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Last Updated: Jul 16, 2010 - 8:00:32 AM |
Food for Thought is a weekly column of insights on leadership, management, teamwork, and productivity written by Peter Vajda, PhD.
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
The Gulf – a healing perspective - Jul 16, 2010 - 7:58:39 AM
Videos, articles, conversations, arguments and analyses – mostly expressing blame and anger – constitute the vast majority of what we're reading and hearing about the Gulf oil spill- wrapped in the emotions of tragedy, horror, sadness, anger, fear, frustration and despair.
What I'd like to suggest here is another way to approach this experience - from a higher, meta, perspective: a healing perspective that involves loving kindness and visualizing the long-term healing of the area and the individuals involved in this tragedy.
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
Summer Vacation - A Time When You Go to Work? - May 28, 2010 - 11:55:50 AM
So, Memorial Day, the onset of summer and visions of "getting away from it all." Really? So, truthfully, when you intend to get away from it all - for a day, weekend or, now, summer vacation - how often will work blend into your "away time?" How often will you choose to allow your work to carry over into your leisure time? How often will you feel incapable - yes, incapable - of separating work and play?
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
Intersubjectivity - The Essence of Real Interactions - May 21, 2010 - 12:31:30 PM
I don't get many cold calls these days. Today, I did. Two, in fact - about five minutes apart. What struck me, as do most of these calls, is the perfunctory, scripted, energetically flat, "How are you doing today?" immediately after the caller states their name and company.
In my mind, those four words are the kiss of death? Why? They communicate to me (1) it's not about me and (2) the caller is basically feigning interest and unconsciously jumping through a requisite hoop to get to the pitch, and, hopefully, a sale. It's all about them; not really about me. So, I hang up immediately.
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
Attachment and Aversion -The Root Case of Pain and Suffering - May 14, 2010 - 2:58:14 PM
Many spiritual traditions, like Buddhism, tell us pain and suffering - mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and psychological - arise from attachments and aversions.One of the ego's main beliefs is that we are separate from everyone else. The ego lives from a zero-sum, survival-of-the-fittest perspective. So, to survive, our ego is driven to nurture more and more attachments (and aversions) to people, places, things, possessions, ideas, beliefs, relationships and the like. Fearing loss (even loss of a belief, premise, idea or life itself) is a threat to the survival of our ego. From the egos perspective, competition, and self-interest are absolutely necessary to maintain survival. And attachments feed our obsession with surviving.
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
Living Harmoniously - May 7, 2010 - 6:47:16 PM
Each of us is a work in progress. No one is "there;" no one has "arrived." Each of us is the composer of the music of our own life. It happens to all of us that from time to time our music does not reflect the notes on the page. When this occurs, it's because we are out of balance, out of harmony, with our Self - in our life at work, at home, at play or in relationship.
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
Questions for Self-Reflection - May 1, 2010 - 12:41:04 PM
From time to time I receive feedback on the weekly "food for thought" readings – they're usually in response to the reading itself, but not always. Sometimes, folks respond to the list of "questions for self-reflection" following the reading. These latter comments can take the tone of: "interesting," "different," "provocative" and the like. However, from time to time someone comments that the questions make them feel uncomfortable. It's to these commenters that I reply, "good!." Why?
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
The Fisherman and the Businessman - Apr 23, 2010 - 5:30:50 PM
An American businessman was at the pier of a small Caribbean coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna.
The businessman complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The fisherman replied, "only a little while." The businessman then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish.......
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
The Benefit of the Doubt - Apr 16, 2010 - 10:33:21 AM
Did you ever notice that when you make an error, mess up, miscalculate and the like you tend to blame your environmental, organizational, or life circumstances for your action? That is, "it's not about me?" On the other hand, when someone else messes up, do you notice how often you point out some character flaw in them that (you assume) caused them to behave badly or inappropriately?
Food for Thought: A Weekly Column from Peter Vajda, PhD.
Indra's Net – The Essence of Real Networking - Apr 9, 2010 - 11:09:14 AM
How do you feel when you are treated abruptly and disrespectfully by someone - a colleague, a boss, a sales- or wait-person, a client or vendor, a physician, a relative, partner or spouse? Moreover, if, as a result, you are feeling somewhat unhappy or really angry, on a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to allow your negative emotions to spill over into your next interaction, and the next, and the next? And, if others react negatively to your negativity, how do you suppose they'll react to their next interaction? And, if the opposite were true in terms of your being "seen," acknowledged and appreciated by another, would that degree of positivity affect your next interaction, and the next, etc? Get the picture?
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