Your Job Isn’t That Secure

While having breakfast in a restaurant this morning, I listened as someone lost his job. I won’t mention the town, as that scene happens in any town. Probably not over a rooty-tooty pancake ‘n’ ham, but the instant it became clear what was happening, I understood why this was being done over breakfast: No office scene, no work disrupted, and breakfast is the cheapest meal of the day. It wouldn’t even cost the company a lot to get rid of the employee.

While I was eavesdropping on this life-shattering conversation, it became obvious that the boss had done this more than once. He kept repeating the same phrases.

“You’ll get over this, it’s not the end of your life.”
“You’ll find another job quickly.”
“You’ll look back on this and laugh.”
No one was laughing at the time, and the employee was in shock. He kept citing statistics of the fine work he had done, the deadlines he had met, the extra work he had taken on and completed successfully. It didn’t matter. Nothing he could say made a difference. The decision to have him gone was made before he arrived to meet his boss for breakfast. I wondered where he would go for the rest of the day, how he would tell his family.
Listening in, I remembered one of my clients telling me that she was indispensable. I smiled as I listened to the certainty, and two months later, I nodded my head as she cried, “They can’t do this to me. I’m the only ones who know how to run the program.” And yet, the program ran, and she was out on her ear, out of a job.

It can happen to you. Somewhere, someone reading this and smiling. Secure. You work hard. You are really indispensable. You have traded family life and balance for the job security. You gave up nights with your kids to cement security with your company.

That’s what the guy at breakfast thought. That’s what I thought right before I was laid off.
Everyone is replaceable. The company that demands your time and your life and your loyalty does not return the same. They pay you and that, in their minds, is all they owe you. America is all about money and dedication and being “passionate” about your career, but less so about the other side of the coin.

I wish our corporate culture were a bit more passionate about loyalty, and caring and being reasonable. So, while you are reading this, what would you do if your job disappeared today?
If you are a perfectionist, this is particularly for you. . .perfectionism is about control, and you are far less in control that you think.

If you don’t have a plan about what to do if you are dumped, now might be a good time to think about it. How much of a financial cushion do you have? How much would you need if it took you 3 months to find a job? What jobs other than the one you are doing now are you qualified for? What wold it take to make you competitive in your field? When was the last time you updated your resume?

Take a look at your co-workers today. One of them will be gone in three months.

–Quinn McDonald is a life- and creativity coach. She won’t be dumped from her job because she owns the company. But she keeps changing her goals. See what she does at QuinnCreative.com Photos: pancakes: myspace.com, drawing: furiousball.com

Trouble with “previous” and “next”

WordPress does it, and so does Yahoo. So I’ll have to adjust. It’s counterintuitive for me, though, and I think the people who live in this time warp are not using a Mac, and live in a non-time-based world.

Here’s what I’m talking about: When I’m moving through posts and emails, I think of “next” as those more recent than the page I am on, and “previous” as those earlier in time. So, for me, my next email will come soon, and my previous post was yesterday’s.

Not so with WordPress and Yahoo. If I have moved backwards into March’s posts, clicking on “next” moves me further back, into Februrary’s posts. Clicking on “previous” means the previous page, pushing me into the future, into April’s posts.

The reason, I suppose, is that “next” and “previous” don’t refer to the time the posts were written, but which page they are on. To me, this means that the coders, or IT developers are not thinking of how their audience uses the software, but how they see it. A programmer sees information on pages, and the placement of the pages themselves are important. Most users, I would guess, see the date and time they wrote it as important, or perhaps the content, which doesn’t come up as an issue at all.

If you are looking for a post, or a check, or a file on your computer, and you can’t use content as a locater, you will use the date you wrote it, often in conjunction with other dates or events.

“Let’s see, I wrote that right after I saw Atonement, but before we painted the kitchen,” is a time statement. I can’t imagine someone saying, “I stored that on the third page back from the beginning,” because that isn’t a set place. The more posts you add, the farther back the posts slip.

It’s an information design question, and the user-friendly ones will stay time-based. We can use the arrows to move to the last page seen, but “previous” should retain the meaning it’s always had–”before this moment in time.”

Image: book, “The Caldendar” from www.ephemeris.com

–Quinn McDonald is a writer and certified creativity coach. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2008, Quinn McDonald All rights reserved.

Making it Stick

For all artists, crafters, or just people who need to know how to glue two items together, there is a website for you: thistothat.com

The homepage gives you two boxes to choose the two items you are trying to glue together. Click Submit, and it gives you the best glue for the materials.

