What You Need to Do About Can My Resume Be Two Pages Before You Miss Your Chance

What You Need to Do About Can My Resume Be Two Pages Before You Miss Your Chance What Can My Resume Be Two Pages Is - and What it Is Not Be prepared to talk about your experiences during the interviews, and be well prepared to indicate how you think that your freelance work will differ from the full-time work in the job for which youre applying. All projects ought to be presented in Arabic or English. This isnt by choice, however, as during this time you do elend have a lot of accomplishments and experiences to improve your resume. Depending on the number of projects you participated in, can help determine if you list all of them, or simply summarize the total experience. The Hidden Truth About Can My Resume Be Two Pages In some fields, employers will expect to find a resume with a particular format, which might differ than these samples. 1 per every field you wish to enter. Late applications wont be considered. Candidates have to be under 40 decades old at the period of ap plication. The Basic Facts of Can My Resume Be Two Pages Every facet of a work search has to go perfectly so as to land the position you would like sometimes. Put simply, whatever links your top executive assistant resume to the work description. Ask that person if youre able to assist with a project or two, free of charge. Talk what you learned and the way that it made you a better person and worker for an outcome. You list your latest position first. Even though you might not have a number of the particular skills common to a specific job, you most likely have many transferable skills that make you an extremely good candidate for this job. You want to promote yourself as the very best candidate as quickly as possible. You should make it crystal clear that youre the appropriate person for this position, and quick. The Hidden Gem of Can My Resume Be Two Pages It isnt the comprehensive history of whatever youve ever done. In case it bleeds onto another page, then it isnt t he end of the planet. Theres not anything wrong with a 2 page resume in many instances. If so, locate a way to reduce your second page. That its you which youre speaking about is implied. There is no space for error, so make certain you dont rush on your resume. In truth, its been dead for some time. How your resume looks is very important. The Appeal of Can My Resume Be Two Pages Therefore, a number of you should be in a position to fit your resume content onto one page. Queries could be addressed to havighurstcentermuohio.edu. If you believe that a 1 page resume is vital, youre mistaken. Within the next section, find out precisely when you are going to require a multiple page resume, and the best way to do it right. In the event the text on the second page is simply a couple of lines, you might want to look at reformatting and sticking to the 1 page rule. Its essential to be sure that you load the very best half of the very first page with the most effective content. Yo u are unable to skip out on important information for the interest of keeping a resume 1 page long. Most men and women think that resumes should be one page long. The duration of your resume truly is dependent upon the circumstance. You have to compose that resume. While your resume ought to be thorough, additionally it is important that resume is concise. Your best career hits. The Most Popular Can My Resume Be Two Pages Write down anything you may think of that would demonstrate an employer what youve done and how you have done it. If you are in possession of a one-page resume or a five-page resume, the significance of drawing the attention on the very first page is a must. To begin with, learn the essential rules. The Key to Successful Can My Resume Be Two Pages Make certain you choose the most suitable one for the work offer. When you have to list all the relevant skills about the job which you are applying for, you cant end it in a single page. Detailing your te chnical skills is critical, but it doesnt mean that you shouldnt include things like soft skills too. Then custom-fit to every work description. Whats Truly Going on with Can My Resume Be Two Pages Attempt to fit your latest work experience so that it starts on the very first page. Besides stuffing your resume with the proper keyword phrases in the perfect order, you want to explain yourself and why your experience is pertinent to the job which youre being considered for. You merely dont have sufficient experience yet. Your experience for a freelancer ought to be part of your resume. Its possible to deal with negative facets of your prior job by making use of the tips mentioned previously, while putting a positive spin on them. You might be the surface of the top at your business, but its still an excellent idea to send a simple thank you. An amazing two-column resume layout for corporate jobs and conventional industries. There arent lots of two-page resume examples on the w eb.

