Archive | November, 2004

The Struggle of the Moth – Are You Ready to Take Flight?

by on November 9, 2004 in Career, Media

Isaac Cheifetz poses the following question: Can the principles of evolutionary biology be used to guide our careers?

In his article, he compares the “stop and go” path that some middle managers find in their journey to executive management to the evolutionary development theory of Punctuated Equalibrium popularized by Stephen jay Gould. In Gould’s theory, evolution tends to be characterized by long periods of inactivity that are “punctuated” by environmental forces leading to rapid, revolutionary development. Further in the article, Cheifetz clarifies what differentiates punctuated career development from a stagnant career path.

It reminds me of a recent episode of Lost where Locke talks to Charlie about the moth’s transformation and struggle to change. While he could help the moth escape from its cocoon with a slight cut of the knife, he would be doing it a disservice by robbing it of one of nature’s essential lessons. Struggle is what nature imposes in order to make things stronger. Without getting too Darwinian, there seems to be something there about our careers. Sometimes, there are lessons to be gained from struggle and if we give in and move on too quickly, we’ll rob ourselves of those necessary learnings.

When our careers seem like they’re stuck in low gear, maybe we need to be there for a reason. And maybe there is a rapid, revolutionary development on the near horizon if we’re open enough to look for it.

I’m Back – Global Work/Life Comparisons (Not What You Might Think)

by on November 9, 2004 in Career, Life

I’m back after a short hiatus to fancy up the blog design. For those few souls out there who read this blog, any thoughts?

NOP World just launched its Culture Score ™ Index, an interesting statistical survey of work/life balance throughout the world. Not surprisingly, Sweden came out on top as the most “balanced” with China right below it. Also, not surprising are the countries most focused on the “work” end of the equation: Korea, Hong Kong, Turkey, India, and Singapore round out the top five.

What is surprising is the fact that the employed respondents in the US spent more time at “play” (41.7 hours per week) than at “work” (38.3 hours per week). Perhaps I’m not interpreting the data correctly, but this seems to contradict some of the anecdotal data that makes it into our popular culture and media. Are those of us in the States living toward a better way of integrating our various work and personal roles?