There are better ways to learn if you’re a cringeworthy manager — like these four traits I’ve observed in myself and others — Have you ever been sitting through an episode of “The Office” and thought, “Holy shit, I’ve worked with a Michael Scott doppelganger”? (Or, if you’re a fan of the original British version, substitute ‘David Brent’ for ‘Michael Scott’.) Yep, that boss. The one whose every word screamed ‘cringe’ and had…

Have you ever had to be the messenger of the unthinkable? — Our office walls were too thin. Everyone knew it. We’d almost never take private calls at our desks, fearful of eavesdropping office neighbours. But it was often wet and cold outside in the concrete commercial business park in suburban Melbourne, so sometimes we did. I knew the guy in the…

Navigating the perils and payoffs of the influencer economy — Now, tell me — does this sound familiar? As midnight rolls around, you’re firmly planted in front of your laptop, eyes fixated on the glowing screen. You’re feverishly writing like you’re possessed by some Shakespearean spirit. Morning looms, and you’ll be showing up to your day job with bags under…

A wishlist for taking AI DJ from good to great — Hey there, Spotify. You remember when sliced bread came out, and people thought it was magical? Yeah, me neither. I wasn’t there. But it made front-page news and was kind of a big deal. You know, there’s that famous saying and all? So someone in history — some gluten-loving bread…

Say goodbye to image search fatigue and speed up your image creation workflow — Tell me if this sounds familiar to you: Caffeine coursing through your veins, the perfect crescendo of words coming to rest on your screen, and just as you’re about to unleash your latest masterpiece onto the unsuspecting world of Medium, you hit a wall. It’s not writer’s block, but something…

Go from a crappy people manager to a better one with these simple behaviours — If you were to peep at Google’s search predictions (a.k.a. autocomplete), you might be convinced we’re all horribly inept at this whole people-managing gig. Just type “my manager” into the familiar white box. In the predictions, there’s no “my manager is amazing,” or “…is a great leader,” or “…deserves to…

I was a gunslinger, a maverick, a dream chaser. You too? — The best startups have a culture that encourages a bit of lawless gunslingin’ — which is fitting because startups are a little like the Wild West of the business world, where dreams are chased, fortunes are made (or lost), and where chaos and conflict, if harnessed right, can be your…

Stop feeling dirty about using AI in your writing workflow — Imagine for a second you’re sitting in a dimly lit room. A circle of anxious faces surround you. You nervously clear your throat, muster up some courage and say, ‘Hi, my name’s (insert your name in a shaky voice), and I… I use AI to help me write.’ There’s a…

It probably isn’t. But what if it was? It’s happened before. — Artificial intelligence. AI. Heard of it? Of course you have. It’s the omnipresent entity that’s wormed its way into our everyday lives. If it’s not telling us where to get the best avocado toast in town, it’s predicting what cheesy rom-com we’ll binge next (it’s always “Sleepless in Seattle”, by…