Navy Nuclear Trained Electronics Technician (ETN)

Navy Nuclear Trained Electronics Technician (ETN)Navy Nuclear Trained Electronics Technician (ETN)The Nuclear Training Electronic Technician for Nuke ETmust qualify for, and enlist under the NavysNuclear Field Programto join this high tech job. Nuclear-trained ETs perform duties in nuclear propulsion plants operating reactor control, propulsion and power generation systems. The character of NF jobs is mentally stimulating and offers career growth. The NF provides opportunities to work closely with specialists in the nuclear, technology, and engineering fields. Nuclear-trained ETs operate reactor control, propulsion, and power generation systems in nuclear propulsion plants. Nuclear Trained Electronics Technician - The Nuke ET rating A school is 6 months.Nuclear-trained ETs operate reactor control, propulsion, and power generation systems in nuclear propulsion plants. Working Environment The Nuclear Field program trains personnel for nuclear submarines and nuclear surface ship ass ignments. No promise can be made regarding the type of duty assigned. MMs may be required to perform some heavy physical work. They must be able to work closely with others and, in some cases, with limited supervision. A-School (Job School) Information ET Rating A School, Charleston, SC 6 monthsNuke Power School School, Charleston, SC 6 monthsNuclear Power Training Unit, Ballston Spa, NY or Charleston, SC 6 months Navy Enlisting Requirements for the Nuclear Trained ET The Nuclear Training career path is the most academically challenging enlisted rating in the Navy. In fact, it offers the highest specialty pay and reenlistment bonuses of the Navy and requires intensive training the first few years of service for the recruit seeking the Nuclear Training career path. Students in the nuclear career path must be motivated self-starters with a keen understanding of advanced math and sciences. ASVAB Score Requirement AR MK EI GS NAPT 290OR AR MK VE MC NAPT 290(Note NAPT Navy Advanced Programs Test. Its the Navys Nuclear Power Aptitude Test.For current enlistees, applying to retrain AR MK EI GS 252 OR AR MK VE MC 252Security Clearance Requirement Secret Other Requirements Must have a normal color perceptionMust have normal hearing (see below)72-month obligationMust be a U.S. CitizenMust Meet Criteria for Nuclear Field Enlistment ProgramMust meet test score criteria (no waivers) and other criteria set forth in NAVMILPERSCOMINST 1306.11 (series).Must be high school graduate (GED leid acceptable), and have completed at least one year of algebra with a minimum grade of C. Transcripts (or certified copy) must be filed in service record when enlisted. About the Nuke ET Job and Continued Training Once you finish Nuke school, you will go to your first sea command. Your main job is qualifying.You will qualify to stand duty with the reactor power plant. Taking information (logging) and relaying this information to the officer in charge .Also communicating with the officer in charge of the plant to the people out in the plant doing their job will also be a major part of your first duties as the new guy in the submarine or nuclear-powered ship. Within your first sea tour, you will continue qualifying and reach the major responsibilities of the Reactor Operator (RO) and Shutdown Reactor Operator (SRO).This process can take several months to a year or more, but once you are qualified, you are now able to test or fix any reactor safety-related equipment. The best way to describe the job of the Nuke ET is if something breaks, you cannot take it to the shop to get fixed.The Nuke ET is the shop when you go out to sea.Many Nuke ETs have a strong foundation in the applied engineering field through years of education and training, that easily apply to completing your engineering degree when you decide to go to college after or even during your enlistment. Promotion and Sea / Shore Tours Advancement (vorrcken) opportunity and career progression are directly linked to a ratings manning level (i.e., personnel in undermanned ratings have greater promotion opportunity than those in overmanned ratings). Sea/Shore Rotation for This Rating First Sea Tour 54 monthsFirst Shore Tour 36 monthsSecond Sea Tour 60 monthsSecond Shore Tour 36 monthsThird Sea Tour 36 monthsThird Shore Tour 36monthsFourth Sea Tour 36 monthsForth Shore Tour 36 months Note Sea tours and shore tours for sailors that have completed four sea tours will be 36 months at sea followed by 36 months ashore until retirement.

By 35, you need to have twice your salary saved for retirement

By 35, you need to have twice yur salary saved for retirementBy 35, you need to have twice your salary saved for retirementYour thirties are when you and your friends reach important milestones. There are the big life markers of marriage and kids, but there are also money milestones financial experts say you need to reach to live comfortably.According to financial experts cited by a recent MarketWatch report, you will need a lot of money to be financially secure for your eventual retirement.Hope youve been saving since your nascent twenties because the number listed is not pocket change.Fidelity Investments experts said you need to have a years worth of your salary saved by 30. By 35, that number needs to jump to double your salary.How many of us can save even a years salary?This number produced sticker shock from thirty-somethings on Twitter that questioned how realistic this goal could be.They are not alone in feeling like this goal is insurmountable. Too many of us are just one pa ycheck away from living on the streets.More than half of Americanshave less than $1,000 in savings. Poverty is just one inconvenient life emergency away from throwing our lives into complete upheaval. Approximately 63% of Americans have no emergency savings for a $1,000 emergency room visit or a $500 car repair, one survey found.Looking for an inspiring way to start your day? Sign up forMorning MotivationIts our friendly Facebook robot that will send you a quick note every weekday morning to help you start strong. Sign up here by clicking Get StartedFollowing the heated reaction from social media users, MarketWatch followed up with Fidelity Investment on why they listed that alarmingly high number. They answered that the number is meant to be more of a wake-up call than an exact number you need to reach. Its hard to make up for lost time, Fidelitys senior vice president Jeanne Thompson said.So if you dont have a years worth of your salary saved for rainy days, dont panic. Just start by developing a relationship with your money. Keep track of whats going in and out of checkings account. Notice whats the biggest drain on your money, so you can landsee what can be trimmed. The point is to start saving now, even when the long-term goal seems intimidating.Not everyone can hit this perfect ideal practice but if you can take small steps closer to this guideline - as opposed to farther away - that is good, personal finance blogger Desirae Odjick said. You dont have to go all in to be a perfect example.

What You Need to Know and Do if You Get a Warning at Work

What You Need to Know and Do if You Get a Warning at Work What You Need to Know and Do if You Get a Warning at Work When you receive a warning at work- whether it’s a verbal or written- you should take it very seriously. A warning is a sign that your supervisor is deeply displeased with your work (or, sometimes, your attitude). Typically, warnings ratchet up. First, your boss may informally tell you that there’s a problem. The next step is either a verbal or written warning, both of which are documented. This is a more formal action, and can involve human resources. If the behavior is not addressed, termination of employment is typically the next step after verbal and/or written warnings. Here’s what you need to know about what it means to receive a warning at work, and how to respond when you receive one, whether it’s verbal or written. What It Means to Get a Warning Many people work under “at-will employment,” which means they’re free to resign at any point. It also means the company can also terminate employment for any reason. Still, even when companies have the freedom to terminate an employee without providing a reason, few opt to do so. For one thing, companies can potentially open themselves up to a lawsuit if an employee believes there was discrimination behind the termination. And, perhaps just as importantly, morale throughout a company can suffer if people are let go for no reason. Instead, most companies have a policy in place to govern how poor behavior or work will be dealt with. Often, this is referred to as progressive discipline- the idea is that warnings will escalate from a conversation to verbal or written warnings. For both verbal and written warnings, there is typically a formal meeting and written documentation that is added to your employee folder. Often, both your supervisor and human resources will attend. Warnings are serious business, not to be mistaken with being chewed out by your supervisor. You can think of a warning as an early step in the termination process. If you receive a warning, does it mean you will be fired or let go? Not necessarily. It’s possible you will change your behavior or work in a way that satisfies your manager. Still, it is a very serious action for your manager to take, and one that shows deep dissatisfaction with your performance. Even if you are resolved to rectify any errors and stay with the company, it may be wise to consider updating your resume and LinkedIn and preparing for a job search. How to Respond to a Warning Receiving a warning can feel surprising, devastating, and often unfair. How should you respond? There is no one correct answer, of course, but here are some guidelines to follow: Stay calm: During the meeting to discuss your warning, and afterwards, do your very best to avoid crying, raising your voice, or showing extreme distress. This may, of course, be easier said than done. Take notes: It can help that first goal- keeping calm- to take notes during any meeting about the warning. Also, this will help you remember precisely what was said. Important points to get down are why you are receiving the warning and what actions you can take going forward to rectify the situation. Make your case: Do you disagree with your