As a tech leader, youll likely be familiar with some of the stereotypes associated with people working in technology highly introverted, comfortable working in isolation, and that interpersonal skills could use a polish

Which soft skills could prove to be important in tech within the next year?

But the technology industry is at a turning point, and increasingly, the ability to make human connections and manage people successfully is as important as the ability to develop and innovate. Technology and Telecoms is forecast to be the industry most heavily investing in human skills through to 2027. With a 21.2% share of the total investment in the global soft skills market, smart technology leaders will recognise that the decade ahead demands people with highly developed human skills.

These soft skills will be essential when collaborating with the commercial side of business to grow, stay ahead of the competition and deal effectively with clients and customers. Forward-thinking organisations will invest in technical people who are clear-eyed about their strengths and weaknesses, who have developed ability to build strong relationships at speed, and resilience in the face of fast-paced change.

Whether you lead a tech company, or have responsibility for technology teams, you can invest in your people by focusing training in the following key areas:

Self-awareness Self-aware people are self-assured people. They make better decisions quicker. They understand their workstyle to become more productive. Making an in-depth assessment of both self and others is also a great first step to connecting and ultimately reducing unhealthy conflict, particularly when it comes to clashing introvert and extrovert styles.

Communication Successful technology professionals will need the ability to communicate expertly with people at all levels in the organisation, from end users to company directors and clients to be able to listen, understand and explain ideas at an appropriate level. Their communications will be designed for those around them, helping key messages land better. They will know how to influence peers and leaders, to develop higher-value customer relationships.

Problem-solving In this climate of constant change, enhancements may be needed to existing procedures to deliver an improved product and meet the demands of ever-changing markets. Technology teams will need to be creative and able to invent ingenious ways of tackling projects on the spur of the moment. How many people can honestly claim theyd rather spend hours inputting data, than use that time for working on creative solutions to old problems, or spending real time with customers to get to the heart of issues?

Shashi Kiran, chief product officer at Aryaka, explains how digital transformation remains impossible without solving the WAN problem. Read here

Teamwork The idea of community as life is coded into our DNA. Its part of our innate human nature to have mutual plans and goals, which in turn create a sense of the collective. Worryingly, by next year, it is possible that up to 75% of workers will be remote in some organisations. Loneliness doesnt just make life dull. It has a significant detrimental effect on people, communities, mental health and even the economy. Understanding the diversity of strengths, skills, preferences, work styles, challenges and areas of expertise will be what makes teams and organisation stronger together and able to meet the demands of constant market volatility.

Agility in the face of change What firms require from technical people will change dramatically over time. New competitors will break into markets; keen, lean, and maximising innovative technologies that havent yet harnessed; the threat of mergers and restructures can feel like a permanently looming risk to the familiar world of work that teams enjoy.

Enterprises with hybrid combinations of traditional and multi-cloud IT want the advantages of cloud agility but they are fearful of vendor lock-in. Read here

Sure, its normal for directional change decisions to come from the top. However this can only work if colleagues have the levels of agility and resilience the organisation needs in the face of change. Thats because change doesnt happen to organisations change happens to the people who make up the organisation.

Forget the tech stereotypes they are last decade. The time to invest in human skills for your tech colleagues is not somewhere in your next five or ten-year business cycle: its today. If your organisation has ambitious growth plans, the only way to achieve them will be to commit to the development of the people whose work will make it all possible.

Excerpt from:
Five tech soft skills to invest in for 2020 - Information Age

Western Chauv:I find the lack of self-awareness on the Left grimly fascinating. They dont recognize themselves in Hunger Games (Capitol City and undue urban influence over rural areas? Bueller? Anyone?

I mentioned in another post I had just rewatched much of the Star Wars Franchise. What was interesting to me was the Rebels in the movie series described themselves as the Resistance, which is the same phrase the Left in present day has also taken to describe themselves against Trump. The irony of course is that the Resistance in those movies are fighting for freedom and against Authoritarian Control and our Anti-Trump Resistance is fighting to snuff out all freedom and impose a draconian Elite driven Authoritarian government. It is more like we have created Empress Palpatine Hilary and Supreme Leader Snoke Obama, with their legion of stormtroopers led by General Comey and Mueller.

Todays Left cannot also describe themselves as the Rebels for they control almost all of government bureaucracy in the much of the country.

Also what is funny to me is how all these present day Leftists grew up cheering fighting for freedom and now fight for tyranny. The lack of self awareness of the glaring conflict between what they are preaching in concept and what they are practicing and supporting in real life is staggering.

To amplify that point, I have a conservative friend who paints what some might consider apocalyptical paintings and was in a show with a bunch of other artists recently in West Hollywood. In that show of course there were number of artists who had Anti-Trump messages in their paintings including this one street artist known for his OBEY posters that were ubiquitous for a while around LA. In their painting and other explanatory info was much railing against government control, fascism and how The Man is suppressing thought side by side angry comments about Trump and positive comments for Impeachment.

Again the disconnect was staggering. Both me and my friend commented h0w disconnected their message was from reality. But was also evident was how these artists had self regulated themselves against crossing the boundary that is the Progressive Narrative. No one crossed that line and one could see how their Art had diminished over time because their kind of art particularly demands one to address what is True and what is not to be relevant , but no one dared to confront the Truth of the present day and how Progressives are squeezing the life out of our freedoms. Not one dared to assert anything in their very political ranting and ravings that could be construed to be against the present day Progressive Resistance Message. All fell in line like brainwashed automatons ready, willing and able to crush the freedoms they once sought to protect.

Link:
Progressives, Fear the Return of the American Savage - Ricochet.com

Uncut Gems is one of those his own worst enemy capers. You know, the kind of movie where you sit there for two hours watching some doofus constantly trip over his own laces usually figuratively, sometimes literally on the way to a personal epiphany about how all his bad choices and lack of useful self-awareness have led him to whatever unpleasant place they lead him to.

These movies can be cringeworthy in the protagonists pathos, either amusingly so or enragingly so. They can engender sympathy or contempt or ideally a combination of the two that nevertheless keeps you on his side. Its a tricky mix to get the balance to a place where the audience is walking that fine line with the protagonist, the cockiness leavened by poignancy. You should feel like this guy is probably right to hate himself, but you still want him to win. Gems directors and cowriters (with Ronald Bronstein) Benny and Josh Safdie pulled this high-wire act off beautifully with their 2017 film Good Time, in which Robert Pattinsons small-time crook engages in an endless doubling-down on appalling decisions, but does so out of a desperate love for a brother who is unable to care for himself. His brain may be malfunctioning, but his heart is in the right place.

The Safdies followup, alas, trades that rough tenderness for unfettered arrogance in the shape of Adam Sandlers (Pixels, Men, Women & Children) Howard Ratner, a New York City dealer in high-end bling. Uncut Gems may come laden with the Safdies grim arthouse cachet they previously made a film about heroin and suicide but this is in every way An Adam Sandler Movie. From the title, which suggests the positing of its asshole protagonist as some kind of heroic diamond in the rough, to the presence of an adoring much-younger girlfriend (newcomer Julia Fox) slavishly devoted to Howie for no apparent reason. Howie also has an estranged, age-appropriate wife (Idina Menzel: Frozen II, Enchanted), who screeches at him a lot. She, naturally, is almost as big a villain here as

Well, no spoilers. We are dragged along here as Howie alternately runs around Manhattans Diamond District and locks himself in his high-security showroom as he attempts to pull off his biggest score yet: turning the large hunk of raw black opal he has imported from Africa into a larger hunk of cash. His plan involves an auction at a fictional luxury house la Christies or Sothebys, but before he can get there, he has other, smaller deals to make in an ever escalating series of bad moves: the first involves pawning an item of incredible sentimental and financial value that is not his to pawn. And when his deals go wrong, as they inevitably do, he has to up the ante on himself, hoping for a bigger payoff on the next one in order to keep the juggling act in motion.

Uncut Gems is a movie about addiction: Howie is a compulsive gambler sometimes it seems he will risk obscene amounts of money just for the fun of it. And the Safdies mine undeniable cinematic tension out of Howies predicament: sometimes its physical tension, because people who have lots of cash around to play with are generally unhappy to be the one getting played, and would like to hurt the player. But often its psychological tension of exactly the sort youd imagine: every time Howie digs himself deeper into his hole, you want to scream at the screen for him to just stop it already. Or for someone else to stop him.

This kind of tension should be fun, and it would be, if Howie were worth caring about. But Sandlers smirking is not endearing or even vaguely interesting except, perhaps, to those who are already fans of Sandlers typical antics. To me, they are a turd not polishable by the Safdies indie cred, and as Uncut Gems lumbers to its finale at two hours and 15 minutes, it takes too long to get there I knew that there were only two ways Howies exploits could end: either well, in which case he would get to celebrate his triumph, or badly, in which case the movie would get to lament him as a tragic figure. Either would end up infuriating me. And I was correct in this.

Uncut Gems was the Surprise Film at the 63rd BFI London Film Festival

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Uncut Gems movie review: diamond in the blech (#LFF2019) - Flick Filosopher

Wes Matthews, the 33-year-old forward and guard, was charged with guarding James this night. He succeeded, as much as anyone could, in bewitching the leagues reigning grand old man. One minute he bumped with James, the next he backed off and switched. Its a tremendous honor, he said of guarding James.

Did you and James, I asked, chatter during the game? Matthews nodded his head. Most definitely, LeBron and me have a history, he said. Hes 17 years in the league and Ive got 11 years. Its a lot of banter, man.

These teams have a not-dissimilar architecture. Each has a couple of stars the Lakers Davis and James, the Bucks Antetokounmpo and the sweet-shooting Khris Middleton. They have surrounded these cores with a mix of young players and wise old heads, including the Bucks 38-year-old Kyle Korver, who presumably honed his still deadly long-range shot with Jack Marin and Archie Clark. (Note to not-so-old readers: Plug those names into basketball-reference.com.)

The Lakers lean heavily on their two stars. Davis, 26, has taken on the heaviest scoring burden at 27.4 points per game. James had not faded, averaging a hair short of 26. But most remarkable this year is his embrace of the art of the pass. Like a latter-day Magic Johnson, he is averaging a career-high 10.6 assists, and he can find cracks and crevices in even the tightest defenses.

Davis will be a free agent at seasons end, and if he has a whit of self-awareness he should sign up again with the Lakers. James is a near-perfect running partner for him, as game after game he delivers the ball precisely when and where Davis needs it.

(Remember, by the way, the small ball triumphalists? Those who watched the Golden State Warriors and told us the poor big man had become a dinosaur? Well, big is back. The Lakers starting lineup goes 7 feet, 6-10 and 6-8 across the front line, with the 6-11 Dwight Howard available off the bench. The Bucks are loaded with powerfully built big men, too, not the least the Lopez brothers, Brook and Robin.)

Original post:
The Old Man and the Greek: N.B.A. Tale Needs Only a Great Ending - The New York Times

Tuesday Dec24,2019at12:18AM

The Kirksville High School has partnered with Truman State University ROTC and the Missouri National Guard to recognize a KHS Student Leader of the Month.

Nominations for this award were sought from the faculty and staff of the high school for a student exemplifying the following characteristics:

An individual of excellent character whose values hinge on loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. This individual should inspire others, exemplifying a higher standard that encourage others to strive to be their best. This individual possesses resiliency in the face of adversity and a self-awareness that promotes improvement through diligence and a strong work ethic. This individual does not necessarily have to be the best student, best scholar or best athlete, but is someone who has demonstrated great improvement and consistent values.

The recipient of this award for November is Grace Byrn. Grace is a senior and the daughter of Roy and Amy Love and Jeff and Dawn Byrn.

The recipient of this award for December is Keegan Bird. Keegan is a senior and the son of Michael and Evonne Bird.

Read the rest here:
KHS announces November, December Student Leaders of the Month - Kirksville Daily Express and Daily News

Screenshot: Centro Storico Fiat (Youtube)

Fiat went through the wringer in the 1970s. The original 500 was canned and the the brand introduced a new wave of front-wheel drive hatches. Eventuallyr the Ritmo was launched, but not before a major injection of cash from a man in North Africa named Muammar Qaddafi. The first Fiat plant was opened in the major overseas market of Brazil. The company had to change because it was up against a lot back then. And while most of the marques more creative decisions of the era at least appeared to attempt to drive sales (Fiat X1/9, I see you), this film stands apart.

Because when Fiat of 1977, in the midst of all those growing pains, decided to put out a short animated film, it didnt make up your average short advertising film. No, this was nothing like BMWs The Hire. Its hardly an ad at all, to be honest. Why? Because the film itself is honest. It holds back almost nothing about the challenges car culture posed to humanity and vice versa back in 1977. I guess thats what an angsty Fiat, torn up by a market in upheaval, might put out. Its oddly raw, even pessimistic about the product its promoting, but thats exactly what I like about it.

The nearly forty-minute film intersperses animated shorts of varying styles with live-action sketches depicting a motorist confronted by the very real human ills created and exacerbated by the automobile. From depicting choking congestion and the dangers of road rage to a somewhat racist attempt to tackle automotive machismo, the animated segments slowly convince the protagonist that his love affair with cars is much more costly than he first realized.

All ll the while the animators challenge the viewer with ever more imaginative depictions of cars, the people who drive them, and the roads they occupy. I wish I could speak a little more to whats going on with the style of animation (Ill pretend to go to film school someday) but just take a moment to see a few of the shorts. Each one clearly took an immense effort to animate and the results are just beautiful.

Fiat must have been aware that you might come away from this film a little worried that the automaker had totally lost its drive, that the tragedy of the motorcar had taken in its toll on the big brand from Turin, and thats why theres a disclaimer at the beginning:

The car is an integral part of the everyday life of the modern world. It provides material for paintings, songs, novels, posters, sculptures, comic strips, and films.

In CARTOONS youll be seeing the car as observed by animated cartoonists in moods that vary from from the absurd to the cynical. Some of these cartoons are critical of the car and drivers but we see no reason to conceal such attitudes for after all it is not the car that is good or bad, but the way we use it.

Lets use it intelligently, then and enjoy CARTOONS.

That seems to be a rather enlightened perspective for a piece of film put out by an automaker, but its important to remember just what Fiat was contending with during the late 70s. 1977, when this film came out, was right in the middle of the Years of Lead, when the Red Brigades had their sights on symbols of Italys troubled process of industrialization, Fiat chief among them. Add to that the backlash from the Right against that 1976 loan from Libya and all it entailed and Fiat was in a tough spot.

Absent a clear explanation form the company itself, it seems reasonable to assume that putting out a project like this might have been seen as an aesthetic olive branch, an attempt to convey a degree of self-awareness on the part of Fiat that might have been seen as lacking by a company still helmed by the glamorous Agnelli clan.

Luckily, Fiat remains self-reflective and Centro Storico Fiat, Fiats archive, has brought the film (along with many other visual artifacts from the firms past) to Youtube.

This version is in Italian, but the quality is a lot nicer.

It should be noted that in addition to cartoons, the Agnelli family was still making sure that the company was still succeeding in the auto market, at least enough to pay for trips to the French Riviera.

While Fiat seemed to be aware that the effects of the proliferation of the automobile were in full effect, it still had some hope for the car as a force for fun and excitement. It was still making the 124 Spider in 1977 and the recently-introduced Bertone-penned, mid-engined X1/9 was also on offer. You know, in case you werent totally sold on the cars are merely a neutral medium for the automation of human existence thesis Fiat was clearly onto with these cartoons, for whatever its worth.

Read this article:
In 1977, Fiat Put The Car In Cartoons - Jalopnik

Marta Pozzan in Marta x AFRM.

Marta Pozzans first capsule collection with AFRM, AFRM x Marta Pozzan, launched just in time for the holidays. The Italian content creator and actress wanted to create more than just a wardrobe, but a positive message to her fans and followers. AFRM, which stands for affirmation, is known for writing positive messages on their tags and packaging to uplift the women wearing the clothes. I love the idea of filling our lives with positive and meaningful affirmations; its very important to me as a creative to also give that message to my followers and to remind them that were humans before anything else. We should all respect each other and uplift one another, shared Pozzan on the message of her collaboration. The collaboration was inspired by Pozzans eclectic European background with colorful prints and unique designs.

Marta Pozzan in Marta x AFRM.

Before Pozzan became a designer or graced the covers of Elle, she got her start as a ghost writer for a Vanity Fair in Milan, Italy. Fashion has always been everything to me and working for Vanity Fair taught me so much about designers, the publishing world and creative writing too. Then they had me host little fashion segments for their YouTube channel and thats when I realized I wanted to do more on-camera work and so after graduating from college I came to Los Angeles, went to acting school for a year and then social media took off and brand partnerships became my thing, explained Pozzan on how she grew her social media following to over half a million followers.

Social media transformed Pozzans career for the better and allowed her to garner new opportunities that wouldnt have been presented to her otherwise. Although influencers have become more common over the last few years, Pozzan finds that many people do not understand what her job is. So when TEDx asked her to speak with Oretta Corbelli as digital creator she felt sharing her experience with social media would bring help bring awareness to the industry for those not familiar. I feel like a lot of people ask me on a daily about my job and how it works so it only felt natural to want to explore the topic on a TEDx talk! Also I feel like TEDx brings so much credibility to the table that it made total sense to want to discuss certain aspects of my career on it as it will perhaps be seen by some of the non-industry people out there as something more official and legitimate, said Pozzan.

Marta Pozzan and Oretta Corbelli at TEDx.

Pozzan also felt it was important to highlight how positive social media can be when used correctly, I think if you have a good foundation as a human (which includes education, self awareness and basic social skills) you can do so much good on social media: become your own boss, have your own brand, do charity work, support other peoples business, share your work as an artist, and so on. And the beautiful thing is that if you have a voice and you put it out there anybody can hear it and relate to it and thats how you create a community and awareness around topics that need to be talked about.

For Pozzan using social media has helped her connect with people around the world to bring important issues to light such as mental health. As far as the fad of influencers, Pozzan doesnt see the industry going anywhere anytime soon, There are so many unique and special voices that have helped, inspired and motivated people out there and if they keep doing that in the truest form of what the word influencing means I dont see why they would fade. Influencers bring more approachability to their audience as theyre not yet fully perceived as traditional celebrities and thats a pretty impactful aspect of how influencers are beneficial to brands.

Read the original:
Marta Pozzan On Her AFRM Design Collaboration And Bringing The Business Of Social Media To TEDx - Forbes

Photo: Courtesy of Ecco

Lidia Yuknavitch, author of Verge (out Feb 4): Hands down, the book that carried me through the year was Ocean Vuongs On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. Im willing to bet this book carried legions of us, with the brutal and yet also tender beauty of the poetics, the intimacy between bodies, the weight of the heart suspended inside longing. This is a book that multiplies meanings, but at the center is a queer coming-of-age story as well as a bicultural family history. The shadow of a mother-son relationship and the shadow of the America-Vietnam relationship haunts the story. I fell in love with the narrator a hundred times over. I also felt suspended between the atomized mother who cannot fully understand the language of her son, a sons attempt to both inhabit as well as break free from his own family history, and the force of nature it takes to wrestle the gap. The language went into my body.

Anna Wiener, author of Uncanny Valley (out Jan 14): What a pleasure it was to read Caleb Crains Overthrow, a novel about political crisis, political optimism, technology, divination, surveillance, queerness, digital subversion, and the profound possibilities of empathy. The book, which is set in the near past, follows a small group of friendsall young, all attempting to carve out a lifewho refer to themselves as the Working Group for the Refinement of the Perception of Feelings. The group lives in an unnamed but familiar city, where there is growing excitement and energy around a particular public, collective political action, la Occupy Wall Street. Some members have telepathic powersmaybewhich lead to an unusual style of digital exploitation. All are struggling for selfhood, connection, privacy, and intimacy, in a time when such pursuits can feel nearly Sisyphean. Perspectives shift, as do individual commitments. The reader begins to question certain narrative realities; this is part of the fun.

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10 Authors on The Best Books They Read in 2019 - Vogue

ESPN analyst Doris Burke talks with The Posts Justin Terranova about a Doc Rivers disagreement, growing up a Knicks fan and calling the 76ers-Bucks on Christmas Day.

Q: You were recently called out by Doc Rivers after criticizing Kawhi Leonards load management. What did you take away from that?

