Intuit Women’s Network Presents Nora Denzel - The Top Ten Ways Women Shoot Themselves in the Foot in the Workplace
Not sure these only apply to women!
1. You control your own P.R. – Every time you talk to someone it is like a press release.
2. Aim high – have lofty goals and let people know what they are. You will get a lot of feedback that will help you refine your goals.
3. Lighten up and separate (work from non-work)
4. Learn how to ask – If there is something you want don’t be afraid to ask for it (men do this all the time)
5. Kill Miss Congeniality
6. Act as if – How would someone confident act… Even if you are unsure act as if you are not.
7. Feel comfortable with being uncomfortable – when you are uncomfortable you are learning. When you feel comfortable you are no longer learning.
8. Learn how to embrace criticism – Listen to the feedback, ask clarifying questions, and thank them. The next day thank them again and ask more questions.
9. You make the rules
10. Remember what you are judged on – You are judged on your results
beautiful LED clothing
Most LED clothing is giant, cumbersome and looks like you should go to a rave. The work of Mary Huang appears to be elegant and really utilizes light in an interesting and appropriate way. Now, if we could get them to use the light to truly enhance the silhouette (tastefully!) then we would have some world changing pieces!
inspiring blog - the road less travelled
http://thelifelesstraveled.com/ - a great set of articles on how people have created their own businesses. real people - living their dreams - reminds me of jumpup.
abandoned ;)
i was waiting for my dear friend wesley to blog, but to no avail. she is far stronger willed than i! :) so here goes! i don’t know if i do this more than others, but i am (once again) re-evaluating my career. it seems this happens every 2 years now. maybe it is because as i get older it feels like doors are shutting or i am somehow pretty invested in this path and maybe regretting it? who knows.
as a designer, i have decided that i am sitting smack dab in the middle between art and business. nothing new - it used to be between art and engineering. however, in my old age i have realized that the real power to control the destiny of great design is in business.
i have a theory that great designers are either on the super artsy side or the business side, but in the middle is never any good for making huge, game-altering changes. the middle is the place of compromise and mediocrity. so the time comes in my life where i believe i need to decide - do i get my MBA or my MFA? which way should i swing?
inspirational flash pieces
for your afternoon enjoyment, here is a list of 9 wonderful flash animations to check out. many of these you have probably seen before, but it is nice to be reminded! 
I love the Drum Machine one - be sure your sound is on!
if only i had thought of this…
A Swedish artist sent a box containing a
GPS unit and a data recorder around the world with hundreds of stops at
carefully prearranged places. The GPS recording, printed out with a
plotter, forms an image of a person. The biggest drawing in the world project!
veil of innocence lifted - women unlimited
i have been doing a year long program since november called “women unlimited - lead“. it has been a life changing experience for me. i didn’t know anything about it going in, i just did it because i thought i might learn something. i recognized how much i needed to learn about business and influence in order for good designs to really live. unfortunately my veil of innocence has been lifted. i am no longer content to focus on my project alone and just do the best designs out there and get pissed when marketing doesn’t work, or business decides to move in a different direction, or engineering gets cut, etc. i have this unbelievable need to ‘get into the engine’ of the train rather than laying on the tracks when bad user experiences happen. and now this need is extending even before the train has even left the station.
just two years ago i perceived all the stuff i am learning now as politics and an unnecessary evil that i could be above and ignore. the less i heard about the things going on outside of the product itself the better. each day i find myself spending less time on actually pushing pixels on a page, now i am in big meetings trying to ‘influence’. i don’t know if i like it, but i do know i can’t turn back now. i feel deeply that it is my responsibility when the best user experience doesn’t go out even if it has nothing to do with the product itself.
serious play is seriously tiring! :)
it was a fantastic conference, but clearly something different this year. one colleague, kenneth from design continuum, said it very well - two years ago was many external ah-hahs, this year it was far more internal and personal. indeed, there was a lot of food for thought. there was also a lot more grey haired men there this year, which definitely means the conference has arrived. 
i believe this also contributed to the feeling that there was a lot more networking going on this year than two years ago, but that could have just been a change in me.
more great new things:
- the architects who spoke this year (elizabeth diller and petra blaisse) were MUCH better than last time. they had profoundly new ways of approaching problems and their egos were in check. i distinctly remembering how cliche the architect they had two years ago felt.