There is also a page for trivia that includes items like:

” When you are sucking in all the toxins from your cigarette, you can rest assured that the glue used to hold it together is completely non-toxic. It is made from a combination of casein (milk) and wax (to increase moisture resistance), and is absolutely harmless.” or

” Cellulose, the major ingredient of the cell walls of plants, is the base of adhesives ideal for sticking plastic or glass to the cornea of the eye. Methyl Cellulose does not irritate human tissue, which is why it is used for this application.”

No wonder I use methyl cellulose for collages and cards–it’s easy and doesn’t pull of my skin.

–Quinn McDonald is an artist who sticks up for original artwork. And she does it without glue. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2008 All rights reserved. Image: northumberlandglue.uk

Another Idea About Slow Art

Slow Art: (noun) the visible or auditory result of creativity; the original work of art created by a person without assembling kits through instructions. Kit parts or kits assembled in a way not originally intended (the kind of re-assembly that violates warranties) count as slow art. Used first by Quinn McDonald, who took the idea of Slow Food (the opposite of fast food, and meant to apply to food grown locally, cooked in simple ways that are both nourishing and enjoyable) into the creative world of the imagination.

I’ve written about the value of slow art before. More than once. The idea has moved beyond art and into general creativity. Inspired by Do-It-Yourself channels, the imagination has taken creativity into the most interesting corners.

Perhaps the digital world is not as satisfying as we hoped. In the 1960s, visions of the future included lives with computers that did all the work, while people enjoyed far more leisure. But we don’t have leisure anymore. The 40-hour work week is non-existent; we stay at the office longer and longer to prove our “passion” for our work. When we leave, we beg to have our lives interrupted via phones, beepers, Blackberries, and computer cameras. We love being available at work.

And a certain contingent is rebelling against the organization that everything is virtual. The artists who delight in Slow Art want independence from digital compliance. So they hack and mock their way into a new world of creativity.

Instructables.com defines itself as the “world’s biggest show and tell.” You can learn how to draw (analog or digital), bake bread, get a tree planted on your block in San Francisco, or create a spill-proof tray for your Honda Odyssey. This is original work by people who want to let others know an easier, better, or more interesting way to live their life.

If you are a bit geekier, you can go over to makezine.com, which will show you how to make a Minthesizer– is a low voltage, low power, analog synthesizer. If you are a low-level geek, there is an article for a foolproof way to open a bottle of wine. My favorite is the crossover from PDA to altered art–a hardback book turned into a “laptop PDA” by a combination of art and hack.

Hackzine reclaims the word hacker for the good guys by bringing the technorati together in the blogosphere to improve technological devices. Sure you can run Linnux apps in Windows, but I’m really interested in drawing holograms by hand.

My mood is lifting. Art and the imagination are not dead. It’s simply moved into the streets as a pick-up game of mental play, where mixed media gets a whole new meaning and anything original can be improved on. It’s a wonderful next step into the magical realm of Slow Art where originality counts more than price, and sharing information is part of the joy.

–Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach and artist who values Slow Art. See her work at QuinnCreative.com

Tutorial: Using Fixatives on Your Artwork

Fixatives give you two choices: workable fixative or non-workable fixatives. Well, neither one is really satisfying by title alone.

Let’s get the bad news over with first: most of them come in spray cans. Some have fluorocarbons, some not. I’m not a fan of spray cans, they take up a lot of space in a landfill. I’ve never seen a fixative in anything else except a spray can, although I’d be happy to hear about another application.

The spray can creates the ideal delivery system–tiny drops in a wide spray. The purpose of most fixatives is to keep charcoal, Conte crayon, pencil, and pastels from rubbing off.

The other purposes of a fixative is to protect your work from damaging UV rays and other environmental horrors. The best ones protect with a sealant that can be removed by conservators.

Here’s the important part: unless you use fixatives correctly, you will not be doing your artwork any favors. And most people don’t use them correctly. Here are some tips:

1. Make sure your artwork is finished. Including your signature. Any work you do after using a fixative is going to rub the sealant around the page, and that’s not so great for the paper or the medium.

2. Several light spritzes are better than one blast. I see people do this over and over. They slap their expensive paper down, then apply fixative until the paper is soaked. This isn’t a brownie pan and it’s not non-stick spray you are wielding. The key to success is several light, sweeping sprays.

3. If your paper is wet, you’re doing it wrong. Keep the nozzle about a foot away from your artwork. Push the nozzle down and mist the paper in a gentle sweep. Pretend you are applying a wonderful perfume, rather than waterproofing your sneakers. Let it dry. Really. Dry till the back of your hand doesn’t feel cool when placed against the artwork. Then repeat. With a light touch, three coats are just right. With a heavy spray, one coat is too much.

