I often say that I have some of my best ideas when I am talking something over. The act of communicating my feelings and thoughts about a topic help to trigger other, new thoughts. I know that when I am prevented from talking to with people — due to a heavy work schedule or other commitments — my thinking suffers.

Perhaps you could put together a regular meeting of some like-mined folks to help you think some new thoughts, too, or help you better understand a topic you are all learning for the first time.

Do you have a “study” group or just an informal gathering of folks on a regular basis? Tell us about it in the comments.

Continue Your Education the Easy Way by Finding a Discussion Buddy

Sometimes the act of learning something new can be a bit difficult on your own. You can read all the books or articles you want, but it doesn’t always sink in completely. Productivity blog Pick the Brain has a really simple solution borrowed directly from the education system: find a study buddy to talk it out with.

Read the entire article

Thinking of working with an intern? Check out this great overview.

My first and most important rule is…pay them something, anything! It really makes a difference.

Only slightly less important, second, the intern MUST learn something immediately useful to them once they return to school or to the job market.

Treat your interns as you would like your children treated if they were interns somewhere. Think of yourself as a teacher who is getting some assistance from a student, not simply someone to answer the phone.

How to Legally Work With an Intern

School is coming to an end for another year, and many students will be participating in internships for the summer. An internship can be a real win-win situation—the hirer (you) gets low cost or even free help while the intern gains valuable work experience.

I did a number of internships in my college days. I’ve also managed interns in my professional days. When I worked for a small, post production company in Boston, we had an intern in our office every day of the week. They helped us with tasks such as blacking out tapes, burning DVDs and videotapes for our clients, assisted in shooting projects, and brought a great, young energy into the office.

What did they get out of it? They got to use state-of-the-art professional shooting and editing equipment for free. Many of these students couldn’t even get their hands on stuff this awesome at their colleges. Plus, they were encouraged to create their own projects when the equipment was free, which happened often since we were such a small shop.

Read the entire article at FreelanceSwitch.com

** Looking for a job? Visit Jobs.WelchWrite.com for a host of job listings in your area of expertise. Search by keyword and geographic region.

Here are my favorite shared career items for April 2012.

• Seth’s Blog: The coalition of No
• Become a better person by keeping a journal
• Skip the Counteroffer When Resigning a Job to Make a Graceful Exit
• Huntsy Keeps Track of Jobs You Want and Simplifies the Application Process
• Seth’s Blog: The end of the diva paradox
• How 3 Mashable Readers Landed Jobs Via Social Media
• How Can I Recharge My Depleted Motivation?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I have been listening to the Killer Innovations podcast since the beginning. Phil McKinney, former VP of Technology for Hewlett-Packard, is an expert on innovation and his podcasts always illuminate the thorniest innovation problems.

After listening to this episode — Fighting The Corporate Anitbodies — I had to pass it on to you. This podcast comes from McKinney’s  new book, Beyond the Obvious, which includes many of the ideas he has discussed in his podcast over the years.

When we are trying to innovate, there are many different types of corporate “antibodies” that use their tried and true methods to prevent that innovation from happening. McKinney gives us some methods for counteracting these antibodies and, hopefully, move our innovations forward.

I hope you enjoy this podcast. Please share your comments and questions in the comments area. I think this is a great topic of conversation for career builders of all types.

Fighting the Corporate Antibodies by Phil McKinney

The antagonist of the innovator is the corporate antibody.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Much like antibodies in our immune system attack and destroy foreign objects that might harm the body, “antibodies” in your organization identify and neutralize forces that threaten to destabilize a company. And in much the same way as antibodies can damage the very thing they seek to protect — for instance when they cause the body to reject a transplanted organ — corporate antibodies can stunt a company’s growth (and not address the innovators dilemma) when the shut down the fresh ideas and unconventional thinkers it so badly needs.

