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These are the first two visa stamps in my first passport. April 25, 1993 into Japan and April 29, 1993 back out. These stamps represent the toughest customer visit of my career. And it still embarrasses me to see them in my passport.
All because I failed to say "I'm sorry."
Continue reading "How and why you might want to say you're sorry" »
This week's shot is an abstract of the left rear door seam on my car. (You can see the original shot below).
I shot this on a rainy day (January 27, 2007) at mid day, on my Canon EOS 20D. Settings: ISO 100, 2.5 seconds at f/36. 150mm lens, tripod.
As usual, processed using Adobe Photoshop CS2. Cropped, then used a levels adjustment layer to get basic contrast. Next I converted to grayscale using a channel mixer layer, and used 100 percent of the green and none of the blue or red channels. Then I used a brightness/contrast layer to bump the contrast by +87. Finally I used unsharp mask to sharpen.
[12Feb07: Please note that I have used the book title throughout this post. For the same review with a less unpleasant word, see my posting on the Amazon page for the book.]
Bob Sutton's new book, The No Asshole Rule, has just been released by Amazon. Here's a reprint of my October review of the book:
I have just enjoyed my way through an advance reading copy of Bob Sutton's upcoming book, The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't
I arrived for work at a large paper mill (much like this one) in mid 1990. I found nearly 1000 people working together toward common goals, respectful of each other and generally having a good time. The mill was performing at the top of its class, and its owners could not have been more pleased.
Only seven years earlier, the scene would have been very different. The mill had survived a months-long strike, and tempers were still raw. Managers and line workers were leery of each other and at odds much of the time.
Then Dave Spence arrived as mill manager, and began a healing process that would dramatically reshape the culture of the mill - and its business results. By the time I joined the organization seven years later, the transformation was complete.
What's your personal brand?
Don't have one, you say? Wrong! We all have a personal brand - it just might not be what we want it to be.
What is a personal brand? It is that word, or phrase, that comes to mind when people think of you. Perhaps your personal brand is "whiner." Perhaps, on the other hand, it's, "the gal who gets things done around here."
Whatever your brand is today, you can make it what you want it to be. And you should. The days of the 40 year career at one company are long gone. As you navigate through the many organizations you will help during your career, a strong brand will help you make career decisions and it will help you attract the kind of organizations you want to help.
I found this tree at 9 am on January 28, 2007. Shot in RAW format on my Canon EOS 20D, ISO 100, 1/80 second at f/5.6. I used a circular polarizer on my 18-55 mm zoom, at 18 mm.
Processed in Adobe Photoshop CS2. Added constrast using a levels adjustment layer. Deepened sky with an empty adjustment layer blended in overlay mode at 45 percent. Sharpened using unsharp mask.
Click on the thumbnail for a larger view.
Mike Schaffner wrote a great post about leadership development on January 31. While written primarily for and about IT folks, Mike's ideas apply equally well to development in all walks of life.
Begin with yourself
As Mike points out, each of us has primary responsibility for our own self-development. No one will care as much about our growth as we ourselves do, and it's up to us to take the lead. Mike suggests embarking on a continuous learning program, that includes keeping up with technology in your field of expertise, learning the business of your organization, and learning the business of your customers. Then, Mike calls on us to seek feedback from folks around us, and volunteer for assignments that will stretch us.
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