Communication
Sarah Shuel
Change: Alter, Transform and Switch; To Become ...

: to make different in some particular : ALTER

: to make radically different : TRANSFORM

: to make a shift from one to another : SWITCH

: to become different

Ahh yes: “Alter, transform and switch, to become different’’.....these words resonate a lot in FIG’s evolution, we’re excited about a little bit of change (and a little apprehensive if we’re being honest!).

Change: Alter, Transform and Switch; To Become Different
Communication
Sarah Shuel
Technology Addiction: Yes, It's a Thing...

In her Wall Street Journal article: Digital Addictions Are Drowning Us in Dopamine, Dr, Lembke, a Stamford University professor and psychiatrist, talks about the scientific biological effects of addictions to our devices. It’s real folks. This is not FIG banging the drum of putting down our phones or any other technological apparatus and talking or connecting with our fellow human beings. No. This is concrete, physiological, measurable, science based fact that continuously interacting with our high-tech electronic leashes, gaming apparatuses and social media actually, physically, alters our brains to crave more of it, thereby de-incentivising us to engage with others on a human level.

Gasp, shock and awe!

Technology Addiction: Yes, It's a Thing...
Communication
Sarah Shuel
Mistakes: Perfectly Human

Mistakes. We all make them, we’re human beings and by definition 99.9% imperfect (with apologies to those of you who think otherwise), which results in, guess what? Mistakes (we make them hourly at FIG)! That gaffes, miscalculations and oversights are a part of our collective experience on this earth. Why (on earth!) is it so hard to admit to making mistakes, take responsibility for these human aberrations and move on after making a miscalculation or error? Hmmmm?

Mistakes: Perfectly Human
Communication
Sarah Shuel
Habits: The Good, The Bad, and the Intangible

We all have habits - some serve us well and some get in our way…...Google states: “A habit is a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.” Establishing a habit usually takes about two weeks to become routine and is subsequently supported and reinforced by practicing it daily.

Habits: The Good, The Bad, and the Intangible
Communication
Sarah Shuel
Life Happens

Ever had a “Monday” on any day of the week? Ever had your day perfectly planned, scheduled and organized only to have all your intended “to-do’s”: meetings, calls, oh yeah, actual “work,” utterly blown up by an unexpected interruption, complication, interference? Ever had someone insert themselves into your day with their drama, troubles or lack of planning (real or self-inflicted), requiring you to shelve your carefully laid out day(s) and requiring you to stop whatever you’re doing for their fire drill?

Yeah, us too.

Life Happens

generations

The Quest for Perfection; The Downfall of Communication

The Quest for Perfection; The Downfall of Communication

Hello again and happy Thursday!

We’re hoping you had a chance to listen to the conversation we offered last week for your listening pleasure, and thought we’d highlight some of the (we think!) key takeaways from the broadcast. Alex Cullimore, Cristina Amigoni and I examined, in depth, the concepts of meaningful conversation and connection, the fears involved in making us shy away from communicating intentionally, and the tools we have currently at our disposal that facilitate our avoidance - and there are a TON of them! In 2021, we find ourselves in a world, loaded with technology created to help us to facilitate communication more easily and more fluidly, at least conceptually. However we find that the platforms, apps, emails, texting, social media et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, in addition to being convenient and relatively quick and easy, have also had the (we’re sure!) unintended consequence of helping us avoid the, sometimes terrifying, prospect of actually having conversations and allowing us to avoid the very same. Throughout the podcast, I also found myself coming back again and again to the idea of the expectation of perfection.

Perfection, (defined by Dictionary.com as a quality, trait, or feature of the highest degree of excellence), is an impossible standard to strive for, (vastly overstating the obvious, but just sayin’). Perfection is the opposite of the human experience and our authentic selves. Human beings are messy and imperfect, but these are also the traits that make humanity beautiful. This crusade towards perfection is yet another reason we see a breakdown in communication between the five generations and amongst ourselves in the workplace and humans in general. Why is the quest for perfection a piece of this dysfunction? How can we overcome a trend that has slowly been bred by technology into our habits as human beings? We invite you to read on…...

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"Ok Boomer" and "Damn Millennials:" A Generational Dilemma Explored in Audio

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"Ok Boomer" and "Damn Millennials:" A Generational Dilemma Explored in Audio

Recently we’ve tackled the concept of “words we throw around professionally.” We’ve made an effort to disseminate an initial understanding of leadership, relationship culture, etc. Here are a few others we can toss into that mix: “Ok Boomer!” “Damn Millennials!”.

OK, so what’s up with this? What’s up with the vilification of “other” generations? As often repeated, there’s a reason for everything: here are a couple:

Deconstructing Entitlement

Deconstructing Entitlement

Entitlement - it’s a loaded word and one we’d like to highlight as it seems to be thrown around a lot these days, particularly aimed at the younger generations. What exactly does it mean? In business, culturally, and societally?

Dictionary.com defines “entitled” as: “to give (a person or thing) a title, right, or claim to something.”

We’d like to focus this week on what’s “right” and who’s to say what’s right or wrong, particularly in the workforce.

The End of the Alphabet, the Beginning of a New Era: Generation Z

The End of the Alphabet, the Beginning of a New Era: Generation Z

Thank you for joining us on this journey through understanding the different generations. Over the past month or so, we’ve covered four of the five generations currently in the workplace - Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y (Millennials) - and how their respective experiences and cultures influence how they create personal and professional relationships and function in the workplace. With that….we’ve reached our youngest!

Gen X...My People

Gen X...My People

Welcome back to our exploratory series on how each generation functions in the workplace - and why they function that way. So far, we have examined the upbringings, cultural norms, and professional habits of Traditionalists and Baby Boomers. We’ve learned what makes them tick and why they act as they do in professional spaces. Next up...

Generation X. These are my people.

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Millennials: 5 Steps to Make Now to Advance Your Career Faster

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Millennials: 5 Steps to Make Now to Advance Your Career Faster

Today’s professional world is rife with opportunities for entrepreneurs and self-starters to create the life they want if they work hard and leverage their connections. Between the gig economy and the large force of young professionals in the traditional workplace (a combination of Gen X, Gen Y [Millennials], and Gen Z), the way people perceive and achieve professional advancement is changing. However, with the millions of young people entering the workforce today, competition is fierce. Here are 5 steps young professionals can take to differentiate themselves from the competition and move toward quicker advancement, whether climbing a more traditional corporate ladder or pursuing the creation of their own business.

FIG Role Model: Sherry Turkle

FIG Role Model: Sherry Turkle

The “Margaret Mead of digital culture,” Professor Sherry Turkle is an incredibly accomplished person.  She is the Abby Rockefeller Mauzé Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT, and the founding director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self. Because she has been studying people’s interaction with technology since the birth of the earliest personal computers, she is an incredible source of knowledge on the ways we use technology as a social tool and how it affects us as a part of our psychological lives.

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Spring Cleaning: 5 Negative Social Habits to Throw Out Now

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Spring Cleaning: 5 Negative Social Habits to Throw Out Now

We all have our bad habits. We’re human, after all! However, another great part about being human is the fact that we can decide to work on our bad habits and grow out of them. One of the areas in which people have the most bad habits is in social interaction. Here are five of them you can start working on today.

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5 Generations in the Workplace: Who Are They?

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5 Generations in the Workplace: Who Are They?

For the first time ever, there are now 5 unique generations in the workplace. This comes with a vast array of challenges, especially when it comes to communication. These 5 generations are: