Tag Archives: Communications

In search of life’s secret manual

Want to find that secret manual that tells you how to behave in all situations, overcome life’s challenges, reach your potential, and connect with those around you? I spent years looking for such a manual, one that I was convinced … Continue reading

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Class Offerings

Over the years, I’ve developed a number of short courses on a variety of topics concerning workplace efficiency, effective management, and leadership. Lately, I have expanded the content and realized there may be a larger audience for all of this … Continue reading

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Recognizing our anxieties

I was mowing my lawn the other day, lost in my own thoughts as I usually am when mowing the lawn, when I saw someone I didn’t know walking by.  I saw him watching me and I found myself thinking … Continue reading

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Who are you?

Who are you, if not your job or profession?  I asked myself this question recently, and didn’t have an immediate answer.  It’s easy to say I am an astronomer, or I am my job title, but what am I besides … Continue reading

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Learning from an amygdala hijack

Last week I was hijacked. By my amygdala. I should have known better. I do know better. But last week, I didn’t prevent it when I could have and boom – I was hijacked by my amygdala.  An amygdala hijack … Continue reading

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The role of social media in astronomy

I’ve been pondering what role social media should play in an observatory’s outreach and marketing efforts. If you exist and serve customers, people expect you to have a web site. These days, they also expect you to have a social … Continue reading

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Is being “busy” a good thing?

Ask people from Gemini how they’re doing and the response you’ll most often hear is “Busy”.  This response begs the question: Are we really busier than other observatories, or do we just like to think we are?  I suspect it’s … Continue reading

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Resource Management: Focus on the workers, not the managers.

Inspired by the Norm Smith talk I recently heard (see previous post), I purchased his book Got Progress? and highly recommend it. I now have words to describe some of the unease I’ve been feeling about my workplace’s current project … Continue reading

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