Cooltimelife

A career never should be a clear, straight highway laid out by someone else for you to follow. This is increasingly true in this age, where career mobility and self-determination are more valuable and more appreciated than ever. There has never been a better time to explore your options, and Chris Fontanella is here to share his story and his wisdom.Find Chris at https://chrisfontanella.com/If you're interested in supporting the CoolTimeLife podcast series, visit https://www.patreon.com/steveprentice

Have you ever thought of the word office as a verb? It changes everything, shining a light on the work we do rather than the place we do it. This is just one of many great ideas presented by futurist Bob Johansen in his new book, Office Shock. In this conversation, Bob shares his views on the future of work, the impact of AI on careers, the way we handle change, and much more, all through the lens of his special brand of future-back thinking. Bob’s book, Office Shock, Creating Better Futures for Living and Working, co-authored with Joseph Press and Christine Bullen, and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers is available here. You can get a 30% discount off the purchase price by entering the code “OFFSHOCK” after adding the book to your cart. More information about The Institute for the Future can be found here.If you have a comment about this podcast, you can drop me a line through the contact form at steveprentice.com, where you can also find my social media links. A full listing of past episodes is availa

One of the ways the workplace has changed is an increase in disrespectful leadership. Where did such disrespect come from, and what can leaders to to reverse the trend? Can we blame politics? Social Media? How about the fall of the Berlin Wall? Or maybe all those things. Here’s my interview with author and leadership expert Gregg Ward.Find Gregg's tour schedule at https://restoringrespectbook.comThe first CoolTimeLife listener who connects with Gregg on LinkedIn and mentions the CoolTimeLife podcast in the connection message will receive a a free all conference pass for March 6-8, 2023Gregg's main website is https://centerforrespectfulleadership.org/ and his Amazon author page is https://www.amazon.com/stores/Gregg-Ward/author/B001K7X112If you're interested in supporting the CoolTimeLife podcast series, visit https://www.patreon.com/steveprentice

ChatGPT took the world by storm in early 2023. But it’s not what you think it is. Steve takes a look at what it does and how it might affect you.Here is David Smerdon's Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/dsmerdon/status/1618816703923912704Here is a link to my YouTube video about avoiding phishing traps: https://youtu.be/-QhgT5icZV0If you're interested in supporting the CoolTimeLife podcast series and discovering our Work Like a Wolf Series, visit https://www.patreon.com/steveprentice

The 40 hour workweek is a myth in term of productivity expectations. The reality is people in knowledge work positions get far less than 40 hours of work done per week, in fact you’re lucky if you get 40 days’ worth or work done in a year. This episode looks at the numbers and a suggests it’s time for a better way for employers to assess what work actually is.

The pandemic got everyone onto video chat faster than they may have wanted. As convenient as it may be it lacked a certain three-dimensionality But there are new environments available in which your avatar can walk around and be more natural as we spend time together. Are you ready for it? Is the world ready for it?Curious about Virbela? Check out https://www.virbela.com/

The "slacker barista". The "McJob". The Liberal Arts "Basket weaving" degree. These terms are routinely used to make fun of people who work hard in the food service industry, or who pursue education that does not seem to have a direct path to a set career. In all cases, these people are thought of as unmotivated and unsuccessful. But despite the fact they are working hard to make a living, there is great career potential that can come from the experiences gained in the food service, and through broad education.

Why Asynchronous meetings make more sense for the future of work.Email and meetings have been uncomfortable necessities for decades, and they both hearken back to a time when communication was formal and hierarchical. The fluid nature of collaboration technologies like Slack is a game changer.

Regain mental fluidity by leaving email behind.Email and meetings have been uncomfortable necessities for decades, and they both hearken back to a time when communication was formal and hierarchical. The fluid nature of collaboration technologies like Slack is a game changer.

How Human Reflex Stands in the Way of Digital TransformationHidden behind the term digital transformation is the word “change,” and that does not sit well with most people because change represents a threat that strikes at the hearts of our greatest fear: losing our job. 

A discussion with author Alberto Silveira about his new book on managing distributed teams.There is a big difference between remote work teams and distributed work teams, and this is as much to do with workplace innovation as with how the team members are managed, and with how they interact from their separate locations. Author Alberto Silveira chats with Steve about his book and his career to date, building successful companies by employing people who work somewhere other than the office.

The multi hour classroom session never really worked. It was too much information delivered in the wrong way, to a range of people with vastly different learning styles. The better, more effective way is upon us, and it’s called microlearning. 

One of the chief pushbacks to virtual presence technology and the work-from-home lifestyle has been that people will miss out on networking and career enhancement opportunities. Steve assesses whether this is true or not.

Trust is a fragile thing, but must only be shared between people who know each other well. Unfortunately, we trust too many other things, especially when this comes to technology, and it has to change. We need to embrace a trustless society. In this episode, Steve shares his easy-to-learn and easy-to-teach technique for avoiding getting tricked by SMS and spam messages, avoiding robocalls, understanding social engineering, and the blockchain. All in 15 minutes.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Virtual: How to Enjoy a Full-Time Virtual Workspace.There will soon be a time when we question why we ever packed ourselves into cars, trains and subways twice a day, just to do what we can do from home. The Virtual Workplace is not about endless Zoom meetings. It’s about establishing a presence where work and socializing can occur. And it’s here now.Kosy Office is available at https://kosyoffice.comToucan is available at https://toucan.events

The Persistence of Memory: What the Pandemic Taught Us About How We RememberWhen you visit a place that you haven’t been to for a year or more, the first is you say to yourself, “is it really a year since I was last here?” This phenomenon reveals something about memory that should change the way we work and learn.

For centuries, people in crowds have acted irrationally, passionately and violently, even if they didn't start out that way as individuals. This episode looks at the contagion of crowd madness and where it comes from.

What did people eat back in the 1930’s and 1940’? How did they cook? Becky Brillon has done the research and has created a website, TheWarInMyKitchen.com, as well as a companion cookbook, Generations Cookbook. She discusses what inspired her to research foodie life in the era of Depression and wartime rationing and its impact on us today.

Socializing through video in the era of the COVID-19 lockdown has given people a new perspective on how to relate to fellow humans, in terms of what we can do online and what we can no longer do in person. My interview with tech design guru Howard Suissa talks about being human online, the future of personal technology, the future legal status of your VR avatar, and even why Blade Runner is better than Star Trek. All of this in 18 minutes.

Updated January 2024 - “I know what you did” is a type of leading phrase that cuts right through to your hidden guilt and fear. It gives the accuser enormous power over you, even if they know nothing about you. It has been used as a source of power throughout history and continues to be so, especially in politics and religion. In this podcast Steve looks at its enormous influential power.