Print versus digital: Which is better?

This looks like a topic that will keep pundits employed for quite a while. Via Education Advisory Board, report concluded digital may be fine for short, to the point material, but print was better for longer, more complex material. One question not answered is whether those characteristics of digital and print were inherent in the medium or whether writers could  adjust their writing styles to take advantage of digital media.

Let's assume a couple of points:

The report's conclusions are correct for now.

Points in the report:

• "…students said print is aesthetically more pleasing, that it gives them a sense of place in the text, strains their eyes less, and doesn't encourage multitasking as much as digital texts do."
• "…they enjoyed digital reading because it's easier to read in the dark, saves paper, allows them to multitask, and makes it easier to find 'quick information.'"

My experience:

• I didn't sense  difference between print and digital for materials with a strong narrative flow. Novels and biographies come to mind.
• I have found printed materials more useful for having a feel for the scope of the piece. Non-fiction like professional and academic books come to mind. It's much easier to flip back to the table contents and other locations to have a feel where the particular section fits in the overall item.
• So far, print has it over digital for marginalia. While digital books like Amazon's Kindle format make it possible to highlight, digital books don't allow for marginalia. Some people like to sketch diagrams of what they read. I like to mark up the page so it looks more like an outline that helps me keep everything in context.
• Unrelated to the topic at hand but important to writers: print makes it possible for authors and readers to interact in a personal way. For example, authors are happy to autograph books for their readers.

In spite of it all, I have been making the switch to digital reading.

• I have moved a lot, and all those book boxes are heavy.
• Print requires much more shelf space. I've gotten rid of many, many books because I've had no room.
• I like having my library with me at all times. For example, I'll read at the airport while waiting for my plane and also during the flight, and I can switch to another book easily if I want to.

How to replicate marginalia with digital books? When reading on a desktop computer or tablet, I open Microsoft OneNote and use it to outline, doodle, etc. OneNote has great organizing features that allow me to track with chapters and sections. If I'm reading a print book, I can even take a photo of an interesting page and save it in OneNote.

Calling and intuition

Via Business Insider, intuition can be a help in making decisions quickly. How can you develop your intuition? One way to do it is to have a strong sense of calling.  Let's talk about calling first.

In Conversations About Calling (hardcover, paperback, Kindle), Valerie Myers defined calling as a "transcendent and generative ethical system that seeks to produce 'good work' - ethical and increasingly excellent results." In other works, your calling drives you to accomplish great and noble things. That means calling integrates the different dimensions of your life under a common theme.

Calling as a system that produces good work means you have framework for decision-making. The system part means you have a worldview that helps you make sense of what you experience and what the world should look like when you produce that good work. When you have a framework, decision-making becomes more intuitive because you already have some boundaries and criteria that have become an automatic part of thinking.  

The old value-add?

Back in the day, I always heard the term "value-add," as the kind of extra a seller threw in to show the product or service was worth the price being asked. An article argues those small extras appeal to Millennials, especially in the beauty markets. Other popular spending categories included cell phones and Uber rides.

Points:

• A proxy for the Fountain of Youth? "...American consumers are transfixed on youth (something makeup can provide)."

• Small things give a big feeling? "...spending money on makeup can feel like a 'small indulgence.'"

• Goliath beaten by a bunch of Davids? "...while department stores used to be a key destination for beauty many of the mainstream players have been outsmarted by specialists."
• All about the experience? "...they [specialty stores] sell experiences - something millennials love."

Enthusiasts will say Millennials have transcended material desires, so little things will suffice. Cynics may say Millennials go for this because they can't afford larger luxuries due to overly high expectations collide with student debt and underemployment.

I'm not sure either one is the only reason.  Called engagement marketing, the approach of getting consumers to participate with the brand has been spreading among sellers. Agencies specialize in creating experiences that lead to buyer engagement. Maybe the observation about Millennials is one manifestation of that approach.

Validating people

Via Business Insider, this little video is about what to give fathers on Fathers Day. The psychologist challenges viewers to not give gifts. Instead, give validation. For example, thank Dad for being there when you needed him.

Come to think of it, this could apply to what we can do for other people. We can validate our colleagues at work, our other family members at home, and our neighbors in the community.

What does it take besides saying something nice? It takes understanding of what the person does to have an impact in order to find the right words to say. For example, at work, we can say, "Thank you for stepping up and doing that particular task. There was no else to do it, and it got us through this particular part of the project." Notice how the thanks is tied to a specific act.

We can also validate people for what they've done over time. A friend told a story about an old Little League coach of his who was impressed when my friend's father thanked the coach for taking the time to spend with the boys on that team. The coach said most parents complained, but my friend's father was one of the few who recognized the value of what the coach was doing.

Happy Father's Day.

Thriving in an automated workplace

Via McKinsey, a core workplace issue is how to thrive in an automated workplace. It's pretty optimistic. Some background the article provided:

• Occupations won't be automated out of existence in the near term. But up to 45% of activities will become fully automated, leading to job redefinition.

• Benefits of automating activities is 3-10 times the cost.

• Fewer than 5% of occupations will be fully automated by current technology, but 60% of occupations can automate at least 30% of activities.

• Paradoxically, activities in high-wage occupations (e.g., 20% of a CEO's activities) can also be automated, but certain lower-wage occupations can't be easily automated, e.g., home health aides, landscapers, maintenance workers.

• What sets humans apart, so they say, is creativity and emotional intelligence. However, only 4% of activities require creativity, and 29% require emotional intelligence.

What does this mean for the future?

• Jobs need to be redefined to absorb automation of activities.
• New job forms can engage people in more creative and innovative activities.

