This is gift week for anyone who observes Christmas or Hanukkah. Time to give gifts and receive gifts. It is a week filled with joy, annoyance, and outrage. It is the thought that counts, sort of. The problem lies in whose thought counts. Recipients invent a story about the giver’s thoughts. If you are a recipient, and if your spouse is the giver, you might want to prepare yourself to...
The third step in finding Third Alternatives (after Jump the Net and Write New Specs) is to Brainstorm. A brainstorm lets you build on top of each other’s creativity to think of things that would never occur to either of you alone. Here are a few tips for better brainstorms: Set aside a block of time with no interruptions. Find a relaxed, non-distracting environment. Review your specs...
The Los Angeles Times reports Vanessa Bryant is likely to gain a “windfall” in her divorce from Kobe Bryant. It could be $75 million in assets plus a hefty monthly living allowance. Indeed, she is likely to leave the marriage with a whole lot more wealth than she would be likely to have if she had remained unmarried. They live in a community property state and have been married for...
It’s not a Christmas tradition, not a Chanukah tradition, if you are the only one looking forward to it. Why not retire the worn out ones this year and try something new? If everyone looks forward to the new one next December, keep it. If not, keep experimenting. The great traditions are the ones that build excitement in advance and memories to savor after the holiday has passed, and there...
Life demands a lot of us. A new baby, a new business, a move away from family and friends, a new boss, even a promotion can send us into overwhelm. Know what happens once we hit overwhelm? Our thinking switches to what Daniel Kahneman call WYSIATI—What You See Is All There Is. This leads us to an ugly place. Here is the trip as I have been known to take it. I am overwhelmed. Too much to do...
