360 Degree Self

As someone who wrote for my high school newspaper, witnessing the decline of the newspaper in the United States has been disturbing. Chicago is one of the few major cities that still has two daily newspapers. But with all of the forced retirements and buyouts of its journalists and columnists, the quality has declined substantially. However, I still feel that newspapers are important and offer its readers (and citizens of towns everywhere) an important check against corruption in government and business. With the recent deaths of Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson and Billy Mays and the demonstrations in Iran, social media has quickly emerged as an important tool for news distribution. I've heard many discussions about many people first hearing of Michael Jackson's death on Twitter before it was confirmed on the news. While I learned about Michael Jackson from my local radio station, I learned about the death of Billy Mays on Twitter from an unlikely source: @michaelianblack , a comed...

I was perusing the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly when I stumbled upon a quick writeup on actress Amy Adams who is listed as a "must sizzling star." She has a movie coming out later this summer called Julia & Julia which costars Meryl Streep. In the piece she reveals, "When I am in a hard scene, I always go, 'What would Meryl do?' Whether she's there or not, she is my invisible mentor." This brings to mind an exercise that I first read about in Michael Michalko's Thinkertoys . This "Board of Directors" exercise involves several steps: 1. Select three to five people you admire. Although Michalko specifically mentions business movers and shakers, they could include writers, artists, athletes or even family members. 2. Get photos of your Board and pin them on your wall. 3. Research your heroes. This means reading their biography, autobiography, news clips, quotes, etc. 4. Take notes. Look for ways your heroes overcame an obstacle ...

Thanks to new blog buddy Michael Plishka at ZenStorming , I was made aware of another DIY learning opportunity...The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has posted free lecture notes, exams and videos on its MIT OpenCourseware site . Some of these courses include architecture, engineering, science and technology, management and the humanities. I have only begun to poke through all of the courses, however one has attracted my attention: Dynamic Leadership: Using Improvisation in Business check it out here . Having taken a year's worth of improvisation classes a decade ago, I am aware of the magic of improvisational theater. In many ways, improv is not about theater or trying to make people laugh. It is a philosophy, a way to approach life. I plan to explore this topic in future posts, so stay tuned. In any case, the key word involved in do-it-yourself learning is do. Sometimes, I am better at accumulating books than I am at reading and applying the ideas in them. I am worki...

A few weeks ago I went to a small, local storefront theater in my neighborhood and saw a play. For more than a year, I have passed this theater on my way to work and had been meaning to check out a show there. Personally, one of my favorite things about living in Chicago is the small storefront theaters. Yes, Wicked and Jersey Boys will attract many more tourists into the city, but my heart is with the small theaters. I've had many memorable experiences seeing small productions of some great plays. Ironically enough, I can even remember seeing Camus' The Stranger in a small church not far from Wrigley Field. The theater in my neighborhood had two rows of seats, approximately 30 total, and wasn't more than twenty feet from the front of the stage. Unfortunately the turnout was sparse and there were only about eight of us. Before the show, I spoke with a woman selling tickets at the door and she indicated that the theater was doing fairly well, but the last two productions ...

Nothing says summertime in Chicago like the Chicago Blues Festival. The 2009 Festival did not feature as many big names as last year when B.B. King headlined, but delivered all the goods that blues fans were looking for. I was able to attend two days of the festival this year and here are a few highlights in pictures. With the recent death of the Queen of the Blues, the 2009 Blues Fest started out on a somber note. A tribute board was created in her honor... By late in the day Sunday, the board was filled up... One of the highlights included guitar legend David Honeyboy Edwards singing "Sweet Home Chicago on the Mississippi Juke Joint stage on Sunday afternoon... Another of the highlights included Big Jack Johnson who played the mainstage in the evening and the Mississippi Juke Joint Stage (pictured below) in the afternoon. As you can see, Big Jack Johnson wears some big yellow shoes... Inevitably, every year I'm blown away by a blues musician that I've never heard be...

As I continue on my job search, one thing that I've been seeing a lot of in job descriptions is the old "MBA preferred, but not required" line. As someone with a Bachelors Degree who is interested in furthering my education, I have wrestled with the thought of getting my Masters Degree or an MBA. I even went as far as attending an MBA fair a few years ago. But the thing that has stopped me from proceeding is not desire, but money. According to Forbes Magazine, the cost for an average two-year MBA program is approximately $100,000. In his book Small is the New Big , Seth Godin makes a case for not attending business school and getting an MBA. Of the three reasons to go to business school, "the third (and least important reason) to go to business school is to actually learn something. And this is where traditional business schools really fail. The core curriculum at business schools is as close to irrelevant as you can imagine. If you and I were trying to create a seri...

There are a lot of people out there who find networking to be a difficult and uncomfortable task. At times, it can feel like a combination of speed dating, ego stroking, auditioning and interviewing. While I have never been a master networker, I feel I am improving at this important skill. A couple weeks ago, I attended a networking seminar and attended two networking events, but I broke a big networking rule: I did not have any business cards to pass out. While I would never recommend anyone to network without business cards (let me tell you, I felt naked without them), sometimes its better to just do it than use it as an excuse to not attend. I don’t regret attending these events without my business cards for one moment because I met some very interesting people and learned some important things. For instance, I learned that you can order “free” business cards from VistaPrint or very professional-looking cards from Staples for a minimal price that will be ready for pickup in four h...