Other thoughts: Christians in the workplace have an additional opportunity. Determining and pursuing God's calling can't be automated. A calling creates a vision of an end state, and reaching that end state requires creativity, innovation, and integration. Those areas are still the province of humans.

Adjunct blues

Via a friend on Facebook and The Guardian:

…as an adjunct professor, whether teaching undergraduate or law-school courses, I make much less than a pet-sitter earns.

Click the link to see more: I am an adjunct professor who teaches five classes. I earn less than a pet-sitter | Lee Hall | Comment is free | The Guardian

Points:

• “I receive no benefits, no office, no phone or stipend for the basic communication demands of teaching.”
• “Some writers have discussed adjuncts waiting tables or bagging groceries alongside their students as though it’s the ultimate degradation. I see things differently. I’m trained by the people who deliver parcels, serve meals and bag groceries and who might, any day, apply to take my courses. I am their equal, and I know it at a level most established faculty members do not.”
• “Faculty members do not even interact with each other as equals. Most adjuncts aren’t included in regular faculty meetings, let alone conferences where ideas are exchanged and explored.”

Some thoughts: I am an adjunct as well. However, I lost interest in becoming a faculty member after spending time in the workforce. I discovered the same rewards in terms of developing people and making the world a better place.

• I'm an adjunct for the purpose of investing myself in people's futures. I used to think the same way as the writer until I learned how to regard other forms of work as bringing value to this world.
• The essay's tone gives the impression of dismissing pet-sitting, for example, as if it's of less worth. I'm probably taking it wrong because the writer doesn't elaborate much on the significance of his statement about seeing those who wait tables as equals.
• My impression is the writer might want to help us recalibrate our attitude toward work. Pet-sitting provides value to the dogs' owners as do other occupations that don't seem as exalted as faculty positions. I think Mike Rowe would agree.
• The book Shopcraft as Soulcraft has similar observations. All work is noble. For those who put stock in the Good Book, work came before the Fall, so it's of God.
• There are fields where teachers’ skills are useful, but if the writer absolutely has to teach (I couldn't tell if he was an attorney or just a law degree holder), becoming a trainer can be a less stressful and more rewarding path. I know trainers to make at least $1000 per day to teach a 3 day course, and they don't have to grade papers.
• Talent development (the latest buzzword for training and development) can be a rewarding path. Penn has even tailored an Ed.D. for that career path.
• I think there really are alternatives the writer may have overlooked that would give him self-actualization and fiscal rewards.
• I get that a focus of the essay is on benefits and fair wages for adjuncts, but I doubt that would ever come to pass given today's economics of higher education.
• The real service to adjuncts may, therefore, need to include help in identifying how their skills can apply in different career paths.

Calling

School has started for our kids. Soon enough, they’ll understand that learning never stops. Speaking of continually learning, I came across an article about frontline leaders needing leadership skills. The main points were these:

• Managers are important to organizations but lack leadership skills.
• More seriously, 12% of respondents to a survey felt their organizations invested enough in developing them.

The article mentions the changing demographics of frontline managers, older ones making way for Millennials. However, the point that struck me was the importance of taking “a broader view of their own work, as well as the work of the team.” This means skills beyond doing the job in front of you.
The article mentions several critical skills, but one missing skill may be the most important: translating one’s work into a sense of calling. The skills mentioned in the article (I’m not mentioning them here so you can do the article’s author the courtesy of a visit to that page) are functional. Translating one’s work into a sense of calling requires a higher order skill. Why is that important?
First, let’s define calling. Michael Novak said in Business as a Calling: Work and the Examined Life, “A career in business is not only a morally serious vocation but a morally noble one.” I heard an insurance executive say his company wasn’t selling insurance. It was providing protection for families against the kind of loss that disrupts lives and breaks dreams. The actress, Shannen Doherty, recently said her management team let her insurance lapse, putting her at serious risk in the face of catastrophic illness. More than just selling commodities, business people like that insurance executive have the potential to do good through their work.
Calling is a way to focus on the greater good you can do through your work. Relate what you do at work to what Michael Novak says:

• “…fulfilling something you were meant to do.”
• “…a sense of having uncovered our personal destiny.”
• “…a sense of having been able to contribute something worthwhile to the common public life.”
• “…something we were good at and something we enjoyed.”

What must you learn to get to that point? What skill is needed to translate what you do at work into a better understanding of your calling? Think about cultivating the ability to have a vision. Vision is what you believe the world will look like as a result of pursuing your calling. Continually refining that vision will help you understand your calling more clearly.
How can you refine your vision? One way is to engage in reflective practice. Reflective practice involves thinking deeply about your experiences to gain a clearer understanding of your work and how it relates to your life. Here are some ideas from my own experience:

• Keep a journal. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It can be collections of articles on topics that help you think and reflect. Modern software like Evernote and OneNote and bookmarking sites like Diigo and Delicious make it easy to collect and annotate those articles.
• Consult with others. Friends, family, and mentors know you well. Using them as sounding boards can shed light on things you may not have noticed or considered before.
• Read books. Besides absorbing writing skills by reading well-written books, following a story or argument through the length of a book will spark your imagination.
• Turn off the radio during your commute. The quiet of your car can help you reflect.
• Keep a voice recording with you. I discovered that Dragon Naturally Speaking has a speech-to-text capability and can turn what you record into text you can use for notes. In that quiet car, you’ll surprise yourself with how much you record.
• Invest in leadership training. It doesn’t have to be only degree programs. Solid leadership training through classroom and online certificate programs will serve you well.

Your calling is a powerful force. Discovering that calling by refining a personal vision through reflective practice will help you lift your eyes above the horizon to see the greater good you’re doing through your job.