Thought-provoking Things Worth Sharing - Issue #118
It's December - have we already "wrapped" the year?
I shared my accomplishments for 2023 on Linkedin earlier this week. They came straight from my Apple Music year in review, which seems odd that they’ve wrapped the year when there is still another month left, right?
Still, being in the Top 100 Listeners to Social Distortion, Cracker, Midnight Oil, and Paul Westerberg is no small feat. lol
But it got me wondering how many of us who spent a significant part of 2023 unemployed after one tech layoff or another are measuring our success this year.
Welcome to this week’s collection of thought-provoking things. Each week, I’ll share information about careers and workplace culture, mental health in the workplace, talent development, and important information about privacy, security, and legal tech.
You can find out all about me here - Mike McBride Online.
At least my workplace “wrapped” won’t look like this:
On the other hand, can you imagine how different our workplaces would be if someone saw these kinds of statistics at the end of the year? Especially if we did the math to show how much time is spent in meetings with so little to show for them.
Of course, we don’t count meeting time this way. We count it as a “quick 30 minutes” or just an hour each week. But they add up. Do the math on how much time is taken up with your regular meetings, and then ask yourself the important question.
Is the value of those meetings worth that much time?
Careers and the Workplace
Linked - The wrong way to define productivity
When I'm happily working remotely, finishing all of my tasks and projects on time, connecting with the people I need to collaborate with just fine, and reporting on the status of my work using the tools available, and you turn around and tell me that I need to be in the office to be more productive, I quickly see that for what it is. Despite the results, you don't trust people to do their jobs.
In that post above, I share a quote from this older post -
If I don’t work 50-60 hours per week but still complete the same amount of work that Joe and Sally take 60 hours per week to do, that makes me a more valuable employee, not a less dedicated one.
A couple of items on networking:
Training and Development
Middle Managers Suffer Most From Change
"Organizations that aren't investing in helping their people through change are failing,"
For me, it was Minneapolis in January and Oslo in February. But it was also true of Houston and Phoenix in August. The glamorous life of customer training!
Mental Health in the Workplace
Sometimes, gritting it out at your current job to not be seen as job-hopping isn’t the best option - Job Hopping: Navigating Toxic Workplaces.
Navigating The Workplace: How To Manage Depression At Your Job - much of this advice assumes your workplace is interested in helping. Don't be afraid to find a different one if they aren't.
Financial crises damage people’s mental health – our global review shows who is worst affected. - Layoffs, poverty, medical debt, etc., are risks that aren't solved with exercise.
Privacy, Security, and Legal Tech
Beware Those Claiming Expertise with Copilot for M365
I've seen the same thing Loryan has seen, though. Microsoft partners and consulting companies are offering up "expertise" on Copilot that I don't believe they have. If you're looking for guidance to help you navigate the Copilot waters, I also recommend vetting the folks who claim to be able to do that.
Speaking of AI tools - AI doesn’t cause harm by itself. We should worry about the people who control it.
Google Chrome will limit ad blockers starting June 2024 - Maybe using a browser created by the internet's biggest ad seller isn't the ideal way to go?
I’m sure you’ve seen the dire warnings - Is iPhone AirDrop Feature 'NameDrop' Dangerous, as Facebook Posts Claim?
"To be clear, no contact information is automatically shared when two devices are brought together without a user taking action."
Of course - NYPD Moves Towards Encrypting Radio Transmissions After Years Of Decrying Encryption Use By The General Public.
I don’t usually share reviews of webinars, but well, this seems worthwhile - Finding Common Ground on ESI Protocols by Craig Ball.
That’s all, folks. If you found something interesting in this week’s newsletter, please share it with your friends. It’s the best way to help support the effort I put in each week to share this with you.