Rothacker Reviews

#Trust30: Today

Today is an opportunity to put another brick in the wall.

Today's prompt.

#Trust30: 15 Minutes to Live

There has never been anything on earth more important to me than family. So with my final fifteen it is to you I speak.

My life long partner, do you realize that we've lived twice as long together than we did with our own parents? I'll confirm shortly what I suspected all my life, that the Big Guy had intended us to be with each other since the beginning of time. It's been natural. Thank you for your love and commitment. And thank you for the time and dedication that you've put into raising and teaching our daughters. One day, because of you, they will show such devotion to their own children.

To my girls, the greatest lesson that my father ever taught me, was to love and respect my Mom. When you look back on your own lives one day, I hope that you will say something similar. The time, care and love that your Mother has devoted to you is the reason you are the strong, self-sufficient women that you are today. As you move on in life remember to strengthen your body, soul, heart and mind. Always strive to improve. About the books...sorry :-)*

*My books have stood sentinal over my soul, they've been my friends and they've been my island. They've also been a place where I've written messages to my girls. To ensure that my girls don't toss my books out when I am gone and to at least give them a chance to read my notes, I've placed cold hard cash between their bindings. I have a lot of books.

Today's prompt

#Trust30: Trust Yourself

You are standing in a grassy field that runs toward a cliff. The sun shines down on thousands of people gathered around the cliff's edge. But this isn't just any crowd. These are hipsters. These are coolio's. These are the funky clothes wearing, coffee shop drinking, blog writing, smart phone welded to the hand Twittering superstars. And they are launching themselves off of the cliff, freefalling to a messy demise on the jagged rocks below.

Wanting to blend in for a closer look, you place the hand carrying your cup of Eight O'Clock coffee behind your back and move forward. Yep, the hipsters are cliff-dying. Do you trust the little guy inside your head telling you to back away from the cliff? Or do you set sail for the ether?

According to the Domino Project, Ralph Waldo Emerson tells readers to trust their intuition rather than conforming to the will of the majority in his book Self Reliance. I think I like Ralph. I think I like the Domino Project crew for using Ralph's work to inspire a thirty day writing challenge. I think I'll give it a shot and try to figure out where I am now and maybe work on a direction for my future.

Whenever I think about taking the lid off and looking inside, I am forever reminded of something that Fred Purdue said:

When you turn over the rocks and look at all the squiggly things underneath, you can either put the rock down, or you can say, 'My job is to turn over the rocks and look at all the squiggly things,' even if what you see can scare the hell out of you.

I have a hunch I'll be seeing some squiggly things this month.

Interested in confronting some squiggly things yourself? Join in! Check out the hashtag #Trust30 to see what others are saying at Twitter.

Confounding Cultural Anthropologists

Rosemary and Carla went to Ohio about four years ago, leaving me to fend for myself. After thirty-four years of domestication under Rosemary's tutelage, I can handle myself with some degree of sophistication around the house - except for cooking. I hate to cook*.

My diet that week consisted of frozen dinners, salad and canned Spaghettio's - cold. One evening in particular I was beyond hungry. So I tore into a can of Spaghettio's with such vigor, a few missed my mouth and ended up on my shoe. A week or so went by before I noticed. By then the tasty little remnants had hardened and fused to my shoe.

In a couple hundred years anthropologists will be digging around a landfill** and come across my shoes. What will they think? Was it a design thing? Was it a spiritual marking? Was it a way to store food to be eaten later? Was it Spaghettio's advertising? Was the shoe wearer a brand enthusiast? Will they Google their inquiry and wind up back here? Would they, could they, ever imagine the shoe's owner is constantly reminded between the difference of doing something for one's self and doing something for others, by the fossilized specks of pasta he carries around?

*I later found out that the hate to cook thing was only for myself. When I was no longer able to work, Rosemary went back to the workforce. I couldn't let her beat her brains out all day and then come home to cook. So I did what I had to do. Suddenly and to my surprise, my hate for cooking dissolved that first day. A combination of her liking what I cooked and the relief that she didn't have to, was all it took. Now I enjoy cooking for her. But I still hate to cook for myself.

**The landfills are on a neighboring, inhabitable planet.

A Book for your Life and Career

  Life After College by Jenny Blake.