warning? If you feel comfortable doing so, you can speak up during the meeting to make your case and defend yourself. This is a tricky situation- you want to defend yourself, but not seem defensive. That’s not easy! Avoid getting personal or comparing yourself to other employees in heated tones, which can seem childish. Do defend yourself on the spot if you feel comfortable doing so, but know you can also remain quiet in the moment and give yourself time to assemble your thoughts and respond later. Ask what you can do differently: Before you leave the meeting or sign any acknowledgment of a warning, you’ll want to be sure you understand a) precisely what you did wrong, and b) the correct behavior going forward. Sometimes this can be very straight-forward. For instance, if you are receiving a warning for being late to work 10 times in a one-month period, and your boss says you cannot be late for the next four weeks. Other times, a warning may be about something a bit more nebulous. For example, you may be faulted for having a “bad attitude” or “not being engaged with a project.” In those situations, you’ll want to make sure that a plan is clearly laid out for what would constitute improving in those areas. Follow up with a written rebuttal: Do you feel your warning is unmerited? As well as making a case in your meeting, you can also write a written rebuttal letter. In your letter, you should make a case to defend yourself. For instance, if you were late to work, but you’d requested and received permission to do so, print out those emails from your supervisor. Again, for less clear-cut infractions, defending yourself is trickier. Take some time to reflect: It’s only human to respond to criticism by defending yourself. But do take some time to think about the facts and comments in the warning. Are any of them justified? Consider what you could possibly do differently. Try to figure out if the warning is the last step, or a turnaround point: Sometimes warnings are issued as a way for the employer to protect themselves from a lawsuit prior to a termination. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes, your supervisor or human resources department genuinely believe the situation can be fixed. Do your best to figure out the spirit in which your warning was given. Follow up with your manager: During meetings with your manager, ask for feedback. This will help give you a sense of your next steps. Ideally, youll have concrete goals or steps to improve your work/behavior. Start a job search: Finally, it’s wise to start making moves to kick off your job search. Again, a warning does not necessarily mean you will be terminated. But it is a possibility. Consider networking, reaching out to former co-workers to see if they know of any job openings, updating your resume, and applying to jobs.

Treat your canvas of life as the true work of art it is

Treat your canvas of life as the true work of art it is Treat your canvas of life as the true work of art it is Why do people read poetry? What exactly is it about rhythm and cadence that moves us into deep inner worlds? Better yet, why do Shakespeare’s sonnets sing so loudly so many generations after their initial expression?One answer, according to the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, is that poetry allows us to transcend the boundaries of literal language so that we can explore corners of human consciousness that we all intuitively recognize but don’t quite know how to put into sentences. It connects us to our core sense of truth. A poet sees exactly what both you and I see, but the poet goes a step further?- ?she packages that insight into an expression that momentarily washes away the clouds in front of our eyes.Heidegger spent a lot of time grappling with what it means to think and to be. But after writing his magnum opus Being and Time, perhaps the most influential work of philosophy written in the 20th century, he began to intuit that maybe pure philosophical language wasn’t enough to capture this aspect of the human experience, and his later fascination with art was born from this realization. Poetry, he thought, was the form that came closest to closing this gap between language and experience.One reason literal language struggles to fully capture our lived experience is that, in many ways, life is movement. It flows?- ?dynamically, fluidly?- ?and it does so in a way that can’t be captured by the staticity of conventional words that have specific meanings in relation to other words with specific meanings. You may be able to utter the sentence, “I am going to walk to the kitchen to get a glass of water,” and that sentence may provide you with the utility to communicate what it is you are directing your attention towards, but it misses everything else that occurs in your field of consciousness as you actually get up to grab that glass of water. Adding more sentences may close a few of those gaps, but no matter how many sentences you add, the gap, no matter how small, will always be there. And that last remaining gap?- ?the one that can’t be closed by literal language?- ?is where the core of who we are lives.This final gap has been communicated by various poets in various ways, and it has been labeled different things by different philosophers, but the way I like to think about the gap is that it’s creativity. When you do away with descriptions about what is and what ought to be, you are simply left with a space that expresses itself in a silent, latent way as it moves through you. When you are going to the kitchen to get a glass of water, you are doing that, sure, but you are also expressing your way of being with every step you take, every thing you notice, every object you interact with.A good analogy is that of consciousness as a canvas. It’s an analogy I feel I have borrowed from somewhere without realizing, but ever since it’s stepped into my mind, it’s captured my imagination in an interesting way. When we ar e born, biologically, we may not be a blank slate, but experientially, we are. Our field of consciousness has a direction that it is biased towards, but mostly, we can think of it as a canvas without any paint on it. Objects haven’t yet been fully conceptualized, preferences haven’t yet been fully imprinted, and our idea of a separate self hasn’t yet been fully formed. Eventually, however, with time, this changes. We see more, experience more, interact more, and slowly, we paint this canvas, one color at a time, one shape at a time, until this painting tells a story, a specific story?