a business focus that accepted me and some of my credits. In all it turned out I lost, or should I say, I partied away about a semester’s worth of credits. The Financial Aid office helped me to get the loan I needed, and I started the Fall as a Business Administration major. Because I could see the very real possibility of owing a lot of money when this was over, I was determined to try to finish in three years, instead of four.

To try completing my college education in three years turned out to be unrealistic, for me at least. Many of my classmates had the same goal and for some they were disciplined enough to pull it off. But I found the toll of taking between five and seven major classes per term daunting and in the end, I needed three and a half years to satisfy all requirements and earn the bachelor’s degree.

So, here I am with a degree in Business Administration and $30K in debt, which is the national average, so that’s not too bad, is it? Although the Career Office at school helped me complete a resume and obtain a 3-month long internship with a financial services firm during my Senior year I still don’t know for sure what I want to do. I have six months before I need to start paying back the loan, so I know I need to figure it out soon.

My future looks uncertain and kind of scary. In college I always had a syllabus and course guides to tell me what I needed to do and when things were due. But a guy at my internship laughed at me one day and said not to expect real life to have a syllabus. He said to be prepared to think on my feet constantly and to work both harder and smarter or be swept away by the competition that can come from anywhere in the world.

Oh, here is a job notice for a produce associate at a grocery store not too far from my parent’s house. It’s not what I went to college for, but I’ll apply anyway and hope I get the job. I know that I must get an apartment and need to start paying back this loan soon!”

The Employment Challenge of the White, Blue-Collar Worker

Posted on February 23, 2016January 4, 2023 by Bill Ryan

So, here we are amid the 2016 Presidential race, an election cycle that is likely to go down in American history as one of the most unusual and unpredictable contests ever for selecting our next president. A chief factor contributing to the volatility of this election concerns a rarely seen and powerful reaction coming from a cohort that has been with us for well over a hundred years — the racially white, economically middle class, high school-only educated worker, once commonly referred to as the blue-collar worker.

The anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and anger of this significant electoral group has shaken up and defined this cycle’s race in a way that most of us, including the political pundits who follow this stuff for a living, did not see coming. This class angst has led to the rapid rise of at least two presidential candidates, who were not expected to be major players when they entered the fray and is driving much of the conversation among all of those still contending for the big prize.

There are concrete and measurable reasons for the white, blue-collar worker to be apprehensive and they fall across economic, racial/ethnic, demographic, and educational domains. Technology is eliminating many low and mid-skilled jobs. Globalization is increasing competition. Whites are seeing minorities increase in numbers and power sharing. Having less than a college degree puts one at a greater employment disadvantage. When members of this contingent, particularly males, see that their fathers had an easier time achieving the middle class dream than they can, then a deep demoralization sets in.

A report by two economists that received much attention at the end of last year showed that death rates for white, less-educated Americans aged 45–54 have increased since 1999. Drug/alcohol-related deaths and suicide are propelling this boost. Clearly, something is amiss, and it appears to have reached a breaking point with this election.

The social and economic causal conditions mentioned are colossal and not reversible. Oversimplified diagnoses coupled with over-promising, which is what presidential candidates largely seem to be offering, will not allay the real fear people are feeling. Strong leadership that empathically acknowledges the discomfort, unease, and confusion people are feeling is a start. But rather than offering unrealistic and bombastic “solutions” it needs to be recognized that as a country we need to rally around outcomes that do not pit one class, race, or ethnic group against another, but instead meet these complex challenges with national resolve.

In a word, jobs are at the crux of this issue. It is reasonable to ask, what is the white, blue-collar worker with only a high school education to do? To begin answering this I go way back to Aristotle who said that in order to achieve true happiness we must depend on ourselves. Of course, collective action politically and economically is important, but most fundamentally each of must assess on our own the world we are now in and determine for ourselves the best course of action to take for sustainable employment given the daunting headwinds we face. This takes clear, critical, and reflective thinking, resulting in high quality decision making.

Each of us needs to think of ourselves as an entrepreneur. No, we are not all going to start businesses, but we are going to be approaching our careers similarly by developing, organizing, and managing the enterprise of “myself”. This involves initiative, risk, and when done well, reward. A good entrepreneur finds opportunities from among many distractions, they are innovative when conventional approaches do not work, and they are organized and productive in meeting their goals. Does being like an entrepreneur require a college degree? For many yes, for others no.

There is a lot of need in the world. We are far from saturating all the actual and potential jobs that are or will be available. Triggering an action with an uncertain outcome is not easy and it is fraught with unpredictability, but our careers depend on it — even for the white, blue-collar worker.

Promote Your Expertise with LinkedIn

Posted on January 24, 2016January 4, 2023 by Bill Ryan

There are significant reasons for sharing your career field expertise with others. Doing so,

a) establishes you as a qualified and trusted resource among colleagues, management, and customers;
b) aligns you with other experts, thereby enhancing your comprehension and skill capacity;
c) better positions you for future career advancement opportunities; and
d) brings you the profound satisfaction that comes from becoming an emerging master within your profession.

LinkedIn, the professional social media platform where we have all heard we are supposed to be present, has developed into an excellent tool for communicating, sharing, and promoting your expertise. Utilization of LinkedIn and its core features can result in you having the means of crafting a powerful and multi-dimensional message for all those seeking the sound judgment and competence you can provide.

Given the LinkedIn development team’s commitment to dynamism and continuous improvement, today the site is a fine-tuned mechanism for you the career specialist to hone and project your know-how. Let’s review the ways this can happen.

I predict the online profile/portfolio hybrid will eventually replace the traditional resume. I cannot say exactly when this will happen, but we seem to be headed in that direction. Easy access to your profile will be mandatory and expected. So, there is no better time than the present to start getting on with this trend.

LinkedIn allows you to tell your professional story in the first person without the constraints of resume conventions. Fill out your profile as completely as possible. Use the Summary to introduce yourself in an engaging manner that discloses how your journey began, how your passion was ignited, and where you see the industry and your role in it headed.

The Experience section should be packed with accomplishments — the more quantifiable the better.

The Skills & Endorsement piece should be keyword-rich, and your headline needs to communicate your career title, not your current job title. Oh, and don’t forget a professional headshot, not a detail cropped out of a wedding picture.

LinkedIn’s advancement in becoming a repository for work samples, slide shows, videos, and yes, your traditional resume among other valuable pieces, has been a smart move permitting professionals to now have the means to post performance evidence that can speak louder than words alone. Populate this area with artifacts that pop and make your efforts shine. Show future employers and potential business opportunities what level of quality you can deliver.

Blogging and publishing online pieces where you expound on industry-related topics and issues of the day is now available with LinkedIn. Have something of peer interest to write and the readers will come out of the woodwork. Let this feature be a megaphone for your expertise. Clarify current trends and best practices. Showcase pertinent strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats impacting your terrain. Detail the steps that need to be taken to improve conditions. Be a regular contributor and become a respected voice.

Perhaps, one of the strongest elements in LinkedIn is the Groups. Here is where you can boost your industry presence and generate and cultivate high value connections. Involving yourself in timely and relevant subject matter with other experts and stakeholders benefits all participants and deepens your career association. Not only can you increase your visibility, but you can amplify your knowledge to those wanting and needing to hear your input. Also, being able to contact individuals directly gives you favorable circumstances for building that all important professional network.

I still hear from too many clients something that goes like, “Yeah, I’m on LinkedIn, but I don’t really know what to do with it.” Well, I hope this is in part, somewhat illuminating to you in this cohort. In short, if you are serious about your career, you need to be serious about LinkedIn.

Your Identity and Your Career

Posted on December 22, 2015January 4, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Many of us tend to think of ourselves in terms of what we do. When asked, “Who are you?”, we give answers such as, “I am a dental hygienist,” or “I’m a firefighter,” or “I do banking.” The work we do, which takes up large amounts of our time and energy and that we are particularly proud of doing, can serve as the springboard for our identity or how we come to think of ourselves.

There is nothing inherently wrong in linking our self-concept to our work and careers. When we apply labels to ourselves, we feel a kind of stability and having an identifiable place in society. However, there can be a degree to which we perceive ourselves too closely to our career pursuits, such that we risk isolation and identity confusion should our work routines and conditions change in ways that are beyond our control.

The phenomenon I am trying to describe became glaringly obvious during the many years of recession layoffs. Millions of professional workers whose self-identification had for years been bound to their careers suddenly found themselves not only out of work but feeling severed from a specialist status they had long enjoyed due their inability to any longer find suitable employment in their respective fields.

To compound this disruption, especially for those who held employment with the same firm or institution for years if not decades, came the loss of the day-to-day affinity with co-workers, many of whom became close friends. Often we find spending as much or more time with colleagues as with members of our own families not at all unusual. The undoing of these compatriot relationships was quite jarring.

So, how do you know if you are dedicating too much of your identity to your career? If you are fearful of a resulting void should your career dramatically change or dissolve from under you that is an indication you are investing too much of your identity in what you do for work. If those closest to you frequently remark that you are a workaholic, then it is possible you are too hitched to your career. If your social network amounts primarily to those with whom you work on the job, then you are truncating what could be a more expansive community.

But you might ask, if we strip ourselves of our career identity what is left? Our careers are certainly major players in our lives. They deliver more than just a livelihood; they consume so much time and energy that it can become natural to think we are what we do.

The challenge is to expand the vision of ourselves so that it comprises a 360-degree perspective of which career is a part, albeit a big part. When we think of ourselves as primarily a teacher or an accountant or whatever, we give short shrift to those other valuable elements, which together compose a full personality or identity. Our emotional, behavioral, intellectual, and spiritual attributes expressed during, but also beyond the workplace, contribute to making each of us a unique collage not easily summarized.

Perhaps, now is a good time to begin thinking of our legacies. Now, I am not trying to rush anyone into an early grave, but by imagining how we will be remembered allows us to get a clearer view of who we are.

We are made up of a vast number of qualities that hopefully make us interesting, trusted, and pleasant to be around. Basically, we want to be thought of as exemplifying positive traits and contributing to making the world a better place. Reliance on just career accomplishments, as important as they are, can limit our reputations and identities.

Establishing and cultivating an overall dignified distinction and legacy of merit just might leave us with an identity with which we can be content.

The Hard Truth About Soft Skills

Posted on October 28, 2015January 4, 2023 by Bill Ryan

As a former schoolteacher I occasionally run into former students, who are now all adults. If time allows, the conversation naturally turns to memories of when we spent time together in a teacher-student relationship many years earlier.

Over the years I have noticed an unmistakable pattern — what the former student remembers and recalls has nothing to do with lessons taught, curriculum goals, or academic achievement, but rather what I was like and how I treated them as their teacher. In short, their remembrances are rooted in soft skills I demonstrated (or did not), not so much in the pedagogical skills I was working hard to practice.

Soft skills, a somewhat unfortunate term because it implies to many people weaknesses, is a reference to a vitally important set of personality and emotional attributes that we display daily to those around us. It points to our character traits, style, and habits we exhibit when communicating and interacting with others. Our social reputations are largely comprised by what people think of our manner and individual qualities that are determined by our behaviors and emotional makeups.

Sure co-workers, when reflecting on each of us, will think of the proficiency or lack of competence we display when doing our jobs, but they will just as much, if not more likely, consider the type of people we are. Are we kind, considerate, communicative, and in control of our feelings or are we not? Do not underestimate how much that matters in the success of our careers.

Management knows that a nice guy who does not have much talent to contribute does not bring any more productive value than a highly efficient guy who cannot get along with people. Finding that right balance of hard and soft skills is a crucial challenge for those tasked with employee hiring, appraisal, and retention decisions. So, expect that when interviewing for positions or when it is your time for a performance review to be conducted your personality characteristics will be factored in along with your technical qualifications.

The set of skills we call “soft” covers a lot of territory, everything from punctuality to empathy. However, there are some critical personality qualities that employers want and need in their employees to build truly high functioning workforces. Having employees with these soft skills can bring a competitive advantage given how many workforces across multiple industries are riddled with workers and managers who are too engaged in dramas, politics, and divisiveness at the expense of cooperative action.

Among the many soft skills we each should be trying to strengthen here are three that I think may universally advance our careers:

Adaptability: Given the rapidity with which change is occurring in almost all areas, having a flexible nature implies a willingness to learn and grow to meet demands in new ways when necessary. We will encounter ever more new co-workers as employment becomes more mobile and short-term, so knowing how to accommodate a wider range of people helps our ability to work with them.

Collaboration: Knowing how to be a team player when times call for such a skill has only grown in importance in recent years. It is not unusual to hear employers say that they are willing to train new hires in the specifics of how to function within a company or workplace culture if they get people who are eager to contribute and know how to get along.

Conflict Resolution: Clashes and strife of one sort or another are unavoidable, but these instances need not disrupt productivity if co-workers are enlightened enough to understand the value of systematically working out differences. Ever notice how invigorating a relationship with someone can be when you have both struggled with one another and have then mutually resolved your disagreements?

The good news is that we do not have to be born with soft skills to demonstrate them. They are largely learned behaviors. And since learning never stops there is still time for all of us to enhance our basic interpersonal expertise.

The Importance of Applicant Tracking Systems

Posted on September 28, 2015August 4, 2022 by Bill Ryan

If you have been involved in applying for a new job or have submitted your resume in hopes of securing an interview lately you may have heard about a new hurdle that needs to be confronted — the Applicant Tracking System or ATS.

The word is out that this software application is an efficiency game-changer for hiring managers, recruiters, and HR departments as they try to parse and prioritize the hundreds of resume submissions and applications, they receive for open employment positions. So, is getting a new job forever changed due to this innovation? Before answering that question let’s examine what ATS really is.

ATS is a tool designed to streamline the recruitment and hiring process. At its most basic level it is a keyword matching process between one’s resume (and increasingly social media profiles such as LinkedIn) and a set of high impact keywords the hiring team has instructed the ATS to accept. The keywords being searched and matched represent the qualifications and required deliverables of a job to be filled. Sounds like keyword searching we all do with search engines these days, doesn’t it? In many ways it is, but ATS is more targeted to the needs of recruiters.

You can see that time and energy is saved by those tasked with hiring. Going away or gone are the days of voluminous paper files and slow file management practices that were personnel-intensive, cumbersome, and costly. First used in corporate settings where huge numbers of resumes and applications needed processing, it is no longer unusual to see medium to small business and organizations using ATS. Just like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) programs used in Sales and Account Management jobs it is more efficient to collate and review large amounts of information using this type of software.

ATS technology is evolving too. Originally these scanning programs simply performed a one-to-one keyword match, a process known as a semantic search. This encouraged candidates to add laundry lists of keywords to their resumes, which fell short of telling a story of how proficient someone was regarding the terms. The newer ATS generation applies technology known as contextualization, which tells the type and level of engagement the candidate has with the keywords. Contextualization encourages the use of descriptive statements in a resume making for a richer document. That is a good thing.

To the extent a job search candidate can tailor their resume such that a match can be found between past accomplishments and current competencies with the responsibility and adequacy level described in a job description, then the greater the chance of the resume or application responses scoring an interview which is where the real selling effort by the candidate takes place.

I know what many of you are asking yourselves. Can the job hiring process really be totally automated? My answer is no it cannot fully be. Although it would be reckless to exclude any consideration of ATS in preparing oneself for a job hunt there is still plenty of anecdotal evidence that personal relationships play a more dominant role in hiring. In short, ATS has not trumped networking. The quality of professional contacts you establish, maintain, and ripen is as important in this age of Big Data as it has ever been.

I would rather take my chances of getting hired and advancing my career on the quantity and potential impact of strong referrals more than I would on whether a machine found a statistical threshold number of matches, whether they be semantic or contextual.

That said, the best strategy would be to pursue both tracks. It is wise to keep abreast of tried-and-true tactics of networking such as being the type of person others will want to know, showing interest in the careers and issues of others, joining networking groups, and using the power of LinkedIn. But it is also smart to know the ways in which you can make your resumes, online profiles, and job application responses ATS-friendly.

Getting a job is not as easy as it used to be, but it is not particle physics either. You can do this!

Income Inequality and Your Career

Posted on June 30, 2015January 4, 2023 by Bill Ryan

One of the paramount issues of the 2016 presidential election is emerging in the form of income inequality. There is increasing consensus recognized by Democrats and Republicans alike that economic growth is not as evenly distributed among the working and middle-management classes as it had relatively been prior to the 1980s.

Data from a variety of economists such as Thomas Piketty, Robert Reich, Barry Cynamon, Steven Fazzari and others have been publicly presented showing a concentration trend of higher income growth among the very rich and away from the 90% – 95% of the rest of us. In fact, the pace of income inequality has been picking up in recent years.

Why is this a problem aside from the feeling that it is not fair? Well, if the bulk of consumers do not have as much income to spend, then suppliers of products and services cannot sell as much. Yes, the rich can buy a lot, but they do not buy as much as the 90% – 95% of us do.

The result is depressed economic growth and lower incomes for consumers and suppliers. Borrowing and credit may help us hang on to a chosen lifestyle in the short term, but as we saw in the recent recession, over-leveraging can lead to big problems.

It seems that this orientation toward concentrating money and power among a few is historic across all economic systems, including aristocracies, dictatorships, monarchies, oligarchies, communist regimes, and yes, even capitalist countries. Economic fairness says we should resist this inclination. From a career development perspective sluggish economic growth across a wide swath of the population means employment suffers and careers stagnate. This is not a sustainable situation.

Positions regarding the issue are being staked out by candidates from both parties. I see problems with the arguments receiving attention at this point. Republicans in my view will have a hard time saying they do not contribute to the problem with their steady drumbeat of reducing constraints on big capital and encouraging wealth enhancement for the rich. Democrats will have a difficult time gaining public support if all they can rely on is their standard Robin Hood politics of taking money from the rich and governmentally distributing it to the poor. This is undoubtedly a complex issue that will require vigorous debate. And it looks like the recently begun presidential election cycle will provide such a discussion.

It is unlikely that we will ever or should get to a point where certain employment and generous compensation outcomes are guaranteed for all. Therefore, individual career choice necessarily requires one to examine not only one’s singular interests and strengths, but also to determine the economic viability of one’s decision.

A career option that may have had an appealing and fruitful past may not be projected to be so in the future. The employment landscape is too susceptible to forces of change at both local and global levels to think that a government or a company can sign up workers for long-term and predictable jobs at a steady living wage.

This prompts me to look for areas where all parties should try to hammer out agreements in response to income inequality and its effect on careers. I recommend reinforcing and boosting opportunities for all middle class workers. I see three parts (in no rank order) to achieve this.

Part 1 involves electing politicians not afraid to enforce fair tax policies designed to mitigate the hoarding of capital by the few.

Part 2 involves giving a hand up to displaced middle class workers through higher minimum wage rates and abundant education and training opportunities to better prepare them for success and advancement in a globalized and automated economy.

Part 3 involves following the notion that to fish successfully one needs to fish where the fish are. Hence, part of the answer to the shrinking middle class needs to be that middle income workers capture the greatest amount of capital possible by producing goods and performing services that are in high demand with those holding the most money.

An artful combination of free market and government intervention could together level the income playing field and increase incomes for those whose wages have languished for too long.

The State of Careers in New Hampshire

Posted on April 27, 2015May 25, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The 2014 In Review: Recovery report recently released by the New Hampshire Employment Security Department and the Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau is a very detailed and informative analysis of New Hampshire’s post -recession economy.

In addition to being concerned about the economic health of my state as a citizen, I am also intrigued by the report’s implications for the careers of all New Hampshire workers. I have read the report in an attempt to identify some useful indicators in determining the current and future status of career development opportunities for the state’s workforce. What follows are my career-related takeaways from 2014 In Review: Recovery:

There are several labor market-related indicators used to view the economic health of New Hampshire. The ones I think that can be used to derive the desired career information are Unemployment and Current Employment Statistics; Employment by Supersector (broad employment-industry categories); Average Hourly Earnings; Business Employment Dynamics; and Population. When taken together a picture emerges of a state with career promise for many, but within a limited number of industries and a long-term pattern of slow economic growth.

News flash! Unemployment rates rose during the Great Recession! So where are we now? The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for this past March in New Hampshire was 3.9%, which was eighth in the nation. We are essentially tied with Vermont in having the lowest rates in New England. Nationally, the rate in March was 5.5%. Statistically, eighth out of fifty does not sound too bad. Anecdotally, the “Help Wanted” sign are reappearing in business windows state-wide.

This sounds like good news, but if we dig into the data deeper we see some sobering facts. New Hampshire has a shrinking labor force that appears to be influencing the unemployment rate. As an aging state we are experiencing a trend of fewer people participating in the workforce. This fact, combined with low rates of in-migration and limited entrepreneurial expansion, is resulting in slow economic growth. To be sure there are a few bright spots, such as in advanced manufacturing, but this is not translating into being a game changer.

In looking at employment by Supersector we see that the four most robust categories of hiring are in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities; Education and Health Services; Professional and Business Services; and Leisure and Hospitality. Among the hiring laggards are Manufacturing and Construction. When we examine earnings in these Supersectors there have been increases in Education and Health Services and in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities. Pay reductions occurred in Manufacturing and Professional/Business Services. Leisure and Hospitality held steady.

Viewing current hiring in the context of near-term economic and demographic trends, including steady or declining population growth, a low level of in-migration, relative high levels of well-off retiree disposable cash, and a listing as sixth nationally in median household income tells me hiring tendencies are not likely to change dramatically. If you intend to live for a while in New Hampshire, plan your careers accordingly. We do not have an economic climate that is significantly attracting many skilled workers from other states or countries. Therefore, competition for jobs is likely to come from other NH residents.

Taken together, all of this news may suggest that careers oriented toward a graying population, such as in certain types of retail and niche services given this population’s spending capacity, financial management and wealth preservation wishes, leisure and hospitality, and of course healthcare needs should be considered.

Beyond that, Professional and Business Services hiring has recovered well from the recession. New Hampshire businesses still need accountants, HR professionals, operations managers, and technicians among many other business service pros. Career areas to watch out for include those feeling downward pressure from an aging population, such as public school teachers facing declining enrollments and construction workers encountering curtailed building expansion.

A direction that would be encouraging to see turned around is our level of entrepreneurship. More creative ideas and risk-taking on the part of individuals willing to start businesses targeted to improving the lives of New Hampshire residents just might enhance our standard of living and boost economic growth simultaneously. Now there is a career option!

Preparing Your Career for a Binary Star Economy

Posted on March 28, 2015January 4, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Career Development is as fluid a field of study and method of personal improvement as can be found anywhere. Its progressive elasticity and growing erratic nature are due to the changing state of the world of work. In an environment that requires continual improvement, adaptability, and thorough planning as does ours, long-term career design can be a difficult and uncertain endeavor.

As discovered by ancient mariners when navigating vast and strange oceans, it helps to have a North Star to serve as a beacon and guide. As we each seek to chart an unclear and enigmatic career development landscape for purposes of changing existing careers or determining new ones, we too can benefit from a North Star. However, Binary Star may be the more apt metaphor — a system consisting of two stars orbiting around their common center of mass. This is because the duality we must now regularly consider are the two interdependent powerhouses known as globalization and automation.

The future of work appears to be heavily influenced, if not governed, by these two harbingers. In tandem, globalization and automation are in a process of modifying the way we live, and therefore how we work. The expanding utilization of technology combined with the spreading integration of people, businesses, and governments around the world is altering economic history in a way that has not happened since the Industrial Revolution.

As paradigm shifting as the change from hand work to mass production was a hundred plus years ago, we are now witnessing a transformation just as groundbreaking, if not more. When people like Ray Kurzweil, the 67-year-old Director of Engineering at Google, predicts that by 2029 computers will be able to perform all tasks humans can now do, only better, then I pay attention — and you should too.

It is not just the prognostications of one man that matter (and he has some doozies), but the unmistakable short and long-term trend lines indicating rapid proliferation in new and disruptive technologies and business models (think Airbnb, Uber, SaaS, MOOCS) and increased activity in what the International Monetary Fund refers to as the four basic aspects of globalization: international transactions; capital movements; migrations of people; and knowledge dissemination.

Ask yourself, how well do your career plans hitch themselves to the forces of globalization and automation? It is wise to look for some connection. Enough current work is already being made redundant and new ways of organizing work tasks are in the process of being discovered. If I was as prescient as I wish I could be, I would now present a neat and tidy list of specific and guaranteed jobs of the future. But alas, I am not that farsighted. Nevertheless, here is what I think will help in preparing for the Brave New World and strengthen our decision making as we move forward.

Paramount is the need to remain optimistic in the face of uncertainty. Pessimism and hand wringing will not fortify us against ambiguity. Those who will find success are those with a positive attitude allowing themselves to see and grasp an opportunity others do not or cannot.

We also need to get back to having big ideas. The Hoover Dam, the Golden State Bridge, and the Empire State Building were all built during the Great Depression. Winning World War II, constructing the Interstate Highway System, and launching six crewed moon landings followed. Today we are all in a twist about whether to extend health insurance to the uninsured and whether to fund bridge repairs. Big problems exist that need substantial solutions. Let us find our lost courage to make grand proposals and realize lofty outcomes.

Free thinking of the type that stimulates innovation and entrepreneurship also needs to be encouraged. This has always been America’s strong suit and it demands continuation, if not invigorating, in an ever-competitive global economy. Our schools for one can do a better job of transitioning from the mechanized industrial-aged model to one more consistent with a broad-minded enterprising ethos.

Business dedicated to sharing, rather than old fashioned consumption and disposal of resources is becoming fashionable — and profitable. Making money by sharing homes, cars, locally grown foods, breweries, office spaces, etc. is becoming increasingly common. Disruptive of legacy business models to be sure, but isn’t that the way it is going these days? From an ecological viewpoint, an economy that utilizes resources in common with others may in part reverse the throw-away trend of the last half century.

Reframing our attitudes and ways of thinking about the binary impact globalization and automation is having on our economy, careers, and ways of life may be the best approach we can profitably take away from this economic conversion.

Finally! Get Prepared to Be Hired!

Posted on February 19, 2015May 25, 2022 by Bill Ryan

This has certainly been a long time in coming. The hiring picture is the brightest it has been since the economy was in danger of “melting down” in the late 2000s. A strong pattern has developed showing robust monthly hiring numbers. Employment has increased by an average of 336,000 jobs per month over the past three months. The national unemployment rate is 5.7%, down from a recession high of 10.0% in October 2009. In New Hampshire, the unemployment rate stands at 4.0% — the lowest rate in New England. Could things be better? Sure. But given what we have collectively gone through, this is news to celebrate.

So, where is the hiring occurring? In looking at the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Highlights report, gains are being found in retail trade, construction, healthcare, financial activities, manufacturing, professional/business services, and leisure/hospitality. Statewide, according to the New Hampshire Economic & Labor Information Bureau, the strongest hiring is in healthcare, wholesale/retail trade, utilities, transportation, construction, hospitality, manufacturing, and professional/business services. The Society for Human Resource Management sees strong job growth in healthcare and technology. In other words, unless you are in the oil and gas industry, most sectors are looking great indeed.

There are even signs of mass hiring being planned. Fire example, Home Depot announced on February 10 that they intend to hire 80,000 additional workers for the Spring season.

However, those of us involved in job transitions need to be aware that the road to the next great gig is not paved with yellow bricks. The conditions of competitiveness that applied during the tooth and nail employment scramble of recent years are still to be put into use today when presenting yourself to potential employers.

Business leaders will continue to be cautious and strategic about whom they hire. It should be accepted that these executives are clear on how they have or want to achieve and maintain success in the marketplace and that they will want only new hires who fit their profitable paradigm. Therefore, let us view this new boost of hiring from the perspective of the key decision makers as we prepare to introduce ourselves for their consideration.

I recommend assuming the following:

Just like any of us who shop for quality we tend to return to those sources that have consistently provided value in the past and that have earned for us a reputation for reliability. Employers are no different. So, think, from where might you be reliably sourced? Perhaps it is your current or former employer, your alma mater, someone “in-house” where you would like to work and who is in your professional network, or possibly a retained or contingency recruiting firm with which you have worked in the past. Aligning yourself with and promoting yourself from an identifiable source is tactically sound.

A smart employer who does not want to burn through several bad hires (and the expenses associated with them) will take the time to specify key selection criteria for positions to be filled. The more detailed and definitive the job search candidate is about what comprises the value proposition contained in their marketing collateral, i.e., their resume and LinkedIn profile, the more likely a solid match can be established between the position and the candidate. This can save both parties from wasting time on lack of fit.

Those companies and organizations with a grapevine stature of fair, honest, and dependable lines of communication among all employees, customers, and other stakeholders are also more likely to keep candidates informed throughout the hiring process, compared to those obnoxious firms that never seem to let a post-interviewee know what their status is. (Let’s face it, these outfits that have positions to fill, request applications, conduct interviews, and then leave those who followed the process in limbo should be called out on it.) Assume that if a business has a good reputation for communication, then at least you will know where you stand if you apply for a job with them.

Times are as good for the job searcher as they have been in a long time. If you have been holding your nose in a less than satisfying job for years, the time has come to take a serious look at transitioning. Just know that planning and implementing a wise approach to this all-important change with an eye to employers’ hiring methodologies is the way to go.

Keeping Your Workforce Productive and Happy

Posted on November 9, 2014January 2, 2023 by Bill Ryan

When assessing the state of our careers we quickly turn to determining how satisfying our workplaces are. After all it is hard to feel our careers are on track if the place where we work is lacking in some fundamental ways. Since each of us is ultimately responsible for growing our individual careers as optimally as possible we rightly feel justified in influencing our workplace environment to be the best it can be.

Also, business owners and organizational executive directors naturally care a lot about the productivity of their respective workforce. It is certainly no secret that a happy workforce is a productive workforce. Therefore, it is in the direct interests of bosses to facilitate their workplaces to be environments that increase satisfaction, and by extension, production.

The question then naturally arises as to what are the steps that need to be taken to create and sustain a positive workplace? Ideas can be derived from a variety of spots, including in-depth research done by organizations such as the Society for Human Resource Management, but other sources of opinions and suggestions can come from surveys, blogs, and LinkedIn threaded discussions that give a more candid and authentic perspective into the issue.

My eavesdropping of the chatter reveals several consistent themes centered on values such as respect, flexibility, equity, stability, fairness, and jocularity. When we listen to the concerns about women in the workplace, for example, we find that work-life balance competes strongly with income. Accenture, the management consulting firm, concludes that women prefer work-life balance first, money second, and recognition third. Given that women make up 47% of the national workforce, their opinion matters a lot.

Google still holds a reputation as one of the best places in the world to work. It topped a recent survey of 6200 companies conducted by Great Place to Work, a global consulting firm. So, what is it about this place? Yes, we know about the perks such as massages, horseshoe pits, and slides that take you from one floor down to another, but is that all there is?

Well, it certainly helps that every employee is a stockholder, and a share is worth north of $500, but there is also a community culture that encourages giving, growing, and being bold along with supports for creativity and risk taking not apparent in many other places. Google management has made a science of calibrating the right mix of benefits and cultural values resulting in high retention rates and maximum productivity.

But it is expensive to offer Google-esque perks to employees. For most companies and organizations, it may be worth noting the coming changes to the workforce, so that benefit and culture changes can be considered knowledgeably and possibly implemented without breaking the bank. For example, the definition of workplace stability may be undergoing a change whereby more workers may be thinking of freelancing, temp working, and short-term contract working as the new stability. Flexibility becomes key.

Another workplace condition to prepare for will be the increasing number of older workers who cannot or do not want to stop working. What might this cohort want? We can start with respect for their historic knowledge and proven dedication to employers along with wellness programs, good lighting, and diminished information overload.

Another key morale enhancer may involve candid discussions of how technology is used. It is great when tech increases productivity instead of being a distraction or job killer. However, many employees will become increasingly distrustful of how management leverages technology given its workplace disruption potential, so bringing employees into conversations about the role of technology could show worker respect.

Yet, the most apparent ideas to foster great workplaces are quite old-school and effective. Most of us simply want to trust the people we work for, have pride in and recognition for our accomplishments, and enjoy the people we work with. Is that too much to ask?

New Hampshire’s Career Outlook

Posted on August 25, 2014May 13, 2022 by Bill Ryan

In reading about the current and projected employment picture for New Hampshire we can draw some conclusions about which careers are likely to thrive going forward. Such information can be particularly useful for workers and residents who have decided New Hampshire offers a desirable lifestyle and who therefore intend to live and build their careers in the state for the long-term.

The local sources I like going to in order to find the information necessary for getting the state’s big employment picture include the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies, including anything written by NH economist Dennis Delay; The Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau from NH Employment Security; and of course regular reading of the New Hampshire Business Review.

By looking at these resources over time impressions are formed about the direction our state is going with regards to employment and careers. This is very helpful when advising clients, students, and others about where their energy should be directed in making career choices, whether at the start of a career of during the evolution of an ongoing one.

A couple of points help frame my outlook about career decision making in New Hampshire. One is that we are not a poor state. In both Median Household Income and Per Capita Income we rank 6th in the country. Secondly, we are a graying state in that our demographic trend favors an aging population. In general many of our young people go elsewhere to build their careers and there is not a robust in-migration of youth coming here to live and work. My own adult children form a case in point. One lives and works in LA and the other is just outside of Boston. My takeaway? Jobs that serve an older and somewhat affluent population should be considered.

Another trend of note is how strongly linked New Hampshire’s economy is to Massachusetts. When our friends to the south do well, so do we. Fortunately, many of Massachusetts’ numbers are looking good. The bad news is that NH has lost its former status of being a place with lots of job growth. The Boston area is attracting population and jobs more than NH is. It is not appearing as if we have the same level of economic prosperity relative to metro Boston, but some of their economy does spill into NH, at least as far north as Concord.

So with all that said where are the relatively bright industry sectors NH residents and workers can look to start and develop careers?

For reasons having to do perhaps with our state’s high percentage of college educated workers we see sectors such as business services offering opportunities. Professional services, for example consulting, accounting, architecture, engineering, company management, and staffing services are high paying jobs that have recovered beyond what we lost during the Recession.

Another sector showing an increase in jobs beyond those we lost during the economic downturn is leisure and hospitality. Tourism remains strong in NH, especially when the unpredictable weather cooperates. So food servers, hotel and inn staffing, and related jobs will be around for some time.

Health services would appear to be stable if not growing due in part to the aging population. Nursing, home health aides, dental hygienists, medical assistants, medical secretaries, and physical therapists are examples of positions likely to grow.

Computer system design and other IT and technical jobs have a bright outlook. Computer user support specialists, computer systems analysts, computer-controlled machine tool operators, IT administrators, and software developers are career areas with a future for now.

Also now with the foreclosure crisis having largely abated carpenters, plumbing, electricians, and other building trades, while not necessarily very strong, are seeing some resurgence.

Beware though of many manufacturing and government jobs, including in K–12 education. They are shrinking.

New Hampshire still offers a great environment in which to raise a family, enjoy nature, and build a career. And those factors looking forward are not going to change.

The Future of Careers

Posted on July 7, 2014January 2, 2023 by Bill Ryan

The official U.S. unemployment rate is down to 6.1% (in New Hampshire 4.4%). This is the lowest it has been since September 2008, the month we all realized the U.S. economy was in a tailspin. The raw number of employed workers has also recovered from the start of the recession.

So why do we still feel in a funk about the employment recovery clearly underway? Perhaps it is because the recovery is taking so long. Or maybe it is due to the poisonous political relations turning into a national fratricide. It could also be the growing mainstream realization that capital has become densely concentrated among a relative few while the middle class feels its power and influence waning.

I think all these developments play significant and disturbing roles in our continued malaise. However, there is another factor tugging at our collective insecurity. It is an insidious threat running just below the surface and not yet apparent to most, except for those who see their jobs and careers steadily dissolving. Call it automation, robotics, technology, or robo-sourcing. Whatever you call it, the reality of machines replacing people in the workplace is as historic as craftsmen and artisans being replaced by factory workers during the Industrial Revolution.

I am not talking about just low-skilled jobs which do not require much education being erased. We all know that has been going on. The news is that computers are becoming better at replacing mid-level jobs and there is no end in sight to this trend.

Here are some examples of a possible near-term future: Why hire a paralegal when computers can research and collate case histories and precedents? Let’s reduce family expenses by eliminating auto insurance, since our new car is autonomously operated. Who needs mid-managers when employees are now empowered by sophisticated software to give them direction?

Examples such as these (and there are plenty more) of automation reaching into and killing traditional careers will become more numerous. No wonder we feel unsettled. Uncertainty for our jobs is the new certainty.

Every great story involves individuals or groups trying to handle adversity with the goal of regaining equilibrium in their lives. Among the great stories of our age will be how working people adjust, manage, and flourish given the challenge of ubiquitous career disruption. This will not be easy. There will be a lot of anguish, questioning, indecision, and yes successes as we share in the development of a new economy characterized by new rules and choices.

How we as individuals adapt to a world in which technology handles all the work tasks comprised of rote, logical, ordered, and sequential attributes will be centered around one fundamental question —What can people do that computers cannot do?

In answer to this question there appear to be at least two areas in which people are superior to machines. One, people can be creative, innovative, and novel. We have viewpoints and experience leading us to devise new and exciting ways of doing things. We can make decisions and present new perspectives as opposed to merely accomplishing tasks and computations.

Secondly, Hollywood movies about falling in love with operating systems aside, people can relate emotionally with other people. We can touch feelings, inspire and comfort others, understand, bless, and believe in other people. To date no automaton can do that.

Careers subsisting on creativity and human contact will survive and thrive. They are already the basis of many careers currently and jobs requiring facility in these areas will likely expand. We will have our machines, but above all we will still need and have each other. Maybe even the Creative Arts could experience a boom the likes of which we have not yet seen. Time will tell.

So yes, we feel that despite the hopeful employment numbers we are not very hopeful. Since we are not going to return to the past let’s start looking forward to and planning for a future that will certainly be different, but not necessarily bleak.

Mid-Career Considerations

Posted on May 16, 2014January 2, 2023 by Bill Ryan

So, you’ve reached mid-career. How can you tell? I would say there are three signs: Your age is north of 40 but is less than 55; you have developed a substantial skill set in a particular field of expertise; and you have established a solid and growing base of enduring professional relationships. So now what? Engage in complacency? Cruise to retirement? Be satisfied with inertia?

Mid-career is actually a very good time to appraise where you have gotten to with your career and where you see yourself headed next. Most long journeys require a time or two to pause and reflect on how you are navigating things and calibrate as needed. Given that many careers are now approaching 40 years in length it certainly qualifies as an odyssey in need of careful attention.

Since we live in a time when there is always some new trend, phenomenon, practice, or competition coming down the pike we cannot risk becoming too smug with our career status or else we risk becoming outdated, irrelevant, and unemployed. It is probably best to have an advancement, expansion, or improvement plan of some sort. By this I mean a strategy designed to differentiate yourself from others in your field to leave you positioned for realizing outcomes of your own choosing.

Mid-career is a great time to set meaningful and achievable goals for yourself. Ambitions that take you in the direction of stimulating engrossment, a sense of purpose, continuous professional mastery, and durable autonomy. Your career objectives should move in the direction of capitalizing on your strengths and interests while accommodating your weaknesses. And they should have long-term prospects. If your career is headed for obsolescence, now is the time to plan for a more enduring future.

In general, you do not need to re-invent yourself or propel yourself on a course in which there is a lot of daylight between what you want to do and what you have done. Usually, the task before most mid-level careerists is simply to get especially good at what you do. Strive toward becoming a genuinely great mechanic or insurance executive or golf course superintendent. Be clear what passes for success and value in your industry and align your efforts and abilities with those indicators.

For those areas where you do not excel, find and utilize the people and resources that can help you compensate or counterbalance so that you are still coming out ahead.

It is worth evaluating how you are doing in the soft skills department as well when pondering your career at the mid-way point. You know what I mean by soft skills, that constellation of personal attributes like communication, social habits, friendliness, attitude, and so forth, which most people will remember you by. If pervasive anxiety makes you grouchy at work, or you wear your stress on your sleeve too often, or you are consistently misunderstood by co-workers, then work on remedying these inhibitors. Career progress is measured by hard and soft skills alike.

Among the relevant factors to accompanying your career refinement strategy is looking at how well you are taking care of yourself physically and mentally. Sound fitness, diet, sleep, and mindfulness practice can keep you energized for the career work ahead.

Since there really is not that much difference between work and life, maintaining health allows you to approach everything you do with vitality, confidence, and positivism. With these traits it becomes easier to learn new things, interact with other healthy people, and grow professionally.

Mid-career is a great time to take stock, plan for the times ahead, and make the moves that matter for your career. You make plans for most other things. Here is a plan worth making for yourself.

Seven Must-Have Transferable Skills

Posted on April 9, 2014January 2, 2023 by Bill Ryan

As career adjustments and job switching pick up pace, resulting from a somewhat improved employment picture and with the trending migration from long-term employment with one employer to a more free-lanced economy, the need for establishing and cultivating transferable skills becomes more important.

Transferable skills are those capabilities one develops in one employment context that has currency in another. For example, a teacher may find that her or his skill in curriculum instructional delivery translates well to a training & development position in business or that a police officer’s ability to confront behavioral conflict situations with the public translates well to managing order and productivity among a large retail workforce.

Transferable skills are most often not specific and discreet competencies, such as being able to make a metal forming roll in a tool and die shop, but rather more general qualifications that lend themselves to a variety of expressions. Convertible skills describe proficiencies that have value across a diverse set of employment situations and for this reason are skills the aspiring employee should know about and develop.

Here is my list of seven transferable skills each worker with a proclivity for a lattice rather than a linear career should work to expand and refine to increase their chances of customizing their career the way they want.

Making Quality Decisions — Knowing how to make high impact and consistent decisions that take into proper perspective and consideration relevant information and that balances risk appropriately is a strong skill appreciated almost anywhere. Decision theory is like game theory, involving a durable ability to rationally reach an optimal outcome. If you are making decisions based mostly on fear and inertia, then you have something to work on.
Solving Problems — Name me a business or organization that does not have a significant need for someone who can find resolutions to perplexing problems both big and small. Refining a problem-solving approach that is orderly and technique-based with a track record of success is best. Being able to cite examples of accomplishments as performance evidence of your steady problem-solving methodology is even better.
Persuasion and Negotiation — What is the thing most workers hate about their boss or irritating co-workers? It is when they bully and intimidate to get their way rather than engaging in a thoughtful and genuinely persuasive argument. And yes, although it does not appear to be practiced by members of Congress anymore, reaching compromise through good-faith negotiations usually yields outcomes that satisfy the greatest number of stakeholders.
Analysis — Being able to examine a task, phenomenon, procedure, or problem can go a long way to interpret the meaning of data or to determine the best course of action. By reducing complexity to constituent parts, a better understanding and new prospects can result. This can be useful when trying to assess and grasp the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a venture, business, or mission.
Synthesis — Conversely showing the skill of combining, mixing, and merging ideas or materials into new and novel concepts and products is the basis of innovation and creativity. Sometimes perspectives need to be reframed so that new and different viewpoints can emerge, from which a competitive edge can arise. Freeing up and training the mind to develop unusual, but valuable means of expression allows organizations to provide improved ways of doing things.
Collaboration — Working in concert with colleagues and stakeholders increases productivity, more efficiently achieves quality outcomes, and effectively reaches shared goals. The process of sharing knowledge and reaching consensus is essential at a time when the means of production grow ever more complex. Let’s face it, having a workplace where people get along and work together is energizing and spiritually uplifting, dare I say even fun.
Networking with Talent – Ambitious and competitive employers know that having talent in their organizations is a good thing. Now, if that talent frequently interacts and learns from other gifted individuals then there is a value-add. When you fertilize your career with esteemed people who you respect and who respect you there comes an increase for the mastery of your career and perhaps even the bottom line for your employer.

Is the Resume Being Replaced by the LinkedIn Profile?

Posted on March 18, 2014January 2, 2023 by Bill Ryan

It is no secret in the career and employment fields that LinkedIn, the professional online networking social media site, has become a huge game-changer over the past ten years. What used to be thought of in the early days of the mid-2000s as the professionals’ version of Facebook, LinkedIn now sports close to 300 million users worldwide and has become the expected place for all professionals to display their work experience, qualifications, and credentials.

When job hunting it has become typical to send recruiters, hiring managers, and networked contacts a link to your LinkedIn profile, which is great as a professional landing page. This page not only presents your skillset, value proposition, and work history, but also your collection of peer and client recommendations — valuable stuff when self-promoting. Incidentally, LinkedIn can be your ongoing source of professional networking and development via the high quality interchanges going on in the Groups feature.

Given that LinkedIn is a must-use site for recruiters sourcing talent for positions they are trying to fill, to not be present on it is akin to a self-imposed exile in a jobseekers’ no-man’s land.

If LinkedIn has become so standard and dominant, then a reasonable question to ask is, has LinkedIn eclipsed the resume as the foundational piece of collateral all professionals need? Well, it certainly may come to that in the not too far distant future, but in my judgment, it is premature to call the resume deceased. And here is why:

We are used to resumes and so they persist. For as rapid as change appears to be in our world, including in the career development space, many things evolve quite slowly. People are not always so fast at ditching a tried-and-true practice or method just to latch onto the latest thing.

Adoption rates of new ways of behaving can often be quite slow. Why, for example, are we all not webcamming now when speaking live to friends, family, and clients? The technology is here. But most of us still use the telephone for most of our synchronous communication.

Sure, LinkedIn is great, but it does have formatting limitations. The user is confined to a strict structure that can at times be frustrating to customize. Even though the resume has a lot of conventions that should be adhered to, it does nevertheless offer more presentation flexibility. An educator’s resume will typically be structured differently from an IT pro’s resume, but on LinkedIn the content sections are locked in place no matter who you are or what you do.

A huge and growing practice by business regarding the processing of resumes involves the use of applicant tracking systems (ATS), the scanning software that determines if resumes are to be categorized for further consideration or rejected, due to how well they are or are not a fit for an open position.

Resumes must be written and submitted with this automation in mind. And since resumes must be keyword-tweaked for different positions to increase chances of being blessed by an ATS, that potentially means frequent customization. You can only have one LinkedIn profile at a time, whereas you can have multiple resume versions simultaneously.

The truth is, if you want to be searchable by talent seekers and have the requisite complement of professional pieces to show you are serious about employment availability and advancement, you need to utilize both platforms. It is not that one is more important than the other, but rather they have both become very important.

If you go through a process of preparing a great resume, then it’s not a heavy lift to also rephrase that content in producing a great LinkedIn profile. Your career can be rewarded for covering all the bases.

May Luck Be With You

Posted on February 10, 2014January 2, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Striving for quality and building a solid record of achievement in one’s profession is what rightly motivates the most successful among us. Impressive and valuable companies, organizations, and careers can be the result of targeted and sustained execution of talent and skill.

Indeed, when I work with clients a substantial amount of my effort is in helping individuals define what specific capacity they have for realizing achievement. The premise being that if one knows succinctly what they are best at producing, then they can more effectively promote their value to those most willing to pay for it.

At a social and political level much is made about creating and maintaining economic conditions whereby motivated individuals can freely apply their aptitude and inventiveness to achieve professional success. It has become deeply ingrained in the world view of many that a near-divine correlation exists between incentive and success. Such belief drives our national self-perception and serves as the basis for many of our political debates and battles.

I am hardly able to dispute the sanctity of a system whereby private production in pursuit of profits leads to economic success for many. It clearly does. But I would suggest that in our zeal to elevate the virtues of expected and proper economic behavior in a market economy we not neglect to consider the power of luck.

Those of us who have the great fortune of realizing economic success tend to believe quite strongly that it is solely the result of our smarts, hard work, competitive abilities, and willingness to take risks. Undoubtedly, these criteria and others have played a significant part in our individual success stories. Many of us take the extra step in proclaiming with unwavering certainty to all who will listen that if they too follow the conventional and tried-and-true capitalist formula of business measures, then advancement, prosperity, and happiness await them also.

What is seldom if ever said, however, is that economic fortune in the capitalist sense is often, perhaps always, as much a result of luck as it is savvy decision making. If we are true in assessing ourselves and taking stock in how we got to where we are we must acknowledge that, in most cases, we have not been tripped up by big impediments beyond our control.

Bad things happen to good people. And these bad things often have nothing to do with how we behaved or acted. They simply just happen. Someone runs a red light and smashes into your car. You discover your 7-year-old daughter has cancer. A greedy businessperson causes the company stock and your pension to collapse. The list of unfair and uncalled for misfortune goes on and on and on.

If we have attained great professional things, then we deserve to pat ourselves on our back for all we have accomplished. We should also thank goodness that we have been lucky. And when we evangelize about what it takes to be outstanding, we should keep in mind that not everyone’s life circumstances follow our own.

