Sunday Review
February 26, 2023
This week there was a definite theme I kept returning to: authenticity is scary but extremely valuable. The things we need as humans in work and life are impacting the way our offices are designed, the way we lead in our various roles in life and the needs we have for connection and support. These ideas kept popping up across what I read. There are simple yet transformative ways we can bring down the barriers that we feel we must erect across the components of our lives. We need humor, we need fresh air, we need to hear each others voices (the phone call is back!), we need flexibility in when and where we work (see number 4- "resi-mercial" is the hot new way to build the office; and number 3 "part-time executive"), we need dinner parties (see below for a great Crostini recipe!), we need to eat and enjoy it all in moderation (see, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, lol!), and most of all we can and should slow down to enjoy it all. Like the authors of Humor, Seriously, this week I see that there is a way to bring levity to gravity, to bring ourselves to all the parts of our lives.
Julie Jargon
Feb 18 WSJ
The phone call is back. Studies show people do much better when they verbally connect with others. It allows you to feel that they are there for you when times get hard. The biggest fear about the phone call? How to get off the phone and/or should I even call/am I disturbing someone. Maybe set a time for a phone call a friend: 20 minutes is great. Another idea is that you could give someone a call when you're on the way somewhere - so you have a ten minute drive to the grocery store. Start out with, hey I have ten minutes while I drive I just wanted to say hi and check in. This means you can get off if that is something you're anxious about but that you can still make that direct connection. Is the phone call back for you? Try it this week.
2- Humor, Seriously
Jennifer Aaker and Naiomi Bagdonas
A few weeks ago I hosted a Galentines with a twist. Everyone had to bring one fiction and one nonfiction book. My friend Joy brought this book and I snagged it. I am only halfway through but I thought I would share some of the brilliant insights and then when I finish you'll see more in another Sunday Review.
In the forward for this book, Ed Cantmull shares: “the best way to connect meaning to people on a fundamental and emotional level is to deliver it with humor." The authors hold the book around the idea that “humor is serious business," and a lot of their work and writing is based off of the course of the same name that they teach at the Stanford School of Business. They explore the question “how can you make humor an asset at work?”
They want to challenge the false dichotomy between gravity and levity. “We don’t need to take ourselves too seriously in order to grapple with serious things.” Employees yearn for more authentic leaders. They want to know what you overcame. Joking signals confidence. Even if your joke fails! Who knew. Do you need to “be funny”? No. But it’s good to have a sense of humor- laugh at jokes, have a friendly smile - essentially: look for moments to laugh. As a leader this can go a long way with your employees and team.
Humor charms and disarms. John Sherman says: if people are laughing, they’re paying attention. Laughter quickens the path to candor and vulnerability. I love this and as I read I will keep sharing from the second half of the book!
Franchesca Fontana, Feb 21, WSJ
“I don’t work 24/7 but I’m available 24/7” - Fontana looked at a shift in older executives who still want to work but enjoy the flexibility and fewer hours, as well as the ability to draw on years of experience for a limited client base. The practice of bringing “fractional executives to the C-Suite” means experienced workers can operate in a more freelance capacity - the tradeoffs are worth it for the lifestyle.
I noticed a theme across this week as I read: work practices/habits/spaces were forced to change during the pandemic and the new normal, although still a shifting landscape, is here. The next article, Hybrid Work, is another example of this phenomenon.
4- Hybrid work
Ray A. Smith, Feb 22 WSJ
Ok here is a new word for you: Resi-mercial - making your office like your living room. The theme of post-pandemic work: be flexible.
There is a sense in what I read lately that the pandemic brought us close to the core of what we need as humans: connection, comfort, family, fresh air.. and as we return to “normal” these things are now closer to the surface. That it is ok to bring all of yourself to work. Buildings that used to be designed with all offices on the perimeter are being re-worked to bring light and air throughout the building. Terraces that were once accessed for that one lucky company are now open for as many tenants as possible.
Interview with Adam Gant (whose book, Think Again, I reviewed last week)
Feb 17, WSJ by Te-Ping Chen
Adam Gant is interviewed for this one and he looks at how companies are adapting to employee culture - he suggests connecting the big pictures for your team “We are going to have to see managers work harder at really explaining, this is our vision and mission, here’s why it matters, and here’s the line of sight between what you do individually every day and our collective purpose.”
