Thought-provoking Things Worth Sharing - Issue #194
Deep holiday weekend thoughts about career changes
July 3 may be a day off for many of my US readers. It is for me, too. It’s the long Independence Day weekend, and the US is celebrating its 250th year of independence. I was alive in 1976 for the Bicentennial. I was a child, but I have some vague memories of it; mostly, it’s an impression that 1976 was more of a celebration than 2026 is, and just maybe that’s a sign of how hard life has become for many.
That’s not the point I want to make, though. July 4th is also my birthday. That means sometimes my feelings about my own birthday are tied up in my feelings about the country. This year, it’s less about the country and more about 2019. When I spent my birthday flying home from my mother’s funeral.
A colleague recently lost her mother, so it’s been on my mind.
Welcome to this week’s collection of thought-provoking things. For each issue, I will share information on careers and workplace culture, workplace mental health, talent development, and key insights into privacy, security, and legal technology.
You can learn more about me here: Mike McBride Online.
Looking back, losing my mother and having already lost my father changed my relationship with work. (Both of my in-laws passed earlier in 2019 as well, so this change was already underway even before this, but this solidified that what I was doing wasn’t what I wanted any longer)
By August, I was in a new role. A remote role. Because after planning and attending the three funerals, the one thing I knew was that I didn’t want to be tied to an office and unable to visit my friends and family more often. Working remotely offered that possibility. It was freedom, in terms of location. I took it, and I never looked back.
The thing is, the firm I left hadn’t done anything wrong. The job was good; the people I worked with were great; it just didn’t fit. I think too often employers and direct managers measure things like retention and employee engagement, and take it personally when someone leaves. Sometimes, they change, and the role doesn’t fit.
Sometimes, you need to be willing to admit that about yourself, too. And give yourself the freedom to try and go do something else, not because you failed or made a poor choice. Just because things changed and it no longer fits.
There’s no such thing as a career ladder anymore; do what fits your life.
Careers and the Workplace
This is very true, and can be a very effective networking tool:
Want to Be Known for a Topic? Start Writing About It.
We don’t just fail to train managers; we put them in very poorly designed positions - Stop Overloading Your Middle Managers and Start Redesigning the Role
Artificial Intelligence
Worth Reading - AI and Liability
In the end, if we shouldn't trust AI answers, why use AI for search? Using this as your legal argument gives the game away: Google is quickly killing its own product and selling us AI. But it doesn't want to be held responsible for the damage it does when the AI gets it wrong.
I have never liked the marketing folks who use the phrase "AI agents are not your coworkers."
This is an ongoing issue, and to be honest, I don’t think existing governance tools are good enough to keep up - Rising ‘bring your own AI’ trend can spell trouble for employers, expert warns.
Mental Health in the Workplace
We could create a workplace where people could work from the coffee shop and interact with other humans in person. Where they didn't spend so much time working that they could use that saved commute time to attend community events. We just don't. Instead, we expect remote workers to be available all the time; we tie them up in meetings for 5-6 hours a day because that's how we "keep an eye" on them, and still expect them to hit all their deliverables.
Related - Is Remote Work Bad For Mental Health? Not If You Ask Women
Worth Reading - Hiding who you are can have real effects on your mental health
When businesses tell people to keep their identity out of the workplace, they are causing mental health harm. Period.
The effort to hide, the message that they should be ashamed of who they are because coworkers are uncomfortable, isn’t just about being kind; it’s a real workplace mental health issue. The question isn’t about whether it causes harm; it’s about whether you, as an employer, care that you are causing harm.
Privacy, Security, and Legal Tech
Sharing - Don’t look away: Have a conversation about online safety today
This resource seems like something worth sharing. We spend so much time talking about online safety, banning phones until a certain age, or banning social media, and not enough time making sure we prepare kids for the dangers of being online at all. It's like banning a child from leaving the house without a parent and then sending them to school with no skills for navigating other people on their own. At some point, kids learning about appropriate and inappropriate behavior and having a safe place to talk about it have to be the priority.
Still true - Hate “The Algorithm?” RSS Is One of the Tools You’ve Been Looking For
Who needs privacy online? Apparently, none of us. - The under-16 social media ban and the rise of “show me your papers” internet
As I’ve said over my years of working with Microsoft and eDiscovery, this is why we test everything. One, because things change, constantly. Second, because sometimes, even Microsoft’s own documentation can lead you down an incorrect path:
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 into sharing this with you each week.