4. Give the spray a chance to spread out. If you hold the nozzle too close to the paper the propellant will blow off the top layer of charcoal or pastel, and mottle your work with moisture. Holding the can a foot above the paper will give you the best results.

5. Choose the finish you want. Read the label. There are matte, transparent and gloss fixatives. Choose the one you want, not the one that’s there. Dickblick.com has a big variety worth checking out.

6. Clear the nozzle when you are done. The stuff you are spraying is a type of varnish. If you don’t clear the nozzle you will never use up the can because the nozzle will be hermetically sealed with fixative. To clear the nozzle, turn the can upside down, make sure the hole is facing away from you, and depress the nozzle. It will begin to spray, but after about 3 seconds, only the propellant will come out. Let the propellant hiss out for at least two seconds. Yes, this wastes some of the fixative. But if you don’t do it, you’ll waste a lot more as it gets stuck in the can.

7. If you are not done, use workable fixative. Workable means you can continue to work on the piece without smudging. Non-workable means you are done. If you continue to work on non-workable, you will be rolling varnish over the surface of your paper, picking up tiny rough pieces of chalk or charcoal. You are now scrubbing the surface of the paper, and bits of the paper are rolling around in this mess, too. When you go to put more charcoal down, it will be on a different surface and it will not look the same. You’ll have thicker and thinner layers of color, and the surface, now more absorbent, will mottle when you go back with more fixative.

A light touch, and letting the work dry completely before doing anything else is the best way to use fixative. Even a light touch can change the tonal value of your work. Before you “fix” it, let the fixative dry completely. You won’t have to work so hard.

Image: Conte crayon on Canson 98-lb. Mi-Teintes paper. Quinn McDonald (c) 2008 Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach who has learned to wear shop aprons when working with glues and fixatives. See her work at QuinnCreative.com

Working Your To-Do List

It’s always the same. When people want you to do one more thing, generally something that is more important to them than you, they suggest you do it right before you go to bed. I now start going to bed at 5 p.m. just so I can get all those last-minute things done by midnight.

A few of my coaching clients tell me that they hate writing to-do lists. The reason, they say, is that it is a roll-call of failure. Items that don’t get done reproach them daily for being lazy. Being lazy is not a bad thing. Often lazy people are very bright, and they develop smart shortcuts that help them accomplish things quickly, efficiently and with accuracy, giving them time to do what they choose.

How can you make “lazy” work for you? Take a look at that to-do list. It’s probably filled with big, clunky projects that you don’t want to do. Maybe a few small things that you can do quickly. So you do those. If you are like most people (including me), you’ll put a few things on that list that you have already done, or do automatically (like brushing your teeth), just so you can get something checked off.

Here’s a better way to manage the lists:

1. Write down those things you need to get done. Big, small, write them all down. That will not only keep you from forgetting, but also take a weight off your mind. That alone makes a list worthwhile. I like index cards for this, so I can keep the list in front of me, but you can use whatever makes you feel comfortable. It is easier to use a piece of paper you don’t have to re-write constantly–a page you can move in your notebook.

2. Create the list at the end of the workday. It preps you for the next day, and is a good way to wind up your time in the office. You’ll set priorities while they are fresh in your mind.

3. Circle three things that have to get done. Just three. The things that make the most impact, have the highest priority, clear the widest swath of time in your day.

4. Take another 3 index cards. Writing just on the front, put one item on each card and jot down the steps needed for each. People you have to call, meetings to set, research to be done, things to look up. Some lists will have one item on them, for example, “Call  Jason Pierce for article interview.” Others will have several steps. That’s it. Walk away from your office.

5. The next morning, once you arrive at work, pick up one of the three index cards and get to work. Don’t check your emails first. Checking emails is a sabotage of getting work done. Don’t take phone calls until you get the items on the first index cards done. If one of the items is to do an interview, pick up the phone and get it done. If you haven’t made an appointment, get that part done.

6. Once you have accomplished the steps on the first index card, you can look at your emails or pick up your voice mails.  Don’t get sucked into your emails. Answer the most important ones, but if there is a task to do, it goes on your to-do list. Most people waste an enormous amount of time reading and answering emails in the order they receive them instead of in the order of importance.

7. Tackle the second index card before lunch and the last one by mid afternoon. Getting three items accomplished well and completely is not as common as you might think. You’ll have to fight off interruptions, the drifters who come in to waste your time, and the drama people who like to create emergencies so they can be heroes and solve them.  Tell them you are busy right now. It’s true, and it works.

At the end of the work day, repeat the to-do list process. You’ll find your to-do list shrinking and your email list manageable. Many emails are simply people commenting on your emails because they feel they have to.

Once you get into the habit of doing three important things each day, and doing them well, you will find yourself less stressed, less crazy, and more productive.

–Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach who develops and teaches business communication courses. You can see her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2008 All rights reserved.  Image: Einstein’s to-do list: www.curiostudio.com

Value Your Time in Pricing Your Art

When I first started exhibiting my work as an artist, I was afraid to charge a fair price for my work. Like many women, I didn’t think I deserved to be paid for work that was so fulfilling. Never mind that doctors, engineers, lawyers and computer program designers also love their work and get paid well, I didn’t have the nerve.
Waiting on the Shelf
I had created an elaborate, contemporary necklace; it has taken about 20 hours. Scared that it wouldn’t sell, I put a price tag of $60 on it. The first show I took it to, it got lots of looks, but didn’t sell. The same happened at the next four shows. Secretly, I wanted to mark it down or take it apart.

Putting a Price Tag on the Work
Then one show, I was across from Mary, a watercolorist and collage artist. She came to my booth and looked at the necklace. “Why isn’t it priced much higher?”
for sale sign “No one will buy it if it’s higher,” I said.
Mary looked at me. “You did the work. You don’t know what other people consider ‘too much money.’ In any case, the price needs to be higher. How many hours did you spend on it?”
“About 20,” I admitted.
“You are going to mark that necklace up to $200,” Mary said.
I gasped. “Who will buy it?”
“That’s not your problem,” Mary said. “You are still getting paid only $10 an hour. But just to prove to you that good work gets paid, mark up the necklace to $200. If it doesn’t sell by the end of the show, I will buy the necklace from you for $200. OK?”
I couldn’t lose. I marked up the necklace.
Twenty minutes later it sold.
I learned the lesson that quality work deserves the price it took to create it.
In the intervening years, I have done the same thing for many starting artists. I have purchased only one item in all the years I’ve told artists it’s OK to get paid for creative work.

Your Time, Your Worth
It was a great feeling to see artists believe in themselves. We don’t teach art in schools, so an artist has to do the artistic, emotional, and business training all alone. It shouldn’t be that way. It doesn’t have to.

The biggest fear is to charge for time. In years past, women did needlework or other art after all the work was done. Women produced quilts, rugs, tablecloths and other useful items because they were needed. But they made them beautiful to satisfy a need for. . .well, beauty. Today, we charge for time. When we work more than we expect, it’s called “overtime.” We say “time is money,” and “you can’t buy back time,” but women are still reluctant to charge for their time making art.
It’s time we get over that.

My car mechanic charges plenty for time. So does the plumber, who installed a $39 part for $356 because the time he came was at night. On a Sunday. And I felt lucky. Art may not be the furnace, but it fuels so much more of our lives.
–For more on creativity, visit Quinn McDonald’s website.
–Image: asherenterprise.com

Listen First, Witness Next, No Fixing Allowed

My friends are helpful and caring. I post a blog on a problem, and I’ll be smothered in advice and how-to’s to fix my problem. Even if I didn’t ask for help.

We’re a helping culture. Business prize problem-solvers and frown on those who don’t take action and take it quickly. To-do lists are touted as the traction in action. That’s all good. I’m a person of action myself, and I value getting busy and getting it done.

It’s a natural reaction to hear a problem and think about a solution. We’ve been trained to do it. Women do it because we are natural helpers. Men do it because action is presupposed to move toward an answer. In truth, action is often not what is needed in friendship.

Yesterday, a client told me, “When I need support and I get a to-do list, it just exhausts me.” And the client is absolutely right. What we want most from friends is to be heard. To be listened to. Often an answer isn’t needed. Just a nod of the head, or a hug.

We can’t fix other people’s hearts. We can witness their grief and validate their difficult feelings. Fixing is a natural impulse, but people who are angry, sad, or confused don’t need to be “should” on at that moment. They want to know that someone is on their side. Hears them. Sympathizes with their predicament.

We don’t do that, because empathy is much harder than advice. It demands looking into our heart and finding room for empathy. Grabbing a quick fix, an emotional bandage is much easier than sitting in silence, or asking a good question, or saying, “Wow that sounds tough for you right now,” and then being silent. We don’t like to admit we don’t know. We want our cheerful friend back, so we do something to make ourselves feel better. And that doesn’t help a friend who needs listening.

