#FailChat Preview: Week 2

We had a great #failchat on Monday about “Generalized Failure Disorder,” which was a fake name for being human. I took a poll at the end of the chat, and this Monday’s topic will be “relationships.”  I constantly fail at maintaining and nurturing my personal and professional relationships, and I hope we can have an…

HR Tech Analysts #hrtechconf

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…

active waiting

Active Waiting

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…

strategic optimist

Are You a Strategic Optimist?

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…

Opioid Addiction is Real

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…