Some of the types of corporate antibodies are:

• The Ego Antibody

• The Fatigued Antibody

• The No-Risk Antibody

• The Comfort Antibody

Antibodies are the roadblock to innovation.

So how do you fight the corporate antibodies? Listen to the podcast …

Note: This podcast presents the highlights from Chapter 3 from the book, Beyond The Obvious.

I came across this very interesting blog post and discussion thread today on Google+.

Here is the original blog post that started the conversation.

ROBBIE ABED’S PERSONAL BLOG: Fire Me Now, I beg you!

In every situation I ask myself two questions:

• What do I want the outcome of this situation to be
• What do I secretly want the outcome of this situation to be

For example, at one of my previous jobs, my boss setup an emergency meeting in her office. The title of the calendar invite was “catch up”. It was one of those vague meeting titles that meant one of two things: 1) She wanted to catch up or 2) She was going to lay me off.

Read the entire article here

More importantly, here is a great discussion thread on Hacker News that that blog post generated.

YCombinator: Hacker News Discussion Board

There are some great thoughtful and insightful comments there, including…

This is actually a great mental exercise for determining if you’re fundamentally unhappy at your current job. Just try and imagine your boss calling into a meeting like the one the OP describes and giving you some sort of, “your work has been good, but unfortunately we have to make some changes, and this will be your last day” speech, and imagine how you would feel.If your reaction is something along the lines of relief, then you are fundamentally unhappy at your job. You have not only concluded that it is not a good situation, but that the situation is incapable of improving. It’s likely only artificial mental restraints keep you from doing anything about it (“oh man I may have to move, moving is annoying… and I guess I get paid pretty well, most of my friends are making half what I do… and my boss said some things would change, although he said that months ago…”) and those restraints aren’t even that strong, otherwise you wouldn’t be relieved if you got laid off.

It is very worthwhile to look through this thread no matter where you are in your current job.

I stopped by the weekly #beonfire Twitter chat this evening for the first time and stepped into a discussion about tenacity and persistence. Here are some highlights from my comments during the chat.

• As with all things, you have to balance tenacity and persistence with thinking or you can try harder at the wrong thing.
• @Pistachio Yes, we all have cycles in our energy level. You have to know where you are a the moment and how to proceed
• @ShellyKramer Anything you learn from is NOT a failure, even if you close/abandon that particular project.
• @BSchuler I think true failure is rare, but re-aligning is very, very common. We adjust with each step we take.
• @Pistachio Important to understand that certain projects go “fallow” for periods of time, then come back. Not really dead.
• I think more people are stopped by fear of failure then failure itself, so important to get people moving in any way.
• Really tenacity is using inertia in our favor. Letting small movements carry us along — Object in motion staying in motion
• @npersona Tenacity and persistence is about Intelligent thinking about WHY you are being tenacious and persistent. Stubbornness is ego driven.
• For me, the difference is am I doing for what I want to accomplish or because my ego is over-involved in some way. Ego = big problem
• For me, this is why I work with/collaborate with others. Doing something with/for others helps with the ego.
• @Pistachio Sometimes, you just have to kick yourself on the butt and realize you are being destructive in  your stubbornness. i.e.
• @Pistachio when we “take our ball and go home” unless people do it exactly our way. THAT is EGO with a Capital E
• What drives me? Others. I have often said that I do my best work when I am working for something that helps others as well as myself
• @ShellyKramer Yes. Everbody wins or no go. Winning at the expense of others, knowingly and actively is BAD JUJU.
• What will I be more tenacious about? Working hard to spread word about my career unconferences and finding more backing. Fund raising is NOT my strong suit.

A complete transcript of this #beonfire Twitter can can be found on their web page.

Bullying is such an embedded part of most officesl that it seems almost impossible to get it out. I think it would be a rare person who hasn’t experienced workplace bullying by the peers or managers at some point.

The only way to remove it, though, is to stand up to it, but in an environment where everyone is already scared for their job, it is almost impossible.