- ?the story of our lives.It’s this deeply colored story that captures our individual being- ?a thing that can’t be totally captured in literal words?- ?and it’s this individual being that expresses our creativity. Now, this creativity is simply how we connect separate, disparate things in our awareness into something new as we interact with reality. Each time we do anything in the world, so me part of it is unconsciously expressed. The thing to note, however, is that this creativity isn’t always the kind that we should be expressing in certain contexts.Every brush of paint that connects to our canvas of consciousness is really born from an interaction. Whenever you have an experience, there is a broader setting with things, objects, and subjects around you, but what you take away from each experience depends on which of these things, objects, and subjects you notice and interact with, because the interaction is what leaves the imprint, and this imprint is what shapes the future actions, future states, and future movements of an individual being.When we do the work to pick out the right environments, focusing on the right interactions within the experiences of those environments, we create an internal story that works, one that is cohesive and whole?- ?one that is expressed like a work of art. When we are aimless about the interactions we have, we get forced into inte rnal states of disorder?- ?ones that, again, paint the canvas of consciousness but do so in a way that is scattered and messy; broken and inconsistent; creative, sure, but never artistic.When it comes to an individual being, the difference between the expression of artistic creativity and non-artistic creativity is a deep-seated logic or value-system that directs the things they pay attention to within their experience of a setting?- ?the things they choose to absorb as interactions in their attempt to add new colors to their canvas of consciousness; a canvas that they creatively project onto the world through actions.There are some people who when they speak, or when they move, or when they listen, or when they make things, or when they look at you, they do so in a way that hints at a deeper confidence and authenticity, one that begs for an explanation but doesn’t need it, one that is pure even when the impurities beneath show themselves. They have a secret, and it’s a secret t hat reaches beyond superficiality?- ?a secret that, sometimes, they themselves don’t know the content of. But no matter what it is, no matter how it’s expressed, it’s always the result of work and intention, suffering and reconciliation.Such people, once they have done what they need to, they discover a core, and this core is represented in the form of a cohesive painting that has colored their consciousness, a painting which is unconsciously shared with the world every time they do something, whether meaningful or mundane. They choose the interactions within their experiences carefully, and these interactions in turn allow them to express themselves with ease.On some level, this may sound trivial. But if you think about it, it slowly becomes clear that this nuance matters, and it matters because it’s something we all pick up on in ways that go beyond hollow words. Rather, the only words that can describe this sense are words loaded with colors and shapes and sounds and move ments and metaphors. And there is one poem in particular that I think captures this better than most.Few people would put Charles Bukowski’s writing at the level of beauty and abstraction that some people think of when they think of true poetry, and maybe it’s true what they say?- ?that maybe it wasn’t poetry at all. But what he did do better than most was express himself honestly, and without honesty, there is no truth, so even if true poetry was beyond him, poeticism was not. And in spite of his faults, he knew what meant to treat this canvas of consciousness, the thing that we call life, as a work of art. I write about it as a refined, logical expression of creativity. Him? He simply called it style.“Style is the answer to everything. A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous thing To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without it To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call artBullfighting can be an art Boxing can be an art Loving can be an art Opening a can of sardines can be an artNot many have style Not many can keep style I have seen dogs with more style than men, although not many dogs have style. Cats have it with abundance.When Hemingway put his brains to the wall with a shotgun, that was style. Or sometimes people give you style Joan of Arc had style John the Baptist Jesus Socrates Caesar García Lorca.I have met men in jail with style. I have met more men in jail with style than men out of jail. Style is the difference, a way of doing, a way of being done. Six herons standing quietly in a pool of water, or you, naked, walking out of the bathroom without seeing me.”Want to think and live smarter? Zat Rana publishes a free weekly newsletter for 30,000+ readers at  Design Luck.This  article  was originally published on  Design Luck.

