As part of an e-mail RSVP process with a young couple on their upcoming wedding celebration, they noted that they were seeking input from long-married couples on tips for a successful marriage and looking for any good advice for young fools in love. My wife had a very simple, net message that is difficult to argue with: "As for advice, well, the best we can offer is to not follow the advice of others. That's meddling! No one knows what's inside a relationship better than those in the relationship. The view from the outside is never true." They asked over... Continue reading

As I watch my children's adult lives (and the lives of my friends' children) evolve, I am constantly reminded that there are often no simple answers to life's choices and that tradeoffs must be carefully thought through. It seems like it all comes down to what you do for your source of income and what you do with your life. (I'm sure there is something here linked to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs). All the nuances of where you live, your relationship with your partner, your family, etc. get wrapped up into just those two points. Perhaps being a bit simplistic,... Continue reading

I still continue to believe that success at work (and at life) requires a combination of content and style. I wrote about it when I first started blogging. This post is about the "style" you have while doing your job and the perception of your peers and your management about you at work. The "content" side of your job is pretty straightforward: Doing what is expected and needed Doing things the right way Delivering expected results I don't know your job, so I can't tell you what you need to do. But I'd like you to think about how you... Continue reading

What did you do this weekend? In a recent catch-up exchange with a colleague of mine, we covered the typical updates around work, kids, travel, etc. The end of her note wrapped up with how the family comes back together with a simple "Weekends are precious". How perfect! To me the weekend is defined by having far less important emails arriving and far less calendared items that drive our Monday through Fridays. It is an opportunity to do something meaningful—either professionally, with your family or friends, or for yourself. If your weekend is approached with too casual an approach you... Continue reading

I recently I got yelled at by my one of my friends that I've been remiss in posting. Now I have a 25 year old and a 50-something on my case. (Sadly, they are right.) I have spent a lot of time, though, talking with people about current issues. These conversations have been with college students, recent college graduates, some young in the business, some mid-career and people at my end of the spectrum. Common themes have emerged. Here are some of the questions with a high level answer to see if we can stir up some dialogs. Can I... Continue reading

Not quite a Balanced Bits piece, but for all you with kids, grandkids, nephews and nieces, I want to make you aware of a free app for the iPad or the iPhone from a wonderful organization that I am part of, called Moms with Apps. With a rich set of categorization you can easily find hundreds and hundreds of apps by age group, learning area and more. Definitely worth checking out. And I could argue it is Balanced Bits because it makes a parent's life easier! All the best. And more posts coming - - I promise. Jon P.S. One... Continue reading

Blog scope: Those relatively young in their careers. Perhaps less than 10 years in the business world. (Although this should be a good reinforcing lesson for all.) I'm troubled. In my post on the new normal, I felt that many of us have become employees that are too worried about keeping their jobs to even think about themselves and their work-lives. Just keep your head low, do your job well and not rock the boat about going to a kid's soccer game or shifting work hours. Not good. We know that technology enables us to be always working and I... Continue reading

First, calm down. You are in tough times. This will show what you are made of. Let's get some basic definitions out of the way. Work is generating income. You might even be one of the ever increasing numbers of boomerang kids and live with your parents, but go get a minimum wage job. Or two! Life is basic living: a roof over your head, food and transportation. In many cases the financial equation doesn't close. You might have to rely on the support of family or friends (couch surfing), but hopefully you will return the favor someday. Prioritization takes... Continue reading

Gather 'round all ye who are done with college and are fortunate to have found a job. For those who are still seeking employment, I'll have a post for you in the near future. What matters? Finding the balance and being happy in most of what you do! As you will spend a large percentage of your life working, you have to be happy with your job choice. You also need to make sure you are happy with what you do when not working and even that requires some thinking and planning. Let's take this in simple steps. Be successful... Continue reading

We send you greetings from Mount Snow. In my new retirement, start new work projects, never lose focus on family and friends, and find the appropriate "me time", I wish you all a wonderful 2011. For my wife and me, 2010 will end in Vermont and we will begin 2011 here, too. Balance means enjoying the slopes in the morning, working or finding quiet time in the afternoons, and also having friends and family visit. So far, so good. I wish you all great success in work and life and in finding the right balance for you. Continue reading

We have had a horrible financial decade, now statistically coming out of the worst economic crisis since The Great Depression. And while businesses are showing signs of life, unemployment continues to be too high. Layoffs are way of corporate life with companies tightening down wherever they can to deliver to their shareholders. Whatever relationship existed between a company and an employee has broken down. Employees expect less, fear more and employers are happy to accommodate. I grew up in a paternalistic company where it was anticipated that you would work for a full career. Although I worked there for over... Continue reading

With a subtitle of "Why the Future of Business is Sharing", it is not surprising that this book showed up in my mail with a short message from Seth Godin. Last January, I made a charitable donation to the Acumen Fund (which I learned about on Seth's blog) and received a copy of his book "Linchpin". The book was great and I wrote about it here. He later sent a second copy of the book to me (and others, I'm sure!) as he writes about people sharing their art. I thought long and hard about who should get that copy,... Continue reading

I was pretty pleased with my last blog entry on how I spend my time and comfortable with my decision to continue to blog at a lower priority than my new work projects. But I received a comment that has me rethinking things. The comment was: And of course, it's one thing to put a low priority on things that only affect you versus a low priority on things that affect other people. Here's where priorities overlap. Taking this example: Your blogging may be low on your priority list, but it's pretty high on my build-my-intelligence priority list. Your decision... Continue reading

...While I look around for my possibilities?" Thank you Simon and Garfunkel for "Hazy Shade of Winter" which is where the weather is quickly going and has provided context for what seems to be my greatest challenge. Time. Things take time! It doesn't matter what the things are -- they just seem to chew up time. I am in constant time analysis and decision making. I do this not only for prioritization of how I spend my time but also as a reminder that work and life is all about choices. And once decided - don't stress out!! Whether I'm... Continue reading