Jake on Jobs

Drive for Better Ideas

I believe in the idea-generating power of road trips.  There’s something about the open road that invites inspiration. Throughout my career (and college before that) many of my best ideas have surfaced while I was doing 79 in between Nashville and Atlanta, Minneapolis and Madison, or San Francisco and Reno.

I think I’ve figured out why.

The following is a list of reasons why lightening is more likely to strike in the car than in the office. 

1. My brain is free to wander down the road.
Removing the pressures and parameters of agendas and to-do lists allows me to wander my way into new ideas.  Despite what type-A managers might tell you, you can’t just plan out a 15-minute “brainstorming block” in between conference calls and expect it to be productive.  You need the time to stretch your thinking.  

1b. I have time to beat up new ideas.
Not only does the road provide a reduced-stress environment for generating ideas, but it also allows me the time to kick around new ideas, beat ‘em up a bit, and make sure they're legit. 

2. I lost my car charger 2 years ago and haven’t bought another one.
During the first hour of road trips, I often feel compelled to make business calls.  However, once my phone battery wanes and I put down my cell, the drive actually becomes productive.

2b. I can’t/won't check my inbox
Unlike the office, no “productive procrastination” on the road.

3. I listen to regional radio
I try not to listen to my ipod on road trips. Instead, I opt for the characters and sounds of regional radio.  New background music for new thoughts.  Moreover, I often get ideas from the ridiculous local radio commercials I hear outside of Elko, NV or Effingham, IL. 

My advice: Respect the road.  Leave your office at the office.  If you want to take advantage of the idea-generating power of road trips, free your mind and (as En Vogue eloquently pointed out in 1992) the rest will follow.

First Rule of Business Presentations: Don’t Aim For Lame

The following three things are guaranteed to make me tune out and start daydreaming:

1.  Dinner conversations involving 401k allocation and/or wedding dresses
2.  Group musical numbers on American Idol
3.  Bullet points that appear/disappear via Power Point’s “spiral in” and “fly out” animated features.

All three items on this list are incredibly lame.  Luckily, the first two are avoidable.  The third, unfortunately, is an everyday part of my white-collar world. 

In my line of work (author/speaker/consultant) I am frequently exposed to painfully boring presentations.  In fact, the vast majority of the professional presentations I see are lame. 

This is a problem…and an opportunity.

If you are looking for a way to stand out and get a leg up at work, learn to design and deliver effective presentations.  In a world where most presenters binge on bullet points and aim for lame, you can stand out by crafting presentations that go beyond crowded slides and painful puns.

Don’t settle for a “Boy, there sure is a lot of good information in there” presentation.  Aim for “Wow!” instead.

You can start by checking out:

Deck ‘Em!  A Novel Approach to Presentation Design

I have partnered with presentation guru, Scott Schwertly, on a fast-paced ebook for people who want to learn how to create memorable business presentations. 

To learn more, read an excerpt, or order DECK ‘EM, click here.

Let's Talk About Stress Ba-By

Last Sunday, I spent about an hour discussing work-related stress and relationships as an in-studio guest on “He Said She Said with Dr. Rod and Christie”. (Click here to listen)

There were several interesting questions posed during the course of the conversation and call-in questions, but one in particular stood out for me:

 

At what point do you introduce work-related stress into a new relationship? 

Is there a certain point in the dating process when it becomes appropriate for you to bitch about the office or the people who populate it?  Are the rules different for men and women?

I am very interested to learn what others think about this because I got married early and never really had/got to tackle interesting adult dating questions.

Are "Real" Friends Worth Your Time?

Ryan Blitstein, a very talented writer in Chicago, recently wrote a piece for Salon.com about cultivating true friendships in a society dominated by virtual relationships. 
(link here to read it)

The piece is insightful and current and I felt it warranted some follow-up questions.  Earlier this week, Ryan was kind enough to answer a few for Jakeonjobs.com.

 

JOJ: This piece is unmistakably honest.  Did you have any reservations about publishing an article in which you show your vulnerability?

RB: Thank you for the kind words. Yes, I did have some reservations about it, especially when Salon editors changed the ending a little bit and made it seem more depressing than the real-life version. (Overall, I think they made what I wrote much better.) But at the time I just felt like "This is what's going on in my life. It's happening to other people. What's the worst that could happen?"

 

JOJ: As a writer/reporter, you strike up conversations with people you don’t know on a daily basis.  Did that help or hinder your social search?

RB: It's funny, but I used to be terrible at small talk and striking up conversations with strangers. I'm naturally shy and anxious in initial interactions. Being a reporter has given me an excuse to talk to people that I'd normally be deathly afraid of meeting with. When I'm not on the job, I think I'm better at striking up conversations than I used to be, which helped. Still, this search isn't/wasn't just about saying "Hi, my name is Ryan. Do you want to be my friend?" It was really about putting in extended time getting to know people, which is difficult for everyone.

