Fuck... but I'm tired.

I should point out that as I write this I’m refreshed and have been sleeping really well ever since I beat an annoying head cold — I know this because the withings fitness watch I got for my birthday says so; I’m also up to date with my average heart rate and the number of steps I’m getting in per day. But I digress.

I don’t actually think about how tired I can get unless I’m actually very tired so I only bring this up after watching PBS. Lately I’ve found myself pushing back on the noise of the world; the opinion; the questionable facts; the loud shout overs — I crave the facts, a balance of opinion, and a long format perspective of things. All of this has brought me to the PBS News Hour or The Agenda with Steve Paikin. Again, I digress.

Recently I watched Amy Walter (from Politics Monday with Amy Walter and Tamara Keith) in Iowa just before the Iowa Caucuses were about to start. I will say I’ve always been fascinated with the “great experiment” the founding fathers* set in motion over 240 years ago; maybe I just find the lessons of history so interesting and valuable — again with the digression. Normally when I watch Amy Walter in studio she’s fresh, sharp and articulate but in this case her exhaustion was apparent; it showed on her face and in her words. I couldn’t help but say, “Oh honey, you’re exhausted; it looks like you haven’t slept in days”. There was Amy Walter, fighting through exhaustion to get the job done.

I was looking at the type of exhaustion that’s thrust upon you and you have no choice but to push through it — and I’m not talking about a couple of nights of restless sleep but day after day of sleep deprivation, deadlines, stresses, expectations, crying babies, crying bosses, and sore feet. This is something we’re all familiar with, and instinctively know it’s not good for our wellbeing. It’s something that when we’re experiencing it, it’s never helpful to get the obligatory advice we should get some sleep, because trust me, it’s at the top of the list when we’re so tired the tears are running down your cheeks. We know it’s not good for us, although, it does offer insight into resilience and grit, both of which are crucial components to success.

I have no profound advice other than try to get out of it as quickly as you can, summon the courage not to quit, focus on getting the job done, and take pride you are still standing. I would also like to say if you happen to be coming off a good night’s sleep please have a little sympathy, understanding, and appreciation for those at the front of the room who obviously didn’t.

iamgpe

*I have noticed people are now calling the founding fathers “the framers”. Don’t ask me why… I’m Canadian

An argument to stay young... or at least think that way.

“How business schools are adapting to the changing world of work.” I just finished reading this and it got me to thinking, and apparently to typing. In short, it offers a commentary on how business schools are changing what (and the way) they teach to prepare business students for the new world of business.

If you happen to be curious about what’s happening around you it doesn’t take long to feel the onslaught of information that suggests change of a profound scale is upon us, and will shake the very foundations of who we are, what we do, and how we will survive — AI and robotics will put hundreds of millions of people out of work (leaving them with little purpose), liberal democracy, although not out, is down for the count, our environment is cascading to a place that may not be able to sustain the world’s population, and our mastery of the gene may change what it means to be human. Is it all as dire as the collective has made it out to be? I really don’t know. Although I do know that there is a very good chance that the scope and scale of these changes will be greater than anything we have seen for quite a while.

I think we can all agree that impactful change is“afoot”.

The premise of the article, aside from still needing technical skills, was to impress that creativity and adaptability are now the cornerstones of business education; it went on to suggest that creativity, grit, teamwork, communication effectiveness and decision-making skills are crucial for long term success. I’m not entirely convinced some of these actually can be taught, but that wasn’t the first thing that came to mind. What came to mind was that when we’re young we possess these skills, and in turn, have them suppressed or broken by social and institutional endeavours — and after they are crippled and broken, have the same social and institutional endeavours suggest they can help develop them in your time of need. Why not just nurture these in the first place? Simplistic yes and maybe even trite, but nonetheless resonant.

cre·a·tiv·i·ty [ˌkrēāˈtivədē] NOUN : the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work.

grit [ɡrit] NOUN : courage and resolve; strength of character.

team·work [ˈtēmˌwərk] NOUN : the combined action of a group of people, especially when effective and efficient.

communication-effectiveness [kəˌmyo͞onəˈkāSH(ə)n,iˈfektivnəs] NOUN : A two way information sharing process which involves one party sending a message that is easily understood by the receiving party.

de·ci·sion-mak·ing [dəˈsiZHənˌmākiNG] NOUN : the action or process of making decisions, especially important ones.

I don’t really know how impactful the coming changes will be but I do know I will work through them; I’m also not really in a position to speak intelligently regarding how our social and institutional endeavours encourage conformity and suppress anything innately outside the box of, and frankly I don’t even know if these are skills we are born with. What I do know though are these two things —

1. When you read you learn something, you’re encouraged to think, and ultimate encourage others to do the same.

2. Creativity, grit, teamwork, communication effectiveness and decision making skills are definitely crucial for anything you will ever do, and this includes adapting to the changing world of work.

And because I can’t help myself, I have to say we are born into this world hardwired for challenge so we definitely come with grit, and if you have ever sent a group of kids outside to play you know they will come up with something interesting (so I suppose they have creativity, teamwork, communication effectiveness and decision making skills in their young tool kit). At the very least this reinforces how important they are.

iamgpe