Many among us have been presented with great adversity not of our own making. Fortune is not always an equal opportunity employer. Where and when and to whom one is born and raised can make a huge difference in one’s future.

Sure, overcoming adversity is to be greatly admired. We all have heard the stories of people who have been terribly knocked down by misfortune only to rise, dust themselves off, and go on to accomplish great things. These are the stories that inspire all of us. But in assisting everyday common people to succeed economically we need to be mindful of not only practices that correlate with success, but with the compassion and kindness needed to create conditions whereby all have a chance and helping hand to succeed when needed.

A great society is not measured by how many prosperous citizens it has, but by how effectively it assists all its citizens to flourish.

When Did the Job Seeker and Employers Become Mortal Enemies

Posted on November 24, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

In my last piece I shared with readers the perspective of a long-term job seeker who had engaged in the job search process and the employment success she eventually found. Of course, for many others who ultimately get hired, “success” can often mean being underemployed or taking a pay cut from their previous position. It is a difficult pill for too many to swallow.

For this piece a very different job seeker viewpoint, that of Linda Norris. As you will see the arduous hunt for employment can leave the searcher questioning what has gone wrong with the selection process. For many trying to obtain employment today, it has become an agonizingly slow, frustrating, and demoralizing slog. Below are the comments of an actual job seeker with a professional background and what she has found to be the new normal. In short, a daunting and often frightening search for work.

In years past, a job seeker would create a clear, concise resume, purchase a few local and city newspapers and apply for new jobs. The process would continue with a few phone calls, one to two interviews, a salary discussion with dual party agreement and a few distributed benefits brochures. The candidate would agree to the new job description with all its trimmings, dress professionally and start their new job.

Then the internet arrived and the race for every company to get their job postings online. This worked for several years, until the arrival of Big Data, job coaches, job recruiters, job boards and concierges, job consultants, online job applicant profiles, pre-pre-employment online testing, candidate profiling, and other assorted job seeker tools that employers now use to weed out, but not hire candidates.

Job seekers today must sort through a maze of confusing, conflicting, often out of date job boards and misleading employer web pages. There are lengthy job applications, which consume hours and hours of job seekers online time and resources.

We are expected to willingly participate in online Pre-employment testing, Pre-Candidate quizzes, candidate profiling, multiple resume and document uploads, software testing downloads, Skype interviews, video conferencing from home, and multiple, time-wasting phone screens.

Many job application interviews run into 5-hour stretches. These multiplex, invasive candidate selection processes are like the torture methods used in the Middle Ages. While the job seeker is not actually tortured physically, they often are intellectually.

Once the online job seeker profile is completed and submitted, then there is the Candidate’s Application, EEO statement, resumes/documents to upload, the Pre-employment tests, applicant’s job scorecard and the applicant’s dashboard to be reviewed. After that there is ongoing, internet searches of the applicant to gain insight to their inner thoughts and deeds. If they have a Facebook page, a Google page, etc. this too is evaluated before the candidate can be hired. If the candidate rejects social media, then that rejection is also interpreted.

Educational GPAs are evaluated, from grade school to college. The amount and fluency of foreign languages spoken or not spoken, is a criterion for hiring a job seeker. The candidate’s neighborhood, city, and state are also used as criteria for hiring. Driver’s license numbers are requested on applications, so that driving records can be interpreted, even library cards, overdue books, and fees paid are subject to interpretation by a future employer.

What does all this invasion of a candidate’s privacy have to do with a new job? How does all this over-detailed, invasive micromanaging of a potential candidate’s lifestyle prove abilities to an employer?

Why has the job seeker been placed in the position of being a mortal enemy, all for want of a job?

Leave No Stones Unturned In Your Job Search Strategy

Posted on October 21, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Barri Wyman, formerly of Keene, NH is the kind of employee every company would want. She is hard working, loyal to her employer, dedicated to keeping up with the changes in her profession, and consistently driven to bring about a high quality work product.

However, the Great Recession has not been kind to valued workers like Barri. She, like millions of other Americans, was laid-off and has spent many anxious months trying to find work in an employment market with few jobs, especially for the mature worker.

Barri recently landed a great job. Although it involved a pay cut, she is pleased that the new position utilizes her years of experience while offering challenges and opportunities for professional growth. I asked Barri to share what she has learned from a long hard job search and below are her thoughts and advice for today’s job seekers.

Have you heard the expressions, “Leave no stones unturned” and “thinking outside the box”? These suggestions ring true for managing a successful job search!

Your most critical resource for landing the right job is your network of direct contacts with potential employers and agencies who know your capabilities, your work history, your work ethics and your value as an employee. Grow this network constantly through in-person and online business networking opportunities. Introduce yourself and ask your existing contacts for introductions. To build a network, I recommend attending every function you can manage in person that even remotely connects you to new people. Don’t just go to job fairs. Network heavily in every imaginable way – in person, through LinkedIn and other professional online networks, local chambers of commerce, volunteer work, talking to people you meet when out and about socializing – leave no stones unturned; be creative and use “out of the box” approaches; and be very, very courageous and assertive.

Always research companies you are following and/or applying to and search for people in your business and/or social network who have direct connections to the company and are willing to be a spokesperson on your behalf. With hundreds of people applying for each position, employers and agencies appreciate recommendations from individuals whose opinions they respect; it’s the most effective filter of the applicants. Otherwise, you are dependent upon your use of the exact buzz words in your resume and cover letter that company is using as an applicant filter, and you still may not make it to the top of the list.

Your network of contacts should involve a two-way relationship; don’t just “take” – offer your contacts something of value to them in reciprocity. Stay in touch frequently and always thank these people for their support. Hand-written thank-you notes and help with projects continue to be important and take more effort than just a quick email or online thank you message. And always follow up an interview with personal thank you notes to everyone you met. Even if you don’t land the job, they will know you valued their time; they will remember you, and they might lead you to another opportunity.

“Leave no stones unturned” in your job search resources; follow specific companies and apply directly through their websites; check public and unemployment job boards for opportunities, then start following those companies that post jobs, and apply direct if you can; ask for referrals from your business connections; and, seriously consider working with agencies for temp-to-hire or temp jobs that can also lead to full hire and/or new business connections. Spend at least six hours daily Monday through Friday pursuing all these resources and keep track of what you’ve done so you can keep checking in until you land a job you like.

Create and maintain a list of your skills, experience and accomplishments with real “stories” that support your claims. When preparing for an interview, fine tune a copy of the document to fit the job you are interviewing for and review it to have the information fresh in your mind. There’s no worse feeling than drawing a blank when asked a question!

The job search, especially if you are unemployed, is a bit nerve wracking, but it is also a tremendous learning opportunity in many ways and opens new insights and connects you to people you might never have encountered otherwise.

Six Characteristics of Success in the Modern Workforce

Posted on September 22, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Entering this twenty-first century, post-Recession, globalized, and digital workforce can be daunting. Whether you are young and just entering the job search fray, middle aged and trying to maintain or build upon your competitiveness and value, or mature and desperate to stay relevant, securing meaningful work that is well compensated is still a major challenge.

Just look at the principal obstacle facing us. Job creation is anemic. Sure, it is better than a few years ago, but way too many workers are either underemployed or have given up looking. While Wall Street booms, employment lags. Anxiety remains high for even the employed who still seem reluctant to leave jobs they have, but do not like, for fear of not finding anything better. Why is this? I see several reasons at play.

More and more wealth and power are continually concentrating on the very rich and they do not appear incentivized to be creating many jobs with it.
Perhaps because of #1 the incomes and purchasing power of the middle class is shrinking, which depresses both demand, supply, and jobs.
Globalization has increased competition and innovation, meaning if you are not an over-caffeinated go-getter, you are finding yourself at the back of the line.
Technology expands productivity with fewer workers needed to produce than in the past.
The nature of many jobs is changing. New and ever-changing skills and knowledge bases are in increasing demand.
Government is being constrained to help. There seems to be nothing government can do anymore that is welcomed. Imagine trying to start a Roosevelt-like CCC program today? There would be a revolution from the political Right.

What’s a job seeker to do? To begin with realize it is tough, but not hopeless. There are characteristics I believe it is wise to possess that will increase your chances of being seen by employers as valuable and desired. These traits transcend most careers and specialty areas and have as much to do with attitude as with training and education. Here is my list of must-have work style attributes for the times in which we live:

Stay Connected: Build and cultivate your network however you can. Meet face to face, connect on social media, join and participate in groups, volunteer, email and text, and outreach, outreach, outreach. Isolation can be a career killer.
Stay Optimistic: Project hopefulness and positivity. Downers are a turn-off for people, especially co-workers and bosses. Sure, there is a lot going on to depress us, but being angry and negative rarely builds dreams or improves challenging situations.
Stay Confident: Showing a can-do spirit prepares a person for difficulties and inspires others. Confidence, along with its cousinsself-motivation and goal-orientation, generates an energy that leads to high quality outcomes.
Stay Technologically Current: Be curious about the skills and products surrounding us and which define our times. Keep an eye on the latest innovations that will shape our future. Resist the urge to be a luddite who thinks the old ways were always the best ways. Truth is the good old days were not in many cases.
Stay Diverse: Accept and thrive on a multiplicity of ideas and perspectives. Get energized by all the richness inherent in different viewpoints. Varying ideas come from the mixed gender, ethnic, racial, and multigenerational makeup of workforces. The more sources of input the higher the likelihood of success.
Stay Educated: Embrace lifelong learning as a key to staying abreast of current trends, best practices, and what works in your field. Continuous training and education enrich you professionally and will make you more of an asset to employers both current and potential.

Reframing the dismal jobs picture as an opportunity to better your employability and improve your position as a valued employee is one way to cope and perhaps succeed in the modern workforce.

The Declining Middle Class and Its Jobs

Posted on September 2, 2013May 3, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The middle class is being displaced and with it the jobs typically held and performed by labor. This trend is threatening the way of life for millions of Americans and could change the economic, social, and political fabric of the United States.

There are two principal occurrences underway driving this phenomenon with no end in sight for either:

The migration of low and mid-skilled jobs to developing countries with cheaper labor compensation.
The automation or robo-sourcing of tasks typically performed by minimally skilled employees.

If you are now in a job that can be outsourced or automated start making plans immediately for an employment change, because chances are your job is not going to be around much longer.

This is a good news/bad news story for business. As more relatively lower-skilled workers are finding themselves increasingly irrelevant their erstwhile employers are finding productivity does not suffer as a result. On the contrary productivity is increasing.

Outsourcing and robo-sourcing are growing in popularity among business owners because they increase productivity and decrease costs. Good deal for the bottom line…bad deal for labor. Look at the stock market. It booms while the employment numbers generally lag.

Much of what has historically made the middle class possible has been the availability of mid-level jobs — those that require more skill and knowledge than menial tasks, but not the more sophisticated, analytical, and critical decision-making work performed by well-educated executives. Manufacturing is where many of these jobs used to be found. But the decline of U.S. manufacturing means the loss of mid-level blue collar work.

Thankfully, there are still mid-level service sector jobs in healthcare, hospitality, retail, the trades, and elsewhere. Unfortunately, these jobs do not often satisfy the middle-class standard of living we have become used to. The jobs are hard to come by and many of them do not pay very well.

The labor movement is in trouble. The collective strength of labor, which in the twentieth century helped assure decent middle-class compensation and placed the worker in a position where he and she could share in the fruits of production, has been significantly weakened. These days unions only represent about 12% of the workforce and the competition for fewer and fewer good paying jobs is growing fiercer. Even government work is drying up.

The guy with only a high school diploma is competing against cheap labor from overseas and increasingly robotics here at home. This is not a solid negotiating position to be in for finding and retaining a decent paying middle class job.

There are no quick fixes or easy answers for the middle class. Sure, aspiring to great paying management and executive work can and should be a goal for many, but realistically that is not for everyone.

Sustaining a viable middle class will require availability of mid-skilled employment that can be achieved with mid-level education, say the equivalent of an associate or bachelor’s degree. This type of employment should also pay a salary between minimum wage and executive compensation. What a critical mass of those jobs will be moving forward is unclear. But if we are to be more than a nation of haves and haves-nots in the 21st century, then we had better figure this one out soon.

Career Web Services Review

Posted on August 5, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

It is no secret the Internet is where people go for almost everything from house hunting to car buying to job searching. Although I, and most career advisors, will not tell you to sit for hours searching for jobs on Indeed.com and CareerBuilder and call that a job search, there are nevertheless some interesting and potentially beneficial job search related services popping up on the web besides job boards.

Here are four applications that attempt to combine and leverage well tested and proven job search best practices with the ease and power of Internet use. Conceptually I find these apps promising, but I want to be clear that I am not endorsing them. At best I have dabbled in them and do not claim to be a power user. But as more of our functionality, including career development, becomes digitized it is worth seeing what the entrepreneurial class is cooking up out there. One never knows where the next great Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn will come from.

VIZIFY — In this age of versatile multimedia it can seem odd we still place so much on a black & white paper or word-processed document called a resume. Vizify asks why don’t we spiff up that boring old doc and present it instead as a visually more appealing graphic display? Here is an opportunity to import resume and online profile data, essentially your value proposition or professional brand, into a graphical bio. This can then be included on email signatures, QR codes for business cards, and online profiles to show a brighter side of you. For job candidates looking for placements in more hip work settings this may have possibilities.

[Vizify was acquired by Yahoo! in 2014.]

JOBS WITH FRIENDS — Here’s a cool idea. We all know (or should!) that networking is the best route to go for finding meaningful employment. I recommend to clients they spend at least 70% or more of their job search time outreaching to contacts in their networks in searching for employment opportunities. Jobs With Friends identifies all your social media connections and friends and gives you tools for finding who they list as their employers, what the current job openings are where they work, and a means of asking for referrals from them to give to their employers.

[Jobs With Friends is now a service offered by CareerCloud.com.]

PERFECT INTERVIEW — Although this is an array of multimedia interactive interviewing solutions for job seekers and HR departments there is one feature, I’d like to focus on called Interview Coach. Ever notice how being videotaped can be a great learning tool? Watching yourself played back teaches you more about your performance than any other method. Interview Coach places you in front of your computer and webcam, shoots tough questions at you from professional interviewers, and records your responses. You get to see how you answered and can then better refine your interview technique.

[This service is still alive and well in 2022.]

VIZIBILITY — Here is a service that totally gets the future of career development and brand management tied into one’s online identity. Vizibility tries to cover all the bases by offering the user data analytics to show how often you are being searched, mobile business cards, ways of finding common social media connections, your Google ranking, online identity sharing, and other ways to help you push your profile to potential high value decision makers. If you believe exposure leads to opportunity, then check this one out.

[Vizibility is now vizCard, maker of digital/mobile business cards with analytic features.]

As clever as these and other services are I think it is best to view them as tools to help the job searcher implement tried and true practices such as networking, self-promotion, and determining what efforts are time wasters vs. what has value. It is hard to imagine at this point that good old face-to-face communication can ever be completely replaced by web-based services. But meanwhile, have fun seeing how career and software-as-a-service development merge in some innovative ways.

Careers are Idiosyncratic — and that’s a Good Thing

Posted on July 14, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

I had an opportunity last week to hear Dr. Temple Grandin deliver the keynote address at the National Career Development Association’s annual convention, held this year in Boston. And am I glad I did! The animal science professor and autism rights activist definitely has something to say, not only to career professionals, but to all of us.

I have only recently learned of Temple Grandin from hearing her being interviewed recently on NPR. That piece made me stop and ask out loud, “Who is that?”

She clearly has a message and delivery style that is out of the mainstream. However, beyond her unique and unconventional look and enunciation is a powerful exposition about individualism and the priority we should all place on honoring people’s differences when assisting in career decision making.

Temple Grandin has become a renowned spokesperson for the humane treatment of animals and for encouraging tolerance and civil behavior directed toward individuals impacted by autism — a reality she has lived with for 65 years. Her advice for the mainstream of society goes far beyond telling us to be respectful and kind to people who act, speak, and think differently from the norm.

Dr. Grandin is putting us on notice that the talent diversity necessary to fuel an innovative workforce and culture requires us to encourage and cultivate the very idiosyncrasies so many of us shun and dismiss.

It is no secret that STEM careers are all the rage. Many of the most lucrative and potentially available jobs for the future lie in industries seeking employees and contractors strong in science, technology, engineering, and math. To those of us not immersed daily in these jobs we tend to think of STEM work as heavily rules-based, formulaic, and straight forward.

It is helpful to have been reminded that American ingenuity results when deep scientific knowledge and creative thinking merge. The development of the light bulb, integrated circuit, Internet, and many other inventions came from just such thinkers. NASA is chock full of geeks and nerds. Think about it. Where would we be as a nation without them?

Although it may be human nature, there is a downside to building a society that places too strong a premium on conformity when it comes to career development. You do not have to be on an autism spectrum to sense the fear, insecurity, and lack of self-confidence that can come from the pressure to think and behave like everyone else around you. In so many ways we give each other the message that to be different is bad, but to conform is good.

Yet our American value proposition as a key player in the global workforce is defined by our inclination to be innovative, inventive, and groundbreaking. This cannot be done unless a holistic individualism is encouraged and enriched.

Careers flourish when individuals engage in purposeful work leading to mastery. Careers are also undergoing dramatic shifts and transformations as the global economy and technology change the employment landscape. Allowing for and encouraging creative ways of combining, expanding, and morphing careers helps to assure we Americans continue to have economic viability in a rapidly changing world. Embracing individualism, even when it is outside of the norm, can pave the way for successful careers and a competitive economic edge.

Temple Grandin’s call for acceptance and advocacy is positive and relevant for our time. Let us join in giving power to all the people.

Know What Your Performance Evidence Is

Posted on July 1, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

“Hiring me will add value to your operation.”

“I am prepared to take on the biggest challenges and come out a winner!”

“You can count on me to tackle all obstacles and generate profit growth simultaneously.”

Having the confidence and drive to be strongly competitive in this dog-eat-dog hiring climate is great. The meek unfortunately do not appear to be in the lead in inheriting this earth in any way that says employment success. Reaching out, promoting, in short, selling yourself is as combative as ever in employment and those with the stomach and skill for it can come out ahead.

But making claims of greatness can be as fragile as a house of cards in the wind unless there is substance to back up your superlative declarations. You cannot call yourself a star performer if there is not some credible performance evidence to show in fact you can do the things you said you could do.

Knowing what counts as solid performance evidence in your field and being able to clearly cite examples of your achievement in these areas boosts your standing among those making hiring decisions. These deciders can be listening about your performance affirmations at a networking event, job fair, or in an interview. They can be reading about them in your resume or on your LinkedIn profile. However, it is that they learn about those valuable accomplishments of yours that scream, “I’m qualified!”, the better off your career can be.

So, what really matters in the work you do? Is it meeting quotas, raising profits, mitigating threats, improving lifestyles, expanding market share, stopping hunger, bringing joy to others, elevating student test scores, saving lives, or any number of the important things that show you have done what you were hired to do? We all have a rather limited set of crucial outcomes or objectives to realize in our jobs. Knowing exactly what they are and keeping track of your attainment of these goals is a good place to start identifying your performance evidence.

Examples of execution carry more weight when they are quantifiable. Numbers can take a statement from subjective to objective, from opinion to fact. But be strategic about the quantities you select in your power statements.

Now let us say that I am trying to prove to stakeholders that I am an excellent retail store manager. Do I talk about how demanding it is to track inventory, handle customers, and make good hourly-wage hires. That may all be true, but they do not speak to key performance indicators. Instead talk about numbers of units sold and employees supervised. Mention specifically how much you reduced operational costs and grew annual sales. Point out the increased percentages of surveyed customer satisfaction ratings and improvements made in associate training sessions.

If vetting a candidate, which would you rather hear or read about concerning that person’s accomplishments:

“Reduced expenses related to manufacturing operations.” or “Reduced costs, inventories, and cycle times of manufacturing operations, resulting in 52% – 68% gross margin increase, 4% –10% annual inventory turn increase, and 25% cycle time decrease.”

Or how about this:

“Managed operational and capital budgets.” or “Furnished operational and capital budgets for 18 commercial properties, comprising over $30M in expenditures for over 3.5 million square feet of space.”

Not all professions embed the collection of performance data into their jobs like sales, financials, and medicine, among others. Sometimes it may be necessary for you to do your own quantitative logging, even if it is retrospective.

Sure, it is a hassle, but in less than an hour, and maybe with some help from those who know your work well, you can compile a generous list of quantitative achievements from your recent past. This information can then be presented as demonstrations of your good efforts and workplace worth.

Communicating in terms of performance evidence to hiring managers and recruiters strengthens your position as a job search candidate. So, go ahead and announce with confidence your capabilities and potential, but reinforce the message with the important deeds that count.

The 70/20/10 Career Model

Posted on June 12, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

70/20/10. It is a development model that is turning up in a lot of different places. I think it should play a role in career development as well. (My apologies to anyone who has gotten to this realization before me. If so, I have not yet seen your work.)

So, what is it? Let me explain. I see it is a breakdown of time and energy spent on evolving an undertaking. Think of it as 70%/20%/10%. Some examples of its application may help:

In education: Learning often comes from recognizing problems and the need to solve them. According to this approach 70% of our time is spent performing day-to-day and challenging tasks that contain problems we ponder by trying to think of solutions. 20% is occupied by interacting with others to collect data useful in solving these problems and 10% comes from formal course work or training to build one’s expertise.

In business: To be innovative (and what business does not need to be?) requires what Eric Schmidt of Google says is a 70/20/10 approach. 70% should be on basic operations, i.e., making the doughnuts. 20% of the time should be spent dedicated to experimenting with different ways of implementing the core business. 10% should be on completely novel concepts not related to the core business.

Diet: Livestrong promotes eating 70% proteins, 20% fats, and 10% carbs.

Social Media Marketing: There is a posting rule for business to get the most ROI exposure while on social media. It goes 70% brand building, 20% sharing others’ posts, and 10% advertising and promotion.

Job Search: Heck, even I and other career types find we recommend to clients that when job searching spend 70% of the time networking, 20% reaching out to recruiters, and 10% on job boards.

70/20/10. It is infectious. Isn’t it? Perhaps even elegant.

This is what I am thinking in terms of using this formula in career development. Assuming we want to mature and progress in our careers it may be useful to have a grand action plan for doing so. This plan should be easy to remember and not very complicated. Starting with 70/20/10 is good, because it is easy to keep in mind. Here is how I propose using the 70/20/10 career plan:

70% of our time, energy, and spirit can be committed to practicing our craft. This is what we do to attain our 10,000 hours, Malcolm Gladwell’s mastery threshold. It is what gives us our sixth sense of professionalism. Sure, we may be on cruise control to some extent, but the repetition, the deep experience, and the number of times you can say, “I’ve seen this one before,” will over time build expertise.

20% is what we devote to trying things out of our box. We allow ourselves to play a little with our career. The rule now is to think creatively and experimentally. The time has come to approach the same-old with a fresh perspective and novel approaches. Embrace change and look for new ways to perform tasks and meet responsibilities. Always improve and refine. Do not get locked into thinking the 70% is where 100% of your time should be spent. Allow yourself to play with the 20%. The 20% is not to be set aside. It is crucial.

10% of our work time, yes 10%, is spent doing something completely different. It may be difficult to see that it is even tangentially related to your day job. Are you an accountant? Spend 10% of your time watercolor painting. Are you a parole officer? Spend 10% of your time learning how to play the clarinet. Are you an artist? Spend 10% of your time studying nutrition. But here is the connection, be mindful of what new things you learn and how they may have applications to your fundamental work. Remember, you are looking for new avenues to grow professionally. And maybe you will enrich your life at the same time.

70/20/10. Lots of possibilities with these numbers. Think of using them with your career. Growth, purpose, and success may result.

The Changing Face of Workforce Talent

Posted on May 28, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Finding and retaining talent for your company or organization used to be relatively straightforward. You inquired about availability of valuable workers from your network, posted job descriptions on widely disseminated job boards, or hired recruiting firms to provide you with temporary or temp to hire personnel. Chances were that eventually the talent you desired was discovered and incentives were applied to keep them with you for the long haul.

But today we notice forces are at work modifying this process and causing those who source talent to change their game plan. The makeup of the workforce is becoming more global, mobile, independent and less local or rooted in one spatial location. Also, and critically, their long-term loyalty to any one employer is more tenuous. To find the expertise employers need to remain productive, innovative, and competitive means having to adjust methods for finding such moving targets.

And it is not just the workforce that is changing. Employers’ talent demands reflect the shifts occurring in business driven by the rapid expansion of global and technical interconnectivity. Businesses increasingly need to dial up and down budgets, priorities, and the size of their workforces quickly and efficiently. Agility is a survival skill.

With that in mind new types of employee-employer relationships are being formed which are often characterized by highly valuable, short-term, project-based connections that are mutually beneficial. The organization gains profitable contributions from their talented associates and the valued participants benefit from career enhancement.

Given the changing nature of business and of employment both parties are becoming more cognizant of the types of exchanges called for and are positioning themselves to make the right connections when needed. The range of associations goes from fully employed individuals to outsourced service arrangements that satisfy small but critical parts of the larger organizational need. Partnerships, independent contractors, and more engaged outsourcers are playing a greater role in how business is done.

For the job searcher and those committed to developing their careers, awareness of the ways business and work itself is transforming is crucial. Even though most of us have been brought up to think traditionally about employment — few job changes, development of a single skill, and living near your place of employment — a problem arises if we do not see how the other options mentioned above are becoming available, possibly preferred. We are approaching a time, if we are not already there, when designing a career around portfolio type assignments is as prudent as striving for full time employment with few different employers.

Global skill markets with their individual players are as diverse, multi-functional, and ready to produce as any talent pool has ever been. The technology that exposes, promotes, and defines them, based primarily on a keyword-rich social media model, means that a fluid and robust recruitment industry can play an important role in facilitating valuable connections. We already see the expanded use of LinkedIn, essentially an international expertise database, becoming a primary means of sourcing talent. This and other human-technological applications are sure to boost the effectiveness of employer-employee matchmaking.

The importance of mobility and lack of geographical tethering is also worth noting in the way workforces are evolving. Talent can be secured virtually from anywhere that has an Internet connection. Many projects can be advanced using contributors from a variety of places around the world. Although physical face-to-face collaboration certainly has its advantages it is by no means the only way to produce at a high functioning level. Cost alone may sometimes dictate that remote collaboration be activated.

A flatter operational arrangement seems to be one way of describing the changing face of the workforce. Businesses need talent and talent needs businesses. Sure, this has always been true, but what may be different this time is that the parties are on more equal footings. A clever and spry talented professional has a greater chance of experiencing a nimble career when he or she can negotiate with potential employers from what may be becoming an enhanced power position.

Rethinking Career for Mature Workers

Posted on May 13, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

In general, we think that getting old has many more downsides than upsides. What with declining health, reduced relevance, and being closer to death perhaps among the most egregious. And as has been noted many times in the past few years, the rapid and widespread ejection of many older workers from the workforce has left many feeling depressed and inconsequential at what they feel is a premature conclusion to their careers.

Aging and career do not have to be oil and water. Rather, let us view the career of the mature worker as needing serious reform as they look toward a future in which work can still be engaging, satisfying, and lucrative. Fortunately, one of the great advantages of aging is a growing realization to make one’s remaining years count more than ever before. This can be a powerful motivator to approach life and career with renewed vigor.

A process to reestablish a derailed career later in life begins by accepting that the old rules for finding work do not apply much anymore. Being overly reliant on searching for job postings that may be a fit can waste too much time. Instead, direct yourself toward conducting a thorough self-assessment. Identify all those traits, skills, qualifications, and most importantly experiences, which when combined define you as an asset. Leave nothing out of this list. If needed, query those who know you well to see how they perceive you.

At this point reflect on this rich attribute inventory with the goal of selecting what Dick Bolles, the author of the perennial What Color Is Your Parachute, elegantly calls your favorite skills and your favorite experiences. This is when a cognitive exercise becomes emotional in nature. By recognizing the most energizing of what you have done and can still do, you appreciate what is possible in your future work.

Making the most of your remaining work years is made possible by acting on your strengths. We do not have to accept a bitter end to our working years. Alternatively, we can construct a career made meaningful by capitalizing on the best of what we have to offer. But a significant part of doing so involves remembering those changed rules I mentioned earlier. There is a good chance the best of you may not fit neatly into a single job for which an employer will compensate you.

Multiple income streams result from orchestrating a variety of work lines that together make up your favorite performance characteristics. Investigating and implementing various means of monetizing your sweet spots can lead to a satisfying hybrid career.

There are some things to keep in mind about patching together multiple income streams. For example, you need to remain quite flexible in dovetailing your diversified ventures. Determining what can be scaled up and down due to parameters of time, money, and energy will place you in the role of being your own career choreographer.

Achieving a degree of sustainability with each stream may take time but think how rewarding it will be when you get there. Having this new career be enjoyable is what it is all about. This life puts a new twist into the notion of being your own boss.

I started this reframing of career for the mature worker by suggesting a self-assessment. There is no better time to reflect on where you have been and how far you have come, than near the end of your “productive” years. Now is the time to give yourself permission to approach life with a different flavor and approach than has been done before. Allow yourself to feel free, mix it up, and experiment. Benefit from all you have accomplished. Exhilarate at being at the top of your game.

Is It Becoming a Women’s World?

Posted on April 23, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

As an aging male with 60 years of perspective, I cannot help but note the huge change American women are undergoing in terms of their career options. As women have demanded and experienced a shift in social, political, and economic power sharing there is a wide and growing range of work choices available to them.

I still remember how odd I thought it looked to see my first uniformed female police officer and big rig female truck driver and woman on a construction crew. It is not that I thought it wrong, but it did seem out of place. Growing up in the 50s and 60s I basically thought as a young person that work for women outside of the home was limited to being a secretary or an elementary school teacher or a nurse.

Now women seem to be in nearly every profession, including the running of companies. In retrospect, I suppose observing the integration of women into traditional male jobs was my first eye opener to cultural change. It has since only increased in pace.

For those of us who think increased equality among citizens is a good thing, then the news is great. The power structure long dominated by male viewpoints is yielding to a more balanced approach enriched by ideas contributed by women. Conventional wisdom suggests this is leading to a society that is fairer and representative of every person’s interests.

While I applaud this historic development and in no way wish for a regression, I also notice an angst and relative lack of direction on the part of men. In general, while the career prospects for women are expanding men appear to be more adrift with their changing role. Here are some of the signs I see:

Men took a greater unemployment hit during the recession than woman. Jobs requiring brawn like construction and traditional manufacturing were being shed faster than jobs requiring nurturing and education like healthcare and business services.
Women now outpace men in receiving college degrees. In a world that is going to rely only more on an educated workforce, this bodes well for those individuals embracing higher learning.
The trend in leadership roles is to become more gender neutral. As women move more into management and executive positions it displaces the men who formally held those spots.
The competition field for securing jobs is getting deeper. Not long ago, men had to form job search strategies that pitted them against other men only. Not anymore. Now men must compete against women. This is not a comfortable place for many men to be.
The nature of work is changing in that physical strength, the greatest value point men have traditionally had, is increasingly less in demand. Technology, mechanical engineering, and robotics are already handling much of the digging, lifting, and carrying once done by strong men. And as time goes on, there will be even less need for physical strength on the job.
Increasing numbers of men are wanting to spend more time with their kids. Men putting their careers on hold or at least slowing the pace of development in favor of parenting seems to be becoming quite acceptable among the children of Baby Boomers. How this choice is seen by hiring managers once the man wants to re-engage with the workforce is still unclear, but potentially damaging to his career.

How this all turns out is hard to say. Perhaps work is becoming completely gender neutral, and we will no longer think in terms of male and female jobs. But for men who like things traditional, facing these employment adjustments may be rocky for the foreseeable future.

Make Music When Tooting Your Own Horn

Posted on April 4, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

One of the most difficult practices for people to pull off when advancing their careers is verbal self-promotion. Known commonly as the elevator pitch or the power statement, this self-promotional introduction can have the strength to leave a lasting impression about you with an influencer, or by contrast leave you forgettable.

Being able to professionally introduce yourself to decision makers or those connected to them, when your objective is to seek employment or career advancement opportunities, is an important practice to master. Typically, there is often not much time to make a strong impression when opportunities to do so come about. People are busy. Time is short. If you cannot communicate relevance and practicality to the listener pointedly and in the moment, then you run the risk of being boring, extraneous, or even a nuisance.

As if this is not pressure enough, think how awkward and stressful it can be to make a sales pitch about yourself if you are introverted, shy, or lacking in confidence. Well, that describes a whole lot of us! No wonder so many of us take feeble solace in saying, “I don’t like to toot my own horn.”

We have convinced ourselves that to not display traits about ourselves is a virtue. We may even blame this weakness on our parents. “I wasn’t brought up to make a spectacle of myself.” True, to not draw attention to yourself is preferred in some social situations, but it does not help us to make a mark in our career development.

Your professional introduction summarizes your expertise and value to the workplace. Making one need not be a major hurdle or social faux pas. There is a way to compose, practice, and eventually master the introduction. To make the spiel impactful, it should be short, perhaps 30 to 90 seconds, and rich in content. To begin follow a simple formula. For example:

My name is

I am [use job title or subject matter expert descriptor].

I have

years of experience as a

Add Power Statement 1.

Add Power Statement 2.

By Power Statements I mean a line that includes a competency and an accomplishment.

Let’s look at an example:

My name is Jane Smith.

I am an expert in dental office management.

I have thirteen years of experience as a dental office manager, including eight with a $2M practice.

I am highly organized. For example, I was fully responsible for all ordering of supplies, negotiating with dental supply vendors, and conducting inventory control.

I am also great at personnel development, having hired, trained, and evaluated all seven of our non-medical staff.

These pitches can contain your soft “human connection” skills, or they can highlight your innovative solutions to significant problems, or they can describe how you added value.

So, now that we have a professional introduction framed out, we must make sure it does not sound too clinical. If you come across resonating as too rehearsed and scripted it will sound so — and not be impressive. Practice making these points as a real person would sound. Recite your pitch to others without worrying about word memorization and get feedback. Is it sounding natural? Is it coming across smoothly and genuinely?

Another interesting approach is to begin your intro with a question. Questions have a way of focusing our attention at the outset. For example, “You know that stress you feel every spring as April 15 approaches? My name is Jim Smith and I’m a Tax Preparer…”

For those of us who are not naturally smooth-talking salesmen, who can have just the right persuasive words roll off your tongue at just the right moment, you will need to prepare and practice. Developing a strong professional introduction can help accelerate your career. So go ahead, toot your own horn and make music while doing so.

Telecommuting and the Innovative Environment

Posted on March 4, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

A very interesting and potentially watershed story has emerged in recent days in business news. It concerns the top-down working conditions decision made by the recently selected CEO of Yahoo! Marissa Mayer. Ms. Mayer has announced that telecommuting among the company’s employees is to be eliminated. Although this decision was intended for internal dissemination only, it quickly leaked to the rest of us and has sparked a rapid and vociferous debate about productivity and innovation in cutting edge companies — and by extension to the rest of us.

To be clear, I have been and continue to be an enthusiastic proponent of any workplace practices that promote creativity, collaboration, autonomy, productivity, and civility. Among the exciting changes emerging within the post-industrial workplace has been employer recognition to adopt flexible working conditions, many of which achieve these very goals.

Common examples include open concept “office-less” workplaces that promote interaction and sharing, remote working via technology whether from home or other places conducive to production, and work settings that include benefits like childcare, gyms, and ping-pong tables.

The underlying management belief in these types of arrangements is that workplaces should be results-only-work-environments, encouraging employees to produce individual and even idiosyncratic styles, if measurable deliverables are realized.

A management approach embracing an attitude that trusts its employees to be value-producing when they are given freedom to choose schedules, environments, colleagues, and problem-solving approaches is the trend in working conditions. So why has Ms. Mayer, a product of Google, Silicon Valley, and data-driven decision making, made the move to eliminate one of the fastest growing flexible workplace practices, telecommuting? The apparent answer is to re-establish a lost culture of innovation.

Innovation has become the holy grail of business, particularly in the fast-paced Internet-based industry of services and content. Yahoo! was once a big player in the early days of the web. It was one of the first to establish one-place shopping for search, email, news, shopping and much more.

Since its mid-1990s launch, however, it has been losing market share to much bigger innovators such as Google, Apple, and Amazon, who currently dominate the web. Yahoo! is in trouble. Survivability is in doubt.

So, is corralling all employees back to the ranch going to reinvigorate an innovative edge and competitive advantage or is this a desperate move based in fear that if old fashioned business standards are not reapplied the company is going to sink? Time will tell, but this story does raise the question of what it takes to create work conditions that inspire workers to innovate and produce at optimal levels.

Encouraging high levels of creative performance in any workforce will result from valuing original problem solving and adaptability. When management applauds new ideas, the exercise of imagination, and learning from rather than avoiding mistakes, then innovation flourishes.

For most of us, unlearning the way we were educated can lead to more creativity. Our schools were designed to produce workers for the industrial age, not the much more sophisticated information age we have only just entered. Sameness, rigidity, and compliance characterize the way most of us were educated. Assessment methods have been little more than a means of measuring accountability or adherence to these standards.

This outdated education model is often replicated in too many businesses that value hanging on to tradition more than innovation. As a result, innovation is often stifled at a time when it is needed most to stay competitive and relevant. My concern with Yahoo!’s latest move is that it appears to be a reach for an old-styled accountability practice during a time of anguish. It is as if the thinking is non-traditional workforce practices are not giving us a competitive advantage, so let us go back to what worked in the old days.

I have no doubt Marissa Mayer will use data over time in determining what works and what does not work for fostering innovation at Yahoo!. For the rest of us we will have an interesting experiment to observe with lessons to be derived for the future of business and the facilitation of innovative workforces.

Internet Privacy and Our Careers

Posted on February 15, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Social media appears to be growing in functionality beyond being just a way for friends to share interests. Marketing professionals, for example, generally accept that getting their product or service shared and discussed among connected individuals is now a solid and preferred part of any business’ promotional plan. Facebook and Twitter have become an essential part of many marketing campaigns.

The power of social media is also playing a factor in career development. Sharing career related tips, job openings, employer reviews, and more is occurring among trusted peers. But perhaps the most powerful advantage of social media is the way it exposes individuals to those sourcing and background checking talent. Each of us has the option of crafting our information and building dynamic profiles that reinforce the professional brand we wish to project.

In fact, we are at the point where not having a robust presence on social media places us at a distinct disadvantage in advancing our careers. Remaining in the digital shadows could very well mean we do not get found by the very stakeholders we need to have find us to move forward. This phenomenon is particularly a problem for the older end of the workforce, who still do not accept or who harbor a mistrust of social media and its implications.

Despite the growing advantages of leveraging social media for talent searchability it does raise a significant social issue that is increasingly becoming relevant, the value of individual privacy in the digital age. A disconcerting correlation is now evident — the more we increase our Internet presence the more we diminish our privacy.

The web is becoming ever more invasive. Cookies that track our Internet use, location tracking apps, and other user-identification functions means others can and do store and re-purpose data about us. Simply using the Internet engages us in personal data sharing of some sort even though we rarely or ever give anyone permission to collect and use our personal information or Internet-use behavior.

Maintaining some semblance of personal privacy in the Information Age may soon become the next big civil rights issue. What we now know is that keeping a relatively unregulated Internet yields individual privacy rights in favor of those with some degree of economic power and capital, i.e., big business. So, what is new? Power always seems to concentrate on the haves vs. the have-nots in an unregulated environment. In time we will see how it all turns out.

There is a legitimate concern when we use websites for information gathering and research purposes that our personal data or web use is collected and tracked behind the scenes. The use of social media specifically is intentional sharing of information about us. When we essentially advertise ourselves online via social media, we have a harder time crying foul when we are found out.

Each of us needs to weigh the potentiality of an Internet display with the concurrent erosion of anonymity. Although this is a very personal decision, the reality is that being searchable is a best practice in job searching and recruiting.

Controlling what is known about you online with a professional-looking profile and website is the recommended way to go. Applying a 20th century concept of privacy to these times is not practical for career movers. At least to some extent we need to get over the privacy angst. However, each of us does need to advocate for stronger opt-in controls of what is displayed about us online. There should be options beyond no web involvement at all and full unregulated exposure. The Internet should serve us, not the other way around.

Are Job Boards Worth Your Time?

Posted on January 22, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

Job boards, such as Monster, CareerBuilder, Indeed, and SimplyHired are getting a bad rap these days. The word is out that job boards are no longer effective or relevant for job searchers. Their image problem can be summed up in the words of a client who recently said to me, “C’mon, have you really heard of anyone getting a job from Monster?”

It was not that many years ago job boards were seen as the next great thing. Instead of going to newspaper classifieds, job seekers could now go online to these supercharged job listings that held many more postings of descriptions from all over the country. Not only that, but they were being constantly reviewed by recruiters searching for talent. I remember speaking to a recruiter in 2008 who told me most of his day was spent trolling Monster and CareerBuider. They certainly were an improvement on the old and restricted methods available pre-Internet.

In the meantime, however, the job searcher experience has deteriorated using these sites. Users now find themselves flooded with cheap emails from for-profit “career” schools asking them to spend money they do not have or from New York Life and Aflac and the like trying to convince them to become 100% commission salespersons. Oh and of course, starting your own franchise for whoever will really change your life for the better. Right! I have gotten to the point of recommending to clients who heavily use job boards to dedicate an email address to their job search, so that their regular email does not become inundated with this junk.

Another concern for many regards posting their resumes to these sites. Yes, many more eyeballs will be on them, but maybe not all the eyeballs belong to people you want to see them. In particular, is the worry about contact information. Of course, you need to have a way for potential employers to reach you, but do you want your home address seen by a large anonymous audience? This is one of the reasons why more and more people, particularly women, are opting out of having their mailing addresses included on their resumes.

Probably the biggest problem is that many jobseekers think sitting at the computer for a few hours each day submitting their resumes for positions that have great sounding job descriptions, but for which they have no networking connections at all, is job hunting. It may feel like you are doing something valuable, but the truth is very few jobs are acquired this way. Too much time can be wasted, and your frustration increased.

So, are job boards passé? Not necessarily. They still have practical uses. I often recommend they be used for research. For example, individuals who are either trying to enter the job market or who are hoping to transition to some different type of employment can find the job descriptions included on job boards revealing. By finding appealing descriptions you can more easily determine how you are a fit for such jobs. Does your list of qualifications closely match the required skills for the job? If not, what can you do to reinvent or improve your professional status?

Another great use of job descriptions on these boards is to use them for harvesting relevant keywords. When tailoring your resume, it is important that it contains keywords like those contained in the job description you are targeting. Alignment of what you have to offer with what a potential employer needs is key to securing an interview.

And yes, sometimes people do find jobs on Monster. I place it far below good networking and even outreach to recruiters in effectiveness, but it can happen. In general, I recommend spending about 10% of your job search time looking at job boards, 20% getting the attention of recruiters, and 70% on effective networking.

The challenge for job boards is to stay relevant in the ever-changing world of job searching and career development. Time will tell if they can do it.

Ten Best Career Development Practices for 2013

Posted on January 4, 2013January 1, 2023 by Bill Ryan

A couple of years ago I penned a piece called The 10 Best Career Development Practices. It remains one of my most read blogs. But in the time since it was written I have come to feel that this list needs some slight adjusting. A combination of more time delivering career development services on my part along with a growing recognition of the realignment occurring with effective career practices leads me to revise this list. What follows is my 2013 take on the ten most advantageous steps a professional person can do to enhance their career.

Know Your Professional Value — Conduct a self-assessment resulting in you feeling comfortable, confident, and focused about your value proposition. Think of yourself as a subject matter expert with reliable and consistent qualities that set you apart from the competition.
Develop the Three Capitals — Consistently be involved in building and growing your intellectual, social, and emotional capital. This leaves you well informed, well connected, and energized about your profession. Career growth is a 3-legged stool. For balance, work on all three simultaneously.
Write a Strong Resume — The document that most anchors and communicates your value proposition is the resume. Although its primary purpose is to secure an interview do not forget that its overall marketing potential can be crucial.
Prepare Intriguing Cover Letters — Making that first impression is of course key. Promoting your own skills while aligning them with the potential employer’s needs and following up with a great resume may open the all-important door to an interview.
Engage in Networking — Yes, who you know and who knows you does matter. Most of the high-quality employment arises from referrals among trusted contacts. The best way to get to a hiring decision maker is to know them in the first place or know someone else who knows them.
Manage an Online Profile — Recruiters and hiring managers tend to fish where the fish are. If you are not in the pond, then you will not get caught. The Internet is the pool where talent is found and investigated. Additionally, being online helps you to share your brand, build your network, and cultivate your professional relationships.
Engineer Your Job Search Process — Knowing what comprises a truly comprehensive job search involves implementing a complex set of procedures. Understanding what techniques can motivate you and using an organization tool like a career management CRM can make the process much more manageable and successful.
Use Power Statements and a 30-Second Pitch — When introducing yourself to high potential professionals realize their time is tight and attention spans probably short. Making impactful statements that leave you remembered and hopefully valued requires an economic delivery.
Conduct Informational Interviews — A research technique that assists you in building intellectual and social capital is the informational interview. Seeking out and conversing with professionals who can provide useful information you can use in determining the direction of your career is a powerful tactic.
Perform Well in Your Job Interview — This age-old conundrum is as elusive as ever for many, but it does not have to be that way. Preparing without cramming by rehearsing your upcoming performance such that you dovetail your background knowledge with the potential employer’s needs is well worth the effort.

You may have noticed that developing a career is an ongoing pursuit not limited to the times when you receive a pink slip. It helps to get over the natural but inhibiting desire to be complacent with a single job or relatively unchanging career.

For those not held back by inertia, but rather eager to enter the career fray this list of practices should help the career-oriented individual form a continual improvement strategy.

The Continued Growth of the Independent Worker

Posted on December 24, 2012December 28, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Among the workforce phenomena already underway prior to the recession, but which has picked up pace since, is the increasing role of independent workers. These soloists are typically defined as part- or full-time workers who do not violate the employee-defining guidelines set by various state labor, revenue, and employment security departments.

They are called by a variety of names, such as independent contractors, consultants, freelancers, self-employed, temporary, on-call workers, and even solopreneurs. Whatever you call them, their ranks are growing.

In September, MBO Partners, a service provider for independent workers and companies that hire them, released their second annual “State of Independence in America” survey. What they found was that the trend toward project or portfolio work was increasing across all demographic cohorts of today’s workforce. Conditions appear to be coalescing that allow for growth in this non-traditional employment sector.

My own speculation is that the combination of more workers accepting, perhaps begrudgingly, the new normal of an uncertain economic environment both domestically and globally, in combination with affordable technology improvements, is allowing for expansion of independent contracting.

Time will tell if independent contracting is a sustainable, non-cyclical, and viable career option. However, this survey reveals some interesting points of transition within a population historically used to finding economic security by way of a single employer. Nearly 17 million workers operate as independents currently, up one million from last year. Projections are that 23 million will be their own boss in five years.

The number of independents who claim satisfaction and reduced anxiety with this career choice is also growing. Many in fact intend to hire employees as resources allow, suggesting that independent contracting may be a gateway to larger entrepreneurial ventures.

The GenXers, those aged 33 to 49, seem to embrace this concept the most out of the demographic groups measured. Given their relative vitality coupled with some years of actual work experience they are more open to taking control of their career and lifestyle destinies, certainly more so than their employer-loyal parents.

Perhaps somewhat counter intuitively, the Gen Y (aged 21–32) workers appear to have a more mixed view of independent working, at least for now. The difficulty they have been facing in recent years entering the workforce and gaining valuable work experience may be skewing their attitude. After all, independence may not be a choice for them, but simply their school-of-hard-knocks reality.

Many Boomers (aged 50–66) on the other hand have their own reasons for resisting migration to this level of work autonomy. In short, they were not brought up this way. Rather, dedication to an employer who in turn provided economic security has been their norm. But increasingly this generation too is seeing the benefits of more self-reliance and determination as evidenced in the survey. Increased flexibility, less workplace politics, more control over scheduling, and greater opportunities to practice their individual skillsets on their terms is being seen as attractive.

I see significant advantages for our collective careers in encouraging individual economic independence. Although it may never, and perhaps should not ever, entirely replace the traditional employer-employee relationship there is nevertheless value in workers adopting a more flexible and adaptable economic position within the general workforce.

Maybe we could start preparing our youth by insisting that our schools replace some of their course load, which is of marginal importance for the mainstream, like algebra and medieval history, with financial literacy and entrepreneurism.

And Boomers, accept it. You are being ejected from the traditional workforce sooner than you expected. Your choice is becoming the pasture or carving a niche that matters to the marketplace.

Change is only going to become more exponential, not less. Preparing yourself for independent contracting may be the best way to position your career for it.

Questioning Holiday Pandemonium

Posted on December 3, 2012December 28, 2022 by Bill Ryan

These are tough times for those of us who really dislike shopping. We are not only bombarded by holiday shopping advertising everywhere we turn but are told by economists and those who report what they say that shopping is practically a patriotic duty. Apparently, the economic health of the country is largely dependent on how robust consumer activity is. The more we buy the better it is for the economy.

Now I understand retail makes up about a third of retailers’ annual revenues between Thanksgiving and Christmas and that $465B is expected to be spent on gifts, food, and decor this year alone. Clearly the 8% of the GDP driven by retail needs consumer spending. But I cannot help but to be bothered by some consequences of an economy so reliant on consumerism. For example:

Material Overindulgence: Do we really need all the stuff we have? American households are bursting with things, many of them tangential to what is necessary for survival or even a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. We collect, clutter, and hoard more and more items to fill all the space made available by our ever-larger houses.

Resource Depletion: To build, make, and produce all this stuff we are consuming vast amounts of the planet’s resources. From oil to water to minerals and beyond we voraciously harvest the earth for the by-products needed to leave ourselves saturated with products.

Global Reputation: It does not take Henry Kissinger to see why the rest of the world resents us. We consume vastly more than most of the world’s other countries. We have an insatiable per capita appetite that leaves an impression we are selfish and bottomless.

Does this holiday season again have to mean that we feel pressured to spend money that in many cases we do not have? Look how many of us cringe every January when we get that credit card statement. So much for the previous month’s Happy Holidays.

The buying binge will help retailers, (many of whom are now becoming required to work on Thanksgiving) but it comes at a cost to a society that could be placing its monetary value on more substantive and meaningful purchases.

Maybe we can temper our consumerism so that the dollars we spend reduce waste and hoarding while at the same time going into the pockets of as many of our fellow citizens as possible. Buying locally produced consumables whenever possible is one important way of strengthening our local economies. Consumables like show tickets, restaurant gift certificates, and locally grown produce put money into our communities while stemming the tide of junk purchased from national big box outlets.

But more importantly let us give serious thought to mitigating the frenzy now occurring every holiday season. Black Friday near riots and Cyber Monday shopping while “at work”?! What are we doing to ourselves?

We seem to accept that working ourselves into a holiday shopping mania is the new true meaning of Christmas. Can we just chill? Let’s bring holidays back to a simpler time of recognizing family and friends in a more calm and loving way. Can it be possible to have a season of spiritual warmth without dumping a truckload of detritus on our loved ones?

Finding a way to spur economic growth that does not rely on binge buying will be significant challenge for a society hooked on ho ho ho=dough dough dough. If I had the answer, I would print it here. All I know is that there is a downside to the type of consumerism characterizing the current state of the holiday season.

I wish my friends in retail, marketing, and manufacturing happy holidays, but I also hope that the way they approach the last two months of each year will eventually change to something less frenetic.

A Call for Future-Oriented Education

Posted on November 12, 2012December 28, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Encouraging and supporting a high quality system of educating both youth and adults is fundamental to our being a thriving and competitive country in today’s global marketplace. A nation that would short-change its schools and training opportunities gets what it pays for — an unmotivated and unskilled workforce.

But the role of educational institutions is under pressure to change not just some of its practices, but its core mission. Preparing citizens for the future is not what it used to be. Historically, it was accepted that a relatively limited set of skills were needed to fortify a person for the world that awaited. We had the canon of reading, writing, and arithmetic (still important, of course) and threw in some knowledge to encourage citizenship. However, beyond that, students were largely on their own to determine which of several career paths they would choose.

Not so in the 21st century. Even a bachelor’s degree may not be enough to suffice for an entire career. The nature of work and professionalism is changing too rapidly. In fact, it is estimated that today what one learns in college will in many ways be outdated before the student loans are paid off. Even the so-called blue-collar jobs are becoming more technical and require skills and certifications that did not exist in the recent past.

Also, blue collar no longer equates to low skill. To think that achieving a certain level of education will be adequate for almost any career today is shortsighted and rooted in old-fashioned ways of thinking.

For those dedicated to teaching, training, and helping people learn, this news is good. It means your job never ends. Education is ongoing. Learning is lifelong.

The ones who most need to reframe their thinking are all the rest of us who need to wrap our arms around the reality that obsolescence will always be nipping at our heels and that learning, relearning, and unlearning are now constants. Complacency is the greatest threat to our careers. Growing accustomed to changing skills and demands is the greatest benefit.

Workforce growth is linked to sophisticated skill development. However, according to the U.S. Labor Department there is a lack of talent in the STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), healthcare, and business. One thing this recession has made clear is that economic recovery is not about recreating conditions whereby people can return to their old jobs. It is much more about realizing that successful long-term employment is in preparing a workforce capable of performing in relevant jobs of the future. And that future is now.

Companies that do the hiring are increasingly concerned about the lack of necessary skills available. This problem is now as egregious as other competitive issues such as location, transportation of products, and procurement of materials.

The problem grows larger when you look out over the legions of unemployed and see that three-fourths of them only have a high school education. If you want to be a player in the workforce of tomorrow, you must accept that a high school diploma is not enough. Be ready to get higher ed, vocational ed, or other skill training however you can do it and know that learning will be continuous. For many of us this will be the only path to living the lifestyle we want.

Schools should start getting this message to students at a young age. Society needs to shake loose this notion that education is something you do before living. Rather, it is what we do as part of living. A thriving, dynamic, and competitive nation is one that is always learning and adapting.

Job Hopping Has Its Advantages

Posted on October 27, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

So many of us just want a job with a decent employer so we can go about our lives free of the stress and turmoil of job hunting. It is not such a bad thing to want employment complacency, as in cruising along doing something we like in exchange for the security of a steady paycheck. Unfortunately, trying to find that level of contentment in today’s job market is becoming less and less likely.

The harsh reality is that loyalty ain’t what it used to be. You may want to display loyalty and commitment to your employer, but in many cases do not expect it to be returned. The convention has become that companies and their managers are not loyal to employees. Oh, they may rely on you for the skill you can bring, and they may appreciate you when it suits them, but thinking they have your best career interests at heart is dreaming. A basic survival tip is to rely on yourself and on your own talents.

Job transitions have become more common and are expected to continue to be in the future. Although you need to be careful not to compile a history of leaving a series of jobs under negative circumstances, you do have permission to hop from a good situation to a better one. If you can make the case that the reason you are leaving a job is because your work with them is essentially completed from your perspective and that you are ready to transfer your skills to a new challenge, then why not?

There are several reasons job hopping can be good for your career. Let us begin by looking at the way multiple positions broaden your horizon. By working in a variety of settings you build a better and more realistic understanding of how companies run because of experiencing different work settings and cultures. Your network of contacts expands and your career portfolio grows. Taken together, this deepens your knowledge of your profession and makes you a more well-rounded employee.

Who knows where your future will be? Careers develop in a non-linear fashion and are likely to be a hybrid of competencies taken from many places. By adding diversity to your work history, you open the future up to greater opportunities and possibilities.

An additional value to having many jobs is the adaptability you develop. Employment maturity characterized by flexibility and an ability to change is more valuable than knowing just one organization’s way of doing things.

If you know yourself to be a high performer, then expect your talent to be desired. You may find putting yourself into a strong negotiating position is enhanced by having an attitude that you are willing to shop for the best employment opportunity at any given time. Now, if your current employer checks all your boxes, then of course stay and thrive, but if you are treading water in a ho-hum job, go ahead and actively seek an alternative.

And what may be holding you back from embracing job hopping as a career development strategy? Well, fear of course! You mind is probably going through a bad episode of the “What Ifs”. What if managers think I’m unreliable? What if there is nothing better out there than the devil I know? What if I cannot maintain the expensive lifestyle I have grown accustomed to?

So, in addition to those questions ask yourself this: Am I a go-getter or not? Am I willing to take a risk to improve? Am I as good at what I do as I think I am? If you can answer “Yes!” to these questions then job hopping may be the plan for you.

Communication Can Enhance Your Career

Posted on October 1, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Every line of work can benefit from a workforce that knows how to communicate clearly and effectively. A free and comprehensible flow of information among colleagues, across departments, and between customers and companies leads to optimal productivity and profitability. Conversely, poor communication diminishes competitiveness and the quality of service.

Normally we think that mastering a specific skillset is the surest way to advance one’s career. Obviously, the better you can advise clients on financial plans the better a financial planner you can be and the greater your command of building cabinets the more proficient a cabinet maker you will be. But a competence that is of equal importance in boosting your career across all industries is the mastering of communication.

Speaking, listening, writing, reading, and viewing are the typical communication methods that come to mind when defining what communication is. However, if we investigate these activities more carefully to see how they can affect workplace functioning we can be more mindful of how to enhance our careers by increasing the quality of work done for our employers.

I was introduced to a blog recently posted on onlinecollege.org in which the writer does an excellent job of identifying twenty-one communication mistakes to be avoided at work. Whereas all these weaknesses should be noted as important, there are some themes that stand out to me warranting further elaboration.

Taking the time to self-examine the role our individual egos play in how we communicate is well worth the effort. Look at how often we get consumed by trying to save face at work. No one wants to be seen as incompetent, which is natural, but this can lead to poor communication habits. For example, think of all the times we did not ask for clarification or help on a project or task, because we did not want to look stupid or weak.

“I’ll figure it out on my own”, we may tell ourselves only to find out that we went too far off on a tangent instead of getting to the heart of the problem to be solved. Rather, requesting clarity or assistance can be approached from a position of competence and as part of commanding style.

In writing resumes for clients, I sometimes come across performance reviews that they share with me. Here is a communication error I see managers complain about a lot — overuse of email. It may seem that we can increase the quantity of communication with email, but that does not always translate into quality. Getting on the phone or meeting face to face may take more time, but in many situations, it means better listening is occurring, leading to more cogent points being made by both parties.

Determining who is in the loop and keeping them abreast of developments in a timely manner is a sound practice. Participants on a project work best with open collaboration. It is fine for there to be a moderator but using the “Reply to All” feature in all forms of communication is often the best policy.

Good communication promotes strong teams. Given the workforce evolution toward greater teamwork, applying co-production communication techniques is a win/win for employees and employers alike.

Perhaps the most harmful communication mistake is going negative. So many workplaces are drama factories in which grown adults communicate with the level of sensitivity and self-awareness found in a junior high school cafeteria. Put a bunch of insecure and immature egos together in the same building and watch out. Management can have a big task ahead trying to herd the cats.

Martin Luther King, Jr. probably addressed this issue best when he advised that before we say something about someone else, we should test the comment by applying three conditions: Is it true? Is it fair? Is it kind? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then it is best to keep it to yourself.

Getting ahead with your career can often be little more than becoming a strong communicator. Do that and you will be noticed.

Tips for Women in Compensation Negotiations

Posted on September 10, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Negotiating terms and conditions of contracts following a hiring offer can be a daunting experience for everyone. It has been noted by many observers, including women, that women have not been as savvy as men in negotiating compensation packages. This has resulted in depressed wages for comparable work being performed by men. Breaking that mold has been hard. In many ways “business” has been set up to be a man’s world with male behaviors dominating the way business is conducted.

One of the biggest impediments for women has been the inclination to not cause what they perceive as conflict. By asking for optimal compensation, they too often feel they are rocking the boat and making waves. Throughout much of their lives they are making peace and taking care of others, which does not necessarily prepare them for the give and take and struggle of compensation negotiations.

Here are some tips that I think will help to balance the situation and benefit women in their career development.

Negotiating is a combination of art and science. Doing your research prior to negotiating is very important (which I will get into more below), but the art is equally important and has to do with body language, eye contact, authoritative voice, and the general vibes you give. I believe one’s interview and negotiating stance is enhanced by accepting that both domains deserve attention.
When being given a job it is expected that you will be thrilled about being offered the position. I would caution against letting exhilaration dictate too much of your negotiating posture. Try for a little detachment internally and in negotiations with the new employer, such that you do not lose sight of a degree of objectivity which can strengthen your hand.
Be clear on what you want as components of your overall compensation package. In addition to salary try placing an emotional and financial value on things like vacation, personal leave, and sick time; a telecommuting option; a degree of work autonomy; bonuses; a desire for a results-only-work-environment; appraisal methods; etc. You may be willing to dial salary down to ratchet some of these other benefits up.
You are in a better negotiating position the clearer you are about “internal equity”, i.e., what the employment market supports regarding your position. Many mention going to Glassdoor.com and Salary.com, which is fine. But I would expand the search to include Vault. com; The Occupational Outlook Handbook on bls.gov; onetcenter.com; and most importantly Pay Scale. Pay Scale does a great job of providing detailed salary reports for a variety of positions. They offer a free customized one for people who are starting to check them out. I recommend ordering one of these. You will feel better armed with data.
Yes, ask for relatively high compensation but without eliminating you from consideration or causing them to rescind the offer. Support the request with as many examples of transferable and related accomplishments from current and past experiences as possible in addition to tactfully communicating that you want to be lured away from your current compensation package where you now work. This is your “value add” pitch.
You may want to consider asking for performance benchmarks, perhaps in six months, communicating to them you would like the entertain the notion of a “raise” in the near term, if it is looking like their final offer may come in a bit low for you.
Keep in mind the long-term career benefit when negotiating the short-term details. This job may mark a turn that can lead to career development benefits in your chosen field far into the future. This development potential may outweigh some “lost” benefits you may experience over the next year or two.

Women are already making significant gains in education and employment in this fast-growing and knowledge-based economy. It only makes sense that compensation should follow.

Expertise Drives the Future of Employment

Posted on August 27, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Everybody wants a job. You want to go out, get hired by somebody, perform some pre-determined tasks, get paid, and go home. Simple, right? It’s the way it has always been.

But hold on a moment. The news is that working at a job will not be the same for much longer. The nature of the job is undergoing a radical shift as we become more of a knowledge-based economy. We are being told those who do not keep up with how employment is changing will be at a disadvantage in the employment marketplace going forward.

Because American workers are having to engage much more directly with global competitors, companies are required to shift the way they structure operations and employees are being forced to face a new definition of what being successful means.

The knowledge-based organization and its talent force must be more agile to meet growing business demands. They need to learn fast, communicate clearly, and adapt to change. The old method of presenting a long list of past experiences on your resume as evidence that you have current value is giving way to demonstrating that you have just-in-time needed expertise that can be applied from day one.

It is expertise more than experience that separates the future oriented worker from the old-fashioned one. If you can link your past experiences to applicable expertise that is desired now, then great. You are ready to move forward. But if you think that just having a long history of meeting the same type of responsibilities in a similar manner over time is going to separate you from the pack, then think again.

Legacy skills are taking a back seat to modernized specialized skills. Preparing for a world that honors creative and deep specializations expressed within cross-functional teams, which are not limited by borders and silos, is the future for the successful worker.

Becoming specialized is not anything new, but it is becoming increasingly important. Traditionally we have looked at our interests and early skills, matched them up with a pre-existing list of career options, and made a choice about what we would do for work.

But increasingly it is too hard to fix a list of stable careers. Technology is generating new specialties both directly and indirectly all the time. From mobile branding experts to global collaboration facilitators, the brave new world is characterized by more speed, more innovation, and greater challenges requiring novel solutions. This can also mean blending your skills into new and valuable hybrids that reflect both your interests and what sells.

Refining a set of skills, collecting quantifiable and qualitative data as evidence of proficiency, and continuously scanning the employment horizon for companies coveting your expertise is the strategy to best position yourself for opportunity.

This strategy is helped enormously by logging your accomplishments. Each professional should have a portfolio or running record of their achievements, summarized in a resume, telling the story of how expertise has and is developing. There is a big difference between telling what your expertise is and presenting confirmation of what it is.

Much is said about the importance of well-functioning teams in the workplace and with good reason. Shared and collaborative expertise enhances the strength and competitiveness of organizations. Merging common and related spheres of expertise not only benefits companies, but each of the internal players as well. Organizations that encourage continuous learning, demonstrate a culture of agility, and hire innate potential over raw experience increase their chances of attracting and retaining a high level of expertise in their workforce.

So, instead of everybody wanting a job we may soon see everybody wanting a project requiring their specialty. Adjusting your perspective now on what a job means will help your upcoming employment prospects.

Making a Resume Recruiter-Ready

Posted on August 6, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

As is the case with most industries, the profession of resume writing is trending in new directions and undergoing changes. As writers, we know that to make resumes effective for their primary purpose, getting the job candidate an interview, we must please not only the job searcher, but perhaps more importantly the recruiter or hiring manager viewing the resume.

Career Directors International, a global professional organization for career professionals, recently published their 2012 survey of hiring authorities, so that we in the business can track the latest preferences of recruiters, hiring managers, and others who source talent when viewing resumes to make hiring decisions.

As one who wants to present my clients in the best possible light to these stakeholders, what they think and want matters to me a lot. In sharing some of the more salient, and frankly unexpected, findings of the survey, we can also review what many believe to be conventional wisdom, or should I say old fashioned thinking, about the construction of resumes.

At the top of the list is the notion that resumes need to be one-page only. Only 6% of the respondents felt that way (21% did regarding blue collar resumes) with 34% preferring two pages and a surprising 37% feeling that length is not an issue if the content is quality.

Given how busy these people are you would think they would want as brief a document as possible, but apparently not so. Let us not assume this means they want pages of verbose fluff. Three-quarters of the respondents already think that there is too much embellishment in resumes, and they want less irrelevant wordiness, not more.

Functional resumes are the type that are focused on skills and competencies rather than chronological work histories. They are often used by people who have gaps in their work experience or who are just entering or returning to the workforce after a long absence. General thinking is that recruiters do not like them because of the perceived lack of consistent work experience. But a whopping 72% said “yes” or “maybe” they would consider interviewing a candidate with a functional resume and without a first-impression employment history timeline. Looks like what you can do might be starting to trump your longevity at work.

One of the big challenges in resume preparation is writing the professional summary that serves as a lead in grabbing the attention of the reader. It should tightly communicate brand, strength, and achievement. The question often is whether to include one, and if so, should it be short or long.

Again, a surprise finding is that 43% are fine with a longer summary version, 18% with a shorter version, and only 17% saying to skip it entirely. A combined 61% of respondents are therefore saying to have a professional summary. The unexpected part in this response comes in that reading a longer summary is okay with busy people. I am getting the message that good information is desired even for those with full schedules.

Finally, there is a tendency to include new elements into resumes, such as links or QR codes to social media profiles or to present resumes as web-based videos. My assumption has been that most recruiters do not like straying too far from predictable, if not traditional, resume styles. Two-thirds said looking at external links is something they would consider, but only 13% would bother with video resumes. Sounds like putting time and energy into your LinkedIn profile may get more viewership than your self-promoting YouTube video.

The bottom line is that there are few, if any, certainties when it comes to preparing your resume for competition. What is in today probably will be out tomorrow. But one absolute appears to remain: Having a resume that communicates high quality accomplishments and core competencies and that speaks to the position to which you are applying.

Is There Really a Talent Shortage?

Posted on July 16, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

There are some common claims being tossed around in the national self-diagnosis now occurring of why hiring is not significantly picking up. Declarations such as employers are learning to do more with fewer employees and that there is too much economic uncertainty to risk hiring employees, especially after how bad businesses were hurt at the start of the recession, are two assertions often heard.

There is another claim that does not get quite as much play but is starting to be heard often enough. It is that employers cannot hire as much as they would like because there is a talent shortage.

Apparently, the workplace is changing so rapidly that schools and the individuals attending them cannot keep up with newly designed job descriptions, many of which contain specialty requirements. This seems particularly true in industries such as IT and engineering.

However, the alleged shortage is occurring throughout the workforce — or so many employers tell us. We can easily be left with the impression that growth in innovation is now so exponential that it is the fault of our lagging workforce not preparing themselves briskly enough for the new world order.

So, is there really a talent shortage? Upon closer examination it may be that employers are unwittingly perpetuating a shortage and dampening hiring as a result.

Yes, employers do feel there is something wrong with the candidate pool. And that something is that candidates are not qualified enough. If there were more qualified candidates, there would be more hiring. This seems to be their charge. It must be the candidates’ problem, right?

But let us look at how the employer landscape has changed for potential employees. Employers are extremely cost conscious because of the recession. This has caused them to reduce and consolidate their workforces. Specialty hybrid positions have been created to produce more multiple-skilled positions than existed pre-recession. Therefore, when an opening occurs, a candidate is supposed to be specialized in not just one skill set but in more than one. Obviously, the pool of likely candidates just shrunk a lot.

Let us dig a little deeper. Among the costs being saved is in reducing or eliminating training and development. Why spend on onboarding when you can hire plug and play defacto independent contractors for specific projects? With no onboarding activities the expectation is that candidates must be ready to produce with little to no ramp-up time. This may discourage candidates from applying or is the cause of early departures once hired.

Another issue employers must contend with is the huge number of applicants sending in applications. A screening process must be used that selects out all but the “best”. This increasingly means use of applicant tracking system software. Two issues with this type of software. One is that it is not always very nuanced enough or sophisticated. Second, use of even the most effective software requires skillful and dedicated HR use, another area seeing cost cutting.

Potential talent is being screened out. A related issue for employers is maybe they could at least let applicants know that their application was received and processed, then they wouldn’t be left wondering if their application ever made to you, reducing the number of times they apply for the same position.

Sure, the workplace is changing, and it is important for candidates to keep skills current and to apply to only those positions for which they are qualified to succeed. But employers also have a responsibility to examine their hiring practices to see if they are contributing to not only their own “talent shortage”, but also to the stubbornly low levels of hiring nationwide.

To State the Obvious

Posted on June 25, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It is time to start stating the obvious. This is not your garden variety recession. We are not likely to bounce back to either the levels or type of employment that we had prior to 2008.

Yes, I know technically we are no longer in a recession, because we have not had two consecutive negative growth quarters since 2009. To be precise we are in a period of sluggish GDP growth. But to most Americans it feels as if the recession that started in December 2007 is still with us. This has gone on longer than it took the U.S. to defeat Germany and Japan in World War II!

Since we are stating the obvious, let us dispel a myth. No, the recession and its length are not Barack Obama’s fault. Carrying on with that thinking takes us off reflecting on what is really going on and how we need to adjust. Does anyone out there really think that if John McCain and Sarah Palin or even Mitt Romney had won the 2008 Presidential election that the economy would be all that much different today?

What we are experiencing is much bigger than Republicans vs. Democrats and their ideologies. The world is undergoing a fundamental transition, a realignment of wealth and power, and we Americans better be ready to compete in the emerging global economy unless we want to be yesterday’s story.

My principal economic concern has to do with joblessness. A society that does not have most of its citizenry gainfully employed is a society experiencing too much hardship. My principal concern is not that we are relinquishing our former status of disproportionately over-consuming the world’s resources. That was bound to change sooner or later. Much of the rest of the world is catching or has caught up to us in terms of living standards. America now must share more resources, like oil, and that is part of the pain we are feeling.

But back to employment. Some fundamental job-related trends were underway before the recession and have been accelerated by it. For example, increasing self-employment, more engagement in project or portfolio work, and a pick-up in the passive candidate or hidden job market (think networking). Realizing these trends and getting-with-the-program, as it were, will help job searchers prepare.

Note that a growing trend is not to sit for hours scrolling through postings on job board sites and electronically broadcasting your resume willy-nilly. To be clear, I am not saying do not try to get your defined message and brand out there, but do not think that sitting at a computer alone is a well-rounded job search. It is not.

Securing fulfilling employment is no more complex than weight loss. Want to lose weight? Eat fewer calories and exercise more. Want to advance a career? Develop self-marketable expertise. As simple as this sounds, we all know it can be profoundly difficult to implement. Just as we know to not fall for diet fads, we should also know to avoid simplistic messages, especially from politicians, who proclaim we can return to old patterns of employment.

A globally competitive workforce requires intelligence, foresight, creativity, and resilience. You are at root your own boss. Examine the landscape before you and take appropriate action. Rely as little as you can on the benevolence of corporate deal makers to pave the way out of the employment malaise. If your skills intersect with commercial needs, great. But if you find there are no doors to open, then you may have to build a door.

Americans have traditionally thrived, because of independent and innovative thinking. These times call for as much of that as any other time in our history. Do not wait for monthly Labor Department statistics to energize you. To state the obvious, get out there and make it happen.

Confronting Age Discrimination in the Workplace

Posted on June 4, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

By now it is conventional wisdom that age discrimination against hiring workers 50+ years of age has become excessive in recent years. Examples are becoming too numerous to count.

Here is one. I just heard from a client the other day about a directive he had heard about from a friend which was given where the friend works and was issued by an HR manager that went something like, “Give me all the names of employees over the age of 50.” The inference was clear. They were being targeted for something. Tell me. What do you think it was for? A bonus for loyalty, hard work, and willingness to slog for long hours? I doubt it. It sounds as if they were being rounded up like cattle to be sent to the slaughterhouse.

The conversation about what to do for this cohort of clients is generating chatter among career counselors and coaches for good reason. We are finding that a lot of clients are experiencing age bias and want to know what to do about it. Some of the advice I hear and read being shared is of the obvious type, such as do not list a work history longer than 15 years and do not put any graduation dates on your resume. I have to say, no matter who it is, I do not like putting any year that begins with the number “19” on a resume anymore.

Other advice that I like has to do with how the mature worker presents him or herself. Show energy and a positive attitude. Keep your body looking decent by controlling weight, taking care of yellow teeth, and retaining the healthy look that comes from not eating poorly and drinking too much. Have a professional photographer take the picture that is placed on your online profiles, so the vigor and glow show through.

Some parts of aging you cannot control. Employers seem to fear higher health care costs, because of the relatively advanced age, for example. But of the things you can control as you mature with your career you should. Keep a portfolio or log of achievements, particularly those of the past 10–15 years. Be able to demonstrate that you have made solid contributions that matter to employers now and are likely to be valued for the foreseeable future.

Never stop building your intellectual and social capital within your profession. Be able to show that you are on top of current trends and best practices. Have well-founded opinions about the future of your industry. Know what are the issues, challenges, and likely solutions that will face your profession in the coming years. In other words, stay relevant. And keep building and cultivating those professional relationships, keeping you in the game. Participate in discussions and presentations that continuously give the impression that you are engaged.

A workplace characteristic that is highly valued now and will be going forward has to do with the skill employees can show in collaborative teamwork that is not limited by arbitrary boundaries and which breaks down silos. Flatter organizations are less departmental and more creative in the way experts interact.

Although evolving organizational structures may be new, try hard to resist the temptation to think they are bad. Get with the program. One of the great raps against the older worker is their resistance to change. Rather, you should dive into these innovative ways of communicating and sharing to show that you not only embrace inventive ways of working, but that you can also bring a perspective to the conversation and strategic planning discussions which others may not be able to.

No doubt about it — it is tough out there and likely to remain so for the older worker. If you are one who does not want to retire earlier than you thought you were going to, then combat this trend with some steps that will keep you active and connected for years to come.

An Economic View of Los Angeles

Posted on May 14, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I am back in New Hampshire rebounding from an extended three-month sublet stay in Los Angeles. There were several reasons for going, and one of them frankly was to escape for the first time in my 59 years, a New England winter. Little did I realize that the northeast’s winter would be the warmest since Biblical times, but I enjoyed sunny Southern California, nevertheless.

Given that I try to help people find meaningful and satisfying work I tend to observe the local economy whenever I travel. I am interested in several indicators like the number of open store fronts and office space available, how many houses and condos are for sale, local news reports regarding employment, and the overall demeanor of commercial street activity. Observing the economic goings-on of LA was then natural. I would like to share some of what I saw in this other corner of the country.

To begin, it might be useful to mention what I expected to see of California coming from a state (NH) that certainly has experienced a tough downturn as of late, but that weathered the Recession better than many other states, including CA. I had heard about their 10%+ unemployment rate, high number of home foreclosures, elevated cost of living, multitudes of illegal immigrants, and the state government’s inability to fund many services.

And then there is the whole Tinsel Town reputation the city has, replete with superficiality and inflated egos all vying for someone’s, no, anyone’s, attention. I was expecting the city to be facing hard times. Were these negative preconceptions reinforced through observation? Not nearly as much as I thought they would be.

On the contrary, living on LA’s Westside I saw vitality, lots of economic activity, and surprisingly little homelessness. The place is abuzz. Now I was not in one of the more upscale sections, such as Brentwood, Westwood, or Marina Del Ray (Although I was within walking distance to the charming Culver City). What I saw in what passes for LA middle class was that most commercial and residential, buildings and the sidewalks connecting them were occupied by a mix of Mexicans, Pakistanis, Asians, African Americans, Middle Easterners, Indians, Central Americans, Jews, Muslims, transplanted Europeans, Christians, Hare Krishnas, Anglos, and others in a single non-segregated community. Business was being exchanged robustly within this checkered population. Residentially, too, there was a high level of integration.

The one sociological and economic phenomenon that is historic and is still occurring to a large extent is the labor class being largely inhabited by Latinos. They are washing the cars, cleaning the buildings, maintaining the gardens, and doing the construction. But the strong family bonds I saw shared, the high quality of the work shown, and the ubiquitous Spanish language that rivals English in community usage demonstrates the growing power and influence of this group in the life of the city.

One could think that the second largest city in the country would have such a diversity of industry that no one field would predominate over the others. It does not take long to see, however that entertainment is king here. The movie, television, and music industries strongly support the economy, culture, and lifestyle of Los Angeles.

From the large studios like Paramount, Warner Brothers, and Sony to the small boutique editing shops that dot the cityscape, production of what the world likes to see and hear is foundational to what makes this place tick. But it is not just the production of a commodity that defines the character of the city. It is their ability to be creative and innovative that is so striking. LA attracts artists from around the world that form a vibrant creative arts scene. New ideas and ways of shaping the future abound. Hybrid concepts are everywhere. I saw what I believe to be America’s future alive today in Los Angeles.

One scene that captured LA life for me was a day in February when I was walking along a residential street, and I heard the oncoming din of pop music pounding out of the windows of an approaching car. Expecting a teenager to be behind the wheel, I found myself doing a double take at one of the neighborhood’s Islamic women wearing a burqa driving a Prius and playing her contemporary music at top volume. I knew then that I wasn’t in New Hampshire anymore.

Retail Sales as a Possible Career Choice

Posted on April 26, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Lots of people work in retail. Whether one has chosen it as a career or is parked there temporarily as they try to put their career plans together, retail employment occupies the time and energy of millions of employees.

Retail is viewed simultaneously as both career-lite by some and then again very seriously, particularly for managers and people passionate about the product they are selling. Trying to determine if long-term work in retail is right for you requires a bit of contemplation and planning.

By retail we generally mean selling products in a brick-and-mortar store. How much longer this will last is uncertain. On the one hand it is obvious that millions still love to “go shopping”, i.e., getting into a car, driving to a store where you can browse, selecting items to buy, packing them into the car, and taking them home.

But buying products is migrating much more to an online shopping practice that leaves the driving to UPS and FedEx. Come home from work and there awaits the product you ordered two days ago from your phone while watching TV. Even Best Buy, which appeared victorious when defeating Circuit City in the consumer electronics war a few years ago, is now in trouble. Are they being challenged by another big box outlet? No. They are being threatened by Internet shopping.

So, expecting a long career in retail is like expecting certainty in any kind career today — do not count on it. But does that mean devoting your career to selling products is a dead end? Not necessarily. Let us look at a company that knows a thing or two about the Internet, but that also performs retail selling at a high end.

Apple Retail Stores, yeah, the computer guys, manage to create a superior shopping experience for consumers. Ever walk into one of these glass and white steel shops? They are as clean and antiseptic as the spacecraft on 2001 A Space Odyssey and occupied by intelligent, enthusiastic, and hip salespeople. Apple has done a great job of not only creating a compelling store, but they have mastered providing high quality customer service and an overall attractive customer feel.

They have a way of dividing and training their sales teams into Experts, Specialists, Geniuses, and Creatives. Experts determine what you need and then send you to Specialists who understand the products inside and out or to Geniuses who are real live human tech support. Maybe a chat with a Creative is needed so that you can truly geek out with someone who knows your Mac at a higher level. Together they work to deliver the revered Apple brand at the most personal of levels while leaving the consumer feeling that they are being well cared for.

It is possible to work in high quality retail as our friends at Apple have shown. And it stands to reason that this model could work with other products as well. Perhaps a way to look at a career in retail is to think about which of these Apple-like categories you may fall into and then hone your skill in one or more of these select selling areas.

Combining product expertise with person-to-person outreach to consumers looking for solutions can develop into a wonderful career, whether it is in a real or in a virtual store.

Reflections On My Business

Posted on April 9, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

With this, my 100th blog posting since opening my career development business Ryan Career Services LLC in January 2009, I am compelled to stray from my usual pattern of offering career advice to instead summarizing how the business experience has been for me and to reflect on what I have learned from this venture.

Following a 31-year career in public education, which I left in 2008, I was primed to try something completely different — an entrepreneurial enterprise that capitalized on strengths I had developed as a teacher. Primarily, to assist each individual to become the best they could be.

I had been working on the concept, including the writing of a business plan, for three years prior to formally offering career counseling, coaching, and resume/cover letter writing services. Although I felt qualified to deliver a superior experience for clients I found myself faced with two big uncertainties:

1. Was there really a viable market for these services just waiting to be tapped into?

2. What impact would the start of the most serious economic recession since the Great Depression have on the success of my business?

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard from people that “so many must need what you are offering during these times!” But what I found instead was that I was competing against the need for people to make sure they had food and shelter as the unemployment rate continued to rise.

The first year had an expected financial loss. I was not naïve enough to think a profit was to be realized at the outset. Despite the anxiety associated with launching a business, however, what I most feel now about that first year is profound gratefulness for the clients I did have who placed their trust and dollars with me.

I had two goals for year two. One was to increase my knowledge and skill and to refine my expertise. This did happen and continues to this day. I wanted to strike a balance between what service I could credibly provide with what service clients most wanted. I did get closer, but realized that this would be an ongoing process. What I learned from teaching came to mind — there is no pinnacle of perfection. You always keep learning.

The second goal had to do with trying to build a positive cash flow. Quite simply I wanted revenues to at least match expenditures. I achieved that point by the end of the third quarter and have never looked back.

Two significant lessons from year two included:

1. Half of my time was being spent on marketing, which I found interesting, but had no experience with at all. I can say, however, that I became impressed with the power and cost effectiveness of pay-per-click campaigns on Google AdWords. That along with continued optimization of my website has strongly increased my exposure.

2. The realization that career development was becoming more technological, in that how a client appeared online correlated more and more with the success of their career and employment prospects. It was during this time that I added a third leg to my stool, that of Online Profile Management. I became committed to being a go-to professional in this early stage industry.

By year three I reached an important milestone by earning one of the nation’s most prestigious resume writing credentials, the ACRW or Academy Certified Resume Writer. This has boosted not only my writing capacity, but my client base. Consequently I also found my writing going into two additional areas along with resumes and cover letters: LinkedIn Profiles and Professional Biographies.

Financially, I set a specific revenue-to-expense ratio goal to reach by year’s end that I again hit by the end of Q3. I began paying myself for the first time and found that my first big uncertainty from the start was no longer one. I became convinced that there is a market for these services.

But there was another significant risk to take. I knew I would get to this at some point and the beginning of year four, my current year, was the time to take it. I had always envisioned the business becoming one that drew in clients from around the country and that I would not be too reliant on just one geographical region, like New Hampshire. I knew that my lifestyle was starting to shift to one that involved more travel and living for extended periods in other places beyond NH. I have always felt that technology gave me the tools to merge a mobile style of living with the ability to continuously bring in work no matter where I was — as long as I had an Internet connection.

The past three months gave me an opportunity to test this concept out. I just finished living in Los Angeles for the winter, which is about as far away as one can get from NH while still being in the U.S. What have I learned?

1. The writing services are much more mobile than counseling. I provide resumes, cover letters, online profile, and professional biography writing services to clients from around the country who I never meet face to face. Many times we may never even speak on the phone. Email is an incredibly efficient means of conducting this end of the business.

2. How to offer career counseling and coaching from afar remains elusive. Despite Skype, webcams, and video conferencing technology the adoption rate for utilizing these tools into a counseling context is slow. For the issues that are raised in these types of sessions, the preferred means of contact is still face to face. I am still working on figuring this one out.

3. Marketing on a national level can be a lot more expensive than on a state or regional level. Google AdWords is based on selecting geographies to showcase your ads. That is no longer as relevant to me as before, even if I pick multiple locations to post ads. Pay-per-click with sites that are more national and targeted to professionals, such as LinkedIn, may be more appropriate. I shall see.

Financially, I have lost ground as I try to shift to building a more national client base. But I am confident that I can make this work eventually.

The other challenge that I have faced is to develop a resume writing tutorial service that is usable from my website for those clients who want to try their own hand at writing a resume, but who need a teacher to guide them. I have begun working with a web developer who has experience in course management software. I hope to have this up and running by the end of year four.

In closing, I have to say that my basic premise, which has always been that the quality of one’s life is tightly linked to the character of their work, has been reinforced by working with hundreds of clients to date. As the saying goes, do what you love and you will never work a day in your life, still holds. I feel very fortunate to be playing a small role in helping people reach that goal.

Success and Happiness

Posted on March 19, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

We have all been taught that if we toil, apply ourselves, and put our noses to the grindstone that we can attain success which leads to happiness. Contentment, we are told, must be preceded by success, which in turn must be preceded by hard work that is often associated with not being happy. This cause-and-effect paradigm is an American truism harkening back to our earliest past. And it continues to find widespread expression, particularly with a bullying management style that implores workers to row harder.

But could it be possible that the success/happiness formula should be viewed in reverse? Rather, happiness begets success. There is a researcher and writer named Shawn Achor who postulates in his book The Happiness Advantage that conventional thinking has this cause-and-effect sequence wrong. He is instead promoting the notion that happiness forms the groundwork for success to occur. Achieving a grand objective like finding deep satisfaction from one’s work can best be reached by approaching your job from a positive place to begin with. Having a more enlightened outlook and energized perspective is preparatory to meeting your goals.

The brain may be better suited toward intelligence and innovation when the emotional state is uplifted. Possible routes to greater success become apparent with a more resilient and stress-free mind. If we consider for a moment that Achor has this right, then it begs the question of how we are all so off track. We as a culture seem to have accepted the belief that negativity, in the form of unpleasant exertion, sets the stage for a better life to come.

I think of the mythic entrepreneur who works day and night to launch and grow a business and then retires many years down the road, living with the gratification of a job well done. Working “day and night” sounds unpleasant, doesn’t it? But for the truly successful it may not be. The difference between finding success and just getting a job done may come from the level of positive thinking present in the individual.

The problem with thinking of success in a traditional sense is that it is so elusive. When we successfully reach a work quota, then management sets a higher goal. If we increased revenues by 18% this month, then we need to hit 22% next month. The goal post is always being placed just a little further away, the bar is raised just a little higher to meet success. Attainment becomes fleeting, a temporary waystation on the road to something bigger and better. This set of circumstances has really become the norm in these post-recession days of workplaces always trying to do more with less.

Perhaps our competitive nature has us on edge in ways that detract from the preconditions necessary to approach our objectives. When work becomes a slog, our positivity slips away and the “success” we achieve may be of a lower quality than is otherwise possible. Maybe it is time to think that having a more positive attitude makes us more productive.

If an elevated level of positivity leads to a more productive and higher quality success, then how do we get to this starting place? Reframing your perspective may be the place to begin. Note the good stuff around you, appreciate what is right, favorable, and agreeable in your daily life and in the work you do. Being kind to others whenever will raise your mood and influence your behavior. Take the time to be healthy and make lifestyle choices that are potent for your mind and body. As counterintuitive as it may sound, you may have to work at being positive. If we over-focus on the negative aspects of our work or feel happiness is to be delayed until success is found, then we may never really get there.

Happiness need not be a dreamy far away goal. Instead, it may be a state of mind that we continually build upon no matter where we are in the success cycle.

Preparing For the Changing Workplace

Posted on February 27, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I recently read an article in a statewide business news publication written by a respected and intelligent business pro who was also an obvious Baby Boomer. In it he directed a subtle jab at LinkedIn, the social media website dedicated to professionals, and with it a not-so-subtle poke at social media in general.

Although I agree with his point that time is too valuable to waste on frivolous or trivial matters, I do not think this necessarily applies to social media. But what struck me more was the tone of the piece, which I place as another example of a problem older generation workers have in succeeding in today’s job market.

As I have indicated in the past, we are living through a period of age bias when it comes to hiring mature workers, many of whom were laid off aggressively during the recession. To date, much of this age cohort is struggling to get re-employed. A key reason for the reluctance to bring mature workers back on board, despite their vast experience and accumulated wisdom, is because they are not keeping up with, and in many cases resisting, technological changes that are largely being driven by the generation of their children. And with each passing day it is this emerging younger section of the workforce that is setting hiring policies.

Rapid innovations of a technological nature seem to fall into two main interrelated areas: Information Search/Management and Interpersonal Connectivity. Efficiently reaching out to grab the data you want when you need it and connecting to people you need to when you want them is driving much of the hardware, software, and web-based applications currently available and under development.

The necessity of achieving this efficiency is reflected in many workplaces today and that is expected to grow in time. As a result, the current and future workforce is expected to be adept with the tools and apps of information management and connectivity. Just as many employees now are expected to use email and word processors, a similar familiarity is becoming expected with various types of social media and Internet navigation.

There is no question that keeping up with these new demands can be daunting and intimidating for some, particularly for the older folks among us. When we look at the younger generation and see that their daily use of Facebook and smart phones is as common to them as telephone and television are to us, it can leave us feeling out of touch.

One option often taken by older workers is to develop an attitude that the way young people act is superficial, misguided, or even wrong. We think that we got by just fine without these gadgets and that these changes are not necessary. Now does it sound familiar from our distant Boomer past that an older generation just didn’t get the younger one?

The larger issue is accepting change. Adaptability is one of the most important and employable traits a person can have, especially during the time of exponential change we live in now. Unfortunately, older workers are too often feeding the perception that we are not adaptable and even potential impediments to innovation. When we observe a now common practice and describe it as a bandwagon or fad, we place ourselves out of the new mainstream. If you are trying to present yourself as relevant in today’s workplace this is not a message you should be broadcasting.

The challenge for mature workers is to merge their attributes of solid work ethic, tenacity, and big picture viewpoint with the obvious and fluid developments of conducting business in the modern era. We do not have to necessarily embrace and personally adopt every new practice, but it is in our interests to at least try to understand the trends that underlie them.

When you think about it, Baby Boomers were the ones who once prided themselves on agitating traditional thinking and setting out to create a new world. If any generation should be able to show flexibility and have an appreciation for new ways of doing things it should be them.

Networking For Introverts

Posted on February 13, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

One of the most disheartening things for an introverted job seeker to hear is that networking is by far the most effective means of finding new employment.

Networking conjures images of energetic engagement in small talk or worse yet, meaningful conversation with total strangers! It might not be so bad if the introvert could just position themselves in a designated spot and gregarious people could walk over one at a time and begin the dialogue. But, of course, insult must be added to injury, because it is often necessary for the introvert to commence an outreach to others.

One of the great paradoxes of our time is that despite all our technologically remote connectivity, a valuable face to face relationship is more important than ever in career development. Looking for work by just visiting online job boards and social media sites is not good enough. You still must know how to mix it up with real people to get ahead.

Introverts are, well, reserved. They can be much better at avoiding networking events than they are at attending them with the greater challenge being to turn them into productive job seeking sessions. I should know. I am by nature an introvert and have been spending a lifetime learning how to not let this potentially negative side inhibit me professionally. The good news is that introverts can learn to turn their inwardly focused attributes into networking strengths.

Let’s begin by looking at some common traits introverts typically display that can come in handy with networking. Here is one. Introverts really value close relationships, and a few deep ones are better than lots of superficial ones. They do this by caring for the welfare and happiness of others. Time is spent being good listeners and asking probing questions to make sure they clearly understand the perspectives of others.

Another one is that people with introverted tendencies usually prefer structured and goal-driven contact with others, particularly in a work-related context, which job hunting is. So, planning the outreach such that it is designed to cover specific topics, answer targeted questions, and contact a pre-determined number of people are measurable ways of satisfying that a purpose is being achieved with the networking effort.

Getting back to introverts having a few close connections. Take a trusted companion along with you to a networking event. Have them be your moral support, your sounding board, and your feedback loop, so that you can get through this and maybe even grow as a result.

Finally, put your research skills to use. Introverts are good at digging for data online and in print. Study up on the people you want to know better and share tidbits of knowledge with them, leaving the impression that you care about your new contacts and what they do.

Whether one is extroverted or introverted it is good to push yourself out of your comfort zone on occasion. By doing so we learn and grow. Being adaptable is an important survival skill for the 21st century. And this skill cannot be strengthened by hiding in a shell. Introverts can and do adapt to challenging situations just like everyone else. Finding that zone, which allows you to build purposeful relationships can be some of the most rewarding, albeit not the easiest, time spent during your job search.

The Six Biggest Blunders of Job Applicants

Posted on January 30, 2012August 4, 2022 by Bill Ryan

With an uptick in hiring expected this year the combination of those trying to get back into the workforce and those currently hired but wanting new positions will mean that hiring competitiveness is likely to remain high.

Yet not every job seeker apparently knows how to compete. Common complaints can be heard from company interview teams, HR personnel, and recruiters about what kinds of job applicant behaviors lead to rejection. If your goal is to make a potential employer say, “You’re hired!”, then be aware of what turns them off and resolve to bring your A-game to the interview.

Following are six frequent blunders I read about from those looking to align talent with employment:

Blunder #1: Being Sloppy with the Basics: Examples are having a poorly thrown together resume, showing up late for and/or carrying a cup of coffee to an interview, and not being truthful about claims of past work that will easily be found out during a background check. Also, do not talk trash about your former employer. Nothing says “troublemaker” like an interviewee going on about what a jerk their last boss was.

Blunder #2: Not Doing Your Homework: It is hard to believe, but there are people applying for jobs with companies they know nothing about. Compare that to the applicant who can cite statistics, market advantage, and the mission of the company. Having a sense of the culture matters, too. Walking into a casual creative work environment wearing a Brooks Brothers could be a “Whoops!” moment.

Blunder #3: What Can You Do for Me?: I hope you still are not applying for jobs thinking that a company’s first concern is the health of your career track. You are going there to serve them and meet their needs. Addressing the gaps, shortages, threats, and obstacles that impede productivity are what matter most to hiring managers. Go prepared to present yourself as the value they crave to help them be successful.

Blunder #4: Not Preparing for the Interview: Do not try to wing it. Interviews may be stressful, but they are not rocket science. Describe your well-rehearsed value proposition; be able to give examples of how you were a star performer; be ready to cite a couple of past weaknesses you are improving; and be quick on your feet to tell how you would handle a hypothetical challenge thrown at you.

Blunder#5: Doing All Job Hunting Online: I still hear this a lot. People’s idea of a complete job hunt is going to online job boards and posting their resume, then waiting for the interview requests to roll in. This should be a small part of the search. The bigger effort should be to shoe-leather your network. Get and stay in touch with the rich set of contacts you should have built up to see what opportunities they may have. Do not forget to reach out to them with offers of help as well.

Blunder #6: Not Presenting Yourself as a Professional: Demeanor, comportment, body language, being well spoken, and projecting confidence all play an important part in how you are perceived. When your game is off in any of these areas it shows and works against you. The belief is that the more competent someone is it will show in how they hold themselves. Haven’t you noticed how true this is?

Increased hiring, if in fact that is what we are starting to experience, should not translate into not having to work exceptionally hard for those new jobs. On the contrary, it means you just need to be sharper than ever before.

How To Deal with Three Sticky Interview Questions

Posted on January 16, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The good news is that you have been called in for an interview! But wait just a minute! The bad news is that you have been called in for an interview!

The long-awaited interview can be your ticket to a new and better job, but it can also be an anxiety producer that keeps you up nights worrying. You are going to be called on to perform at a high level by people who may determine the course of your career and therefore your future. There is no easy way to say it — this is a critical chance to show them what you are made of.

Getting into the proper mindset is important. First, know that you need to prepare for the event. Second, realize you cannot memorize and rehearse every move you are going to make. (Translation: over-preparation can hurt you.) Third, you are going to have to rely on some confidence, instinct, and self-knowledge.

Preparation for an interview involves a few basic things. Among them is researching the potential employer, which will make you better able to align your skill set with their needs. Also, anticipate that you will need to communicate with a positive attitude, subject matter expertise, interpersonal skills, and problem-solving ability as well.

But knowing the type of questions you may be asked is one of the best ways to prepare. The purpose here is to see if you are a good fit for the open position. This is accomplished by directing questioning to see if you have the required skills, knowledge, and abilities to perform optimally. To determine this, interviewers usually select questions that are behavioral and situational.

