fun
Our family has been enjoying 3D printing as a 2025 adventure, which has been fun. I took our older kids to a 3D printing conference (https://3dprintopia.com/), after a friend mentioned it (he runs HueForge). Our older kids were excited to see the creations people made. Santa generously brought
lessons-learned
When you're asking for help (e.g., looking for career advice, asking for recommendations/referrals for a new job, asking to borrow something from a friend), make it as easy as you can for them to help you. For example: * If you're looking for a new
data
To become better at visually communicating (e.g., creating diagrams for technical documents, facilitating a meeting with a whiteboard or digital whiteboard), you should expose yourself to many different people visually communicate. This allows you to build a mental library of visual concepts you can use. Some examples: * Lucidchart has
lessons-learned
While we live in an era of impressive Generative AI capabilities regarding graphics (ChatGPT and other GenAIs have some capabilities here and Napkin looks impressive regarding diagram creation), my recommendation when you're trying to think through a conceptual graphic is still to use PowerPoint to explore different diagram
lessons-learned
Way back when Netflix would mail you DVDs (I'm sure my children have no idea what a DVD is), there was a research study (Mixing Virtue and Vice: Combining the Immediacy Effect and the Diversication Heuristic) that illustrated procrastination well -- people had to select movies to watch,
leadership
I used to have a star employee, who I, and other senior leaders, kept adding more and more to his plate, but he was such a strong performer -- he ensured things were done well, and on time. I used to half-jokingly comment that he was a victim of his
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
ChatGPT, the Generative AI platform, recently (late February 2025) moved their Deep Research capability down from their $200/month plan to their $20/month a plan. While you should always be wary of what Large Language Models (LLMs) tell you, verifying what they say (to avoid looking bad for being
leadership
New leaders often struggle in holding people, especially when they were recently peers, accountable to perform at a certain level. This is especially hard in organizations that don't have clearly defined success criteria for a role or specific leader. As a new leader, it's important to
leadership
The idea that bad news doesn't age well is likely obvious to everyone -- if you're a parent, you want your kids to share the failed test ASAP, and not a month later. "Bad news isn't wine. It does not enhance with age&
life
I recently listened to a Tim Ferriss podcast, where he discussed the parenting approach/concepts of Sovereign Child with Naval Ravikant and Aaron Stupple. It was quite a provocative set of ideas -- the core of the approach is to treat children like little adults, giving them significant autonomy to
leadership
Veteran Institute for Procurement (VIP) is a great organization that teaches leadership, management, and Government Contracting best practices to Veteran-owned small business leaders. They are a great organization helping Veteran entrepeneurs, and I always enjoy supporting their great mission. I attended a VIP course way back in 2010 (on behalf
books
My kids are still young, so I have a few more years before I'll be recommending adult-level non-fiction, but I was thinking recently about what books will be at the top of my list to recommend to my kids. My current list of top recommendations for them are: