ArcaMax

Paul Simon came up with "50 ways to leave your lover." I wish I could say the same when it comes to leaving your loser of a job. Unfortunately, there are only seven ways to leave a job. If you don't like it, don't blame Paul Simon. Blame Harvard.

The distinguished Harvard Business Review -- HBR to its friends -- came up with the seven-ways ...Read more

Who needs privacy? Who needs peace and quiet?

You do, that's who.

But I wouldn't count on getting these needs met any time soon. We live and work in the era of the open office. No walls. No barriers. Nothing between you and your closest co-worker but a steely stare of contempt and an occasional snarl.

If you don't work in an open office ...Read more

The famous business consultant Alexander, Lord Tennyson said it best: "In the spring a young manager's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of happy hours."

It's true! Seeing the weather warm up and the direct reports freeze up, even the dimmest bulb of a manager realizes that their loyal team wants to frolic like butterflies and, while they're ...Read more

Be honest, now: What's so bad about meetings?

There must be something, right?

Whether the meeting is a brainstorming session, status update or an executive spiel on the company's flimsy future, even the best employees do not look forward to being called into a conference room.

As for the worst employees -- and yes, I'm talking thee and me -...Read more

You don't get to be the editor of the "Smarter Living" section of The New York Times without a great resume and a lot of talent. (You also don't get to be editor with a sketchy resume and a smidgen of talent. I tried and look where I wound up.)

It's a surprise to read that the current editor, Tim Herrera, boasts that one of his "proudest ...Read more

I don't like to brag, but I am very busy. I am busy doing nothing, but it still counts. In fact, being busy doing nothing counts a lot more than being busy doing something.

If you doubt me, ask Olga Mecking.

Mecking is the author of "The Case for Doing Nothing," a recent article published in The New York Times.

The basic premise is that ...Read more

I love Kaizen. Everyone loves Kaizen. That only leaves one question -- what the heck is Kaizen?

Is Kaizen that hot new word game where you have to see how many words you can make using only six letters of the Mongolian alphabet? Is it an ancient martial arts discipline in which you train mind and body to face danger and then run like hell? Or ...Read more

Good news! It's not too late to save 2019.

Yes, your New Year's resolutions have been smashed. Your hopes and dreams have been dashed. Still, there is enough 2019 left to turn it around. All you have to do is read Anne Fisher's hopeful post on the Fortune website.

"5 Career Moves You'll (Probably) Make in 2019" is the title of the piece, and...Read more

Oopsy! I almost made a big mistake.

I signed on to glassdoor.com. Glassdoor is a company that rates other companies. The idea is that anonymous reviews from anonymous reviewers will warn off good job seekers from accepting bad jobs.

I am suspicious of online reviews. It's how I got myself trapped into watching six seasons of "Here Comes ...Read more

Interesting discussion at the Flat Earth Society last night.

Not only did our ruling overlords withhold the indisputable fact that the Earth is not round, but the powers that be have also kept from us the undeniable truth that the first human beings on our (flat) Earth were born in 1981.

Or so it seems.

1981 is the year generally accepted ...Read more

Just because your slacker mentality and fundamental lack of ability makes you a terrible employee doesn't mean there isn't another job waiting for you -- a job that comes with the bloated paycheck and all the scrumptious perks you deserve.

The name for this job is "manager."

That's right! Your failure as an employee and an itsy-bitsy dose of...Read more

Ten minutes.

That's all it took for you to figure out that your brand-new job was a real stinker.

And you had so much hope.

How much time had you spent hating your old job? How many job sites had you clicked on? How many interviews had you gone on?

Too many, that's how many.

But it finally paid off. They say there's an ass for every seat, ...Read more

Why's everybody always pickin' on me?

Those immortal words are from "Charlie Brown," the 1959 hit song by the Coasters, who are pretty darn immortal themselves.

In 2019, it isn't high school rebels who get picked on. According to Anna Goldfarb in her New York Times article, "The Right Way to Ask, 'Can I Pick Your Brain?'" it's "experienced ...Read more