Behavioral questions are designed to analyze actual instances that you have faced in the past to see how you performed. A school principal may be asked how they handled an irate parent of a student, for example. Situational questions are similar except that the context is hypothetical. So, a structural engineer may be asked what immediate steps she would follow if metal fatigue was identified in bridge supports.

But an interview team is probably going to want to get a general sense of your overall character beyond just your specific qualifications. There are three questions that often come up to elicit this:

#1: What is an example of a time you made a real difference for your employer? Even if you felt that you were just a cog in a machine, being prepared to explain why you were a good cog will help your cause. Telling how you increased production, saved costs, and handled unique challenges are ways of answering this question. Have a pertinent story or two prepared to tell. And I do mean story, not just a short one or two sentence response.

#2: How do you deal with conflict on the job? No matter the industry, one of the most common complaints of management involves employees, including managers, who cannot get along with colleagues or customers. Poor communication and mismatched personality types lead to lost productivity and poor morale. Having examples of how you did not contribute to and even improved a negative social climate at work will show you to be the team player every employer wants.

#3: Why did you leave your last job? Be honest. If the reason is because you truly see the next opportunity as an advancement for the new employer and your career, then the question is a softball. But if you were terminated, then answering honestly becomes more challenging. Still, do not come across victimized. Focus on what you learned and how it has made you grow and explain how you are now even better prepared for adding value to their operation.

Here is your chance to shine, not shake. Do your part to turn the interview into a golden moment.

Enhancing Your LinkedIn Profile

Posted on January 2, 2012December 27, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Establishing a solid LinkedIn (LI) profile is the first step to managing your overall professional online profile. If you are in the market for a new job, it is helpful to know that recruiters are all over LinkedIn looking for talent. Not being present at all on LinkedIn is a big mistake in today’s technical and connected world. But almost as bad as not showing up is having a mediocre or shoddy profile. It screams of a lack of professional effort. So, to make the most of your LI profile building time here are some tips that will leave you looking sharp.

Before starting enhancements, you should know about a couple of privacy controls. If you are like most busy people, you may be thinking that you will chip away at your profile improvements piecemeal when time allows. But as any LinkedIn user knows, you get periodic updates that show the activity levels of your connections. Now there may be occasions when you do not want your LI world to know that you are upgrading your profile too frequently. It can give the impression that you are looking for other work, which may be off-putting to your current colleagues. If this issue is one of yours, then look for the “Turn on/off your activity broadcasts” link in the Privacy Controls sections of Settings.

You also have the option of selecting who can see your activity feed in the same Privacy Controls area. You can choose from everyone, your connections, your network (connections plus group members), or “Only you”. The latter essentially eliminates anyone from seeing your editing activity.

With activity viewing determined, you are ready to start tinkering with your Introduction field:

Headline: This is important. It should begin with a short description of your professional expertise rather than just listing your current job title and employer’s name. Make this headline searchable by selecting key words that home in on your specialty.
Picture: Do not just crop a decent looking detail from a larger JPG. Get a headshot taken by a professional photographer.
Connections: Sure, the more you have the more connected you look. But do not just invite anyone to be a connection. Choose from people who you respect and vice versa. Quality professionals provide more opportunity than a stuffed ballot box. And I must admit that I have a gripe when one’s contact list is closed. Shouldn’t a viewer be able to see who your connections are? After all, networking is what LI is all about.
Recommendations: Try to get at least three. These do not have to be essays either. Well written and complimentary short paragraphs can be just fine.
Website links: You can include up to three. Your employer, a professional organization that you belong to, or better yet, your own website can all be included.
Public Profile link: Go into settings and customize this to show your name without any of the trailing digits. Consider placing this link in the contact data section of your resume.
Twitter feed: Short timely tweets interfaced with your LI account keep the Profile fresh.

Once your Intro field has been polished it is time to tackle the meat of the profile:

It is good to have a look that more closely resembles a well written resume, i.e., including quantifiable accomplishments. Collecting and communicating quantifiable achievements should come through strongly in your Summary and Experience sections. Always be careful to avoid just very basic responsibilities and tasks, but rather include accomplishments and results as much as possible.
There are some great additional sections that can be included such as Skills, Honors and Awards, and Volunteer Activities, among many others. Try to at least add a Skills Section.
Blogging or micro blogging with Twitter can keep the Profile even more dynamic and show your connections that it is being frequently updated. It also adds to the impression that you are a subject matter expert. It is not that hard to have your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages all updated simultaneously.
Do you like to make PowerPoint presentations? You can design one about yourself and post it for viewers to play.
Groups are one of this tool’s most powerful networking features. Joining and participating in groups allows you to learn from and influence others. It is a great way to get known by others.
The Education section is straight forward enough, but if you are 45 years old or older be careful of the rampant age bias going on in today’s world of work. You do have the option of not including your graduation date.

With a good LinkedIn profile in place, you will find that it is easier to promote yourself in a competitive employment climate.

Meeting the Needs of Employers

Posted on December 19, 2011April 2, 2022 by Bill Ryan

When searching for any new employment opportunity many of us tend to view the process as one focused solely on what is best for us as individuals. It certainly makes sense that we would want what is best for us, especially when it comes to such a time and energy expender as a job is. Too many of us are stuck in draining and unfulfilling jobs as it is. But by concentrating too much on what employment can do for us we may drift away from considering enough of the other side of the equation — what potential employers need from us.

Satisfying employment is a win-win fit between employee and employer. Workers get to ply their trade in what for them is the most conducive environment for generating production and the front office gets to optimally benefit from this productivity. The sooner new job seekers understand about what paycheck providers want from their workforce the greater will be the chance of finding a fit.

In general, employers are interested in three things:

Making money

Saving money

Becoming more efficient and competitive with achieving #1 and #2

If you cannot address these needs concretely your chances of getting hired are slim.

A huge contributor to the poor hiring situation these days centers around costs. Companies have become aggressive about trying to do more with less. We have all heard about how those not laid off are being squeezed by taking on the workload of those who were. And you are not only competing with other applicants for jobs, but also with cost saving procedures, equipment, and technologies. Being good is not good enough anymore. You need to convince hiring personnel that you are great.

Think of employers as consumers out shopping for the best deal. Their logic is not different from any of the rest of us. We all want the most value for the lowest price. As demeaning as it may sound, to employers we are commodities. They won’t “buy” us unless we are seen as a valued acquisition. Being able to promote yourself as a potentially valuable possession has become Job Search 101. Fitting your value proposition firmly with their value longings is more important than ever. Once job aspirants accept this Darwinian reality the more likely they can get hired.

Sure, when assessing an employment opportunity go ahead and think to yourself, “Here’s what’s in it for me,” but communicate to them, “Here’s what’s in it for you.” Be an answer to their questions while building emotional, social, and intellectual capital for yourself. Their goal is to succeed in business. Your goal is to succeed in your career. The two objectives need not be mutually exclusive.

For job seekers to practice a little solution selling is not a bad idea. By focusing on solutions rather than features you can appear more appealing. Knowing clearly the threats and weaknesses faced by an employer best positions you for an outreach to them. Adequately researching a potential employer and tactically disclosing that you have done your homework in your cover letter and interview while emphasizing how you will address the three points above is smart to do. Do not just be assertive, be relevant.

Preparing for a work search has always been strategic for the ones who got the best jobs. They have applied best practices. We can all learn useful lessons from watching how they operate. Savvy career advancers know how to promote not just their best qualities, but how they bring resolutions to the fundamental challenges of running a business. The basic strategy begins with this — believe in and champion yourself as someone they cannot do without.

What Is Behind “Occupy Wall Street”?

Posted on December 5, 2011December 23, 2022 by Bill Ryan

“At many stages in the advance of humanity, this conflict between the men who possess more than they have earned and the men who have earned more than they possess is the central condition of progress.” — Theodore Roosevelt, 1910.

As any student of history knows, there is a relatively limited set of macro issues that ebb and flow in various manifestations over the long-term. This quote from President Roosevelt, a Republican, from 100 years ago seems tailor made for describing the discontent expressed by the current Occupy Wall Street movement underway today. Despite the movement’s excessively grassroots and decentralized focus it is an example of a long-held view that reemerges occasionally in American history — that concentration of wealth among a few and the consequent constricted distribution of resources can get the masses riled.

The economic dislocation being experienced by so many over the past three years is starting to be seen from a perspective not generally voiced during this Great Recession until quite recently. That being the economic downturn is largely the result of intentional manipulation by the richest segment of society (the 1%) to protect their financial interests at the expense of everyone else (the 99%).

This is a dramatic change of view, which may have more political implications in 2012 than economic ones. It represents a possible shift in popular thinking that until now seems to have been dominated by hard right conservative ideology stating government is more to blame for the bad times.

Even astute political observers did not see this one coming. Although the future of the movement is uncertain, now that the Occupy protests are here it is not all that surprising they are occurring. The two Americas made up of the haves and the have-nots seem to be becoming more starkly divided. Many of the nouveau-poor are not just experiencing temporary employment and financial setbacks, they are seeing their worlds turned upside down. The rules have changed, dreams have been shattered, and the new normal is much more insecure and harsher than in the past.

If the discontent was somehow being shared across all classes and economic strata, then the anger might have been more muted. But it is not. Those who have slipped down the ladder are instead seeing the “swollen fortunes of the few” (another TR phrase) being enjoyed by people, many of whom seem to be culpable for creating this mess in the first place.

Although the Occupy protesters can sometimes be seen as having a muddled message and questionable tactics, for example letting their energy be diluted by directly battling police (part of the 99%) more than the 1% they claim to oppose, there are elements of the current political narrative that do seem to be instigating their clamor. Here are three main motivators of Occupy Wall Street that I am hearing from their sympathizers:

The Bush tax cuts for the rich must be maintained, because they make it possible for the rich to create jobs. Really? These tax cuts have been around ten years. It is hard to say they have been stimulating much job growth as of late.
The more vigorous and vocal Tea Party movement promotes shrinking government thereby encouraging the growth of the private sector. But for all the wealth generation potential of the private sector they were also the ones involved in selling over-speculative housing-related investments and encouraging bad mortgages. In other words, greed and self-interest can rule in the private sector over the concerns of the commonwealth.
No one from Wall Street has yet been sent to jail even though the collateral damage to the economy has been far worse than any robbery. This charge has some genuine weight.

Shared sacrifice and wealth distribution appear to be what is called for by Occupy Wall Street. Whether a legitimate demand or not, this belief has become a new variable injected into the national conversation about how the Great Recession began and what kind of America will emerge from its wreckage.

Ten Economic Trends That Can Drive Career Choice

Posted on November 21, 2011December 23, 2022 by Bill Ryan

A prominent type of article or blog in the career development field, and indeed in popular culture, is of the “hottest careers of the year” variety. You know the kind, “Hottest Careers of 2012”, “Coolest Jobs for Today’s College Grads”, and “Present Day Must-Have Careers”.

These make for interesting reading, but they do not represent a best practice approach for choosing careers to begin or to transition into. By the time someone gathers the training and education to move into a “hot career”, chances are that it could have gotten lukewarm in the meantime.

I think a better approach in determining careers that may have some significant employment longevity comes from identifying longer-term economic trends. Although the pace of change is accelerating in the world of work, as it is around the globe in general, there are some directional swings that appear to be long lasting, if not fundamental, for the foreseeable future.

Separating flavor-of-the month crazes from structural underlying movements can result in higher quality career decision making. If you are going to invest lots of time and money in preparing for a career, it is reasonable to expect some return for your efforts.

Marrying individual talents with macro changes in the economy can lead to a higher degree of employment sustainability in an otherwise fluid and fickle world. But reader beware. I do not tell you how to convert these trends into careers for each of you individually. Without inventive and visionary thinking on your part, dovetailing your skill set and education into these sweeping changes will not magically happen on its own.

Just as there are many jobs today that did not exist ten years ago, there will be many niches ten years from now that are not present today. Although not intended to be an exhaustive listing, what follows are ten economic and social trends I see as having great potential for driving career creation.

Aging population and care giving: The ubiquitous Baby Boomers are now retiring, or will be soon, at a rapid rate. Healthcare is obviously to be impacted, but so are industries that can take advantage of relatively high disposable income coinciding with their material downsizing.
Growing Latinization: The language and cultural influences of Southern Europe are catching up with those of Northern and Central Europe in America. The melting pot is developing a distinctly Latin flavor that will affect industries across the board.
Workplace cost controls and data driven decision making: Getting smarter with information was beginning before the recession and has now become a field in and of itself. Opportunities abound for those who can elevate efficiencies through sophisticated means of analyzing and drawing cost saving conclusions from data.
Globalization: Economic interconnectedness already affects our daily lives and will become only further intertwined as sovereign economies morph into new and different multi-national configurations. Goods and services competing on a more global scale will require nimble, flexible, and intelligent business practices.
Wireless, Mobile and Cloud Computing: There are no signs of technology reaching a plateau. On the contrary, the speed of innovation and the integration of new functional utilities appears limitless.
War on Terrorism: Unfortunately, war in the 21st century may be endless. Terrorism will ebb and flow and violent conflict is now more at a citizen vs. citizen level rather than at a nation-state level. Security and international relations will continue to be in a heightened state.
Organic Food Industry: Healthy eating at an affordable price from foods grown locally is likely to continue expanding. Sustainable and high-quality agriculture is becoming increasingly valuable to more and more consumers.
Audiology: We are bombarded with sound continuously. And we have very effective means of shooting it into our ears. Tell me this is not going to affect the hearing of an aging noise-saturated population.
Simulation Engineering and Robotics: Training, education, and gaming are just three activities that will benefit from more refined means of simulation. Resource, time, and cost savings will arise from greater use of fabricated experiences that leave end-users with an enhanced empiricism.
Genetics in Healthcare: A revolution is in its infancy with molecule-specific treatment of disease and super-informed healthful advice. Ancillary industries resulting from knowledge of the human condition at a cellular or deeper level are boundless.

Long-term job seekers, start your engines!

Holding On and Letting Go

Posted on November 7, 2011December 23, 2022 by Bill Ryan

My thoughts are with the long-term unemployed. Those who for a year or more have desperately been trying to find work but who remain unsuccessful. For those of you who truly want work, but are continually not being recognized for your potential, the burden is heavy. Among the tragedies that can befall someone, such as the loss of a loved one or divorce, becoming chronically unemployed is a significant life challenge that only time, and persistence can heal.

There comes a time when options seem few. Employers are learning how to cope with 1% – 2% GDP growth. Many of the jobs that existed for a few years are not coming back. And competition for the few jobs that are available is stiff. You need to be worried about your skills atrophying and your networks drying up. Politicians spend too much time in a debating society and do not seem to admit that the economy’s problems are largely beyond them. The world now seems like a hopeless place.

But there is still you. Despite your inability to control external conditions no one has yet taken away your ability to perceive and respond to this situation. Whether you wanted it or not, this is a time to take stock. To reach deep down to see what you are made of and to get in touch with an inner strength you seldom have needed but do now.

A big part of coping with the loss of employment is determining what to psychologically hang onto and what to let go of. What I mean by that is profoundly recognizing the value of what is most important in sustaining you as a self-reliant individual. Being able to rise above adversity and to not let it tear you down. This is your main goal.

What and who in your life most helps you to do that? Perhaps it is family and close friends, people you serve who are less fortunate than yourself, or your community and its services. Fortifying actions that you take such as systematically following through with best job search practices despite the lack of immediate reward and keeping as current as possible with professions for which your skill set is a match are positive things to do. Be in touch with what still energizes you when it seems that most things around you are draining. These are worth holding onto.

Equally important is observing what needs to be let go. It is possible that our egos are clinging to notions and long-held beliefs or perceptions that make this transitory time more difficult than it needs to be. For instance, linking your self-worth too tightly to your former job title and the status it brought you, still believing that you are entitled to the salary you received in 2007, seeing the world as one big competitive us-against-them environment, or keeping relationships with people who too often display self-defeating ideas can rob you of the positive energy you need most at this time.

Do not be afraid to reach out. There are many who can be very constructive and are passionate about assisting you. Also, consider helping others in the same predicament as yourself.

Self-reflection at the level that identifies what to hold onto and what to let go of may need to become part of your daily routine. This is best done while walking, running, or sitting quietly. Drinking and drugging tend to cloud the mind too much. Try to develop a greater degree of mastery over your mind that can come from purposeful contemplation. The benefits of doing so can last long after this very difficult time.

Student Loans: Expense or Investment

Posted on October 24, 2011December 23, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The burden of student loan debt on individuals, particularly young unemployed ones, is certainly starting to get a lot more attention in the media. College costs have experienced higher rates of inflation than for most consumer areas. The American Institute of CPAs for example reports that for the 2010-2011 academic year alone, 4-year state colleges for in-state students rose 7.9%, while for out-of-state students the rise was 6%. The inflation rate for 4-year private colleges was 4.5%. This compares to a general consumer rate of 3.9% for the past twelve months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Consumer Price Index, a measure of U. S. inflation.

Among the economic complaints raised by recent protests of the Occupy Wall Street movement is that student loan payments are creating too high of a debt position for young people trying to enter the workforce. In fact, it could be said that this issue is one of the significant catalysts of the movement. Starting out adult life faced with ten or twenty years to pay off tens of thousands of dollars of debt in this economy with no job is enough to make anyone scream.

In my own personal life, I sense the anxiety. My daughter recently graduated with a 4-year degree and between my Parent PLUS loans and her Stafford loans we are looking at substantial debt. For my portion alone the Federal government is giving me up to thirty years to pay this off and from where I sit right now, I’ll need that much time. If it takes me thirty years to pay off this loan, I’ll be 88 years old! I have real doubts that I will live that long.

My situation is indicative of a situation facing the generations right now. I am a Baby Boomer who has always believed that education is an investment. I have bought into the notion that there is a direct correlation between the level and quality of one’s education and the number of career options and earning potential one has throughout life.

Even recent statistics have supported this view, such as the fact that of the 9.1% unemployed in September 2011, 78% have only a high school diploma. My daughter on the other hand is looking at her amount of student loan debt more as an expense right now and is truly questioning whether the B. A. was worth it. Time will tell. I still think the college education gives her a higher launching pad for her career and hope the debt will not diminish that advantage.

I was chatting with a businessman from Belgium a few years ago over lunch. We were in Boston being trained to administer and interpret the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. I asked him about the income tax level he lives with in his country, and he did say it was quite high, if I remember correctly close to 50%.

But he did not seem that upset after seeing my jaw drop. When I asked him why he was not outraged he cited two reasons. One, he does not pay any medical expenses and felt that he and his family received good medical care. The other reason was that one of his children, who was at the time enrolled in a university, could attend at no additional expense. He seemed content with the concept of receiving quality service for the high taxes he was paying.

I do not know which system is best, the European or the American. But I do know this. The system that promotes the greatest amount of education for the most people will be in a better position to compete in the 21st century global economy. If higher education is not pursued by more and more Americans because it is seen as too much of a crushing expense, then it will diminish our talent pool and our competitiveness. This is a situation to be avoided.

A Commitment to Job Growth

Posted on October 10, 2011August 4, 2022 by Bill Ryan

As a career counselor during the Great Recession, I hear a lot of sad stories, see deep frustration among otherwise productive people, and sense the fear resonating among many displaced workers and those who are afraid to leave less than satisfying jobs.

We are all realizing that the descriptions given in 2008 of “economic meltdown”, “economy falling off a cliff”, and other hyperbolic clichés were indeed accurate. This has been a terrible recession for many and the climb out of it, especially for those looking for stable and decent employment, has been arduously slow and painful.

Like many Americans these days I am ready to push aside my social and political wish list in favor of only one overriding priority — the creation of jobs. Too much unemployment diminishes us as a people. Personal depression, anti-social behavior, anxiety, stress, and apprehension for the future are among the negatives affecting too many of us. This results in widespread social despair. If ever there was a time when Americans needed to come together and work cooperatively on lifting the employment picture, it is now.

But this does not seem to be the case. Instead, we see the following:

A President who is calling for bipartisan solutions and instead is running into opposition from a Right and Left who both think they each have all the answers.
A Tea Party opposition, which has taken over the Republican Party and that is obsessed with only three things, the Federal debt, making government inconsequential, and limiting President Obama to only one term.
Corporations that are reportedly flush with cash, but which do not want to hire because of the uncertain economy.
Lenders who do not want to lend, because they are afraid they will not get their money back.
Investors who by and large do not want to invest, because they see too much risk.

Yikes! So, who is going to step forward and break this logjam? I wish I knew. But given my lay economist perspective here is what I see. Money, whether in the form of direct cash subsidies or tax incentives, needs to be injected into the economy to encourage companies to hire.

Money comes in two forms, private capital and government expenditures. Now private capital seems to be in a self-imposed escrow or lock box and God knows, spending any more government money is akin to treason these days.

So, we have a choice. Do nothing and blame each other for incompetence and lack of vision or reach some sort of public/private sector compromise. As I see it, government and the private sector need to each contribute in a collaborative fashion to a stimulus that results in job creation.

Solutions must be practical, they need to save everyone face, and as they say in politico-linguistics, speak to their base. I am sure that people smarter than me can come up multiple options, but here are two examples of what seem attractive:

One, give tax breaks to corporations that hire. Instead of incentivizing corporations to send dollars to foreign governments to escape our high corporate tax, let us change the schematic and encourage them to hire Americans instead. And what about small business start-ups, one of the greatest sources of hiring historically? Let us give steroids to the sluggish time-wasting U. S. Patent Office to spur innovation and examine ways to reform the Sarbanes Oxley Act, so that it does not discourage highly skilled start-ups while continuing to provide regulation and oversight designed to discourage crooked and narrow-minded boards of directors.

Employment relief will not come from just the public or private sectors alone, but from joint participation. Of course, collaboration requires a spirit of working together. What we have right now are too many radicals for whom compromise is a dirty word.

The best decisions come from consensus. As an electorate we need to demand that our elected leaders work together to find solutions that result in increased job creation. If that is not their top priority, then it is time to get rid of them.

Let Us Please Place Job Creation as Number One

Posted on September 12, 2011March 30, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I noticed the day after President Obama’s big jobs speech before Congress on September 8 that Mark Zandi, the often cited Chief Economist from Moody’s Analytics, praised it. True, he is an old-style Keynesian, but he is among the most respected economists in the country, so he deserves a listen to. Among the benefits he sees from the American Jobs Act are:

Confidence would return to the public and therefore a stabilization of the economy would result.
Just under 2 million jobs would be created with the unemployment rate being cut by a percentage point.
GDP growth would be two percentage points higher next year.
The $450 billion price tag would be paid between $250 billion in tax cuts and $200 billion in spending increases.
If passed, another recession could be averted.

It has little chance of being passed by the Republican controlled House. Now that would be fine except that it is not clear what the Republicans are offering for immediate stimulation to employment. In fact, it seems that they do not like the word stimulation.

We are being asked to encourage reduction of government, which will in and of itself release an explosion of private sector expansion and economic growth. So the private sector that seemed to play a rather large role in creating the Great Recession is going to lift us out of it because government is diminished? Really?

If there was a credible plan to create jobs by Republicans aside from the usual cut taxes for the rich and reduce regulations I would be all ears. I want jobs to start growing as much as anyone and I really do not care which ideology produces them as long as they get created. But now that one of the two major political parties has been shanghaied by the Tea Party, who does not place job creation as their number one priority, we are not getting a full collaborative effort from all sides.

I will give the Tea Party credit for sounding the alarm on the growing Federal debt, which if left unchecked would constitute major economic problems, including unemployment in just a few years. However, what are they contributing to the debate of job growth now? Not much from what I can hear.

They seem more committed to eliminating the President’s job than in generating new ones for Americans. They are a one trick pony. Just reduce debt and morning in America will return. They seem to think that managing the Federal budget is no more sophisticated than balancing the family checkbook.

Perhaps most troubling is the Tea Party’s reluctance to negotiate and compromise with those who have a different viewpoint. They are so confident in the righteousness of their position that working across the aisle is seen as weakness and capitulation. There is value in decisions made as a result of consensus. And now is a time for our leaders to work together to expand employment. The Tea Party strikes me as an impediment rather than as a serious partner.

I guess we’ll never really know if Mark Zandi’s ecomomic predictions will come true. Probably the most President Obama will get out of that speech is a reelection campaign position. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate stays in the 9% neighborhood.

Perhaps government really cannot effect economic change and private capital (which the private sector is not releasing) is all that matters. But don’t we elect Federal leaders to solve national problems? And isn’t that best done when collaboration occurs? This climate of polarization during a time of national crisis is very disheartening. We should demand something greater from those we elected.

Regulating Your Digital Footprint

Posted on August 29, 2011December 23, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It is not news that people go to the Internet first for information on just about anything these days. But it may be news to some that this includes recruiters, hiring managers, and just about anyone else who is trying to locate talent for their businesses and organizations.

About 90% of all recruiters and 50% of all employers perform web searches before making a hiring decision. If you are trying to find a new job, transition to a new career, or seek new business opportunities you need to have a presence online. Can you imagine anyone in 2011 making a claim of professional greatness and not being found online? It is unimaginable.

Your digital footprint refers to all the web information there is about you out there. It can come from many places, including social networking media, profile and biography pages you may have established on your own or that exist on employer and association web sites, blogs, forum and message board postings, chats, and even political or religious contributions that you have made. Even if you are committed to not being online, it is hard not to find yourself there somehow.

If you are serious about regulating your digital footprint — and you should be — there are five things to strive for:

Your presence should exude self-confidence and be in multiple locations.
A positive professional image should be displayed.
A consistent and keyword rich value proposition should be present across all platforms.
A clear and memorable career brand should exist.
There should be no digital dirt or negative unprofessional content about you found in searches.

Above all, never assume that anything you write or post online is anonymous.

Begin regulating your online presence by seeing what it looks like now. Google yourself in quotation marks and find every reference to you on the first three search ranking pages. Assess what is being shown about you. Is it positive or not?

It is highly probable that you are sharing your name with others. Note how often this happens. You may even find that old information once confined to paper has now been converted to digital format and is available online.

Now that you have a baseline, get started managing. There are three fundamental steps to establishing a digital footprint that you control:

Have a well written resume with a distinct value proposition that serves as your image anchor.
Build a basic online by completing profiles on Google Profiles and ZoomInfo.
Set up a business networking presence by having active accounts with LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

All the above-mentioned websites are SEO (Search Engine Optimization) rich meaning that they will rank high during web searches.

There are additional sites and features to consider opening accounts with such as MyWebCareer, Google Alerts, Reputation.com, Vizibility, Ecademy, and BrazenCareerist. Taken together these will give you a lot of power to control your cyber appearance.

Some management techniques to know when using these sites include:

Fill your profile with tangible competencies.
Be aware of the privacy settings, set them accordingly, and check them frequently for usage changes.
If sharing a name with someone, differentiate yourself, such as “John A. Smith, Senior Marketing Executive”.
Use headshots taken by a professional photographer.
If you cannot remove digital dirt, then bury it by creating enough multiple positive presence points that the bad stuff gets lower search rankings.
Untag yourself from friends’ Facebook tags.

Follow these suggestions and you will be well on your way to managing what the online world will learn about you. And you don’t have to be a control freak to want or need that level of self-authority.

Education and the Unemployment Rate

Posted on August 15, 2011March 21, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I read a couple of interesting statistics the other day in a National Journal article about the widening talent shortage among many American companies. The first was a citing about a study done by ManpowerGroup, a Milwaukee-based workforce consultant, showing that 52% of employers cannot recruit skilled workers for their open positions. The other stat, this time by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, showed that of the 9.2% of Americans currently unemployed, 78% of them have only a high school education or less.

These numbers are surprising, and they tell me a couple of things worth noting regarding our stubbornly high unemployment rate. One is that the rate might not be so high if Americans would get educated and trained in areas of shortage and need. The other is that thinking you are going to get ahead in the 21st century with just a high school education is not preparation for the future.

The public and their proxy the media love to play the blame game for the high unemployment rate. It is the Democrat’s fault or the Republican’s fault. It is greedy Wall Street or lazy Europeans and so on and so on. Instead of finding fault, perhaps we need to hold up a mirror and look into it. We could lower the unemployment rate and all the misery associated with it significantly if we would further our education in strategic ways. Education is one of the best ways out of this mess.

I rarely hear or read the mainstream media report about this lurking education gap as being a contributor to the unemployment rate and I pay attention to a lot of news. Why do you think that is? Why is the national anchorperson hesitant to say that too many of the unemployed are lacking in the right kinds of education? Perhaps there is a concern that to say so might be perceived as elitist or that someone’s feelings may be hurt. There is an elephant in the unemployment room that is being ignored and not fully discussed. And we as a country do ourselves no favors to avoid it.

We should address this issue head on. If we could be delivered news we could really use such as where the human resource shortages are and what is involved in preparing to fill them, we could be much better informed. Let us hear more reports about the skills deficit for a change instead of this constant obsession about budget deficits. Let us agree that without a vigorous push for high quality education at all levels, then our chances of competing in the world marketplace are greatly diminished.

School districts and universities need to be more engaged in this conversation as well. Of course, their mission is to provide a broad range of learning opportunities to the greatest number of people. But by not identifying and shifting resources to address critical shortage areas of the economy they are denying our workforce significant solutions needed now. Academic advisors and counselors need to work more aggressively to align emerging talent with areas of employment need.

Let us try harder to see education as the benefit that it is. There is too much of an attitude that views education more as a cost than as an investment. Education can provide individuals with practical skills, a critical thinking ability, and confidence to succeed. It is among the best self-help techniques society can do for itself.

We can do more to reduce unemployment than to just wait for banks, corporations, or government to release more money. We can be smarter about creating a congruence between hiring gaps and workforce development.

The Most Valuable Career Trait for the Future

Posted on August 1, 2011December 23, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just look at a reliable list of the guaranteed jobs of the future and plan our careers accordingly? We could make sure that education and training choices were timely and cost-effective. Lifestyle stability would result from certain employment predictability. Anxiety stemming from career and work-related decision making could be dramatically reduced. Life would be so much easier!

Although well researched “the careers of the future” lists occasionally pop up in the media and credit should be given to the U.S. Department of Labor for trying to identify careers with “Bright Outlooks” the sad truth is that no definitive list exists and never will that conclusively point the masses toward precise long-term occupations. The world of work has become too dynamic of a place with far too many unpredictable twists and turns, many of which are yet to come, to expect infallible certitude.

Nevertheless, business and employment trends and patterns are emerging all the time, which should be tracked by the astute jobseeker. Even though selecting the direction of your career is not as limited and relatively straightforward as in the past, self-guiding your livelihood need not be an exercise of trying to be grounded within a vortex of random chaos. Although the top three career choices custom made for you will not likely jump off some list there is something which you can do that will benefit you for years to come. This involves adopting the right attitude for success, which can be summed up in a word ― adaptability.

The more accepting of and prepared for change you are the greater your chances for career success will be. Employees and entrepreneurs today and in the future can and will adapt from what is relevant to what will become relevant. These changes will happen in a very short time. You must always be on top of changing technologies whether they be in software, new paint formulas, advanced infection prevention protocols in hospitals, in mobile device marketing, or whatever. There is hardly an industry that is not right now undergoing advancements, conversions, transformations, or variations. Knowing how to add value to this type of innovative environment is the task of each productive worker.

Remember, if a job can be automated or outsourced, then be very wary of it. Look for careers that either have a skill legacy that can be reinvented for a rapidly changing world or look for one that is completely novel and did not exist a few years ago. Better yet, create a career for the first time. There are lots of jobs now that did not exist ten years ago.

Whoever said in the 1980s that they wanted to be a search engine optimization specialist when they grow up? What need is developing right now that requires creative talent? Adaptable people are more likely to find the answer than those of us who are uncomfortable with a modulating world.

Part of the post-recession landscape is that more is being done with less. This is not just the result of technological innovations. It is because of a growing and highly effective and efficient (and possibly overworked) workforce. Tom Friedman in a recent New York Times article pointed out that all the employees of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Groupon, and Zynga could easily fit into the 20,000 seat Madison Square Garden and not fill it. Combined these companies are valued at $64 Billion. Let us look at how these guys are working if we want some role models to follow.

Be smart, of course. That has always separated the winners from losers. But to that add, be adaptable. Complacency and inertia are out. Versatility and reliance are in. As the old nursery rhyme says, Jack be nimble. Jack be quick.

Networking for the Aged 50+ Worker

Posted on July 19, 2011December 23, 2022 by Bill Ryan

There is a hiring crisis going on currently with workers aged 50+. They have been squeezed out of the workforce, as have many workers of all ages, but the difference with the mature worker is that they are not being allowed back in. Employees who thought that they would retire with long-held jobs or who thought the option of always being able to pick up something new have had these dreams shattered. The frustration, discouragement, and fear of entering the twilight of working years with no work is palpable.

To many this reality came as unexpectedly as the body slam of the Great Recession with its disastrous effects. One of the most egregious consequences of the Recession has been for companies to shed themselves from older workers whenever possible. As counterintuitive as it may seem, it has become not only accepted, but encouraged to have hiring policies that eliminate workers with accumulated knowledge, wisdom, and experience. Combined with a historic work ethic characterized by loyalty to one’s employer and willingness to put in long hours and you would think the mature worker would be seen as desirable. But apparently not.

Unfortunately, workers aged 50+ are seen as having more liabilities than assets. These allegedly include having outdated and counter-innovative ideas, a relative lack of technology skills, an unwillingness to accept the changing social culture with its increasing ubiquitous technological connectivity, a complacent work style, higher risk of health problems, and difficulty accepting the lower compensation packages of today. The challenge for the older worker is to tip this balance. In other words, to be seen as having more benefits than burdens.

There is a branding process I recommend that involves displaying yourself as being a valuable prospect worthy of consideration by hiring managers. Begin by systematically and deliberately putting together a presentation package about yourself that highlights all your advantages, while directly confronting perceived misconceptions of your “old-fashioned” weaknesses. Once constructed, this message should be displayed on your resume and online profile. With this in hand, it is time for you to introduce yourself to those who are in positions of influence with regards to direct hiring or who have connections leading to potential hiring opportunities.

This leads us to networking. By now most job seekers have heard that leveraging your contacts is the best way to get a job. But many older workers, despite all their years of working, feel that they have no network. Maybe your past work was somewhat isolated, or you have not been much of a people-person, or as is very common, you did not get the memo at the start of your working years that you should maintain and even cultivate connections with high-value colleagues throughout your career.

If you feel you have no viable network, then get started identifying one. It is in your job search interests to do so. Communicate your value proposition and job search goals beginning with those closest to you and then widening out. Start with your family and close friends. From there move to LinkedIn (or even Facebook). Search for those colleagues both current and former and request connections. Having your expertise clearly displayed on your LinkedIn profile you can more easily ask your connections who they recommend you talk with.

Be prepared to get into the zone of seeing most, if not all, social events as networking opportunities. The PTA meeting, the cocktail party, the church committee, and many others are possibilities for reinventing or starting new relationships. Share as appropriate your professional value during these situations. Expanding your circle and adding facetime with others should become an ongoing effort.

Becoming part of the conversation gets you known. Joining in and participating in industry and interest groups discussions on LinkedIn and Twitter or within your professional associations increases your visibility. Sharing expertise heightens chances of making new and potentially valuable networking connections.

Since the doors of employment are not being opened wide for the aged 50+ worker it becomes necessary for you to push them open. Accepting the new normal and being strategic about navigating it may make all the difference.

The Need to Identify High Potential Employees

Posted on July 4, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Let us imagine a company that rightly focuses on the present business climate and is committed to not repeating its own past mistakes or the failings of its competition. To do so, management attempts to retain talent by placing a lot of resources into an employee appraisal system so that it can reward high performers generously. However, this appraisal system is kept largely confidential, between manager and employee only. Management does not want “morale to suffer”. The company also believes in recruiting externally only, because that is the only place to find new talent.

Does that sound like a company prepared to succeed in the future to you? Not to me. Their attitude and policies are not progressive and do not consider the career development needs of high-potential talent. Companies must continually be looking to the future. Competitiveness will only grow and using past performance as the benchmark for meeting subsequent challenges is not enough. Among the most important conditions to be constantly anticipating is the need to attract and retain talent. Without high-level operatives meeting the demands of the marketplace all other business efforts may prove to be inadequate.

Of course, all companies are different. But in sharing the need to obtain the best workers possible from both within and externally there are similar talent management practices, which should be evident in any forward-leaning organization. These include:

Having in place a talent assessment system that determines key players, high potential employees, and successors for critical positions
High-quality training of managers enabling them to understand the career development aspirations of their direct reports
Executive commitment to holding frequent talent review meetings designed to reinforce and improve the company’s talent management capability to locate and procure the best strength possible
Acting on developing high potential workers for succession planning, cross-functional capability, and in-depth expertise building purposes

Constructing a talent management process that is transparent has a greater likelihood of improving morale, rather than depressing it. A culture that cuts one-off deals with its employees creates suspicion and claims of favoritism, whereas an open protocol that shows consistent application of best practice principles to all generates feelings of fairness. Giving the corporate message that individual career advancement is considered valuable augments the initiative to attract and hold a sharp workforce.

Another useful piece to a talent management system is to separate distinguishing high performers from high potential. They are not always the same. Task analyzing critical operational functions and aligning them with specific worker traits can aid in selecting the right people for the right job. How many times have we heard stories of high functioning line workers being elevated to management positions for which they are not well suited? As counterintuitive as it may seem, there is not always a positive correlation between high achievement and high potential. Teasing out and choreographing a connection can be made, but only because of sophisticated inquiry.

A big fear among company policy makers is that devoting resources to developing employees may be seen as a waste if the talent leaves the company. In fact, the feeling goes, too much fostering of workers’ skill and knowledge may make them more attractive to competitors. One thing that is becoming clear in today’s business climate is that if a company does not commit to developing their talent the champions will likely leave sooner for a company that does. Constructing and frequently reviewing comprehensive employee retention plans in addition to implementing individual career development plans will increase the chances that a company’s pasture will be seen as greener.

Advanced enterprise-wide talent management is much more involved than the brief description presented here. But the need for companies big and small to structure a system that is consistent with their organizational culture and the best practices of talent engineering is necessary for them to prosper in the marketplace of the future — and with the greatest people possible.

Recognize Your Career Successes

Posted on June 20, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

We are largely driven to enhance our careers by the need to feel successful. The urge to link our efforts with purposeful outcomes is a primal motivator for the professional person. The desire to make a difference for others and ourselves gets us up in the morning. Capturing success may be frequently elusive, but it is a goal most think is worth pursuing.

In today’s world, being successful implies there is continual growth and improvement. Some professionals are fortunate to find they have chosen a job that allows for and even rewards career development. New, novel, and stimulating challenges are always being presented, which provide opportunities for repeat successes. These people are happy with their jobs. They do not want to or need to enter a job search. They feel successful where they are.

However, for many others, the chime of achievement is not sounding at their jobs, or at least not enough. This group feels stuck. For them, work does not offer enough pay-off. Boredom and too much routine have set in. These people are just as professional and talented as the above group. So, what is going on? It is called reaching a plateau.

Here is a very typical scenario. We finish our formal education and get a job, or series of jobs, which may or may not be related to what we studied in school. Eventually we settle into a “decent enough” job. The salary is okay, co-workers become friends, and we start experiencing our first professional successes. We feel grown-up — we have arrived.

But give it five or ten years and the dull weight of a been-there-done-that attitude takes hold. Work weeks start to feel too long and weekends too short. Frequent funks and a sense of stagnation start to become the norm. Inertia now seems to guide us more than the exciting quest for work gain.

This becomes the time to strongly consider a career defibrillator. You need to get back to feeling worthy. Now you could look for a job change, or redefine your role with your current employer, or you could go entrepreneurial. Whichever route you take to rekindle career happiness will involve enlisting one fundamental practice to place you in the most advantageous position to reach this goal. That is to determine clearly and to be able to communicate effectively what success means to you and how in the past you have gone about attaining it.

When you can identify your unique success metrics, you are then able to claim your professional value. You can cite contributions that have benefited others. With this self-realization you know what ball to keep your eye on. It becomes easier to envision yourself in situations, in which you can practice your craft and again be successful.

So how do you measure success for yourself? Here is an exercise for distilling career success and happiness into practical and powerful statements, which can be used as guides for future work. This is a way to promote yourself to those who may be able to provide opportunities for future successes.

Begin compiling a record of your greatest hits. List the achievements of which you are most proud. Have these statements contain actual, and if possible, quantifiable results. Look for the ways you found remedies to problems, resolved issues, mediated conflicts, assisted in growth, created novel solutions, improved efficiencies, and so on. For example,

“Created systematic process for client interactions, deal flow, and follow-up.”
“Grew occupancy from 67% to 88%. Steadily increased average guest satisfaction to 99%.”
“Ten+ years of administrative, volunteer, and team experience in the coordination and implementation of educational, nonprofit, and community service projects.”

With this valuable insight organized in your mind and on paper you are then prepared to chart a course for continuing career fulfillment. And when your work is successful, your life is greatly enhanced.

Ten Things to Have Ready for Your Interview

Posted on June 6, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Despite the bleak employment news from May, many more New Englanders are getting job interviews than a year ago. Preparing for one is daunting to say the least. And there is no shortage of articles, blogs, and how-to tips that can be found on the web to help you make sure you are ready for the type of questions you will be asked. I have even contributed to the information pool. For a change, let us look at the real basics of interview preparation — the most concrete things you need to help increase your chances of this all-important conversation going well.

Smart people, whether pilots before a flight or doctors before an operation, get ready for any complicated procedure by having a checklist of steps that experience shows needs to be addressed to ensure optimal performance. Here is my pre-interview checklist of simple things to have ready:

Ten copies of your resume: Do not assume all the interviewers are ready by having had your resume provided to them prior to the interview. Not all employers run like clockwork. Think how prepared you will look if you can instantly hand out resumes to interviewers who do not have one.
Bottle of water: Thirty minutes or more of high-pressure answering questions can make anyone’s throat dry. Coughing, throat clearing, and deep swallowing to keep lubricated does not make you appear at your best. Have that water ready to keep the talker oiled. One caution, however, is do not keep reaching for it nervously like a beer during a first date.
Breath mints: While on the topic of your mouth, having sweet minty breath leaves you feeling more confident to speak directly to someone at a relatively short distance, say when shaking hands, and it leaves the listener with the impression that you are clean and presentable. Although, I love Altoids, for many they are too powerful, so choose one more subtle, but effective.
References: Having copies of two to three references, which are ready to pass out, can add to the message that you are prepared and are at this interview to do work. Distributing them without being asked shows that you are taking a level of ownership for the meeting.
Pad of paper and two working pens: From jotting reminders of points, you wish to make to getting names and titles of interviewers down, it is okay to take a few notes during the interview. Remember, though, that writing too much is not good and lots of eye contact is good. And for goodness sakes, don’t doodle!
Power bar: I do not know about you, but I never like eating before a big meeting, especially one in which I am the center of attention. Now what if the interview turns into a second one for later in the morning or the whole process is delayed for some reason. You do not want your stomach grumbling at an inopportune time, so have one of those power bars to eat between sessions.
Tissues: Sneezes, running nose, watery eyes, the list goes on for reasons why you might want or need to wipe your face. Have one of those handy little tissue packages tucked in a discreet pocket for just those occasions.
Cash: Imagine that you are asked by an interviewer to continue the conversation at the cafeteria over coffee or lunch. Wouldn’t you want to be able to pay for not only yourself, but for the interviewer? Sure, a debit card might work, but what if it did not? Be prepared.
Photo ID: You probably carry one around with you all the time anyway, but be sure to when going to an interview, especially one that might be held in a setting in which you have to pass through security. Being able to prove who you are could be useful.
Written information about interviewer and department: You are probably going to be nervous showing up for the interview, so have the necessary appointment data written down for reference. Your memory may not be as sharp if you are freezing at a reception desk, so have the name of the interview contact person and any relevant contact info ready to read from or to show.

Check, check, check, ready! Go get ’em!

Looking At Work Experience Gaps on Your Resume

Posted on May 23, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Among the abundance of things worrying the job seeker today is the work history gap on your resume that occurs when there is a break in the employment chronology brought on by any number of reasons— most often by having been laid off.

Conventional wisdom has been and continues to be that having a period during which you were not employed is a detriment to finding future employment. The well-founded fear is that a hiring manager will check to see if there exists an employment gap when reading your resume, and if finding one, will instantly draw the conclusion that this indicates you are a flawed candidate.

Being seen as out of work is still very much considered a stigma, which is unfortunate given how much unemployment was foisted upon so many. But this is the reality facing job searchers. Gaps in your resume’s employment experience section make finding a new job even more difficult.

Obviously, avoiding gaps is recommended when rewriting or updating your resume. However, lying on your resume by stating false employment that did not really exist to fill in time is not recommended. So, what can be done?

Job and career counselors typically advise that employment downtimes be accounted for with some type of professionally meaningful pursuits, such as schooling, training, interning, or volunteering. Furthering your education can be advantageous but has that annoying consequence of costing money at a time when it is in short supply. On the other hand, offering an organization or company free work in exchange for useful experience is cheaper and potentially a powerful way to approach explaining in the future how you spent your time between jobs. Let us examine the options of interning and volunteering more carefully.

First, to clear up some semantics: By interning I mean engaging in a non-monetary exchange, whereby the intern provides a novice-level professional service and in turn receives a documented benefit from the organization, such as professional oversight or instruction. I see volunteers as providing a service which is either an organizational need or enhancement, while expecting little to nothing in return except for an emotionally satisfying feeling and/or for the opportunity to list the experience on one’s resume.

If considering interning, check to see that the organization has an established policy, and if so, that you agree with its terms and conditions. If it does not, either look elsewhere or get involved with the development of a new intern policy, thereby giving you a say in the arrangement. Note, volunteering can raise complications for both the volunteers and the enterprises taking them on.

In general, the considerations from both parties should be focused on whether the tasks being performed by the volunteer are compensatory or not. The rules are defined by state labor law, employment discrimination legislation, and by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The latter essentially puts the kibosh on volunteering with for-profit private sector companies along with federal, state, and local governments. It is just not allowed.

Most people’s professions linked to the private sector or government would appear to present a challenge to the volunteer looking for a place to offer services. Fortunately, the FLSA does not deter you from volunteering in public, charitable, or religious facilities. So, perform whatever service feels right in those cases.

When approaching any kind of organization about interning or volunteering, especially one that also hires employees ask the following questions:

Would your service in any way violate the FLSA or state labor laws?
Would you be displacing or replacing an existing paid employee?
Would you be performing work that is normally paid employment?
Will the intern or volunteer duties require a contract or to be documented in some way?
Do you have control of your hours and level of work intensity free of coercion?
To yourself ask, “Is this worth it to me?”

Filling in that troublesome work history time gap on your resume is worth some effort. If the reason for the absence is elder, child, or personal care, or possibly even bereavement, then insert it in the professional experience section as a “job”. But if the gap occurs because you were let go from your previous job and it is taking you six months or more to find another, then consider interning or volunteering. Just go into whatever you do with your eyes wide open.

The Job Interview

Posted on May 2, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Job interviews are about as eagerly anticipated as root canals. Even if you have been out of work for a long time and are desperately wanting to reenter the workplace, the necessary step of performing well during a job interview can be daunting. Interviewees tend to think the practice is akin to an interrogation or grilling, the result of which can be a harsh judgement, like getting voted off the island. They can be stressful enough to make even the most seasoned professional anxious.

The job interview can be a faulty procedure and not always reliable. We have all heard of how someone can shine during the interview only to lead the employer to feel buyer’s remorse once the candidate is on the job. Notice how subjective interviews are. One wonders if there should be a more objective way of identifying talent before the job offer is made.

For most hiring situations, however, there needs to be a subjective screening component. The interview provides just that and is not going away anytime soon. Think of it this way. The interview provides a much-needed opportunity for dialogue, in other words, a two-way conversation. Here is a chance for each of you to check each other out. It will help the pre-interview jitters if you can go into it feeling that you have some control over the situation. Even if they offer you the spot you do not have to accept it unless the potential employer passes muster with you. Go with some questions prepared that show you are inquiring about them.

