? Cinco de Mayo ? Bloom ? Lucky ? Ass ? Theater ?

A number of events share Cinco de Mayo as a time to celebrate. Many are familiar with the celebration of Mexico's victory over the 2nd French Empire at the Battle of Puebla (thanks Wikipedia) in 1862, which in the US, has morphed into a celebration of Mexican culture. I didn't know that LinkedIn celebrates the anniversary of its launch, May 5, 2003, 20 years ago. And sandwiched in between those two, we also celebrate the anniversary of our wedding day, every May 5th. And we celebrated by taking a long weekend with friends in Tucson.

Not surprisingly, Cinco de Mayo figured prominently in this week's Friday Five, five posts that touched a nerve with my LinkedIn community this week.

This Week's Friday Five

Cinco de LinkedIn

The fact that you can find, and reach out directly, to just about anyone, with something of interest, without a physical address, phone number, or email, via LinkedIn Messaging, is beyond amazing - Jeff Frick

I remember the days of the prized Rolodex and business card collection. You had to get them in person, there were no online databases unless perhaps you had a lawyer or academic in the family with access to the mysterious (and expensive) LexisNexis system, one of the first online databases, that focused primarily on law documents to start. Trying to identify a potential business buyer by title, name, or physical address, or company phone? The local Yellow Pages were not so helpful, but you could purchase huge industry-specific phone books, like the Sports Business Journal Catalog or the Consumer Technology Association Catalog, for hundreds of dollars, with annual updates. You couldn't just look it up, by title, company, name, and then reach out via a direct message, cutting through so many layers of people, processes, and physical logistics.

Still feels magical today.

Original Post Click Here

Desert Bloom

Enjoyed a long Cinco De Mayo in Tucson with friends, and the Sonoran Desert Bloom was in full display. Waterfalls, hummingbirds, and a rainbow of color and textures fill your field of vision, just about everywhere you look.

One of the wettest winters in recent history is delivering a Super Blooms from Northern California to Southern Arizona. Orange and red poppies, white dogwoods, everything seems to be blooming in our NorCal neighborhood. And on a quick visit to celebrate Cinco De Mayo with friends Jon Martin & Michele in Tucson, the desert greeted us with red, fuchsia, white, yellow, orange, and more. Flora, fauna, and even a series of waterfalls as we hiked up the Tanque Verde Falls trail. An explosion of spring renewal beauty that touches the soul. In and about the thorns. We also visited Saguaro National Park (west), The?Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, and the Tucson Botanical Gardens (the butterfly room was magical). Always good to get outside.

Bonus - Waterfall for Keith Evans

Original Post Click Here

Schmarzo I'm really Lucky

I'm very lucky in the sense that there's a lot of really, really super smart people who follow and engage with me, people with a wide range of experiences and wide range of expertise -?Bill Schmarzo

Bill's luck is all about hard work. Setting up the conditions, with catalysts, conversation, and tone, to encourage active community participation, with accompanying growth, as he tries to highlight some of the more important topics of our day as they relate to data.

Also happy to share that Turns the Lens is now available on the recently launched YouTube Podcasts and Youtube Music. When you want to listen, not watch, YouTube now has an option. Check it out, and be to like, subscribe, and SMASH that notification bell so you don't miss an episode.

Full-Length Episode - Bill Schmarzo v2: Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Economics | Turn the Lens with Jeff Frick

YouTube Podcasts, YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Amazon Audible Books-on-Tape, SoundCloud, or wherever you podcast

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A-B-C - Ass to Compassionate Leader

That's how they taught you to be and I wanted to be successful. I would get things done, but chew people up in the process. That's not who I am ... And so I flipped - Dave Montez

Knowing Dave as long as I have, it's a bit offsetting to think of him 'chewing people up' because as he said, that's not him. The comments in the posts from people who's worked with and for Dave, validate the value in the transition. Dave's another leader who takes pride in his 'coaching tree' and the success of his charges as they move beyond his organization, to take new roles, both in, and out of the company. Leaders developing Leaders, is there a better kind?

Also happy to share that Work 20XX is now available on the recently launched YouTube Podcasts and Youtube Music. When you want to listen, not watch, YouTube now has an option. Check it out, and be to like, subscribe, and SMASH that notification bell so you don't miss an episode.

Full-Length Episode - Dave Montez : 1:1s, Trust, Compassionate Engagement | Work 20XX with Jeff Frick

YouTube Podcasts, YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Amazon Audible Books-on-Tape, SoundCloud, or wherever you podcast

Original Post Click Here

Original Post Click Here

5 - Productivity Theater

We see employers focus so much on measuring inputs instead of outputs - Christina Janzer

Part of the reason you're seeing so many people lobby for a return to office is there's this notion of 'That's how I did it growing up' - Katie Burke

A well-researched, and written long-form piece by Vox Media 's Rani Molla digging into a myriad of factors comingled in employee productivity, engagement, culture, retention, mental health, burnout, management practices, and legacy thinking wrapped up in many 'return to office' mandates.

Your boss is obsessed with productivity without knowing what it means, Rani Molla , Vox Media , 2023-05-05 - Click Here

Brian Elliott 's Post Click Here

Original Post Click Here

That's a wrap on this week's Friday Five. Thank you for reading, If you enjoyed this week's posts, please consider sharing with a friend, and subscribing to the?Friday Five Newsletter, or subscribing to my?YouTube channel,?Work 20XX Podcast with Jeff Frick, &?Turn the Lens Podcast with Jeff Frick, or wherever you podcast.

You can support my work on?Patreon?or?Substack.

Thanks and Happy Friday.