Five professional lessons from Pulp Fiction
Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction is an American neo-noir film chock full of crime, drugs, twisting, and jiving. It’s hip, happening and, while it dates back to 1994, there are plenty of professional lessons scattered between Vincent Vega’s (freaky) stabbing of Mia...
Three Negotiation Tactics I Learned from Toddlers
My son is two years old and he is fast becoming a competent negotiator. Well, not really. But he does try really hard, his logic is pretty funny, and kids are adorable and we can learn a lot from them. Every day I negotiate peoples’ work plans, budgets, partnerships,...
Six Professional Game Changers from Improv
I’m part of a team that is delivering a big piece of work using agile methodology, which I’ve written about before. With our project moving and changing so quickly we find ourselves reacting to new circumstances and having to improvise on the spot a lot. So it made...
Nanotechnology Secures Community
Aside from being just a downright cool indication of human innovation and, quite possibly, a hopeful idea about the future of the planet, I really love the biomimicry of this invention. The company’s Nano-Optic Technology for Enhanced Security (NOtES) product stems from an idea originating in the purest form of nature – insects using colorful markings to identify themselves. Sometimes animals just have the best ideas. Human communities learning from ecosystems within our natural environment is a true reflection of how inventors like Clint might just be able to save our planet. No pressure though…
Who’s better at fighting crime – Superman or Visa?
In the US, the crime rate is down. Significantly. While crime had once soared sharply in the late 1960s and early 1970s (does anyone remember the days of the "crack epidemic"), it has since declined steeply since 1993. The marked change in a trend that has an...
The Office Holiday Party
Over the next two weeks, communities of working people (and many of their cajoled spouses and partners) will be participating in (hopefully) festive holiday parties. Egg nog will flow, budgets will shrink and awkward dancing will ensue. I love parties. Approximately...
Matt Charleton
Who are you? I'm a 20-something internet enthusiast, former professional kickboxer (0-1) and loud sock-wearer. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure who I am as I hardly recognize myself since shaving my Movember moustache this morning. What do you do for fun? Funny...
Finding a Job is Just Like Dating – Part 2
Recently, friend and colleague Kimberley Rawes and I delivered the first chapter of a two-part series on Your Career as Dating. It was an amazing experience and positive reviews, speaking offers and various other accolades continue to roll in. So, after reading the first part of this two-part series, you have used a fantastic pickup line to get a date (or maybe more) and have been offered an exclusive relationship. So what should you do next?
Buying into your first community
Buying a home for the first time is a particularly intimidating prospect. But it’s also one that gives you a good opportunity to evaluate your priorities. Is it to have a lot of space (two bathrooms + den)? How about scenery? Are you looking for somewhere in a hip and...
20-Minute Neighbourhoods
So, I just finished my UBC Continuing Studies class in Sustainability and Transformational Leadership. Last week, teammates Heidi, Roger and I created a consulting firm - 20:15 (we present the concept of "20-Minute Neighbourhoods" in 15 minutes) - and delivered a...
The Noble and Underappreciated Career Practitioners
Yesterday I participated in the Annual Planning Meeting for The Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC). And during some brief down time I shared a quotes/concepts from Alain de Botton's The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work with on of my...
Professional Starcraft
On a small YouTube screen I am watching a Starcraft 2 game featuring TheLittleOne vs Sen. It is Game 2 of a multi-game tournament. Play by play casting is being provided by HD Starcraft, a young Korean American Starcraft fanatic based in the Westcoast of the US. HD...
Port Metro Vancouver: More than Meets the Eye
Everyday more than a dozen 180 metre-long freighters sit at anchor around the corner in English Bay, waiting for their turn to pick up a a 50,000 ton-load and steam it in under 3 weeks across the Pacific to disgorge at Shanghai and Huangpo before chugging back for more.