Hiking Adventures in the San Francisco Peninsula and Beyond
Olivetti Exhibit, Pisa (2019) Innovation is everywhere. During an October 2019 visit to Pisa, one of the great university cities of Europe, if not the world, I saw a poster (pictured above) for an international exhibition titled: “OLIVETTI @ TOSCANA.IT, Territorio, comunità, architettura nella Toscana di Olivetti. Recall, perhaps, Adriano Olivetti, the Italian industrialist, of typewriter, calculator, … Continue reading Innovation
One of the new favorite beans (to ponder career questions) I speak to students (undergraduate, graduate, professional, etc.) from time to time and thought it might be useful to distill my guidance and advice: Goals matter. What are your goals? To get a (any?) job? To get your dream job? To get a job with … Continue reading Career Advice
Let’s start with the “science.” Professional negotiators know about (and how to create and execute) negotiations plans (opens, fallbacks, accepts, walks positions), BATNAS (best alternative to a negotiated agreement), etc. They know what is and is not negotiable. They know the relevant market. They understand timing. They know how to listen, actively. You cannot learn … Continue reading The Art and Science of Negotiations
I have been visiting the same Starbucks, in Crystal Springs Shopping Center, for the past 15 years. At first, I would arrive early, on my way to work, ready to claim my cup of Pike Place Roast, an improvement (perhaps) over the coffee from my Keurig. On the patio stand a few tables and chairs, and, invariably, … Continue reading The (Not So Distant?) Future of Law Practice
If you want to see the future, visit Japan. Pepper, a semi-humanoid robot from Softbank Robotics, greeted us in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Shinjuku in October 2016. On it was mounted a tablet (iPad?), displaying information in an interactive manner. Unfortunately, we could not discern any other capability. About a week later, on our last full … Continue reading Future-Proofing Work
One of the few (if only) bright spots of the last ten months has been that the morning hike has replaced the morning commute. More thoughts on the virtues of hiking are available here: https://johnpavolotsky.com/2021/01/09/take-a-hike/ Pulgas Ridge Preserve Today’s hike started at 7:15am, in the Pulgas Ridge Preserve (Redwood City, California) parking lot, en route to … Continue reading Early to Bed, Early to Rise
Floyen, Bergen, Norway It is unfortunate that the act of learning and mastering a new language is generally viewed as a chore and not an opportunity. As for me, the first new language I learned was English, starting my formal (and informal) studies soon after I arrived in the United States in 1979, from the … Continue reading The Accidental Polyglot
The LBJ Master Biography (Volumes I-IV) - Caro From time to time, I am asked to suggest business and/or law books. For some reason, law books are less interesting. My favorite remains The Firm (Grisham). The Pelican Brief is not bad either. I have enjoyed some of the more specialized books, arguably not for the … Continue reading Top Business Books
It's early November, a few days after the US elections, uncertainty in the air. Indian Summer is over in Northern California, and Fall is finally in the air, cool, sometimes windy, with Winter right around the corner. While 2021 is still a few months away, it is always useful to think ahead, to set goals … Continue reading Motivation Theory (and Practice)
The Peninsula Hiking Club 