Here is Employ Me Now!’s latest list of smart people worth learning about. Find out about career competencies, happiness at work and how to get curious.
Dr Heather Carpenter: Career Management – Turning the Top Tips into Competencies
Dr Carpenter spoke at an Otago CDANZ evening and talked about the new Career Maze – Your Career Management Guide, which is a practical guide for people entering the work force. It clearly defines competencies on how to get a job – the Boomers in the world will be pleased to know that there are boxes to tick that say things like a) I am on time and b) I don’t use my phone while talking to people. As an added bonus I bought Heather’s book Your 21st Century Career which is both informative and readable (not often the case in careers guidance literature).
Nic Marks is a statistician and well-being researcher. He also founded the Centre for Well-being and was a co-creator of the Happy Planet Index (the new economics foundation). Nic confirms that what happens at work matters – the majority of people feel under-used, under-valued and unexcited about work. He used the story of James Watt striving for the perfect steam engine as an example of why feedback is so important.
By improving Newcomb’s invention, Watts created a steam engine where the same amount of coal produced three times as much power. ‘The Governor’ – a valve that opened or closed in response to the amount of steam generated created “dynamic equilibrium” a.k.a instant feedback. Nic explained that managers need to do the same thing. Employees need real time, self-regulating feedback that allows them to make small course corrections so they can stay on track and do well at work. The big Ah Ha being that the ratio of positive to constructive feedback needs to be somewhere between 3 positive – 1 constructive comment, and 8 positive -1 constructive comments, which is definitely something to aspire to.
Becoming a mad scientist with your life: Todd Kashdan at TEDxUtrecht
Todd Kashdan is a clinical psychologist and pioneering researcher who has studied curiosity, resilience and happiness. He is also a Professor of Psychology George Mason University. I heard him speak during the Happiness and its Causes conference and went to his workshop. Both presentations provided some clarity around how people can manage their emotions.
Todd explained why we need to be careful about defining our personality traits in absolute terms…I am “x”. An extrovert can be introverted in certain contexts. Rather than labeling our default positions, we are better off focusing on how and why we are reacting to our environment.
Put simply, if we define our emotions, it is easier to deal with what we are feeling and how we react to them. Todd encourages people to turn up the curiosity dial while turning down the anxiety dial allowing us to create space between our emotions and reactions. So obvious, yet so hard to put into practice!
Which brings me to the end of my list of smart people worth learning about for this month, look out for next months post and if you have any suggestions please contact sarah@employmenow.co.nz.