Thought-provoking Things Worth Sharing - Issue #101
A little cross promotion for my newsletters
Welcome to this week’s collection of thought-provoking things. I write this weekly newsletter so subscribers can see some of the things I’m writing and sharing without depending on social media algorithms to show them to you. 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.
This week's M365 newsletter included details of a feature where Microsoft's documentation hadn't caught up with what I was seeing in testing yet, an example of the challenge of working in an environment that is always changing.
I also have details in the post below about offering up a free subscription to those impacted by layoffs, and if you sign up as a free subscriber, I'll be sending out details next week about a referral program that will let you earn a short comped subscription and check out the nitty-gritty details of what I've been testing in the pay-walled issues that come out every two weeks.
The referral reward program is something that Substack has made available. It made sense for that newsletter because there is a paid tier. This newsletter doesn’t have one to give away as a reward, but I would still like to reward the folks who share this newsletter with their friends. I’ve got a few things in mind, but I’m also open to suggestions if you have one!
Before we get to this week’s things worth sharing, it would also be a good time to remind you that my other website also has a weekly newsletter covering more mental health and childhood abuse resources and information. If that interests you or would be helpful to someone you know, subscribe for free.
Careers and the Workplace
Asking for Help is a Skill You Should Learn
What I am starting to learn, and Gary writes as well, is that asking for help isn't a sign of weakness but it might very well be an opportunity. It's an opportunity to connect with other human beings at a personal level, it's an opportunity to learn from the expertise of others, and an opportunity for them to put that knowledge to good use. It's an opportunity to use that combined skill to create a better solution than I would have created by myself.
Linked - Managers Need a Toolbox for the "Post-Everything" Era
No one has to stay and work for you for the next 20-25 years. They can, and will, go elsewhere if there's no clear path forward. I don't blame them.
Are your leaders sabotaging your company culture? - Poor leaders create poor culture, and there's no avoiding it.
For my fellow job seekers:
7 Interview Questions That Will Reveal a Company’s Culture - It can be difficult to know what a company is really like, maybe some of these can help.
Training and Development
Building A Learning Organization: Investing In Employee Growth And Development - This is a good article covering the “why” and the “how-to”, but it also reminded me of a conversation I had recently about how this is also a top-down culture. If your leadership isn’t on-board and actively doing the things that encourage employees to continuously learn, it’s dead.
I shared this a couple of years ago, and it still makes me angry - Oh Look Someone On Wall Street Doesn’t Understand How People Learn
JPMorgan executive Mary Callahan Erdoes thinks that you can shorthand learning your craft by just doing it 12 hours per day as if she has never seen a single bit of research about how much worse we get cognitively the longer we work on something.
How Laughing Could Help Your Career
1. One of the suggestions is to watch stand-up comedy. Not only will the laughter help with your stress levels, but as I’ve mentioned before, it is also a way to improve your presentation and public speaking skills. You start to absorb some of the skills that you watch all the time, and when it comes to telling stories, capturing an audience’s attention, timing, etc. there’s no one better to learn it from.
Mental Health in the Workplace
Work Is a Contributor to Wellbeing
"Employees aren’t afraid of hard work. But they want to work someplace that acknowledges that work and puts programs in place to help when things do get tough."
"Chief well-being officer Jen Fisher shares her vision of a new world of work where burnout doesn't have to be the cost of a job well done and the three ways you can contribute to making this vision a reality. "
Have you ever reconsidered taking time off because it’s too stressful? - Do You Suffer From Vacation Anxiety?
Privacy, Security, and Legal Tech
Say What? 5 Ways to Improve Your eDiscovery Communication - oh the number of times a miscommunication or assumption has led to problems with eDiscovery. I cannot even begin to count.
Generative AI Could Reduce Law Firm Revenue by 23.5% - Interesting look at something that all industries using a billable hour model should be considering. More efficient work isn't always profitable for you, which should raise larger questions. There is also a follow-up to this post - AI-Pocalypse: The Shocking Impact on Law Firm Profitability
This post points out something simple, yet often overlooked. If you’re not in a security position at work, the company’s security still matters to you. After all, they have your personal data too. - Why Security Should Matter to You (Yes, You)
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.