Very seldom do I write about a book before reading it in its entirety. When I do you know I'm pretty excited about it. 

On the top of the back cover of Jenny's book it reads:

Life After College. Is your portable life coach. Congrats, you've graduated!

Stewie Griffin can deduce that Life After College is being targeted to recent college graduates. I believe however, there is another group of people who can benefit from Jenny's sage advice just as much. And, after I tell you a quick story you'll come up with a third audience as well.

I had the privilege of receiving an advance copy of Penelope Trunk's book, Brazen Careerist. Penelope knew that I was (and still am), insanely interested in Gen-Y.

After reading Brazen Careerist I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. I discovered that there was a group of people out there who could benefit as much if not more, from the best career book written for Gen-Y'rs. Baby Boom managers. Suddenly I felt like James Bond as I wrote a few articles for this older generation and explained how they could get un-perplexed, un-frustrated and un-agitated with this most promising generation by reading Brazen Careerist and trying to understand them first.

That group of people who Life After College is a veritable treasure chest full of wisdom and knowledge? High school juniors to college seniors. Students have the opportunity to reflect and prepare for life after college without the pressure of finding a place to live, finding a career-related job that's meaningful and finding one's self while staring at a mountain of college related bills and trying to figure out a way to manage their money.

I recommend students use Life After College as both a compass and a journal. The high school junior has a minimum of six years to soak in Jenny's messages on:

• Life
• Work
• Money
• Home
• Organization
• Friends & Family
• Dating & Relationships
• Health
• Fun & Relaxation
• Personal Growth

The advantage that I enjoyed with Brazen Careerist is the same one students can use with Jenny's book. When we look at something through a different lens, that subject matter has a tendency to become stickier. It allows us the freedom of exploration and the opportunity to experiment with connections. By the time the student graduates and is ready to apply the contents of Life After College, she will have a huge edge on those who graduate and say, "Hello world, it's nice to meet you. Where should I send my resume?"

I will have more to say about Life After College in a formal review, but I can see already it's one of the best books around for the college graduate.

That third audience I spoke of earlier? Baby Boom and Gen-X managers.

One other reason that I feel confident in recommending Jenny's book (without reading in its entirety) is I've been reading her work at the Life After College Web site for quite some time and Jenny's message has always been consistent. Consistently appropriate that is.

Note: I received a copy of Life After College from Jenny's publicist.

Curiosity and Asking Questions

Angela Maiers teaches students about asking questions and curiosity in this video. Curiosity, the flame behind asking questions, is paramount when it comes to story-listening. Angela says to ask good questions, those whose answers are not easy to find. So when you are in a storytelling session with a CEO, make sure you don't waste her time by asking her something that Google can tell you.

Do you know what your professors would give to have students as attentive and passionate as Angela's here? This is what I am curious about. Has the passion and curiosity been beaten and or bored out of the student by the time he gets to college?

 

 

Google: Please don't redline Sergey!

Google engineers do not give Sergey Brin the respect that he deserves. Google docs redlines Sergey, who is a co-founder of Google.

When you type in a Google document the word processing program inserts a red squiggly line underneath a word that it doesn't recognize. That's what Google does when Sergey's name is typed in.

In a world fraught with war, natural disaster, poverty and hunger, why should I be concerned with respect afforded a multi-billionaire by his own company? I don't know. I just think recognizing the Surgemeister would be a nice thing for Google docs to do. That's all.

Now however, if Sergey or Larry defected and partnered up with Bill, that's when I would insert the red line underneath their name.

Anya Kamenetz and DIY U

You've been a judge for the Miss America contest for thirty years. A person asks you, "Bob, you've been surrounded and engulfed by beautiful women for all these years. How does a woman stand out? How can you possibly choose a winner?"

Bob: "Well of course the women have to score high in the talent competition, private interview, on-stage question and the other categories. But just between you and me, I choose based upon the breath factor. Who leaves me the most winded? Who takes my breath away?"

Okay, switch topic to David, me, and the tens of thousands of books, magazine-n-newspaper articles and online content that I've read in my life. How do I separate talented and engaging authors?

Oooops, sorry to get you all lathered up with the Miss America stuff, but I'm trying to make a point here.

The same way as Bob.

Anya Kamenetz takes my breath away. I remember years ago, the first time she appeared in Fast Company. I thought, how in the world can someone so young write this well? Her talent at that stage reminds me of how well Lebron James played basketball in high school.

