Brooks Mendell

Writer, Teacher and Forestry Professional

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Year2020

Ideas for Managers

December 22, 2020 /

This post introduces an essay with advice on managing a business, setting expectations and working with teams. It is the second in a three-part series on entrepreneurship. 

Starting Forisk Consulting was not part of a long-term goal. Rather, it came together serendipitously. When the phone started ringing with questions relevant to my forestry research, the two ingredients required for starting a business presented themselves: a product or service to offer and clients willing to pay for it. 

Since then, I’ve learned a lot about managing. I also absorbed more about insurance, taxes and postage meters than a person needs to know for the afterlife. In this second essay on entrepreneurship, I summarize lessons on managing a business and teams.

Click here to read the essay.

Ideas for Entrepreneurs

November 26, 2020 /

This post introduces an essay with advice on starting a business. It is the first in a three-part series. 

Forisk is not my first business. In elementary school, after reading all of the Encyclopedia Brown mystery books from the local library, I started a detective agency with my younger brother. We had one client and we helped her find a lost dog. She paid us in milk and cookies. They were delicious. 

Over the years, there have been other businesses, in addition to lemon aide stands and lawn mowing. Sometimes the businesses worked out, and sometimes they didn’t. You learn and try again. For this question-and-answer essay, I share a few thoughts on starting a business based on my experiences and what I’ve learned from mentors. 

Click here to read the essay.

Multitasking is a Myth

October 25, 2020 /

This post introduces a recent essay on the dangers of multitasking and the importance of deliberately choosing priorities and focusing attention. 

The world seems determined to manipulate our attention and encourage us to click, buy, like, forward or watch. These actions do more to spark emotions than to create value, meaning or a sense of accomplishment. How can we better flex our mental muscles?

Attempts to multitask degrade our mental performance and reduce personal productivity. Previous research describes the impacts as equal to a 10-point decline in IQ or about the same as pulling an all-nighter. In short, multitasking reduces our intelligence, energy and ability to get things done well.

Click here to read the essay.

We All Lead by Example

September 28, 2020 /

This post introduces a recent essay on four imperatives for living and leading by example. 

When we smile, others smile back. When someone enters an elevator, we move to make room. When audience members stand to applaud at an event, we often join them (even if unmoved to).

Why is this important? It reminds us of our own role and sway in shaping lives at home, at work and in the community. Each of us is a walking, talking bundle of values, preferences and habits. I am what I do and read, how I act and react, and who I spend time with. And so are you. 

We have several ways to make the most of this superpower we have to influence others.   

Click here to read the essay.

Average is the Enemy

August 25, 2020 /

This post introduces a recent essay on the danger of using averages for making decisions or evaluating performance. 

Mathematically, the average tells us the arithmetic mean; it gives a sense for where the middle lies within a group or between extremes. But averages, like stereotypes, are incomplete and dangerous as a basis for decision making. Rather, when making decisions or evaluating performance, embrace your natural curiosity and dig in. 

Move past the false shortcuts offered by averages.  Embrace variability. 

Forest management expert Dr. Barry Shiver once told me that the motto of intensive forestry is, “identify variability…then exploit it!” We add value by investing in the best soils and highest performing trees on one end, and through dealing quickly with mortality and disease at the other end. When it comes to managing or buying an asset, we want to understand both the forest and the trees.  

Click here to read the essay.

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