This will support goal clarity when employees are in a “distributed environment” where they “can only see their little corner of the puzzle.”
For Gant, he sees that Covid forced us to run “experiments” in work culture that we wouldn’t have otherwise run.
Here is that authenticity theme again. People crave real leaders who will connect them to a larger mission and vision and who connect their passion to their work.
Elizabeth Bernstein
Feb 21, WSJ
Bernstein examines “clock time” vs “felt time”. If you’re pursuing a goal; time seems to pass faster. How to slow felt time? One man interviewed said “Reminiscing is like going down a slow moving river.”
A few tips on how to do this-
Structure your days: Work bleeds into social and family time. Structure your day and buy back time. This is something I have gotten a lot better at. The movement of my day - coffee and quiet, school, driving to work prepping my mind, fully focused at work, then home and back and present with the kids.
Think big picture: “Focus on the larger purpose of our goals”- this goes back to the Gant interview (number 5 this week). Find ways to connect the little tasks to the big goal in life and in work. This helps you “see the purpose behind your actions.”
Give time away: Do something for someone else. I see this joy our volunteers have who give their time at our free teacher supply store. They enjoy the moment and focus on small tasks that make a big difference.
Reach for awe: “Awe is an emotional response to something vast.” The research suggests to take awe in something ten minutes a day. Lol! I love it- slow down; notice beauty. Our awe moment this past week was a warm Wednesday before David led our Ash Wednesday service. We grilled, and put on Spring BBQ music playlist. Aerosmith came on (sweet emotion), the kids were happy eating their hamburgers and we just sat back and stared at the sky. Ten minutes (maybe three..seemed longer) of joy and bliss in our own backyard.
Bookshelf by James Rosen, Feb 23 WSJ
Rosen looks at “The Noise of Typewriters” a memoir by Lance Morrow. He reflects on his memories of other reporters - Joan Dodion, Robert Caro, etc- and describes Henry Luce as the century’s most influential journalist (“a kind of shadow president”).
Rosen reflects that Morrow's impulse through to his career is evident in the book: mainly to “impose narrative cohesion… maybe where it never really existed.” There is often no rosebud moment where everything makes sense, although Morrow wanted there to be. I like that.
8- The Dinner Party Cookbook
Karen Brown
I went to an estate sale this week and whenever I can get to one, I always look for great cookbooks. To think that someone enjoyed it for years and is, in a way, passing it off to me, is special. I love to cook and I especially love to have my boys help me. When I start prepping a meal Teddy runs into the kitchen now and announces, "I'll get my stool mom!" and saddles right up to me. I liked this book because she announces herself as your support in planning a great dinner party: "whatever the occasion, we have a plan." I like that. I need a plan! She shares a variety of dinner party themes from "Academy Awards Supper" (scallops with angel hair pasta!!) to "Romantic Dinner for Two" (cornish hens!) to "Outdoor Picnic" (chilled tomato soup!). Fun!
My favorite type of dinner is casual tapas/appetizers. I went out this week with friends and we had a Crostini platter. It was amazing. I'll share a Crostini recipe from her "Cocktails and Grazing" dinner party section:
Smoked Salmon Crostini
8 oz whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/3 c chives, chopped
2 tbs capers
cocktail toasts
1 pound smoked salmon, thinly sliced
cut parsley sprigs
Combine cream cheese, sour cream, lemon juice, chives, and capers, blend well. Spread onto toasts
Place salmon pieces on top of each toast and garnish each with a sprig of parsley
9- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
I had to include this book this week because I have read it more times than any other book (maybe ever). Teddy loves it. He loves to read me the page with the "tomach ache". One highlight was the salami. We have salami right now, so anytime we get to that part he looks at me longingly and says, "need salami toooo."
Carle wrote the book in 1969 and it has sold over 50 million copes. We love the eaten holes in the book, and apparently that was very innovate for that era. I read a little more and learned that Carle was inspired by the hole punch! Teddy and I are going to do a few of these crafts this week inspired by this amazing little book. Excited!
Well that's it for this week! I linked the articles which I think is fun although they'll be behind a paywall if you're not a subscriber. I hope this highlighted an idea or sentiment that you may explore further. Happy Sunday!
Comments