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As more "information worker" jobs get the axe in a recessionary economy, jobs that tend to put dirt under your fingernails are getting a second look from young workers. Last week, the New York Times Magazine ran a lengthy article on this topic by Matthew Crawford called "The Case for Working With Your Hands." I read quite a bit over the course of a week and I haven't read anything this engaging or provocative in a long time. Here are some appetizers:
Many of us do work that feels more surreal than real. Working in an office, you often find it difficult to see any tangible result from your efforts. What exactly have you accomplished at the end of any given day?
...The imperative of the last 20 years to round up every warm body and send it to college, then to the cubicle, was tied to a vision of the future in which we somehow take leave of material reality and glide about in a pure information economy. This has not come to pass. To begin with, such work often feels more enervating than gliding. More fundamentally, now as ever, somebody has to actually do things: fix our cars, unclog our toilets, build our houses.
...One shop teacher suggested to me that “in schools, we create artificial learning environments for our children that they know to be contrived and undeserving of their full attention and engagement. Without the opportunity to learn through the hands, the world remains abstract and distant, and the passions for learning will not be engaged.”
...The trades suffer from low prestige, and I believe this is based on a simple mistake. Because the work is dirty, many people assume it is also stupid. This is not my experience.
...So managers learn the art of provisional thinking and feeling, expressed in corporate doublespeak, and cultivate a lack of commitment to their own actions. Nothing is set in concrete the way it is when you are, for example, pouring concrete.
...Why not encourage gifted students to learn a trade, if only in the summers, so that their fingers will be crushed once or twice before they go on to run the country?
...For anyone who feels ill suited by disposition to spend his days sitting in an office, the question of what a good job looks like is now wide open.
I suspect this article will hit home with anyone who has looked for purpose among cubicle walls and failed to find anything quite as rewarding as their hands-on projects of days gone by.
Summer is fast approaching. If you're a student, that could mean a break from academics and a time for something else. What that "something else" might be is largely up to you: Will you need to work? Will you be staying with family? Will you take a vacation? Will you set aside some time to play?
In today's featured Boundless article, "You Know What I Did Last Summer," Jason Boyett shares a few things he did this past summer that've changed his life for the better:
Triathlon. Backpacking. Three-day weekends. All three of the activities above involve playing -- as opposed to conventional "work" -- but I think they taught me as much about myself as any college class or business seminar or productivity course I've ever taken. Funny how that happens.
I think back on some of my most cherished summer activities: volunteering in Colombia for a couple of months, working in an industrial laundromat near my dad and stepmother's home, serving as a camp counselor, going on a camping trip.
What've you done? What do you plan to do to make a difference?
Boston.com's "The Female Advantage" suggests an unconventional strategy for companies who want to thrive in these uncertain economic times. Their thesis: "put more women in charge."
"Several studies have linked greater gender diversity in senior posts with financial success," they report. They're not sure why more women in leadership leads to higher profits, suggesting a range of possibilities. In an effort to further promote the benefits, they speculate that more women leaders could result in less corporate crime:
Some analysts even suggest that women might have been able to temper the excesses that led to the current financial crisis. The culprits, one can't help but notice, were overwhelmingly male. More women at the table, some speculate, might have served as a prudent counterweight to reckless, testosterone-addled men.
I'm all for integrity in the workplace. I just don't believe one gender is inherently better -- less sinful -- than the other. It's not sex, that informs good decisions, it's sanctification.
Apparently the authors of this article, and believers in the "women are by nature better than men" school of thought, have never read Genesis or Romans.
When I worked on Capitol Hill, it took me 45 minutes to drive seven miles to my office in D.C. The stop-and-go commute (with a manual transmission no less) contributed to my nervous breakdown, literally. Thankfully, I recovered, and no longer get panic attacks when crossing bridges.
Traffic doesn't affect everyone like that. But it takes a toll to some degree, whether on your nerves or your time or your car insurance. That's why it's listed as a variable on all those best places to live surveys. Here's one with the top ten midsize cities:
The study compared the 124 midsize metros in 20 statistical categories, using the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. The highest scores went to well-rounded places with healthy economies, light traffic, moderate costs of living, impressive housing stocks and strong educational systems.
These are the top 10 midsize metros in terms of quality of life:
1. Provo, Utah
2. Boulder, Colo.
3. Madison, Wis.
4. Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn.
5. Ann Arbor, Mich.
6. Ogden, Utah
7. Fort Collins, Colo.
8. Boise, Idaho
9. Colorado Springs, Colo.
10. Des Moines, Iowa
What's missing from the list of "well-rounded" variables is churches. It's something we often overlook when deciding where to live. But it's at the top of Kevin DeYoung's list from his book "Just Do Something."
You also want to consider the churches available where you are taking a job. Sadly, this is a part of obeying the Scriptures that most Christians rarely consider. Before taking a new job, we look at salary, benefits, school districts, commuting time, and cultural amenities; but if everything else falls into place and there's no good church in the area, it's hard to imagine how God's revealed will — your sanctification — will be well-served.
One of the things we were most excited about when I was offered a job with Focus was joining a church we had attended many times while visiting my wife's family in the Springs. We can attest to the benefits of making it a consideration when deciding where to live. (The traffic's not too bad either.)
What am I called to do? Am I called to the mission field? (And what is "the mission field" anyway?) Am I called to marriage? Am I called to wear a blue shirt today rather than a white one?
Calling.
You know, maybe we overspiritualize that word. Maybe overemotionalize is a more accurate word. I will only go to a particular university if I feel that the Lord is calling me there. I will only pursue Rebecca if I feel that the Lord is calling me to do so. Though Scripture may affirm a particular decision, I will only go after it if I feel a burning in the bosom. And if I feel no particular calling, I'll just maintain the status quo.
Today's Boundless article, "All God's Callings," addresses this theme of calling, leaning heavily on the Latin word for "vocation": vocatio:
Following the Reformation, many Protestants advocated an idea of the Christian life called vocatio, the Latin word which is the source of "vocation." Vocatio is the belief that God calls every Christian to the occupation he is in, whether or not it's related to full-time ministry.
Martin Luther was perhaps the ablest exponent of this concept. To Luther, vocatio meant that each of us has a unique place in the structure of our family, society and occupation whereby we exercise our personal gifts and talents for the glory of God and the benefit of our fellow humanity.
Note that this isn't only about a paying career....
After exploring the theme for a while, the author offers two words of advice:
[First,] Christian parents and certainly Christian churches need to teach students that God calls people to be more than full-time pastors or missionaries to Zimbabwe. He also calls people to be missionaries to public schools, corporate America, social services and the children in their home....
Second, evangelical colleges and campus ministries need to emphasize the importance of the Christian worldview to collegians. Christianity is not something that is compartmentalized when one is singing a worship song, having a quiet time or sharing a Four Spiritual Laws tract with a friend. Christianity is an entire worldview which impacts -- and often transforms -- every aspect of one's life.
Which leaves me with two questions myself:
- How can I know what the Lord is calling me to in the realms of family, society and occupation?
- Can I possibly be satisfied, as a Christ-follower, in a seemingly secular vocation?
With so many job boards on the Internet, it's easy to believe that the best way to score an interview is flood the marketplace with your resume, with or without a cover letter. But I've never gotten anywhere with that scorched earth approach. I've found that prospective employers respond better if you're interest is a bit more sincere. And there's no better way to prove your sincerity than with a well written and informed cover letter.
Here are some tips I found on a job search blog that may give you the edge in scoring that elusive interview:
Pack your P.S. with punch.
Most people immediately jump to the P.S. portion of a letter and read it again after finishing the rest. With a P.S., you can close your letter on a particularly positive and powerful note. To do so, be sure the P.S. contains information valuable to the employer. You might mention how a skill or experience of yours relates to one of the employer’s current goals. You might also congratulate the reader on an achievement or media coverage.
Write to someone in particular.
Avoid sending a letter “To whom it may concern.” If you don’t know the name of the person who will receive your letter, try searching Google or LinkedIn to uncover the name of the appropriate hiring manager or a contact in the human resources department.
“Drop names” to make an impact.
One of the most compelling ways to begin the letter is to mention the name of a person who referred you. If don’t know someone connected to the employer, consider referencing an interview you might have seen or read about that featured quotes from someone employed at the organization.
Refer to your resume, but don’t repeat it word-for-word.
Your letter should expand on the results, skills and success stories that are in your resume. Be sure to add more details about these points or blend two or three accomplishments from your resume into one powerful story in your letter.
These are great. When I'm hiring for a position, I rarely, if ever, consider someone who just sent a resume with no cover. (And you'd be amazed at how many I get.) Cover letters are your opportunity to show recruiters that your interest goes beyond your need for a job. Companies hire based on their needs, not yours.
Job board sites like Monster and Career Builder have great commercials. They're so good I get sort of a left behind feeling because my resume's not "out there." They want you to think that your dream job is just a click away. Is it?
Today, The Wall Street Journal asks the experts to weigh in on whether or not those sites will help you land a job or advance your career. Here's the gist:
- Monster, Career Builder, and Hot Jobs "are nice for very young, entry-level job hunters," but more experienced professionals do better with "industry-specific" sites.
- Experts favor Jobing.com because it provides local listings, and Craigslist.com and Execunet.com because they "cut right to the noise and get to the actual job."
- Most of the sites "have pretty good security" except for Craigslist.
But I think their last question and answer is the most helpful.
Q: What advice do have for job hunters searching employment boards?
A: Don't put too much time into them, advises Mr. Cohen [career counselor and executive coach in New York]. He recommends investing heavily in networking in person and online.
With unemployment at 7.6%, and nonfarm payrolls falling sharply, it's likely you or someone you know has been "affected" (company lingo for "laid off"). But as a recent Times article notes, survivors of layoffs are affected too (even if it seems a bit casual to consider compared to the plight of the riffed).
Here are some ways survivors can be affected:
The terms psychologists toss around to describe these feelings include survivor's guilt (why him and not me?), survivor's envy (thinking you might be better off gone too) and emotional contagion (the tendency to pick up your laid-off colleagues' feelings of gloom and desperation). These feelings are with us in every recession, but as layoffs spread to more industries, people in all walks of life are increasingly experiencing them.
I've experienced a combination of these feelings as coworkers and friends have lost their jobs. There's a lot of "why him and not me?" and "feelings of gloom" for them as they try to pick up the pieces. However, both of these responses can be healthy.
The first gives me a renewed thankfulness for my job. The realization that my job just happens to be (for now) within Focus on the Family's strategic vision for the future is sobering. Meaning, it could just have easily been me that got laid off (not that it's like that with all layoffs).
The second has me empathizing with those that have been laid off. So when I meet them, I ask how they're doing, if I can help, and how I can pray for them. Which, according to Time, is what the "survivors" should do.
People who lose their jobs often feel ostracized, which is partly a function of how the still-employed, going through internal turmoil of their own, treat them. "Most people say nothing, most people are afraid of you," says Damian Birkel, a career counselor and founder of the nonprofit Professionals in Transition, which provides services to the unemployed. "For someone to come in and offer any type of support during what is the most awkward and embarrassing time you're going to have — that is a courageous act."
How have you been affected by the recession?
When I was three years old, Elivs Presley performed a concert in Hawaii that was beamed by satellite to a billion people. I don't remember a lot from the night my parents took us over to some friend's house to watch the concert, but I ended up getting a lot of wear out the LP version of the show. My favorite song was "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You," one that Elvis introduces as a song from the movie "Blue Hawaii." When I tried to watch the movie later, I realized it wasn't as compelling as the concert, but I did find all the Hawaiian shirts to be rather cool.
It wasn't until this past weekend that I discovered the connection between Elvis and casual clothes in the workplace. In an obituary for a man who died at age 86, the Wall Street Journal wrote, "When a lei-draped Elvis Presley posed for the cover of the soundtrack to "Blue Hawaii," he sported a red aloha shirt from the man who made the garment world-famous, Alfred Shaheen." The journal went on to describe the influence of Shaheen's shirts:
Elvis wasn't the only one wearing the wild-style shirts that signified everything from Hawaiian ethnicity to surfer cool to casual Friday. Frank Sinatra wore one in "From Here to Eternity," and Tom Selleck wore one in "Magnum PI." More recently, Hawaiian native President Barack Obama has been photographed in aloha shirts, and so has the Rev. Rick Warren, who gave the inaugural invocation.
And I found this part fascinating:
Lobbied by the Hawaiian Fashion Guild, the state senate in the early 1960s issued a proclamation recommending aloha wear for business attire all summer long, says Ms. Arthur, also a professor of apparel marketing at Washington State University. In 1966, Aloha Friday became official, according to her 2000 book, "Aloha Attire." She contends that Hawaiian shirts were the vessels that carried casual Friday around the country.
"Surfers brought [the shirts] back to the mainland," she says. "These guys then founded Silicon Valley and brought along casual Friday. It was in Hawaii 20 years before it came to the mainland."
Casual Friday has morphed into casual Monday through Thursday in many places and a survey conducted a couple of years ago implies that a majority of today's workers prefer business casual. But that survey also pointed out what employers think is too casual:
The survey uncovered that wearing revealing clothes to the office is the most common fashion faux pas (63 percent), followed closely by wearing flip-flops (62 percent). Fifty percent of executives said employees push the boundaries of office dress codes by wearing jeans. Other inappropriate fashions in the office include sleeveless shirts (44 percent), athletic shoes (42 percent), visible tattoos and piercings (37 percent) and clothing with inappropriate slogans (34 percent).
Whether or not you've ever worn the pioneering Hawaiian shirt, what's been your experience with casual clothes in the workplace?
Are you an entrepreneur or someone who dreams of launching out on an entrepreneurial venture? If so, how are today's economic challenges hitting you? Are they making you more cautious or on the flip side, are they making you more motivated?
If you're looking for some fresh motivation for the risk and hard work of starting something new, consider watching "The Call of the Entrepreneur" on The Fox Business Channel tomorrow, January 10, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. EST.
This program was created by our friends at Acton Media and ColdWater Media -- some of the most creative and Biblically engaging media producers we know. In case you miss the show or just want to find out more, you can find a trailer and related information at The Call of the Entrepreneur Website.
Well, it's been ages since I've posted here! Shame on me.
The latest update is that my webzine, TrueU.org is no more. Focus on the Family had to do some major budget cuts, and TrueU was one of the many affected ministries. We published our final articles last week, and there will no longer be any new content.
Honestly, it's been weird. I moved to Colorado Springs nearly four years ago to help start this new webzine. As I wrote in my last article, I've learned so much through my process with TrueU over the years: We started this webzine to help college students better understand and express the Christian worldview. I don't know if any of you have learned anything, but I certainly have. I've had to think through what it means to hold to a consistent belief system, even when it's difficult. I have a better grasp of what it means to listen to others — not just so I can fire back with my opinions, but so that I can truly understand where they're coming from. I've learned that the things I write about need to go beyond ideals — they need to be implemented into my life.
For me, TrueU has been much more than a webzine. It's been part of the path on my journey to being more like Jesus. The things I've learned, the conversations I've had, the articles I've written — they've all been part of me learning and beginning to attempt to implement what the Lord has asked all of us to do.
I really have grown in my understanding of who God is and what He requires of me. I'm so thankful for the time I had at TrueU -- it was a beautiful blessing.
So, right now I'm looking for a new job and trusting that God has a plan. I started a personal blog, and so did TrueU's assistant editor, Matthew John. We're keeping everyone updated with our job searches and such.
Anyway, have any of you been affected by the difficult economic times? If so, what have you found to be of comfort during this time?
I haven't researched the subject, but I'll bet infidelity has been on the rise ever since women flooded the workforce in the 1970's. It's a perfect setting for forming intimate relationships. Where else can you spend such long hours together with members of the opposite sex?
And I'm not just referring to sexual infidelity. Emotional infidelity -- as well as other inappropriate attachments among singles -- can wreak havoc too. CareerBuilder.com calls them "work spouses," which are close platonic relationships with co-workers of opposite sex.
Here are some signs from CareerBuilder.com you should consider when examining your own behavior at work: 1. You depend on a particular co-worker for office supplies, snacks and aspirin.
2. There are inside jokes that you and a specific co-worker share.
3. You can be bluntly honest with this person about his or her appearance, hygiene or hair (and vice versa). You're comfortable enough to point out that the other's hair is sticking up -- or that someone's fly is down.
4. When something eventful happens at work, this co-worker is the first person you seek out for a de-briefing.
5. At breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks, your closest co-worker knows what to order for you and how you like your coffee (and vice versa).
6. You and your co-worker can finish each other's sentences.
7. Someone in your office knows almost as much about your personal life as your best friend or real-life spouse does.
If you're married, you should ensure you're not singling out a member of the opposite sex with these types of intimacy. And if you're single, you should be careful you're not singling out a member of the opposite sex with whom you have no intention of pursuing.
Times are tough. All the leading economic indicators tell the story: Job growth, manufacturing, retail sales, industrial production, and consumer confidence are all down with some at all time lows. And many say these conditions hit young adults the hardest.
The Clarion-Ledger reports, "This economy not only affects people entering the job market for the first time, right out of college," said Bill Brister, assistant professor of finance at Millsaps College in Jackson, "it also affects people who have been in the market a few years.
"Typically, when companies are trying to cut back, the last ones hired get cut first.
"So, opportunities for young people to build careers, to move to better jobs, are limited.
"This hits the 20-somethings hard, the early 30-somethings, too."
Though the economy may affect young adults in greater numbers, they're probably the most able to absorb the loss. I know it's little consolation but you'd be amazed at how little you can live on when you're single and responsible for no one but yourself.
I graduated college during a recession when careers were very hard to launch (particularly for English majors). But I found employment in a restaurant, rented a house with four of my buddies, and ate lots of bologna sandwiches until things turned around.
So buck-up you unemployed 20-something. Things will likely turn around for you too. In the meantime, be grateful for wherever you land ... even if it's mixing Kirschwasser Swiss Cheese in a fondue restaurant.
Finding a job can be nerve-racking. You prepare your resume, dress professionally and prep yourself to say all the right things. But something unconscious might be affecting your job interview more than you think: body language.
According to an article on MSN: Recent studies have shown that employers will form an opinion of you within the first 10 minutes of the interview.
But here's the kicker: It's not always based on what you actually say, but on something we term "body language." For instance, 85 percent of what you communicate is not with words. It's through the tone of your voice, the way you sit and a wealth of other messages that your body involuntarily sends. This is according to Greg Hartley, a body language expert who earned his chops with 20 years as an interrogator in the Army.
The article offers six tips, including "be real from the start," "mind your hands and arms," and "sit up straight." Consider these body language gems: Steepling your fingers makes you appear arrogant, crossing your ankles says you'd rather be somewhere else and touching your ears or nose makes it seem like you're holding something back.
In social settings, I have to fight crossing my arms. I've heard this makes a person seem closed-off or defensive. In my case, I have very long arms and I sometimes don't know what to do with them. What are your body language foibles?
Do you have a hard time imagining your parents as young adults? When you think about your life and the kinds of highs and lows you encounter, is it difficult to imagine a day when your parents when in your shoes?
I remember one day when my grandpa was turning 70 him telling me that he still felt like a 17 year old inside. I'm starting to understand what he meant. Even as I take on more and more adult responsibilities, I still often feel like a kid inside and wonder if the "big people" can see right through my facade of maturity.
But it's amazing that I've gone through much of my life seeing my parents as altogether different. It's like I thought of them as born mature and instant adults -- even though they had to be young once.
This week on The Boundless Show, I tell the story of my dad recording at Sun Studio and then meeting Elvis at the age of 24. Hearing that story growing up I thought of this hyper-mature guy who knew his next chapter was going to be serving as a pastor and being a family man. But, even though he was pretty mature for his age, he was just this young guy trying to live a big life, pursue his dreams and make something of himself.
Yesterday, my dad would have been 61 if he hadn't died in 2003. I still enjoy hearing his old rock music (some of which appears in the podcast today) because it gives me a snapshot of his young adult years. But it also helps to see the full span of his life and to recognize just how pivotal the decisions dad was making in his twenties turned out to be.
Hope you enjoy the show this week.
I was recently reading an advice column in a Christian magazine where a young woman, who was at that point in life that she needed to decide on a career, was having second thoughts about her preferred path. She loved to cook and had dreams of being a world-class chef. For that reason she was studying culinary arts and restaurant management.
Her problem? She was wondering how she could serve God in this career. The advice columnist told the young woman that she could still serve God as a cook. "Who knows? God may use you to treat traveling missionaries when they pass through your church, or He may use your cooking as a way to open the door to sharing your faith with someone in a restaurant who's blown away by what you've prepared."
And while that advice is certainly correct, it's also incomplete. Why must her passion have only a utilitarian value, good only insofar as it helps advance something else? Why can't she pursue cooking simply for the love of cooking?
Both the young woman and the advice columnist are operating under the false premise that we serve God only by being evangelists or, perhaps, by serving those who evangelize. It's the myth of the so-called full-time Christian worker. This myth creates second-class citizens of all those who love the Lord but, apparently, don't serve Him through their workaday lives. I wonder how many people are miserable in their careers as "full-time Christian workers" because they've fallen for the same fiction.
When I first became a Christian 27 years ago, I was eager to serve God, but I faced a similar "dilemma" as this young lady. As far back as I could remember, I'd wanted to be a writer. But I thought the only way I could serve God was as a minister or maybe as a missionary to Africa. (I'd already lived in Africa for several years at that point, so I had no romantic illusions about the continent.) I was genuinely torn between my desire to serve God and my desire to tell stories.
A wise woman at my church showed me the work of Dorothy Sayers, Flannery O'Connor and George MacDonald and told me all were great writers and devout Christians. It was a revelation. She told me that my passion to write stories was put there by God, and while I could use my love of writing to serve God directly through teaching, I could also write stories for the sheer pleasure of it -- and for His pleasure.
Unfortunately, there are some who, despite great talent, believe that the only way to serve God is directly through evangelism. Again, it's not wrong -- just incomplete. In his book Eyes Wide Open, William Romanowski writes of several Christian musicians: The late Keith Green reportedly said, "As for me, I repent of ever having made a record or ever having sung a song unless it's provoked people to follow Jesus, to lay down their whole life before him, to give him everything." Can a song really do that, "provoke people to follow Jesus," or is that the work of the Holy Spirit? Likewise, [Christian musician] Carman explains, "I don't just want to spend my time on social commentary because there's too much of it going on and it doesn't deliver anyone from sin." And the members of a Christian rock group said, "Issues are great, but there's no transforming or cleansing power in them."
These sentiments are admirable, but I believe they're mistaken. Why can't one of these artists write a beautiful love song to his wife or a soothing lullaby for a child? Why can't he write a beautiful song whose primary purpose is to praise God, not to convert unbelievers? Why can't he write an instrumental piece for the sheer sake of writing something beautiful? I believe using your God-given talents in this way is honoring God just as much, if not more, than producing mediocre work with no heart in it. To be sure, you must "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15), but you also serve God by doing whatever you do with passion and to the best of your ability.
One of my favorite movie scenes is from Chariots of Fire, where the sister of Olympic runner Eric Liddell questions why his passion for running seems stronger than his passion to become a missionary. Liddell answered, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."
God made me -- and you -- for a purpose. What do you love to do? What gives that little tickle in the belly when you think about it? Sure, it might be as a missionary or preacher. But it might be as a butcher, baker or candlestick maker. No matter what it is, "work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:23-24).
I found this link on Joe Carter's blog which may help with all those considering the "Now What?" question Steve asked yesterday. It's a list of top 10 cities for recent college grads based on "entry-level job openings, rental prices for one-bedroom apartments and large resident populations of young adults in their early 20s."
Here they are with one-bedroom prices on the side:
1. Philadelphia, $962
2. Boston, $1,343
3. New York, $1,520
4. Phoenix, $741
5. Chicago, $1,029
6. Dallas-Fort Worth, $755
7. Los Angeles, $1,435
8. Houston, $778
9. Detroit, $699
10. Atlanta, $773
I think the qualifications they mention (job openings, apartment prices, populations of young adults) are pretty good. But I'm wondering what other qualifications our readers might put on the list. Well?
 I love the way the movie Finding Nemo ends. After planning their escape for so long, the tropical fish that Nemo left behind in the tank have finally pulled of a successful scheme. After jamming the high-tech tank cleaner, the dentist has bagged them individually in order to clean the tank -- leaving them with the opportunity to hop out the window, cross a busy street and plop into Sydney harbor. After a quick cheer of celebration, they sit bobbing up and down still tied up in their bags. A look of concern comes over the face of Bloat, the blowfish, who asks the priceless line "Now what?" And that's the question you're left with as the credits start to roll.
Now that it's June, I assume that the majority of those of you who graduated from college this spring have already had your much anticipated graduation ceremony. You've likely thrown your mortarboard in the air and celebrated with friends and family.
Now what?
"So, Mommy," my daughter sheepishly began. "Did you know that Riley gets paid to do jobs for her mom?"
"Hmm, no, didn't know that," I smiled.
A few minutes later I have agreed that yes, I will think of some jobs my 7-year-old can do for me to earn money. No time like the present to learn a good work ethic and what we do with our money once we earn it (oh yeah, you know me, reinforcement on tithing cannot be far away).
Evidently, though, I'm a little slow off the draw because my daughter hits me up within a few hours. She has thought of some jobs. "Oh, really, honey? Let me hear them."
Idea #1: She will do a play and her dad and I will pay for tickets. Here we have a talk about the things we do for our family simply because they are family. She's disappointed, but not defeated.
Idea #2: She will get up a little early and set the breakfast table for me. Another talk. This one is about how if we are going to get paid to do a job it needs to be one, something that we work hard for, and two, something that mommy really needs help with.
I come up with an idea: she can clean blinds. You can see the wheels spinning in her head. Obviously not what she had in mind. But after a few days of contemplating and also seeing the Barbie at Target that I remind her she can buy when she has her own money, she's ready.
So, this weekend for three hours (no, I'm not kidding), my daughter sat on the living room floor taking the vacuum across the blind slats, one by one. One dollar per window and she didn't stop until she had enough money for her tithe plus the Barbie.
It was a great day for both of us. She learned about the rewards (and not just financial) of hard work and I felt an incredible satisfaction in her dedication and also in the fact that she really did help me. I hate cleaning blinds.
It made me wonder how often I am like my 7-year-old when I'm talking with God. Yes, Father, I want to do some work for you, but I've got my own great ideas. How about I do this? I really enjoy it and that can be my work. Or how about this? It gives me a lot of satisfaction and it's not too hard.
Justin Taylor touched on this in yesterday's article, Working Out a Theology of Work: Whatever your vocation, God calls you to honor Him, to reflect His image, and to labor with all of your might. You may not be in your dream job right now. But the secret is to honor God in the little things and to sanctify the ordinary.
Am I laboring with all of my might? Am I working heartily, as for the Lord and not for men? This weekend, I felt I had a small glimpse of God's perspective. The play would have been fun. Setting the table wouldn't have been too hard. But my daughter worked hard and she did what I really needed her to do. God, make me that kind of daughter to you. Even if it means cleaning blinds.
My most recent article talks about life after college and all of the stresses and decisions that came with it. Basically, during my senior year, I suddenly realized that I would soon have to find an apartment, pay bills and work eight hours a day -- I would have to be an adult! It scared me: People were expecting things of me — lying on the couch and watching daytime soap operas wasn't going to cut it. And so, instead of getting to the task at hand and embracing the idea of becoming a responsible adult, the resentment began to build. Just who did people think they were, expecting me to work and pay for things?! I thought it was all pretty rude.
