Why You Should Watch Out for Your 5-Year Job Anniversary

Most of us begin a new position with energy and a desire to impress. Our effort is high. Our passion is infectious. Our enthusiasm helps us to excel quickly.

But for some, work becomes mundane and repetitive. They lose some of their passion, and their work can begin to feel like a chore. To better understand this phenomenon we examined data from 970 such people in a single organization. They were between 35 and 44 years old (the typical range for the onset of a mid-career crisis), and they all rated their engagement at work in the bottom 10%.

What was troubling them?

1.Lack of pride and satisfaction with the organization.

2.Minimal appreciation or recognition.

3.Absence of challenge and meaning in work.

4.Unwillingness to go beyond basic requirements.

5.Conclusion that they were not treated fairly.

6.Feeling of powerlessness.

7.The company failed to value and practice values such as teamwork, trust, and fostering diversity.

8.Minimal opportunities for growth and development opportunities.


To the organization we would say this: Over the years, we’ve asked executives to reflect on their own curve of excitement and creativity in all the jobs they’ve done. At what point does the downturn occur? The consistent answer we receive is five years. So at the very least, we would suggest that managers be on the lookout at the five-year point for signs of boredom in their staffs, and nip it the bud by giving some thought to assignments that will require new skills and capabilities. Don’t let these people languish just because they are continuing to do a good job for you.We recognize that managers love to hang on to good people too long.But even the simplest organizational intervention – the requirement that all job assignments be posted – can be remarkably effective.

And to individuals we would say this: You can try to pull yourself out of the career ditch by shifting the burden from blaming the organization to raising the bar on your own efforts. If the organization won’t help you do it, use your own initiative. Taking on new and important challenges can change the dynamics of the game. Work may not have to be about feeling underutilized and disconnected from the organization. It can be about putting your best efforts to good use and making a discernable difference. That effort may not get the recognition it deserves. But it could bring the satisfaction back of doing important work, and doing it well. At the very least it will set you up for a better position at a wiser organization.

https://hbr.org/2015/04/why-you-should-watch-out-for-your-5-year-job-anniversary

Savaş Sanatı(The Art of War)

Sun Zi'den (Sun Tzu)

Tarafları kıyaslamak ve durumlarını tartmak için değerlendirilecek
Beş dayanak vardır:
Bunların ilki, Yol'dur.
İkincisi Gök,
Üçüncüsü Yer,
Dördüncüsü Komuta,
Beşincisi ise, Yöntem'dir

Komuta; bilgelik,sadakat, insan sevgisi, cesaret ve disiplindir.

Savaş yolu, hile yoludur.

Muktedirken aciz görün.
Manevra yaparken durur görün.
Yakındayken uzak, uzaktayken yakın görün.
Yem ile çek, kargaşa çıkarıp vur.
Düşman hazırsa, hazırlıklı ol.
Güçlüyse, karşısına çıkma.
Öfkeliyse, aklını bulandır.
Zayıfsa, alttan alarak kibirlendir.
Sakinse,taciz et.
Birlik iseler,ayır.
Beklemediği anda, beklemediği yerden saldır.

Savaş sanatı budur,
önceden kestirilemez.

Savaşta asıl hüner her muharebeyi kazanmak değildir.
Düşmanı daha savaşmadan mağlup etmektir.

Denir ki;
Hem düşmanı, hem kendini tanı,
yüz defa savaşsan da kaybetmezsin.
Sadece kendini tanırsan,
bir kazanır bir kaybedersin.
Ne düşmanı ne de kendini tanırsan;
her savaşı kaybedersin.

Çoğu komuta etmek, aza komuta etmekle aynıdır,
temel mesele bölmektir.

Ordusuyla alana önce gelip düşmanı bekleyen,
huzurlu ve sakindir.
Alana sonradan varan ordu bitkindir.
Usta savaşçılar düşmanı yönlendirir, kendi yönlendirilmez.
Düşmanı ister üzerine çeker,ister üzerine gelmesini engeller.

