Work-Life Balance, A Myth?

I am creating a series of white papers using the interview questions I used for my book, Tales of People Who Get It. The questions are:

1. Descibe a business challenge that you had and how you resoved it.


2. What lessons did you learn in the process?


3. In your opinion, what's the formula for success?


4. How do you integrate your personal and professional life?


5. What's a major regret that you've had in life?


6. What your favorite quotation and why?


7. Which book have you read that had a profound impact on your life?

I used the raw data from the question on intergrating your personal and professional life as the foundation for Work-Life Balance, A Myth? I completed the white paper today and I will post when it's uploaded.



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Review of Same Words Different Language: How Men and Women Misunderstand Each Other at Work, and What to do About it, by Barbara Annis

Same Words Different Language by gender specialist Barbara Annis is an excellent research based, practical guide on gender communications. The book is suitable for anyone who lives and works with the opposite sex, and who is interested in improving communication with them.
The book talks about how men and women differ in the way they think, communicate, and assimilate information, which in turn leads to misunderstandings in the workplace. The author explains that no one gender is at fault for the misunderstanding, both men and women play an equal role in the misunderstandings.

The book explains the four levels of gender awareness – denial, recognition/awareness, confusion/frustration and partnership/congruence. As you might expect, these stages look very different in men and women. The book includes two questionnaires, one tailored for men and the other for women to help readers identify and understand which stage of awareness they are in.

Same Words Different Language also identifies the five top challenges that men and women experience with the opposite sex; explains blind spots and the different types of behaviour that men and women exhibit; provides many examples on how the same words have different meanings for men and women; and provides strategies and techniques to turn communication breakdowns in the workplace into win-win relationships. The book discusses how misunderstandings help to create conflict and harassment in the workplace.

I recommend this book because it's practical, research based, written clearly and provides solutions that are doable.

Review of Cashing In With Content by David Meerman Scott

Cashing In With Content is a practical book that is filled with useful information and strategies that readers can immediately implement on their websites. The book provides case studies of 20 organizations - some well known and others not so well known – that are using the content on their websites to achieve their goals whether it be to sell products, get donations, subscribe to an ezine or join something. They all use content to drive action. To get people to take action you have to educate and create an experience for them.

Scott suggests that a website should be designed from the perspective of a publisher since you are dealing with content. Before you design a website, you should answer the following questions:

1. Who are my readers?
2. How do I reach them?
3. What are their motivations?
4. What are the problems that I can help them solve?
5. How can I entertain and inform them at the same time?
6. What content will compel them to purchase what I have to offer?

Certain best practices are unique to organizations that use their content to drive action – they start with a comprehensive needs analysis before they launch the website, speak with one voice to create a consistent website personality, dedicate editorial resources to create consistent and informed content, encourage browsing by using appropriate self-select paths, push content to users to pull them back to the website, use global content when they serve a global market.

If you are not getting the results you want with your website, you are sure to get some tips from Cashing In With Content. I recommend it.