- actually, almost everyone’s egos were in check - the speakers felt (for the most part of course!) very authentic and approachable this year. most of them hung out and attended the conference too
- robert lang (origami guy), michael curry (puppet master), jamy ian swiss - all great surprises that were fun! jamy said was that it is easy to be the magician at a conference like this because people don’t expect much of you, so they are always wowed. while there is some truth to that, i must say i could have listened to all of them for much longer. people grumbled that curry went on too long, but i was inspired.
- a nice play by play blog (unfortunately it is chronologically backwards)
was better last time:
- surprise appearance by isaac mizrahi!
- better schwag - a timbuk2 messenger bag among many other great stuff!
- the speakers on software/web were pretty miserable, made me sad for my industry
- john hockenberry - while amazing, he was even more amazing last time! he was clearly working on too little sleep and his sharp whit and insightful questions weren’t there.
mixed feelings:
- the studios were an awesome idea, but there were still some profound kinks in them like poor space planning, hard to hear the presenter, too many people
- ok, gotta say something bad about someone. i was seriously disappointed in the talk by aimee mullins - she rambled a lot and was clearly very focused on her modelling and herself more than on design. in about 10 years i think she will be a very good speaker, but she needs to get past her focus on self and start universalizing her learnings.
- david maccaulay - what can i say, when you have such high regard for someone it is easy to be disappointed. what was great - i had lunch with him and asked a million questions, spent three hours critiquing illustrations together, it was amazing! what was distappointing- well, he is a huge introvert and didn’t have a lot of profoundly deep things to say. he was very matter of fact about everything and unemotional for the most part. e.g. when i asked about how he decides to do new projects he made some reference to looking at his checkbook. he is also married for a second time to one of his students, i think that was the straw that broke my back. i guess i love that he didn’t hide it at all, but i am not sure i wanted to know that!
Exercise 3: Counter Arguments
You can call it your inner critic, superego, gremlin, or, my personal favorite - the devil. But no matter what you call it, we all know that voice in our head that tells us (like nobody else can!) that we completely suck.
In psych jargon a chunk of this nasty self-talk is called a “negative formulation.” Here’s a trick for getting around it.
Exercise 3: Counter Arguments
- Become alert to your “negative formulations.”
- Write one down.
- Then write a counter argument. Not a simple Pollyanna retort. Just keep working on it until you find an opposing statement that feels true.
Recently, I asked a friend of mine who leads creativity seminars if she could recommend any books or sources on the creative process, and the proper mental state for each phase. Like, at which point you should be open and blue sky, and at which point it was okay to bring in the filters and start editing stuff down, and how to toggle back and forth between the two states successfully. And how this played out individually, and also when collaborating with a group.
And what’d she come back with? This same dang exercise! In this case, as interpreted by a woman named Byron Katie. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.
Exercise 2: Small Moments of Happiness
This exercise is quite simple.
Exercise 2: Small Moments of Happiness
- Notice your moments of authentic happiness. Petting the cat, a moment of peace on a plane ride, any little moment when you catch yourself, unexpectedly, happy.
A nifty side effect: If you start each day with the intention to notice what brings you joy, you will experience more joy in your life.
Why it works…
Evolution played a funny trick on our minds: Negative experiences are “louder” apparently, because once-upon-a-time, humans that were hyper-alert to danger had an increased chance of survival. So being a bit nervy and skittish was a great thing (which would make Woody Allen the apotheosis of human evolution, I guess.)
In modern society, this can translate into a nasty case of anxiety and stress. Our “danger bell” goes off constantly, but the flood of adrenaline isn’t released through the old fight or flight mechanisms. So we just stew in all those yummy stress chemicals. Yay!
Practices like Yoga, meditation, and cardio exercise definitely help release some of this energy. But another nifty trick is to simply re-train your brain’s focus. With a conscious intention to focus on the good stuff, you can turn up the volume on “happy” in your mind.
At least, that’s the theory Now if I could only remember to actually *do* it on a regular basis…
wendyspies
wesleyhallparker
tspyz