A: I had reached out to the Clippers directly and said if Kawhi wants to say anything to me, let him know that I am happy to listen to whatever he might say to me. Thats our job as broadcasters. You have to be able to look that person in the eye. He chose not to do that and thats fine. The same way with Doc. He was speaking from a frustrated coaching perspective and he used me as a launching off point. If I could do it all over, I would make it less personal. I couldve used a different term than ridiculous. I am aware of the power of the words, so I use those carefully. I dont regret anything I said, though, I was frustrated from the fans perspective of missing out on a Kawhi-Giannis (Antetokounmpo) matchup.

Q: Do you mind being in the spotlight like that?

A: Its going to sound absurd, but I really dont like it. I am pretty good at keeping myself out of the news. I know that its part and parcel with the job, but the reality is I simply love calling games. I understand theres a responsibility that comes with my job that sometimes takes me out of my comfort zone, but if I could sit courtside and call the games, that would be my ideal. Thats not the nature of what we do, though.

Q: How have the Knicks struggles affected the league?

A: I wonder if this is the bias of a Knicks fan; I dont know if I could separate myself from this. It is my belief and its strongly held that the NBA feels different when the Knicks are good. And I would say the same about Chicago. I am not a ratings guru, but I do wonder if things would change if those big markets were better and getting the numbers you hope when they are televised.

Q: This regular season, you are working only an NBA analyst no college, no sideline work (until the conference finals). How have you gotten more comfortable as an analyst through the years?

A: When I was doing college basketball, both mens and womens, and NBA, Id be doing NBA games and (think), Wow, this game is moving fast. To be honest with you, It is a lot easier to be invested completely in one sport. At night I can tune in to a couple of games and really lock in and not worry about, Oh, I have UConn-Notre Dame on Friday.

Q: What do you think of Joel Embiids growth as a player?

A: I found Joel Embiids response to the challenge and critique of both Shaquille ONeal and Charles Barkley interesting. It showed a level of self-awareness and humility from Joel to accept the criticism and say, You know what? They have a point. He went out and dominated the next couple of games. But ultimately greatness in this league requires sustained effort and the pursuit of perfection when you are outside the lines and no one is looking at you.

Go here to read the rest:
Doris Burke on Doc Rivers disagreement and the NBA needing the Knicks - New York Post

You dont hear much these days about Advent, the 40-day contemplative period leading up to Christmas.

Kinda hard to craft a peppy, boy-meets-girl Hallmark movie from traditions that harken back to the Middle Ages.

Besides, were growing increasingly adverse to contemplation. Quiet has become a source of discomfort, a problem to be solved with ceaseless entertainment and distraction-on-demand.

During Advent, light is in its shortest supply. In this part of the country, most of us we wake up in the dark and go home in dark.

For Christians, the darkness ends with Christmas, as light re-emerges in the world in the form of the one who made it.

Dying from despair

It has become second nature to fear the dark. Darkness can fuel our imagination like nothing else. Our popular culture has taught us that those things that go bump in the dark never turn out to be good.

That fear of the dark is being manifest in an increasing number of Americans who are dying from despair because they cant see even a flicker of hope. Earlier this year, the Journal of the American Medical Association published findings that show that decades of increased life expectancy have begun to reverse, as more people have begun to succumb to suicide and substance abuse.

In the wealthiest, most powerful and most connected nation in human history, increasing numbers of its citizens are suffering from economic worry, social isolation, anxiety and psychological distress.

In a state of hopelessness, even Christmas can add a burden of guilt and grief, especially if you cant afford to keep up with the madness.

Keep looking

Its being suggested, through our entertainment and through the flood of tragic stories that saturate social media, that darkness is a power that cannot be overcome.

But it is in those moments we must remember to keep looking for the light; to remember even the smallest spark forces the darkness to flee.

Even in the dark, there is value to be found. Being in the dark often forces us to focus. It heightens our self-awareness and strips away the pretense we wear like armor.

Nature and the heavens themselves teach us that, unlike some beings, we cannot exist apart from the light. Because of the warmth and joy it brings, it is the thing that makes us feel most alive. It connects to the divine spark within.

The story of Advent and Christmas is the story of light re-emerging to take its rightful place in the world.

It reminds us that no matter how deep the dark, it cannot stop the light.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313.

On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

More here:
Charita Goshay: In days of darkness, light finds a way - Canton Repository