Multi-tasking can hinder performance, honesty pays when it comes to brainstorming, and more top insights

What’s happening in the world of work: The Saturday edition of the Daily Rundown highlights the business trends, perspectives, and hot topics you need to know to work smarter. Read on and join the conversation. 

Bringing focus back to work: Georgetown University’s Cal Newport is on a mission to root out multi-tasking from the modern business world, BBC Capital reports. Such task-switching can distract us and hurt our performance. Newport advocates for doing fewer things overall, and for focusing on a single project at a time. He likens this to an assembly line-approach to work, where employees can devote their cognitive firepower to a single assignment, rather than flitting from one thing to the next, all while answering email. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

Great ideas need criticism to grow: Brainstorm sessions often adopt an “all ideas are good ideas” rule. But such respectful behavior can lead to proposals that are set up to fail, write leadership researchers Roberto Verganti and Don Norman. That’s not to say we should engage in an idea bashing free for all. That helps no one. Instead, Verganti and Norman argue, exceptional ideas are born when we don’t shy away from offering respectful criticism and then make sure to include suggestions on how to improve fledgling proposals. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

You Asked: “I’m four years out of college and still trying to launch my career. I have only been able to land temp jobs ever since I graduated. Right now I’m going to grad school and trying to find a technical writing job to supplement my income so I’m not in too much debt. So far, I have had no luck finding a job because my resume is a wreck filled with little temp jobs. I’m not sure what I am doing wrong.” — Meara M., Austin, Texas

• “Organising your resume to present your experience in a clear and concise format is critical. Remember, temporary jobs help build key skills and provide you with real world work experience. Your resume must communicate the skills you have gained that are relevant to the jobs you are applying to. Read the qualifications for the job and highlight your skills that speak to the requirements of that employer. To organise your experience, you should have 2-3 headings with the information under each bulleted: ‘Temporary Assignments,’ listing your skills, and ‘Clients,’ listing the key companies you worked for with dates of employment. If you have technical writing experience, given your interest in this area, that would be your third heading. Now you have a resume that is organised, relevant and easy to navigate. Good luck!” — Lesley Mitler, co-founder of Early Stage Careers

Looking for career advice from the pros? Submit your questions in the comments with #YouAsked and we’ll take care of the rest.

When political differences pay huge creative dividends: Given the right structure, teams with polarised political views can harness their differences to produce higher quality work than ideologically aligned groups, according to research published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. The study, which examined the work of teams of Wikipedia editors, found that the community’s clear policies on editorial collaboration helped participants focus on the strength of their ideas, not political mudslinging. And the opposing views ended up revealing useful information and perspectives. ? Here’s what people are saying. 

What your questions are telling job candidates

When interview questions focus entirely on a candidate’s existing skills, we’re telling applicants that we — and, likely, our company — have little tolerance for risk, closing off a potential source for great talent, Oxford’s Rachel Botsman tells LinkedIn’s Isabelle Roughol. To spot hidden gems, Botsman suggests we throw in a few open, curious questions: “Why do you really care about this? What is your motive?” ? Here’s what people are saying. 

One last idea: The working world’s seemingly endless focus on achievement can drive many of us to confuse success for self-worth. Such beliefs can lead to professional paralysis. To move forward, Princeton’s Nic Voge argues we need to let go of those assumptions. 

“The equation that we carry around in our head is flawed … your ability is not equivalent to your worth. Our worth derives from our human qualities of kindness and thoughtfulness and our vulnerabilities.”

What's your take? Join the conversations on today's stories in the comments.

 — Scott Olster