Joe,
I think that you are right when you said that we may have a crisis of personal responsibility on our hands. I've seen the symptoms of this manifested in a number of ways. When I think about this issue, I quickly jump to the question, "How did we end up like this?"
I don't know if we've even had a culture or time in history when personal responsibility was not a challenge. The big question is why? It seems that it is part of human nature to reject responsibility and accountability as a way of protecting ourselves. Accepting responsibility for our actions and the consequences of thos actions can lead to some pretty uncomfortable, sometimes downright painful, conclusions and outcomes. It's easier and safer psychologically to believe that it's some one else's fault that I failed. Or that someone else holds the key to whether or not I succeed. It's for this reason that I think organized religion has such broad appeal. When you "give yourself over to God," and put your life in God's hands, it relieves you of a large degree of personal responsibility (in many religions). Whatever happens, good or bad, is God's will; not the direct consequences of our own choices or behaviors. It's a very comforting feeling to know that someone else is watching over you and making things happen. Now, before I start a riot, I know that not all religions are the same. My point is that human nature seems to drive us towards opportunities to avoid or transfer responsibility for our actions and that religion is just one place that I believe you can observe this.
So, this leads me to conclude that accepting personal responsibility is a set of learned skills and behaviors, that most of us don't come by these naturally. So, what are those skills/behaviors and where should we be learning them? That seems to be the next question and it seems like a pretty complicated one.
Here are a list of some of the mindsets that I think people must learn in order to accept personal responsibility:
1. The only thing you control are the choices you make and how you respond to what happens around you. We tend to focus on changing things we can't control (i.e. "If only my manager would stop treating me this way, I could do a better job."). I can't control what others do, I can only control what I do and how I think.
2. Every choice has a consequence, positive or negative. There are no neutral choices. Every thing you eat or drink has a positive or negative effect on your body. Every word you speak has either a postive or negative effect on those who it was spoken to. If we begin to understand this idea, we will think more carefully about the choices we make every day. When you own this concept, you own that what happens as a result of your choices is your doing. Hence the birth of personal responsibility.
3. It's okay to want things, even big elaborate, crazy things. It's critical to have goals and dreams. These things will give you a reason and a context to make choices. It also gives you a reason to care about the consequences of those choices because you've made the stakes higher for you personally. One of my personal goals is to attain financial independence for my family. That means that we can live well and have the things we want and not have to work for anyone else to have or maintain them. This is a loftly goal, but it definitely shapes my choices. When I make a choice professionally or financially, I deeply care about the consequences of that choice because of my goals and dreams.
Well, I'm not sure if this gets us any closer to a way to help people learn personal responsibility. What are your thoughts on how to teach or build personal accountability in people?
Jason
aloud live
This is my recording of the extended version of the advert shown on the Sky channels for the Girls Aloud Out Of Control Tour filmed Live at the London O2 Arena!! Don't forget to watch Sky1 or Sky1...
This is my recording of the extended version of the advert shown on the Sky channels for the Girls Aloud Out Of Control Tour filmed Live at the London O2 Arena!!
Don't forget to watch Sky1 or Sky1HD on 8th August at 8pm!!
nadines buzz
Nadine Coyle looks like she’s already trounced Cheryl Cole’s solo efforts with a megabucks record deal.
Three major labels are fighting to sign the Derry lass, and she’ll earn shed-loads before she even steps into a studio.
Our record-spinning source said “The band recently declared there’d be three more Girls Aloud albums.” “For the next year they’re doing their own thing but Nadine is the one creating the biggest buzz in the industry.”
“It looks like Universal – a subdivision of the Girls Aloud label Fascination – will produce Nadine’s solo shot. But whoever wins her will have to pay a lot because everyone’s desperate to sign her.”
“She will get an amazing deal as a result of shopping around.”
Nadine has the best voice and legs of the Fab Five so having the best shot at going solo seems only fair to us.
And it’s about time Chezza, shared a bit of limelight around. She’s in danger of becoming permanently illuminated.
Source: Daily Star Sunday
While Your Waiting
for the next episode of Mad Stork Sports,
I thought you might find these stories
interesting.
I told you this the last time I spoke to
you, where there's smoke there's fire.
In this case it's Tony Bernazard that's
FIRED. Now you can smile Willie, I did.
In case you were wondering about the
relationship between Contador and Armstrong
well wonder no more, THEY HATE EACH OTHER
Though I'm sure you didn't wonder at all about
how Hank Aaron felt about steroids users, here's
a little more in case you weren't convinced.
Sometimes out of bad news comes some OK news.
First the BAD news, In case you missed it,
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was involved in
a terrible accident this past weekend, but
now instead of critical, he's better, and things
look like he should be ok, so there's a little
of the OK news. The second piece of OK news
is for those fans that miss Michael Schumacher
behind the wheel. This piece says that he may
fill in for a few races and after this terrible
season for Ferrari, it would certainly be a treat.
I thought you might find these stories
interesting.
I told you this the last time I spoke to
you, where there's smoke there's fire.
In this case it's Tony Bernazard that's
FIRED. Now you can smile Willie, I did.
In case you were wondering about the
relationship between Contador and Armstrong
well wonder no more, THEY HATE EACH OTHER
Though I'm sure you didn't wonder at all about
how Hank Aaron felt about steroids users, here's
a little more in case you weren't convinced.
Sometimes out of bad news comes some OK news.
First the BAD news, In case you missed it,
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was involved in
a terrible accident this past weekend, but
now instead of critical, he's better, and things
look like he should be ok, so there's a little
of the OK news. The second piece of OK news
is for those fans that miss Michael Schumacher
behind the wheel. This piece says that he may
fill in for a few races and after this terrible
season for Ferrari, it would certainly be a treat.
Sports Round Table 7-25-09
Remember to tune in Saturday Mornings
from 8Am - 10Am on WDIS 1170AM
Here the show you missed on 7-25-09
from 8Am - 10Am on WDIS 1170AM
Here the show you missed on 7-25-09
Personal Responsibility #3
Jason-
A couple of quick points that I forgot to include in my original response to your original post…and I hope you had a good weekend and all that other small talk stuff that is supposed to happen between normal people.
One- The Responsibility Disconnect
Regardless of what the issue or the context, there is almost always a fundamental disconnect in discussions of responsibility, as we each tend to focus on the responsibility of the other. Employees are concerned about whether their employer will “take responsibility, act responsibility,” etc., while the employer is primarily focused on whether the employees will be “personally responsible.” I think that this is just one of those ticks of human nature.
It is significant though, as it commonly stands in the way of solution finding. I think that one of the things that does not often happen is that employees and business leaders sit down together to talk not about how the other could be more responsible, but how best we can work together to meet this challenge (cost of healthcare insurance, employee engagement, changing economy, etc.).
This seems to be one of the things that a new and improved human resources could facilitate...without purchasing any new software.
Two- Hidden Costs and Fuzzy Math
One thing that organizations may overlook when they set more specific boundaries on who can be a part of their organization and who cannot be a part of their organization, is that they are also decreasing the size of the pool of potential talent they can draw from.
If you work for an organization that has a policy against hiring anyone with visible tattoos, then you are decreasing the number of talented people you can compete for. The hiring policy may be right for your organization and your culture, but it does come with its own cost in its impact on the size of your talent pool.
Even if an organization is making changes to its hiring practices to reduce its healthcare insurance costs, it is at the same time incurring these other costs. Until organizations get serious about managing and measuring actual productivity rather than activity it is not even possible to say for sure that decisions based on health related expenses are good business decisions, because there is no measure of what we may lose with our reduction of expense.
This also seems to be an opportunity for human resources to make a difference.
For what it is worth on a Monday afternoon in late July.
-joe
JLO GLOWS
Jennnifer Lopez got the party started early for her 40th birthday.
At midnight this morning, the singer-actress -- who turns 40 today -- celebrated with husband Marc Anthony and the cast and crew of The Back-Up Plan on the flick's New York City set.She was all smiles while toasting with champagne and blowing out the candles on the giant chocolate cake, which featured a huge photo of herself.
Whitney Houston
Tracklist:
1. Million Dollar Bill
2. Nothin’ But Love
3. Call You Tonight
4. I Look To You
5. Like I Never Left (feat. Akon)
6. A Song For You
7. I Didn’t Know My Own Strength
8. Worth It
9. For The Lovers
10. I Got You
11. Salute
Mad Stork Sports & The Sports Roundtable
Tune in Saturday morning July 25th and
catch the Sports Roundtable. Now at
an all new hour from 8AM -10AM
Click here to go directly to the show
and listen live--->>> WDIS 1170AM
Tony Bernazard story from CNNSI.COM
UFL story of teams with no names
catch the Sports Roundtable. Now at
an all new hour from 8AM -10AM
Click here to go directly to the show
and listen live--->>> WDIS 1170AM
Tony Bernazard story from CNNSI.COM
UFL story of teams with no names
Personal Responsibility #2
Jason-
Good and timely post...big topic. Really big topic. I am guessing that we will spend some time on this topic, so let me just attempt to respond to your two direct questions with this post.
1. How do you feel about employers mandating healthy behavior (such as company that will not employ smokers)?
I have no problem with employers mandating evidence-based healthy behaviors, and I think it would be wonderful if that included some yoga and meditation time as well as mandated healthy working hours and a living wage for all employees...but that might be for another blog post.
One thing that comes to mind immediately is the actual capacity for effective and sustainable change. I tend to think that employers have a tendency to "mandate things" poorly, regardless of their good intentions. Mandating certain behaviors as part of the initial hiring expectations is generally much easier to do than to introduce new mandates for existing employees. It can be done, I just do not see much of it done very well.
I used to work for a healthcare system that decided to go "tobacco free"...no smoking or use of tobacco products at any of their locations (for employees, patients or visitors) and no smoking or use of tobacco products during working hours for employees regardless of location. Might seem like a no-brainer for people working in healthcare, but this was highly unpopular with many employees. The organization did a very good job of implementing this change though...they started talking about it at least a year in advance, they pushed out a lot of information about the change, why the change, when the change, etc. including good, authentic use of internal blogs for real and candid dialogue. They also provided extensive smoking cessation programs for employees and spouses and other incentives.
So, I think this was an example of an organization doing a really good job of implementing a new mandate, but I think it is rarely done that well. Organizations are not good at change in general, and I think that most will really struggle with new mandates, especially mandates of this nature.
We also do not like to be told what to do or what is good for us. Even if we know it to be true, we do not like others telling us what to do. I used to be a smoker. I never had any confusion about the negative impacts of smoking, and I knew that I needed to quit. I also hated being told this by others. Not sure if it is a cultural thing or a human thing, but we are very resistant to the direction of others.
2. What do you think is going on as it relates to personal responsibility and the behaviors impacting our health?
Hmm...that is pretty complicated I think. Part of it is simply the fact that this is one of those things that has a big choice-consequence gap. For example, I may know that eating a quadruple cheeseburger wrapped in bacon and smothered in ranch dressing (I think my cholesterol just went up from typing that) is not "good for us" in the long run. But I can eat it, get some immediate gratification with the consequences being several years away. It is not likely to cause me any great hardship tomorrow or next week. It is hard to work against that delay. It is easier to get serious about our personal health after some of that has started to catch up with us. But even then behavior change is really hard. I have seen data on people who have had life-saving heart surgery showing that one year after surgery, the majority of them have not changed their behavior in any way to reduce their risk for future problems. Behavior change is hard and poorly understood.
I also think that we are failing our children in this area right now, I think that the fast food industry is not our friend and we have tip-toed, and continue to tip-toe around the issue of smoking. I think that we are just beginning to educate ourselves on what is actually healthy and what is not healthy. And businesses lead with what is profitable, rather than what is best for our wellbeing. If I can make a killer profit on the super-jumbo-mega-supreme nacho platter, I am less likely to push apples and oranges...which limits choices and it is a vicious cycle.
And, maybe...maybe there is something bigger going on with personal responsibility in this country. I have seen some pretty horrible data about personal and family debt in this country. I have seen data indicated that many and possibly most Americans are not really happy with their job, yet do not do anything about it. Maybe part of what we are facing is actually a crisis of personal responsibility.
-joe
Good and timely post...big topic. Really big topic. I am guessing that we will spend some time on this topic, so let me just attempt to respond to your two direct questions with this post.
1. How do you feel about employers mandating healthy behavior (such as company that will not employ smokers)?
I have no problem with employers mandating evidence-based healthy behaviors, and I think it would be wonderful if that included some yoga and meditation time as well as mandated healthy working hours and a living wage for all employees...but that might be for another blog post.
One thing that comes to mind immediately is the actual capacity for effective and sustainable change. I tend to think that employers have a tendency to "mandate things" poorly, regardless of their good intentions. Mandating certain behaviors as part of the initial hiring expectations is generally much easier to do than to introduce new mandates for existing employees. It can be done, I just do not see much of it done very well.
I used to work for a healthcare system that decided to go "tobacco free"...no smoking or use of tobacco products at any of their locations (for employees, patients or visitors) and no smoking or use of tobacco products during working hours for employees regardless of location. Might seem like a no-brainer for people working in healthcare, but this was highly unpopular with many employees. The organization did a very good job of implementing this change though...they started talking about it at least a year in advance, they pushed out a lot of information about the change, why the change, when the change, etc. including good, authentic use of internal blogs for real and candid dialogue. They also provided extensive smoking cessation programs for employees and spouses and other incentives.
So, I think this was an example of an organization doing a really good job of implementing a new mandate, but I think it is rarely done that well. Organizations are not good at change in general, and I think that most will really struggle with new mandates, especially mandates of this nature.
We also do not like to be told what to do or what is good for us. Even if we know it to be true, we do not like others telling us what to do. I used to be a smoker. I never had any confusion about the negative impacts of smoking, and I knew that I needed to quit. I also hated being told this by others. Not sure if it is a cultural thing or a human thing, but we are very resistant to the direction of others.
2. What do you think is going on as it relates to personal responsibility and the behaviors impacting our health?
Hmm...that is pretty complicated I think. Part of it is simply the fact that this is one of those things that has a big choice-consequence gap. For example, I may know that eating a quadruple cheeseburger wrapped in bacon and smothered in ranch dressing (I think my cholesterol just went up from typing that) is not "good for us" in the long run. But I can eat it, get some immediate gratification with the consequences being several years away. It is not likely to cause me any great hardship tomorrow or next week. It is hard to work against that delay. It is easier to get serious about our personal health after some of that has started to catch up with us. But even then behavior change is really hard. I have seen data on people who have had life-saving heart surgery showing that one year after surgery, the majority of them have not changed their behavior in any way to reduce their risk for future problems. Behavior change is hard and poorly understood.
I also think that we are failing our children in this area right now, I think that the fast food industry is not our friend and we have tip-toed, and continue to tip-toe around the issue of smoking. I think that we are just beginning to educate ourselves on what is actually healthy and what is not healthy. And businesses lead with what is profitable, rather than what is best for our wellbeing. If I can make a killer profit on the super-jumbo-mega-supreme nacho platter, I am less likely to push apples and oranges...which limits choices and it is a vicious cycle.
And, maybe...maybe there is something bigger going on with personal responsibility in this country. I have seen some pretty horrible data about personal and family debt in this country. I have seen data indicated that many and possibly most Americans are not really happy with their job, yet do not do anything about it. Maybe part of what we are facing is actually a crisis of personal responsibility.
-joe
Check out "The Healthy Woman" in local bookstores now
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office on Women's Health has put together a very helpful book that empowers women to have easy access to basic information on just about every health category. The Healthy Woman; A Complete Guide for All Ages can be found in bookstores around the country, including Barnes & Noble and Borders, as well as directly from the U.S. Government Bookstore.
Not to pat my own back, but I was a contributor to the book within the Mental Health chapter. I was asked to share my PPD story, which I did gladly and with the hope that it might reach other moms out there who are searching for information.
The book also includes a tremendous list of resources, from non-profit health organizations to providers. You can even find treatment options for various conditions and where to find the help you need when something is wrong. But the most powerful sections in the book are the personal stories, where women share their health experiences. A California woman wrote of her experience suffering from numbness in her hand and "heaviness" in her chest, and being diagnosed with acid reflux. It turned out that what she really had was premature heart disease and, shockingly, within just hours of her correct diagnosis she underwent open-heart surgery. I loved her following quote, which of course would apply to any health condition that a woman is dealing with: "We must make ourselves our number one cause and, as with me, be given another chance at life."
WDIS Sports Roundtable
A word of caution to those that missed
last weeks show. This is a copy, but
not a very good one, so please be patient
as there appears to have been some issues
with the recording process. It is however
good enough to listen to, so I hope you
like it, and remember, this week we go
from 8AM - 10AM and we are taking callers,
SO JOIN IN !
last weeks show. This is a copy, but
not a very good one, so please be patient
as there appears to have been some issues
with the recording process. It is however
good enough to listen to, so I hope you
like it, and remember, this week we go
from 8AM - 10AM and we are taking callers,
SO JOIN IN !
Making Eventful The Uneventful
If I sound unexcited, I apologize.
After all, I am a Mets fan !
Enjoy The Show
After all, I am a Mets fan !
Enjoy The Show
Personal Responsibility
Joe,
Lately, as like most of my corporate HR peers, I've been spending a lot of time working on the problem of rising healthcare costs and the resulting impact on the cost to insure our workforce. As we look for solutions that would help us in this effort, it seems that the best approach is an agressive wellness (health management) strategy. Most of the research suggests the a vast majority of healthcare costs flow from medical conditions that are behavior related (i.e. they are caused by choices the individual is making) and are largely preventable.
If that's the case, then the best way to control healthcare costs for comapaies (and our country) apprears to be to incent and mandate healthier coices on the part of each individual. This could mean higher health insurance premium costs for smokers or the overweight. It could mean mandated health behavior interventions programs.
The things that strike me about this entire issue is 1) how quickly and fervently many people reject that an employer (or anyone else) should be able to tell them how to make lifestyle choices and 2) how little responsibility people will accept for their own health. On the one hand, most people will agree that smoking is a choice made by the individual that can or should be penalized. However, when you start talking about weight or physical activity, the excuses start to fly. It seems that we can somehow rationalize that we shouldn't be penalized for eating fast food for lunch every day.
If someone drinks too much and makes the choice to get in their car and drive, most everyone I know would agree that the person should be held responsible for their actions and punished for that decision. If another person makes a choice (like leaving their child in a car on a hot day) that endangers a child, we'd want them held accountable and punished as well. So, why aren't we willing to be responsible for decisions that are affecting our health (particularly considering how high the stakes and the costs are)? Why don't we feel that the over-eater should be held accountable?
I have some theories, but I was interested to get your opion on a couple of topics:
Lately, as like most of my corporate HR peers, I've been spending a lot of time working on the problem of rising healthcare costs and the resulting impact on the cost to insure our workforce. As we look for solutions that would help us in this effort, it seems that the best approach is an agressive wellness (health management) strategy. Most of the research suggests the a vast majority of healthcare costs flow from medical conditions that are behavior related (i.e. they are caused by choices the individual is making) and are largely preventable.
If that's the case, then the best way to control healthcare costs for comapaies (and our country) apprears to be to incent and mandate healthier coices on the part of each individual. This could mean higher health insurance premium costs for smokers or the overweight. It could mean mandated health behavior interventions programs.
The things that strike me about this entire issue is 1) how quickly and fervently many people reject that an employer (or anyone else) should be able to tell them how to make lifestyle choices and 2) how little responsibility people will accept for their own health. On the one hand, most people will agree that smoking is a choice made by the individual that can or should be penalized. However, when you start talking about weight or physical activity, the excuses start to fly. It seems that we can somehow rationalize that we shouldn't be penalized for eating fast food for lunch every day.
If someone drinks too much and makes the choice to get in their car and drive, most everyone I know would agree that the person should be held responsible for their actions and punished for that decision. If another person makes a choice (like leaving their child in a car on a hot day) that endangers a child, we'd want them held accountable and punished as well. So, why aren't we willing to be responsible for decisions that are affecting our health (particularly considering how high the stakes and the costs are)? Why don't we feel that the over-eater should be held accountable?
I have some theories, but I was interested to get your opion on a couple of topics:
- How do you feel about employers mandating healthy behavior (i.e. the has been at least one company that will not employ smokers)?
- What do you think is going on as it relates to personal responsibility and the behaviors impacting our health?
I look forward to your thoughts.
Jason
In Case You Missed It !
Those of you who tried to get the first
edition of "The Sports Roundtable" on
1170AM WDIS on Saturday found the live
feed to be pretty hard to hear.
For that I apologize, however it is a
problem we will have fixed for the next
time. If you want to hear what you missed,
we saved it for you and it's here, Enjoy !
edition of "The Sports Roundtable" on
1170AM WDIS on Saturday found the live
feed to be pretty hard to hear.
For that I apologize, however it is a
problem we will have fixed for the next
time. If you want to hear what you missed,
we saved it for you and it's here, Enjoy !
Tune In Saturday July 11th At 8AM
For the Inaugural show on WDIS 1170 AM
Call in and make your voice heard, click on
the WDIS 1170AM link to go straight to the show
For the Sports Roundtable
Call in and make your voice heard, click on
the WDIS 1170AM link to go straight to the show
For the Sports Roundtable
Big Brother Time, 2
Jason-
I enjoyed your post, but have been struggling with a response because I am not sure that I have a favorite reality TV show...in fact I kind of think that "reality TV" is the devil.
But.
I have to come clean here and admit that I did find myself watching about 90 minutes of Big Brother After Dark last night (this morning) on Showtime. This is after hours footage, and I did not watch Big Brother itself, so I had nothing to go on as far as context or competitions, but I could not bring myself to shut the TV off and go to bed. Much of what kept me hooked was the social maneuvering that nearly everyone was thoroughly engaged in.
It also is more appealing to me with your insights regarding workplace dynamics, the role of HR and what people do with their integrity while they are participating.
So, I don't think I have a favorite, but I might give Big Brother some time this summer. I have in the past watched The Biggest Loser, American Idol and I watched the original season of that show where they vote people off the island (is that still on?). Those shows all proved to be entertaining at times, but it seems that Big Brother has some additional value. Thanks for the insight.
-joe
I enjoyed your post, but have been struggling with a response because I am not sure that I have a favorite reality TV show...in fact I kind of think that "reality TV" is the devil.
But.
I have to come clean here and admit that I did find myself watching about 90 minutes of Big Brother After Dark last night (this morning) on Showtime. This is after hours footage, and I did not watch Big Brother itself, so I had nothing to go on as far as context or competitions, but I could not bring myself to shut the TV off and go to bed. Much of what kept me hooked was the social maneuvering that nearly everyone was thoroughly engaged in.
It also is more appealing to me with your insights regarding workplace dynamics, the role of HR and what people do with their integrity while they are participating.
So, I don't think I have a favorite, but I might give Big Brother some time this summer. I have in the past watched The Biggest Loser, American Idol and I watched the original season of that show where they vote people off the island (is that still on?). Those shows all proved to be entertaining at times, but it seems that Big Brother has some additional value. Thanks for the insight.
-joe
Big Brother Time
Joe,
Today is an exciting day for me because today is when my favorite reality TV show, Big Brother, returns to the air on CBS for it's 11th season. I love this show and I think that anyone who is a student of human behavior would love it as well. I think the show is brilliantly designed and I'd love to work behind the scenes in this show. But I digress.
In case you haven't watched the show, here's how it works. A bunch of over-zealous, money-hungry fame seekers are put together inside the Big Brother house. They cannot leave the house once they are in (until they are kicked out). The house isn't anything fancy, it consists of several bedrooms which the contestants must share, large living and kitchen spaces, a private "head of household" bedroom and an outdoor enclosed Courtyard with a pool and hot tub. Each week, the contestants compete to become the "head of household" or HOH. Besides having his/her own private bedroom for the week, the HOH also gets special privileges like certain foods, pictures of friends and family from home, AND the power to nominate 2 other contestants (or "houseguests") for eviction from the house that week. Each week, once the HOH nominates 2 houseguests for eviction, there is a "veto" competition where a nominated houseguest (or one of the others) can win the ability to veto their nomination for eviction. Each week then culminates with the eviction of one contestant and then the cycle repeats until there is just one left standing.
The game is one of strategy, deception, and skill. Big Brother introduces other interesting twists throughout the game including food competitions where the houseguests can earn certain foods for the week. If they fail, they are "on slop" for the week (which is apparently some kind of nasty looking and tasting grits-type substance) which makes people both hungry and irritable. The whole show is designed to create interesting interactions and frictions between the people in the house and it's wildly entertaining.
So, if you aren't convinced to watch yet, here's a list of seven reasons why you should watch Big Brother:
What's your favorite reality TV show and why?
Jason
Today is an exciting day for me because today is when my favorite reality TV show, Big Brother, returns to the air on CBS for it's 11th season. I love this show and I think that anyone who is a student of human behavior would love it as well. I think the show is brilliantly designed and I'd love to work behind the scenes in this show. But I digress.
In case you haven't watched the show, here's how it works. A bunch of over-zealous, money-hungry fame seekers are put together inside the Big Brother house. They cannot leave the house once they are in (until they are kicked out). The house isn't anything fancy, it consists of several bedrooms which the contestants must share, large living and kitchen spaces, a private "head of household" bedroom and an outdoor enclosed Courtyard with a pool and hot tub. Each week, the contestants compete to become the "head of household" or HOH. Besides having his/her own private bedroom for the week, the HOH also gets special privileges like certain foods, pictures of friends and family from home, AND the power to nominate 2 other contestants (or "houseguests") for eviction from the house that week. Each week, once the HOH nominates 2 houseguests for eviction, there is a "veto" competition where a nominated houseguest (or one of the others) can win the ability to veto their nomination for eviction. Each week then culminates with the eviction of one contestant and then the cycle repeats until there is just one left standing.
The game is one of strategy, deception, and skill. Big Brother introduces other interesting twists throughout the game including food competitions where the houseguests can earn certain foods for the week. If they fail, they are "on slop" for the week (which is apparently some kind of nasty looking and tasting grits-type substance) which makes people both hungry and irritable. The whole show is designed to create interesting interactions and frictions between the people in the house and it's wildly entertaining.
