A Completist Life

Posted on 2011/12/132011/12/15 by Jason Hensel

I’m a completist. I don’t know why. I don’t know when it started. All I know is that when I find something that I enjoy, and it appears in a series, I have to complete it.

My latest obsession is with New York Review Books (NYRB) Classics. I read one (Stoner by John Williams), loved it, and decided to see what else was in the series. I’d find one at Half Price Books (“Oh, this looks interesting, too!), buy it, and put it next to the previous one. This process repeated itself until now, where I find myself wanting (daresay, needing) to collect the whole series.

I know this is crazy. I won’t read every single book immediately or even like all the ones I read. But that’s not the point, which is to complete the collection.

I’ve done the same thing with the Best American Series (Short Stories, Travel, Science and Nature, Essays, Non-required Reading, Poetry) and the O. Henry series. Have I read any one volume of those all the way through? You can safely bet no. There was even a time I collected all the Shakespeare plays in individual volumes by a certain publisher because I liked the woodcuts used on the covers. This is ridiculous because I have many copies of his plays in anthologies scattered throughout the house. Do I really need four copies of Hamlet? Apparently, the answer is yes.

The completist in me is not something new. I collected baseball cards, coins, stamps, records, etc. when I was younger. I never saw it before as a problem, which makes worrying about it now kind of crazy.

The cliched saying is that if you know you’re crazy, then you’re not crazy. Then what am I? Perhaps being a completist is a type of crazy that’s more accepted in society, or at least it was. Hoarders has spoiled that game. Now when I bring a new NYRB book home because it’s part of “the collection,” my plus-one rolls her eyes, silently saying cuckoo cuckoo.

Or maybe I’m obsessing too much on the obsessing. I should focus on the pleasure I get from these books beautifully aligned on my shelf, knowing they are ready for me when I’m ready for them. I should obsess on the knowledge that I have a lifetime of reading ahead of me.

And I will, just as soon as I finish completing this collection.

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Nay-sayers Be Nay-saying

Posted on 2011/11/282011/11/28 by Jason Hensel

I’m usually a positive person. I like to think that I’m really open-minded and flexible. But lately, I’ve been experiencing a case of the nay-says, for myself and in my relationships with others.

I’ve been trying to figure out why this has started. Perhaps it’s because I experience a lot of nay-saying from others, and it’s just rubbed off on me. How many times must your ideas be nay-sayed before you just preemptively nay-say them yourself?

It’s debilitating. It creates a negative cycle that’s difficult to escape. I guess I can take comfort in the fact that I’m noticing it, but that doesn’t make it go away when it’s delivered from others.

After a quick Google search, I found several articles about how to deal with nay-sayers. Basically, I should stay away from them. But when you can’t, what do you do? Don’t let it get to you? Tried that; still trying that.

I think the best thing to do is to remain positive, offer positive rebuttals to the nay-sayers. It’s a fierce struggle, but if you stick with it, your positive attitude will prevail.

For example, when offering up something new at work, the conversation could go like this:

Positive You: I found a great thing that we can add to our system that will increase productivity, streamline our workflow and it’s free.

Nay-sayer: It doesn’t fit our strategy, and it won’t make us any money.

Positive You: This would be a great time, then, to discuss our strategy, especially if it’s one that doesn’t allow for greater productivity with free products.

Granted, the nay-sayer could counter with even more nay-saying. Just keep lobbing positive laser beams at that person. Eventually, you’ll win.

Or go down in a blaze of glory. There I go again, nay-saying myself.

(Photo via Flickr: Ahd Photography / Creative Commons)

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Why Engagement Matters

Posted on 2011/11/012011/11/02 by Jason Hensel

National Novel Writing Month is in November. I tried it once. I didn’t succeed. Writing more than 1,666 words a day is hard, especially if you have an editing and writing job. After a day’s work, I just want to come home and do anything but write or read for a few hours. Then by the time I want to write, it’s time for The Daily Show. Can’t miss that! Then it’s The Colbert Report. Have to watch that, too! Oh, look, it’s 11 p.m. What’s on Facebook? A few hours later, it’s time for bed. National Novel Writing Month, I hardly knew you.

There’s another national writing project that happens each month, though. It’s National Blog Posting Month. Writing a blog post a day seems totally doable, primarily because there’s no word count requirement or need for a complete story. If I want to write about banshees one day and then write about the dangers of electricity the next, as Bobby Brown would say, that’s my prerogative. It just takes engagement on my end.

Engagement, however, is difficult. A recent Gallup poll found that 71 percent of U.S. workers were “‘not engaged’ or ‘actively disengaged’ in their work, meaning they are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces and are less likely to be productive.”

And who are these less engaged workers that are bringing down production? They’re primarily college educated, men, and between the ages of 30 and 64. Oh dear, I’m in my prime disengagement period.

A perceived lack of progress or the fear of layoffs are two of the main reasons employees are less engaged in their work. Leaders, though, can mitigate the lack of engagement, according to Gallup:

Every manager can play a role in engaging workers by clarifying expectations, getting employees what they need to do their work, giving workers recognition when they do good work, encouraging employee development, helping workers connect to the broader purpose of the organization, and frequently measuring and discussing progress. The managers and departments within organizations that do these things are more likely to produce high-quality work and help their organizations grow and improve the wellbeing of their workforce.

Now while I believe a lot of workplace issues are due to mismanagement and poor communication from leaders, they shouldn’t solely take the blame. Employees should communicate with their employers about what’s bothering them. They should have honest conversations, without fear of retribution, about an organization’s direction and their role in that direction. Unfortunately, there’s usually a huge highway between employers and employees.

