We need to talk about the end of sentences. Specifically, the end of spoken sentences. They’re a problem for me. I’m solidly in my 40s. And to this day when I finish a spoken thought, I often say “so,” and the reason is… you aren’t saying anything, yet. So. I should explain. To begin, self-diagnosed… More
Archives
A Meritocracy is a Trailing Indicator
When you are asked as a manager “What do I need to get to the next level?” I suggest the quality and completeness of your answer is directly correlated to your effectiveness as a leader. Let’s start with the worst answer, “We’re a meritocracy where the best idea wins.” This is a bullshit cop-out answer.… More
Lessons From the First 5,000
Earlier this week, it was my distinct pleasure to invite the 5000th human to the Rands Leadership Slack. This endeavor has greatly exceeded my expectations while also continuing to teach me about community management and leadership. Started on June 1st, 2016, the Slack is now 5000+ members with roughly 1700 of those humans being weekly… More
Your Christmas Reading List
It’s almost November and that means the holidays are close. One of my favorite aspects of the holiday seasons are extended periods of quiet… like days long. While there will be Destiny 2 and Mario Odyssey during these times, my goal is to fill those long silences with reading. Here are ten books you should… More
The Guard
The Old Guard is a set of humans who inhabit the early days of a start-up. As I’ve written about before, they define the culture in both obvious and non-obvious ways. Simply: the way they act and how they treat each other disproportionately affects the values of the company. The Old Guard gets to be… More
How to Build a Rumor
There’s a rumor wandering through your team right now. I’m sorry to report; it’s toxic. It’s the kind of rumor that contains so much interest and emotional energy that the humans can’t help repeat the rumor to each other. It’s about you, and it’s completely untrue. When you hear the rumor, the content will give… More
A Privacy Choice
I departed Safari several years ago for performance and stability issues. Too often, I was finding myself in a situation where Safari was wedged or just plain slow. As the majority of my time is spent staring at a browser, this was unacceptable, so I moved to Chrome. Yeah, the typography rendering wasn’t as good,… More
Fidget Bliss
I’m the guy who sits next to you at the meeting whose right leg won’t stop moving. If one leg isn’t tap tap tapping, look to my hands because it is likely my finger tips are exploring the shape of a Zebra Sarasa .5 (Black), or that same pen is wildly spinning around my fingers.… More
What To Do When Your Plane’s Engine Catches Fire
A number of passengers lingered by the plane to take selfies with the burning engine in the background. They had no information that should have given them confidence that the plane wasn’t going to explode and shower them with fiery metal if they stuck around. Protip: forego selfies.
(Via Quartz)
Is that even a thing?
I can now sleep at night.
In the OED’s latest update, the word (“thing”) has gained yet another meaning, “defined as ‘a genuine or established phenomenon or practice’, and is often used in questions conveying surprise or incredulity, such as ‘is that even a thing?’”
(Via Quartz)