Making it through my pile again. Actually, I think this is older than that. But Fast Company has this really fascinating article on "generation debt." The article features online money-management applications, mainly mint, which it calls the "Axe Bodyspray of personal finance." Yucky image. But interesting statistics in the article, e.g. "Americans under 35 spend 16% more than they earn, on average." That is depressing. They quote Ramit Sethi, saying "there's this dull throbbing sense of guilt that we should be doing something, but where do we start?" The problem is it's not an easy answer, it's one that comes with hard work, discipline and knowing oneself.  Read more »

I attend a lot of board meetings. Some are good, some aren't very good. But I love the fact that, if you have two different meetings that are productive and successful, they may not be anything alike. A group here at work came up with this meeting evaluation that gets at some of this, and I thought it was interesting to be so transparent about these points that usually people don't even articulate to themselves. What do you think, dear reader?

• The purpose of the meeting was clearly stated at the outset. (Y/N)
• The meeting's agenda was available to all attendees. (Y/N)
• The agenda was followed during the meeting. (Y/N)
• The meeting's objectives were met. (Y/N)
• My personal objectives were met. (Y/N)  Read more »