Unfortunately, people (and by "people" I mean, of course, "my parents") weren't all that sympathetic to my plight, so I rethought my bitterness. I began to think logically about my options, probably like you're doing right now (in between panic attacks).
The options I outline in my article include getting a job, going to graduate school or taking a year off. The work option seemed most logical, but also kind of frightening -- mainly because I had decided I didn't like my major all that much. But it also caused me to realize something: I had bought into our culture's idea that, in order to do something well, I had to be utterly and completely passionate about it. Many of us have come to believe that feeling fulfilled in our careers is of highest importance — worth more than the wages we earn or the family we'll be supporting in the near future.
Graduate school was a good option, but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted an advanced degree in. So, I decided to attend the Focus on the Family Institute, which was probably one of the best choices I've made. I learned a ton and it opened the door for my current job.
So, what options did you consider once you graduated college? Did you make the transition to adulthood with grace, or did you stumble along the way?
I can't think of a more harmful conversation starter among friends than, "I make $_2,000 a year. What do you make?" But maybe that's because I'm over 35.
According to this New York Times article, young professionals are more open about discussing their salaries with friends because a little comparison shopping helps them know if they're making enough where they are or need to start looking for a new job.
Another reason cited in the article is the job-hopping mentality of 20-somethings. Robert H. Frank, an economics professor at Cornell, said that an open flow of information is deemed crucial by young professionals who think of themselves as free agents, not company men.
"People move between jobs a lot more now than they used to," Dr. Frank said. This mobility alone increases the instances that salary might come up among friends.
"If you change jobs, that's news," he said. "If you get a better salary, that's the explanation of the news: 'They’re paying me 80 grand, the last place only paying me 65.'"
Barbara W. Keats, an associate professor of management at Arizona State University who studies money attitudes among the young, said that their relative lack of manners regarding salary can be traced to the self-esteem movement embraced by baby boomer parents.
"As they moved through primary and secondary school, the focus was always to avoid anything that might stifle their creativity or hem them in," she said, which has bled into their sense of etiquette. "They're special, and however they say things is very cute."
Gone are the company men whose identities were very much tied to their line of work. They've been replaced with a generation who've been told "you're special" all their lives. And who already share every other detail of their lives on Facebook and MySpace.
Still, there's no getting around the inherent problems with divulging your salary. Still, there are good reasons that generations of parents have instructed their children to keep quiet about money, social scientists say. In a meritocratic country, money has always been the great divider, the primary way Americans connote status.
Thus it is impossible to engage in a conversation about income that is entirely innocent, said Herb Goldberg, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles who has written about financial issues.
"When people talk about money," he said, most people traditionally have presumed that there is "a motive behind it, and the motive is what makes it seem impolite." People bombarded with unwelcome salary information, or pressed to disclose it, assume someone is raising the topic to subtly brag, or put someone else down, he said.
I can think of a couple of more problems. The high earners will be expected to be more generous and judged if they do not meet those expectations. And the low earners will be scrutinized every time they go indulge in a latte.
So my advice is to avoid such discussions altogether.
In tenth grade I decided I wanted to be a journalist.
My motivation was less than noble—I wanted to meet Steven Curtis Chapman. Still, I was intent enough on my goal to write to the editor of my favorite magazine to ask her how I could get a job there. That magazine was Brio, and that editor was Susie Shellenberger.
Susie wrote me a personal letter back telling me about her writing experience and suggesting that I join my high school newspaper, study journalism in college and get things published. "You won't have to think about getting a job for a long time," she wrote. "But here are some things to get you started." Even back then, her writing advice was pragmatic in its "just do it" spirit.
Six years later I started my job at Focus on the Family as assistant editor of Clubhouse and Clubhouse Jr. magazines. On the day I shared my story with my department, I read that letter Susie had written years before. What I didn't know was that Susie had her own writing mentor. In her article "Writing Without Inspiration" Susie says: I don't think Mrs. Milton knew what she was starting. She gave our fifth grade class the assignment of reading a book and reporting on it. After I read and reported on my book, I decided it couldn't be that tough to write one, so I created my own "book" and gave a second report. That was it. I was hooked.
Susie was my Mrs. Milton. On that day I brought that letter to work, Susie patted me on the back, smiled and said, "I'm glad I wrote that letter." I doubt Susie knew what she was starting when she typed up that single sheet. I hope her article today inspires you in the same way.
Oh, and I did meet Steven Curtis Chapman -- three times.
I can identify with a point Thomas Jeffries makes in his article featured on Boundless today about the best response to writer's block. He writes: I need to read.
That's right, no fresh air for me. No vigorous exercise. No peaceful meditation. My remedy for writer's block is a healthy dose of quality prose, maybe even some poetry.
I'm going through this right now trying to get a book written before July. At the time I should be writing in every spare moment, I have a stack of books on my bedside table and more on order from the library. But that's what pushes me on and stretches me beyond my own little world.
I also appreciate the point Thomas makes about which book can best stretch writers. He continues: Sometimes it's something I've read before, other times I go back to the old standbys — classic pieces that never fail to inspire. Occasionally I'll go back a couple millennia or more, because — despite the barriers of time and translation — modern writers can still learn plenty from the most inspirational (and best-selling) book of all.
Over the years, I've read writing coaches who find inspiration for their writing from the Bible even if they aren't believers. They praise its simplicity, its strong appeal to the senses, its stories and its poetry. I've been able to appreciate more about this recently as I've been digging into the Literary Study Bible that Crossway produced as a companion to their ESV translation. The insights in this study Bible go beyond entertaining English majors like me, they remind us all of the creativity the Holy Spirit brought to communicating the logos.
For the writers among our readers, how has the Bible inspired your writing?
The other day, my youngest son was playing in my books and handed me my copy of Good to Great. As I skimmed through it again, I wondered if it would be worth a blog post on the chance that at least one Boundless Line reader hadn't read this book (since this business favorite by Jim Collins has remained a bestseller since it came out in 2001).
One of the principles best popularized by Good to Great is the "Hedgehog Concept." It's based on an ancient Greek parable: "the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." Good to Great describes how a man named Isaiah Berlin used this parable to divide people into either foxes or hedgehogs: Foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity. They are "scattered or diffused, moving on many levels," says Berlin, never integrating their thinking into one overall concept or unifying vision. Hedgehogs, on the other hand, simplify a complex world into a single organizing idea, a basic principle or concept that unifies and guides everything. It doesn't matter how complex the world, a hedgehog reduces all challenges and dilemmas to simple -- indeed almost simplistic -- hedgehog ideas. For a hedgehog, anything that does not somehow relate to the hedgehog idea holds no relevance (Good to Great, p. 91).
Recognizing that commitment to a simple hedgehog idea was a primary springboard for companies to go from good to great, Collins and his team developed three circles people can use to identify their own hedgehog concept (you can find a graph here with more detail). To help readers apply the idea, Collins offers this personal analogy: Suppose you were able to construct a work life that meets the following three tests. First, you are doing work for which you have a genetic or God-given talent, and perhaps you could become one of the best in the world in applying that talent ("I feel that I was just born to be doing this.") Second, you are well paid for what you do. ("I get paid to do this? Am I dreaming?") Third, you are doing work you are passionate about and absolutely love to do, enjoying the actual process for its own sake. ("I look forward to getting up and throwing myself into my daily work, and I really believe in what I'm doing." If you could drive toward the intersection of these three circles and translate that intersection into a simple, crystalline concept that guided your life choices, then you'd have a Hedgehog Concept for yourself (Good to Great, p. 96).
How would you apply this concept in your life? Have you tried it? Among those who have tried it, did you see any parallels to Biblical principles for life?
My company's health and wellness department is about to start the spring fitness challenge "Walk it Off!" For $5, employees can participate in the challenge from May to July and qualify to win major prizes. I've participated in past challenges and have always appreciated my company's interest in my health.
The Newsweek article "Dieting for Dollars" examines the trend among companies to monitor employee health habits and reward those who shape up. In an effort to rein in mounting health-care costs (employer health insurance premiums increased an average of 6.1 percent last year, more than twice the rate of inflation), hundreds of employers are using financial rewards and, increasingly, penalties, too, to persuade employees to take demonstrable steps to improve their health and reduce their health insurance costs, and absenteeism in the bargain.
Companies have good reasons for doing this. Not only can such "persuasion" reduce health-care costs. Increased health among employees is proven to increase productivity. The economic impact goes beyond health-care costs. A survey of nearly 29,000 workers, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in 2003, found that health-related lost productivity time-from missed days, reduced work hours, and so-called presenteeism (going to work sick and being markedly less productive)-costs employers nearly $226 billion a year, or about $1,685 per employee. Improve employees' behavior, the thinking goes, and you can improve their health and productivity and lower the costs of health care.
I had never heard the term "presenteeism," but I've certainly witnessed a lot of it this winter. (Think: the person hacking in the cubicle next door.) Who knew you put such a big price tag on employees going to work sick. Many companies are encouraging employee health by offering monetary rewards to workers who complete health assessments, quit smoking and lose weight. But this kind of "encouragement" may have its limits. If financial rewards aren't enough to convince employees to change their behavior, employers could find themselves in an awkward position. Can they require participation in health improvement programs? Should employees be punished if they join a program but don't achieve optimal results? Can employees who refuse to stop smoking or to lose weight be fired? "It's a really slippery slope," says Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. "There are big legal and ethical issues with pushing employees to change their behavior."