When I blog and ask, “What would you do?” I often get, “You should. . .” followed by well-meant intentions, usually suggestions the writer would never do–
“Sit down and write a gratitude list”
“Sit down and write a list of 10 reasons why [you should feel better].”
“Call up the person who hurt your feelings and tell them you love them”

Notice I said, “what would you do?” not, “tell me what I should do.” We want to fix things, so we reach for the emotional equivalent of kissing a boo-boo to make it better. We also want all this messy anger and tear business out of our lives, so fixing another person’s life is a handy reaction.

The best part is that if the other person’s life isn’t fixed, it was because they didn’t take our advice. Their fault. We are out of it. We can give them more advice on how to do it better next time.

Here’s a challenge: the next time someone pours out their heart to you, resist the urge to fix. Listen. Witness. Nod, repeat back some of the things you hear. Don’t tell your story, don’t tell a friend’s story. Listen. It is the best help of all.

–Image: Raven Listens (c) 2008, by Quinn McDonald

–Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach. See her work at (c) QuinnMcDonald. com. (c) 2008. All rights reserved.

Beads With a Past, Beads With a Future

They were in a junk shop. Lying behind some chipped cups–easy to miss. Dusty and forgotten, the string of beads were just one more thing someone was trying to move out of their house. I picked them up. They were agates, mostly. A few carnelians mixed in. All the color of the desert sunset, sand and canyons.

Their age was proven by their shape. Most of the holes had been made with bow drills–the opening wider than the center. Some were chipped, some polished by years of being washed over by blowing sand. All of these beads were old, some ancient, and all had come from desert dwellers. A few were from the Tuareg, who dye their clothes with indigo, and are imprinted with their own dyes, so their skin is often various shades of blue. They carry salt through the desert–pillars of salt, much like the one Lot’s wife was supposed to have turned into–to sell at the end of their trip for supplies needed back at home.

Others came from the American desert, traded for skins and knives, maybe guns. Some are so old that they were drilled and worn about the same time humans felt a need to wear clothing for protection, warmth, and adornment.

I picked up the beads and their weight held histories and geographies I couldn’t imagine. They were strung with cotton string, tied with a tag that said, “prehistoric beads, money.” I picked them up and paid for them, not a lot considering the weight of their past.

They came home with me, and I washed off the dirt of time and the recent store dust. Then I strung them, adding a gold clasp and a few gold spacers so the necklace would turn gracefully at the neck and not depend on rubbing and catching on the old beads’ cracks.

It’s a simple piece, eloquent in its own way. It doesn’t need much else. When I wear it, I can hear the desert wind blowing and the song of tribes long gone.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer and artist who teaches memoir writing. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) Image and story, 2008. All rights reserved.

Choosing by Picture

Facebook does it. So does My Space. In fact, almost every website does it–post pictures of people who are in the company or in the public eye. We do it for recognition, and because people look at other people–even if it’s just in a photograph. In fact, eye-tracking studies have shown that people will look at the photograph of another person, particularly at the eyes, before they read copy.

I’ve become uncomfortable with the fact that organizations I belong to ask me to post my picture in my listing or on the page they provide me with. One of the facts that has come out in research on hiring practices is that we are drawn to people who look like we do, and who are similar to us. So a blond hiring manager is likely to offer the job to another blond, although the reason given is “the applicant is a good fit.”

So I did a small experiment. I took a picture of a much younger, thinner me and posted it on two listing sites for one month. I then removed it and put up an unfortunate picture taken of me squinting into the sun, with strong shadows under my eyes. I left it up for the same amount of time. While it’s not a scientific survey, the results were not surprising: the month the younger me was representing my company, I got almost twice as many requests for information.

I think that in listings that include photos, we unconsciously (or perhaps deliberately) choose the person who is attractive–young, slim, fit, good-looking. We don’t look at the qualifications first. We go for the glamor. So I’m beginning to wonder if it might not be a good idea to not post photos on the Web. I don’t want to go as far as to post someone else’s picture, but I’d rather not be eliminated for race, gender, age, weight, hairstyle, or the amount of shine on my teeth.

What do you think? Is it important to have up a good-looking photo on your website or listing? And if you aren’t good-looking, what’s an honest alternative?

Image: 1912 class of Corsicana High School on www.rootsweb.com

–Quinn McDonald is a trainer in business writing and speaking. She is a speaker with the “Professional” designation from the National Speaker’s Association. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2008 All rights reserved.