Savunmaya hazırlanmak zaaftır,
düşmanı savunmaya hazırlanmaya zorlamak ise güç.

Onları dikkatle gözle, planlarını iyice kavra.
Onu tahrik et, motivasyonunu öğren.
Onu görünür kıl, konumunun artı ve eksilerini gör.
Sabırla incele, güç ve zayıflıklarını iyi belle.

Savaşta vaziyet almakta en büyük hüner
şekilden şekile girmektir,
yani şekilsiz olmaktır.
Şekilsizlik en kurnaz casusa ve
en kıvrak zekanın tuzaklarına karşı koymanın yoludur.

Savaşın temeli aldatmacadır,
Üstünlüğün temeli manevradır.

Usta savaşçı,
Kaosu disiplinle,
Kargaşayı sükunutla karşılar.
Akıl hakimiyeti budur.

Aşırı ödüllendirme çaresizliğe delildir,
aşırı cezalandırma tükenmişliğe.

Adamlarına uygarca muamele et,
askeri disiplinle idare et ki,
güvenlerini kazanasın.

Bilge savaşçı harekete geçtiğinde,
kafası net, hamlesi kesindir.
Aklında mağlubiyet yoktur.

Georgi'nin yumurtaları

İlk paskalya yumurtaları:-)

What to Do If You Feel Stuck in the Wrong Career

What would you say to people who’ve advanced far in their career only to find that it’s not all they imagined it would be?

Pat yourself on the back for getting there, and then figure out where you want to go next. These are just phases in our lives. It’s not linear. Rethink what you’ve always thought about employment. One of my missions is to convince people that just putting one foot in front of the other in the same career is over. There’s no such thing as job security, and there never will be again. In the future, employment is going to be more of a two-way street, where you can ask yourself what you really want from your life and career, and then talk to your employer to find a way to make it happen.

In addition to advising people going through a mid-career shift, presumably you’ve had the opportunity to hire some. With your hiring manager hat on, what do you think of these applicants?

Often knowing that someone has a real passion for the work might make up for a lack of the required skills. I’d almost always rather have someone with deep passion about the work than someone who has the right qualifications and doesn’t love it.

Are there downsides of hiring a mid-career professional?

They can be jaded. I work with a lot of startups, and the upside of young people is that they don’t know any better, they often don’t know something can’t be done. Innovation comes from naivety. A 20-year-old won’t hear “you can’t”.

What’s your best advice for someone who needs to get out of a mid-career rut?

Start talking to people who are doing something you think you might like to do. Go interview. If you think the grass is greener somewhere else, go munch some grass on the other side of the fence. Finding work that you love is a fair amount of work. So, do the work.

I fundamentally believe that you own your career; companies don’t own it for you. You should be thinking about what you love to do — what you want to do — all the time. And you should feel comfortable talking openly about it. It’s your life.

https://hbr.org/2015/04/what-to-do-if-you-feel-stuck-in-the-wrong-career

Relearning the Art of Asking Questions

Consider these four types of questions :

Clarifying questions(Narrow-Affirm what we know) can help uncover the real intent behind what is said. These help us understand each other better and lead us toward relevant follow-up questions. “Can you tell me more?” and “Why do you say so?” both fall into this category.

Adjoining questions(Wide-Affirm what we know) are used to explore related aspects of the problem that are ignored in the conversation. Questions such as, “How would this concept apply in a different context?” or “What are the related uses of this technology?” , “How would these insights apply in Canada?”

Funneling questions(Narrow-Discover something new) are used to dive deeper. We ask these to understand how an answer was derived, to challenge assumptions, and to understand the root causes of problems. Examples include: “How did you do the analysis?” and “Why did you not include this step?”

Elevating questions(Wide-Discover something new) raise broader issues and highlight the bigger picture. “Taking a step back, what are the larger issues?” or “Are we even addressing the right question?” or “Instead of talking about these issues separately, what are the larger trends we should be concerned about? How do they all tie together?” These questions take us to a higher playing field where we can better see connections between individual problems.

