Quick and Dirty Tips

Standing Up for Sex
Surrounded By Bad Bosses and Lazy Employees: Interview with Thomas Erikson
How Exercise Can Combat Depression

Posted: 01 Nov 2021 09:35 PM PDT

Standing and walking is, for us, so easy, so natural, that we take it for granted. Many mammals can stand upright for a short time, and even walk. But it takes effort, and they soon slump back to all fours, the typical mammalian state. Hominins—species in the human family—are different. Walking upright is their default. Locomotion on all fours, using hands and feet to walk, is, in contrast, unnatural and difficult. The adoption of bipedality, by a lineage of apes living in Africa 7 million years ago, was one of the more remarkable, unlikely, and puzzling events in the entire history of life. It required a complete re-engineering of the entire body, from head to toe.

When the backbone evolved half a billion years ago, it was a structure held horizontally, in tension. In hominins, it moved through ninety degrees, to be held vertically, in compression. No more radical alteration in the engineering requirements of the backbone has happened since it first evolved, and it can only be regarded as maladaptive—witness that back problems constitute one of the most costly and frequent causes of illness in humans today.

The question remains—why? The easy answer is that bipedality is just one of many peculiar modes of locomotion that apes have tried over millions of years, including swinging using elongated arms, as in gibbons; clambering using all four limbs as hands, as orangs do; and the unique quadrupedal knuckle-walking of chimps and gorillas. But why hominins tried bipedal walking, rather than any other mode of getting from one place to another, remains an open question. Certainly, life in open country does not require it. Many large monkeys, such as macaques and baboons, live in open country and remain with all four feet firmly planted on the hard, dry ground.

For more, listen to the full episode using the player above, or your favorite podcast app.

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Surrounded By Bad Bosses and Lazy Employees: Interview with Thomas Erikson

Posted: 01 Nov 2021 09:30 PM PDT

Work would be a breeze…if not for all the bad bosses and lazy employees out there. Right?

But in all seriousness, with so many hundreds (millions?) of books out there on leadership and performance, how is it possible that so many bad bosses and lazy employees continue to exist?

I had the opportunity to pose this very question to behavioral expert and bestselling author Thomas Erikson as we discussed his latest book Surrounded By Bad Bosses (and Lazy Employees); How to Stop Struggling, Start Succeeding, and Deal With Idiots at Work.

For more than 15 years, Erikson has been traveling all over Europe, delivering lectures and seminars to executives and managers at a wide range of companies including IKEA, Coca Cola, Microsoft, Volvo and more.

Listen to the full conversation on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or just click the audio player above.

With so many books out there on leadership, how are there still so many bad bosses out there?

Erikson listed a number of reasons which made perfect sense. A couple that stood out for me were:

1. Bosses aren't mind-readers

Erikson described various conversations in which people come to him frustrated by a boss's behavior or a style of leadership that just feels scratchy.

"Some people come to me and say, 'my boss is so bad and he doesn't know what I want.' And then I ask, 'have you told him or her? No. Okay, there you go.'

It may sound oversimplified, but the truth is that too many people just assume bosses should know what we want and how we want to be communicated to or managed or recognized. But bosses aren't superhuman. They aren't mind readers. So one strategy for improving your experience with your boss? Simply tell them what you're looking for.

2. Leadership isn't intuitive

Many people seem to believe that "leadership should be intuitive… [but] just, that's just wrong. That's a myth. Some people have good natural skills when it comes to communication, [and] leadership is basically a communication process." But even with skills and capabilities, the act of leadership still needs to be learned over time and with practice.

Speaking of practice… what skills should we practice if we want to be better leaders?

There are many for sure. But here are some of the most critical, according to Erikson:

• Practice listening – hearing...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

How Exercise Can Combat Depression

Posted: 01 Nov 2021 03:10 PM PDT

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on mental health. Recent surveys show that nearly a quarter of adults in the United States currently report symptoms of depression, more than doubling pre-pandemic levels.

You've likely seen this with friends, family, or colleagues. You might have even experienced it yourself. I've certainly noticed the stress of the pandemic weighting on me and several of my clients.

The good news is that moderate intensity aerobic exercise has been shown to be an effective way for preventing and relieving depression. Although not the end-all-be-all to treating depression and reaching out to a mental health professional is highly encouraged, 30 to 45 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic exercise 3 to 5 days a week can help significantly.

Effects of exercise on depression

Scientific studies have consistently shown that exercise has antidepressant effects. A review that analyzed data from 49 studies found that people with higher levels of physical activity had a 17% lower odds of depression than people with lower levels of physical activity. Another review found that low cardiorespiratory fitness, a sign of physical inactivity, was associated with a 64% higher risk of depression.

Now I know some of you may not be convinced by these studies that exercise has antidepressant effects. It's reasonable to believe that what the results of these studies actually show are that depressed people exercise less.

However, one study with over 60,000 participants showed that replacing sedentary behavior with moderate-to-vigorous activity in people with depression lowered depression symptoms significantly more than compared to either sleep or light activity.

How exercise may combat depression

How does exercise offer protection against depression...

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

Food And Recipe Fusion

Tuesday, November 2, 2021