The Gallup poll says that employees younger than 30 or older than 65 are more engaged. That raises the question: Are these age groups just happily employed due to economic conditions?

Increasing engaged workers could spur job growth, according to the Gallup report. But maybe people don’t care about things such as job growth, seats at the table, and money anymore. Maybe 30- to 64-year-old, non-engaged worker concerns are about other things, such as time, family, and spiritual matters. Maybe to them, work is just work, so why be engaged in it? Get in, get enough money, and get out as soon as you can in time to enjoy the rest of your life. If that is your plan, then maybe being more engaged will get you there sooner. Or maybe not. Maybe you’re more engaged in throwing a Frisbee with friends every afternoon.

What I’m saying is choose your focus. Figure out what you ultimately want in life and do it. Maybe it’s working hard every day. Maybe it’s writing a daily blog post. Whatever it is, figure it out for yourself and be engaged in it, because there’s nothing worse in this world than a life half lived.

(Photo via Flickr: drinksmachine / Creative Commons)

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Review: The Chairs are Where the People Go

Posted on 2011/10/192011/10/20 by Jason Hensel

I work in the meeting and event industry. And one of the things that attracts me most to this field is group dynamics and learning. I love figuring out why people get together to exchange ideas, what ways best foster interaction, and how all of this can make us better humans.

Misha Glouberman loves it, too.

Glouberman, a Toronto-based event planner and facilitator, is also a thinker, a ponderer. His book, The Chairs are Where the People Go: How to Live, Work, and Play in the City, is an exploration of his opinions on a variety of topics. Primarily, though, they focus on interactions and how best to nurture them.

The book is co-written with his friend, Sheila Heti, who originally set out to write a fiction book based on Glouberman. She didn’t get too far into it, because she realized that a fictionalized Misha is no match for the real deal. She decided she would ask him his thoughts about several topics and transcribe verbatim (some of you grammarians may squirm a bit).

Examples of these mini-essays include: “Conferences Should be an Exhilarating Experience,” “Don’t Pretend There’s No Leader,” and “Sitting Down and Listening as a Role.” Each topic analysis is strictly Glouberman’s opinion. This isn’t balanced, journalistic reporting. And that’s what makes this book enjoyable and interesting.

For, you see, Misha Glouberman is a modern-day Montaigne. His thoughts are never settled. He leaves himself room to let alternatives enter into view. And that’s the book’s main theme: Think of others. Learn from them. Entertain other viewpoints.

“It’s easy to underestimate the fact that other people have had similar problems to yours and that you can learn from their experiences–and learn from people who’ve spent lots of time thinking about certain problems,” he tells Heti in the chapter titled, “A Decision is a Thing You Make.”

Glouberman’s thinking about certain problems will cause you to think, as well. And for me, that’s the sign of a great book.

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I Won’t Hold Your Hand

Posted on 2011/09/272011/09/30 by Jason Hensel

One of blogging’s cardinal rules is to always to let a reader know the importance of an entry, to tie content together. For example, if I work in the dog-walking industry and I post an entry on our company’s official blog about, let’s say, NASA, then I should state up front why it’s important you read the blog entry and how it’s relevant to you in the dog-walking industry.

I’d like to respectfully disagree with that nonsense. You’re not a baby. You’re an intelligent reader who knows how to make connections between topics. There’s no need for me to hold your hand when you’re reading.

Think about it. Wait. That’s exactly what this content-tying rule is helping you not do. It takes away thought. It takes away the opportunity for readers to do some of the work themselves. Reading is a partnership between the writer and the reader. The content-tying rule negates that partnership.

“Oh, but people don’t have time to read much nowadays, so you need to tell them why what they’re reading is important,” I can hear you say. You know what? If they don’t have time to read and think, then I don’t want them reading my writing. I write for readers who are thinkers (this is not to suggest that I write esoteric things). I write for people who don’t need to be hand-held and overtly pointed out things. I write for people who take responsibility for their reading.

My stance is not a popular one in this day of quick reads and SEO needs. But I’m not in it for that. I’m in it for the long haul. I’m in it to get you to think for yourself.

What kind of reader are you?

(Photo credit: close to spectacular / creative commons)

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Changing the World Through Yourself

Posted on 2011/09/222011/09/27 by Jason Hensel

I was originally going to write about a recent survey result showing that women use social networking more than men. In my research on the story, though, I came across another study that I found more interesting.

According to a Walden University and Harris Interactive survey, “more than nine in 10 (92 percent) Americans have taken action to engage in positive social change in the past year and that more than three-fourths (77 percent) say it is important to them personally to be involved in social change.”

The Social Change Impact Report’s “results show that Americans have a strong belief in their own power to effect change with nearly nine in 10 adults (85 percent) agreeing that they can make the world a better place by their actions. Fifty-two percent say they are most likely to personally get involved in social change in the future as individuals acting on their own or in informal groups.”

The 2,148 U.S. adults surveyed believe that the top social change issues are education, health, and poverty. They also believe that technology enhances social change by making it easier to follow news and increasing awareness. Finally, they feel that the best way to impact change is to begin at the local level.

This survey interested me because lately I’ve been trying to impact change in various aspects of my life, some successfully, some not so successfully. Really, the ultimate local level is yourself. You can have the biggest ideas for change in the world, but sometimes it’s yourself that needs to change before larger changes can occur.

I can totally hear in my head Gandi’s quote now, as I’m sure you can: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Personally, some changes I need to work on are learning better persuasion skills and becoming more accepting of the process of letting go.

We all have ideas and changes for the world. But before they happen, what are some of the changes you’re working on for yourself? What are your small changes that will lead to larger changes?

(Photo credit: love2dreamfish / creative commons)

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