“This is the era of cross-platform digital services, fast networks, and mobile devices. Sounds like the ideal time to be a person who makes websites. So why do we feel frustrated so often? Why do we experience burnout or depression? What makes it difficult to do work that has meaning, that satisfies us? The problem is that we need to collaborate, but we haven’t focused on developing our people skills.”
Author: Chris
Matt Mullenweg on holding “Auditions”
“…every final candidate to work with us for three to eight weeks on a contract basis. Candidates do real tasks alongside the people they would actually be working with if they had the job…The goal is not to have them finish a product or do a set amount of work; it’s to allow us to quickly and efficiently assess whether this would be a mutually beneficial relationship. They can size up Automattic while we evaluate them.“
http://hbr.org/2014/04/the-ceo-of-automattic-on-holding-auditions-to-build-a-strong-team/ar/pr
Automattic seems like a cool place to work.
First Parent to Pick up the Phone is the Worst
“In research for her book, Steiner-Adair interviewed 1,000 children between the ages of 4 and 18, asking them about their parents’ use of mobile devices. The language that came up over and over and over again, she says, was “sad, mad, angry and lonely.” … There was one girl who said, “I feel like I’m just boring. I’m boring my dad because he will take any text, any call, anytime — even on the ski lift!”“
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/21/304196338/for-the-childrens-sake-put-down-that-smartphone
I’ve been bad about this, but with Kari and the second on the way I’m getting much better about putting the phone away around family.
NPR has been running many stories about parents, distraction, and technology this week. Here’s another good one.
Bluehost sent me this nifty water bottle after a recent upgrade to my account. There was a hand-written note inside!
Posted from Instagram
Thoughts on Work – 2.5 Years In
Healthcare is complex. Every time I hear of something and think “That’s crazy. No way it needs to be that complicated.” My thoughts are often quickly changed once I learn about the history and reasoning behind things.
That terrifies me. 🙂
People are really freaking smart here.
People are really qualified – or at the least appear confident in their skills.
Everyone loves to learn and share what they learn.
Not a lot of jerks. In fact I can’t think of a single person who’s out for just themselves.
Everyone is a Senior or Lead something. I have very little experience with folks fresh out of college. I’d love to see more greenhorns and apprentice/mentor relationships.
Things change. Leadership matters.
The reward for competence is usually more work. This is true of the environment here. People who work hard – and do good work – get more work. You will never find yourself bored.