 

JOJ: Many young professionals settle into social circles that are filled with people from their offices.  Would you advise against this?

RB:It depends on what you mean by "settle." During my first few years after college, I was so jealous of the people who got a job at, for example, McKinsey & Company right out of school and had a built-in group of immediate friends. I'm fairly certain this is just because I watched too much television and movies as a kid, but it just seems like it'd be so cool to hang out with people during the work day and then get happy hour drinks with them on Friday. I wasn't ever able to have anything like that, because I was always either much younger than most of my coworkers, or there were too few coworkers to build a social group around -- except during a short stint at Red Herring, which was really fun. That said, I think it's dangerous to have your entire social life built around your work friends, or your graduate school classmates. It's mentally healthy to separate work and social life at least some of the time, and I think you learn more as a person with a diverse group of friends.

 

JOJ:How do think social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn will alter the nature of business relationships?

RB:I'm confident it already has altered them. It's much easier to get in touch with colleagues from previous jobs, which is helpful for networking, job searching, etc…. The downside, and many have written about this, is that Facebook in particular blends the networks of close personal friends and business acquaintances into one messy group.

JOJ:What was the worst “activity group” you and your girlfriend found on Craigslist?

RB:I wish I could think of one that was truly the "worst." I will say that I found it depressing that many people need to go online to find people who want to get together and play board games.

 

Social Networking Between Generations

 
Online miscommunication between generations is a major issue in offices around the country, as cubes and corner offices reluctantly share cyberspace.  Boomers are struggling to raise their online profiles, Gen Y refuses to accept that the world is watching, and Gen X is caught in the crossfire.  
 

The following 3 points are intended to help you minimize professional misunderstandings online and communicate effectively across generations on Facebook, Linkedin, etc.
 

1. Different Portal, Different Purpose
 
Not all social networking sites are the same.  Some are social, some are professional, some are for sharing information, and some are for checking in with people you know.

 
Here is a simple breakdown of three major social networking/micro-blogging sites

 
Facebook – A social site for catching up.  This IS a site for sending personal messages to people you know.  This IS NOT a site for unsolicited sales pitches.

 
Linked In – A professional site for reaching out.  This IS a site for connecting clients and colleagues with one another.  This IS NOT a site for posting pictures from the weekend.

 
Twitter – A Site for Piquing Interest.  This IS a site for letting others know what you are doing, reading, creating, working on, or thinking about at any given moment.  That’s it.

 
2. “You” Beats “Cool” Online
Be yourself online.  Far too often, people try to be “hip” on social networking sites and end up creating awkward interactions in the process.  Consistency between real you and virtual you is paramount.  

 
3. Social Networks are Happy Places
Social networks are for connecting, sharing, and learning.  Keep them that way.  Leave conflicts and arguments out of cyberspace.  .  

 
Social networking has become fun for the whole family, from Grandma June to ‘lil Junior.  There’s no reason it can’t be fun for the whole office as well.
 

Gen Y Opts for "Pride Protection" Insurance

What is your dream job?

A simple question, yet it scares the pants off young professionals.  We duck it, dance around it, and drown it in disclaimers.  We don’t want to answer this question honestly because once we verbalize our uncensored professional dreams, those dreams could become (gasp) expectations

God forbid we set expectations that we might not meet.  Such recklessness could jeopardize our “gifted” status. 

Our generation was raised to believe that we can and should achieve all of our dreams.  Therefore, rather than admit to a dream and fail to achieve it right away, we’d rather take out “pride protection” insurance. 

In other words, we lie.

We play it safe.  We set up scenarios where we can under-promise and over-perform.  When people ask the dream job question, we respond by saying by saying that we dream of “becoming entrepreneurs” or “getting jobs where we can help people” or “having a careers that “give us more control of our time.” 

Bla bla LAME bla bla. 

Vaguely-ambitious goals are not dreams.  Dreams are vivid and exciting, they are specific, and they aren’t immediately attainable.  Furthermore, the dream job question is not a question of lifestyle it is a question of occupation. 

What do you want to do?  Not ‘what can you do?’ or ‘what do you want to do tomorrow?’ but ‘what would you do if you could do anything in the entire world?’  If you had a magic lamp with a genie inside, what would you ask for?  A career that gives you more control over your time?

Didn’t think so. 

Just because they economy sucks and we’ve been forced to modify our short-term goals, doesn’t mean we should censor our long-term dreams.  Be honest with yourself now and avoid getting caught in a cycle of uninspired security later.