While leaving a job may resolve the problem for the individual, those they leave behind and those that follow them into the company are bound to suffer the same treatment

Via Jason ON on his Google+ Profile

When bullies go to work: The hidden epidemic of workplace mistreatment affects over a third of workers — and is hurting us all

BY MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS 

My friend Dennis* remembers the exact moment he knew he’d had enough. Enough of the “nonstop nagging and ostracizing and accusing” that had become his weekday routine. He was standing on the platform of the subway station at Union Square, leaning out toward the tracks to see if the train was approaching. “And I thought, if I don’t pull back, if I stay here like this, so many problems will be solved.”

Dennis’ tormenter? Not a schoolyard thug shaking him down for lunch money, but a high-ranking executive in one of the largest financial institutions in the country. When the mean kids of your childhood grow up, they don’t all evolve into self-aware, contrite adults. Sometimes, they just move from the playground to the corner office.

Read the entire article

I think I can assume that nearly all of us have faced a bad boss in the past. The good bosses I have had stand out because they were/are so rare.

Sadly, most of the methods listed in this article are fraught with career danger. That is NOT how it should be. You should not have to risk your job to try and make your work — and your company — better.

Each time we let something like this pass, we only make it worse for the next person. The average worker has so little power to effect change without risking their career though. It shouldn’t be that way, but most companies aren’t interested in solving the problem — only in making it go away and firing the worker that complains is often the easiest way.

Situations like this make me wonder how some companies stay in business at all. Imagine how productive they might be if they could resolve some of these issues.

Your Boss Is Bad For You: Why Bad Bosses Infect Your Life and What You Can Do to Stop Them

Those of us who have had to deal with annoying or aggravating bosses know how it’s tough to shake it off at the end of the day, but a new study explains why it’s so hard, and why so many of us suck at it and wind up bringing our stress home—where it doesn’t just hurt you: It hurts your family, your friends, and your other relationships. Let’s look at the study and talk about some ways you can learn to check your bad boss at the office door when you leave work.

Read the entire article from Lifehacker.com

Mitch Krayton of Krayton Seminars (and co-chair of CareerCampSCV and others)  shared this Forbes article with me today. I would definitely put some credence to these 3 rules.

Yes, there might be other specific issue involved in a particular job, but if you can’t get beyond these 3 rules then I don’t think you’ll get the job.

Forbes: Top Executive Recruiters Agree There Are Only Three True Job Interview Questions

[…]

The only three true job interview questions are:

1.  Can you do the job?

2.  Will you love the job?

3.  Can we tolerate working with you?

[…]

Cornerstone International Group CEO, Bill Guy emphasizes the changing nature of motivation,

…younger employees do not wish to get paid merely for working hard—just the reverse: they will work hard because they enjoy their environment and the challenges associated with their work…. Executives who embrace this new management style are attracting and retaining better employees.

Read the entire article for more great information

I am working my way through this program on entrepreneurship and think that you might find it it useful, too. It delves into the basic concepts and concerns of being an entrepreneur and might just give  you some ideas on how you might create your own business.

I believe that entrepreneurship is one of the driving factors of careers today, regardless of whether you are working for yourself or within a traditional corporate environment. You have to DO for yourself as much as you DO for your company or you risk being left out in the cold when the company no longer needs you or your skills. Don’t be caught off-guard. Start thinking like and entrepreneur today!

The new entrepreneurs by The Open University

Course Description

Whether you’re thinking of starting your own business, looking to improve one you already own, or are simply interested in understanding more about how the business world works, this learning pathway is a storehouse of ideas, techniques and real-life stories to inspire and inform.

It includes resources to help you assess and evaluate an idea using comprehensive, practical techniques, and explore a range of business types – from home-workers and ‘mompreneurs’, to family businesses, social enterprises and ‘lifestyle’ entrepreneurs. It also looks at entrepreneurial psychology. What are the qualities you need to succeed? What are the downsides to being your own boss, and how can you prepare for them?