[LI] Robots vs managers; BS jobs; organizational stupidity

Three posts on LinkedIn relating to organizational dysfunction: a poll purporting that many people would trust robots over their managers (the poll itself raises some questions); I suggest a diagram situating "BS jobs" outside of "work"; and another take on how organizations get the worst out of us. "Trust a robot, not your manager," by …

[LI] Matching skills & positions; AI copywriter

Items posted on LinkedIn: how organizations match skills and positions, and a successful AI ad writer. I find in these reasons to return, respectively, to the related ideas of "intelligent agents" working for individuals (here as employees in an organization), and AI to handle the repetitive & formulaic writing needed in job seeking. "Why Talented …

Change & continuity in global development

A report published recently by the Brookings Institution entitled "Global development disrupted: Findings from a survey of 93 leaders" (by George Ingram and Kristin M. Lord, March 2019) "reveals a global development sector in transition and perhaps even turmoil." This post will look at how the report uses three specific terms - culture, language, and …

[LI] Peter Principle revisited; If your boss could do your job

Two items posted to LinkedIn, relating to job roles and relationships, with particular attention to the "Peter Principle." "Incompetence Rains, Er, Reigns: What The Peter Principle Means Today," by Rob Asghar, Forbes, 14 August 2014 (posted June 2019) Rereading Lawrence Peter's classic The Peter Principle, & thought I'd share Rob Asghar's summary (Forbes 2014). How …

[LI] “Crap sandwich” ; “too collaborative”?

Two items posted to LinkedIn, relating to communication processes in work and jobs. "Beware of the 'Crap Sandwich,' a Sneaky Managerial Technique for Giving Negative Feedback," by Alison Green, Slate, 22 August 2018 (posted August 2018) Can't remember where I first heard of this technique - prefacing criticism with praise, and then following with praise …

[LI] Key-person risk (2 items)

"Key-person risk" is a concept that attracted my attention for its relationship to the larger issue I see with organizations investing so much power in one person. Two items: "Key Man Risk: The (corporate) danger of over-reliance on one or a few individuals," Schott's Vocab, New York Times, 14 April 2009 (posted September 2018) "Key-man risk" …

Symposium on multilingualism in international organizations & cooperation, 10-11 May 2018

Taking the opportunity again this year to publicize the latest in a series of annual symposia in New York on language issues in international contexts. The last two dealt with language(s) and the Sustainable Development Goals. This year's edition, to be held on 10-11 May 2018, has as its title, "Multilingualism in International Organizations and …