It seems there are several reasons to celebrate here in our office this week. Tuesday we celebrated a birthday, yesterday we said goodbye to a coworker and today we're opening our doors to family and friends for a Halloween party.

While we take our work very seriously, we do acknowledge that it is important to celebrate certain milestones and holidays. Don't worry, we don't get carried away with our celebrations. But after a long morning of work, it's nice to take a short break and share some cake in honor of a coworker's birthday.

What do you think? Is there room for celebrations in the workplace? Does your workplace celebrate birthdays? Holidays? Other milestones? How so?

Image by ProCorbis

With the economy in its current state we are constantly hearing about job cuts. From GM to Yahoo to Ebay, it seems every industry is affected by the downturn. But an article in today’s Boston Globe reasons that there is hope for the future. And this hope comes in the form of green jobs.

Using California as an example, David Roland-Holst, author of the University of California at Berkeley’s study, explained that the state’s new mandates to curb greenhouse gases and further efficiency measures will increase jobs. In fact, the increase is estimated at 400,000 additional jobs, $48 billion in household income, and $76 billion in the state’s domestic product by 2020.

“If the country can follow California's example, it will have a dramatic effect on our future emissions and energy independence,” Roland-Holst said.

Several attempts have been made to project how many green jobs can be generated in the upcoming years. The US Conference of Mayors estimates that by shifting 40% of our electricity to wind, solar, biomass and other fuels 4.2 million green jobs could be created by 2038. Other estimates vary, but range between 2.5 and 4.2 million.

It sounds promising to me. But what do you think? Are green jobs our only hope?

Photo by greenjobsnow

After spending two months working in China, I think there is definitely one thing we can learn from the Chinese (that is, aside from the whole ‘rest’ thing). Unlike their American counterparts, being a collectivist society, the Chinese are always operating with a ‘group first’ mentality.

This proved interesting when I first started working. When met with a challenge, I am quick to solve it. This did not go over well with my Chinese coworkers. The first time a journalist came to me with a problem, I solved it without hesitation. The second time it happened, my supervisor approached me. She told me that in the future I should consult the team before solving a problem. But what if I knew how to handle it on my own? I had to bite my tongue and turn to the group.

Now can you see how this could be somewhat frustrating? But once I accepted it, it was quite easy to adjust. I found myself constantly consulting my coworkers and figuring out better ways to address situations. I think I may have even improved my group communication. Turns out there are several ways to solve problems and I only realized this when I consulted the group and learned how each person tackles a situation. When everyone is making suggestions, you really can decide the best possible solution.

So while sometimes it’s just easier to do things on your own, it’s also worth consulting a group or team. Two, three or four brains are always better than one.

Photo by deSKOLtrolado