But, of course, the harsh truth is that you must convince a hiring manager or team of interviewers that you are a fit for the position and the organization. If you have not had an interview in a while and are wondering what to expect from an upcoming one, you might be helped by considering some likely scenarios. I have had many clients brief me on how their interview experiences have gone and here is what I can confidently generalize about them:

Go into an interview prepared. To think you can wing it, no matter how professional and experienced you are, is taking an unnecessary risk.
Be ready to talk about yourself as a relatively short introduction. Here is where you present your value proposition. This intro should also describe how your skills and qualifications are a fit for the position.
Know and be prepared to describe how much onboarding and induction training you will need. You are a cost to the employer. They may want to know how much expense you may be at the start of employment.
Have a response to the dreaded, “What are your weaknesses?” question. I recommend having two weaknesses to which you are ready to admit. But frame them as challenges you are actively managing. Have at least one example for each, describing how you have recently and positively addressed the challenges resulting in good outcomes.
Show that you are developing your career by having specific short and long-term goals to share.
Get ready to talk about how well you work both independently and as part of a team.
Be able to furnish information about the employer. Let them know that you have researched them and have a couple of questions designed to learn more about them.
A large and likely category of interview questioning is known as behavioral questioning. This is where you talk about how you handled or would handle realistic situations and challenges on the job, whether fabricated or actual from your past. Always think of presenting your answers such that it is clear how you added value to the circumstances.

There will likely be more questions than these, but by preparing and having responses ready for typical questions you are fortified for what may come.

Cover Letters Examined

Posted on April 18, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Since we are moving toward becoming a paperless society the question often comes up in the context of job searching, whether cover letters are still necessary. The short answer is yes.

Typically, when attempting to get the nod by an employer indicating you are to be hired, there are three initial doors through which you must sequentially pass — cover letter, resume, and interview. In each case you have an opportunity to make an impression. Also, in each case you have a chance to progressively present yourself in greater depth. The starting point is with the cover letter. So, let us examine this tool in more detail.

The cover letter is your self-introduction. Its purpose is to get the hiring manager interested enough in you so that they will want to review your resume, which in turn will hopefully prompt an interview. There are some useful assumptions to make about such an introduction. One is that the hiring manager has a lot more work to do than time in which to do it. They are pressured and probably stressed. Also, they have a staggering number of applicants for very few jobs.

This encourages the hiring manager to find reasons for eliminating applicants, since they must reduce a huge number to a very small one for eventual interviews. Finally, they have seen boring and generic cover letters time and time again. One with just enough distinction and relevance to catch their eye is what they are hoping to find.

So, with these assumptions in mind, be prepared to write your cover letter in as targeted, economic, and powerful a way as possible. Pack as much punch into the fewest number of words as you can.

There are three basic parts to a cover letter — the introduction, the body, and the closing. Here are things to keep in mind when writing each of the three parts:

There are four different ways to write the introduction or opening:

Traditional, in which you simply give your reason for writing, as in, “I am writing to express my interest in…”
Creating curiosity, in which you begin with a stunning achievement, such as, “After a five-year commitment dedicated to the welfare of Somali refugees, I am now ready to add value to your…”
Leveraging referrals, in which you mention the name of a trusted resource, as in, “Following the recommendation of your colleague Jim Hudson, I am eager to speak with you about…”
Emphasize your headline, in which you point out your value proposition, as in, “As a Network Systems Analyst with extensive business development experience I…”

The body is the most important part of the cover letter. It is here where you make the sale. Whether you do so in brief paragraphs, bullets, or some combination of the two, describe pointedly why you are qualified for the specific position to which you are applying. Nothing speaks to qualifications better than actual accomplishments and results you have realized from your career thus far. Just like we are more inclined to purchase a mutual fund with an impressive performance history, the same goes for a job candidate who can claim rich achievements.

Since your resume should have a store of these attainments, harvest it for summary items to put into the cover letter body. Just be sure to paraphrase and rewrite so that your cover letter does not look like a copy and paste job from your resume. Also, the more you understand the employer and their needs the more direct your selection of relevant accomplishments can be.

The closing should be, you guessed it, brief. It should also execute two things. One, confidently express why you deserve a closer look by the hiring manager, and two indicate your expectation for a follow-up with the company. For example, “Acme’s services, market prominence, and expansion potential are very appealing. I am convinced my skills will advance me as a key player within your company. I will contact your office in one week to inquire about when it might be convenient to meet. Thank you for your consideration.”

As the saying goes, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. So, make your cover letters count.

Four Strategies to Keep Your Career Relevant

Posted on April 4, 2011March 17, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Traditionally, we have thought of a professional as someone who is very dedicated and practiced within a relatively narrow, yet focused type of work. They choose to not be distracted by trying to be too many things to too many people. Instead, they get really good at delivering a limited category of a service or a product.

Specializing has served the workplace well since ancient Mesopotamia and for the most part it still does. But there is growing evidence that changes in the 21st century work model is ushering in a new definition of what it means to be a professional.

The talent and skills required by a global marketplace, which is characterized by intense competitiveness and rapidly evolving commoditization, are in an increasing state of flux. For a professional going forward, expecting that only one skill will keep them marketable and employed for the long-term is becoming unrealistic.

The workplace of the future will be demanding talent that is continuously involved in learning and development, such that it is nimble enough to transfer aptitudes to alternative and hybrid jobs. Allowing yourself to be too limited in scope, or worse yet, to give into complacency and inertia, are the career killers of the hereafter.

What every pro wants to do is to be as prepared as possible for an uncertain and unpredictable workplace in the coming years. Since no one can be expected to be knowledgeable and skilled in everything, it becomes necessary to have a preparedness plan that builds from your current skill base. To help, I suggest four strategies to keep your career development options open moving forward:

Showcase in a compelling format the breadth and depth of your skills and accomplishments. To do so, begin with a basic assumption, which is that every employer will have only one thing on their minds when considering you for employment, “What can you do for me?”

The wider your range of capabilities, the greater your chances of being able to answer their question. By being equipped with a portfolio and resume that highlights your adaptive talent, you are ready for the changeable needs of employers. Show that you are as dynamic as the businesses you hope to work for.

Learn and practice skills that are transferable to multiple situations. Being skilled at something is, of course, good. Having skills that are transferable and can be applied to a variety of circumstances is even better.

So, what are these skills? Remember that as a professional you never give up keeping up with your field of expertise. By staying current, you can be on top of the turns and twists your profession is undergoing. This heads-up knowledge allows you to adjust and reapply your competence as necessary. Be ready to not only say, “I can do this,” but “I can do this and that and if needed blend the two with…”.

Accept being a lifelong learner. No news here. Learning does not stop with graduation. Growth is constant. Embrace it. Catch and enjoy the excitement of learning more and studying things that are new.

Move out of your comfort zone sometimes, as well. The more secure your attitude of continuous improvement, the better you can leverage your expanding capabilities towards career enhancing opportunities. Again, your never-ending research and networking will inform you about what content to master.

Seek out employers who care about your career along with you. Smart employers know about the correlation between engaged employees and productivity. And one of the best ways to keep your talent engaged is to let them know they are valued and to show it by offering job descriptions that encourage growth and development.

Choosing places to work, in which management actively seeks to plan for success in tandem with their workers that result in productivity for both parties, is the goal of progressive professionals.

Given an uncertain work future producing jobs that did not even exist a few short years ago, it is best to be proactive rather than reactive. The early bird still gets that worm. However today that bird is multi-talented and searching for new ways to meet new challenges. She keeps an ear to the ground and an eye on the horizon.

Finding and Keeping Needed Talent

Posted on March 21, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

One of the greatest challenges for employers the world over is locating, hiring, and retaining employees who bring highly productive value to their companies and organizations. Such employees are, of course, the lifeblood of any successful workforce. The employer who establishes the means of recruiting and properly managing the right talent represents quality leadership within a winning enterprise.

For the most part, there is a broad and deep talent pool to fill many job positions. If anything, the Recession has added available workforce capacity eager to be found and employed. The industry areas that seem most deficient in expertise are engineering and intermediate to advanced levels of IT. Even in recent years, these have been under resourced areas. This lack of strength probably will not improve until we do a better job of attracting and educating more young people to STEM careers or Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. However, outside of STEM careers vast talent shortages do not appear to be the case. Nevertheless, matching skills with where they are needed continues to be a perennial and daunting challenge.

The best recruiters know where to go to find the most competent. They are well-connected, expertly networked, and a constant presence at tried-and-true feeder sources, such as schools and certain businesses. Getting and paying for high caliber recruiting and staffing services is certainly an option for companies seeking candidates for open positions. But the question emerges, can employers do more for themselves internally and procedurally to keep the flow of talent inbound and the loss of talent minimized?

Yes, employers can do more. Now, rather than present the readers with a bulleted list of techniques, I would like to focus an answer to the above question toward a more fundamental management and human virtue…kindness. Anecdotally, I hear it all the time from smart, experienced, hard-working, people — the single biggest reason why people do not like their jobs is because of poor management. I am not talking about managerial weaknesses that can be simply remedied with some training. This issue is much larger. It involves management’s use of intimidation, fear, inflexibility, weak ability to communication, and overall poor soft or people skills.

Nothing will drive talent away more effectively than by having in place leadership that either practices, encourages, or allows for an abusive work environment. In fact, there is a Healthy Workplace Bill, which has been introduced into twenty state legislatures since 2003. In New Hampshire, this bill known as HB 1403 was introduced and let die in committee in 2010.

In this day of interactive social media does anyone really think that word is not getting out loud and clear about where employees should not work if they want respect from their boss? Talent will be drawn to companies and organizations where smart and self-motivated employees can develop as professionals. Places with vision that encourage exploration and innovation, where decision-making results from a collaborative process. But at their core, those companies that establish as a cultural foundation respect and kindness will find talent wanting to stay. Consequently, by noticing the strengths and benefits each person can bring to the job and actively cultivating them yields positive results for any business.

Effective leadership can bring about the kind of work climate which attracts and retains talent. Unfortunately, talented leaders are hard to find. Peter Drucker, the godfather of modern management theory, said that the two most important attributes of leadership are self-awareness and honesty. Practicing those virtues in combination with a basic decency for fellow colleagues would seem to be a good place to start.

The best and brightest employees are not interested in heavy-handed rules, imposed methodologies, and stay-in-line-or-else tactics. Developing a talented workforce begins with collegial trust and a humane attitude.

Four Ways To Improve Your Resume

Posted on March 7, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

So, let’s assume that you have not yet started on that New Year’s resolution of rewriting your resume, which of course assumes that you made a New Year’s resolution to rewrite your resume. (You did, didn’t you?). Having a current and well written resume is the single best thing you can do for yourself, if you are thinking about transitioning to another job or career, or if you are trying to get back into the workforce after a too-long layoff.

As is the case with many such tasks that can be easily dropped down one’s priority list, the hardest part is simply getting started. Once you do pull out that old resume you may find that the rewrite job looks to be about as much fun as doing taxes. Then there is the question of what needs to be done to make your resume a winning one. Is it just updating the contact information and work history, or is there more to it than that? This is a writing exercise that can be daunting and frustrating. You may find yourself thinking of postponing this resolution until next year.

To help make your resume rewriting a little easier I am going to focus on what needs to be done to make it very readable to hiring managers and recruiters, who are the types of people most likely to look over your resume someday. Think of them as your audience. Know their world. It consists of lots of scheduling, running reference and background checks, conducting interviews, debriefing clients or managers, communicating with their network, and all under constant time pressure.

They do not have the time or interest to read your autobiography, nor will they be attracted to a boring chronology of your past jobs with nothing substantial to set you apart from the vast crowd. You have got about fifteen seconds to make a good first impression. Consider the following questions when rewriting your resume:

What is your functional and industry expertise? Do not make the reader have to infer your skills by looking at work history. Have a lead section or summary that quickly informs and emphasizes what value and talent you would bring to the employer. Categorizing core competencies and special technical skills prior to any list of previous jobs will allow you to be in or out of the hiring ballpark in a hurry.
Where are you on the work-level hierarchy? It should be established very quickly if you are a laborer, assistant, manager, executive, or contracting consultant. This can be highlighted in the lead summary and by bolding or capitalizing current and previous job titles. You need to make it easy for the reader to position you where you want to be positioned.
What have you been up to for the past ten or twelve years? A clearly written chronology of your most recent and relevant past employment should be displayed. And yes, gaps in your work history are a problem. Not what laid-off workers want to hear, I know. So, what can be done about employment gaps? Hopefully, you will be able to show that you tried to remain current and viable with your profession while you were out of work or caring for an ill or elderly family member. Perhaps, you received further education and training, or volunteered and maybe interned, to continue maintaining and developing expertise. Also, in most cases, what you did before, say 1998, is not going to be that important to someone hiring in 2011.
What have been your significant accomplishments? In this chronicle of your employment there should be points about what you have done that has made a real contribution. Refer to tangible measures like revenue and profit increases, lead generations and conversions, savings in costs or resources, or anything else that shows you have improved processes. Think of it as compiling your greatest hits.

You may not be successful with all your New Year’s resolutions, but if you can get this one right, it just may be enough to make 2011 the year of positive change you hoped it would be.

Challenges Facing the Mature Worker

Posted on February 21, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Most of us didn’t see it coming. And now that it is here, many are struggling with how to cope. I am not talking about The Great Recession as a whole, but about one egregious consequence of it — the dislocation of the 50+ workers.

Anecdotal reports started accumulating during the Recession’s early days and have yet to abate. Baby Boomer employees in large numbers have been facing layoffs, many for the first time in their lives. However, in trying to get hired elsewhere these experienced workers have been finding that a new cruel reality has set in. Their skills, history, long-term perspective, and deep knowledge are no longer wanted. They are being prematurely put out to pasture.

To me, an admitted Boomer, this phenomenon at first seemed counter-intuitive. Extensive practice of one’s craft should be seen as desirable. The mistakes of the past will not be repeated if you have employees who know history and have lived it. Or so I naively thought. Yet contemporary hiring managers, who naturally are becoming younger all the time, apparently do not see it that way. They see, or think they see, liabilities among this older cohort. Among the accepted downsides:

Inflexible thinking
Lack of tolerance for the values of younger workers
Legacy practices that are counter-innovative
Higher costs associated with salary expectations and health care benefits

The resulting generational mismatch has led to age bias and defacto discrimination, which makes it very hard for Boomers to land new jobs.

In working as a career counselor with many 50+ workers, I have noticed another conclusion of this age group. Of those fortunate enough to have remained employed in recent years there are many who are now sick of their jobs, but not tired of working. And why have they grown so dissatisfied with their jobs? In almost every case it comes down to two words — poor management.

When someone has been working thirty or more years there can be plenty of been-there-done-that moments and among the worst of them is putting up yet again with substandard or even dysfunctional leadership. Altogether, there is a lot of anxiety about remaining productively employed during the final years of many careers.

Unfortunately, switching jobs for the currently employed 50+ worker is not much easier than for their unemployed brethren. The same discriminatory hiring practices can likely face anyone born before 1960. I wish I had easy answers for remedying the employment problems of mature employees, but I do not. I do, however, have a few mitigating suggestions for those wondering what to do next:

Consult with a financial advisor. Have a clear picture of how solvent you are going forward. The chances of pulling down high salaries for the foreseeable future are greatly diminished for the time being.
Consider an entrepreneurial venture. Although far from a quick fix, now may be the time to leverage your skills and knowledge into a micro or small business that can positively engage your energies and eventually lead to some income.
Craft a marketable value proposition. Contrary to popular belief, the mature worker does have some assets. If your qualities can be powerfully presented as a direct match for the needs of an employer, then you just might be able to minimize or overcome the alleged weaknesses your age suggests.
Embrace the small-is-beautiful ethic. Pulling back on expenses and fifty-hour work weeks does have some advantages. Maintaining a high-consumption lifestyle can be like feeding a beast. Rediscovering simple and less demanding living may benefit your spirit in addition to your monetary situation.

The biggest challenge of all for the older worker who feels diminished and devalued may be in reframing their predicament into something opportunistic. Although you did not intend or predict that the ground beneath your feet would shift so dramatically, nevertheless look hard for the silver lining. As the saying goes, never let a crisis go to waste.

How We Choose Our Careers

Posted on February 7, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

John Lennon perhaps said it best: “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” And for many, that about sums up how career directions come to be. Life requires making plans, both large and small, and among the big ones is how one is to make a livelihood.

It is surprising, given the enormity of such a life decision and given the fact nearly everyone needs to make it, that a clear and customary process to career decision making is not commonly accepted. Most often it seems that people just fall into careers, which sometimes work out splendidly, but can often lead to years of wasted potential.

So, how do we end up doing the work that we do? Since as a society we cannot seem to agree on a single career-choice process, how are we to impart useful information to others, both young and old, who need assistance?

I have been tracking for some months now threaded discussions on the topic of career choice that have run on some of my career counselor groups in LinkedIn. I have identified some recurring themes that may be of interest to those of you who are also intrigued by the forces that are at play in career determination. Here is what I see at present:

Childhood – Clues for future career direction are often detectable in childhood. There can be obvious signs like the little girl mixing and matching her mother’s clothes while playing dress-up, who goes on to become a fashion designer, or the little boy consistently organizing his playmates into undertakings of one sort or another, who in later years works for the YMCA as an activity director. Although the innate interests in children may not be readily predictable as career catalysts, chances are quite good that future competencies are beginning to be played out in the activity choices occurring in kids’ lives.

Influencers – Career guidance often originates with individuals who hold significant value in one’s life. Family members and good friends, among other high-quality role models, provide direction and powerful suggestions about career goals. Sometimes this is intentional, but often it is not. The feedback and observations given to us in the natural course of having relationships from people we honor and respect can carry a huge amount of weight.

School – the subjects you liked in school, the encouragement you were given by teachers, and the observations you made about what defined success among your peers in an education and social setting can all play a part in how you structure your world view. As you assess the functional parts of the world, you begin to see how you might fit within it. In my judgment, schools, in general, do not emphasize career development strongly enough. The good news, however, is that by their very nature, schools provide an environment where careers can be made despite their other priorities.

Practicality – It has been said that when young, we use our heads to choose work, but that when we are older, we are driven more by our emotions in choosing jobs. Using your head means that you are looking at a career pragmatically, i.e., as a means toward an end. And that end typically involves considerations such as rate of pay, working conditions, commuting distance, benefits, childcare availability, and whether you can take the dog to work. These concerns are important, but they begin to pale somewhat as we mature and start realizing that concepts like career/life fit, advancement, professionalism, and retirement planning are as or more important.

Happenstance / Opportunity / Luck – One of the most powerful drivers of how our careers develop, if not our entire lives, has nothing to do with planning. It can be just dumb luck. Being in the right place at the right time, being born when you were, or living where you do can position you to take advantage of a confluence of events that makes great things possible. Knowing that luck can always be just around the corner makes successful people ever mindful and open to positive circumstances.

Even though there is an entire profession dedicated to career decision making, not many people take advantage of it. Doing so would certainly help greater numbers of people land more meaningful and fulfilling careers sooner. Nevertheless, it is worth knowing how career selection occurs for many of us, because these ways can also hold value.

Building and Projecting Your Professional Brand

Posted on January 24, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The term “professional brand” is thrown around frequently these days when it comes to job searching, career advancement, and business opportunities. As is the case whenever a term begins to become trite, we want to be careful that the original impact of its meaning does not become lost or mushy with overuse or misuse. Ever since 1999, when Tom Peters launched the use of brand to encapsulate the worker migration from corporate cog to independent provider of value, one’s professional brand has built substantial importance and cache.

Part of the workplace adjustment brought on by the Great Recession has been the intense need for workers to distinguish themselves in the face of heavy competition for fewer jobs. It is a buyer’s market for employers and to get noticed in the sea of applicants requires job searchers to communicate their worth and focus more than ever. The good news is that managing one’s online presence with social media and other means allows professionals to disseminate their brands very efficiently. The challenge for many, of course, is knowing what kind of brand message to project.

It all starts with identifying your value proposition. Being able to summarize your skills, competencies, and in general, what makes you an asset. Your unique value proposition serves as the basis for your brand and for how you express yourself using all the communication means at your disposal. Try containing this message in a short paragraph of no more than five sentences. This will discipline you to articulate your worth economically and pointedly.

Another concept that helps you to button down your brand is to consider your personal mix of talents, experiences, aptitudes, values, and proficiencies that make you who you are. Separate yourself from the herd by letting stakeholders know the one-of-a-kind package of qualities that you are made of and can offer.

Once you have determined your professional brand you are then ready to market it. Be specific in presenting what you are good at. How are you better than your competition? What kind of mid-level manager, or salesperson, or engineer are you? Can you point to achievements that speak to your effectiveness? Getting the word out to your industry about your expertise through various web-based and face-to-face networking methods increases your chances of coming out on top.

Be ready to direct and manage your carefully crafted message, especially online. Make sure that there is not conflicting information about you that could confuse or, worse yet, turn off those searching for you. You have worked hard to make something of yourself and there is still more growing to do. You take pride in all that you have accomplished to date, so do not hesitate to shout it out loud. Your future ambitions will benefit from the effort.

Managing Your Online Profile

Posted on January 10, 2011December 20, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It is quickly becoming conventional wisdom for professionals to realize the importance of establishing and maintaining a robust and communicative online profile. As has become the case with searching for knowledge of all manners and types, most individuals go first to the Internet — and of those who do, approximately 85% go to Google to get the information they need.

It is no different for recruiters, hiring managers, potential employers or contractors, and other stakeholders who need to carefully examine the history, qualifications, and relevant attributes of alleged talent with whom there is potential to forge a professional relationship.

Whether we want it to or not, our cyber presence is being developed. Even those who deliberately shy away from social media networking may still have a bio posted on their company’s web site or one could be listed on an association’s site as having given a talk at a conference. Maybe you or your company have been reviewed on one of many consumer review sites, or someone’s cell phone camera snapped you at a social event which is now on YouTube. To think your name and reputation can or should remain hidden from the web today is naïve and potentially harmful to your career.

Getting out in front of how your character is to be perceived by the world will give you the advantage of crafting and determining the message and image that accurately and powerfully presents you to those who may offer opportunities, which could result in career enhancement. Although you may not be able to control all the content about you that gets caught in the web, there are some steps that can be taken that will anchor your message of core professionalism that can optimize ahead of any weak or worse material that may be out there about you. The target outcome is simple — to have an online profile that displays your value and talent.

The place to start, however, is with a document that may never make it to the Internet and that is your resume. If this is well written, it will be economically and succinctly capturing your value proposition with supporting competencies, achievements, skills both hard and soft, education and training, and any other information highlighting your qualifications. With this foundation in place the professional is ready to communicate a self-appraisal with a variety of online means. Here are four recommended ways to accomplish this:

LinkedIn – With 85+ million users and growing this is the strongest place to establish your presence. The profile components are designed to give you a well-rounded professional look and it is easily updateable. You control the message entirely and it should mirror the value as described in your resume. There is the added advantage of linking to a wide network of colleagues, associates, and groups that increase your exposure and intellectual capital.
Twitter – This microblogging service is a great way to build your reputation through sharing relatively frequent commentary on industry insights and promotion of web-based content. It is simple to use and once you learn about the # and @ communities you can target your messages to people who care about what you have to offer.
Your Own Web Site – Controlling your image in a positive and creative way can be done by having your own site designed by yourself or by one of the gazillion boutique webmasters that are around. Here you can write a profile; add pictures; link to other relevant sites or blogs; post a video of yourself talking about what you do, which can be recorded using your webcam or by a friend with a digital camera; include an audio podcast and post your own blog.
Blogging – A wonderful self-promotion technique is to share your professional expertise. Doing so projects knowledge, experience, confidence, and legitimacy. Including your blog as part of your web site by using a sophisticated blogging tool such as WordPress eases the process. Blogging takes commitment, though. Keep posts often and current to get the most impact.

Taking these four steps will position you well for managing your online profile. Remember that your value proposition is the theme that ties all these tactics together. Be consistent in communicating what great things you offer and be prepared for the career benefits this effort will yield.

Career Development New Year Resolutions

Posted on December 27, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Recognizing the new year is a great tradition. Having that one time each year to reflect, take stock, and plan for the future is a valuable practice for progressing our growth and development. Well, it is that time of year again to look back over what has transpired, but more importantly to gaze ahead at the year to come with anticipation and a plan.

When it comes to making our lives meaningful and satisfying over the next twelve months, our thoughts should turn to making some impactful decisions regarding the direction of our careers.

If you are considering, as I recommend you do, determining some new year resolutions for your career, then here is my list of the six most helpful practices for refining your livelihood. A word about the current economic context before I begin — the cruel grip of the Great Recession is starting to ease. The fear that has slowed employment mobility for the past two years is lessening. Although the latest 2011 consensus of economists in a recent New York Times article was bullish regarding business growth for the upcoming year, there will remain a stubbornly high national unemployment rate.

However, in New Hampshire, where we now show an unemployment rate that is little more than half of the national rate, there is cause for more optimism. Hiring will likely be more robust here than in many parts of the country. Not great but improving. And given the reported amount of pent-up desire among currently employed workers to shift to new employers as soon as possible, this will be a year when we should see a pick-up in hiring. Given this scenario, here is how you can prepare:

Know What’s Going On: Be knowledgeable about your industry or chosen line of work. Research, read, and listen. Be on top of trends, practices, and opportunities that matter for industry growth and for your own bottom line.

Step Up Networking: Make sure to invigorate professional connections by maintaining genuine communication with those you respect. Offer to help and share. Show more interest in them than you expect to receive.

Assess Your Career Track: Ask yourself, are you really doing what you want to for work? Is it time to consider a course shift? There is no better time than now to make these critical decisions and to plan for change.

Got Social Media?: One way to advance all three of the above is to engage with social media, in particular LinkedIn. Gathering information, networking, and processing the quality of your career can all be helped along with social media.

Building Your Online Profile: A huge advantage of participating in social media at a professional level is that it positions you for establishing and maintaining a strong online profile. Controlling your presentation, to the extent you can, is becoming increasingly important.

Resume Rewrite: It is a rare person that does not need to revisit their resume at least once per year. It is equally as rare to find a resume that does not need at least a little improvement. Whether you need to tweak, upgrade, or completely revamp this important document, the present is a time to get started.

Sure, there is more that could be done to improve and advance your career. Careers are like properties — there is always something else that can be worked on. But, if you are looking to break inertia and get the most from your career in 2011, then taking on one or more of these suggestions may be just the thing to help make the new year one of significant and sustained growth.

Workplace Winners and Losers

Posted on December 13, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

There are basically two types of workers, right? Either you are an upward climber, or you choose to cruise on easy street. But wait a minute. Does everyone need to approach their career as a time-driven, multi-tasking, power-expressing endeavor, or is it alright to have a job that is relatively low stress, perhaps largely rote, and not one you take home with you both physically and mentally?

Well, sure it is. Or it should be. Shouldn’t it? But a funny thing happens when you try to put a non-judgmental tag on this type of job style. Look how easy it is for us to describe an ambitious, upwardly mobile, goal-oriented, tough-minded, high achiever. So, what do you call someone who does not approach work with a winner-take-all attitude… slow-mover, grunt-worker, low-end loser with limited goal-orientation?

None of these are very flattering. In fact, they and others like them are downright demeaning. Does that mean that career choices are divided into the worthy and the not worthy, valued or marginal, good and bad?

Unfortunately, the way we typically view the stratification of employment is a holdover from a traditional linear view of ladder climbing. Those on the higher rungs are generally viewed as more accomplished while those on the lower rungs are seen as novices at best and incapable at worst.

Looking at work diversity through this narrow lens discounts the various non-status-oriented reasons why people choose the work that they do. In fact, it is fair to say the ladder metaphor has outgrown its relevance. Career choice today is much more multi-dimensional and much less about points on a continuum, as was true even a couple of decades ago.

Career progress zigs and zags and flies in directions that are more spontaneous and less pre-determined. For example, randomly ask several forty-somethings if they are working at jobs they would have imagined doing when in high school or even college. Chances are that they have ended up in workplaces that they never would have imagined at the time.

To be sure, some of the metrics that defined career success in the past are still important, i.e., amounts of income, levels of responsibility, and significant decision-making authority. But quickly joining this list are some new highly valued success measures such as amounts of family and personal leave, results-only work management, and lack of job stress. Might someone these days choose a career that promises independence and uninterrupted nights of deep sleep over money and power? The answer increasingly is, yes!

When we as a culture accept more readily the different ways career-life fit are expressed, then we have a greater chance of truly creating conditions by which individuals choose careers that dovetail chosen lifestyles in profoundly satisfying ways. Think of how often some compliant young people choose a career direction because it fits more with convention, usually determined by the previous generation’s values, than it fits with their innate personalities and lifestyle wishes.

Separating workers into winners and losers based on criteria that does not speak to life contentment really does not make sense. People who choose to work as coffee shop baristas, supermarket bakers, golf course greens keepers, or licensed practical nurses can be as successful as any executive, business owner, or attorney if we agree that how healthy and happy they are, is how their work choice is to be judged.

So, what are acceptable and non-demeaning ways to describe the opposite of a high achiever? Maybe self-directed, balanced, purposeful, a skilled

__. Let us give ourselves a break and stop labeling each other. To do so seems uncomfortably close to making class distinctions, which we now know is not very helpful. Reframing how we view the general workforce however is.

Avoid the Arbitrary — Move with Purpose

Posted on November 29, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Nothing that you do should ever be arbitrary. That is what I was told in professional resume writer training. When writing a resume, every word, every bit of positioning, every design element must have an intentional reason — a purpose behind its use. Think about the value in completing a process, in which everything you do, every step you take is premeditated and not wayward.

Do you think this methodology is reserved just for highly programmed code writers or artists? Perhaps, but there is a lesson in approaching pursuits both small and large with deliberation and with mindfulness. When searching for a new job or planning and following through with a career development decision, being random or inconsistent decreases your chances of achieving your goal. Getting what you really want and need from your work requires focus and sound decision making.

Easily said and understood, right? Yet, the reality seems to be that most of us feel like we are chronically afflicted with attention deficit disorder when it comes to putting into action one of life’s most important undertakings — achieving a career of meaning.

It becomes easier to approach career development systematically when you have a framework of best practices within which to operate. Professional people have all they can do to stay current and productive with their fields of expertise, plus all the activity life in general throws at them. Expecting that career management will come naturally or be fully understood with just conventional wisdom is not reasonable.

Acquiring the necessary resources to comprehend the career process is desirable if you want control over the direction of your life. The good news is that the study of career development is not particle physics. You can prepare yourself or get a professional consultant to help. But either way, devising a customized plan that yields a career which optimizes life should be deliberate, purposeful, and not arbitrary.

The issue arises, however, that just because we have the needed information to plan a career development direction, moving forward effectively is something else. Decision making, the base skill required, is a complex concept. How we orient ourselves to the world and its inhabitants and how we take in information both factor greatly in how we make decisions.

It is helpful to reflect and to observe the way in which we make important choices. Just as there is no one optimal personality, there is no one best way to choose. But refining our skill in decision making is paramount if we are going to act strategically and not randomly.

When helping clients think strategically about career related options, I like to get a sense of their desired outcomes. It is useful to know what kind of ball one is keeping their eye on. Achieving outcomes that lead to fulfillment, satisfaction, stimulation, and contentment can form the basis for individual strategic planning.

Giving personal shape and meaning to these objectives is the first step in acting purposefully. Whether the goal is to simply extract pay and benefits from an employer or whether it is to satisfy intrinsic motivators, having a clear idea of what you want from your work is key.

Sure, there is plenty to be said for the role serendipity and good luck play in how our lives go. But acting deliberately and shunning poorly thought out and arbitrary decisions can go a long way in helping us to live lives of full measure.

Be In Charge of Your Career

Posted on November 16, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

One thing that I have noticed during conversations about work with people aged fifty and over is how employer-centric they are. By that I mean that their assessment of how the job is going is driven to a large degree by how they see themselves being treated by their employer.

I see that their reality, which has been deeply reinforced over decades, is that employees are fundamentally dependent upon whatever benevolence is provided to them by the employer. Operating under this assumption can turn work into a game of trying to please the boss, which is fine if you and the boss have a closely aligned mission and vision — but really, how often does that happen?

In contrast, I see the younger generation of workers establishing a different viewpoint. They seem less tethered to their employers than their parents’ generation. There is an attitude that expects more of a symbiotic relationship — that is the employee provides value to the employer in exchange for compensation and respect.

By which is meant respect for the employee’s career goals, their desire to achieve career-life fit, and for the quality of workmanship provided. The old employee/employer approach of, “shut up and do what you’re told”, is not likely to fly much longer.

This relationship change implies that more of a negotiated deal needs to be reached between workers and management. As companies move toward building project-based and on-demand workforces, then it should be noted that many of the skill and knowledge providers companies need are increasingly developing an independent contractor approach.

A pan-industry career skill among employers and employees is becoming the ability to negotiate a work arrangement that satisfies both parties as something closer to co-equals functioning with mutual respect. For the vast majority of still working Boomers, this is not the way we have operated, largely because we hoped for long-term employment with its long-term stability and security. (For the record, I am 57 years old).

Younger workers are realizing this paradigm is changing. The art of continuous deal making, and a much more resilient and changeable work life, is becoming the new normal.

Although less predictable, perhaps than in the past, this trend has some benefits for career development. The principal one being that individual workers will grow to be more independent minded and less reliant on single employers for employment security. As if we did not need reminders of the risk of employer dependency, the current Recession reminds us that the only one we can trust with anything approaching work security should be ourselves.

Other advantages include an individual’s need to constantly define and communicate their value to others, honing negotiation skills, expanding industry networks, keeping a finger on the pulse of industry trends and opportunities, and staying sharp and contemporary with best practices while avoiding complacency and inertia.

Extended employment with a single or limited number of employers has certainly provided compensatory benefits that have retained workers and to some degree engendered loyalty. Shifting that burden to individual workers can create anxieties, uncertainties, and challenges which can be unsettling and risky. Mitigating this downside while capitalizing and taking advantage of the upside can result in a career in which you feel more in the driver’s seat.

Prepare Your Resume for Applicant Tracking Systems

Posted on October 29, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Among the things in need of consideration when preparing your resume, especially if it is to be sent or posted electronically to recruiters or hiring managers, is having it ready to pass unscathed through Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

ATS are software applications for managing large volumes of recruitment, resume, and job application data. They may be a subset of a Human Resource Information System or a stand-alone app. Either way, an ATS is a database of recruitment data configured to the specific needs of the hiring end-user. Although in rural areas many resumes still make it to human eyeballs, you still must be prepared that it will be screened with an ATS.

For the job applicant, ATS presents a particular challenge. Either ATS will accept or reject your resume. It should be expected that ATS will be designed to only accept resumes that contain keywords and phrases specific to the open job position. When using a single resume to try landing interviews for multiple job descriptions the applicant runs the risk of getting rejected too often by ATS, because their resume may not contain enough keywords and phrases pertinent to what the employer wants.

Getting around this problem may require more work, but it is not unmanageable. The goal is to obviously have your resume address as closely as possible the job description to be filled, while staying true to your value proposition. Therefore, being mindful of keywords that make up the job description you are interested in should be included in your resume. If you notice a lack of keywords in your resume, then decide if the job is really a good fit for you or if your resume is inadequate.

Following are some techniques to consider when getting ready to send your resume electronically to firms or agencies that require digitally formatted resumes:

Follow up your contact information at the top of page one with a well-written and terse professional profile or executive summary. It should contain keywords and phrases for the kind of position you are best qualified to perform, and which aligns with what the employer is seeking.
Include an achievement or significant accomplishments section, which is again sensitive to keywords pertaining to desired functions.
ATS are becoming more sophisticated and may include a contextualizing ability. When using keywords, include them in the context of skills and functions that demonstrate your knowledge and command of the job. Do not just insert a list of words.
Be wary of fancy text or graphics. They will not impress a machine and may confuse it.
In many cases, do not send your resume as an attachment to an email, but rather paste it right into the body of the email. The website you are responding to may specify file type. If you are given a choice between pasting and uploading, however, go with the upload. It will retain your resume structure more reliably. Do not be surprised that you may be asked to paste a Plain Text (.txt) file format into the message body. I recommend having your resume in three formats: Word (still the industry standard), PDF, and Plain Text.
Be careful of misspellings and abbreviations. They should be avoided. Assume the ATS will be programmed to pick up fully and correctly spelled keywords. And do not get cute with all capitals or all lower-case letters. Standard capitalization still rules.
When completing an online application, you may be asked to repeat information that you know is included in your resume. That’s okay. Fill in all fields, even if you are repeating yourself.

With some care and attention to keywords and phrases you will increase your chances of having your resume and its accompanying job application make it to the all-important hiring manager inbox and avoid the screening filters of ATS.

The Elusive Jobs Which Do Exist

Posted on October 14, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It has been reported that 32% of U.S. manufacturers are reporting skill shortages during the current Recession. Projections are that this number could increase to 62% soon.

Corporations are also reporting that there is a lack of leadership talent from which to choose. Among the workforce areas claiming that jobs are available are in the skilled trades, sales representatives, technicians, engineers, accounting & finance, administrative & production assistants, and laborers. And this list is not complete.

Despite an unemployment rate stuck at 10% one of the great ironies of the Great Recession is that there is a shortage of high quality and desirable job applicants. There certainly is no shortage of sad, demoralized, and desperate Americans begging to be hired. But when it comes to potential hires who meet the valued qualifications of many employers there is a dearth of possibilities. How can this be?

Logic and supply & demand theory dictate that a necessary workforce adjustment should be occurring whereby industry needs are accommodated by a willing and resilient population of workers. Given these atrocious employment times you would think the migration of the unemployed to fill vacancies would be rapid. But it is not, and it is not expected to be anytime soon!

So, what’s going on? At this point in time, I’m seeing two issues:

Matching: Along with just about everything else in the 21st century the nature of work and the needs of industry are quickly changing. For potential employees keeping up with and being prepared for the new, innovative, and hybrid positions now in demand is not being efficiently handled. The skills needed are not possessed by enough workers.

A requirement for any professional is to continuously build knowledge capital. If you snooze you lose. The better you know your industry the less chance you have of being caught unprepared.

But industry too has a responsibility here. Identifying, recruiting, and developing talent creates win-win situations. Succession planning, quality onboarding, and timely training can enhance employees’ careers and company productivity.

Both parties need to do a better job of discovering one another.

Searching: Following from the above point is the issue of how these parties go about finding one another. For many, the value and necessity of networking has just become apparent over the past couple of years. For those who have cultivated a rich set of contacts there is a relative ease in learning about new work opportunities, including the hard-to-fill positions.

Yet, if you are not a great networker, and many people are not, you may be reduced to looking at job boards and other web site postings. I do not have to tell you how frustrating and ineffective that can be.

So, a big part of the problem is that the means of searching for elusive positions are ineffective. Even networking can be hard to apply systematically. Good real-time ready and solution-oriented databases, which are dedicated to critical shortage job positions, are not yet there. If industry marketed more effectively what their hiring needs are in the short and long-term, then I am confident more of the workforce would prepare themselves to fill those gaps.

Adapting to this Recession is difficult in many ways. One of the most egregious is in trying to accept that a) corporations are not allocating huge amounts of cash reserves to hire new workers, and b) that available positions are not being filled because talent is not being found. As a country we are suffering, in part, because we cannot seem to fit square pegs into square holes! Responsibility for remedying this mess should be shared.

Workers, whether employed or not, need to do a better job of tracking industry current trends, projected needs, and best practices. Excelling in a rapidly evolving work environment requires nothing less.

And industry needs to do a much better job of communicating in an accessible way talent and skill inadequacies, which will alert the American worker to this urgency and to where good jobs can be found.

The pace of reconciling America’s unemployment dilemma needs to quicken. It is simply not acceptable for critical shortages and high unemployment to exist simultaneously. Solving this mismatch is everyone’s responsibility.

Motivation and Your Career

Posted on September 21, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

A spot-on career choice can be judged as so because it results in certain outcomes. Among these is that a happy worker feels stimulated and continually interested in what they are doing, enjoys the compensation and recognition they receive, is content with a well calibrated work/life balance, and thrives on being productive. Satisfied workers do not have to be told to get busy. They are internally motivated to do so.

It is no secret that employers want motivated employees. Companies get high productivity without the intrusive burden of having to implement excessive oversight and punitive incentives. Having inspired employees can make it easier for management to retain talent and maximize performance. Given these potential advantages and benefits it would be expected that recruiting and keeping these intrinsically motivated workers would be a high priority for company management.

So, why does it seem that front offices miss the mark so often as evidenced by too many workers being largely unhappy with their jobs and who are just going through the motions to get a paycheck? The conventional attitude has been and continues to be among the general workforce that work stinks and is done only because it needs to be and is not because people love their jobs.

It is in the interests of employers and employees alike to reverse this situation. To do so, it may be worth examining characteristics of the motivated employee at the workplace.

To be fair, it is not simply a matter of employers alone creating a magical set of conditions which result in a motivated and positive workforce. Motivation, and its close cousin engagement, are the co-responsibility of employer and employee alike and should be delivered in equal parts from both.

Regarding the individual worker, successful ones bring to the workforce an innate and compelling belief to be independently conscientious, dependable, and efficient. They want to do fascinating and highly interesting things and are energized by a sense of accomplishment. Driven by values and vision, the motivated working person strives to produce quality products and services that are desired by managers and customers alike — both to satisfy stakeholders and themselves.

Fulfillment with career choice and direction comes largely from within and is not principally from what others can consequentially provide for them. These are the kinds of employees or contracted independents who add value beyond implementation of an organization’s stated business. They are keepers for sure.

The obvious objective for companies is to figure out how to populate their workforces with as many motivated and engaged employees as possible. It should begin with management recognizing that motivation is at the core of performance and that they share in the responsibility of fostering it among their employees.

In practice, this means partly devising the right mix of meaningful rewards and extrinsic motivators. Competitive monetary compensation, attractive fringe benefits, generous vacation time, family care and leave flexibility, job security to the extent that is possible these days, and internal and public recognition all significantly contribute to workforce motivation.

However, employer facilitation does not end there anymore. There is an intangible consideration that more workers are expecting from their employers, and it involves sharing an emotional and purposeful connection that what is collectively being done at work matters. It is easier for everyone to feel as if they are being treated right when there exists a shared belief that the organizational mission and vision holds great value for others, the community, even the planet.

For employers to actively express appreciation in as many ways as possible to their workers for participating in a common ambition will enhance employee involvement. Reducing or eliminating any discrepant gaps between an employer’s business and their individual employee’s career goals, including intrinsic motivators, will necessarily result in a high engagement and more productive work environment.

When employers can begin moving away from thinking that the traditional carrot and stick, if-then, extrinsic-only approach to incentivizing is their only responsibility in creating motivated workforces and alternatively accept and embrace the internal drive, values, and career intent of their workers, then companies and organizations will yield more gain from colleagues who are only too glad to contribute.

Entrepreneurs and Joblessness

Posted on August 30, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It does not look like joblessness is going to be easing anytime soon. Even though business orders are up, cash reserves are high, and overtime is wearing out employees. Unfortunately, economic conditions still do not seem to be stimulative enough to increase hiring.

For the unemployed this is especially aggravating. Most are hopeful, perhaps desperate is the more accurate word, that “companies” will someday begin hiring again, that employers of businesses both large and small will again provide all the jobs we need like they did before.

And what help can be expected from the government? Although the Democrats stimulus plan helped to avert another Great Depression and created or saved 2-4 million jobs it has not sufficiently convinced businesses or their lenders that there is enough stability and predictability to start hiring. The Republicans, on the other hand, are still convinced that no government plan is best and that if we can just keep taxes to the rich low and markets free of regulation all will recover nicely (President Bush’s tax cut to the rich is now nine years old and that worked out well, didn’t it?!).

This joblessness problem is bigger than politicians can remedy with trite ideological positions and reheated campaign phrases. Here in New Hampshire, listening to the current crop of political ads can hardly give hope to the jobless. They sound like parodies of… well political campaign ads.

We hear candidates telling us that their honesty and business acumen will “fix the economy”. Really? This is one heck of a big mess that will not be solved by way of polarization, finger-pointing, and outrageous claims of superhuman economic abilities. It begins with everyone seeing themselves as Americans first and Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Tea Partyers, or whatever, second. Nobody and no political persuasion have all the answers. When the nation’s most renowned economists cannot agree on what is the right course of action, then that tells me that this is really complicated and requires the collaboration of our greatest efforts, not simplistic political phrases.

If I had a quick and easy answer or method to suggest that would lessen the pain of unemployment, believe me, I’d give it to you. But just like our candidates, be they lobbyists, lawyers, or magazine editors, I don’t have a magic bullet for fixing this unemployment mess and I have yet to run into anyone else who has one.

So, while we wait for our leaders to work together, jobless Americans need to be as proactive as they can. Assume for starters that we are not going back to Pleasantville. For the short-term, anyway, there is going to be a new normal. I think it will help to get yourself in the mindset of treating yourself as if you were self-employed… an entrepreneur. Avoid wallowing in despair and depression and instead face your situation as if you are trying to generate business for your own owner-operated company, the business of you.

Be clear on what you can offer and then constantly look for opportunities to practice your skills. Volunteer, work temporarily, accept positions for now that pay less than before, keep studying, keep networking, do whatever it takes to stay in the game. Recessions historically generate entrepreneurial activity and given how deep this one is, the entrepreneurial reaction of citizens should be strong.

Losing your identity is as bad, if not worse, than losing your money. Can you still say what you “are”, be it bookkeeper, truck driver, or seamstress? You are out of work, not out of life. Find a way to stay engaged in what you do and in who you are. Losing your job is not the same thing as losing your profession.

The evidence that we are headed more and more into a freelance nation is continuously being reinforced. Waiting for the old normal of “getting a job” may never again be the same for millions of Americans. Begin making the mental shift now to being independent. It may be the only thing related to your work that you can control.

Jobs and the Political Parties

Posted on August 23, 2010February 22, 2022 by Bill Ryan

With the 2010 mid-term election campaign season heating up it is a good time to look at where the two different major political parties stand on job creation.

It is clear that the economy is the most important campaign issue and the most prominent economic theme on most people’s minds is job creation. To the extent that law makers can affect employment, the parties have staked out strategic positions, which they hope will help them win in November. As someone who shares in the hope that everyone who wants a job can have one, here is my take on who offers the best hope.

To start with, job creation is largely a private sector and business responsibility. Although government financed jobs are just as valuable and valid as private sector jobs, the public sector cannot and should never expect to sustain the economy largely through tax payer based employment. From that premise, it becomes necessary to rate the parties on what they think the role of government should be in creating or facilitating the conditions by which the private sector can grow and create jobs.

True to tradition, the Democrats are looking for more interventionist and activist ways of involving government to stimulate the private economy, while Republicans are trying to minimize government involvement believing that business and entrepreneurism alone can improve economic conditions. Let us see how these approaches have fared in recent political history.

Essentially, Reaganomics have had their way for the past twenty-five to thirty years, by which I mean the Republican penchant for reducing taxes on wealthier Americans and reducing governmental regulations on business have held sway. Even President Clinton talked about the era of big government being over. The best that can be said from a jobs perspective is that employment followed the economic bubbles and busts of the 1990s and 2000s resulting in the Recessionary mess we now have. If the economic tide had lifted all boats, then the pulling of the economic plug in 2008 drained all of us and quickly.

Let us look at the last couple of years in particular. The current Recession began in December 2007. By the fall of ’08 with panic starting to set in we had the Republican nominee for president telling us the fundamentals of the economy were fine while the Democratic nominee was warning us of economic doom and gloom.

President Bush’s Treasury Secretary saw it imperative to begin a program of government funded bailouts to keep the country from plunging into another Depression. The newly elected president realized that government financial intervention needed to continue for the banks and extended it to two of the major American auto companies. Without those bailouts, unemployment would have been much higher.

In 2009 President Obama, having inherited a $1.3 Trillion deficit, and the congressional Democrats involved the government further in passing economic stimulus legislation. This seems to have maintained more jobs than it created, but it can be said to have kept the unemployment rate from getting worse than it did.

As we all know, the economic recovery has been slow and the high unemployment rate remains largely stuck between 9.5 and 10%. In response, the political debate seems to be between the Republicans who say that everything the president and Democrats attempt should be thwarted and the Democrats saying that increases in targeted expenditures along with more regulation, particularly in the financial industry, is needed. So whose approach can result in more jobs?

This Recession began largely because of unsustainable spending and speculation on behalf of many in the private sector who were able to get away with it. Had there not been government intervention we would now be experiencing the second Great Depression in our nation’s history with much higher unemployment than now. To prevent a Depression government essentially transferred the unsustainable spending from the private sector to the tax payer in the form of an increased budget deficit. A robust business climate is needed to seriously reduce that debt.

Republicans are still wedded to the belief that low taxes to the rich and a low regulatory climate will create a long-term healthy economy. There really is nothing new in their game plan except to cooperate even less than before with the Democrats.

The track record of this approach from the last three decades is not encouraging, however. The Democrats still believe that government should be a check and balance to the power of the markets so that excesses such as those that have led to the current Recession and that have hurt so many Americans are mitigated.

The power calibration between free markets and government spending and intervention is tricky and far from a guarantee that it can right the economic ship, but I prefer action over inaction. I will take my chances with President Obama and the Democrats.