Everything you need to know to have perfect timing

Everything you need to know to have perfect timing Everything you need to know to have perfect timing One of the world’s foremost thinkers on business and social science, Daniel Pink is the author of several bestselling books on business, work, and behavior, including most recently, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. He joined Robert Glazer, the host of the Outperform podcast, founder of Acceleration Partners, and author of Performance Partnerships, for a conversation about how to time your life, from the whole year down to the hour.This conversation has been edited and condensed. To listen to Daniel and Robert’s full conversation on the Outperform podcast, click here.Robert: I’m curious - what gave you the drive to write Drive?Daniel: I wrote a book called A Whole New Mind which makes the argument that the set of skills that are necessary in the economy today are shifting from more reductive, SAT spreadsheet kinds of abilities to the less reductive, less algorithmic artistic, empathic, big picture skills. In response to that book, I got a lot of emails from peopl e [asking,] “How do we create organizations that foster these skills, how do we motivate people to do that kind of work?”I didn’t really have a good answer to that question. I knew a little bit of the research on motivation, so I started looking at it. Once I looked at it in a little greater depth, I was just blown away, because what it said really turned on its head a lot of the things that we believed about motivation.Robert: So what is it that business leaders don’t understand about motivation?Daniel: There are number of things. One of them is not understanding the locus of motivation. Many people think that motivation is something that one person does to another, and that’s not right. Motivation is something that people do for themselves- so the task of running organizations, of leading teams, of doing anything where you have responsibility for other people is to put those people into a context in which they can motivate themselves.“Motivation is something that peopl e do for themselves- so the task of running organizations, of leading teams, of doing anything where you have responsibility for other people is to put those people into a context in which they can motivate themselves.”There’s a certain kind of reward we use in organizations. Social psychologists call it a “controlling contingent reward,” [but] I like to call it an “if-then reward.” If you do this, then you get that.50 years of social science tells us that if-then rewards are actually very effective for simple tasks or short time horizons - if you know exactly what you need to do and you can see the finish line.However, the same body of research tells us that if-then rewards simply are not effective for tasks that require more creativity, more conceptual thinking and with longer time horizons. For those kinds of creative tasks, for non-obvious problems, you want to be able to see wider and farther.Robert: Your new book, When, talks about motivating yourself on a day-to- day basis. You talk about the importance of timing both for doing things within a day and across the timing of your life. I thought we’d start [with] beginnings. One of the things I took away is improving morning routines as a way to build capacity and just perform better throughout the day. You talk about chronobiology and [how] that premise may actually not hold true for everyone. Can you explain what chronobiology is and why it’s important for us to understand our chronotype?Daniel: Chronobiology is basically the study of our time-based rhythms. Among the things that chronobiologists have discovered is that each of us has a chronotype. That’s a more complicated word for essentially, “Are you more of a morning person, are you more of an evening person, or are you in between?” Somebody who wakes up early and goes to sleep early is colloquially considered a lark. Someone who wakes up very late and goes to sleep very late is colloquially an owl.What the distribution of chro notypes tells us is that about 15% of the population are strong larks, 20% of the population are strong owls. This means that two thirds of us are in between, and our chronotype actually has a big role in determining how the day unfolds, how our mood and our performance changes over the course of the day.Robert: Talk a little about the three stages in a day, and why it’s important for people to understand the different tasks to do in each stage, based on their chronotype. That was a really interesting discovery for me, particularly the part about when you’re likely to be paroled or not paroled.Daniel: We move through the day in three stages. You can see this in measures of mood. There’s a peak (mood goes up), a trough (mood drops considerably), and a recovery (mood goes back up). 