Weathering Pandemic Life with Design Thinking at Home

With the onset of the C-19 pandemic and stay at home orders, we needed structure and alignment within my house. It was clear that we were all concerned with different aspects of the future, and those fears started to grow into arguments and buried stress. I immediately saw a need to get our thoughts out […]

Why You Should Embrace Ontological Humility at Work

Our leadership group in Ann Arbor has been reading Conscious Business, a fascinating book by Fred Kofman. I’ve found it to be part traditional business fare, part self-help, and part meditation on the nature of truth. One chapter in the book — Ontological Humility — stood out to me as particularly helpful in its framing […]

Staying (Digitally) Safe During COVID-19 – Four Steps to Personal Cyber Security

There have been increased reports of cyber threats and scams since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With so many of us working from home lately, I wanted to share a handful of guidelines. This list is by no means comprehensive. And you should always look first to your employer’s IT security guidelines — especially […]

Becoming a Developer/Mom after a Five-Year Hiatus

I entered my tech career at a startup and loved being a developer. But when I found out I was expecting, I knew that I wanted to take some time to focus on my growing family. Five years in, and with two little ones that were sleeping through the night, it felt like the right […]

My Top Five Emoji for Doing Business

At my workplace, we use Slack (an instant messaging platform) to communicate. That really means we use emoji to communicate. Email is still kept more formal, but instant messages are for communicating casual, quick thoughts without much effort. Emoji can be more expressive than typical short responses like, “Okay,” “Thanks,” or “I’m in.” And as […]

The Wisdom of Asking, “What Did I Expect?”

A recent issue of Seth Godin’s daily blog asked a question that changed both my personal and professional lives: What did you expect? If you run a rush delivery company, expect that the customers will be rushed. If you run a health food restaurant, expect that your customers will care about the ingredients you use. […]

You Need a Computer Backup Strategy; Here’s Mine

The cloud was supposed to make it so that you wouldn’t have to keep copies of your stuff, but that’s not a fulfilled promise. The day your computer stops working, is stolen, or just needs to go away for awhile, you’ll appreciate having a good, local, fast backup in your hands. The day you’ve really […]

Goal Planning Not Working? Try an Approach that Fits your Persona

We’re told that goal planning is an important tool for professional development. Goals focus our attention and energy, and they inform our choices. But what if goal planning isn’t working for you? We’re typically encouraged to pick a desirable destination a few years out, then break the journey down into manageable steps. What if you […]

70 Atoms Share What Most Helped Them Transition to Remote Work

Last Wednesday afternoon, we got the email you might have, too. We’d be closing the office and working from home to protect ourselves and our communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. By Friday, we had transitioned to an all-remote company. After a quick and smooth transition, I wondered what could we share with […]

How to Write Email that Gets the Response You Need

Have you ever put a lot of time and thought into an email and been disappointed when the recipient didn’t answer an important question, or worse yet, they didn’t respond at all? It’s a bad feeling. The formula I’m about to share is meant to help you avoid this situation altogether. (If you’re part of […]

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Personal Optimization