Asked how he writes his stories, Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman graphic novel series, told Tim Ferriss that he forces himself to become bored. He goes down to the “lovely little gazebo” at the bottom of his garden, sits down with his fountain pen and his notebook, and forbids himself to do anything but write. He can look out at the world but he can’t go online or try to complete a crossword...
The quarterly reports of large public companies are rarely moments of great emotional expression. The warnings of reduced profits or future headwinds are delivered in language cold enough to freeze stock prices. But when Mark Zuckerberg delivered Facebook’s fourth quarterly report in October 2021, what struck Mark Isaac, the New York Times’ technology reporter, most was the emotion the company’s...
In September 2022, Google told its senior managers they needed to spend more time in front of their screens and less time sitting in planes and relaxing in hotel bars. There would be no more team off-site events or social functions. If a virtual option was ever available for a meeting, that meeting would take place online instead of in person. Employee travel would be limited to “business...
An anonymous writer to the New York Times recently encountered a problem. They work at a non-profit in a unit of about ten people. The head of the group wanted the team to gather at a one-day retreat to set a strategy for the next fiscal year. But the office was undergoing renovations so the team needed a new venue. They settled on a common meeting room at the condo residence of a subordinate...
“Thefacebook is an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges.” That was the first mission statement written in 2004, of the company that would become Facebook then Meta. The mission statement has changed a few times since then, describing the company as a “social utility” and as a way to give “people the power to share and make the world more...
Hank Li describes himself a “compulsive job-hopper.” Writing on eFinancialCareers in May this year, Li explains that he quit his first post-graduate job at a Singaporean bank after two years. His next position at a global bank lasted only eight months and at his third job, Li didn’t finish the year. With three jobs in just under four years, Li, a pseudonym, looks like a loyal employee compared to...
Premier League soccer team Manchester United have had a slow start to the 2022 season, losing two of their first six games. But their position might have been even worse. In a pre-season game against Rayo Vallecano, the Spanish team faked a long pass, sending United’s defense scurrying back towards the goal. Rayo Vallecano then played a shorter through ball to Alvaro Garcia who forced a save out...
In April this year, as the pandemic faded and masks fell, Jacob Rees-Mogg, a British cabinet minister, took a tour of British government offices. At each desk left empty by a civil servant still working from home, he placed a note printed on headed stationery. “Sorry you were out when I visited,” he wrote. “I look forward to seeing you in the office very soon.” Dave Penman, General Secretary of...
Covid might not have done much for workplace gossip but it has created a whole new genre of workplace mishaps. Magazines are now filled with stories of home-based workers getting caught on Zoom meetings with their pants off, cats cutting their connections to major clients, and participants going to the bathroom with the camera on and the door open. Those stories are inevitable. Over the last two...
As Covid continued through the start of 2021, Adi Adegbite, a UX researcher and designer, noticed an increase in the number of people complaining on Twitter about PLT, a shopping app made by a UK-based fast fashion brand. Adegbite took the complaints as an opportunity to practice her UX design skills. Her aim, she says, was to improve the overall user experience by providing a better shopping...
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