80% of us go through in that order. Owls are much more complicated, and will go through in the reverse order- recovery, trough, peak.During the peak, that’s when we are most vigilant. That makes it the best time for analytic work. That means work that requires heads-down focus, attention, and energy. So that could be writing a report or analyzing data, or something that requires that intense kind of focus, the ability to bat away distractions. We should be doing that kind of work during our peak.During the trough, [there is a] big drop in mood and a big drop in performance. The book is studded with all kinds of data showing how dangerous that trough can be on the road, in a hospital, in classrooms. So during that trough period, we should be doing more of our administrative work, work that doesn’t require a massive amount of brain power- filling out reports or answering a routine email.Then during the recovery, which for most of us is the late afternoon and early evening, we see a rise in mood, but no greater vigilance, which actually makes a potent combination. That makes it a good time for addressing what psychologists call “insight problems.” Those are problems with re ally non-obvious solutions. People tend to solve those problems better during recovery- not during the trough, but during their not-optimal times.Robert: That has major implications for parents and for leaders, because there are some things that we can control what time of day we do them, and there’s others that we can’t. A point you made really strongly was that organizations, particularly schools or companies, [are] so quick to solve a “what” problem, but not a “when” problem. If we knew that smoke in the school building in the morning hurt test scores by 20%, we would fix that in five minutes. But when the data says that waking people up an hour early has the same result, no one seems interested in changing.Daniel: [The] notion that questions of “when” are less important than questions of “what” is empirically not true. Let’s go back to test scores. There’s an important study out of Denmark [comparing] kids who took standardized tests in the afternoon vers us kids who took standardized tests in the morning. Kids who took tests in the afternoon scored as if they missed two weeks of school.There’s [also] research out of the L.A. Unified School District showing the kids who have math in the morning have a higher G.P.A. and higher test scores than kids who have math later in the day. It makes a material difference. I’m not saying that when people do stuff is more important than what people do or how they do it, but it is as important.“I’m not saying that when people do stuff is more important than what people do or how they do it, but it is as important.”Robert: How does timing work on teams or with groups of people, since so much of what we do is reliant on people who may not be the same chronotype as ourselves?Daniel: This case I looked at was [one of a matter of] synchronization. It was [all about,] “How do teams coordinate with each other in time?” I looked at these folks in India called dabbawalas who do something prett y remarkable. They pick up homemade lunches at people’s apartments in Mumbai and then deliver those homemade launches to loved ones in office buildings throughout downtown Mumbai.They deliver 200,000 lunches every day. They do it without errors so much so that FedEx has studied them, UPS has studied them, there’s a Harvard Business School case study about them. They do 200,000 lunches every day at high levels of accuracy and they do it without barcodes, without GPS, without technology of any kind. How are they able to synchronize? That was one of the puzzles that I was trying to solve. It turns out that when you look at how groups synchronize in time, rowing teams, choirs, there is a set of core principles that are somewhat counterintuitive but endlessly interesting.One of the elements to synchronization is a sense of belonging. This is true in a lot of the research on teams that belongingness is a huge factor in which teams flourish and which teams flounder. The way that belong ingness happens is almost anthropological. It’s through shared rituals, it’s through touch.