Carousel! Carnival!

Ten years ago TODAY the Carnival of HR hit the internet (you can view the first post here).

I can also tell you that back in 2007 I didn’t read it.  Truth be told, 10 years ago, there was a relatively small band of hearty HR gals and guys poking around on-line reading blog posts. After all, from a “getting information” perspective, many an HR practitioner used technology to scroll through the SHRM message boards or read the occasional e-mail newsletters from employment attorneys and, well, SHRM.

But there is a long and lovely history of HR blogging dating back to the early 90’s; I recently reconstructed as much of it as I could (you can read that here). Casting a backwards eye I find it pretty amazing that a small group of smart people in our industry were truly the leaders and visionaries that moved us forward to the world of sharing information and ideas in some pretty novel (at the time) ways. In the years since we have, undoubtedly, shared some pretty dull and uninspiring stuff. Yet, many of the folks listed here have also been responsible for pushing buttons and energizing our global community to discuss fascinating and innovative ideas.

So in honor of this auspicious and amazing legacy of writing and blogging about the world of work, HR, Talent, Recruiting and Leadership, we reached out and asked folks to share either (1) their own favorite post (popular, topical, fun) or (2) a post from someone else that resonated (i.e. they still remember it) from the last ten years.

I’ve had a lot of fun chatting with the writers and contributors listed below as well as reminiscing with others; as one long-time (now lapsed) blogger told me  – “I’m so tempted to do a post just for the f**k of it since I haven’t blogged in years!”

Happy Anniversary to the Carnival of HR! Enjoy!

Robin

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Favorite Posts (submitted by the writers) 

HR Chicks and Competition – Laurie Ruettimann (the Cynical Girl era) – editor’s note: one of Laurie’s most popular posts ever!

#SEanalytics HR Analytics – part 2, – Jon Ingham – “’I’d like to provide my own latest post on Analytics (from September 2016) which I think deals with some of the issues raised in SystematicHR’s post which I’ve submitted as my favourite post from someone else. Analytics is also probably the main topic for posting today, in a similar way to how social media itself was the main concern of blogging back in 2007.”

Physics in HR – The Petrino Principle – Tim Gardner  – “I started a brief series on how HR is, or can be, as predictable as physics. In the midst of the series, Coach Petrino embarrassed himself, his family, and his university in a way that should have surprised no one. This was my most-viewed post at the time and even today. Now, years later, he has demonstrated how change is possible, and that behaviors can change given the right influence.”

Why I’m Reading a Book a Month – Melissa Fairman – “One of my favorites is a recent article I wrote about reading. It’s interesting that it was such a popular post, I think a lot of people can relate to the comments I made about trying to fight distraction get my focus back.”

HR Effing Rocks – Katee VanHorn – “Here is one of my favorites. It focuses on what we do in HR – really. It was a fun one to write.”

Comfort Zone – Jennifer Payne – “Here’s a post of mine…It’s not really an HR post, it’s more of a personal growth one, but I would say it’s one of my favorites ever….because it came right from my heart and my gut.  It was inspired by a number of real events happening both around me and to me at the time.  And it just so happened to be the most shared, liked, and tweeted post I’ve ever run!”

Death By Lousy HRM — The Whole Story In One Sitting! – Naomi Bloom – “I’ve written a lot of posts since inception in Nov 2009, and many of them are worthy of this event.  But what I’d really like to post is the novella I wrote in December, publishing it chapter by chapter and then publishing it again as a whole.  It’s very long, but the response has been so encouraging that I’m thinking about making this just the first in a series.”

Life Lessons from 25 Years in HR and Life lessons from (almost) 30 years in HR – Mike VanDervort

The Gender of Leadership – Mike VanDervort (writing at Women of HR)

Leading yourself: A Baker’s Dozen of Things to Master – Wally Bock – “You can’t lead others if you can’t lead yourself. Here is a baker’s dozen of things to master to be the best leader you can be.”  

A Simple Question: A Complicated Answer – The Interview – Derek Zeller

My Name is Not…Candidate – Steve Levy and Derek Zeller – per Derek “This is one that I wrote with Steve Levy and was one of the most controversial either of us has ever written.”

 New Leadership Role? Start Strong with These 6 Key Actions  – Jennifer Miler – “I chose this post because it’s second-most viewed post on my site and speaks to the need for organizations to help get new leaders up to speed fast. HR can play a key role in onboarding and acclimating new leaders.”

