Random observations

Living in New England just went south

April 17, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak Leave a Comment

My family and I live up in southern New Hampshire, about 1 hour north of Boston and the mayhem that followed yesterday’s race. My wife and I moved here in 2002, after we met in Washington, DC and live there for four years. We left the busy-ness of DC and made our way to northern Massachusetts, where my wife grew up, when we decided to have children and raise a family.

The city has always been a place to go when we need a break from the comforting slowness of New Hampshire life. The ability to get a taste of the city is great for both my wife and I as adults, and the exposure to everything the city has to offer, good and bad, is important and necessary for raising kids. Unfortunately, the events of yesterday afternoon have changed what visiting Boston means to us. [Read more]

Filed Under: Family, Random observations Tagged With: Family, reflection, teaching

It’s just a half glass of water.

April 9, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak Leave a Comment

The old question, “Is the glass half empty or half full?” draws the line between optimists and pessimists. Deciding if the glass is half empty or half full, however, is more about seeing the future, or believing that you can, than it is about seeing what’s right in front of you.

Why must the glass be on its way to gaining or losing? [Read more]

Filed Under: Behavior & Culture, Continuous Improvement, Random observations Tagged With: attitudes, BeFlexible, Critical and Creative Thinking

Pushing through disillusionment

April 2, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak Leave a Comment

Achieving a goal is often just about working through the grind. There will be disappointments and more than enough rejection, and dejection to go around at times, however, that’s when determination comes in to play.

Humility is necessary, because when you fail, you have to recognize that it’s not everyone else who is wrong, short-sighted, stupid, ignorant or lazy. They simply have a point of view and a set of preferences, as well as maybe a few bad habits, that you haven’t yet figured out a way to overcome. The problem might not be with your message, but with your ability to deliver that message. Understand that there’s something in your ability that’s lacking, which is why you’re unable to penetrate theirs. [Read more]

Filed Under: Behavior & Culture, Random observations Tagged With: attitudes, BeFlexible, Business strategy, Creative Problem Solving, motivation, purpose

The Easter Egg Hunt and perfectly normal disorganization

March 26, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak Leave a Comment

Our small town up here in New Hampshire hosted an Easter Egg Hunt and, of course, with a couple hundred children between the ages of 2 and 10 milling about, things went along….well, let’s just say they went along.

The organizers of the event scurried to and fro to make amends for oversights and, since they were clearly working very hard to make the event enjoyable, no one was pointing a finger. The thing that I saw, that was truly bothersome to me, was the indifference and acceptance of such near-pandemonium as normal. It is that acceptance of disorganization as normal, [Read more]

Filed Under: Family, Operational Excellence, Random observations Tagged With: Creative Problem Solving, Family, Management, operational excellence

Career advice? Listen to yourself and believe in what you believe in.

March 25, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak Leave a Comment

TweetI was approached by someone recently who was seeking some career advice. Worn out by the politics of his current environment, he felt under appreciated and at serious risk of being put out to pasture, mostly for trying to do his best, yet misinterpreting the daily “bring me a rock” exercises. His questions clearly caused [...]

Filed Under: Behavior & Culture, Random observations, Team Building & Human Capital Tagged With: career, Management, people

Things I hate: “Too Busy to be Bored”

March 18, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak 2 Comments

TweetI hate when people say, “i am too busy to be bored.” Just because I have something to do doesn’t mean that it is the cure for boredom. In fact, many of the things I have to do are the cause of boredom, much less the antidote. What is even worse is when someone with [...]

Filed Under: Behavior & Culture, Random observations, Team Building & Human Capital Tagged With: attitudes, BeFlexible, Family, human capital, Leadership, motivation, purpose

A powerful habit: commit to being a better person

March 7, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak Leave a Comment

You are flawed.

Accept it.

I don’t care what age you are, or gender, or what you’ve accomplished in your lifetime (or not) – you are flawed. There are things about you people don’t like, even if you’re unable to admit that that is true (which is a flaw) or you don’t see yourself the way those people see you (another flaw).
Here’s the truth: you’ve got problems and things you really need to work on, personally and professionally. We all know that’s true, so here the real question: What are you doing about it? [Read more]

Filed Under: Behavior & Culture, Random observations Tagged With: Corporate Culture, Planning, value

Leadership, Culture and the Situation of Marissa Mayer

February 27, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak 4 Comments

Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo, sent a shock wave across the internet and the blogosphere last weekend when she announced that Yahoo’s policy of allowing people to work remotely would be ended, and that remote-working employees would need to begin reporting to the office by June 2013.

The debate has raged over the wisdom of the move, with a heaping ton of criticism coming from culture-change advocates who point to research indicating that remote work programs are beneficial, while the other side of the coin points to lost engagement and productivity.

Mayer is attempting to benchmark against other organizations and believes that worked over there will also work at Yahoo. That’s a bit short-sighted, however, it’s also the exact same dynamic being offered by her critics – finding the best case example of a situation just like your preferred alternative, and then using that as evidence that the alternative is the right one. [Read more]

Filed Under: Behavior & Culture, Business Management, movies, music, tv, entertainment, Operational Excellence, Random observations, Team Building & Human Capital Tagged With: attitudes, BeFlexible, Business strategy, Corporate Culture, Family, Flex Work, human capital, Leadership, ROWE, work-life

“Discipline, effort, patience and courage”

January 30, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak 1 Comment

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Thanks to StumbleUpon, I came across on article on Psychology Today entitled “What to Tell Kids After Failures and Mistakes.” The Author, Salmansohn, describes some recent research conducted by Dr. Carol Dweck, who advocates an “Incremental theory” of learning.

Incremental Theorists believe that success is achieved through putting in the necessary hard work. According to Dr. Dweck, a big key to a successful life is to embrace being an “Incremental Theorist” – so when failure or disappointments occur, you are ready to overcome them.

This quote from the article is powerful: “Discipline, effort, patience and courage are hugely important core values for kids to grow up embracing.”

They are also hugely important core values for adults to maintain, too. [Read more]

Filed Under: Behavior & Culture, Continuous Improvement, Education, Family, Random observations Tagged With: attitudes, Critical and Creative Thinking, Family, human capital, learning, motivation

Give yourself a thinking day – it’s best for productivity

January 22, 2013 By David M. Kasprzak Leave a Comment

I’m probably not going to wow anyone with this insightful statement: Life is busy.

That business has a tendency to feed upon itself, resulting in ever-busier times when there’s just too much to do and too little time to do it. If you’re like me, there are times when you lose sense of priorities and get caught up in the hustle and bustle and the momentum swells until you’re in a tizzy of activity that you don’t always need to do – it just feels like it.

Personal kanban offers a strong remedy to this terrible habit of mine by creating a list of items to be done and allowing me to focus on getting things done. Unfortunately, what is good for me isn’t always what’s best for me, either. [Read more]

Filed Under: Random observations Tagged With: attitudes, BeFlexible, reflection

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Living in New England just went south

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It’s just a half glass of water.

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Pushing through disillusionment

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The Easter Egg Hunt and perfectly normal disorganization

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Career advice? Listen to yourself and believe in what you believe in.

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Things I hate: “Too Busy to be Bored”

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A powerful habit: commit to being a better person

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Leadership, Culture and the Situation of Marissa Mayer

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“Discipline, effort, patience and courage”

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Give yourself a thinking day – it’s best for productivity

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