Loyalty

Survey Monkey’s Goldberg on talent and culture. This definitely hits close to home:

There are the people who don’t have any experience but are just really smart, talented, and motivated. When you get those people right, they’re your ‘homegrown talent’, if you will. These people are your farm team. These people are, for the most part, the best people who will stay long term at your company. They’re the carriers of the culture. They grew up there. You took a chance on them. They’ve learned how to be in the business.

Read more at First Round.

Wisdom From a Harvard Cognitive Psychologist

Courtesy of a brilliant man on Reddit in response to the question, “Do you find your understanding of the mind negatively affects your own happiness? I mean does your deterministic outlook sometimes make life seem arbitrary and pointless to you, and elation just some chemical reaction.”

Quite the opposite — I find a naturalistic understanding of human nature to be indispensable to leading a wise and mature life, and it is often exhilarating. Wisdom consists in appreciating the preciousness and finiteness of our own existence, and therefore not squandering it; of being cognizant of what makes people everywhere tick, and therefore enhancing happiness and minimizing suffering; of being alert to limitations and flaws in our own judgments and decisions and passions, and thereby doing our best to circumvent them. The exhilaration comes from understanding that we are a part of natural world; that deep mysteries can be explained; and that the world — including our own mental lives — can be intelligible, rather than a source of superstition and ignorance. Yes, mortality sucks, but given that it exists, I’d rather know that than be kept in a childlike state of delusion.

It’s Not Shit.

A friend shared this post by Julie Zhuo today and I love it. My favorite portions (which I know is most of her already short post):

Where is the empathy? That meeting was not scheduled for the sole purpose of wasting your time. Executives do not sit at their desks stroking hairless cats, murmuring Yes, Percival, yes… We’ll stun them with a decision so bad, so unfathomably awful they won’t know what hit them!
…
Now, clearly, some things are a better use of your time than others. Some people’s opinions you’ll weigh more heavily. You won’t always agree with all the feedback you get, and progress won’t always be like a puck sailing over smooth ice.
…
Take a deep breath. It’s not Shit. It’s the energy and chaos and spirit of People Doing what they Honestly Believe is the Best Thing They Could Be Doing. It’s trying and sometimes failing and learning in the process. It’s not perfect but what person or job or life is? Close your eyes and trust.

And if you find you can’t, if it’s simply impossible to muster the belief that you’re not surrounded by shit, then maybe it’s time to seek greener pastures. Because why on earth would you insist on staying somewhere that rains feces all the time?

Who hasn’t been on both the giving and receiving end of perceived shit at one time or another? Given the nature of my work, I often feel like I’m on the giving end of  it. Those in the legal/policy/safety space often have a bad rap, and I get it. However, while it might suck to have to spend a bit more time than intended hammering out the details of a feature, I promise it’s for good reason. If it didn’t matter, we wouldn’t bother. Usually we’re looking out for the product and its users (preventing abuse) as well as the company (mitigating risk). Bottom line: it’s important to remember that we’re all part of the same team with the shared goal of kicking ass!

Give Me Your Money!

I’m in charge of a Groupon Grassroots campaign for K to College, an organization for which I’m on the board. I’m pretty stoked about this opportunity for the org! The downside: this was handed to me less than 8 hours before the campaign kicked off. I didn’t even know that this opportunity was in the works!

Anyways, I’m giving it my best shot with what I’ve got, which right now is an extremely packed schedule between work deadlines, personal commitments (like the biggest chinese holiday this weekend, friends in town and heading out of town tomorrow) and miscellaneous life responsibilities. Whew.

If you’ve got a heart and $11 to spare, please consider making a donation to get school and dental supplies to children in need. Hell, they’ll accept a donation even if you don’t have a heart. Did I mention that these kids are adorable?

welcome K to College!

Onions. Onions All The Time.

I am extremely sentimental. Let me be clear: sentimental, not uncontrollably, outrageously emotional. I pride myself on being more objective than your average person and being able to look at a situation from all sides. Just ask my brother — I’m certain he thinks I annoyingly play devil’s advocate way too often. But overall, I am a sap. Case in point:

– Weddings = waterworks
– I wept when my work-husband was laid off, despite knowing that he would move on to bigger and better things
– Thinking of a dog I’ve lost (nearly decade ago) can still bring me to tears
– I nearly cried during this super bowl commercial. Clydesdales? More like crydesdales, amirite?!

All of my friends know this about me. And although I wish I was less tearful at times (how embarrassing would it have been to cry in response to a super bowl commercial?!), I embrace it. I like that I feel so deeply. However, I do my best to hide this side of myself from my family because… I don’t know why. The Zhus have never really been emotive around one another. Whatever the reason, I’m working on it, which makes for a lot of discomfort. One little treasure has made this monumental undertaking a bit less daunting: Lily Zhu.

coyall smiles

I love my niece an incomprehensible amount. Born just 4 months ago, she doesn’t do much, but… WOW. You don’t know how much you can truly care about someone until a little bundle of joy like Lily enters your life. I spend time each and every day looking at photos of her (only because I’m too far away to snuggle her in person).

Lily’s arrival and the frightening, but obvious aging of my parents, along with the scary health complications of some of my fit, young friends (maybe more on that later) makes me all the more grateful for our time here.

So let’s get cheesy, shall we? Remember to love deeply and don’t take anyone or anything for granted!

photo (1)

P.S. Thanks reddit, for surfacing this devastatingly sad and heartwarming tale years later. WHO IS CUTTING ONIONS IN HERE?!

Growth

I’ve never been much of a public performer. I’ve of course done it through the years – most times voluntarily – but it often terrifies me to my core. I consider blogging a performance of sorts.

So, hello world! I’m looking forward to what I believe will be both a masochistic and therapeutic experience. Here’s to a wonderfully exciting 2013.