Today, Anya brings her talent to the field of education. Or to be correct, to the field of where education ought to be (and is) going. Her latest book is DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education. According to Anya DIY U means the expansion of education beyond classroom walls: free, open source, vocational, experiential, and self-directed learning. Her next project, due out this year, is The Edupunk’s Guide to a DIY Credential. k

I bought and am reading (one chapter left) DIY U because I am trying to learn how a person can take the helm of their own education and sail their ship into meaningful employment.

As it stands, I do not believe that K-16 and plus school is preparing students for what the workplace needs and is looking for. It's the driving force behind my Standing out in a Sea of Sameness Facebook page. I encourage kids beginning in their junior year of high school and through college, to seek out people in fields of interest. Sit down and ask them about their educational and work related pathways. Ask them about skills and educational requirements and then stay connected with them on their own journey.

After two months of educational reform research,* I need to tweak my own pathway. I am beginning to believe that one must start their own educational journey at the cradle (with the help of mom and dad). More to come on this in the future, but I am most grateful to Anya for her direction. She is a welcome light in the tempest of educational transformation.

Anya Kamenetz

Anya on Twitter

*I have yet to even scratch the surface of the available information on ed reform. It is positively mind boggling how much is out there!

High Speed Rail in Florida

"Where did great grandpa stand when the state of Florida had the opportunity to attract desirable industry to its shores, to move tourists with money to spend efficiently and expediently around its peninsula, to bolster the resource-richness of regionalism by shrinking its land mass, to provide work in an economy parched for jobs and to brand itself as a state forging into the 21st Century with a future in mind for its children?"

"Well Horace, your great grandpa stood by the mayors of Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando and Miami and he was in favor of the state accepting the federal government dollars that would finance ninety percent of this project. He applauded the local government and business for stepping up and devising a way for the balance of the project to be funded by non-tax payers dollars."

Horace is my great grandson that is yet to be born. Notice to my daughters: one of you will one day spawn a child who will spawn a child and name him Horace.

With a decision looming in the next few hours that will either allow this project to continue in Florida or not, I felt the need to set the record straight as to where I stand, for my descendants.

Julia Gorzka of the Brand Tampa community, pens a compelling plea for Florida residents to send the governor an e-mail in support of high speed rail. She also provides a link to the letter written by the mayors of the cities listed above to Governor Scott, that succinctly illustrates a plan to utilize the fed dollars in conjunction with private funding while flat out countering every argument that Scott has for refusing to allow the project to proceed.

Educational Reform

Did you ever find yourself interested in a topic only to wonder, why? Why am I so interested educational reform in America today? I was an average student, who didn't like school and didn't graduate from college. How then did I become so interested?

In 2010, Rosemary and I closed down a stretch of twenty-four staight years of having one of our two daughters in school (K-12). (Vickie graduated from Kent State in 2003 and Carla is in her second semester of college). Some interest was generated there. It was from reading a business  book in the late 90's however, that created the emotional spark that nailed me.

I can't remember the book or the author but I've probably read versions of the same story in at least fifty other books since then. It goes something like this:

The teacher asked her first grade class which of them thinks they are creative. Every hand is thrust into the air along with a chorus of "me! me! me!" The seventh grade teacher asks her class the same question. About a quarter of the hands go up and no one speaks out loud. That same class has now reached its senior year in high school. When they are asked the question, no hands are raised and students nervously look around hoping the teacher will not call upon them to explain (at least the ones who aren't texting on their cell phones).

 
That hit especially close to home. I was about forty years old when I discovered the first creative bone in my body. What had happened to me? I suspect it was a combination of a less than ideal childhood combined with a school system that hammered any creative potential I might have had, out of my mind...although some nuns used a two-inch wide metal ruler. The aggressive ones drilled holes in the ruler so as to cut down on air resistance thereyby generating more velocity and ultimately creating larger welts. Oh well, at least the nuns were creative. I believe that too was called educational reform.

Today, thirty-seven years after graduating from high school, I have an entirely different viewpoint on education. I am passionate about students navigating a pathway pre K through post 16 that will not only provide them with a solid foundation to build their 21 st century career upon but encourage a lifetime of learning.

image - Terrific Parenting