However, the results of health incentive programs are good. Some studies published in the American Journal of Health Promotion found that work site health promotions could reduce medical and absenteeism costs by 25 to 30 percent over the course of three to four years. And who doesn't appreciate the nudge to be a healthier person -- even if it's coming from work? I like to walk anyway. Prizes are just icing on the (rice) cake.
If you're as great as your resume says you are, you probably don't need one. At least that's what marketing expert Seth Godin says. Instead, just show potential employers a project you completed or your personal blog. Oh, and it helps if you can get recommended by someone your prospective boss knows and respects.
Come to think of it, if you can score the latter, you may not need the former.
I found this job-getting advice on the popular "how to" blog, Lifehacker.com. But if you lack such convenient recommendations or project experience, the post continues with some good resume tips from career adviser Penelope Trunk: Don't focus on your responsibilities, focus on what you achieved. [...] Most people do not think in terms of quantified achievements when they are in the job, but on the resume, that's the only part of the job that matters. No one can see that you were a "good team player" on your resume unless you can say "established a team to solve problem x and increased sales x%" or "joined under-performing team and helped that team beat production delivery dates by three weeks."
That's good advice. And it's applicable for recent grads and new job seekers too. You just need to develop the art of educing your accomplishments from whatever work experience you've had.
Here's one example:
Say you worked for a mortgage lender making cold calls to generate clients. You could say something like, "Sold loan programs to existing clients and other pre-selected leads." But it'd be much better to say, "Sold more loan programs than 80% of staff of 15 loan officers within three months of employment."
Or to follow Godin's advice, you could just blog about it and then send your prospective employer the loan files. =)
Apparently today is the 40th birthday of the cubicle. Umm ... woo hoo? 
For those of you who work in an office, you are probably familiar with the glory of the square, gray walls that surround you and your computer. But if you live in a sea of dull cubicles, no worries. Someone with way a lot of imagination has come up with the ultimate cubicle experience.
Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert cartoons, has created a fancy cubicle complete with a hammock, "boss monitor" and a flower that wilts when you leave. Basically, you'll be so busy exploring your new work space that you would never get any work done.
I appreciate Adams' creativity, though. Cubicles are dull, and we spend a lot of time in them each week. That's why I've tried to jazz mine up a bit. I've got fabric on the walls, lamps to help me avoid the harsh lighting and pictures of friends and family. I'm also one of the few that has an actual window -- it's a blessing and also let's me know what the crazy Colorado weather is up to.
Have you done anything to spice up your work space, or is it still pretty bland?
I was in the Denver airport this weekend, returning from a personal trip to the East Coast. While waiting for my short connecting flight to Colorado Springs, I witnessed a certain type you've probably seen yourself: Mr. Self-Important Businessman, talking too loud on his cell phone, his appointment calendar/portfolio open on the seat next to him as he worked on his laptop.
Even as we were boarding he had his laptop open in his cradled arm, click-clacking away with one hand as he walked down the jetway. After the flight attendant told us to turn off all electronic devices, he merely closed his laptop and stashed it under the seat. (I know it was still on because I was in the row behind him and could see its power light still glowing.) The moment we reached altitude, Mr. Self-Important had the laptop out, typing away. Now you have to understand that the flight from Denver to Colorado Springs lasts barely 15 minutes and never really reaches a cruising altitude; it's basically climb and then descend. They have no beverage service on this flight, it's so short, so I wonder why they even bother to tell passengers they can turn on electronic devices.
Meanwhile, sitting diagonally across from me in the aisle seat was a United Airlines flight attendant, in uniform but obviously not on duty for this flight. As we were descending into the Colorado Springs airport, the flight attendant up front announced that it was time to turn off all electronic devices -- less than five minutes after she said they could be used. At that point we were about three minutes from touchdown.
About 10 seconds elapsed, and Mr. Self-Important showed no signs of turning off the laptop. The off-duty flight attendant leaned forward and, in a professional voice, said, "Sir, you need to turn off the laptop." Whereupon he exploded. Red in the face, he yelled across the aisle that he was going to if she'd just give him a chance. "You people are so rude!" he yelled at her. "Give me a [expletive] chance! I can't believe how rude you people are!"
This 40-something man didn't just yell at her; he physically leaned in on her. The young woman, maybe all of 25 years old, was taken aback. I was appalled, and I nearly came out of my seat because I thought he was going to physically attack her. He continued to mumble under his breath, still red in the face. (He still didn't turn it off, either, but did his previous trick of merely closing the lid.) The young lady stared ahead with the look of someone who'd just been deeply frightened and humiliated.
He had the nerve to call her rude. Rude! "Hello, Mr. Pot? Kettle calling." I should have said something. Instead, I just seethed. But we were already on the ground, and discretion was probably the better part of valor at that point.
We pulled up to the gate, and Mr. Self-Important was one of the first into the aisle to get off the plane. I was behind him, still seething. I could not believe the disrespect and unbridled anger this supposedly respectable businessman showed in public. I wonder what he’s like at home.
I'm still angry at myself for not speaking up. (No one else did, either.) But I did make a point of stopping momentarily by the young woman. I patted her shoulder: "Thank you for doing your job," I said. It's all I could think to say.
I never caught Mr. Self-Important's name, but his business cards had a Verizon logo on them. (There's a large Verizon operation in Colorado Springs.) I hope he reads this. More important, I hope his bosses do too.
While working on Capitol Hill, I decided I needed an advanced degree to further my career. So I took the LSAT and was accepted into Regent University's School of Government graduate program. And just before I was to begin classes, my new wife (five months) got pregnant.
Now I know many would not have paused at this news. But I did. Because I knew graduate work meant limited availability at home and even more college debt. So I had a decision to make. Would my time away from home and money be worth it? Would I see the return in my career I was hoping for?
I chose ... not to go. Instead, we worked out a plan to pay off all of our debt before the baby's birth and trusted God with my future earning potential so that my wife could stay home. And it's worked so far. We've lived on one income for 10 years and two kids debt free (except our mortgage).
Now I would never be so presumptuous to say that everyone should take that path. Many pursue advanced degrees and are rewarded with position, financial security, and job satisfaction. Only God knows what would have happened if I had chosen to brave $20,000 in graduate work.
But I've found that sometimes not choosing more education is a risk worth taking. Even for English majors.
What does Scripture say about workplace leadership? How can managers and supervisors bring their Sunday faith with them to work on Monday?
Bruce E. Winston, Ph.D., dean for the School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship at Regent University, has wrestled for years with these questions and has found a perhaps-unlikely answer in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Specifically, the Beatitudes.
Interestingly, he found that the most common workplace problems were solved by applying the first Beatitude. The second most common issues were resolved by applying the second Beatitude. And so on down the list.
Dr. Winston has written a series, applying these biblical principles to leadership, for Boundless. We published the introduction back in December 2007. Since then, we've seen the roles of humility, empathy, and discipline in workplace leadership.
I'm personally challenged by this series, and am trying to put these principles into practice where I work. I'm eager to see what might happen should others in positions of leadership adopt these principles.
Have you ever dated a co-worker? If so, did you have to sign a "love contract"?
Earlier this month, The Christian Science Monitor reported on employers asking dating employees to sign "consensual relationship agreements."
 David Ritter, a partner in employment law at Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg in Chicago explains in the article what the agreements do:
It's an acknowledgment by two people that they're in a consensual relationship, have not been forced to be in this relationship, and understand the company's policy on sexual harassment. If either one of the people in the relationship ever claims sexual harassment as a result of this, this is pretty powerful evidence.
Agreements like this are being considered by more HR departments because of the explosion of workplace dating -- according to this article "more than 40 percent of workers say they have dated a co-worker."
Challenges mentioned in the article for workplace romance included subordinates dating superiors, couples showing affection in the office or through workplace equipment and also the "teenager" aspects of workplace breakups.
While these challenges can motivate employers to require "love contracts," how do couples feel about signing such agreements? How would you feel about someone saying, "I've sure enjoyed all the time we've spent together over sushi and spreadsheets -- would you be interested in signing a consensual relationship agreement?"
Do you ever feel you have little to show for the work you do -- and therefore have a limited sense of accomplishment at the end of the day?
 That's a topic Jared Sandberg addresses in his Cubicle Culture feature in the Wall Street Journal this week. His observation is that when work is invisible, so are its satisfactions.
In the information age, so much is worked on in a day at the office but so little gets done. In the past, people could see the fruits of their labor immediately: a chair made or a ball bearing produced. But it can be hard to find gratification from work that is largely invisible, or from delivering goods that are often metaphorical.
I see a dramatic difference between the more physical labor I did as my primary job into my mid-twenties and the more digital work I do now. Projects like cleaning the basement or even mowing the yard continue to give a more immediate sense of payoff than today's digital office.
I remember a co-worker telling me a few years ago about his motivation to finish his basement. "I realized recently that all the work I did over the past five years could fit onto a floppy disc," he said, "I need to do something with my hands that creates more tangible results."
One person the Wall Street Journal interviewed described his jealousy of how Fred Flintstone felt at the end of his day at the quarry. "He seems so happy sliding down that dinosaur's tail when the whistle-bird blows," he says.
