One of the things I realized after discussions with various people at Brainstorm is that we, as a society, are consuming more television and more movies, we are playing more games, we are reading a lot more, and entertaining ourselves more on the computer via social networking sites and the like. While this is a fascinating fact, the question I have is: Where is that extra time coming from? Is it coming from family time, relationship time, sleep deprivation, less hours working though we spend more hours at work, or is it coming from multitasking? When I ask people this, the answer I generally get is that it’s coming from multitasking. So my question then becomes: what kind of experienc...

As we continue to watch our careers and tap into this absolute mushrooming of social interactive media such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, one of the thoughts I had is that the vast majority of people are simply like sheep in this environment—they are followers or passive readers, who are simply watching events unfold like they would be watching a movie or a TV show. The question is, how can you use these various social interactive media to enhance your career, to improve your service if you are in the service industry, improve your sales if you are in the sales industry, or help you find a job if you are looking for one? Some of the lessons I’ve learned while observing this...

Watching my daughters and other people in their twenties interact, I see that the majority of these interactions take place via electronic media such as twittering, Facebook, texting and chat rooms. These individuals need to understand that there is nothing that can replace meeting people and engaging them on a one-on-one or personal basis. Remember that there is a million years worth of genetic hardwiring in us as social animals which dictates the way we interact with our peers and other human beings. Five years of social media cannot overcome a million years worth of genetic code. So no matter how much you use these media, remember that nothing beats meeting a person live, face-to-face and...

The unemployment rate continues to climb. Now approaching 10% in the US, it is also increasing across Asia-Pacific and Europe. Numerous training programs have been set up in the US to help job-seeking people re-equip themselves for a new line of work after being laid off. Based on what I’ve seen and read (here’s a link to an article in the NY Times), these programs are not very helpful unless you already have a strong foundation in education. So, one of the lessons I’m hoping the recession is teaching us is that those of us in a position to acquire more education should definitely take advantage of it, especially those who have recently embarked on their careers, where the ...

Clearly, the macroeconomic conditions have begun to improve. Most economists are talking about global growth definitely becoming a part of the 4th quarter of this year, if not the 3rd quarter. Next year could reach 2% global growth, and most economists are predicting that it could hit the long-term mean of 3%. There is, however, a very high degree of concern about the fact that unemployment continues to climb around the world, and in the U.S. it should hit double digits soon, seeing that it’s already at nine and a half percent. While we do see that unemployment is increasing, an interesting phenomenon taking place is that temp staffing hours are starting to flatten or climb a little bi...