The Seven Dispositions of Task Management

I am DONE with this task. I finished. Good job. Victory. Next. I am STILL THINKING about this task. I might need more time to complete it or be thinking about an appropriate approach. Going to just leave it here for now, but I will make a choice regarding this task (and all tasks) by the end of day. I am RESCHEDULING this task to a realistic date...

4w

Your Best Work

I’ve received some of the best advice from folks I’m trying to forget. It’s usually past mediocre managers. Average folks doing the job, but in an uninspired fashion, in over their heads, or just coasting for reasons I never understood. Every so often. They land an idea. Maybe I don’t hear it at the time because I’m actively trying not to interact...

4w

The One About Vigilantism

Our 63rd episode isn’t really about vigilantism but more about holding grudges. Enjoy it now or download for later. Here’s a handy feed or subscribe via Overcast or iTunes. https://traffic.libsyn.com/rands/theimportantthing0063.mp3

Dec 2022

The Feige Rules

As a Henry Cavill super fan, I was extra crushed when I read that reports of his return to the role of Superman were no longer true. After much consideration, I am here to tell you why this is good news. But let’s start with the bad news. The DC Movie Universe is Garbage Fire Presently It’s fashionable to rip on DC because it’s been a holistic cinematic...

Dec 2022

The Seven Circles of Meeting Hell

First Circle: THE SLOPPY AND THE UNPREPARED Meetings start late and run over. Attendees have not read the pre-supplied material, so we spend most of the time answering questions we had already answered elsewhere. Second Circle: THE DISTRACTED Meetings where attendees are not paying attention to the meeting. They sit there on their phones and computers,...

Nov 2022

10 Things I Love & Why

AirPods Pro. First, I told myself I’d only include one Apple product on this list, and this is it. Here’s how to sell this product to your friends. First, show them how to properly insert them in their ears (many folks do this incorrectly) and then have them turn on noise cancellation. Boom. Rapha Merino Longsleeve. I’m a biased biker, and yes, Rapha...

Nov 2022

The Quest for Interesting X

The almost immediate challenge with the introduction of the Internet presented was, “How do I find X?” Now, the actual first challenge was, “I wonder if X exists in this new world,” but that’s still “How do I find X?” This quest made search services the killer app of the Internet. AltaVista was a thing for a bit, and then Yahoo’s curated list was the...

Nov 2022

The Goldberg

The Rands “R” started many years ago as this: I’ve been toying with branding, design, color, and other marketing elements for the site for years. I remember spending a couple of weekends trying to get a good picture of the weave of my favorite beanie as background for the site. That’d didn’t go well. I don’t recall why Cyan caught my attention,...

Nov 2022

The Seven Levels of Busy

Level 1: NOT BUSY My schedule is wide open. I can choose infinite paths. Zero commitments. The weekend. I sleep like a baby. Life is good, but am I living my best life?Level 2: STUFF TO DO I have a few commitments wandering around my brain. They are reasonable, knowable, and not deadline-based. I can keep track of everything in my head.Level 3: SIGNIFICANT...

Nov 2022

Better, Faster, and More

I’m rewriting The Business for the next book. This piece is almost 15 years old, much has changed in negotiating an offer letter, and I have more advice on how to analyze those offers. So much advice that I am idea paralyzed trying to rewrite this piece. So, this is just a section of the update to The Business, which I’ll be grafting onto the new version....

Oct 2022