Personal interests:  10 CV dos and don’ts – Dorothy Dalton – “It has proven to be one of those timeless posts which still gets regular daily traction and opinion is as divided as it ever was!”

“7 Types of Power in the Workplace” – Sharlyn Lauby – “It’s really hard to pick a favorite post – it’s like asking to pick a favorite child. LOL! Seriously, I chose this one because it’s the most popular post on HR Bartender.”

O Generation X, Where Art Thou? – Stephanie Hammerwold – “Here’s one of my favorite posts that generated some good conversation with others”

HR, Take Some Risks and Just Say “What the ****” – Mark Fogel – “A favorite of mine that posted on Fistful of Talent this past year. It was moderately successful from a traffic standpoint but I feel it is who I am as a voice to the HR community and a fun read!”

Future Friday: The rise of conflicting trends – Mike Haberman

The Power of Carrot and Stick – Kurian Prasad – “This is the most popular post ever on my blog (with more than 10,000 views & many comments) and it provides an unconventional perspective on motivation integrating ideas from a wide range of apparently unconnected domains!”

How to Influence Without Authority – Jesse Lyn Stoner – “This is one of my most popular posts. Although written in 2012, it still shows up on the first page of a Google search for “influencing without authority.” I introduced a new model in this post ‘The 8 Portals of Influence.’”

Engaging Employees in the Gig Economy – Culture Next

How to Decide if You Should Accept a Job Offer – Judith Lindeberger

You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike – Mary Faulkner – “I’ve only been writing on the blog for about 4 years and it’s taken me some time to find my voice. Shockingly, my voice is sarcastic and wordy, but that’s not the point. This is the first post I made (back in January 2013) that felt like ME. I tied it to a computer game (very me), made it about leadership (the blog post) and I had a picture of an Osborn II Executive computer…which I actually had growing up. Which should tell you a lot about me. I’ve had other posts with a lot more views, but this one stands out as my first big kid post for me.”

Posts with an Impact (what our writers read … and remember…)

How to Change A Person’s Mind – author: Lance Haun – submitted by Laurie Ruettiman

How to Lie with Analytics  (2007) – author: Wes Wu, SystematicHR – submitted by Jon Ingham – “Though I think we’ve progressed a bit beyond this now I think the general concern about the potential for inappropriate use of analytics, or inappropriate conclusions from its insights still applies. SystematicHR was one of my favourite blogs when I started blogging.”

What “The Interview” Saga Tells You About Your Career… – author: Kris Dunn – submitted by Naomi Bloom – “One of my all time favorite posts from the HR Capitalist. I wanted to include it in the anniversary addition because it’s good advice for business professionals and HR pro’s. Don’t mess with crazy!!!”

Curiosity did NOT Kill the (HR Lady’s) Cat – author: Robin Schooling – submitted by KateeVanHorn – “A post that made me happy to see — which I sent to a few “busy” colleagues.”

The World Needs More Balcony People – author: Jennifer McClure – submitted by Mary Faulkner – “I love this post because to me, Jennifer is the ULTIMATE balcony person. I wouldn’t have a blog without her encouragement. I wouldn’t be tweeting without her. I wouldn’t have met the amazing online community of HR people I know count as second family without her in my corner. It was a twist of fate that allowed me to meet her, and I’m so happy I did. If more people had a Jennifer McClure in there corner, the world would be a better place. And if you use this post, make sure you tell Jennifer, ‘Because of you, my life was changed.’ (She’ll get it.)”

Social Media For HR – Now & Next [Interview With Laurie Ruettimann] – author: Jennifer McClure – submitted by KateeVanHorn – ”This one from Jennifer McClure is good and features Laurie R; one to motivate HR folks to do more socially.”

Given First – author: Steve Browne – submitted by Jennifer Miller – “I have many favorite HR writers, so it’s tough to choose just one post. The post Given First by Steve Browne encapsulates what I admire most about Steve: he is relentlessly positive, even though he’s a practitioner in a field that’s often maligned. It would be easy to become jaded, but instead, Steve (head of HR for a restaurant chain) chooses to put forth a positive (but realistic) view of HR in the trenches.”

My Ninja… – author: William Tincup – submitted by: Robin Schooling – “William is just absolutely one of my favorite writers; I could link to almost every post he’s ever written. This one, however, has stuck with me for 5 years. Workarounds…at work. Truly.”