Leaders should encourage people to ask more questions, based on the goals they’re trying to achieve, instead of having them rush to deliver answers.

https://hbr.org/2015/03/relearning-the-art-of-asking-questions

The Most Productive Way to Develop as a Leader

Everybody loves self-improvement. We want to get smarter, network better, be connected, balance our lives, and so on. That’s why we’re such avid consumers of “top 10” lists of things to do to be a more effective, productive, promotable, mindful — you name it — leader.

But what if we didn’t think of self-improvement as work? What if we thought of it as play — specifically, as playing with our sense of self?

Let’s say an executive we’ll call John lacks empathy in his dealings with people. For example, he’s overly blunt when he gives feedback to others and he’s not a very good listener. Thanks to a recent promotion, he needs to be less of a task-master and more people-oriented. He wants to improve on the leadership skills he’s been told are vital for his future success but, unfortunately, they are alien to him. What can he do?

Let’s first imagine John working on himself. The adjectives that come to mind include diligent, serious, thorough, methodical, reasonable, and disciplined. The notion of “work” evokes diligence, efficiency, and duty — focusing on what you should do, especially as others see it, as opposed to what you want to do.With a clear end in mind, he proceeds in a logical, step-by-step manner, striving for progress. There is one right answer. Success or failure is the outcome. We judge ourselves.

Now, let’s imagine John being playful with his sense of self. What adjectives come to mind now? The words lively, good-humored, spirited, irreverent, divergent, amused, and full of fun and life now spring to mind. The notion of “play” evokes an element of fantasy and potential — the “possible self,” as Stanford psychologist Hazel Markuscalls the cacophony of images we all have in our heads for who we might become. I imagine John saying, “I have no idea what to do, but let’s just try something and see where this leads me.” If it doesn’t work, he’s free to pivot to something completely different because he isn’t invested in his initial approach. Trial and error takes time, but getting to finish line first isn’t the objective, enjoyment is. Many different and desirable versions of our future self are possible. Learning, not performance is the outcome. We suspend judgement.


Whatever activity you’re engaged in, when you are in “work” mode, you are purposeful: you set goals and objectives, are mindful of your time, and seek efficient resolution. You’re not going to deviate from the straight and narrow. It’s all very serious and not whole lot of fun. Worse, each episode becomes a performance, a test in which you either fail or succeed.

In contrast, no matter what you’re up to, when you’re in “play” mode, your primary drivers are enjoyment and discovery instead of goals and objectives. You’re curious. You lose track of time. You meander. The normal rules of “real life” don’t apply, so you’re free to be inconsistent — you welcome deviation and detour. That’s why play increases the likelihood that you will discover things you might have never thought to look for at the outset.

In “pretend” play, it’s OK to borrow liberally from different sources. A playful attitude would free John from being “himself” as he is today. Play allows him to try out behaviors he has seen in more successful bosses and peers, perhaps stealing different elements of style from each to form his own pastiche, as opposed to clinging to a straight-jacketing sense of authenticity.

Playfulness changes your mind-set from a performance focus to a learning orientation. One of the biggest reasons we don’t stretch beyond our current selves is that we are afraid to suffer a hit to our performance. A playful posture might help John feel less defensive about his old identity — after all, he’s not forever giving up his “secret sauce” and fountain of past success, he’s just practicing his bad swing.

Play generates variety not consistency. By suspending the cardinal rule of unswerving, reliable behavior, it allows our “shadow,” as Carl Jung called the unexpressed facets of our nature, fuller expression. John might, for example, sign up for some new projects and extracurricular activities, each a setting in which he’s free to rehearse behaviors that deviate from what people have come to expect of him. He’s not being mercurial; he’s just experimenting

https://hbr.org/2015/03/the-most-productive-way-to-develop-as-a-leader

Biraz Müzik...(Louane - Jour)