Tag Archives: knowledge

Don’t Believe the Employment News

I’ve been reading so much about companies hiring people 50 and older because they represent stability, experience, knowledge, and practical experience. They say that older workers have skills and essential knowledge of the business and they are retiring at the rate of 10,000 a day and that in five years, 70 million people will have left the workforce, taking with them the knowledge and experience that keep a company operational. That’s what the news stories say. On the other hand, …

Finding Yourself

When I first heard the term “find myself,” I was intrigued. How does one lose one’s “self?” But, here were grown men and women deserting their spouse and children, going off into the sunset, seeking a new life in order to find themselves and, suddenly, it didn’t seem so intriguing; it just seemed selfish and self-absorbed. It’s no surprise that we make different choices at different stages of our lives but, essentially, we’re still the same people. We may grow …

I’m Sorry

I once heard someone say that he would rather cut off his right arm than say he’s sorry. It made a profound impression on me, and not in a good way. From that point on, it became a mark of good character to hear someone admit that he was wrong about something and say he was sorry. A person who has to be right about everything and who can’t say he’s sorry, is someone who has a boatload of insecurities …

Being Helpful Can Hinder Your Success

If’s a nice feeling to be able to help a coworker. In no time at all, you become the go-to person and everyone comes to you for help. You give them mini-trainings in procedure or software problems. or just about anything. And everyone flourishes but you. You are so busy helping everyone else that your own work doesn’t get done in a timely manner. While it can make you feel important and give you a nice feeling to be the …

The Pitfalls of Having a Mentor

Some people waste years trying to find a mentor. They spend valuable time networking, talking to people in top companies, in high ranking positions, all for the opportunity to find someone who agrees to mentor them. Theoretically, this sounds like a good plan but it can backfire so easily. People are human, and jealousy can be a big factor in eroding the confidence of someone who has put her trust in her mentor to teach her how to avoid the …

Getting Smarter As We Age

In most countries with a traditional culture, old people are respected and honored for their wisdom. In the United States, we tend to see them as old, doddering fools whose best years are behind them and who are just taking up time and space, waiting for the grim reaper to take them. But worst of all is that for so many people, their thinking gets fuzzy and they get mentally lazy. Doctors keep telling us that as we get older, …

Why, Mommy, Why?

I was a curious child who grew into a curious adult. I was always asking why, and although that never changed, the nature of my questions did. I love information. I don’t always know what to do with the information I have but I love having it. Information is a peculiar thing to want when you don’t know what you might want it for. It’s almost like buying a dress for an occasion that hasn’t arisen but you want to …

When to Hold and When to Fold

One of the most difficult things to do is knowing when to hold and when to fold; knowing when to leave a person or a situation. Ask any inveterate gambler if he is able to walk away from a losing streak, especially if he has won a few hands that evening and then he starts to lose. There’s a reason that the house always wins. Casinos don’t make their money from people who know when to stop gambling. They make …

Opting Out of Standardized Tests

There is a movement underway for parents to have their children opt out of taking standardized tests. I hope they succeed. Over the course of the last several decades, these tests have been used to reward and punish schools and teachers based on the results of these standardized tests. I have always felt that when teachers teach to these tests, they deprive students of getting a real education. They accomplish nothing because they can never know how much these children …

The Attention Span of a College Student

From the early days of ancient Greece and Rome, on through the centuries, the popular method of teaching was to fill the lecture hall with large numbers of students. The professor would stand in front of the class and deliver a lecture; the students would take notes and there would be exams given with no makeup dates allowed for missed exams. There was a time when teachers commanded a lot of respect for their knowledge, and their classes were filled …