In-Transition

If you've been out and around recently, you've heard the term "In Transition". Of course, if you are “In Transition” this means that you are seeking employment: which means you’ve been recently fired. (Fired/Let-go. Tomato/To-ma-do.) I couldn’t help but think to myself, “Why do we say ‘in transition’? When you think about it, we are always in some kind of transition”.

When we are young, we think about a time when we will just sit and relax. When we do get older, we realize that the time of sitting back and relaxing doesn’t really seem to exist. If it does, it doesn’t last long. We’ll always have some kind of problem or be in some ever-changing situation. The meaning is still has the same connotation: we are searching for the next thing.

In that sense, I guess I’m in transition as well. I am searching for new business, another hobby (that is less expensive than earning educational degrees), and the next event with my friends. I would go so far as to say, if you are not transitioning, I worry for you. To be transitioning is to have movement in your life. Sitting in the same place may be comfortable for a little bit, but gets you nowhere in the long-run. Now… Get in Transition!

Building on strengths

The Premise:


I had the opportunity to listen to a dissertation proposal over the weekend. The doctoral candidate was talking about building on strengths. The idea that we need to maximize or make the best use of what we are able to do. This is strategy used by Behavioral analysis psychologists for autistic children. It is a way to illicit growth from individuals. The converse is also used to illicit growth: focusing on weaknesses.

The Point:

We have the positive and the negative. For some time people have been using the negative to illicit growth in training and development programs. After a while people became anxious for something different. The humanistic movement came along and started focusing on the positive. So we've taken the whole picture and broken it into two pieces. So, you don't have the full picture anymore! You're playing cards with half the deck. In some games you CAN do that. Some games require only half your deck, specific cards. Life is a little different game. You need the whole deck to play such a complicated game.


Conclusion:
Whether you focus on the positive or negative... don't lose sight of the opposite. You can't have light without the dark. The scale only works with weight on the other side.

Last week

Passing on knowledge is the premise of this blog. Every once in a while I get out from behind the computer to do the same thing as a speaker. I got the chance last week to speak at Central Michigan University and my old high school. It turns out that everyone needs a little direction.


…Or at least I’m lead to believe people like to listen to me talk.

Okay, that may be the high school students but the college students really have questions; questions that need to be answered. Remember what it was like out there before you started your career? I think we forget our past perspectives from time to time. Remember the time you needed to start paying for your insurance? Or the first financial aid bill you received before you had a job to pay it off? Scary, huh? Doesn’t getting advice sound good now?

Dogs make good leaders too!

I grew up around dogs since I was 2 years old. My family lived next to a dog groomer. My sister and I would go over to "help out". This, of course meant we would go play with dogs for most of the day. Being around lots of dogs you see how they work in their mini hierarchies. Dogs, as well as people, are pack animals. So we do share certain similar behaviors. One of those behaviors we share is a leadership hierarchy.



Any hierarchy is built on a "pecking order". This is maintained in the dog world in a series of aggressive behaviors. If you think about it, humans do the same thing. Let me explain that aggressive behaviors can be verbal or non-verbal. What is most important is social context. (Dog bark = Human shout, Dogs bite = Humans hit, and we both shun others creating outcasts)

I spent years observing the dogs that come in and how they socialize with people. Especially when socializing with the owner of the grooming business (head groomer). The head groomer in any dog grooming business NEEDS to be the leader. It has been very interested watching the interaction. To become the leader of those different from us we need to become, in a sense, bilingual. As I said last week, I believe that learning as much as possible (diversity of knowledge) is strength. It takes time and persistence but it is not impossible. I think this is why we, as people enjoy dogs. It is what we like to call the "similar to me" effect.

All knowledge is useful

I'm a strong believer that knowledge is everywhere. What you don't know is as important as what you do know. For example... If you can't see a large, muscular, and angry person trying to beat the crap out of you, it doesn't save you from a savage beating. It just makes you unaware of the onslaught to come.

Now, I don't believe any of us would have to worry about vicious attacks. I do think that you must gather information from more than one source. This gives a diverse aspect to knowledge and diversity is strength. If you are learning only how to become a very knowledgeable person in the Applied world (business, etc.) try to look at the Academic world too. If you are rich, go find out what it is like to be poor. I think you get the picture!