Karl Edwards presents Working Matters

Author: Karl Edwards

  • Loving Monday: The Impracticality of a Toasted Bagel

    loving_mondaySome mornings can turn on whether one’s bagel was toasted or not.

    Attitude is a funny thing.

    We too often dismiss the issue with a mature, rational adult voice that tells us that we’re being silly. Regardless of whether or not our bagel was toasted, we should be able to pull it together and give 110% of ourselves to our work.

    Sounds good in principle.

    In practice, though, most of us know that to get up, so to speak, on the wrong side of the bed is not a frame of mind one can simply wish away.

    I‘d suggest it is more practical to be impractical.

    If toasting our bagel will aid in the process of helping us choose an attitude that will serve us more effectively, then pause and toast the bagel! My gosh, who cares that it seems silly or takes some extra time.

    The time invested in navigating an attitude adjustment is nothing compared to the time wasted by dragging bitterly through one’s morning.

    We can wish we were more mature, more focused, more committed, more whatever all we want. Worse, though, is to refuse to face the facts about who we actually are.

    If we are moody, foul-tempered people in the mornings, then best to face it and do what it takes to work one’s way through the experience. The sooner we get it out of our system the sooner we can get on with the business of the day. The more simple and safe the means of working through a bad mood, the more likely we won’t act out on a co-worker or a loved one.

    So let’s hear it for the impracticality of toasted bagels!

    Let’s hear it for an extra five minutes at the toaster oven waiting quietly for the slight difference that will make all the difference.

    Let’s take on this Monday morning with our attitude working for us instead of against us.

  • Quote to Consider: Best Not to Over-Think It

    quote-to-consider“Up ahead they’s a thousan’ lives we might live, but when it comes, it’ll on’y be one.”

    Ma in John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath

  • Listen In -> Avoiding Success. Four Fears that Hold Us Back #1: The Excuses We Didn’t Expect

    We’ve been wanting a promotion for some time now. We feel ready. We know we could do better than our boss.

    But when the time comes, and the promotion is offered, we decline the opportunity. We wisely discern it is too much work given the pay, not enough budget given the responsibilities, and a trap to avoid.

    What’s going on here?

    Are we really declining the very opportunity we’ve been working and waiting for?

    Join Claudia and I as we discuss four fears that can undermine our career ambitions.

    Perfectly normal human fears that might get triggered in perfectly normal management situations can work against us unless we arm ourselves ahead of time.

    Don’t inadvertently decline the opportunity that you are perfectly ready to take on!

    Avoiding Success. Four Fears That Hold Us Back
    The Fear of Failure
    The Fear of Blame
    The Fear of Harm
    The Fear of Not Being Liked

    Listen in.

  • Keeping It Real: Hearing an Unexpected Truth #1

    Have you ever had someone make an observation that strikes you—however unexpected or novel—as absolutely true?

    Has that observation ever been something about you?

    It can be difficult to hear information about ourselves that does not jive with our self-perception. Whether positive or negative, such new data can catch us off guard. So off guard, in fact, that we either simply do not hear anything or quickly dismiss everything.

    It can also be difficult because many observations are, in fact, inaccurate. They may arise out of the other person’s unmet needs, skewed perspective, and/or unrelated frame of reference. We need to be discerning about how much weight we give to the voices that would seek to influence us.

    Every once in a while, though… On the rare and exceptional day… will intrude a word of truth so profoundly insightful that it slips past our defenses… overcomes our deeply entrenched self-perceptions… and outmaneuvers our ever-shifting and ever-shortening attention spans.

    And we pause.

    We stop dead in our tracks as I did the other day and exclaim to ourselves, “Oh my God.”

    Helpful insights don’t spell out for you what you need to do with the information. They simply share the information.

    That leaves us (me) with the task of personal reflection, discerning research and creative experimentation. A task I welcome even as I welcome—however tentatively—this unexpected new information about myself.

    Check back here for updates on my process and what I mean by personal reflection, discerning research and creative experimentation.

    Keeping It Real is a column where I put what I am learning out on the table. No faking. No posturing. No pretending. Just learning. Always learning. 
    Beware of the teacher or leader who is not always learning themselves.

  • Loving Monday: Get Flowers TODAY

    loving_mondayThis is a get flowers Monday.

    Purchase the most colorful bouquet you can find on your way into work today.

    As a gift to your assistant. As a complement to your lobby. As a perk for yourself.

    Start this week off with some beauty. Choose brightness. Choose vibrancy.

    Let the flowers symbolize the creativity and engagement you choose to bring to your work this week.

    Especially if you aren’t in the mood yourself, let the flowers do the work for you.

    Everyone will thank you.

    Let’s make this is Flowers Monday!

  • Quote to Consider: Youth is But Half of Life

    quote-to-consider“Grow old with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made: Our times are in his hands Who sayeth ‘a whole I plant, Youth shows but half; Trust God; see all nor be afraid.’”

    Robert Browning

  • The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working

    American managers are in denial about the fact that their teams are comprised of human beings.

    Content with a data-defying strategy of squeezing as much work as possible out of their teams for as little compensation as possible, these self-congratulating fools close their eyes to the facts and resort to childish name-calling (e.g. “soft”) to anyone who dares suggest that human physiology and psychology are important factors in workplace productivity.

    What if there were facts, though, about how people work that could multiply your productivity with only incremental additional costs?

    I’m excited to come across a kindred spirit in Tony Schwartz in his new book, The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working.

    I’ve long advocated that people are an amazing, if complex, asset into which we should invest not a faceless, annoying expense that we should minimize.

    Schwartz provides invaluable insights into how the human beings function and provides the practical means to transform these insights into a more energetic, renewing, and yes, productive workplace.

    Specifically he looks at human physiology, emotions, our minds, and our spirituality. Far from hyping the latest feel-good fad, Schwartz methodically supports his case with data. If you look at the facts, certain things are true about what makes people thrive, commit, care, and work hard. On the downside, certain factors cause people to wear down, avoid risk, blame others and otherwise distance themselves from their work.

    Far from being “soft,” it is those leaders who have the courage, honesty and wisdom to face what I describe as “the hard facts about working with people” who have the mettle it takes to face the complex issues facing business going forward.

    Gone are the days where people can be reduced to inter-changeable commodities to be discarded at the first sign of trouble.

    Tony Schwartz is a must-read resource for any leader hoping to work effectively with people going forward.

    On your side,

    – Karl Edwards

  • Loving Monday: Loving Freedom

    loving_mondayMany of us Americans are off of work today.

    The 4th of July falling on Sunday results in most workplaces granting a holiday on Monday.

    It seems fitting to acknowledge that our conversations about work, careers, and the choices that meaningful and rewarding experiences of each entail, are only possible in a free society.

    Freedom and security create the opportunity we have of hard-working, fun-loving teams of energetic, engaged and dedicated individuals designing workplace cultures that bring them alive during the day, provide for their families during the week and transform the world over time.

    Even when the worst of work life in America is experienced, there are means for getting help dealing with a bad boss, a stale career,  exploitative practices, and/or criminal excesses.

    And so we celebrate Independence Day with the conscious intention of both treasuring and seizing the opportunities our freedom has bought for us.

    Loving Monday is loving freedom. It’s great to have a day off of work, and it will be great to get back to work.

    Happy Birthday, America!

  • Quote to Consider: Love It or Leave It

    quote-to-consider“Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.”

    Kahlil Gibran

  • Question of the Week #17

    How do you affirm and encourage risk-taking without reducing your demand for results?

    The Question of the Week is offered to increase awareness of one’s personal leadership practices and encourage experimentation with creative alternatives.