So, if you aren't convinced to watch yet, here's a list of seven reasons why you should watch Big Brother:
- These contestants knew what they were signing up for so that makes it okay to delight in their agony and torture. Just kick back and enjoy the ride.
- The contests are brilliant in their design. Each contest brings some new twist that tests mental ability or physical endurance. They are designed to break people. Some of the contests last hours. It's interesting to watch how different people respond to each challenge.
- The game relies heavily on political and social skill. If you pay attention, you can learn a lot about how to be successful with people in high-stakes situations. On the flip side, you can learn more about how people with no integrity approach the same types of situations. (People at work often behave the same way).
- Big Brother represents what HR is trying not to be, so pay close attention. All of the rules of the house are essentially "Big Brother" policies. They create and hurl these policies on the houseguests. In this case, the policies are designed to wreak havoc, but the way in which these policies are enforced probably feels to the houseguests like many of our employees feel at times. On the show, these "policies" are introduced randomly and without explanation. When they are rolled out, they create chaos and unsettle the house. Hmmm, does that sound familiar?
- Summer television sucks. There's nothing to watch. Big Brother is on 3 nights a week. Problem solved.
- Attractive people (if you are into that sort of thing). These houseguests were not selected by accident.
- Integrity and trust always end up being an interesting part of the game. The houseguests make secret alliances and deals with one another from week to week. It's very common for a houseguest to play two groups or people against one another. It's always intriguing to see if the players who play with integrity come out on top (warning: the good guys don't always win.). I think you can learn about how individuals (and specifically leaders) in our companies make similar types of moves to advance their careers.
What's your favorite reality TV show and why?
Jason
AC Milan sign USA Defender Oguchi Onyewu
BONEHEAD OF THE CENTURY, FOR NOW II
Sports Roundtable on WDIS 1170AM
1st Show Saturday July 11th 8-9AM
BONEHEAD OF THE CENTURY, FOR NOW II
Sports Roundtable on WDIS 1170AM
1st Show Saturday July 11th 8-9AM
Work and Life, continued
Jason-
Well said. Perhaps my favorite line was this, "If you life is out of balance because you have a crappy job, change jobs." I agree that nearly all of the work/life balance conversation is horribly misinformed, misdirected and largely irrelevant. A lot of it, as you said, is about making the decision to change the things that you can change, rather than complaining about the stuff that you might not be able to change.
In addition to the individual responsibility and free choice involved, I do think there is an opportunity for employers to do a better job of supporting their employees. It is not an obligation, but a real opportunity to have a more attractive and engaging culture. I don't think organizations can actually do much to provide "balance," but I do think that organizations could support more fluidity and flexibility for their employees and how they create value. And this is a philosophy, not a program.
At the heart of this issue is an organizations ability to manage for results instead of activity, rather than the perks it can provide. Hire the right employees, tell them what needs to be done and then get out of the way. Do this, and employees will find their own "balance." Perks are nice, and can even be important, but they are not necessarily about balance.
When I hear an organization bragging about their commitment to work/life balance because they have dry-cleaning service for their employees, I know that I am listening to someone who does not know much about work, life or balance. I think that approaches such as Results-Only Work Environment are much more effective for this than much of what is done in the name of work/life balance.
Balance is a personal thing, and it will not be provided or created with a program or a perk. Organizations need to set their employees free to do their work and those employees will find whatever balance they need.
-joe
Well said. Perhaps my favorite line was this, "If you life is out of balance because you have a crappy job, change jobs." I agree that nearly all of the work/life balance conversation is horribly misinformed, misdirected and largely irrelevant. A lot of it, as you said, is about making the decision to change the things that you can change, rather than complaining about the stuff that you might not be able to change.
In addition to the individual responsibility and free choice involved, I do think there is an opportunity for employers to do a better job of supporting their employees. It is not an obligation, but a real opportunity to have a more attractive and engaging culture. I don't think organizations can actually do much to provide "balance," but I do think that organizations could support more fluidity and flexibility for their employees and how they create value. And this is a philosophy, not a program.
At the heart of this issue is an organizations ability to manage for results instead of activity, rather than the perks it can provide. Hire the right employees, tell them what needs to be done and then get out of the way. Do this, and employees will find their own "balance." Perks are nice, and can even be important, but they are not necessarily about balance.
When I hear an organization bragging about their commitment to work/life balance because they have dry-cleaning service for their employees, I know that I am listening to someone who does not know much about work, life or balance. I think that approaches such as Results-Only Work Environment are much more effective for this than much of what is done in the name of work/life balance.
