Sometimes your managers ask you to do something outside the range of what you’ve done before. Do it. Even if you’re afraid of failing. This has happened to me multiple times in my career, and it always paid off — although often not right away. Odd jobs I was a technical writer at my first…
On my daily walk yesterday I saw this sign: This was on a weird little plot of ground at a high-traffic intersection. And indeed, unlike everywhere else along the road in Portland, this patch featured no signs for the upcoming election, gutter cleaning, martial arts classes or anything else. So I guess it was working….
You can spend your life avoiding the unknown. You will fail. Or you can embrace it fully — but not recklessly. In 1995, I faced the unknown. I was hired as a technology analyst. I had no idea if I could actually do the job. I thought, “I have enough trouble analyzing the prospects of…
I like to walk and hike. I use Strava to track my walks. Strava has a fantastic community-generated mapping feature. Its maps show blue lines indicating where everyone has walked, in aggregate. It looks like this: The thick blue lines are places where lots of people have gone, but the skinny blue lines are places…
I think the reason I like editing is that I’m so curious and easily excited. I’ve edited books on cybersecurity, medical cures, networking, customer experience, disruption, AI, clear communication, data, ethical management, personal productivity, the future of transportation, and financial advising. Plus two memoirs, one of a musician and public speaker and the other of…
I help people. It’s not because I’m a nice guy. It’s because I can’t stand an unsolved problem that I can solve. In my Facebook author group, if there’s a question I can answer, I answer it. If I know the answer and it will help someone, why not? If someone is recommended to me…
This connection I have with the object of my desire is so amazing. Every day it’s something new. Maybe you feel the same way. Sometimes it feels like you’re just out of sync. Like you have nothing in common. But you learn from what isn’t working, and change your approach. If you try enough new…
I am going to try to be as analytical as I can about this. The topic is “Can a machine — ChatGPT — simulate everything about me that is important to how I do work . . . and if so, am I obsolete?” To be fair, though, that’s not a topic on which I…
In this post you’ll learn a little bit about Jews and a little bit about Passover and a little bit about public relations. Start with this pitch that arrived in my email. Show up to Passover with this Kosher snack! PS we’re on Amazon. Hi Josh, Passover is right around the corner, so it’s time…