After fifteen years of writing Working Wounded/Workplace911, I’ve concluded that there are a lot of myths about work. I thought it would be fun to tackle some of the bigger ones in this week’s blog. Check out my list below and send me some of your favorites. It’s impossible to be overpaid when someone else …
Before Northwest Airlines became a memory following its merger with Delta Airlines, it offered a moment of brilliance. The company decided it would no longer board their planes by rows. You know, seating people in ten row clumps starting from the back of the plane. Why would they end what is clearly the most orderly …
You’d expect the “father” of the cubicle to be a proud parent. Heck, his invention multiplied faster than rabbits. But you’d be wrong. Thirty years ago, Robert Probst was seeking to create the perfect place to work for the office furnishings company Herman Miller. In search of the “office of the future,” he designed the …
I like Doctors and Senators as much as the next guy. But I’m confused at why they are the only ones who consistently get their job title before their name (Dr. Welby and Senator Hillary, for example). Read any newspaper or magazine and you’ll notice that the docs and politicos are the only group granted …
Last time I discussed the top “mindsets” that we bring to work. For those of you who like things defined, here goes—mindset is “a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations.” Most of us bring some “habits” to work on a regular basis. After doing a lot …
Mindset. What is the context that you bring to work each day? Your personal way of seeing the world that influences your problem solving and decision making at work? I think mindsets are one of the most important, and least talked about, issues in today’s workplace. Why? Because I think most of us go to …
I’d like to raise a few topics that I don’t think got discussed nearly enough. First, the economy has changed quite a bit over the decades. Here is a question: What was the year that for the first time service workers and white collar workers outnumbered blue collar workers? 2001? 1990? OK, we’ll go out …
This week’s blog should get me in a lot of trouble. But I think it’s time that someone points out that many of the biggest business consultants, authors and speakers run really crappy businesses of their own. Okay, I’ve heard all the jokes about consultants. All go basically down the same path—a consultant is someone …
Thanks to Myers Briggs and a host of other workplace personality tests, it seems like everyone in the corporate world is either an “ENTP,” or their collaborative style is “Red,” or their leadership style is “Homer” (I made the last one up, there is currently no test to determine if you are like the head …
Flash mob. I was faintly aware of the concept. Mostly it had to do with pillow fights and Michael Jackson tributes. Then on Saturday I stumbled upon one. It left me remarkably hopefully. Really. And there is even a business point here, but first more on the mob. My daughter Frankie and I were walking …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
