I have a friend who starts a new job next week. (Congratulations to her, it is a sweet gig. I am jealous.)

This isn’t about her new job, though. It is about her current one.

She is writing a piece for her present employer, and called me up to pick my brain. You see, she wants it to be great, and she is reaching out to people who can give her additional insight and perspective. Several people. It was only in this conversation that I found out something better was coming her way.

There, did you catch it?

• This is not a person who phones it in.
• This is not a person who half-asses it.
• This is not a person who walks away without being proud of her work.

She didn’t realize (but may now) that if I am ever called upon as a reference I have a great story to tell. That she was going extra miles on what would seem to be a rather pedestrian assignment, at a time when others would have been following their feet out the door. Honestly, the piece she is working on is could be little more than padding out the word count. But not for her.

And that is the essence of professionalism.

I don’t always like the way we use the word “invest,” or “investment.” Too often, it is associated with the concept of risk. Conversely, it gets lumped in with reward. Rarely do we look at investing as something that is worth doing with no regard to outcome.

Years ago — many, actually — I spent five dollars on a pencil. It was bundled in with the rest of my books and supplies as I got ready for my first semester of college. (With tax, it was $5.39, which in today’s dollars is an even $11.50.)

As you can imagine, I was met with ridicule from some friends and family members, who wondered if such a purchase was evidence that my scholarships should be revoked. “You’ll lose that thing in a week,” they chided.

I don’t think it was a bad purchase at all, because it wasn’t about the pencil. It was about mindset.

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You know what is good for you.

• Exercise more
• Eat less
• Read more
• Watch less
• Smell roses
• Don’t stress

The disconnect comes when our behavior does not reflect our goals. As it happens, G.I. Joe had it right. Knowing really is half the battle.

This is the real source of discomfort, because it is so hard to run away from. Competing priorities seem to be informed by facts and reason, and in the end get trumped by baser desires. We’re stuck, rationalizing our failures. For some, it’s the little hobgoblin among the facets of our personality that really wanted that candy bar. For others, it’s the equally painful and soul-less realization that we are just a bag of protein-water, and a persistent imbalance of insulin triggered a primal craving.

Maddeningly enough, sometimes it is both, and we can’t resolve that either.

“The fundamental challenge in personal discipline it to align what you Want with what you Want to Want.” – Ike Pigott

So, in the end, you know what is good for you. Or, rather, if you know what is good for you, you’ll know what’s good for you. But that is no guarantee you’ll act on it.

Here is a theory about our sluggish economic recovery:

The old time-frames for bust-to-boom are no longer operative templates.

Recessions used to take a long time to play out, because industries didn’t have the moment-to-moment vertical integration we see now in supply chains.

Inventories that sat idle were not only signs of wasted resources, they were also a buffer that slowed the signals of economic activity.

This is the first downturn of a hyper-connected market. We’re shedding jobs like we never have, because small-to-medium businesses now have access to the relevant data that informs layoffs faster. Those looking at the slope are seeing the same data as before, but compressed in time.

The recovery will not be quite as compressed, because there will be re-organization and slower buildup. Much like how gas prices rocket up, and float down.

The significance of this is that I wrote it nearly three years ago, on Cringely’s blog. Seems like ages ago. [Read more…]