Focuses on the training and development needs of admin professionals and features topics such as hard skills (software competencies, writing, communication, filing) and soft skills (teamwork, time management, leadership).
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/945327
MARCH 2018 2 Finding room for curiosity, experimentation Do you play safe with your everyday choices – or do you sometimes reach out for something different? Writing recently in the New York Times, Sendhil Mullainathan, a professor of economics at Harvard, admitted to a habit of drinking two litres of Diet Coke a day. "I'm not proud of the habit," he says, "but I really like the taste of Diet Coke," though he admitted he could save money if he were to try a generic cola. "Like most people, I conduct rela - tively few experiments in my personal life, in both small and big things." In the hiring process, a search for a "good fit" with the organization may favour the status quo (for example, "men or whites or people from eco- nomically or culturally advantaged backgrounds") whereas some experi- mentation "may prove presumptions wrong," suggests Mullainathan. "Experimentation is an act of hu- mility, an acknowledgment that there is simply no way of knowing without trying something different." Contrast the play-it-safe approach to everyday life with the insatiable curiosity of Leonardo da Vinci as described in the new biography by Walter Isaacson. Leonardo made a list every week about things he was curious about, says Isaacson in an online interview with Knowledge@Wharton, an on - line business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. "Why is the sky blue? Do birds' wings flap up faster or down faster when they take off? Describe the tongue of the woodpecker." Approximately 7,200 pages of his notebooks are still in existence. Keeping a notebook was among the top habits of more than 200 "ultra-suc - cessful" people interviewed by Kevin Kruse for his book 15 Secrets Success- ful People Know About Time Manage- ment. The question they were asked: What is your number one secret to productivity? Commenting on what Kruse discovered, Travis Bradberry, co- author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, observed, "Richard Branson has said that he wouldn't have been able to build Virgin without the notebook that he carries wherever he goes." Sometimes just getting through the day with relative equilibrium is an accomplishment. But what happens to all those ideas or questions that may have popped into your head along the way? E D I TO R ' S N OT E George Pearson Administrative Assistant's Update is published once a month by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Director, Media Solutions, Canada: Karen Lorimer Publisher: Todd Humber Editor: George Pearson george@adminupdate.ca Associate Editor: Jennifer Lewington jennifer@adminupdate.ca EDITORIAL OFFICE (519) 271-6000 Administrative Assistant's Update Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. 1 Corporate Plaza, 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 CUSTOMER SERVICE (416) 609-3800 (800) 387-5164 FAX (416) 298-5082 (877) 750-9041 customersupport.legaltaxcanada @tr.com Contents copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission. Brief extracts may be made with due acknowledgement. Annual subscription: $195. Publications Mail Registration No. 40065782 GST# 897176350 UPDATE Administrative Assistant's People who kept notebooks Marilyn Monroe's journals showed her to be "an intellectually ambi- tious, charming and witty individual," writes Michael Jaccarino in Elite Daily, an American online news platform. Kurt Cobain "kept a journal for writing down lyrics and his plans for Nirvana" as well as his reflections on "fame, the state of the music industry and the people who bought his music." Mark Twain filled more than 40 pocket-size notebooks, writing about "his thoughts on religion and politics, potential book ideas and the people he met along the way on his journeys." Memory fades, says Jaccarino, but writing doesn't. "By writing down things that inspire you, you're creating a log of in - spirational sources tailored to you. Whether it is a quote on a poster, a designer piece of furniture, a building or a person, writing it down fuels your engine to keep you going."