Career Communication Management

Posted on July 27, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It is certainly not news that competition for quality career-building jobs in New Hampshire is relatively tight. Although the state’s employment statistics are brighter than the national ones, it is still a tough time for employees wanting to move forward in their careers given that companies are being very cautious about adding personnel back to their payrolls.

For many of today’s job seekers knowing the basics of networking, contemporary job search techniques, and the importance of refining one’s job interview performance may not be enough. To be an optimized job seeker in these competitive times means that you either need to acquire a career communications manager, who can help position you for targeted employment openings, or learn the tactics of becoming your own. Let me explain.

Presenting yourself professionally to advance career transitions or even to practice and maintain career fitness involves constructing a comprehensive and cohesive communications campaign. Crafting and disseminating a strongly branded self-promotional message about yourself places you in a situation that is more open to career enhancing opportunities and gives you added competitive cache when compared to the legions of overworked or discouraged pros who do not take the time to make and manage such information.

Recruiters, hiring managers, background checkers, former and current colleagues, competitors, prospective customers or clients, industry pros, and executives are all among the eyeballs who at some time may or will be checking you out. What will they find? A shallow outline loosely held up by an old-fashioned white bread resume or a dynamic and rich presentation that communicates experience, significance, and value across multiple platforms.

I know full well that the last thing you want to hear about is that there is more to do to keep up, when you like most professionals, are already struggling with achieving career development and work/life balance simultaneously. But to those for whom it is important to be in the leader pack, here is what I suggest for you to be an effective career communications manager:

Develop your resume as a value proposition and branding anchor. In general, try to include the following elements.

A compact positioning statement or self-marketing tagline.
From there, include a supporting career profile summary ending with an objective.
Be sure that enough descriptors are included, so that a reader can mentally merge your personality, work style characteristics, and expertise.
A list of significant accomplishments (your greatest hits) written in the CAR style, i.e., the Challenge with which you were faced, followed by the Action you took, and ending with the positive Results that were realized. Quantifying these accomplishments will strengthen them.
A work history that is more focused on tasks and responsibilities which you performed and your past titles, dates, employers, and locations.
Education, certifications, professional association memberships, and quotes from satisfied supervisors and customers can round out a great resume.

Having undergone this resume exercise, you are ready to now promote yourself online. Begin with LinkedIn. Build a LinkedIn profile to reflect your resume. Amplify your brand by joining industry discussion groups and establishing networking connections. Consider taking this a step further by using Twitter to join in conversations pertaining to industry matters with the pros you want to follow and to be heard from.

Continue by building a career communications portfolio in paper and online formats, the parts of which can be retrieved as you need them. The parts of a complete career portfolio include such items as brand or Unique Selling Proposition statements, CAR stories, testimonials, one paragraph and two-page biographies, and even thirty-second to two-minute video elevator pitches that you can post on your website or YouTube. These are all useful tools for the pro who takes professional projection and reputation seriously.

Strategically communicating your value for potential employers and building your career development ROI is an effort worth the time. Do not think of this as just a Recessionary quick fix, but rather as a way of shaping long-term professional growth.

The Need to Maintain an Online Presence

Posted on July 12, 2010February 22, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I’m 57 years old and can remember a time when one could live in relative obscurity. People were based in community and workplaces physically and in real time. There were nearby family and friends of course, but one’s social network didn’t expand nearly as far as it does now.

If you are thinking in 2010 that your presence and position in the world is only as wide as you have traditionally wanted it to be, i.e., just keeping an inner circle of family and friends, then you are limiting not just the scope of your social life, but also of career development opportunities.

We can find and check out more people now than ever before. Conversely, we can be found and checked out by more people than ever before. Sound creepy? Perhaps, but it is the way it now is thanks to technology.

We do have a choice, though. Bemoan the new reality and wish for the old days or we can learn to engage, maybe even embrace this interconnectedness, because as many now know, despite all the risks and flaws, social media and ubiquitous computing also has benefits and value. Among the advantages is being able to manage your reputation, brand, and persona.

Now, if you do not want to be found by anyone, then hopefully you are secure in what you do for work and can count on it sustaining you for a long while. Because if you find yourself suddenly thrust into a job transition it will be not only harder to get noticed, but more importantly difficult to be able to impress hiring authorities who will be looking to investigate you online.

Here are two things that you do not want potential employers finding out about you when they look for you online:

Little if any presence
A presence that looks empty, not maintained, ambiguous, blahhhh…

So, what can you do? I would start with the following:

LinkedIn. If you want to be taken seriously as a professional contributor, then you need a LinkedIn profile. If you already have a decent resume, then let it anchor and be your guide for building the profile. If you have not worked on your resume recently, meaning in the past two years or more, then you should probably get that house in order first. Extend from profile building to joining relevant groups, growing your connection list, and learning how to conduct people and company searches.
Get engaged with Twitter. I hope that you are aware by now that Twitter is not just for kids and people with too much time on their hands. You can follow and participate in some great industry streams of thought. It is a way to get noticed, find people you should know about, and learn a lot at the same time.
Do you have a web site or bio on someone else’s site? How do you look? Is your value and contribution, potential or actual, being communicated accurately, strongly, clearly?
What comes up when your name is googled? Our closets have gotten smaller and easier for job killing skeletons to lurk. You want to have a positive image of yourself to be better optimized than a negative one.
I must admit that I am not really into the Facebook culture, but I know that the rest of the world is. So, I maintain a professional look on FB and do not mention what I watched on television last night or who I saw at what party. If you are into posting a lot of personal stuff on Facebook (and that is the point, right?) then I would be clear on how your security settings are configured. A clash between personal and professional imagery might work against you.
Consider joining some other sites that are designed to profile you or that allow you to post blogs. Sharing expertise builds your brand and strengthens your reputation.

The name of this game is constructing and cultivating a professional reputation that is available for the world to see and to learn from. Is this all too much to consider when you already have so many other things to do? Well, that’s why there are people like me around to help.

Building the Right Kinds of Capital

Posted on June 27, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

To progress in your career no longer means simply getting better and better at some skill or becoming more knowledgeable about a particular topic so that your employer benefits. Rather, you expand your expertise so that you can become more professional to position yourself to offer your intrinsic talents to employers who need them at just the right time.

In today’s employment world you improve what you do and know, because ultimately what you must rely on is your own ability to offer needed professionalism to those willing to pay for it. Among the lessons learned in this Great Recession is that employment security with a company or organization is less and less certain. Therefore, the only boss we really must answer to is ourselves.

To that end, I would like to suggest a professional self-improvement model first developed by Mansour Javidan, a researcher and professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona.

He proposes understanding three types of capital: intellectual, emotional, and social, which have been developed by managers who work in global markets and with international direct reports. Without going too deeply into his theory, I am proposing that these three types of capital apply in career development.

To enhance your marketable expertise requires this three-pronged approach, which will result in you becoming more knowledgeable, energized, and better able to take advantage of opportunities in today’s employment arena.

Intellectual capital refers to the body of knowledge needed to be good at what you do. As a lifelong learner you should always be comprehending more fully the scope and range of all there is to know to keep you ahead of the curve and certain of your field’s best practices and important issues.

You keep this knowledge acquisition continuous through a variety of means like:

Day to day engagement and practice
Keep up with relevant topics presented in the media and your professional organizations
Track and participate in related discussions in your slice of the blogosphere and networking groups, both face-to-face and online.

Being aware of the evolving nature of your industry is fundamental in enhancing your strength and managing any weaknesses as you seek opportunities.

Emotional capital is what you build the more you work at what you most want to do and are best at doing. To be truly fulfilling, work should be intrinsically motivating and not just done for external rewards like a paycheck. Your work should be to express your vocation.

It is necessary, therefore, for us to constantly be striving to create conditions by which we shed doing those tasks that drain us and take on those tasks that energize us. Profound work satisfaction is possible when we closely align our passions, interests, talents, and aptitudes with the jobs we have taken on to do. Our spirits can be lifted as we expertly provide a service to employers or clients in need. At this point, we no longer need to compartmentalize our work life from who we really are as individuals.

Often referred to as networking, building and maintaining social capital, it is the third leg of the professional growth stool.

To discover new career opportunities is largely the result of quality connections we make with others who are acquainted with our value. Growing and sustaining this pool of contacts should be purposeful and strategic. Managing your professional brand and reputation will allow others who a) need your services or b) can be a source of referrals, to find out about you.

Favorable circumstances just do not occur by chance alone. They are made by extending ourselves to the industry community of insiders and customers. Being well connected gives you options and the liberty to chart the direction of your career.

Take the time to assess how effectively you are building these three kinds of capital. It is not just something you do during a job search. Shaping your career is a perpetual process that only you can control.

Ten Basic Steps to Career Development

Posted on June 9, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

When you decide that employment inertia is no longer working for you or you find that economic conditions beyond your control have thrust you into a job or possibly a career change, then you need a plan. The better you accept and strategically deal with change, the more likely a positive outcome can be realized.

As a career transition specialist, I have determined ten important steps that must be followed to form a complete plan. As you read the steps below, assess for yourself if you have a grasp on some of these or if you need to develop and refine certain ones. You will know that you have mastered most if not all ten steps when you feel deep contentment with your career.

My pick for the ten practical basic steps to career development are:

Choose your “industry“. It may be as clear-cut as pharmaceuticals or physics, or it may be a hybrid like combining social work with animal rescue. But whatever you decide, be clear that you are in a field that you care about and would like to grow in.
Determine and promote your value proposition or unique selling proposition, including a branding process. Everyone needs to market themselves if they are to find career options and opportunities.
Having a strong resume. Prepare a resume that highlights your significance and employment value. It is more relevant today than ever before. Make this a document that has you truly shining.
Distribute cover letters that open doors. In general, the more targeted a cover letter is written, the greater are your chances for an interview. But also consider the cold cover letter that can make a hiring manager sit up and take notice.
Maximize the power of LinkedIn. It is a small jump from a solid resume to a powerful LinkedIn profile. Someone who may consider you for an interview or to hire you will most likely look for your LI presence. Be there and look good.
Know job search best practices. Still looking in the newspaper for who is hiring? Job search techniques have been identified that will increase your chances of getting the work you want. Become familiar with what works and do not waste time and energy with what does not.
Networking, networking, and networking. No longer just a job search tactic, networking is a systematic cultivation of people who can be a valuable resource for career opportunities. Build and maintain a rich network of such contacts. Smart professionals are always networking, even and especially, when they are employed.
Develop your intellectual capital through research. Know as much as possible about trends, practices, threats, and strengths in your chosen industry and/or with key companies. This will increase your credibility and professional instincts. Adding to your expertise should never stop.
Practice informational interviews. As a subset of the last two mentioned steps, informational interviews assist you in building a knowledge base and learning from people in the know. Set up short fact-gathering sessions with insiders to expand both your intellectual and your social capital.
Strengthen your job interview performance. Be well prepared for all types of job interviews. This is not just about memorizing answers to common questions. It is about leveraging confidence, knowledge, and skills to craft a presentation that leads to a satisfying career move.

Implementing a plan consisting of these ten steps will better position you for the work life you desire. Make no mistake, doing all of this is a lot of work and it is not easy. But as the world of work moves increasingly toward one in which the professional is the primary caregiver of themselves, it is a necessary one.

The Importance of Informational Interviews

Posted on May 28, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Any career transition strategy must include evidence that the job seeker or job changer is involved in continuous learning. With competition for jobs tighter than ever, it creates a buyer market for hiring managers and recruiters. They can select from among the best in the talent pool and part of being the best is for the professional to be engaged in their field through a never-ending process of learning and refinement.

I would recommend to any client going into a job interview that they make sure the interviewer knows that they are enthused and energized by their line of work or chosen profession and that they are constantly seeking ways to grow and learn more deeply and broadly about it.

Now this does not have to mean just taking formal classes or matriculating into degree programs, although doing so can certainly count as concrete evidence. Additional continuous learning techniques can be accomplished through on-the-job-training, networking with those possessing expertise, joining and following relevant LinkedIn groups, getting involved with professional association activities and resources, and the one I would like to focus on today, the informational interview.

This method is great for targeted learning about types of jobs. It is all about information gathering and when done well can leave you much more knowledgeable about where you want and do not want to go with your career. As an added benefit, informational interviewing can expand your network and serve as a self-promotion or marketing tactic that may pay off with learning about interesting and new opportunities down the road.

The first thing to know about informational interviews is that they are not job interviews. The purpose is to ask proven professionals for advice and insight. They can help the job seeker learn more about specific careers, industries, and companies, resulting in you knowing much more about each than you did before.

To do this well, however, you need to be someone who can reach out to these people in the know and make a request for an informational interview. In many cases this may mean making a cold contact — everybody’s favorite thing to do! But with practice, even the most introverted among us can get into the outreach zone.

Keep this in mind, most people like to be asked about what they know and are good at. Who does not like to talk about themselves? Many current pros probably did some informational interviewing when they were considering transitions and feel it is appropriate to give back.

Finding people to interview will require some homework. LinkedIn and Twitter along with other face-to-face networking through professional associations, Chambers of Commerce, alumni associations, professional journals or other publications, workshops, conferences, and social events can all turn up interesting people with whom to speak.

Once you identify some potential contacts, approach them first in writing by explaining who you are and provide some professional background along with a specific purpose of your contact and your contact information. Request a twenty-minute time slot. (If lucky, it will go longer). Determine with them if face-to-face, phone, or Skype is the best way to talk.

Never go into one of these ill prepared. Get as much background information together by visiting the organization’s or industry’s web sites beforehand along with pre-determined questions ready to use.

You are asking them about things like:

a typical day

workplace environment and conditions

necessary training and education requirements

anticipated job prospects

company and industry culture

earnings potential

typical company and industry career paths

what their recommendations and warnings are

best practices

how they stack up with the competition

I am sure that you can think of others. Hopefully, the conversation will begin to flow and take on a life of its own.

As you conclude, ask if there is anyone else they can recommend for you to interview. After all, this is part of your continuous learning plan. There is always more to read and someone else to meet.

Performance Review Lite

Posted on May 4, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The recent mass firing of an entire high school staff in Central Falls, RI is remarkable on several levels. And one of these is that there were many teachers fired who had not only a history of loyalty to the school and community but had years’ worth of positive evaluations or performance reviews.

No one can argue that an organization, whether a school or business, should have a fair and effective means of determining whether employees are working to capacity and serving as a valued resource. A solid employee appraisal process gives management an opportunity to present positive feedback and to point out ways in which employee performance may need strengthening.

It is a time when organizational and worker goals can be reviewed and aligned, and if relevant, obstacles to optimal performance can be identified and remediated. Through continuous refinement, the performance review process can add potency to organizational operations.

But what happens when performance reviews are just an empty meaningless management tactic that really holds no operational value or legitimacy? That appears to have been the case in Central Falls.

I had an opportunity lately to speak with some of the current and soon to be former staff of Central Falls High School and as would be expected they were disgruntled with what occurred. But the one single complaint that was heard most often was the one concerning the apparent lack of weight given to performance reviews. How can it be, they rightly ask, that teachers who had proven their merit through a negotiated performance review process did not have that process factor into their dismissal decision? All the effort placed by administrators into evaluating staff was wasted, since their assessment work had no bearing when it came to a mass firing.

So why did the school district bother with performance reviews? One of the reasons why they occur is to identify employee training needs. Given that this school had a history of low-functioning students from low-income homes, it seems reasonable to assume that staff training needed to be better concentrated on improving student achievement with a challenging population such as this one.

One wonders to what extent this training happened. Is it reasonable to assume that all the teachers were so incompetent that they were incapable of addressing the serious educational needs of an admittedly difficult student body? I think it was easier to just fire everybody, rather than to try building an effective training program.

Another important function of performance reviews is to diagnose weaknesses to better address organizational inefficiencies. When an organization deteriorates to the point that its shortcomings are overwhelming, the question arises as to whether the blame lies more with the workforce or the leadership.

It is difficult to see how this school was well administered. Education is difficult, but it is not particle physics. A more strategic attempt to use performance reviews as part of a plan to better target and mitigate organizational imperfections could have been a more humane and intelligent approach to strengthen the school.

Perhaps the most important reason for having performance reviews is that they provide opportunities for employees and management to have frank and solution-oriented discussions of workplace issues. People do not go into teaching for money and prestige, but to try making a difference in their communities and to the lives of youth. It is one of those jobs that combines art, science, and passion to produce competence and effectiveness… not unlike many jobs out there.

Members of an organization need to be able to collaborate forcefully on making quality decisions and solving problems. Institutionalizing improvement measures internally is paramount for an organization in crisis.

Can you imagine the lack of cooperation and trust between management and rank and file that results in the firing of every employee? This is a case study of organizational failure.

Steps to Starting a Career Plan

Posted on April 19, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

When working with young people in career development, by which I mean teenager to approximately age twenty-five, I find that there are most often two distinct types of clients: Those with their heads in the clouds and those who can’t get up off the ground.

It is tough figuring out a career path. Most of us find that there comes a time when we are forced into having to earn money and we try to do it as painlessly as possible. At the same time, we know that we must knock our “growing-up” a notch or two and start planning to do more than work minimum wage jobs.

But how to make career related decisions that move you forward when most of what you have known is being told by teachers and parents what to do next?

Getting started on a career is largely determined by how you make decisions and what those decisions are. The first step in career development is always to undergo a self-assessment and the first question to ask yourself is, “What is my decision-making style?”

Understanding what problems need to be solved, systematically determining fixed conditions from variables within situations, and being able to reasonably project the likely consequences of various options taken is an approach that should position you for opportunities.

Easier said than done? Let us look at some steps that I feel young people entering the workforce with the hope of beginning some sort of career should consider.

Have a career advisor. This could be a professional, family member, or trusted friend, but someone who is willing to engage you through an intelligent process of making career-oriented decisions. This could take some time, so the advisor should be someone who does not tire of the process too soon.
Assess thyself. First mentioned above, the value of a self-analysis cannot be overstated. You need to know clearly what your entry levels of skills, aptitudes, talents, values and most of all interests, are. Interest precedes capacity. You will develop most that which you care about.
Begin establishing your network. Building, growing, and maintaining a professional network is an important part of any serious career. Making contacts with those who share your career interests and with whom you begin networking by helping and being helped, will set you up for valuable learning and employment experiences.
Build interpersonal and teamwork skills. Employers are almost always looking for people who can work together well with others. Place yourself in situations in which you learn how to get a job done with others. Join clubs, volunteer, be available to help and work with others whenever the opportunity arises.
Write the first draft of your resume. Expect that your resume will undergo many iterations over the years, so the sooner you get started the better. Writing this document forces you to paint a professional self-portrait that details your significant characteristics.
Complete a Myers Briggs Type Indicator. Become familiar with the construct of personality type theory and see how your personality measures up. You will learn some valuable information about yourself that will assist you in knowing how you take in and process information, make decisions, and express yourself to others.
Over time, relate your skills, values, personality traits, and interests to a small set of career choices. Remember, you are not choosing the one job in your life. This is the 21st century. You will hop onto the first of many stepping-stones that will lead you on a non-linear career path with one job leading to another.
Use informational interviews and job shadowing to learn more. Gather the data you need to both learn about viable career options and to begin making professional relationships that will translate into options and possibilities.

Careers do not just happen for most of us. They are built. If you seem lost and without direction, then you need a plan. Can’t plan on your own? There is help available. Find it.

Can They Ask That in an Application?

Posted on April 5, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

There are some questions that just should not be asked in an interview. In fact, Human Resource professionals know that legal complications can occur if questions that are too probing crop up during that check-out-the-potential-employee event.

Of course, an employer wants to know who they are getting. Why should they hand the keys to the castle to someone who is incompetent, a self-aggrandizer, or worse? The drive to mine as deeply as possible into every aspect of the job candidate is intense when what is at stake is spending cherished company resources onboarding and training in hopes a value-added asset has been acquired.

However, there are rules as to how far an interviewer can go. Specifically, interviewers should stay away from the following:

Are you a U.S. citizen? (Of course, the employer can ask for proof of eligibility after the candidate has been hired.)
What is your native language?
Are you married?
Do you have kids?
How long have you lived here?
What religion do you practice?
Do you plan on becoming pregnant?
How old are you?
What clubs do you belong to?
When do you plan to retire?
Do you have a disability or chronic illness?

And this is not the complete list of no-no questions. Clearly, privacy rights are being weighted in favor of the job candidate. Or are they?

Have you filled out a job application lately…especially for a professional position? There is a major healthcare provider in New Hampshire that has a job application that looks downright 1984-Big Brother-ish in its line of questioning. Although I haven’t conducted an exhaustive study of statewide applications, my hunch is that these guys are not alone.

Questions asking the applicant’s age, ethnicity, race, Social Security number, driver’s license number, whether they have a disability or are a veteran, are just some of the intrusive inquiries made on this application. This begs the question, why can employers examine so closely a job seeker’s past in an application, but not in an interview?

Here is part of the answer. Job applications become legal documents in that the applicant must sign that all information given is true. Notice that interviewees do not have to swear on such a Bible. This is useful for screening out applicants with past criminal convictions or other unwanted behaviors. Companies can use the application to check for truthfulness and integrity, which protects their organization and the people who work there, from disreputable people.

Another issue is that employers are required to file U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports with the federal government. Applications standardize the hiring process and can be used as documentation that shows employment discrimination is not occurring. Discrimination is much harder to prove in an interview.

Two additional points about the discrepancy between questioning on applications vs. during interviews: Human Resource professionals should be the ones viewing completed applications, chuck full as they are with private information. When a receptionist, for example, is the one handling the app, then that is evidence of a shoddy operation.

Also, let us not assume that all applications are in perfect synch with EEOC guidelines. One Boston professor informs me that, “I have found many job applications with prohibited questions on them. If someone doesn’t complain to the EEOC, then the practice will continue until someone does.”

Job applications and interviews are governed by the same EEOC rules. Unfortunately, it cannot be safely assumed that all employers will follow those rules. Like it or not, diligence and knowledge about what is appropriate and what is not is yet another task falling to the already overburdened job seeker.

Strategic Human Capital Management

Posted on March 22, 2010February 15, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Given the poor hiring climate, many workers who are lucky enough to still be employed are simply grateful that they are. Because of this, now may hardly seem like a time to analyze and rate your employer to see if this is a good place to work or not. Among the consequences of the Great Recession is that the workforce is less concerned about personal career goals and more accommodating to our bosses since they have been benevolent enough to keep us on payroll. This is the attitude we should have during down economic times, right?

I sure hope not! If we have reached a point where furthering our career aspirations is considered an ill-timed luxury we can no longer afford, then we are in a Depression. Acquiring and retaining top talent should never go out of style for any organization and finding those workplaces that honor this operational approach should be paramount for the individual professional looking to advance in their avocation.

Now of course, during these recessionary times employers are having to revisit strategic assumptions to see if they are still appropriate given cash flow and revenue constraints, changeable government interventions, and workforce transformations. But then conducting a SWOT analysis periodically is a good thing anyway.

As companies look out over this unpredictable landscape, it is in their short and long-term interest to attract and keep the most qualified workforce possible. To not do so leaves businesses vulnerable to leaner and sharper competition, some of which will emerge from this Recession as relative winners.

For the professional wanting to be positioned with a strategic and forward-looking organization there are a couple of key corporate initiatives to look for and lookout for. When I hear from some clients how they are treated by supervisors or about the lack of operational discipline displayed by their employers I am amazed these places are still in business.

Mismanagement, paranoia, intimidation, poor communication, and in some cases downright rudeness are all in full swing. I recently heard of a dedicated professional who put in over twenty-nine years with the same insurance firm and did not receive even a thank-you upon retirement. Bad corporate behavior aside, if an employer still relies on the traditional motivational model of rewarding employees with greater amounts of responsibility and pay as they march lockstep from associate to senior management, they may find that today’s workforce will not be impressed.

Enlightened and enterprising expertise will be looking for companies that get it. Among the most important strategic components are employers’ talent management and continuous learning programs. Management systems that are serious about quality recruitment, onboarding, retention, succession planning, and employee development are the businesses most likely to not only attract and keep high caliber talent but are in a better position to succeed.

Among the specifics employees want to see institutionalized are:

Complex and challenging assignments
Utilization of coaches and mentors
Frequent assignment or client changes
Engaging and relevant training activities
Opportunities for employees to build portfolios by continuous refinement of marketable skills
Team effectiveness development

…and much more.

Watching also for leadership that intelligently attempts to determine necessary metrics for driving decision making is a sign of an attractive employer. You cannot manage it if you cannot measure it. Therefore, managing talent requires innovative and effective means of judging the efficiencies of interventions such as those mentioned above.

Do not let the Recession be an excuse for putting your career development on hold. Find those employers who want to build continuous improvement learning organizations through comprehensive employee advancement. If you are fortunate to work for such a company, give them all you have. For they too should be rewarded for being such a wonderful place to work.

Managing Age Discrimination

Posted on March 7, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It is not at all unusual to see written or to hear oral descriptions from job seekers giving their pitch for why they should be hired with phrases like, “…with over thirty years of experience in…”, “…over two decades of dedicated service in…”, or “I am a Systems and Network Administrator with over 25+ years of …”

Naturally, these references to long-term experience which have been devoted to a particular career are meant to convey expertise, commitment, and reliability. There is also a strong dose of pride in being able to make the claim that one’s chosen career has been focused on building significant levels of knowledge and mastery. The mature diligent career-oriented worker deserves to feel esteemed for such an undertaking.

Unfortunately, these claims of longevity can be job search killers for the older workforce cohort. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that age discrimination does exist. And announcing that you are relatively old does place you at a disadvantage when it comes to career or job shifting later in life.

The obstacle of age discrimination comes at a particularly inconvenient time. Part of the recessionary fall-out is that older workers are being forced into retirement. Even without the down economy this generation of workers have come to believe that leveraging honed skills over many years would better position them for encore careers of their choice.

Yet for many, the choice is staying with what work you are lucky to have or accepting early retirement. Not surprisingly, many older workers have been laid-off or have had their workloads increased to make up for those who were recently laid-off. The decision-making and negotiating power they thought they would have at this time of life is not there.

Yes, there does exist the federal Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) designed to protect workers aged 40+ from discrimination in hiring and other employment related situations in workplaces with at least twenty employees. Many states have laws covering discrimination in workplaces with fewer than twenty employees. Specifically, the ADEA:

Prohibits job advertising from mentioning age.
Prevents age limits from being set for training & development programs.
Restricts retaliation against workers filing violation claims.
Prohibits employers from forcing early retirements.

But it is not too difficult for the company who wants to shun older workers from doing so. Job descriptions can be written in ways that are within the letter of the law, but which include items that make it difficult for the older worker to comply.

So, why does age discrimination exist? In a way it seems counterintuitive to discriminate against the older worker. It is not hard to identify advantages to having more mature employees. They tend to have a proven work ethic, are not as concerned about work/life balance as younger workers are and have deeper levels of wisdom and proficiency. From the point of view of younger recruiters and hiring managers however, older workers conjure some unflattering images like:

old school thinking and lacking innovation
working at a slower pace
more costly in salaries and benefits
not having future long-term viability
not as tech savvy

The list goes on. It is enough to make the plus 50 workers’ blood boil. I can hear them saying, “We’ve earned the right to be hired! We’ve paid our dues!”

Nevertheless, if you are older and looking for work you need to update your resume, write new cover letters, and refine the way in which you describe your value to hiring personnel. So, face facts. You may have earned respect, but you have not earned that new position any more than any else has. You still must make the case for why you are the best candidate.

If you are truly at the top of your game, then show it in your value proposition. Know what that company is looking for and convince them that you are their guy or gal. They are going to be looking for the greatest value at the lower cost. Present yourself with that in mind. Resting on past laurels will not get you that new job. Attaining it will.

Turn Weaknesses into Strengths

Posted on February 21, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

There is always something that others find annoying in each one of us. Maybe it is that we want the freedom to concentrate on a task of our own choosing, which leaves others feeling that we are too distant and not connected enough. Or perhaps, it is that we always need people around us for conversation and for bouncing ideas off of, which can annoy others who may think, “Can’t [he or she] just be out of my hair for a while?!”

It could be that we seem too nonconventional, or too commonplace, or too quick to decide, or not decisiveness enough, or, or, or… Give it time and frequency and we can start to think we have major faults. Our self-concept takes a hit, and we find ourselves vowing to others that we will try harder to be better.

Yet these alleged deficiencies may be indicators of personal strengths and workplace potential. A big problem with determining one’s own worth through the critical eyes of others is that it can cause us to veer away from an unfettered self-examination. It is hard to confidently express your own value when you feel overwhelmed or at least tainted by what you are told are weaknesses that keep recurring repeatedly.

It may be time to reframe the deficits as benefits. Do you find yourself in a job that calls for multi-tasking when you just want time to develop a concept in a distraction free environment? Are you tired of working in isolation when you strongly wish you could be part of a cross-disciplinary team? In general, are you being required to function in a manner that is not congruent with your true, innate interests, aptitudes, and passions?

Fortunately, the human collective is not split into two pre-ordained groups, those with natural talent and good luck to always succeed and those who are losers and who are never going to amount to anything. Everyone has the potential to prevail and contribute, if only the right set of circumstances align allowing everyone to perform at their best. There is a lid for every pot.

It becomes necessary for each of us to know what we can do well and to seek those opportunities and situations by which we work in energizing ways rather than just managing our weaknesses. Take the time to consider the behaviors you have that seem to put others off. Ask yourself, is the behavior really your problem to fix or is it that you are somehow misplaced?

In many cases, problems at work are the result of being constrained by doing things that we would rather not do. Perhaps, we are being directed to perform tasks we somewhat enjoy, but in ways divergent from our preferred way of doing them. It is likely that we will each execute at our best when our work is an expression of our interest and skill combined with the freedom to choose the course of progress.

I like to give clients an exercise of drafting their ideal job description. It is not an easy thing to do for many. But I recommend trying it, so that you can design a template of what to strive for. Give yourself time to imagine that perfect employment scenario. When doing so, think of what your chronic “weaknesses” are telling you. These “deficits” could be gateways to workplace conditions that are unfulfilled.

Of course, we cannot always get what we want, but we can sure try. The method of achieving a productive workforce should involve optimal placement of each employee. However, it is up to everyone to get to the place where both you and your employer each receive maximum value for the work you do. The best way to manage a weakness is to turn it into a strength.

Your Value Proposition

Posted on February 7, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Every professional should be able to state their value proposition. No longer just a business school term, value proposition has relevant meaning to all successful individuals and organizations alike.

Career development in the modern era rests on the premise that each professional has a uniquely blended set of talents, interests, aptitudes, and experiences that is worth something to someone else. Finding a timely fit between the value provider and the value consumer is the challenge of the career climber and job searcher.

With rare exception, most of us do not sit around spending our time crafting our value proposition. It is generally easier to find something else to do which is more fun. It is fair to say that most of us view the task of defining our one-of-a-kind value proposition as a daunting job. Where do you start? Are we talking about a clever, pithy phrase or a doctoral dissertation?

I do not think that there is a hard and fast rule. So, what I will try is to demonstrate what I think is a reasonable attempt at writing a value proposition statement. I will use myself in the context of what I think I do well, which is to provide career coaching and resume/cover letter writing services. Note the length and depth of my statement. It is not as brief as a seven-word self-description, but it is not a thesis either.

Bill Ryan’s Value Proposition

Leveraging my extensive experience as an educator, I offer clients customized guidance in career coaching and proficient preparation of resumes and targeted cover letters. My service approach consists of the following features:

Listen actively whereby the client feels heard and understood.
Quickly perceive presenting issues.
View the client’s issues and goals developmentally based on age and work experience.
Assist the client to plan strategically with an unclouded vision of desired outcomes.
Apply task analysis to the creation of an action plan.
Help clients determine their own career momentum but be directive when necessary.
Always encourage, boost, applaud, and if needed, challenge.

There it is. Fairly concise. No heavy lifting to write this.

And the use of bullets is deliberate. Dismayed as many literary traditionalists may be, these days we absorb information in chunks or snippets, rather than in long essays. Bulleted points can be more economic to write, and they force you to think of your attributes and traits, the elements that make up your value proposition.

What are the characteristics that make up your value? What is your specific contribution to business, the community, the world? Defining your worth is the first step to finding the best opportunities for expressing your value through what you do every day.

I encourage you to try this exercise. Allow yourself to think of the value proposition piece you write as a dynamic document. It is fine for it to be something susceptible to many drafts and continual revision. You will want to revisit it frequently, always refining and attempting to make your value proposition statement as true as possible to what you have to offer the workplace.

Employee or Independent Contactor?

Posted on January 26, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

An issue is starting to heat up that I believe will have significant impact in fields such as career development, workforce management, and the evolving nature of the employee and employer relationship. It involves the proliferation of private, entrepreneurial, and independent contractors and the hiring or contracting of them by companies.

Projections are that a growing part of the future workforce will be made up of independent contractors providing relatively short-term project-oriented solutions for business. Where conflict may arise is in the legal enforcement of how employers classify and treat those among their workforce as to whether they are categorized as employees or independent contractors.

Both federal and state laws have a history of protecting worker rights from employers who would seek to deny workers’ compensation coverage and other benefits to their employees by classifying these workers as independent contractors. In New Hampshire, for example, legislation became effective January 1, 2008, revising and broadly applying a consistent definition of “employee”, thereby increasing worker protections enforced by the New Hampshire Department of Labor.

In the Federal government, Senator John Kerry introduced legislation in December 2009 matching a House bill that would increase the burden of employers to classify workers as independent contractors. The point being to secure workforce protections like workers’ compensation, Social Security, Medicare, overtime, unemployment compensation, and minimum wage for the greatest number of workers.

It is good to know that the government is out there looking out for the little guy, and it undoubtedly keeps many employers honest. However, I am afraid that an unintended consequence of these protections may be to discourage employers from contracting with independent providers at a time when many of these workers want to work self-reliantly and to be free from the long-term obligations of an employee status with an organization.

Employers may want to reduce legal compliance pressures by just hiring full or part-time employees and not take advantage of the strategic talent options available from independent contractors. This creates a challenge for highly motivated and skilled individuals who want more control over how they work. And it is to them that the burden lies in convincing business that contracting with them will not come with onerous worker protection strings attached. Otherwise, their dream of working creatively from one environment to the next will be in jeopardy.

Independent contractors need to be noticeably clear with themselves that being independent means just that, on your own. Income and benefits both must be generated by the private worker. A networking trend that may help independents is in establishing exchanges or guilds that can negotiate for benefits such as health insurance. By using the economies of scale, independents may be able to provide for themselves the benefits they need but should not expect from traditional employers.

Another area independents need to be clear about is in the language, terms, and conditions of their contracts. Contracts will have to be written in such a way that the independence of both the contractor and the hiring company is maintained. To write such a contract, both parties should be clear on the definition of “employee” for the state in which the working relationship is to take place.

For example, in New Hampshire the recent redefinition of the term “employee” contains eleven conditions that must be met to exclude the independent contractor from employee status. And all eleven conditions must apply! Going into these contractual arrangements armed with this kind of knowledge places the independent contractor in a stronger position, because then they are then able to mitigate the concerns and reduce the hassles for the hiring company.

There are many benefits for both parties in having temporary project-based contracted work. Despite the predictions of its imminent expansion as a practice, planning and foresight will be more necessary than ever. Here is yet another case in which adaptability and an orientation toward change will be called upon for success to be achieved.

The Right Keywords for Your Resume

Posted on January 18, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

By now most professionals know how to strengthen a resume in a time of increasing recruitment efficiency and robust job competition. Attention needs to be paid to the use of effective keywords.

Keywords are those industry buzzwords that let recruiters and hiring managers know which job niche you may be best at filling. Better yet, keywords alert Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that you may be worth interviewing, if the system has been programmed to highlight resumes with the keywords you have included in your resume.

ATS is currently in use by many large corporations. It becomes an attractive tactic when the number of resumes submitted far exceeds the human eyeball-capacity of an organization.

The technology is just a variation on standard search methodology made famous by Google. Instead of yielding web pages based on a set of search terms, resumes are selected based on a set of keywords specific to the position being filled. If you as a job seeker are being asked to upload your resume in plain text or rich text formats or to paste it into a web/database field, then chances are it could be screened by ATS. For your resume to not be rejected in a millisecond, it is necessary to have the right keywords which will prompt a selection.

The challenge for job seekers and resume writers is to identify relevant keywords and embed them into resumes in a way that looks natural. Submitting a list of words and calling it a resume will not do. Resumes must be prepared in such a way that they can be read by an ATS and a human.

How does one find out if they are utilizing the best keywords in their resume? There are several ways of doing this. For those seeking a new position in what for them is the same industry they have built their experience, then many keywords should be already known. It may just be a matter of systematically generating a list of terms directly related to your background knowledge and inserting them strategically into the resume.

For those job seekers transitioning to a new or related industry some keyword research may become necessary. Here are some ideas on conducting that research:

Study online job boards for postings like or similar tothe kinds of positions you would consider pursuing. Note the industry vocabulary that is frequently used in both the headings and body of these postings.
Identify the terms used in descriptions of your chosen profession in industry publications, professional associations, and the Labor Department’s Occupation Outlook Handbook web sites.
Look at the profiles of professionals with similar positions on LinkedIn to see the terminology they are using to describe themselves.
Poll your professional network to get their keyword suggestions.
Staffing agency professionals, particularly those dedicated to niche recruiting, can be a source of appropriate nomenclature.

So exactly what kind of words should you use in compiling this all-important keyword main list?

Words that are industry and job specific
Words that highlight the job candidate’s experiences and qualifications
Words that refer to hard professional skills
And words that indicate useful “soft” personal attributes for the position.

As an exercise, try writing your own ideal or fantasy job description. Which words are you using to describe the occupation?

It is not enough to craft a resume with a killer profile, quantifiable accomplishments, richly worded qualities, and which is aesthetically pleasing. It is also imperative to populate the resume with the right keywords to land you that interview which could change your career and your life.

Defining Yourself

Posted on January 7, 2010December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

If it is not too late, I have a New Year’s resolution suggestion to make to all professionals, whether unemployed, underemployed, or gainfully employed. The suggestion is to simply define yourself.

Do so succinctly and economically. Define your value. What do you offer? How does your work community benefit from your input? Being able to professionally and exclusively define yourself is an advantage. To become known and recognized as a quality and reliable asset is a core utility of career development. The career gain that can be realized spreads across all employment scenarios. In fact, venturing forth without a way to define yourself leaves you at a disadvantage during a time when competition for great jobs is increasing.

Large corporate institutions, as we have traditionally known them, are undergoing a transformation. It probably began way back with the growth of middle management but is now characterized as an increasing reliance on more horizontal teams that can cross-pollinate ideas and result in synergistic production.

Many executives are becoming more coach-like in their function. Employees are desired for their ability to get along with others, have a strong work ethic, and to be creative problem solvers. Hopefully, your self-definition incorporates all these virtues.

We know that small business is a major force in driving the economy. When small businesses start hiring, we can expect an easing of the high unemployment rate. What drives small business? People with ambition and smarts do. In the same way that an entrepreneur figures out and communicates their value proposition, each of us should be able to do the same. Being able to provide solutions, improvements, and advantages to the marketplace is the grist for small business employees’ definitions. You would not want your business to be a white bread commodity, so why tolerate it for yourself.

The Internet has created a new entrepreneurial landscape that didn’t exist twenty years ago. In the decade just completed, expansion of information access by way of increasingly sophisticated gadgets coupled with the growth of social interconnectedness is spawning innovative and constructive self-employment opportunities. In the upcoming decade we can expect more information filtering and selection technology demanded, and perhaps created by, end users. Staying with this evolution curve can be the brand basis for many neo-entrepreneurs.

Whatever your career direction or place in the workforce, knowing your niche, your unique importance, and your significance will advance your position with existing and developing prospects. And just as important as knowing your positive traits is to become skilled at presenting and displaying them. Be in the mindset that others, be they upper management, colleagues, customers, or clients need you and that your talents are worth acquiring. Find the self-marketing techniques that are right for you. Promote yourself with the confidence that comes from knowing who you are.

So, with the start of this new year discipline yourself to go through some simple exercises. What I recommend involves selecting descriptive words about you. Begin with a single attribute that makes you employable such as “trustworthy”, “competency”, or “adaptability”. From there try seven word phrases like, “a valued professional expert solution management specialist”, “take impossible projects and make them happen”, “Communicate. Steer the ship as needed. Deliver!” Eventually, craft a complete sentence about yourself. Some examples include:

“I offer focused and deliberate care to the patients of this facility”.

“My extensive knowledge of CAD software and ability to work hard results in high quality production.”

“Accomplished professional with a track record of improving educational and operational performance through vision, leadership, and team building.”

Try it. Go forward into 2010 and beyond with your own definition of your worth. The benefit of doing so is within reach.

Developing a Devotional Career

Posted on December 27, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The priesthood is not a career. It is a devotion to service that does not differentiate into work time vs. home time or time-on and time-off. Being there 27/7 only begins to describe the commitment that a religious practitioner, whether it be priest, rabbi, swami, imam, or monk gives to others and to the deep pursuit of their beliefs.

Assuming most of the clerical have not chosen religious structure and order merely as an insecure refuge from independent decision making or worse yet, as a place from which nefarious acts like child sexual abuse can be perpetrated, then much wisdom may exist among those spiritual advocates. From them we all can learn something about the ever-elusive contentment to a career.

Let us visualize an idealized image of a pleasant, complacent, and content religious person. There is peacefulness and gentleness about them. Their faces read warmth, acceptance, non-judgment, and understanding. They have taken the time to contemplate life’s big picture and as a result are comparatively self-actualized, free of the many distractions that keep most of us from such a state of equanimity.

How is this condition achieved? Has God chosen to touch only a selected few, while the rest of us are relegated to scraping by the best we can? I do not think that is the way it works. The serenity that can come from living and working a life of unambiguous purpose is available to all. As in most things in life, it boils down to choice and luck.

We can strive for deep dedication to what we choose to do for our work. In fact, to do anything less is most unfortunate. Seizing each day for growth, service, and creative expression is always an available option no matter your level of experience or attained income.

Martin Luther King once talked about a little shrub growing on the side of a hill amongst redwoods. That shrub being dwarfed by the larger trees nevertheless was innately compelled to reach for the sun, to find whatever narrow shaft of light as could be found, and to optimize its situation.

The poise and demeanor of the religious adherent is accessible to those who choose it. Such a devotional approach is available to the rest of us as well. A life of full measure can result from amply developing one’s career.

Divine intervention, if you will, does of course play into this religious example. The best of intentions and attitude can be severely challenged by unfortunate circumstances. There is an American mythology stating that financial reward and career satisfaction comes only to those showing the pluck and courage to independently achieve greatness despite all the odds.

Yes, the right combination of brain and brawn can find bounty in our free market society. The one prerequisite that seems to not receive mention in this equation, however, is that of luck. Be incredibly grateful that disease, a debilitating accident, tragedy beyond your control, did not rob you of the life you know with all its grand accomplishments.

Or, as Malcolm Gladwell writes, whether the circumstances of the timing and location of your birth give you an unearned advantage. True success with work and life at the devotional level considers both efforts exerted, and blessings bestowed.

I know there are many who think they are happy to simply go to work, do your job, and come home to live your “real” lives. But for most, what you do for work and the way you do it is inextricably tied to the vibrancy of your lives.

I recommend getting to that place where you feel your work belongs to you and that you intentionally and lovingly make your contribution. Having allegiance to work that is passionate is a pursuit worth following.

The Resume Nerd

Posted on December 16, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I am a career consultant who likes to write resumes. It seems that many of my ilk either like delivering the coaching/consultancy/guidance part or the resume part, but not both. I do not totally get that. I see the two as inseparable, two sides of the same career services coin.

What I like about beautifully written resumes is their economy. By that I mean maximum impact with minimal resource. Powerfully describing a person’s professional value and work highlights in one to two pages can be a beautiful thing.

Now, I know the point of a resume is to land you the job interview and that is particularly important. But let us take a step back for a moment and view the well-crafted resume as a finely polished piece. Some are truly impressive. There can be an aesthetic to balancing text and lines and bullets with fonts and headings and slickly arranged information. Sometimes, the eye can flow across the page effortlessly while the data and intended images materialize into a package that leaves the reader thinking, “This is good!”.

Okay. By now I have firmly established myself as a resume nerd. Now, don’t you want a resume nerd writing your resume or advising you on how you can improve yours?

For those of you still reading this blog, let us look at some of the features that make a great resume. One of the most useful exercises any job seeker can do for themselves is to write a concise, economic, yet powerful and informative professional summary or profile. Being able to describe yourself and to display your value in three to five sentences indicates that you are self-aware, confident, and forward leaning.

Furthermore, this does not and should not have to be a static piece of writing. Every three months or so I pull out my resume out and rewrite the lead. I cannot help but to continue tinkering with it, always trying to gain some improvement. Here is my current version, which is positioned on my resume just below my contact info:

Career Expert, Educator, Program Developer

A motivated and independent professional currently demonstrating effectiveness in customized career development and educational program enhancement. Expertise working with individuals in need of career and education related guidance through vision and a drive for continuous client improvement. Adept at educational program expansion and development on behalf of organizations. An educator involved in the implementation of curriculum development, advocacy initiatives, and learner management. Excellent interpersonal, group presentation, and written communication skills.

Just in reading this again for this blog I am seeing that changes can be made. A month ago, it looked fine. As soon as I am done with this blog, I think I will mess around with it some more.

Does this mean that I am indecisive? Perhaps, but I think all of us frequently undergo some micro self-perception changes. Also, it is good to try continual perfecting. How many times do you reach total purity? For me, not so often.

Another thing I like a lot about a well-done resume is to see a collection of professionally written and unique personal achievement statements in the Qualifications section. When I see a resume with those statements, I know I am reading about someone who is in touch with their accomplishments. Being able to show clearly and with specifics how you added quality to past positions can seriously give your history cachet.

It is, oh, so easy to put off writing or revising your resume. I know that for most people it is rated as being more obnoxious than paying bills or filing taxes. But if you can put yourself into a proud autobiographical zone where documenting your working past can be artful rather than miserable, then you might just get a lift out of the result.

Not nerdy enough to find that zone? Call me. I can help.

The Changing Face of the Workplace

Posted on December 3, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

It has been interesting to notice that one of the consequences of the Recession is the growing discrepancy between traditional management practices during belt-tightening times and the changing nature of talent acquisition. Recessions naturally cause a thinning out of businesses. Typically, we think of it as a Darwinian consequence of the weak giving way to the strong. However, it is worth noting that some of the survivors may have made it through this round of business closures but could be setting themselves for a loss of competitiveness in the longer term.

Businesses throughout all sectors are looking for ways to do more with less. Layoffs, furloughs, and redundancies are resulting in a leaner workforce. Added responsibilities being given to the employees who remain, coupled with their fear and uncertainty about job security are beginning to compromise employee performance.

Of course, there are ways to streamline processes, but in general reducing staff usually means diminishing productivity. How can management cope? One tactic being used is to double up positions. That is, taking two job positions, laying off one of the employees and giving the remaining employee much of the workload of the laid off employee.

Money may be saved, but from a performance improvement perspective it is a disaster. At best, it is a short-term fix, but not a long-term productivity solution. And since there do not appear to be plans for mass hiring anytime soon, even with an improving economy, employers will be trying to do more with less for some time to come.

Meanwhile, workers are receiving a harsh lesson in employment economics simultaneous with the ongoing information revolution. The Recession is accelerating the career development phenomena of workers relying less on organizations for full time employment and security. The Internet is providing increased opportunities for online training, research, and the means to enhance exposure and networking.

Technology is making it easier for the ambitious to become entrepreneurial. This combination of a sour economy with a growing robust web is pushing the American workforce closer toward becoming a free-lance nation.

Is management prepared to take advantage of this shift in workforce dynamics? This is what may separate the best performing companies of the future from the too-slow-to-change failures.

I think it could very well be likely that the following scenario becomes commonplace: Optimizing employee performance and productivity will increasingly be focused on outsourcing by businesses to match the highest quality talent for the right job. Full time employees, who have been squeezed in with too many on-the-job responsibilities, will be replaced by targeted, on-demand, just-in-time contracted resources who will provide better performance in accomplishing specific tasks.

As needs change, so does the specialized talent. Entrepreneurism grows and becomes increasingly focused in niche areas. Together, businesses and the new entrepreneurial class find each other through ever more sophisticated job boards and social network media tools. Innovative management and concentrated expertise forge a workplace that becomes more nimble, adaptable, and clever.

Change is occurring. Which companies will be leveraging it for success, and which will not start becoming clear soon.

The Xers Start To Make Their Mark

Posted on November 19, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Among the interesting disciplines to track, which can have some bearing on the field of career development, is urban studies and its cousin, demographics. Just as a demographic change in basic assumptions occurred fifty or so years ago, resulting in greater population mobility driven by employment opportunities, we are now possibly on the cusp of another such megatrend.

This time, population mobility may be slowing down. Is this a back-to-the-future swing? Perhaps a bit so, but it is not entirely being driven by a regressive return to the good old days. Two significant factors may be at play according to Joel Kotkin of Chapman University, http://www.joelkotkin.com/ among others.

One is that Generation X, the workforce cohort roughly between the ages of 30 and 45, appears to be placing traditional family values at high priority in that they elevate the importance of family to that of career. This is expressed to a degree very differently from the Greatest Generation and the Boomers who felt that work came first.

If a better job offer came from Bakersfield, then kids help pack up the station wagon, because we are leaving Binghamton. Apparently, these Xers are finding that establishing community roots and multi-generational family ties has tangible benefits like reduced stress, anxiety, and social/familial isolation.

The up-rootedness, high divorce rates, and latch-key acceptance of their parents have helped to push Xers toward stability, pragmatism, and the concept that makes Boomer managers everywhere cringe, work-life balance.

And can you blame the Xers? An unintended consequence of trashing the traditional values of the Greatest Generation (and don’t get me wrong, many of them needed challenging) was that we pushed our kids to become socially more conservative in some deep ways. Some serious good has come out of the way Xers were raised. They were instilled with the desire to be good parents and it is not a big leap from that value to the one of wanting to be a solid member of a local community.

I remember as young Boomer, we thought we were so gloriously liberated. We were the generation of change, quick to challenge old assumptions and antiquated behaviors. Well, as it turns out, living life free of the shackles of anyone over thirty inspired us counterintuitively to become workaholics. We worked more hours per day and more days per year than most industrialized societies.

We have gained much wealth and ego fulfillment, but we do not seem to have induced our children to emulate us. Now, as we near retirement, the truth that we have not been as liberated as we thought we were has become evident. Yes, Boomers have redefined the workplace, but not as we envisioned thirty to forty years ago.

Secondly, technology is allowing for reverse mobility. With advances in cloud computing, telecommuting, social media, and teleconferencing there is less need to physically travel when the contacts needed for work can increasingly be had at home or the local office. This in combination with the corporate trend toward decentralized workplaces allows productive, high-quality work to be done locally, if not at home.

At some point soon, home-based employees or subcontractors will surpass the number of those taking mass transit to work, resulting in more availability to family, friends, and local businesses. Ubiquitous computing means that contacts can be ever-present. Face to face can still happen. It will just be remote.

As Xers make their mark on the world it will continue to be interesting, if not entertaining, to see what kind of hybrid lifestyles they will make out of traditional and novel values. Perhaps, the result of their efforts to achieve individual work-life balance will be a more widespread and beneficial social balance between individualism and strong communities. Now, that would be an accomplishment.

Background Check Your Own Resume

Posted on November 8, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Your resume is a relatively short, but powerful document. I know that not all of you believe that, but really, it is. Face it, the number of ways to get a hiring manager to consider you for an interview is limited. So, you want a strong, captivating, informative, and achievement-oriented page or two that will open doors and give you a chance to present your case.

It is your concise and economic autobiography of your work history, accomplishments, brand, and most of all your potential and value. Taking significant time and effort to craft this all-important testimony cannot be over-emphasized. You may spend your entire career never marketing anything, but when it comes to resume writing, everyone is marketing themselves.

Now for those of you who believe me (and a million other career consultants) that the resume should be as I just described it, be aware of just how much enthusiasm you apply to the effort. Here is what I mean.

A key and consistent tactic encouraged by resume writers everywhere is to quantify your achievements. Data can help a benign description of a task carry more impact and make more of an impression. Take, for example, the following work history task:

“Managed a call center.”

OK. Now compare this terse sentence to:

“Efficiently managed a 24/7 call center employing twenty-five, having expertly handled a 31% increase in volume over a twelve month period.” Big difference, right?

Therefore, it is important to try turning the tasks that everyone writes on their resume into quantifiable accomplishments. It improves the impression you present of your work history immensely and may just show more clearly the value you can add to a potential employer.

But be careful. It is not that easy to do if you are trying this for the first time. If you have not been keeping track of your accomplishments in a quantifiable way, then it will be difficult to look back at your past and start revising your history so that it reflects how much good stuff you increased and/or how much bad stuff you decreased.

In fact, you may find it so hard to do this task you may be tempted to embellish just a little bit. Avoid that. It can lead to you becoming disingenuous or worse. It is like the PTO treasurer at your kid’s school who takes a $20 bill out of the till they are managing, because they are a little tight that week and after all, who will know? Before long, they may become a part-time and long-term thief.

It could work like this with the resume, too. You might start with a little white-lie about the amount of profits you helped a former company make and before you know it you’ve got an engineering degree from Dartmouth.

Assume that a background check will be conducted on your resume. The more responsible the position is that you are applying for, the greater the chance that a background check will be conducted on your resume, if the firm is serious about considering you. They may initiate a check using their own in-house resources or they will contract the investigation out to an employee screening firm. Does it mean they catch everything? Perhaps not. But why take the chance?

Most importantly, don’t fabricate who you are. Take pride in your achievements. Sure, there will be resumes that will sound more power-packed than yours, but you are who you are. Highlight what you have attained in a clear, dynamic, and honest manner. If it sounds sparse, then you may have just set some goals for the future of your career.

Juice your resume, don’t fluff it. You’ll sleep better knowing you have a compelling and forthright chronicle that puts you in the best light.

A Few Interesting Survey Results

Posted on November 6, 2009February 10, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I recently read about some interesting career related results from a survey done in September to 1000 small business Intuit Payroll customers. Among them:

*44% reported planning to hire in the next 12 months.
*60% expect business to grow over the next year.
*Affording benefits to attract new talent will be daunting.
*90% believe offering a health insurance benefit will retain quality employees.
*New businesses are more bullish than old businesses.
*50% expect to be looking for multi-talent with soft skills, i.e., “people person” who is “Jack-of-All-Trades”.
*79% have hired a friend or family member.
*22% of them said it was a mistake.

You Really Must Be Busy!

Posted on October 28, 2009February 10, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I attended a “Speed Networking” event in Concord recently and I heard it again, “You’re a career coach and resume writer? You must be really busy during these times!”

How I wish. I hear this line, or some variation of it, frequently as I try to promote myself and my business Ryan Career Services LLC. After all, it makes sense to most people. There is a severe Recession going on with a lot of people either unemployed or underemployed. There must be a lot of folks looking to get assistance in such a constricted and competitive job market. But it is not the case.

My stock line in response to the “You must be really busy” exclamation is to say, “No, I wish I were busier. I am finding that it is really hard competing with people’s need for food and shelter.”

I guess that is what is going on. I can only fantasize about how many potential clients have my services on the back burner, just waiting for more secure times, so that they can make an employment move. I have seen several surveys recently indicating that large numbers of the currently employed are waiting for better economic times before venturing into the job search market again. And as for the unemployed… for them it is easier to understand. Their funds are very limited and it is hard for them to decide to allocate money to career development.

However, I would argue that for both groups, the unemployed and the underemployed, dedicating time and yes, some money, to reviewing their career status, and strategizing and preparing for the future are resources well spent. I am amazed that there are smart people out there who still think in this day and age that looking in the newspaper classifieds is a job search and that networking simply involves taking one or two former colleagues out for lunch.

The good news is that formulating a career enhancement strategy is not full time work for a client and it is not particle physics. It simply takes some focus with someone who is aware of the best practices in career development and who can tailor these conventions to the individual client. I love this work and cannot wait to help more of you!

So, here is my unabashed pitch. If you think you know of anyone (…and come on! You do!) who could use help figuring out how to navigate the rough seas of establishing their career or simply even rewriting their resume or a cover letter during these stormy times, then please pass on my name. I really should be busy and I really, really want to be!

The New Education and Today’s Workforce

Posted on October 23, 2009February 10, 2022 by Bill Ryan

When thinking about the future of America’s workforce I can’t help but think of any changes that may or may not be happening in the way this workforce is now being educated.

I have implied in past blogs, perhaps actually I have been more direct, of my angst regarding the nation’s public school systems and their general lack of progressivism. School systems, along with their government partners, seem to be more concerned with transforming themselves into test-prep academies rather than institutions committed to fostering the kind of wide-ranging, boundary free pioneers needed for this century’s workers. Having worked for two public school districts over a thirty-one year period I feel I’ve earned the right to talk.

America’s greatest strength moving forward in the world marketplace is our capacity for innovation, creativity, and willingness to work hard to pursue new and better ways to solve problems and to achieve a better world. Our public school systems are not set up to prepare today’s students for this kind of mission. Anchored in traditional practices that were more suited for preparing a hierarchical management-rank and file workforce arrangement means that we as a nation are missing a really big opportunity.

To be fair, many public school teachers are saints. They put up with a stressful job to perform a valuable public service when, let’s face it, many of you would not dare touch it with a ten-foot pole. Also, even though no one mentions it, because of the inadequate teacher student ratio the main task of the public school teacher is to manage large numbers of kids first, educate them second. A school administrator cannot keep the most astute pedagogical expert hired if they cannot keep a lid on a class of twenty-eight seventh graders.

So what’s the alternative? Believe me, I am not even close to having all of the answers, but every now and again I run into someone who is much further down the trail of progressive thinking on preparing the future workforce. James Paul Gee is just such a person. He teaches education at Arizona State and he gets it. Below is a link to an eleven minute interview with him that is fantastic if you care at all about the future of education, which is the same thing as caring about the future of the American worker and our place in the world.

He uses the context of video games to make some very interesting points. I don’t play video games (unless you count a few months of Space Invaders in the mid-eighties as being a player) and I am enthralled with the point he makes.

Check it out. I’d love comments on this one!

http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-james-gee-video

Career Development in the Learning Organization

Posted on October 14, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I have been sharing with you a series of pieces designed to get you to critically examine your current place of employment to see if it is meeting your individual career development needs. When you think about your job, is it consistent with the life role you want to be playing? Are you deriving professional satisfaction from your work?

I have seen more than one survey lately that indicates that as soon as the economy improves and there are more job opportunities again many workers are going to bolt from their current job for greener pastures. It is yet another indicator that too many of you are misplaced in the job you have now.

As a result, I have been suggesting specific organizational characteristics that you should be looking for to see if you can pinpoint the source of angst or conversely what makes your job a keeper because it provides you with a means for developing your career.

Two practices that I have written about recently are onboarding and performance reviews. For this piece let us look at the commitment your employer makes to have the workplace be a learning organization.

As an employee, you should have a clear sense of how important it is for leadership to attract and retain knowledge capital, i.e., smart and talented people. It should come as no surprise that a great number of talented employees often leads to a greater chance of organizational success.

Management that sets the acquisition and retention of knowledge workers as a priority is something to look for and to value. They understand the concept that smart people always want to keep on learning. Therefore, having embedded learning initiatives at work that advance both the company’s and your professional interests indicates a positive climate for career development.

Of course, learning initiatives at work should be an expression of organizational strategy, but ask yourself if they also contribute to your career improvement strategy. A fit in this area is desired.

So, what do I mean by learning initiatives? To start with, they form the framework of making your workplace a learning organization. These initiatives can be typically judged by determining the quality of the training and development programs and the organization’s way of implementing knowledge management.

To be successful, there should be a high transfer of knowledge and competencies from those who know to those who do not. This can be accomplished explicitly through well designed manuals and structured practices or tacitly through the caliber of individual employees sharing and support. Superior training and development and knowledge management occurs when talented people are encouraged and rewarded for not only being the best, but by spreading their intelligence around. This must be evident at a cultural level. Organizations that encourage isolation and keeping effectiveness under lock and key, accessible only to a privileged few, will not do.

It is good if you are learning on the job while helping to address organizational strategy. For a true knowledge worker, gaining talent and competency while at work is an incentive to stay and grow. You feel more accomplished and experience greater satisfaction in your career.

However, none of this can be realized if you as an employee are not in sync with your employer’s business strategy. There should not be a big gap between this strategy and your career development. It is possible for the two to grow together.

Also, by having the attitude that capturing and sharing expertise is good for all involved, you contribute to making not just a learning organization, but a nice place to work.

What about your workplace? Are its learning and knowledge features enhancing your professional growth or not? If thinking becomes rigid and innovation discouraged career development will not occur. Know how your employer approaches this important topic.

Oh, Those Performance Reviews!

Posted on October 4, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

This piece continues with my series about what to watch for with your current employer to see if they are meeting your career development needs. Again, career development from your perspective and theirs may not be the same. In many cases it is not. Simply put, employers want to know that employees are acquiring skills and knowledge that benefit the organization.

You, however, are more complex. You are seeking life satisfaction that is expressed at many emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and contextual levels. And these days, employees have society’s permission to determine if the employer is working for them, not just the other way around.

A key criterion to examine in organizations is the quality of their performance review procedure. How many times do you hear people say that their employer’s performance reviews are great, fair, spot-on, and “couldn’t be better”? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that.

On the contrary, most employees seem to think that the performance review is poorly handled, hurtful, inefficient, political, or just plain benign and worthless. Whenever humans are being pigeonholed into a structured rating system there are going to be problems. There seems to be a negative correlation between making a performance rubric more “efficient”, in that it is applicable to a diverse population, and keeping it humane by honoring each employee’s individuality.

Even a lot of HR folks cannot stand the process and they are the ones tasked with overseeing implementation. Eight out of ten organizations have a performance rating system and almost three quarters of those tasked with executing them are less than completely satisfied with their models.

So, if employee evaluation methods stink so much, why bother with them? Because an organization should have some means of determining if their employees are providing the quality they are paying for. And in our litigious society, terminating an employee without some appraisal paper trail can put the organization at some legal risk.

Additionally, for an organization to truly assist an employee with their job performance there needs to be a way of measuring current work execution, so that growth areas can be identified, which benefit both the employee and the organization.

Social science, which forms the basis of any employee appraisal model, is after all a collection of soft sciences. Measuring human behavior will always be harder than quantifying tangible objects. But that does not mean that it should not be done. A successful organization requires all participants to perform at optimal levels. How is your workplace facilitating peak performance?

One important thing I would look for is whether the employer thinks of performance review as talent management. Viewing a set of workers as a collection of talent shows a progressive attitude. In this way, management shows they get that aligning employee professional development to the strategic goals of the organization is vital.

A solid transactional relationship would include continuous feedback, not just the once-per-year dreaded review. Clear outcome expectations that are rated with something approaching a 360-degree model rather than a vertical hierarchical management-rank and file system indicates a willingness to assess the whole person on the job.

I would also like to see a lateral job assignment system, one in which there is always an attempt to place an employee in either just the right position or to assign them just the right tasks for which they are best qualified. Perhaps, most importantly, is the training and ethical building of everyone in the organization designed to always help each other be their best? High levels of collegiality, being co-supportive, and community building can be assets for employees and employers alike.

As I close, I feel that there is much more to say about performance reviews. I’ll return to this topic again, because when you look at how a business manages their talent you are looking into the heart of what makes that business tick.

Organizational Onboarding

Posted on September 28, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

In my last blog I began to examine methods that employees can use to determine if their current place of employment was meeting their own career development needs. To review, career development can be defined in two ways depending on one’s point of view. From an organizational viewpoint, career development is seen as the procedures necessary to advance employee value to meet organizational strategic demands. From the view of a worker, career development involves the integration of cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and contextual factors that determine employment decisions, work values, and life role, such that a profound satisfaction with what one does is achieved.

Of course, the employer knows that you work for them, but how well is the employer working for you? Last time, I wrote about whether a fit existed between the organization’s goals and yours, and whether individual advancement within the organization was based on true merit.

This time, let us look at another evaluation point an employee can make about their employer. This involves evaluating their onboarding process. Onboarding refers to the way the organization brings new employees on board, i.e., assimilation or orientation. How this is done reveals some interesting information about a company’s treatment of employees. Think about it, at your work were you thrown into the fray or eased in gently with a measured flow of training and information?

If done well, an organization’s onboarding process should encourage employee productivity and loyalty. It would inform the new hire about work processes and standards, benefits and other legal necessities, culture, logistics, performance expectations, mission, vision, and values. If this is crammed into one day and then you are on your own, the message to you becomes individual survival is valued more than group acculturation.

However, if onboarding is dispersed over time and in reasonable increments, hopefully including a one-on-one mentor, then you are left feeling that your long-term engagement and commitment to the organization is important to your new employer. It is simple really. If they care about you, then you are more inclined to care about them.

I like to see an onboarding process take up to a year or more. Naturally, the data dump would be more front-loaded, but over time there should be targeted check-ins with newbies to see that questions and other issues have been adequately addressed. Over this time, I would like to see that a trusted mentor has been assigned to shepherd you through the induction phase of your employment. This increases efficiency, while providing an emotional bond to the organization.

But this process also gives you a chance to see how other departments within the organization handle the treatment of new employees. Human Resources, Training and Development, and Management should all have a role to play in onboarding. Also, besides a mentor I would want to know what co-workers and immediate supervisors are like in their introduction to new hires.

Onboarding is just one of several areas that I will be highlighting in the coming weeks as I suggest ways for you to examine employers to see if they are providing you with career development opportunities. In most cases, there are not bad employers and there are not bad employees, but there can be bad fits. Avoiding a mismatch is one of the first steps to advancing your own career development while working for someone else.

Being Employed and Your Career Development

Posted on September 20, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

During the Recession it is typical to think that concern about one’s career development is reserved for the unemployed and under-employed among us. Much of my blogging in recent months has been directed toward those cohorts. However, it is important to also focus on the individual career development needs of the 90+% of Americans who are fully employed.

Addressing career development in the context of employee inclusion in companies and organizations raises a set of different issues and benchmarks that need to be examined and rated. To look at the intersection of individual career development and the organizations within which most employees work is a task that is larger than can be adequately handled in a single blog. But it is my goal to begin such an exploration with this piece.

It is still a core belief of mine that each person is responsible for his or her own career development. So, what exactly is meant by career development, a term I’ve already used five times in this piece?

A definition depends on perspective. From an organizational viewpoint career development is seen as the procedures necessary to advance employee value to meet organizational strategic demands. From the view of a worker, career development involves the integration of cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and contextual factors that determine employment decisions, work values, and life role such that a profound satisfaction with what one does is achieved.

My primary and professional concern is with the worker who needs to cultivate the elements that comprise their professional growth. Let us begin a look at how this is done with your current employment.

There are some basics that you ought to expect from the place you work beside it being a safe place to derive an income. Perhaps the biggest is knowing that there is a built in fair meritocracy. If you as a dedicated employee have a clear and open opportunity to advance within the organization based on your talent, ability, and drive, then this place of work may have value.

Of course, most companies do have some form of internal promotion. The thing to know though, is how much of it is based on true merit vs. political maneuvering or an inadequate performance review system. In the public sector, be especially careful. My primary career was with public school systems where internal promotion is almost non-existent. There, the overriding value is egalitarianism. As great as equality is, it may not be consistent with individual ideas of progression.

Therefore, study the core operating value of your employer. Ask yourself if you can work within that system. If the clash of purposes between yourself and the organization is too much, then go elsewhere.

Finding that it is acceptable, however, means you should conduct an examination of how organizational strategy is expressed through the way they treat their employees. Acceptable contact points should be found between the organization’s definition of employee career development and your own definition.

For example, does your company institute a performance management structure that encourages managers to promote behaviors and competencies that meet both the organizational needs and your professional growth?

Other contact points that should be appraised, and which I will delve into in greater detail in future blogs, include company policies concerning onboarding, succession planning, innovation, being a learning organization, and employee freedom in how production quotas are set, among others.

In closing, I recommend first talking to your Human Resources people. Have they tried to establish an employee career development program? If they have, then they have found a link between organizational strategy and necessary knowledge and skills for the present and future.

See how your professional improvement plans fit their needs. If they match company perceived shortages, then Bingo! You may have something there. More on this later.

Which Profile Fits You?

Posted on September 14, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

So, how are you handling the tough employment times? I encourage you to think about which profile fits you.

Type 1

You are out of work, desperately wanting to go back in, north of forty years-old, and the only job search techniques that you know are from when you were nineteen years-old. That means that you are checking the newspaper classifieds and, in an attempt, to keep up with the times, you are also checking a couple of online job boards.

Your family and friends know that you are out of work and are kind enough to “keep their eyes open for you”. You have talked to the state employment security office to start receiving unemployment compensation and thought that it might be a promising idea to speak with one of the employment/vocational counselors who works there. The information that you receive from the counselor is helpful, but the number of things that you are told you should now be doing seems overwhelming to do on your own.

You have sent out some resumes and cover letters to places that you heard were hiring, but you have not heard back yet from anyone. You also left a couple of voice mails with the hiring managers, but you have not received any replies.

This stretch of unemployment is lasting longer than you thought it would. You are getting depressed, feeling unappreciated, and getting scared that your future is in serious jeopardy.

Type 2

You know that finding a job in a deep Recession is bigger than you can handle alone. You know that you need a plan, but figuring out what that plan should be, which really increases your chances of getting happily hired, is as hard to put together as getting a job has been.

You decide that the time has come to hire a career coach. What had before seemed like an extravagant expense now seems worth it, even though paying for anything right now is hard. So, you find a coach, your own career consultant, who actively listens to your situation, employment history, and gets a skilled reading as to your personality.

All the while, this trained ear is listening for information that will help determine an appropriate match between the client and the workforce and whether you are ready to advance by jumping industries or hoping to grow within the industry you have worked in historically. After some time, your global big-picture direction seems clearer, so you work together at developing your professional brand.

This effort shines a light on your strengths and makes it very apparent to anyone paying attention, like potential employers, what the value is that you have to offer. You take your brand into a strategized job search consisting of exposure and research. Time is spent targeting your efforts toward those openings and opportunities that exist from which you can benefit. Even though the first couple of interviews do not go well, you process and dissect your performances with your consultant and mutually determine a more effective approach.

Competition is stiff, but you find some solace in that you are approaching this challenge with smarts and well-directed energy. You enjoy having a trusted colleague to work with you as you try to make the best of a tough situation and time in your life.

Which profile most closely describes you? Not the one you want? Get in touch. Let’s talk.

Job Fair Reflections

Posted on August 31, 2009February 9, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The second state wide Job Fair and Career Expo sponsored by NH Department of Employment Security and WMUR-TV appeared to be a smooth operation. It will take some time, of course, to know how many attendees will get jobs as a result of this event. But at the last job fair in April, despite its being most known for getting overrun by too many people, it actually produced north of 350 jobs for New Hampshire citizens.

As one who volunteered to work at the fair I got only varied snapshot views. I didn’t get much time to see the employers’ booths. What I did see seemed to be heavy on commission sales jobs. I guess a job fair is a place to refill high turnover ranks. In the early morning I parked cars. I noticed right away, once folks stepped out of their cars that the crowd could be divided into two groups, those who dressed for success and those who did not. True, not every job required a coat and tie, and if your work history has been in jobs that did not require that attire, then you very well might not show up at a job fair wearing one. But on the other hand, showing up in “casual Friday” mode is not a useful tactic. Fortunately, as the day went on my admiration for the attendees increased.

I then performed resume reviews along with about five other professionals for four hours. About 35-40 people met with me looking for feedback and any advice that might give them an edge in this competitive environment. I applaud these people for sitting and waiting for a long time in order to speak with one of the reviewers. It shows a strong commitment to their job search.

However, I continue to notice that too many resumes are not showing the principle of professional branding. Good resumes need good leads that let a reader know right away who this person is and what they want to do. This simple notion still has not yet penetrated the conventional wisdom of resume writing. There are other improvement details that come up in these reviews of course, but none as important as building this paper as a self-marketing document. I also offered a presentation to about fifty people on the topic of career transition. The group was attentive and took notes more diligently than many graduate level classes that I have sat through.

Fewer people showed up to this job fair than in April. I wonder why. The unemployment picture is no better. Was it that too many thought there would be a repeat of an overwhelmed venue? Was it because many are starting to think that the Recession is coming to an end? Was it because people are starting to give up looking for a job? (Let’s hope it’s not that one!) Whatever the reason, I’m more inclined to be impressed by those who threw themselves into a hard day trying their best to navigate an uncertain event with more than 5000 others. When you are out of work and wanting to work, looking for a job is your job. Making a job search plan and pounding away at it as you would a job for which you were hired is what needs to happen.

So, to those who stick with fighting against the odds and getting themselves back up each day to try yet again, I say congratulations. The NH Job Fair and Career Expo had many of you in attendance. I really, really hope that many of you find that a satisfying job came as a result of the fair.

Working the 2nd Big NH Job Fair and Career Expo

Posted on August 23, 2009February 9, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The second of two job fairs this year jointly sponsored by WMUR-TV and the NH Department of Employment Security is being held Thursday August 27 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. 150 organizations are scheduled to be there allegedly looking to fill 1100 open positions. A large turnout is again expected as there was in April, but this time the venue should be better able to accommodate the crowd.

Job fairs like this one can be worth your time to attend. But to get the most out of going, some preparation is necessary so that you can maximize the experience. Approach this like it is a hard day at work. How you conduct yourself may make the difference between getting a job or not. Here are some do’s and don’ts that I recommend you consider prior to going to the fair.

Know who the employers and recruiters are who will be present at the fair. The WMUR site has a list at http://www.wmur.com/money/20264097/detail.html. Plan on visiting primarily those booths that matter to your hiring and career goals.

Have a well prepared resume and elevator pitch ready to present to recruiters. Both should reflect a professional job candidate who knows him or herself well and who can answer the question, “Why should we hire you?” What you do not want to do is to just drop off a resume and move on.

Research the companies, and if possible the open positions, that are available. Know the economic status and workplace culture of the company you plan to visit and be prepared to speak with their representatives in a way that shows you have done your homework.

Ask the recruiters intelligent questions that show you know about the company and that you care enough to have researched them. However, now is not the time to ask about salaries and benefits.

Display a professional demeanor. Refer to the recruiter by name and have good eye contact and a firm handshake. Dress appropriately. And at the risk of sounding like your mother, don’t fidget with your hair or say “um” and “you know” a lot, and don’t forget to smile. These things do matter!

If you are recently out of college, be prepared to talk about your GPA. If it is less than 3.0, then hopefully you can refer to a higher GPA earned in your major.

Even if a company is hiring outside of your field, it may still be worth networking with the recruiter to see if they represent a company that may be worth tracking for future opportunities.

At the very least, this is a time to practice your presentation with a recruiter. Do not let them intimidate you. They actually like speaking with potential employees. That is why they are there.

Use the time at the fair to network, network, network… and not only with just recruiters. Mix it up with other job seekers and any other professionals with whom you come into contact.

It is not a good idea to go on with recruiters about how bad your last job was or the philosophical issues you had with previous colleagues. Also, don’t take the stance of being desperate even though that is probably how you feel. Saying that you’ll do “… anything, anything, just please give me job!” rather than presenting yourself as qualified for something specific is not good form.

Even though we seem to be entering the mixed blessing of a jobless economic recovery do not be too discouraged to pick yourself up and throw yourself into this and other job fairs. I’ll be there to do resume reviews along with a workshop entitled Career Transitions from 2:30-3:25. I hope to see some blog readers there.

Best of luck to you!

What We Share With Ireland

Posted on August 16, 2009February 9, 2022 by Bill Ryan

My wife and I recently returned to New Hampshire from a ten-day vacation to County Galway in Ireland. While there I wanted to get a sense of how the global economic decline was impacting the Irish. The news has been that they have been experiencing their own boom and bust story and I wanted to see how it may be similar or different from our own. I found that we share much that is troubling.

Historically, Ireland has not been known as an affluent country. In many ways it never seemed to shake its reputation of being a poor country from which millions escaped potato blight and the oppression of the English. Here in America, the Irish immigrants seemed to be more known for scruffiness and drunkenness until President Kennedy’s presence helped to polish their image.

Then, during the 1990’s we started hearing of a different tale coming out of Ireland. An Irish economic emergence, which was to become known as the Celtic Tiger, was recognized worldwide. Suddenly, we heard that more young people were walking the streets of Dublin with cell phones glued to the sides of their heads than were youth in New York City. Multinationals and major American firms were setting up shop. Apple, for example, established its European headquarters in Ireland. A well respected educational system combined with strong national pride had led Ireland to be a major player in software, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries. Property values, commercial development, and the overall standard of living began to increase.

Even the brutal politics of the North softened as Sein Fein and Unionists decided to oppose each other free of violence. Musically, the Chieftains moved over to make room for Riverdance and Celtic Women. Western Europe’s poorest country had suddenly become chic.

But along with much of the western world, Ireland’s economy began to sour, and precipitously. Last Autumn they, along with Iceland, had hit a brick wall. The Celtic Tiger era seemed to grind to a sudden halt. It didn’t take being in the country long by reading newspapers and speaking to the very open and chatty residents to see what had happened. Their story sounded familiar, albeit with a different accent.

The banks had over-speculated on property, construction, and commercial development. The largest banks, for example Associated Irish Banks (AIB) suddenly found 25% of their assets distressed. In order to remain solvent, commercial and residential lending needed to be sharply reduced or curtailed. The big national debate now is about the necessity of the government’s National Asset Management Agency (Nama) plan, which is their version of a bank bailout complete with all of the controversy we see here. Unemployment is rising and the youngest generation of workers is getting their lesson in impermanence by having to tighten belts for the first time in their lives.

So, what do I take from this dual sob story? It is that ordinary citizens have been alerted to the high impact which can result from the interaction of banks and real estate on everyone’s lives. These high stake business relationships can greatly affect the lives of people many degrees removed the principal players. Both Irish and Americans citizens are appropriately asking themselves whether or not greater oversight and regulation should be asserted to those in the banking industry and the politicians they report to.

If a bad decision hurt just themselves that would be one thing, but unfortunately their bad decisions can create black holes into which we all get sucked. The result of actions taken by unelected and enormously influential banking representatives has been economic calamity, especially in higher unemployment. Should not the people have a say in the possible negative outcomes of their decisions, which are contrary to our respective national interests?

Americans share much with the Irish both culturally and economically. And although it is not realistic to expect boom times to go on forever, it is nevertheless reasonable to expect business, especially a wide ranging one like banking, to be mindful of what is best for their respective nations. If they cannot regulate themselves in that endeavor, then someone will need to step in and do it for them.

The Most Important Decision of Your Life

Posted on August 3, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

An unfortunate piece of legacy wisdom regarding career development suggests that it is very important that a young adult make their just-out-of-school career choice extremely carefully or else they may inflict irreparable harm to their future. Imagine feeling that such a weighty life/work decision, like what to do for the rest of your life, needs to be made by someone who has no significant employment experience. Talk about pressure!

Aside from quick thinking action-adventure movie heroes with lightening quick reflexes, most of us, particularly those just beginning adulthood, do not make the most high quality decisions under extreme stress. For big life decisions, like determining a career direction, there needs to be time and guidance to assess options, weigh benefits and risks, and in short, apply a rational process that results in a decision, which hopefully leads to success. The reality is we are transitioning from a world in which career choice was a onetime monumental decision to a world in which career is now comprised of iterations that are unified by a multi-faceted and dynamic theme.

I am from the much-ballyhooed Baby Boomer generation. Among the unique traits that we possess is that we are probably the last generation in which large numbers of us will have worked our entire careers in one job or industry, perhaps even with just one single employer. Boomers have gone from hip to dinosaurs in thirty quick years.

Well, so it goes. But among the rapidly outdated notions we still possess and which we should be increasingly hesitant to pass along to young people is the one professing this up-and-coming cohort should approach career decision making the way we did. Not only is the pressure non-productive and unhelpful, but unnecessary.

Initial career steps are more like speed boats in a relay race, not slow-moving ocean liners. Careers, like life itself, are fluid, changeable, and developmental. We progress and we grow. Choosing a career at the onset of your working years is essentially choosing an uncharted journey, one in which the routes are yet to be planned and the ultimate destination is unclear.

Now, that is not to say that there are not some major decisions in life that have some relative permanency. Marriage, parenting, vocations of high dedication, like for example becoming a priest, are commitments which also see growth and change, but within well-defined parameters. A career is not this. Its structure over time is much more set by you, as opposed to for you by tradition or antiquated rules. You are completely in charge of this piece of your destiny.

This is the message Boomer parents and grandparents should be getting out to young people. It starts with asking children and adolescents if what they are thinking, feeling, and how they are behaving is working for them. And as they approach their robust individuation years, helping them to see how the person they are becoming can best interact with the big wide world.

We are all better off knowing viscerally that we will always be building on what was built by ourselves at an earlier time. Also, a helpful message and attitude is that there really is no sharp distinction between life and career. We don’t dive into one to escape from the other. What we do is who we are.

So, let us adjust the way we prepare youth for career decision making. Let us make the point that what is most important is adaptability, experimenting, and continuous learning, not how expert one is at predicting what will make them happy for the rest of their lives. Helping to prepare our young people for the world to come, rather than the world being left behind, is a valuable gift to leave the next generation.

Working From Home

Posted on July 27, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Working from home. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Think of the pressures that get relieved. No commuting, no having to put up with people you would rather not spend time with at a workplace, dress however you like, the convenience and comfort of having all your stuff around you. What is not to like?

Working at home is the fantasy of many and the reality for some. I am a year into being one of the “at-home” workers. To be clear, I work at home part time, but it is a whole lot more than had ever been the case throughout most of my working years. The experience has given me some perspective on the relative productivity and satisfaction that can come from this arrangement.

Also, with much of the workforce either proactively structuring their careers for an at-home work setting or because they are being driven into staying at home due to layoffs or furloughs, the home-as-office scene needs some examination.

When I retired from my primary career a year ago, I knew that I would be working out of a home office, at least some of the time. I put some money and sweat equity into making a home office that I love. It is designed and decorated the way I want, and it has the gadgets I want, including a custom-built computer. The view out of my two windows is New Hampshire country. I feel lucky to have it.

But to be honest, in the months leading up to “working” in this space I was afraid that I would not be very productive. I expected to be distracted by all the things that typically need doing around the house and I thought that I would miss being around people. In my career as a teacher, I was surrounded by students and co-workers throughout most of my day. Could I be disciplined enough to get something done working alone in a home office?

I have to say, it has been good. I can remain focused and when it comes to my one-man career development business, I am able to work at a pace that usually feels relaxed and is surprisingly constructive. Of course, a big advantage that I have is that my kids are grown. I do not know how a home office worker could get anything done with young kids in the house!

I also have a part time job that is separate from my business. It is based in Manchester, about 18 miles away. Much of that job could be done quite effectively in my home office. But this employer has given me a beautiful office in which to work that is housed in an extremely attractive building. I do find for this job I travel to the Manchester office to be most productive. There is something psychological going on there which I have not yet figured out.

But what is clear to me is that there is some nuance between work tasks and work settings that should be considered if you find yourself employed at home. Whatever that relationship is, it would be wrapped up in the type of personality traits you have. To oversimplify, the extraverts may have a need for web conferencing and multiple data lines to interact with people more, while the introverts may be satisfied with a less people-oriented environment.

Making your work profitable and worthwhile at home requires assessing yourself openly and determining what type of work will satisfy you in that setting. Peel back the layers of the work-at-home fantasy and see if this is practical. Some parts undoubtedly will be. Intentionally consider what your balance of assets and liabilities is. Working from home has become an option for a greater number of us. But like every major life decision it requires some clear-headedness.

Getting Cover Letters Right

Posted on July 19, 2009December 19, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Next to a well-constructed resume the only other written document that counts big time in your hunt for a new job is the cover letter. And just like a resume, getting a good one requires a lot of thought, research, and for many of us, guidance. Unlike the resume, which is about you, the cover letter is mostly about the company or organization to which you are hoping to apply. To be more precise, the cover letter is your attempt to show that you would be a great fit for an organization whose needs you know well.

The mistake commonly made with cover letters is that writers think it is just another variation on the resume. In other words, it is just another means of presenting yourself, like how you approached the resume. Therefore, cover letters often read like a rehash of language found in the resume. This will not impress hiring managers.

Remember, when writing a cover letter, display that you have discovered the organization has a need for talent to satisfy some function or problem they are experiencing. Your tone should not be to say, “I’m here and I need a job and I would like to work for you”, but rather, “I understand that you have a need for [something very specific] and I’d like to suggest that my background, training, and interest will meet that need.”

This should not be too hard to do if you are attempting to secure a position for which you are qualified. Where this gets problematic is if you are grabbing at job straws because you are desperate. Even during times of despair, knowing who you are professionally and building upon the career you have already established, positions you better than what might be otherwise the case.

Other errors with cover letters include making them too short or too long or too generic. This should be a highly customized document. If using a professional writer, don’t hire one who simply writes it for you, but rather one who works with you through multiple drafts. Working together on the writing process and on conducting the necessary research will mean you will come up with a genuine co-authored piece that will be much more effective.

If you are going it alone, be very careful to stay away from trite phrases and clichés. “I’d like to be considered for…” and “Allow me to introduce myself…” are deadly to someone who reads many of these. Assuming that you are passionate about the idea of taking the position and working for the organization, then let that enthusiasm come through in your writing. Start off with something like, “I was excited to read in HealthCare Journal about Jordan Hospital’s expansion of your Medical Records and Health Information Department. This move is consistent with Jordan Hospital’s well known progressive health care service to Central New Hampshire. I have a history of success with electronic data storage and retrieval technology that could augment this initiative.”

The second paragraph is where you really show what it is the organization is looking for. Totally pick through their web site, any ads they have posted, and the brains of networking contacts to show that you know this company and what they want. Use keywords from their publications and in any way possible show that you have done your homework.

Also, as much as possible look for ways to quantify what your accomplishments have been when trying to make the connection between yourself and their needs. Never lose sight of the objective of cover letters, which is that they need something specific you have done or are doing or something like to it. Emphasize that you can do for them what they want. If they want to know much about you specifically, then they will read your resume.

It is all about giving yourself an edge these days. Knowing how to prepare quality cover letters is an important part of what you need to do.

The Advantage of Networking

Posted on July 12, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

One of the great advantages of living and working in New Hampshire is that it can be a relatively close-knit community both socially and professionally. Our individual path often crosses each other’s paths. It’s not unusual to hear through our workplace networks about how each of us is progressing or not. The twists and turns, dips and rises of your career journey are on display, for better or worse, in this state than they might be in a more densely populated setting. This being the case, how we conduct our careers should be influenced by this openness.

If you’ve had a reasonably successful career, this level of exposure may help set the stage for future opportunities. More to the point, if you have been smart about establishing and maintaining valuable professional relationships, then you are better positioned for landing on your feet if a sudden work transition is forced upon you. Layoffs are an epidemic in New Hampshire right now as they are elsewhere. The decreasing level of job security is resulting in growing uncertainty among workers across industries. Being prepared for how to react to a job termination is a wise move to make during these tough times. And a significant part of this preparation should involve an understanding of networking.

Networking accounts for anywhere from 75% to 95% of all the open positions filled in the U.S. Employers can often be reluctant to advertise for jobs, preferring instead to be notified of the so-called passive job candidate, that is a referral from a trusted source. Your task is to become referenced, tested, and known by colleagues, both present and former, who can attest to your qualifications. While still employed you should be not only building relationships that will enhance your career but achieving an expertise by which you become better known. This makes it easier for your referral contacts to describe you in terms that make your value more readily apparent to potential future employers.

One inaccurate perception of networking is that it is all one way, in that it consists only of others doing something for you. If that were true, networking would just be another word for exploitation. Networking works best when it is reciprocal such that both parties are prepared to give to one another by leveraging common interests, enlisting each other’s support, and sharing information, values, ideas, advice, and of course referrals.

Approaching a networking contact by first reaching out to help them is a sound proposition. If you have already secured yourself as a colleague or contact who is quick to aid others, then it won’t seem disingenuous when you are reaching out in hope of getting some support coming back to you. However, if your work style has not been of the open and cooperative type, then quality networking will be more difficult to accomplish.

Giving of yourself to others may not always have short term benefit, but it can certainly set the stage for longer term utility. And besides, like your mother told you, it’s a nice thing to do!

New Hampshire has the potential for being a network-rich environment. In many ways, this small pond makes it easier to become a big fish. The best way to strengthen yourself while employed, and to prepare for a time when you may suddenly not be, is to enhance and strengthen the kind of employee you are. Networking should not just be a tactic deployed after a layoff, but rather a skill that you are developing all the time. When done well, the personal and professional relationships you build will benefit you no matter what your employment status becomes. Networking is not only practical, but also enriching.

NHBR Debut

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Bill Ryan

The New Hampshire Business Review has picked me up as a contributing writer! My debut appearance can be found at http://nhbr.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090703/INDUSTRY18/906309929.

I look forward to contributing more pieces concerning the intersection of career development and New Hampshire business news. Please look for more pieces and let me know what type of topics you’d like to see covered. Your suggestions are very much welcomed!

Decision Making Examined

Posted on July 5, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

How well you cope with and react to improving your career is driven primarily by the quality of your ability to make decisions. Whether a job change is forced on to you by a layoff or the nagging dissatisfaction of being stuck in a bad line of work finally crystallizes into the realization that change is needed, how well you can make an important decision will determine how satisfying an eventual outcome of change will be.

It seems that some people have the gift of decisiveness whereas other people flounder, allowing themselves to be bounced around by circumstances. Even though you might be closer to the latter, it is still possible to examine the nature of decision making and how you approach this mental exercise. For all of us, decision making is made up of five sequential steps:

1. Identifying the problem

2. Knowing the cause of the problem

3. Developing possible alternatives

4. Prioritizing those alternatives

5. Appraising likely outcomes

When it comes to making decisions regarding your career this is often done with much uncertainty, which can make following these steps, particularly #5, harder. Nevertheless, it can still be helpful to be systematic when confronting a big career change challenge. Are you finding that one or more points in this sequence are hanging you up? Why do you think this is so?

Carrying on with making lists of five, career development researchers have identified five decision-making styles:

a. The Rational style, which is structured and logical

b. The Intuitive style, which relies on gut feelings and impressions

c. The Dependent style, which needs the support of others

d. The Avoidant style, which puts off decision making for as long as possible

e. The Spontaneous style, which is quick and impulsive

Now, if you listen to your inner parent / teacher speaking you’re probably hearing the message that having a Rational style is best. It is hard to argue with a viewpoint that says careful examination of facts and likely consequences should be applied in making a decision like career direction. The Intuitive style, on the other hand, sounds like your inner artist talking, encouraging you to go with the natural flow. But the other three appear to be more like styles of indecision. If you see yourself as reflecting one of these styles, then I would recommend a re-examination of how you make or do not make decisions.

When I look at the Intuitive style in juxtaposition to the Rational style I’m reminded of the right brain / left brain construct, which implies a balanced cognitive approach. A combination of Rational and Intuitive styles suggests a greater individual awareness of self and environment, which can lead to better career choices.

Knowing and feeling through a situation and self-encouraging an interplay of thought and emotion may allow you to identify and evaluate plausible alternatives and outcomes as you process choice. Since we now know that significant personal career decisions will occur developmentally across the lifespan, then working to refine, and when necessary, practice a workable decision-making style will result in outcomes that make life more satisfying. And isn’t that the point of a career?

A Livelihood Can Be a Life

Posted on June 24, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I’m going to start this piece off by stating something that for some readers may be too obvious, but which I think is worth saying anyway. There is a big difference between searching for a job and searching for a career.

For the sake of simplicity, I see a job as something you do for money, whereas a career is something you do to give meaning and purpose to life. Many of you may be perfectly content separating livelihood from living and see a job merely as a means to a financial end. Living, for those of this mindset, consists of contentment found in mainly choosing things and experiences that make life interesting and stimulating. Together they make up a life that is at a minimum, good enough. Getting paid for being sufficiently stimulated, by whatever means, appears to be the primary goal. Money is generally necessary for this kind of lifestyle and therefore getting and keeping a job that pays decently becomes important. Fine. It is a perfectly conventional viewpoint about work. And one I don’t recommend.

Work in a capitalist democracy such as ours displays its greatest value not in just how productive the society becomes, but in how everyone has the potential to express their unique contribution to both the greater good and to themselves. I do not see a benefit in drawing too sharp a distinction between living and work. I am alright with thinking that what you are is what you do. Now, some of you may think this sounds like a workaholic Boomer talking, who has not yet learned how to chill. Perhaps. Rather, I am suggesting that integrating work and life, career and self, can result in a fuller sense of being and completeness.

It is good to have an identity. It is of value to see yourself and to have others see you as comprised of those significant elements of our lives, be they family member, citizen, leisure-lover, or worker. To define yourself in terms that exclude or downplay your work and how you spend such a large amount of time and energy denies yourself much of the richness you could be feeling from life.

I am impressed by people who know something very well, be it a skill or body of knowledge. These people enjoy sharing their expertise through reaching out and teaching others or by making available the products and services they can craft expertly. To develop a talent to the point in which you are an artisan means you can be living a great life. You have meaning and purpose. You give yourself a gift beyond what money alone can provide.

It is easy to blame our employer or simple circumstances for our despair with work. Having each week be a countdown to the weekend starting with a Blue Monday is sad. If you associate Wednesday with Hump Day, then your career is not on track. It’s not working for you.

Take time to reflect on what you are doing. Are you just working or are you living? Life does not have to be just getting by or getting through it. You can have a relationship with yourself that is highlighted by growth and mastery. You can be somebody and your work can be a big satisfying part of who you are.

Despite the current Recession, this is a great time to form a career in America. We are not as constricted by class, family legacy, race, or gender roles as we once were or as is still the case in many parts of the world. Here, a true meritocracy is coming about. [Update: In the years since I wrote this paragraph, I have become more aware of how gender roles and meritocracy can lack fairness. I address this issue in future essays.]

The upcoming years should be open to entrepreneurial solutions and our collective value propositions. Now is the time to find your place and to carve out your niche. Do not let the difficulty of shifting to this way of thinking hold you back. Enjoy the congruence of livelihood and life. You can be happier than you ever thought possible.

Beware of Too Much Education

Posted on June 14, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

I am a big fan of education… particularly college education. I used to think when I was in my twenties that I could easily have become a professional student. And if it hadn’t been for getting married and becoming a parent, I would have. Even now, many years later, I can still feel the nerdy thrill of taking classes and planning degree work.

I was also a teacher for thirty-one years and would encourage students any chance that I got for them to pursue post-secondary education, if they wanted to increase their chances of finding satisfying work at a decent salary. I would cite statistics showing that a college education could on average double their lifetime earnings compared to someone with only a high school education. My faith in the power of higher education remains unshaken. I think nearly everyone should continue formal education for as long as possible.

However, I have seen a troubling downside to acquiring too much college education. In a word, it is debt. It is not unusual to run across thirty-somethings and others who have multiple degrees and/or certifications and no satisfying employment. What they do have, though, are thousands of dollars owed for the education received to get those degrees and certs. I’ve heard staggering figures. There are relatively young people who are looking at decades of school loan payback ahead of them. This restricts their lifestyles, as all debt does, and makes further education appear impossible to achieve.

Now, it would be one thing if the folks I’m talking about had exciting, stimulating careers paying them robust salaries. But too often this is not the case. Instead, they are settling for second rate job choices and realizing as they approach middle age that they are not happy career-wise, leaving them feeling stuck.

How did this happen? It is what can occur if you do not enter higher education with at least the beginning of a career plan. Everyone has heard the story that a college education opens doors and leads to career success. And as I indicated earlier, there is much evidence that it can. But it is far from a guarantee. A college degree should not be thought of as a magic bullet. If years spent at a university are not a well thought through means to an end, then it can be a costly waste of time.

A typical sequence is this — you are a student who majors in some undergraduate program for weak reasons, generally because you were without enough quality guidance. Afterwards, you find yourself in a ho-hum job and think that the way out is to go back to school to get another degree. You hope that this time it will “work”.

But your decision making again has not been monitored by someone who can properly assist you. So, you find yourself again in a less than stellar job and think that if you had only followed your heart the first time you would not be in this mess. So, you go back to school to study your passion, incur more debt, and realize a gazillion dollars later that you are still not happy.

Career planning should begin very early in a student’s education, whether it is done by a parent, a guidance counselor, a teacher, or a privately hired career development specialist. Basically, someone who actually has time, interest, and perspective to focus on you. College costs way too much to have the experience squandered. However, properly directed higher education can help lead to meaningful and sustained careers.

I recommend taking the time to think through what you hope to achieve from education and process these thoughts, along with crucial elements of your personality, in the presence of a career professional. It is worth the effort and money to do this one right.

The Forward Leaning Consultant

Posted on June 8, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

In my last blog, I suggested that we Americans may not be as entrepreneurial as we think we are when it comes to getting or staying employed, particularly during a Recession like this one. My observation is that we continue to heavily rely on open positions to fill rather than trying to create our own marketable situations.

