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Sunday, October 26, 2003
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Each quarter I'm faced with the challenge of coming up with some "above and beyond" goals for my current position. When I was first given the opportunity a year ago it sounded awesome, but it's actually pretty difficult. All the time, you should be doing things to make the company better and to make your career better. So, to go 'above and beyond' requires you don't just continue to find little things to improve the situation and standing, but to do something substantial.
Yesterday, I was trying to brainstorm my goals for this quarter (now that 1/3 of it is gone!) with a friend and he was asking "What do you not like about your current position? What's your least favorite thing to do? Or what takes up the most of your time?" Now the goal is to look at those things for improvement. That's my goal of today as I'm out and about and reading. Come up with two to three things that would not only make a difference in my life, but also improve the company.
12:00:00 PM 
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Tokens. Source: Joel on Software
It's hard to believe that here it is, what, 2002? No, I think it's 2003, and when you want to send a really big file or a folder full of little files to someone, you generally wind up messing around with ftp servers and whatnot.
 Well, no longer. A token is like a shortcut or alias that you can send via e-mail or instant message. With just one click you can create a token, and no matter how large the files you want to send are, the token representing them will be very smallâjust a few KB. Anyone you send a token to can then download the free Creo Token Redeemer software, and with one click redeem the token and download the files. It works for anythingâa single file, an entire folder, a huge movie.
It's quite cool. When you send a token via email your computer becomes a server, holding the files until the recipient redeems the tokens to get the file. The UI is really really simple, and you don't have to worry about whether the recipient already knows about tokens (if not, they'll get a link to download the free redeemer) or if there are firewalls in the way (if there are, the file transfer will automatically bounce off of Creo's giant-reflector-in-the-sky). This is a great implementation of a simple idea that brilliantly solves the nagging problem that it's just not easy enough to transfer large files down the hall, let alone halfway around the world, and it's going to take off like wildfire.
[Joel on Software] [Dewayne Mikkelson and his Radio WebDog, Shadow]
(i'm breaking my rule and publishing as-is. i didn't want to forget about this 'cause it's cool)
11:34:00 AM
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Peter McWilliams. "Acceptance is not a state of passivity or inaction. I am not saying you can't change the world, right wrongs, or replace evil with good. Acceptance is, in fact, the first step to successful action. If you don't fully accept a situation precisely the way it is, you will have difficulty changing it. Moreover, if you don't fully accept the situation, you will never really know if the situation should be changed."
Amen. :)
Acceptance is a hard one because truth is so variable. You can accept what you think is the situation, but who knows if you're right. People are so...so...hard to read/know/understand that if the situation deals with anyone other than me, I'm not sure it's possible to really be accepting the full siutation. But, certainly I agree with the concept.
11:27:23 AM
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Norman Fischer. "We all need to have a creative outlet - a window, a space - so we don't lose track of ourselves.
Here are some ways that I can/should/will be creative:
--Writing. I'm thinking of creating a journal part here that's not published to put all my random thoughts. I've always claimed "I"m extreme-E on Myers Briggs - that's why I want people to know everything I think," but that doesn't have to always be the case. Hearing your own thoughts and keeping them there is okay too. :)
--Painting. Seriously, I need to do this more. I enjoy it like few things. I like that when it's starting I have no idea where it's going. It's random. It's pretty. It expresses mood like few things. And it's completely my own and unique.
--Reading business books. Okay, okay, that's not me actually BEING creative, but it certainly sparks creativity in me and gets me all inspired. I think I'll go do that here shortly today at B&N.
--Photography. Our lives are made up of beautiful moments just waiting to be captured to help us remember them forever. Ever seen a picture of yourself where you were completely unguarded and deep in thought? I've had two, I think and those are my favorite. Catching those kind of photos would be my favorite.
I did give pottery a try and partly enjoyed it and then was partly frustrated that I wasn't good at it. I might give it a go again one of these days.
11:24:06 AM
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Turning to Tutors, Instead of Schools. Parents who want to educate their children at home, but lack the time, skill or inclination to do it themselves, are increasingly replacing school with tutors. By Brigid Mcmenamin. [New York Times: Business]
This article from the NY Times caught my eye. One of my five majors in college was elementary education. I had done tutoring after school in high school and really enjoyed it. I changed majors because I decided it wouldn't be nearly as fun to teach 30 kids at once as it had been working with one or two at a time. Oh, and there was the whole $$ aspect of it. I've definitely toyed with the idea of tutoring now for extra income, but I can really see it as a good business of my own opportunity.
Along the same lines, if I stayed in the business world, I have some real interest in training. Doing some training, but also work on the supply of training software and collaborative learning.
Only one lifetime and so many career possibilities. Now, I have to figure out how to work as many of those possibilities as I can into my current position...
10:50:55 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Rebecca Schwoch.
Last update: 2/8/2005; 2:14:19 PM.
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