Do you find satisfaction in your work? If not, do you have any side projects or hobbies that give you a sense of a job well done?
When I went to college, choosing a major wasn't too difficult for me. I've known what I wanted to do ever since I plagiarized a book I'd read in order to write my first story. (The book was called Ginny Gordon and the Mystery of the Missing Candlesticks. My "original" short story was called "Daisy Sundown and the Mystery of the Missing Tiles.")
When I was 12, I had a story I wrote (all mine this time) published in American Girl magazine. In the little author interview, I said that I wanted to be a writer someday because I wanted to paint pictures with words.
Painting pictures with words has always been my goal. But even on the way to being a writer, I've had to think through career decisions -- even though I've known what I want to do, I've had to be discerning and wise about my choices.
For example, in college I chose to major in journalism instead of English. I would rather have studied English because it would've allowed for a creative writing emphasis. I would have been able to do the kind of writing I wanted to do. However I majored in journalism because I got more variety. A journalism degree would teach me how to write articles -- and I could expand my style after I knew the basics.
A journalism degree also probably allowed for more variety in job choices. I could edit, I could write, I could work for a newspaper or a magazine. Although I would've enjoyed the English degree, I thought it would limit my job opportunities to teaching. (Of course, that may not be true for everyone, but it was part of my thought process as I chose what to do with my college career.)
After college, I knew that I didn't want to write for a newspaper -- it didn't allow me to be as creative as I wanted to be. But I still applied for newspaper jobs. I was qualified for them, and they would help me pay bills. I didn't end up working for a newspaper -- the Lord blessed me with my job at TrueU, but it is good to know that I have the skills for a variety of writing jobs if and when I need to move on to something else.
The point, I guess, is that I believe it's important to think through options when looking at college classes or job opportunities. Sometimes you may choose something you're not as "passionate" about because it's a more practical choice. Reality hits in the form of rent and car payments and it's good to have made career choices that will help pay those bills.
If possible, find something you enjoy doing, but if you need to tweak it a bit for a time, that's OK. Life is long -- we have lots of seasons -- and most of us will do lots of different things over time. If you find yourself in a job you don't love at the moment, take it for what it's worth. Learn what you can, and eventually you can move on.
So, let's discuss. Do you enjoy your job? Are you happy with your career choices? What can you do to get where you want to be?
My favorite new book is To Infinity and Beyond! The Story of Pixar Animation Studios. It's been out for a couple of months now, but I waited to get it at the library since purchasing it at the list price of $75 would have required a financing plan. That price is due to its 300 plus page heft and its coffee table dimensions of 12.3 x 9.1 x 1.3 inches. As I dig into it, however, it's starting to trump U2ByU2 as the better coffee table book (despite its shocking chartreuse cover).
While at first I thought I'd be jazzed about all the details behind Pixar's breakthrough movies like The Incredibles and Cars, what I've enjoyed more are the stories about the early days before there was a Pixar.
Like the story of a young John Lasseter (director of Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life) and his siblings getting pads of paper from their mother to keep them quiet during church. "We'd sit down, and she'd immediately hand us the paper," says Lasseter. "I sat there and drew the whole time. I even did flip books in the corners of the songbooks."
Or the story of how Pixar grew out of Lucasfilm which grew out of George Lucas's innovations for the Star Wars franchise. Or the story of how Lucasfilm was disappointed that they couldn't sell their "Computer Division" to General Motors for computer-assisted automative design and had to settle for an offer by Steve Jobs.
These and other stories provide a great glimpse of the years and years of painstaking cultivation by engineers, illustrators, businessmen and storytellers that had to come together in order to make Pixar an "overnight success." Pixar's path is a reminder that no breakthroughs are inevitable, but require stubborn vision.
Historical reviews of companies like Pixar are helpful for anyone with a big dream who needs perspective for the headaches, set backs and impatience that they are drowning in right now.
Are there any errors in the following paragraph? In order to insure the magazine's success, Candace Watters asked an author from Bogota, Columbia to write on the issue of Latin American dating practices. That particular issue of the magazine was comprised of articles that explored dating from a variety of cultural perspectives. Once it was published, the author received many complements.
If so, tell me what they are.
USAToday.com reports on a survey of 301 business leaders about the preparedness of college graduates entering the work force. And it seems they're giving them a failing grade. Aptitude is important, they say, but what they really want is for colleges to help students apply what they've learned in real-world settings. Forget transcripts, multiple-choice tests or institutional scores. The surveyed business leaders want faculty assessment of internships, senior projects or community-based work.
"Too many policymakers and educational leaders are focused on the tests rather than on what is really important: whether students are learning what they need to know," says Roberts Jones, president of Education & Workforce Policy, a consulting firm based in Alexandria, Va.
The "what they need to know" is never really spelled out in the article. They just know they're not getting it. But I think it has something to do with working well with others and demonstrating an ability to get the job done. As USAToday notes, Carol Geary Schneider, President of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, said that colleges and universities must look for new ways to demonstrate student success.
Last year, I blogged about the importance of on-the-job mentors for graduates entering the work force and offered some tips based on my personal experience. But I'd be interested in hearing from our readers who've completed internships or just entered the job force on what they learned from their "real world experience."
Some companies are known for having a family-like atmosphere, but have you ever worked for a company that was predominately built around a family?
Last month, the L.A. Times ran a profile on the photo-sharing company SmugMug that was launched as a family affair.
Seven members of the MacAskills (ranging in age from 23 to 63) make up what is now 28 employees of SmugMug. The article describes how they've made it work: They started on a shoestring budget in 2002, not moving into real offices in Mountain View, Calif., until April. Before that, the MacAskills and their employees set up shop in the five-bedroom home of Chris and his wife, Toni. Engineers bunked two to a bedroom. Blow dryers and vacuums routinely blew circuit breakers. Barking yellow Labrador retrievers chased tennis balls up and down the stairs.
Toni, the SmugMug matriarch, referees family squabbles. When things get out of hand she sometimes jokes that she'll send everyone to their rooms for a time out.
The MacAskills deftly blend business and family -- a radical concept in the youth-obsessed Internet industry, which admits adults, particularly of the gray-haired variety, only reluctantly.
I enjoyed reading this article because I often dream about the opportunity to run a home-based business with my wife (and hopefully even my kids) some day.
What's been fascinating to me is how technology is beginning to make it possible for families to once again run the kind of home and family-based businesses that were the norm before the industrial revolution split family members up for work in various factories.
I'm hopeful technology and emerging business models will create more and more opportunities for families to find ways to pool their skills together and to have the option of blending their work and family life. Already, this trend is giving moms of young children more alternatives to simply going back to conventional offices and giving road warrior dads more options for re-integrating into their families.
No telling what the options will look like for entrepreneurial couples and families who want to work together in the coming years.
When I was 21, nothing sounded better than a mega-watt career with the potential to "change the world." Especially since I didn't have a boyfriend, or even a potential boyfriend. Things were utterly fruitless in the romance category. Thankfully I did get a job -– entry level -– and set to work to turn it into a career. To me it was exciting, glamorous, dream-fulfilling. And I was willing to work long hours to make it happen.
I didn't find out till later that hard work is, well, hard. It's a lot more fun to be COO of your home and family with a bit of external work thrown in. It's a lot more creative, too. That's been my experience, anyway. That's why I so often encourage women not to put so much emphasis on their education and career goals that they forget about their family ones. Just because you don't have any prospects right now doesn't mean you shouldn't be prepared.
A few weeks ago, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that confirmed my hunch about career pursuits that displace or preclude marriage and babies. In "The Next Sexual Revolution," Ronald W. Dworkin writes about the trend in our country to delay childbearing for the sake of career and thanks to ever amazing breakthroughs for extending fertility. Case-in-point, "vitrification," or egg storage. Though it's still in development, Dworkin writes, Success is inevitable, and when it arrives, the sociological consequences will be enormous. Right now, one in five children world-wide is born to women over 35. When mass egg storage becomes feasible, that number will likely increase dramatically, and include not just women in their late 30s and 40s, but also women in their 50s, even 60s.
One result, he says, is that even more women will delay childbearing and with more hope that they’ll still be able to have babies later in life. Freezing unfertilized eggs gives women a way out of a complicated cultural maze. … Our culture encourages women to pursue high-powered careers. … The culture paints a rosy image about career and family. Then biological truth breaks through, by which time these women have lost a decade of their best childbearing years.
The prospect of egg storage promises to change all that. Dworkin writes, "Women who opt to freeze their unfertilized eggs will gain those years back –- and more -– giving them the freedom to leisurely follow the male career trajectory."
It's at this point in the article that he reveals a well-kept secret: … most middle-aged people know that many careers can be pretty dull, without much chance to create. Following rules and procedures until midnight in a law firm may seem acceptable when you're 25, but not when you're 50.
He goes on to say that this is why many 50-year-old women will, given the technological ability, decide to start families after all.
What bothers me is that he, and seemingly our whole culture, is OK with that; accepting the "career first, babies later" time-line as just the way things are, rather than encouraging young women to consider the benefits of flipping that order.
Why not tell women who are just exiting college that some things, in this case family, really is as important, if not more so, than career. And in many cases, it's more exciting and rewarding, too. Not only that, but when you have babies first, then build careers later, it's a lot easier on your body, your pocketbook and your future. (Ever seen a 60-year-old first-time mother trying to tumble in a mommy-and-me gym class?)