For many young and middle-aged workers, it’s easier to understand the greater need for security and the steady paycheck given that they are raising families and building wealth. For them, free-lancing may indeed carry too much risk. But for the seasoned older professional worker with accumulated wisdom and experience, I find it a bit odd that far too many continue to seek a job offered and defined by someone else.

Now, if you’re happy with a work life following someone else’s job description, because it lightens the mental and emotional load you need to carry, then fine. For those of you, however, who have been around the block a few times and have formed confident opinions and positions about how your industry can best function, then you may want to codify those ideas into proposals that you present to managers in need of solutions.

I believe there comes a point in many professionals’ lives when you reach a level of maturity and sophistication, which prepares you for analyzing the known workplace with the intent of discovering and offering remedies to common or unique problems. This approach can form the backbone of your “job search”. Don’t just look for a job, look for innovative methods and protocols that add value to the workplace and propose them to organizations in search of these solutions.

The notion that becoming a consultant is reserved only for the gutsy cream-of-the-crop type is old fashioned. To the dismay of unions and traditionalists, we are becoming a freelance nation. It is true many workplaces are still traditional in how they source talent, but there is ample evidence that this is changing. More and more Human Resource departments are becoming used to searching for outsourced talent that reduces their costs while offering more targeted impact on production. The actual implementation lies in how well you unravel issues, advance answers, brand yourself, and negotiate an arrangement with an organization that needs you.

So, my suggestion is to use the time you usually spend searching through Monster and CareerBuilder to systematically build cases that you can confidently present. Your time will be better spent, and you get the added benefit of imposing professional development on yourself.

You probably already know the standard means of writing proposals within your industry. If you don’t know, find out. From there, apply marketing principles, especially personal branding, that assist you in reaching the audiences who need to hear from you. And go for it.

Might this style of employment search be too cowboy oriented. Perhaps. But, what’s the downside? At least you leaned forward into your employment status, acted, organized yourself, and learned some things. Is that such a bad way to spend time finding work?

Are Americans as Entrepreneurial as We Think We Are?

Posted on May 31, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

We Americans pride ourselves on our self-reliance, independence, and strong sustainable work ethic. We believe that our individualistic, entrepreneurial approach to solving problems and meeting needs is what has made us such a prosperous nation. As Tom Peters, the personal branding guru suggests, we are all a bunch of Davy Crockett’s living by our wits and taking care of ourselves one autonomous nonaligned person at a time.

I would think that this Recession, which we are all experiencing collectively to a greater or lesser degree, would be a perfect time for Americans to demonstrate our self-governing nature. With high unemployment, it becomes necessary for each person to self-manage the riskier and more uncertain conditions of life. If ever there was a time to live by your wits, it is when you cannot rely on an employer to provide you with the means for a long-term comfortable, or even basic lifestyle.

And yet, a reasonable question to ask is, are we as resilient to weather a personal economic storm as we might think we are? Is the typical American worker, most of whom are influenced historically by European traditions, trending toward a practice of creating our own jobs or still relying on organizations and outside employers to be our anchors? Do we have it in our DNA to face an uncertain future truly entrepreneurial or are we just too fatalistic?

Malcolm Gladwell in his latest book Outliers extracts two historic proverbs, one Western and one Eastern, to point out that Asians may have historically developed more productive work habits and perhaps keener intelligence than have those from the West. The Western proverb (Russian in origin) translates to: “If God does not bring it, the earth will not give it.” The other (Chinese), “hard work, shrewd planning, and self-reliance or cooperation with a small group will in time bring recompense.”

Our European ancestors, who lived under a strict feudal system, may be dominating our current job search practices more so than our Asian ancestors. Our Western mindset may still be predominated by a thought pattern of yielding to higher powers for a determination of our destiny, be they divine or corporate, rather than by relying on individualistic self-sufficiency.

As we search for quality work our traditional and still generally practiced approach is to see, “who’s hiring.” We’ve developed more sophisticated and digital means of doing so, but the widely accepted premise remains that job seekers look for and strive to fill openings offered by bigger and more powerful organizations.

Not too long ago, I had a seasoned and experienced professional ask me to look at his resume and portfolio. He had been in a variety of management positions for different companies from diverse industries. He was unemployed and looking for a position to fill. His documentation was impeccable, rich, and impressive. I had no substantive suggestions to make regarding changes to his papers. However, I did challenge the nature of his approach to finding work. Given his depth of experience, I told him that he would be better off looking for problems to solve within the industries he is most familiar with, rather than limiting himself to looking for someone else’s job openings.

This concept of “grabbing the bull by the horns” by leaning into industries you know and designing solutions to common or hard to solve problems is one that I would like to develop more fully in my next blog. For now, I ask readers to think about the wisdom of creating your own entrepreneurial opportunities vs. just relying on job search techniques. These times may call for a two-tracked approach that optimizes both, not just one path.

New Hampshire Economic Stimulus Update

Posted on May 17, 2009February 3, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Now that it has been three months since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has been law it’s a good time to see what effect this law may be having in New Hampshire. New Hampshire, like every other state needs the help. Our seasonally adjusted unemployment rate is 6.2% compared to 8.5% nationally. So, we’re in better shape than some states, for example Florida is at 9.7% and Indiana at 10.0%, but we haven’t seen unemployment like this since the early 1980’s. The question is, are New Hampshire residents getting jobs yet as a result of the Stimulus money? I’ve been looking into it and this is what I can tell at this point.

There does not seem to be a lot of new hiring yet due to the ARRA. For certain projects and positions in Transportation and Education particularly that have already been planned for or have been underway, then the reallocation of production revenue from the ARRA is keeping those people employed. But they had jobs already. For the vast majority of stimulus categories (see below) we are in one of two places:

1. The Federal guidelines stipulating the expenditure of ARRA funds have yet to be made public.

2. Grants are being or have been written by those state government agencies and organizations who now know the Federal guidelines and they are in the process of bidding for the dollars or awaiting awards.

In either case, the bulk of new hiring to come out of the ARRA is still somewhere down the road. We expect that Washington wants this money injected into the Economy as soon as possible, but in order to keep some control over the quality of the expenditures there is bound to be some red tape involved… and there is.

Here are the categories identified for receiving ARRA funds:

Business/Community: Refers to community development and services, Small Business Administration, and the Rural Business Program.

Education: Including a lot of education for the disadvantaged, early childhood, with some arts funding and technical training thrown in.

Employment/Nutrition: This is a catch-all for job training, hot lunch programs, activities for youth, assistance for needy families, among others.

Environment and Energy: Everything from weatherization projects, polluted site clean-up, energy efficiency, clean water, and more.

Health: Community health centers, SCHIP, health information, and Medicaid assistance are covered.

Housing Facilities: Public housing programming, National Guard, rural housing, and even firefighting assistance falls here.

Public Safety: The Attorney General’s office is getting into the act with violence against women prevention, victimization compensation, and fighting Internet crime against children, being included.

Technology: Basically this is extending broadband to rural areas that don’t have adequate coverage.

Transportation: This looks like the big shovel-ready kahuna, resulting in road, airport, in short, construction jobs.

If you want to look more into the details of the Recovery Plan in New Hampshire go to http://www.nh.gov/recovery/index.htm. I’ll periodically be checking into the status of the plan. As a career professional I want to be able to advise clients how to take advantage of these dollars by knowing who is hiring and for what jobs. I suppose if you’re far to the political right you see this money as tainted and like South Carolina Gov. Sanford won’t dirty you hands with it. But for the rest of us, this is real money designed to lift us out of Recession, while improving government’s and society’s various infrastructures.

If you’re fine with that, stay tuned.

The Pain of Unemployment

Posted on May 11, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

The pain may not be as deep as losing a child, parent, or spouse and it may be better than undergoing a severe personal injury, but the despair brought on by being unemployed can be a close second. This is a pain that sticks with you constantly. You may be able to find occasional diversions or be fortunate enough to have the psychological makeup to exercise mental rationalizations that can keep you sane, but for most, if not all, the dejection felt by not having work is profound. This condition should be faced with the fortitude you would have to muster if one of the above-mentioned tragedies were to happen.

Think what you will of Raum Emanuel, the President’s Chief of Staff, but I love his line, “Never let a crisis go to waste”, or some such policy driving quip of his. When you’re faced with lemons, what choice do you have but to make lemonade. What’s the alternative? Depression, paralysis, and confusion? I would think you’d rather choose something that gives you forward momentum.

Doing something of value will help you cope. Your spirit may be so shocked by circumstances that to attempt a fruitful activity may not feel any more productive than just carrying on as if you were in control of your life. It may be very hard to pull yourself out of bed or away from the TV or away from the bottle or the smoke or whatever, but again, what choice do you really have to make things better? If a German concentration camp prisoner like Victor Frankl can find meaning and personal strength during his situation, cannot most of us deal with a comparatively easier situation like unemployment?

So, what to do? I suggest two things. One, get is to get engaged with a systematic and very personal career search. And two, is to consider volunteering for a cause you value.

Use this time to deeply explore what it is you want from work and how it can best intersect with the rest of your life. Ask yourself if you have been on a path that you love and want to continue navigating or if you would really rather do something different. Either way, you can put together a self-improvement project and be able to devote more time to it than would be possible if you were working full time. It’s a great time to be both contemplative and calculating. Make finding a job be your job. Your boss is yourself. Perform for this executive as exactingly as you would for someone you really wanted to impress. Start planning. It’ll help, I promise.

Volunteering can give you something structured and scheduled to do that contributes to an initiative that you would like to see advanced. I don’t need to start a list of things that you can do. It is endless. There is no limit to the ways that we can make the world a better place in which to live. Find your way (or ways) and commit yourself to it. No, you won’t make money. But among all the intangible benefits that can be derived from such an effort, two practical goodies can come about… Uno, you will increase your network of connections that may come in useful someday, and dos, you have something worthy to put on your resume to account for the time you were not “working”.

Best of luck with this life challenge. I know it’s not easy.

The Uncertain Value of Outplacement

Posted on May 4, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

So, Outplacement is getting a bad rap. The service does not appear to be coming through the Recession with its reputation intact for delivering value, dependability, and reliability. There are three reasons for firms to offer Outplacement to their employees: it improves the firm’s recruitment and retention of quality workers, it improves employee morale, and it reduces the likelihood of legal challenges from angry laid-off staff. Given that Outplacement should be a wonderful benefit to offer downsized employees and that the need for Outplacement services is greatest when there are a lot of people who need new jobs, you’d think this is a great time for the Outplacement business.

And in a way it is. Outplacement firms are busy. For example, I recently tried to pick up some career consultation work with Lee Hecht Harrison, a firm specializing in Outplacement, only to hear that they not only had no work for me, but that their Manchester, NH office had been deluged with calls like mine. I’m reading too that there has been much activity at Outplacement firms nationally. The Insala Outplacement Industry Forecast for 2009 offers a case in point.

But on the other hand, it is not good for this business to be widely thought of as ineffective. Recruiters are hearing stories of companies unhappy with the results of their expended Outplacement dollars. New Hampshire Business Review reports in their April 10-23 issue that a workplace review and ratings web site, Telonu.com, released survey results showing 94% of respondents rating Outplacement support as poor or very poor!

Why such a dismal opinion? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is the supply/demand problem. There are more job seekers than available jobs right now. That fact alone will lead to some despondency. But where do these people get the notion that Outplacement necessarily leads immediately to another position? Yes, I know that’s the point of Outplacement, but it can’t be a guarantee, especially in these times.

If you have gone through three or six or twelve months of Outplacement service and are still unemployed does that mean that the service was inadequate? Perhaps. Or it just means that the Recession is really bad. If an Outplacement provider is very clear with you about what reasonable outcomes can be achieved, then you could go through the course and still feel that you gained value even if you are still without a job.

Outplacement should be designed simply, unambiguously, and as rationally as possible. This should be more about direction than dreams, focused not fuzzy, more coaching than counseling. It should be as much about skills as knowledge.

Outplacement needs to have the following features and goals. It should:

Be customized and directed to your specific situation.
Leave you clear and confident about the next step in your career development, which is reflected in your whole job search effort.
Assist you in developing job targets that include desired industry, geography, organization size, position, and company style/culture.
Go beyond Networking to include skill development in directly contacting those with the power to hire.
Teach you how to maintain valuable relationships.
Instruct you in interviewing, interview follow-ups, and negotiating the terms and conditions of employment, including salary.
Be a low overhead operation replacing cubicles and service-provided computers with your home computer and an expert coach.
Have available long-term service options, for up to a year, if necessary.

You should always walk away from Outplacement feeling that you’ve got the knowledge and skills to effectively engage in the job search scene. Remember, most of your competition does not have the quality edge Outplacement can give you.

Sure, it’s tough out there. There is even more reason to systematically prepare yourself. With a well delivered Outplacement you might not have that great next job right away, but you will at least feel that the time spent was worth it.

Career and Financial Literacy

Posted on April 27, 2009December 8, 2021 by Bill Ryan

It’s not hard to find statistics indicating that our skills at personal financial management are, shall we say, not well developed. Our levels of debt and over-consumption are huge, and this all was firmly established before the economic nosedive. The American savings rate going into the current recession, as everyone now knows, was practically non-existent. This was a dramatic decline from the 1950s to about 1980 when we saved on average 8% to 10% of income. And without some savings ethic, it’s hard to imagine a personal wealth management plan of any long lasting worth. Especially now, when the only semblance of “savings” for many of us lately has been in the form of 401Ks and home equity, both of which are about as rock solid as a pile of sand.

Collectively, we are all learning some harsh, but necessary, financial literacy lessons. Encouragingly, since September, our savings rate has increased to the point where we’re now being told we’re saving too much and that if we don’t spend more the recession will be longer and deeper. We are also coming to grips with the fact that typical American levels of consumption are probably not sustainable for the near future. So all of this raises a question. Does it have to take a major recession for us to learn how to be really smart with our money? Is the younger post-Millennial generation, now in middle and high school, going to be able to enter their spending years smarter regarding credit and savings than previous generations? Let’s hope so!

In order for our kids to have any chance of becoming financially literate there needs to be a commitment from educators, legislators, and other stakeholders to see that effective financial literacy programs are made available for students. And one critical component of any such program must be in career development. When students are taught about the principles of savings, investment, responsible use of credit, and checking account management there is a much greater chance of student buy-in if the instruction takes place within the context of each young person choosing a career that fits their interests and personalities. Think of it, would you want to be told to solve a bunch of abstract financial word problems on par with, “If a train leaves Philadelphia at 2:00pm traveling 80 mph and another train leaves New York at…” You get the picture, irrelevant and boring.

Now in contrast, imagine putting kids through a process in which they are told that each of them has promise and a unique set of developing interests and capabilities with which they should each get in touch. And further that their individuality can have a match with a career that can make life fun and interesting. With such an introduction, students can look at how the money earned from these careers can best be used to finance a reasonable and sustainable lifestyle.

I’m not just hypothesizing here. I’ve seen it happen as an educator. Career development is the most effective gateway to financial literacy for youth.

Of course, the biggest challenge is to get schools to even bother with teaching financial literacy at all. Abstract and impractical math concepts still seem to dominate and hold more value in math education than teaching kids how to be clever with finances. As for classes in economics, the concern seems to be much more to teach macro-economic principles than to cover the more practical basics of financial education.

However, for those schools and states that get it, teaching career and finances in tandem is a great service for the ones who will be in charge of the economy when we’re old and gray.

A Total Career Package

Posted on April 19, 2009January 31, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Let’s say that you are an individual who is either out of work and desperate to get back into the workforce or just plain sick of your current job and want something that is a better fit for your personality. You have talked to friends and family, you have read career advice pieces on Monster and the like, you have lain awake at 3:00 am trying your best to think of what to do, while also trying to tamp down the fear and insecurity demons. However, you start each day pretty much in the same unsatisfied and unfulfilled place. Finally, you decide that you need some help. The big question of course is, where do you turn for help?

I had a useful and stimulating conversation with a New Hampshire staffing and recruiting expert recently and we found ourselves fleshing out what could be considered a comprehensive career development service. We were discussing this in the context of outplacement, the practice whereby an employer offers job search assistance to laid off employees, but I think the basic concept can apply to any of you in the situation described above. This total career package would consist of two basic parts, one a personalized career direction builder, and two an effective staffing service that places you in an appropriate position based on your work in the first part. Let’s look at some details:

As I mentioned in last week’s blog I have been struck recently as to how vague and non-targeted many job seekers can be in searching for work despite this being a time when competition is fierce, and you must be ready to present yourself in the best possible light. Therefore, the first part of this total career package is designed to delve deeply into a self-assessment out of which emerges a confident and purposeful job candidate. This requires you to honestly explore your most dominant personality traits, strengths and weaknesses, and to analyze successes and failures from past work or education experiences.

If done with a competent career professional, who you trust to have your welfare as their chief priority, then you are prepared to construct the essentials that you need to enter the job search fray, such as a polished elevator pitch, a rich and pointed resume, confidently delivered cover letters, and the poise that comes from knowing exactly who you are and what you want.

So, you’re ready to slay a dragon. Now what? Here’s where a great staffing agency comes in. Their job is to make the actual fit by matching you with real positions that they know are available. In trying to satisfy their organizational clients with the best possible candidates, recruiters complete the total career package by placing well understood candidates with openings that satisfy all stakeholders, the proverbial win-win.

The staffer picks up where the coach leaves off. They complete painting the candidate picture with an efficient skill assessment and then facilitate opportunities for employers and potential employees to evaluate each other. If necessary, they may even offer some needed training to better prepare the candidate for the positions that are available.

Imagine having career assistance that covers both areas, customized development and competent staffing. You know you need an edge and a purposeful approach to succeed at getting that right job for this time. A total career package may be just what you need.

Stand Out From the Crowd

Posted on April 12, 2009December 7, 2021 by Bill Ryan

The New Hampshire statewide job fair on April 9, which resulted from a collaboration among WMUR television, Southern New Hampshire University, and the NH Department of Employment Security was one wild ride. Three to five thousand attendees were expected. By late morning 10,000 attendees had arrived, exceeding the capacity of the Athletic Center at SNHU where the fair was held. Of the 140 or so vendors which had set up shop, allegedly 1500 jobs were available. This event concretely demonstrated the current poor condition of the NH labor market. It’s deeply impacted by unemployment.

The news stories about the day and recent labor stats are dramatic enough, but my impressions are based on having volunteered to work at the fair and to see first hand who was walking through the door. I was one of six (yeah, count ’em six!) professionals who were available for resume review and who were ready to offer advice on how to best navigate the fair. The number of people desiring such assistance was huge. We could have used twice the number of volunteers for this work. We worked very hard with minimal breaks seeing as many people as we could. Although I didn’t keep a tally, I estimate that I saw about forty people that day for some intense one on one consultation. And nearly everyone had a sad story. As I write this on the weekend after, I still feel the emotional pull of the situations I encountered. They ranged from the uneducated, ill prepared with children to care for to the deeply experienced professional whose rich resume is intimidating hiring managers because of its message of over-qualification. Although displayed at various levels of intensity and desperation, the personal loss of self-reliance came through with all of the individuals with whom I spoke.

Another thing struck me quite clearly with most of these folks. It was the lack of clarity and directness they were able to communicate about what they wanted. This came through both with those who did not have and never have had a resume despite being old enough and with adequate work history and experience to have one. Here’s how I picked it up. As a fair attendee sat down for help I’d ask something to the effect of, “So what are you hoping to do?” This was before looking at their resume. In most cases, I got vague, open ended, and definitely unrehearsed responses. This then became my starting point for the interaction. “Let’s talk about developing your two-minute pitch”, I’d say.

When searching for work at any time, but especially now, it’s imperative that you be able to describe clearly who you are and what you want. Fearing that by restricting yourself to too narrow of a job-type, by thinking you may be closing too many doors, is keeping too many of you from specifying what you really want. You are not positioning yourself well if you are essentially saying to organizations, “I want a job. I’ll do anything.” You’ve got to decide in advance what kind of jobs both appeal to you and for which you are best suited.

Then, when confronting an appropriate recruiter make the two-minute pitch for the job that is available. Describe exactly the type of work you are excited about getting and back up your vision with the best description of qualifications you can muster, be they from your temperament or your skill sets. Script what you should say and rehearse it. Become comfortable and confident with a brief yet succinct and powerful delivery of what you are seeking and why you deserve it. This self-pitch should also, by the way, be reflected in the lead professional summary section of your resume.

Your chances of finding a decent job right now and for the foreseeable future are hard enough. Not being prepared to market yourself only keeps you in the crowd of job seekers, not standing apart from it.

Working Job Fairs

Posted on April 5, 2009December 7, 2021 by Bill Ryan

Here in New Hampshire this week, one of the biggest job fairs in recent history is being held. A statewide job fair which is a collaboration of the state Employment Security Office, Southern New Hampshire University, and Manchester television station WMUR is attracting about 130 businesses and God knows how many visitors. This is going to be big for an obvious reason… the state employment picture stinks, relatively speaking, and is not expected to improve anytime soon. Although the NH unemployment rate is still below the newly released national figure — the non-seasonally adjusted rates are 8.9% for the country and 5.9% for the state — the amount of employment insecurity hasn’t been this high since the recessions of the early eighties and nineties, respectively.

People will go to the fair most likely for one of two reasons. They really want to get hired for a job or they want to check out who is hiring in case something interesting comes up. I’d like to address the first reason. If you are unemployed or in a job that you can’t stand and want out you should approach this and any job fair with a plan. Now this plan assumes one big important thing, that is you have determined what industry you want to work in. Random job hopping is not a career and that will be picked up by employers who want to hire serious candidates. If you haven’t yet determined a career path chances are that a job fair is not going to help a whole lot. At best, attending one puts you in the second “just checking it out to see what’s out there” category.

However, for those who have decided on a particular career direction, then approaching this event strategically will be your best approach. I could give you an overwhelming ten-point prep plan that would probably leave you stressed and feeling inadequate, but instead I’ll leave you with my three biggies. Here should be the main elements of your plan:

1. Have a really well done current resume prepared that is targeted for the industry in which you want to work. Resumes are not trivial. They brand your identity and are your best marketing tool. They should highlight a positive work style profile, your qualifications, and your significant accomplishments much more so than a dry generic objective, your past work history, and previous responsibilities. Most resumes I see have this reversed.

2. Research the companies with which you want to make an impression. The list of those attending Thursday’s fair can be found at http://www.wmur.com/money/19003060/detail.html. Do your homework and find out as much as you can about their mission, culture, internal and external economics, and hiring practices. Work your network and the web to wring out as much information about them as you can. When speaking with their reps at the fair let slip in your knowledge about their organization.

3. Develop a two minute “Elevator Speech” about what you hope to do. Imagine that you are on an elevator ride with a hiring manager from a company you’d really like to work for and they say to you that they have a position they’re hoping to fill. They then ask you to tell them about yourself. You’ve got two minutes, go! Can you pitch yourself succinctly, coherently, and effectively in two minutes? If not, you need to work on a script, and practice it to death.

Of course, being prepared with these three tactics won’t mean much if you haven’t taken care of the givens such as not showing up in sweatpants and looking insecure. Try looking and sounding as good as you can. Have the confidence that comes from knowing that you’ve got a great resume, a well rehearsed elevator speech, and knowing a lot about the organization that you’re talking to and you’ll do fine.

I’ll be at SNHU on the 9th. I hope to meet many of you. Best of luck!

Can People’s Personalities Be Measured?

Posted on March 30, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

On Thanksgiving Day 2008 one of the most profound and influential leaders in the field of career development, John Holland, died. If you’ve ever had a high school guidance counselor or college career development specialist, try to help you figure out what you should be when you grow up, then you probably ran across his work in the form of an assigned Holland Code.

What John Holland pioneered was a paradigm by which all people could rate themselves within a set of interest areas that could be measured using his self-reporting inventory. The strongest interests which are self-reported resulted in a profile which could be matched to a variety of workplaces favorable to people with similar profiles. The point being that you are happiest working in a place and doing things that are interesting to you.

Holland identified six paramount interest areas within which we all fit. Briefly they are (in no order of importance):

Realistic (R)- Having an inclination toward active, hands-on, physical activities.

Investigative (I)- Being interested in problem solving, discovery, and always having curiosity.

Artistic (A)- Wanting to show expression in a variety of ways from writing to fine arts to cooking and more.

Social (S)- The desire to be around, involved, and working with people.

Enterprising (E)- Being inclined to practice persuasion, competition, and displaying self-confidence.

Conventional (C)- An interest in order, stability, and in establishing and maintaining pre-determined conventions.

By taking instruments like the Self-Directed Search® and the Strong Interest Inventory®, a Holland Code was yielded such as AEI or RIA. These codes were then used to identify career directions.

Holland or RIASEC codes, along with the type codes coming from another widely used instrument, The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), both try to assist individuals by positioning them in a conceptual framework within which all people can be placed.

The very notion of coding people seems to irk several people, including some career counselors. When I say that I use these instruments with clients, a reaction I often get is something to the effect of, “Oh, do these things really work?” I infer a couple of things from that type of question. One, can people, with all their differences and diversity, really be pigeonholed into a clean and tidy model? Two, don’t you take away the richness and nuance of a person by placing a label on them?

For me, these reactions miss the point. The goal isn’t so much to typecast people like a manufacturer would wrenches (this one is a 14cm and this one is a 3/8 inch). But rather these instruments are useful gateways through which an exploration can take place to discover what makes a person tick. Topics ranging from what proclivities and tendencies a person has to suggestions about what may be the best workplace fit can occur following one of these tests. In short, these instruments are to be used as tools for self-understanding. When trying to solve a problem like what kind of work you should be doing for the rest of your life, more information, not less is called for.

The other thing I like about tools like the Strong and the MBTI is the conceptual premise supporting them. It basically says that all people have worth and value. That anybody can make it. There is opportunity for you no matter who you are or what your background is. There are no “bad” codes or types. Strengths can be found in anyone. That is an optimistic, hopeful, and dare I say, spiritual way of viewing human nature.

John Holland left us with more than just a test. He contributed to an idealistic tradition that believes that as a society we should focus on what is best about each other. We all continue to benefit from that attitude and practice.

Salary Negotiation Tips

Posted on March 22, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Let’s talk about salary negotiation. “What!?”, you may ask. Isn’t this a terrible time to even think of raising a negotiation about salary, especially if you’re so fortunate to have made it far enough along in an interview process to be even having this conversation?

Well, conventional wisdom would seem to suggest that a potential employee is in quite a weak negotiating position during these recessionary times. With so many bodies trying to fill a decreasing number of positions it makes a certain sense that the most talented cream will rise naturally to the top taking the top dollar spots that are available. Meaning that leaves the rest of us to take the crumbs that are left and for that we’d better be grateful, right?

But look, even down economic times should not mean we have to demean ourselves. If we have the gumption, experience, and talent to find that we are being offered a job we can still owe it to our professional selves to trade our quality services for reasonable, if not optimal compensation.

So, unless you’ve got the bargaining capability of a Moroccan merchant, which most of us don’t have, then it’s helpful to follow a set of recommended negotiation tips that have been shown to work over time. Among the most important is knowing the “internal equity” of the position you are considering. In these times, knowing what the standard salary range is for the type of position, in that type of company, and in that industry is research that needs to have been done before any such discussion. The dollar amount of that range probably has come down some in the past year, so timely research is necessary.

Practically speaking, you are limited to negotiating within that internal equity range. Internal equity can be found through working your network of knowledgeable contacts; going to salary reporting sites such as http://salary.com, the Riley Guide http://rileyguide.com/salguides.html, and the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov . Also look at industry-related sites and of course find out as much as you can from the organization’s or company’s web site. (Regarding the organization, try to find out as much as you can about its culture and values while you’re at it.)

Also important is knowing what your bottom-line deal-breaking salary limit is. Keep in mind that money isn’t everything. Think about what else you might want from this job besides money. If the offer made to you is in the neighborhood of your deal-breaking figure, then be prepared to counter with alternative compensations. For example, see if the deal can be sweetened with other financial or career development goodies such as three or four-day work weeks, increased comp time, a tele-commuting option, tuition reimbursement for college classes, increased opportunities for supplemental pay, stock options, and 401K contributions.

Let the organization make the first offer and then try to stick to your money and alternative compensation strategy, which may have to include some quick improvisation. Sounds a bit daunting, doesn’t it? Well, I’m certainly not suggesting salary negotiating is easy, but rather that it requires preparation.

Finally, it is perfectly reasonable to give yourself twenty-four hours before signing off on any deal. You need time to reflect on what went on, so that you can either feel comfortable with what was discussed or so that you can return to covering any left-out considerations. There’s never a bad time to position yourself in whatever is for you the most advantageous way, even in a down economy.

The Value of Education

Posted on March 14, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Among the interesting facts contained within the U.S. Labor Department’s February (2009) national monthly labor report are some pertaining to education. Although lay-offs across all levels of education were at record highs (at least since 1992) those individuals with more education fared better than those with less. Look at the following unemployment figures from the report:

Unemployment rate for college graduates… 4.1%

Unemployment rate for those holding only a high school diploma… 8.3%

Unemployment rate for those with no high school diploma… 12.6%

Clearly, the level of education attained impacted unemployment rates. The moral of the story would seem to be, GET AN EDUCATION!

Sure, this is not new. Conventional wisdom has been for some time that the more schooling you have the better will be your job prospects, and by extension, the less chance there will be of losing your job once you have one. Obviously, an advantage to having an education is that it increases your qualifications, but perhaps as important is that it shows others that you have a willingness to have a plan. And it is those who have a thoughtful and well executed plan who end up with greater job security.

Of course, there are no guarantees. The current recession is chock full of examples of well-educated, rational planners who got taken down by economic forces beyond their immediate control. But I’m talking about proper career positioning of yourself, which is better than just going along for a ride on the swings of a capricious marketplace.

Always maintaining a self-learning curve is among the best positioning tactics around. (Think about it. When is a good time to not be learning?) Matriculating into a formal education program is great if that’s part of a self-growth plan. Systematically determining a strategic career plan, either by yourself or with the assistance of others, is a smart thing to do.

For many, further schooling will necessarily be part of that plan. Unlike the old days, however, when getting a degree was basically the only pre-requisite to a new career, these days getting more formal education may be at best a steppingstone among many to keep you moving along a career track. But that’s okay. If you’re not avoiding adulthood by hiding out in graduate school, going back to school may be the best option for many of you. It’s hard to think of an example when learning was counterproductive.

The bigger issue here is one of self-investment. Mature and successful people know that chances of a return are most often there for people who risk some investment in themselves. Furthering your education, whether during a recession or not, can be just that sort of investment. It increases your knowledge base, the scope of your network, and confidence in yourself, all of which enhance your career positioning.

Remember, the value of going back to school is not just having an additional line item on your resume, but rather in the self-improvement that you should be consciously trying to derive from it. There really is no distinction between personal development and career development.

Personal Branding Is Worth the Effort

Posted on March 7, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Personal branding is hot right now in career development and it should be. In a competitive job market, it is more important than ever to craft yourself as a unique and desirable image and package. When recruiters and HR hiring managers look at your resume and listen to you in an interview, they should clearly be impressed with the self-reflective thoroughness that is expressed by your presence and delivery. What you want is for them to see you as a self-confident amalgamation of ambitious and competent characteristics prepared to sell yourself in the workforce marketplace.

Does branding sound dehumanizing to you, like you’re being treated similar to soap powder? Well, it shouldn’t. If you don’t toot your own horn, who will? Job hunting today isn’t just about randomly searching for openings and hoping that there is a fit between your past experiences and what management is looking for. You’ve got to be a lot more strategic than that.

There is an analogy between the way marketing experts brand products and how we should brand ourselves. Marketing is about communicating value to interested stakeholders. It is a systematic process of identifying markets, attractive product traits, and dissemination methods. This information results in the greatest number of people who want an effective problem-solving product getting it.

The best marketing people know how to best establish the link between what others want and what you have to offer. When job searching or career shifting, we should do the same. Each of us should engage in a systematic process of identifying those personal traits that best communicate our interest, aptitudes, past relevant experiences, and career values. We then determine the most effective way of presenting these attributes. In short, we should be able to answer the questions “Who really are you?” and “What value do you bring?”

This approach is completely consistent with our American and New Hampshire ethic of individualism. It’s rooted in a belief that all of us are one of a kind and that we all have something of value to offer. Furthermore, it suggests that who we honestly are as a person should drive the direction of our career development. To whatever extent possible, we should stop being square pegs trying to fit into round holes.

And I would recommend that when starting a personal branding process you don’t even think about what job openings are out there. To do so will only intrude to the point that you will stray from your true self to instead trying to be what you think others might want you to be. There will be time for trying to match your brand with available positions later. For now, be deliberatively self-analyzing. What will emerge will be a crystalized snapshot of yourself in this time. And I’m willing to bet that for the most part, you’ll like what you see. Sure, you may notice gaps between your current self and your fantasized-imagined-hoped-for self, but that’s okay. These gaps become arrows pointing you towards future self-improvement paths.

When we dive into the job search with a definite sense of self, we project an assurance that others will notice. The personal branding process will yield that poise and is the best place to start your job hunt or career makeover.

Updating That Resume

Posted on March 2, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Resumes matter. And they matter in a couple of important ways. One is its obvious and traditional use as a tool necessary for you to be considered for a job interview. This use has not gone out of style and although there have been changes in the way resumes are posted to reach a wider exposure, they are still looked at by recruiters and hiring managers who decide how far along that organization’s hiring process you will proceed. How well this tool works for you depends on the amount of care put into its development.

The other and less talked about benefit of resume writing is in the process of designing and writing the document itself. Compiling a resume causes you to focus on presenting yourself in a clear and economic way. You get to the core of what your job-related value is. You display your brand. This prepares your job search and career development by making it lucid in your own mind, about who you are and what you can bring to the table. This kind of focus is necessary when competing for fewer positions along with a lot of others — many of whom have not purposefully cultivated their individual and professional brand.

I recently attended a panel session with five recruiters representing organizations ranging from healthcare, engineering, state government, accounting, and non-profits. This was a chance to hear what matters to those tasked with filling positions (and they had positions to fill) from among lots of applicants. In general, here is some of what I took away from them regarding resumes:

How clearly the formatting of your resume can make or break it. Poor flow, mismatched indentations and bullets, fonts too small, “creative” visuals, and burying your qualifications are all resume killers.

If you are entry level, get that Grade Point Average right up front where it is easy to spot. Among the private sector professionals, anything less than a 3.0 means you are toast. (Think about it, if you can’t get a 3.0 in college, you are probably either in the wrong major or you’re partying too much).

As a resume writer I must be careful how I say this, but your resume shouldn’t look as if it was written for you. If during an interview, you are asked about something on the resume and your reaction is like this is the first time you heard about it, then whoops. These guys have seen it happen. If I write your resume, you are part of the process. You give me the information, I will write it, we will review it, you own and know it.

Obviously, an entry level candidate knows that one page is the max, but what about middle and executive management levels? I often see resumes of experienced professionals that are really long. And they are usually really long because they are packed with lots of history and past job-related detail. One useful rule for the experienced pro is that unless your face has been on the cover of Time Magazine, then keep it to two pages. History shouldn’t go back more than six to twelve years and boil your qualifications down to about a half dozen key bullets. Writing an autobiography may have its place, but this isn’t it.

In these uncertain times it’s useful to update your resume. It’s amazing how quickly it can get out of date and look like it needs a make-over. Some things in life are never finished, they just keep evolving into different iterations. Resumes are among them.

New Hampshire’s Economic Stimulus

Posted on February 16, 2009November 22, 2021 by Bill Ryan

The U.S. House and Senate have passed the humongous economic stimulus spending bill, which the President will sign into law. You can go to plenty of other blogs and news sources for arguments for and against this initiative. Whether you think this is necessarily forceful or ineptly wasteful spending one thing is for certain — many of those dollars are coming to New Hampshire. To be exact $610 million for jobs, $250 million for Medicaid, all told $2.12 billion in federal spending and tax breaks.

For those of us interested in the state’s employment scene it’s useful to know where these dollars are actually going and for what purposes. Perhaps, you’re one of those recently laid off, fearful of being so, or want to get ahead of the hiring curve. Here are some things to pay attention to.

Gov. Lynch has created an Office of Economic Stimulus and has tapped a deputy attorney general Bud Fitch to head it. His job is to help the governor and state agencies know how to manage and expend the federal bucks. Let’s hope and expect that there will be complete transparency in this office, so that we can track state government’s priorities.

We should see some degree of stimulus relatively soon. Nationally, 74% of the funds are to be pushed into the economy within eighteen months and 91% by October 2011. Tax cuts aimed primarily at low and middle income earners and increased unemployment benefits should start being felt soon. This influx will be helpful with retailers.

But with regards to industry employment, who is being targeted? According to Sen. Shaheen we can expect the following to receive money:

Schools– $295 million is going to schools and public colleges. Teachers can breathe a sigh of relief. What may have been a lot of lay offs looks to be averted. With Baby Boomers continuing to retire there will be spots for young educators and career changers wanting in. Also, education dollars for Special Ed and Head Start will be available. Good news for those who want a real instructional challenge. And with support heading to the state’s colleges they will be better positioned to accommodate the increased enrollments that usually occur during recessions.

Energy– $49.7 million is going toward weatherization and state energy programs. Opportunities are expected in making more efficient everything from old buildings and windows to air conditioning and heat pumps. Development of wind turbines, solar panels, and better batteries will mean new jobs for many. NH has a workforce capable of grabbing their fair share of these jobs.

Infrastructure– $197 million is going into infrastructure improvements covering everything from roads, bridges, drinking and waste water systems, to rehabilitating and constructing new buildings. These should be well paying jobs sending dollars into the peripheral economy while improving our surroundings.

Additional funds are headed for mass transit and law enforcement. This could be a boon for those workers ready to move into these spots. While not forgetting that long term economic sustainability rests on the generation of private capital, in the short term there would appear to be some employment relief for those ready to respond. Remember, if you snooze, you very well may lose.

A Good Time to Start A Business?

Posted on February 8, 2009November 22, 2021 by Bill Ryan

I’m trying to launch a career development business. I offer career consultation to individuals and personality and interest assessments used to help people determine career directions. I also offer a resume and cover letter writing service. It’s an idea that I have had for years, but am now at a point in my life where I can finally devote time and resources to establishing it.

Getting the business concept cultivated and shaped has been fun — a unique exercise that has meant applying newly acquired business ideas on top of the background knowledge that I came into this with. And now here we are, the start of 2009 and what kind of business climate do I find myself in? What happens to be going on just as I’m constituting myself as a career development specialist? Our world has become an economic calamity of rising unemployment rates and faltering confidence in the future. For anyone, not just myself, getting into business or trying to survive in business now means reassessing previous assumptions, especially those that framed our images of what we saw ourselves doing and how we thought to do it.

The question for me naturally comes up, is this a good time for a career development business or a bad time? To be honest, that has yet to be seen. But, I don’t think there is much doubt that the need for career development professionals exists. More people are searching for jobs than in recent history. There is more thought going into what can one do that’s at the very least tolerable while treading in a contracting workforce. And a lot of people need to revamp that old resume which, let’s face it, doesn’t get updated unless you really have to. So, yes. I believe the capacity of individuals needing career services is out there. But are they willing to commit to paying for such assistance?

I liken going to a career development specialist similar to going back for more education. Historically, during recessionary times, enrollment in two- and four-year post-secondary classes and programs rises. People realize that they need to retool and realign for changing employment conditions. At the very least, many see themselves as now having the time to further their education, which they didn’t have before.

Workforce survival means having to adjust, to change, and to grow. Active learning can be achieved by going back to school, of course, but another and more customized way to prepare yourself for career transitions, whether the need to has come by choice or not, is to work with a career advisor or coach. They can help a client calm down, take a deep breath, and strategize how to make the best out of the current situation. You never know, levels of personal and professional growth not at all anticipated may result from such a collaborative interchange.

Everyone has a story to tell and a brand to sell. Putting the two together along with doses of job search skill building will position you best no matter what the nation’s financial predicament. And with such a lousy economy little should be left to chance.

Yeah, I think it is a good time to be in the career development business.

Ownership

Posted on February 2, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Former President Bush got his way. We are now the ownership society. We all own the mess known as the US Economy. And as owners of the economy, whether we consciously bought into it or not, we have a variety reactions. Here is mine.

One is to hope that others from the new Administration to the titans of American business left standing will figure out a solution to our economic crisis that will benevolently secure our financial futures or its alternative, which is to individually, and when possible, collectively muster our resolve, brains, experiences, and talents to forge our own futures given whatever conditions confront us.

I think that there has been a shift in the economic relationship between organizations and individuals over this decade. One that leaves individuals needing to fend for themselves more competently in a business climate that needs the best talent available in order to weather this storm. Much needs doing from environmental remediation, to infrastructure improvement, to combating poverty, to keeping technology moving robustly forward to help with all of the above and more. And in doing so, there should be money to be made out there.

Perhaps one of the ways to loosen credit markets is to have ideas worth financing. If I were a lender, I too would be nervous lending to businesses and concepts that are counter-progressive and tone deaf to the real economic needs of people. Legacy scenarios of maintaining a national lifestyle characterized by resource over-consumption to the detriment of the planet and our fellow world citizens can’t go on as before. We need creative individuals thinking entrepreneurially, resulting in business models and plans that help build back American confidence toward a better future. And we very much need credit unions and banks willing to take chances on financing the long-term return of America.

Whatever the stimulus ultimately is that transitions us to a more stable and sustainable economy, it’s got to be more than just large sums of taxpayer money, and it’s also got to be made up of a lot of good business ideas that move us forward as a people.

New Hampshire has the potential to be a player here. There is talent in this state. Cross-generationally there are people who can use their skills and experience to champion winning ideas that benefit us all. What better way for New Hampshire individualistic resourcefulness to be expressed?

Also necessary is establishing legal and legislative means for attracting and retaining a creative and forward-looking workforce. This is essential for New Hampshire in these times.

Getting out of the economic demise must be largely from Main Street, not Wall Street or even Pennsylvania Avenue. We now own it. Time to start climbing out of this deep economic hole.

Millennial Opportunities

Posted on January 25, 2009December 18, 2022 by Bill Ryan

Let us look at the current economic situation in New Hampshire from the perspective of Gen Y or Millennials. The cohort was born roughly between 1980 and the beginning of the current decade.

It is easy to think sympathetically about their plight. They are just entering the workforce at a time when economic stability is being challenged, prices for goods and services are dropping, and unemployment is rising. Sounds like a whole lot of bad luck for them!

But wait a minute… aren’t we plucky, tenacious Americans supposed to be able to make lemonade out of lemons? Don’t we pride ourselves on being able to detect opportunities out of even the bleakest of pictures? There is another way to view Gen Yer’s situation that gives them hope and some encouragement they can use to optimize their careers and standards of living in the years to come.

Tammy Erickson of the Harvard Business Review’s blog, “Across the Ages”, has given this some thought, and she points out some interesting facts. Compared to Generation X and the Baby Boomers, Millennials had little to lose. They were not heavily invested in overpriced stocks and expensive homes. For the most part, many have not been supporting families or expensive habits. This gives them a greater degree of financial flexibility others do not have. They can afford to more easily accept jobs in which the pay may not be that great, but they can use the time to gain experiences that can build the foundation of career directions yet to come.

Serving community is coming back into vogue, which provides venues for idealistic energetic young adults to learn organizational and interpersonal skills, while they practice low pay, but spirit lifting and creative work. Maybe now is the time to travel and learn about the world beyond our shores while the job market is down. I hear people abroad are starting to like us again.

Another opportunity is that Gen Yers, who want to start building long term wealth (and who doesn’t?) can buy into the stock market at a time when prices are low. If historical patterns hold, the market will rebound at some point. Now can be seen as the time to buy low, so that selling high down the road has a chance.

Also, housing prices are dropping and will continue to for the foreseeable future. For a generation that had been completely shut out of the real estate market there is now a chance for them to get into it while being bolstered by a more competent, cautious real estate and lending industry.

Of course, there is some mindfulness that needs to occur. Many Millennials have a lot of school debt they cannot ignore. Figuring out how to meet that obligation while volunteering at a soup kitchen can be daunting. But in general, this generation needs to keep a few things in mind. Build cash more than credit. Money can be liberating or imprisoning depending on decisions you make early on.

Also, look around you. Are you building networks with people who share your interest in solving the problems confronting all of us? Keep stimulated. Stay innovative. Monetary value is shifting, but not evaporating. There is money to be made out there for goods and services that address the pressing issues of people’s lives. Gen Y has a chance to be contenders. In many ways, they have the best chance of all.

A Big NH Employer

Posted on January 8, 2009November 15, 2021 by Bill Ryan

So, who are the biggest employers in New Hampshire? With unemployment rising and the economic future looking uncertain it makes one wonder where the upcoming jobs are going to be. What if you get laid off? Shouldn’t you be thinking of a Plan B? Now there is some risk in looking at the current big time employers and speculating that they will be the future big time employers, but it’s not unreasonable to think that if they’re demonstrating viability now while things are a mess, that they very well could be around down the road.

One place to look is the NH state profile largest employers list on America’s Career InfoNet. What jumped out at me is the following… of the twenty-five largest NH employers thirteen of them are hospitals and medical centers! Well, I guess it’s safe to say that medical care and related jobs is an industry to pay attention to if you want to know where a lot of jobs are.

And if you’re a Plan B type of person, then you’ll want to know that. And think about it, although we’re a relatively healthy state we’re also an aging state. Aging means more healthcare. It’s unlikely that we’re going to see a significant decline in the medical and healthcare field anytime soon. In fact, according to the U.S. Labor Department Health Care is a high growth industry.

To be sure, the medical field hires more than doctors, nurses, and other health care personnel delivering direct service. There are administrators, maintenance, information systems, food service, and a whole lot of support staff needed to run these facilities. But for now, let’s focus on those providing medical and health services. Might you be good at this type of work? Looked at from a skills perspective we can examine four positions in the field, Physician Assistant, Medical Assistant, Physical Therapist, and Nurses Aide. Here are some of the skills needed to do all of these jobs:

Be an active intentional listener

Speak and convey information clearly

Read well

Detect how others are feeling and understand why

Think critically by knowing the strengths and weaknesses of various solutions

Solve complex problems

Coordinate oneself in relation to the actions of others

Are you seeing yourself here? Visualization is the first step. Maybe you’ll want to consider exploring this area further. It can help knowing that we will all want and need qualified and competent medical and health care professional for years to come.

Financials in NH

Posted on December 5, 2008November 15, 2021 by Bill Ryan

It’s not looking good for jobs in finance in New Hampshire. The biggest story of late is the November announcement of more layoffs at Fidelity Investments in Merrimack, one of the state’s largest employers. We’re talking about 1,700 jobs to be eliminated. This follows a Fidelity announcement in June of 5,700 workers. Looked at nationally, it’s becoming clear that we have been, well, over invested in the financial industry. The size of the industry has grown dramatically to the point where 30% of the S&P 500’s profits in 2007 were earned by financials. This at a time when our math brains could be finding energy and biotech solutions they have instead been devising complex financial products designed mostly to hide debt, so that the American consumer animal can keep being fed. A contraction in the financial industry seems apparent.

If you’ve got a head for numbers and like money of course work in financials has looked attractive. A lot of people have gotten rich this way. Many who were good math students in school have looked around over the past three decades and have said to themselves that they can analyze financials and get rich too. And many have. But, let’s face it, since mid-September the financial smarty pants don’t look so smart right now. In fact, they look anywhere from careless to dumb. If you make your living by investing and managing other people’s money you are currently facing an image problem.

So, what’s a well intentioned number cruncher to do? Don’t despair too much yet. It depends on what you want from a career in finance. Which is more important, providing service or getting rich? For the near future you may have to prioritize. Projections by the U.S. Labor Department and the NH Labor and Economic Bureau are still good for jobs in financial analyses, insurance, and to some extent for financial managers. How these projections play out with the current employment downturn in financials is difficult to predict right now. But looked at from the viewpoint of public need, especially those planning for retirement, is that smart, ethical, and competent financial analysts and managers are more necessary now than ever. People need help figuring out how to best protect and grow their money during these uncertain times. And the public wants straight talk. Now, you may not make the big bucks of the past, but if a financial or insurance expert can market themselves as providing prudent sound money management service for riding out the storm and beyond, then you just might survive in this industry here in New Hampshire. There is opportunity amongst the carnage. See where it is for you.

Work Toward A Life of Full Measure

Posted on December 5, 2008 by Bill Ryan

Let Ryan Career Services LLC be your customized source for career development. Experience a meaningful pursuit and the resolution that leads to a career choice fully your own.

Given the amount of time and effort spent on the job it makes sense that we seek purpose and fulfillment from our work. In turn, we have greater satisfaction in our lives.