Balance is a personal thing, and it will not be provided or created with a program or a perk. Organizations need to set their employees free to do their work and those employees will find whatever balance they need.
-joe
From the Queen to the King
Madonna will pay tribute to her late friend, Michael Jackson, at her Saturday concert at London's O2 arena, on the very same stage Jackson was to kick off his comeback tour this summer.
The singer's rep, Liz Rosenberg, confirms the Material Girl will debut a special song and dance to honor Jackson. On Friday, rehearsal photos were posted online of the tribute sequence, which features Madonna flanked by a Jackson lookalike wearing his signature white glove.
Hells Spells
It seems that there's no magic spell against the swine flu.
Rupert Grint, 20, who plays Harry Potter's pal Ron Weasley, caught the notorious bug while filming the latest movie in the wizard series but is now well enough to attend Tuesday's London premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
"It has just been confirmed that Rupert Grint has taken a few days out of filming due to a mild bout of swine flu," his rep says in a statement. "He has now recovered and is looking forward to joining his fellow cast members at the junket and premieres this week and will then return to filming directly afterwards."
Grint's doctor determined that the actor is not contagious, the rep adds.
Filmmakers of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows were able to shoot around Grint's absence and no production days were lost, the rep says.
We hope he gets well soon
Work and Life
Joe,
I'm going to revisit this flawed idea of Work-Life Balance again because it has come up in a couple conversations for me lately. As I have thought more about it, I am convinced (as you are) that the whole idea of balancing work and life is complete nonsense. Life is what you experience 24 hours a day so long as you are breathing. Work is part of it. Play is a part of it. Sleep is a part of it. We don't talk about sleep-life balance, nor do we talk about play-life balance. So why work-life balance?
Here's my theory. I think it's because most of America hates their jobs (or at least is working in the wrong job). Sure, organizations do a lousy job of hiring the right people into the right jobs, but I think this is more about the individual taking accountability for their own personal happiness. If you are in a job that you hate, the best way to change that is to find a job that you like. To do that requires some work. You have to spend some time thinking about who you are and what you want to do with your life (issues most people run away from). No, most people would rather just spit venom at their employer for having them out of "balance" with their life (the things they do when they aren't working in the job they hate).
It's not wrong to think about balance in your life. That's a very worthy endeavor, but there are a lot of things that provide balance: health, growth, relationships, meaning, etc. I think most people would be better served to focus on life balance. If you life is out of balance because you had a crappy job, change jobs. Find something you like to do and your work-life balance issue will go away.
-Jason
I'm going to revisit this flawed idea of Work-Life Balance again because it has come up in a couple conversations for me lately. As I have thought more about it, I am convinced (as you are) that the whole idea of balancing work and life is complete nonsense. Life is what you experience 24 hours a day so long as you are breathing. Work is part of it. Play is a part of it. Sleep is a part of it. We don't talk about sleep-life balance, nor do we talk about play-life balance. So why work-life balance?
Here's my theory. I think it's because most of America hates their jobs (or at least is working in the wrong job). Sure, organizations do a lousy job of hiring the right people into the right jobs, but I think this is more about the individual taking accountability for their own personal happiness. If you are in a job that you hate, the best way to change that is to find a job that you like. To do that requires some work. You have to spend some time thinking about who you are and what you want to do with your life (issues most people run away from). No, most people would rather just spit venom at their employer for having them out of "balance" with their life (the things they do when they aren't working in the job they hate).
It's not wrong to think about balance in your life. That's a very worthy endeavor, but there are a lot of things that provide balance: health, growth, relationships, meaning, etc. I think most people would be better served to focus on life balance. If you life is out of balance because you had a crappy job, change jobs. Find something you like to do and your work-life balance issue will go away.
-Jason
The Invasion of Iowa
Biking their asses off?
Hey man.
Okay, so enough on crowdsourcing for now. I think the key point is that we agree there is some real potential there. I have a feeling that we will visit this issue again.
On to the really important stuff. I will be joining you for day one of the Registers Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) on July 19th and I have also been trying to make sure that I am shape enough to survive it. I have not been able to bring myself to buy any of those biking shorts yet, but I may break down. I have a mild aversion to any type of clothing that is that tight.
But I will be wearing something. Naked biking seems more appropriate for shorter trips.
See you at the jump off in 16 days, 13 hours, 15 minutes and 27 seconds. In the meantime there is a lot of really great info about the weeklong ride at Ragbrai.com.
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