I went to HR Tech, last week. It’s a conference where a bunch of HR technology companies showcase the latest and greatest iterations of their software. It’s also a place where people called “HR tech analysts” go behind the scenes in a “briefing room,” which is just a beige-on-taupe room that’s always too hot or…
Right now, I’m in a transition mode. I am moving from D-list HR blogger and speaker to the founder of a software company. And, if I’m honest with you, it’s uncomfortable. Everything is 100% harder than necessary. Unlike what you read on Breitbart, doors do not open because of affirmative action. Nobody is handing me…
My politics are a little less than mainstream. I’m a pro-choice secular humanist, a vegetarian, and someone who believes in the right to protect myself and shoot a sexual predator in the face. I vote Democratic because I like roads and schools, but it’s not like I’m all that impressed with the streets near my…
I’ve spent the past six months talking to HR and recruiting professionals about failure. Unfortunately, nobody cared about enterprise failure until I started talking about my life. My maternal grandmother was a strategic optimist. When she became accidentally pregnant at the age of 20, she married the guy and had four kids. When the guy…
I’m launching the inaugural #failchat on Monday, October 17th at 1PM ET. Our topic? Generalized Failure Disorder. What the hell is Generalized Failure Disorder? It’s nothing. It’s fake. It’s being human. Data shows that most of us fail in the same ten ways over and over again, and we learn how to manage failure —…
My HR career is in failure mode. It’s no surprise. The signs have been there for a while. I think it began in 2013 when I spoke at a conference with Kris Dunn and had a hotel room that overlooked a dumpster. It hasn’t picked up since. Yes, I’ve travelled all over the world and…
You could do worse than having three middle-age white guys as friends. Trust me. Somebody’s always giving me good advice, I’m never alone, and I’m not allowed to take myself too seriously. It’s not bad having friends like these!
My HR consulting career is in a lull. It happens. No big deal. I wanted to create some friction in my life. I’m trying to work on my start-up and mostly ignoring my consultancy except when business falls into my lap. (And here’s a lesson from Warren Buffet: that’s not how business happens.) You can’t…
My friend, Lars Schmidt, lost his brother to an opioid addiction. I always wonder — how does that happen? Where does that begin? If you’re middle-class and generally educated, how do things go wrong? Well, it goes wrong pretty easily. Or so I’m told. If you’re interested in learning more about opioid addiction — how…
I have a mean aunt who lives on the west coast. I’m not sure she would call herself mean, but she’s an elderly woman who is angry with me because I’m basically a worthless family member. And, you know, she’s right. When it comes to my family of origin, I don’t do much for the…
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