A late August batch of links
Since the most recent batch of links went out, paying subscribers enjoyed a meditation on disruption, then an argument in favor of speaking to strangers at coffee shops. This coming weekend, they’ll receive a reflection about my conscious effort to become a better listener.
Job seekers encounter a ‘brutal and frustrating’ hiring market in e-commerce. “Among the job seekers that Modern Retail spoke with, many of them said that they’ve responded to the challenging job market by trying to network more. But the rub is: these are people who have been in the industry for years who have a lot of connections.” Yeah, but you can build those relationships ahead of needing anything from them, which is the point of networking.
Starbucks’s New Boss Gets an Unusual Perk: Remote Work.
A new loneliness cure: Apps that match you with strangers for a meal. I love this because it’s what apps should be doing, despite long professing that they do. Deeper connections with a smaller number of people is what it’s at - and where apps and algoirthms should assist.
Who exactly is the middle class that JD Vance and Tim Walz are targeting?
Nancy Pelosi Is A Genius At This Controversial Workplace Habit.
And if you want to follow in the lead of skilled political operators like Pelosi, you can’t just rely on softer power tactics like negotiation. You need to be ready to draw a line in certain situations and set ultimatums.
For the Love of Savoring Sandwiches.
The movement to diversify Silicon Valley is crumbling amid attacks on DEI. The way we speak about DEI does a disservice to everyone. I completely get why it’s happened, I just am saddened by how much it has fallen into a binary of Yes/No when it never should have landed there.
After 25 years, I wanted to quit drinking and couldn’t. Here’s how I finally got sober.
Child care and flexibility are key to a successful back-to-school season. “A backup child care benefit can help parents identify a new provider within 24 hours and offer a stipend to cover at least some of the costs that come with needing someone at the last minute. Perkins urges benefit leaders to consider not just the upfront costs that come with child care benefits but also the ROI over time.” Sure, but also I’ve heard of what these costs are to companies that offer it, which makes it cost-prohibitive for most.
Eating dinner at 5 p.m. can improve your life. How to make it work for you.
Why working on holiday could make you worse at your job. I’ll never understand why people do this. But the bets thing about people doing this on occasion is that it winds up being the ‘Enough is enough’ moment for employees to quit, having taken too much abuse from their managers. They should be able to detach and tap out. When they can’t, it raises those red alarms about how they would be treated elsewhere instead.
In August, the city shuts down – and I find myself following suit.
Your boss is not your parent. I don’t believe it serves us well to compare running a business to any other discipline. These are separate enterprises that require different skills and different mindsets. It’s better for us in each discipline to treat them as fresh parts of our daily lives, even if we conduct ourselves in these areas back to back. One doesn’t lend itself nicely to the next, which makes us better at each.
NYC's Rent Surge Drives 86-Year-Old to Move in With a 'Boommate'.
Nothing is requiring employees to be in the office five days a week. Very few companies have announced that they’re back five days a week in the office, so the ones who have moved in that direction get headlines. It won’t always be that way, but I do anticipate that most companies that have adjusted to hybrid will keep it that way, or some version of it.