Don't let the new-fangled medical "solutions" fool you. Women should give as much attention and intentionality to their plans for marriage and children as they do their education and careers.
 Did you catch our featured article yesterday: "Hold Up on the Start Up"?
This is an article for anyone who's ever felt entrepreneurial impulses -- especially those who feel those impulses strong enough to consider quitting their day job.
The author, Glenn Packiam, has pulled off some impressive start-ups in his day as a musician, a worship leader/trainer and as a published author. But he didn't take the path he anticipated to get there. His observations on that path and the Biblical principles he came to value along the way are instructive for anyone who struggles between the overwhelming passion to go act on what they feel God has called them to do and the voice of reason that says (in an almost motherly tone) "Are you crazy? You'd quit your day job for that?"
As a side note, Glenn and I are both mutual admirers of Chip and Dan Heath -- authors of the book Made to Stick. I can't think of many people who wouldn't benefit from absorbing the observations the Heath brothers have made about "why some ideas survive and others die" ... especially the entrepreneurs among us.
It can be frustrating to be a single woman hoping for marriage with no prospects in sight. In many cities and towns, it really does seem like all the good men are married. Statistics notwithstanding, it can be hard to believe that there are in fact, "Plenty of Men to Go Around."
But the evidence continues to suggest that it's not just a problem with passive men who are more interested in their Xbox than in finding a wife. (Yes, that is a problem that warrants attention, but it's not the only problem.)
In a story on cnn.com, Jocelyn Voo reports that "Young Women Are Choosing Career over Love." She writes, When it comes to work versus romance, the stereotype has been that men put a premium on career goals while women focus more on family and friends. Not so, according to a study published recently in the scientific journal "Gender Issues."
Men were more willing than women to sacrifice achievement for a romantic relationship, according to the study conducted by Catherine Mosher of Duke University Medical Center and Sharon Danoff-Burg at the University of Albany.
Researchers asked 237 undergraduates to rate the importance of goals such as financial success, career, education and contribution to society, as well as goals such as romantic relationships, marriage, children and friendship.
And the surprising result, While 51 percent of the women prioritized romantic relationships over achievement goals, more than 61 percent of men did the same.
Why the shift? The article suggests career-oriented women perceive their 20s as prime time to start career-building and are willing to delay marriage and children in order to get a professional leg up. Another culprit is the growing assumption among men that their future wives will work and bring in a second income, thereby lessening the pressure they feel to be sole provider.
Whatever the reasons, it's clear that how women relate to their jobs has has a profound impact on how families form. Or perhaps, don't.
 To celebrate a good 2007, I decided to have my t-shirts dry cleaned. At least that's what the dry cleaner must have thought. I picked up some shirts from a local dry cleaner yesterday and found a strange item in the mix. In the middle of my dress shirts was an item by itself wrapped in plastic without a collar. I thought at first it might be one of my wife's sweaters that she sometimes adds to the mix. When I looked closer, however, I saw that it was an old t-shirt that somehow ended up in the batch.
 Then I looked at the receipt attached to the plastic. The high-end cleaners I've started going to keeps a record of every garment I drop off. Typically I'll see an entry that says something like "blue checked Jos. A. Bank." My t-shirt made it into the system with the description, "White, Solid, fruit loom." I had a good laugh about this until I noticed the charge for cleaning a t-shirt: $3.95 -- twice the cost of cleaning a dress shirt and more than I paid for the t-shirt to begin with. Oh well, at least they took it out of the $20 gift certificate they had sent me.
Have you had any odd customer service experiences like this?
College graduates who are serious about doing well in the business world know the lure of going on for an M.B.A. But do today's prospective M.B.A. students want or need a different kind of program from previous generations? M.B.A. programs think so. In a Wall Street Journal article today, Daphne Atkinson (vice president for industry relations at the Graduate Management Admission Council) explains how M.B.A. programs are adjusting to the the first round of millennial students:  Some schools are looking at new approaches in the classroom, such as the use of a talk-show format that allows for different points of view and more interaction than a straight lecture. There also are classroom role-playing simulations that are more personal and interactive than a printed case study. And some schools are even introducing games to engage millennials.
When asked what she believes will be the millennials' biggest contributions to companies, Atkinson replied: I would say probably their skill in integrating technology seamlessly and their optimism. They also are quite serious about reforming the work environment for more flexibility and reasonable hours to accommodate their personal goals and interests. Unlike baby boomers who talked about work-life balance but weren't wholehearted about achieving it, these young people will insist on it.
As a result, she sees millennials interested in being entrepreneurs where they can be in even more control of their work environment. "Starting their own business gives millennials the chance to do something that is personally meaningful," Atkinson says, "With the safety net provided by parents and the ease of creating technology-based businesses, why not take the chance while you are young with relatively few responsibilities?"
Atkinson balances that encouragement with a sober reminder that young graduates will still be expected to pay their dues: It can be disappointing to find out that you won't be president of the company in two years. Millennials want their dream job as early as possible. But entry-level jobs are seldom dream jobs, although they may be at dream companies or in dream industries. A final challenge is that millennials don't see it as particularly damning to have had four jobs in a year. They fully expect to job hop as they search for the dream job. I'm not sure how you package that as a benefit to a corporation.
Elsewhere in the article, Atkinson answered the question, "What deficiencies do employers see in millennials?" Her response: While millennials bring skills in multitasking, technology and working in teams, they tend to demonstrate less ability in oral and written communications and interpersonal interaction. They also have been socialized since childhood to get constant feedback and are going to look for it in the workplace too. As a result, some employers consider them high maintenance. But if everyone can agree on the terms of the feedback, it could be a superb tool for managing performance.
How do you view these perspectives on and adjustments for millennials as they move into M.B.A. programs and the workplace?
You know that part on your resume where you claim to have "excellent interpersonal skills"? Well, you'd better be telling the truth. Because companies are going out of their way to make you prove it in the hiring process.
Last week, the AP reported on the importance of the "plays well with others" factor. A resume and a brief job interview can't answer the question that matters most to a new hire's co-workers: Is this person an absolute pain? ... Businesses in fields where jobs are highly coveted -- or just sound like fun -- are stepping up efforts to weed out people who might have the right credentials but the wrong personality.
And to weed out the jerks, companies are holding all day, group interviews where the interviewers grill the candidate in an effort "to rub away fake pleasantness." Rackspace Chief Executive Officer Lanham Napier said, "We'd rather miss a good one than hire a bad one." ... "They're here for nine or 10 hours, " Napier said. "We're not aggressive, but we haven't met a human being yet who has the stamina to [misrepresent themselves to] us all day."
So why does personality trump competence in the hiring process? Because employers know that nobody wants to work with a competent jerk. And according to a study done by the Harvard Business School, the stats bear this out. We found that if someone is strongly disliked, it's almost irrelevant whether or not she is competent; people won't want to work with her anyway. By contrast, if someone is liked, his colleagues will seek out every little bit of competence he has to offer. And this tendency didn't exist only in extreme cases; it was true across the board. Generally speaking, a little extra likability goes a longer way than a little extra competence in making someone desirable to work with.
The problem is, most jerks don't have the gift of self-perception; they don't know they're jerks. If you're just beginning your job search or have had difficulty holding a job, it might be a good idea to humble yourself before some other believers and ask if they've discerned any rough edges that may keep you from getting, or keeping, a job.
Anyone taking the time this week to review the historical details of the American Thanksgiving tradition will likely find the account of Squanto helping the pilgrims survive in their new world.
Something I came across this morning leaves me wondering what else the natives could have taught the pilgrims. An email I get from a guy who calls himself "The Wizard of Ads" included an insight on how some natives viewed education for men.
The email explains that in 1754, the Collected Chiefs of the Indian Nations met to discuss a letter from the College of William & Mary suggesting that they “send twelve of their young men to the college, that they might be taught to read and write.” The Chiefs sent the following reply:
Sirs,
We know that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in Colleges, and that the Maintenance of our young Men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinc’d, therefore, that you mean to do us Good by your Proposal; and we thank you heartily. But you, who are wise, must know that different Nations have different Conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our Ideas of this kind of Education happen not to be the same with yours. We have some experience of it. Several of our Young People were formerly brought up at the colleges of the Northern Provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but, when they came back to us they were bad Runners, ignorant of every means of living in the Woods, unable to bear either Cold or Hunger, knew neither how to build a cabin, take a Deer, or kill an Enemy, spoke our Language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for Hunters, Warriors, nor Counselors; they were totally good for nothing. We are, however, not the less oblig’d by your kind Offer, tho’ we decline accepting it; and, to show our grateful Sense of it, if the Gentlemen of Virginia will send us a Dozen of their Sons, we will take care of their Education; instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them.
Reading this, I couldn't help but think of the various trips I took home throughout my time in college and graduate school. As I learned how to be a productive "knowledge worker," I was reminded hanging out with my dad in the backyard how poorly I had retained the hard skills he had worked to teach me and my brothers -- carpentry, gardening, raising animals, hunting, etc. I realize those skills only go so far when you're living in the suburbs and working an office job, but I do often feel like something is missing from my education.