“Belongingness is a huge factor in which teams flourish and which teams flounder.”There’s a study about NCAA basketball players, showing that if you have people watch videos of basketball games, and simply count the touches between players - high fives, low fives, chest bumps, fist bumps - that it actually ends up being predictive of which teams are going to succeed later in the season. But belongingness is fostered with all kinds of things - shared jokes, shared language is incredibly important.Robert: Midpoints [are] often overlooked. There were some studies where when teams were given a certain amount of time, whether that was a day or a week or a month or six months to solve a problem, most of their urgency and cohesion happened right at the midpoint. Can you talk a little more about that?Daniel: This is the research of Connie Gersick, who had an inkling about how teams actual ly operate. The prevailing view, until that time, was that teams start [on a project] and then make steady progress all the way through to the end. What she found was a dramatically different pattern. In the beginning, teams did very, very little. There’s a lot of status seeking and other kinds of behavior like that, but they do very, very little. Invariably she found that that moment when teams really got kicking was the midpoint.Give a team 34 days to do a project, they get started in earnest on day 17. Give a team nine days, they get started in earnest on day five. There’s something about that midpoint that can be galvanizing.Robert: If we turn quickly to the macro sense, you write a lot about the timing of big events in our lives such as getting married, writing a book, starting a business. Does life have sort of the same dynamic as an individual day? Does it follow most of the same principles?Daniel: It doesn’t have the same rhythm as the hidden pattern of a single day bu t there are rhythms and shapes and patterns over lifetimes. One of them has to do with midpoints. There is across many, many countries what scholars call a U-shaped curve of happiness. There’s no evidence of the so-called midlife crisis, but you do see a slight dip. People are reasonably happy in their 20’s and 30’s, they begin to decline in their 40’s and [in] their 50’s, they really reach bottom. And then over time they begin to get happier and happier.There are other patterns dealing with the size of people’s social networks and what they prioritize. The metapoint here is that we have to recognize that these temporal forces have a huge effect in the course of a day, but even in the course of the life, that much of our lives are episodic. Whether it’s a relationship, whether it’s a career, a particular job- episodes have beginnings, middles and ends, and each of those three things - beginnings, middles, and ends - exerts a different effect on our behavior.“Thes e temporal forces have a huge effect in the course of a day, but even in the course of the life, that much of our lives are episodic. Whether it’s a relationship, whether it’s a career, a particular job - episodes have beginnings, middles, and ends and each of those three things - beginnings, middles, and ends - exerts a different effect on our behavior.”Robert: That leads us into endings and how important they are. Two takeaways I had were, if you’re planning a vacation, plan something really good at the end, and it will improve your whole memory of the vacation.Daniel: The endings of any experience are hugely important. There’s so much research on this. Endings help us evaluate and record experiences. There’s research showing that how a person [behaved] in the last year of his life dramatically shapes how people remember the entirety of the life. You can see this anecdotally on Yelp. Go to Yelp reviews of restaurants and look at how many Yelp reviews on restaurants talk about what happened at the end of the meal.Once again, as with the hidden pattern of the day, we’re not aware and intentional about that. I think that organizations can do a much better [job] to really be thoughtful and intentional about having a great end.Robert: From a personal perspective, what is a timing mistake that you’ve made that you learned the most from?Daniel: There are a lot of them. I really changed my ways on a lot of this stuff, so I’m much more deliberate about what work I do and when I do it. There’s a whole chapter in the book about breaks, and I spent 50 years rarely taking breaks, which turns out to be a bad idea.Another mistake I’ve made in the past is how I’ve delivered good news and bad news. If you say to somebody, “I’ve got good news and bad news,” which do you deliver first? I always gave the good news first, to lay down a cushion beforehand so you don’t seem like a total jerk. I was concerned that if you start negative, people wil l just turn off, and they won’t even listen to the rest. It’s also just uncomfortable giving bad news for a lot of us, so you want to ease your way into it.That turned out to be flatly wrong. There’s interesting research out there showing that the vast majority of people, when they’re on the receiving end of good news and bad news, want the bad news first. They want the bad news first and the good news next because it goes back to this one other principle, which is that given a choice, human beings prefer endings that elevate. We prefer rising sequences to declining sequences.Now I’ve completely changed my ways. I’ll give the bad news first, and then the good news.This article first appeared on Heleo.

Tools for Media Professionals

Tools for Media Professionals Tools for Media Professionals