This Thursday, I'll give thanks for the many benefits of living in the advanced world we live in today, but I'll also be wondering what the natives of the 17th century would have been able to teach me and the other "Knowledge worker pilgrims" of our day.
One Boundless reader wrote to say I left out an important possibility in last Monday's Job vs. Family. She wrote, Regarding your advice to the woman who had the question about her boyfriend and the campus ministry: I have heard of such a requirement from a campus ministry that I was involved in, and even then the requirement was flexible depending on the situation. Regardless of which ministry he wants to join, I feel that you may have missed another option that they have. If he is called to college ministry there are many very good church and para-church organizations to choose from. He is not relegated to just one, especially if he is choosing this ministry because it is the one where they were involved. If he has specifically been called to that ministry then your answer seems right on ... but if he has only been called to college ministry than there are many ways that can be realized. I only raise this option because if he has only been involved in one campus ministry he may not realize how many there are; I see that mindset with my friends. All of my friends who have gone on staff with a campus ministry were in that ministry in undergrad and/or grad school. Honestly it never dawned on me that one would go outside the ministry were one was involved until I met someone who had done that.
This is an important insight -- thanks to Sarah for taking the time to point it out.
Sorry to bring you such a downer on the weekend, but did you see this sad story in the Buffalo News by Ken Ilganus? I am 24, live with my parents, can't find work and am floundering in a sea of debt five figures high. I think of myself as ambitious, independent and hardworking. Now I'm dependent, unemployed and sleeping under the same Super Mario ceiling fan that I did when I was 7.
How did this happen? I did what every upstanding citizen is supposed to do. I went to college. I took out loans so I could enroll at Alfred University, a pricey private school. The next year, I transferred to the more finance-friendly University at Buffalo, where I could commute from home and push carts part-time at Home Depot.
...
Upon graduating, I was helplessly launched headfirst into the "real world," equipped with a degree in history and $32,000 in student loans. Before ricocheting back home, I would learn two important lessons: 1) There are no well-paying — let alone paying — jobs for history majors. 2) The real world is really tough.
Desperate times called for desperate measures, and I had no intention of living in a society that was as unfair as this one. To seek a haven devoid of the ruthless 9-to-5 ebb and flow of contemporary America, I moved to Alaska.
As a liberal arts major, I dreamed of making a profound difference in people's lives. Instead, for a year, I lived in Coldfoot, a town north of the Arctic Circle that resembles a Soviet Gulag camp. My job as a tour guide for visitors temporarily alleviated my money woes because it provided room and board, but when the season ended and I moved back home, I was again confronted with the grim realities of debt.
Desperate, I browsed through insurance and bank job descriptions. I had hit an all-time low. Could I surrender my soul for health coverage and a steady income? Could I sacrifice my ideals by falling into line?
Suddenly, living at home didn't seem nearly as degrading as selling out. But sadly, other graduates don't have any choice but to work for temp agencies and retail stores to eke by.
That's the tragedy of student debt: it doesn't just limit what we do, but who we become. Forget volunteering. Forget traveling. Forget trying to improve your country, or yourself. You've got bills to pay, young man.
...
My loan payments can't wait much longer, and soon I must leave home to find work that doesn't compromise my integrity. Although I sometimes wonder what it would be like if I had declared as an accounting major and got a cushy job punching numbers somewhere, I'll take my history major, my debt and my mom's cooking any day of the week.
I agree that education debt is a real pain and that there probably are creative solutions out there somewhere for how we can more affordably educate the next generation, but I can't help but ask a couple of questions:
Why would Ken think a history major would help him land a job lucrative enough to help him quickly vanquish his five figure school debt?
What makes some of today's grads think it's beneath them to take entry-level jobs to pay their bills?
Do you get the sense that Ken's funk might be the result of something more than education financing?
There's a reason we call the twenties "the hungry years."
First jobs out of college can be absolutely dull. Mine was. Or at least most of it was. A large part of my day was spent entering data into a DOS system to generate constituent response letters. I used to tell my wife that a chicken could do it if you sprinkled enough feed around the F9 key.
It's just difficult to do well on tasks we find boring. But according to Lifehacker.com, it's a skill worth developing if you want to succeed in life. Whether you're a college student struggling with a boring subject or just starting a job doing nothing but data entry, mastering the mundane matters.
Lifehacker explains why with this quote from a tech recruiter, I'm going to look for consistently high grades, not just high grades in computer science. Why should I, as an employer looking for software developers, care about what grade you got in European History? After all, history is boring. Oh, so, you're saying I should hire you because you don't work very hard when the work is boring? Well, there's boring stuff in programming, too. Every job has its boring moments. And I don't want to hire people that only want to do the fun stuff.
Everybody always wants to do the fun stuff, but it's the menial stuff that defines you, especially Christians. It's sort of like that saying about what you do when nobody's looking. Anyway, Lifehacker has some tips on how to do it and like it.
- Look at the long-term benefit
- Find what you can learn from it
- Think of doing it for someone you love
- Enjoy the interaction with the people
- Think and say something positive
- Gather with passionate people
It seems that number three fits perfectly with Paul's command in Colossians to work "as working for the Lord." All the others could become a natural outflow from it if you get that one right.
In her latest Boundless Answers column, Candice talks about how to become a writer. Her sound advice includes an encouragement to just sit down and write, to read, to start a blog, and to pray.
Let me add some to her answer:
- Write what you know. And be honest about what you're writing. Readers can discern when you're being phony. A corollary: Use words within your vocabulary.
- Kill your beauties. You might have a few spots in your article that strike you as the height of poetic brilliance. These may have served to spark the idea for the article in the first place. But if they're too distracting from the whole purpose of the article, it might be best to remove them.
- Try to be winsome, conversational, not preachy, engaging.
- Don't rely on clichés, but look for fresh ways to communicate your ideas. Take a look at some of Chesterton's writings -- he had a way of making even the mundane seem fascinating.
- Edit your work, and consider asking someone else to provide you feedback on your work. While God may have inspired you to write something, it's likely that your first (or even second or third) draft isn't ready for publication.
- Balance hope and realism. It may take some time for your work to be published. If you sense the Lord's leading you to share something through your writing, keep at it. It may suffice to publish it on your blog for now. The Lord in His timing may see fit to open bigger doors some day, but be content in seeing it be an encouragement to those few who visit your blog.
- If you're wanting to have something of yours published in a particular magazine, spend time familiarizing yourself with their style and messaging.
- Tell stories. Chuck Colson says it best: "[S]tories well told can communicate truth in a way that didactic 'telling' does not, bypassing intellectual barriers to penetrate straight to the heart. Jesus told parables; earthly stories with a heavenly point. I firmly believe the best writing does the same."
- Be vulnerable, within reason. We'll tend to lend you our ears if we have feelings for you. But don't exceed propriety; beyond a certain point, we just get to feeling uncomfortable with "too much information."
- Don't be cynical. Angst-laden cynicism is self-serving and a chore to read. It's fine for your diary. It's not fine to share with readers. It's not "cool."
- Consider the "take-away" -- what do you want your readers to "take away" from your article after they've read it? You should be able to explain the take-away in a sentence or two.
- Show me, don't tell me. Engage my senses.
- Rather than rely on adverbs and adjectives to add color to your article, use strong verbs.
- Reference specific things in your article, rather than vague categories. Instead of "eating a candy bar," "munch on a Snickers."
- If you are having a hard time writing on a particular subject, consider narrowing your focus. You may be better off, for example, to write about a specific brick than to write about an entire building
Some of you are writers. What would you add (or subtract) from this list?
Being plugged into a vibrant Christian community is good for your spiritual growth and the body of Christ, but is it also good for job searches? An article in the Wall Street Journal today says it is: If you're searching for work, consider reaching out to fellow congregants, spiritual leaders and others in your religious circle. These folks are often eager to help like-minded believers. What's more many nonsecular institutions provide free job-search resources that are available to anyone.
Successful networkers say they often secure leads from their faith-based connections by bringing up their employment status in casual conversations about their lives. These conversations can take place after services, at holiday parties or at other religious gatherings, they say.
What I like about the approach this article recommends is that it's part of the natural outgrowth of being in a faith community versus an approach of pragmatically "friending" Christian leads in order to make a job advance.
Looking back on the faith connections that guided me to college and then to graduate school and on to the job I have now, I realize it was a very organic process in which my faith community facilitated helpful conversations and recommendations without ever feeling like forced networking.
What's your impression of this approach? What positive or negative experiences have you had with faith-based job networking?
Ever think about who's checking out your online footprint? You should. Especially if you're looking for a job.
Today's Wall Street Journal has an article about how employers are checking out a candidate's "references" before the interview. Here's an excerpt, The trend, which started mostly with Web-savvy recruiters in the technology industry, is now spreading to other industries such as human resources and financial services, says Cathy Henesy, talent acquisition leader at appliance maker American Standard Cos. Recruiters typically use networking sites to check on entry-level and midlevel job seekers, she says. But even professionals and CEOs have experienced the practice, often referred to as "informal reference checking."
The article points out that many hiring managers check a candidate's Facebook and MySpace pages to look for mutual connections. One recruiter says he googles the candidate to "check whether the job candidate has written any articles, and make sure the candidate has the degrees listed on the resume."
I did a quick Google search for "motte brown" just to see what a potential employer might find. And if they're looking for a guy who thinks he has something to say about everything, I'm good. Really good.
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