Freak of the Week: Lance Haun

I met Lance Haun, author of the Rehaul blog, through Twitter last year and I recently featured him in my post about the Top 7  Human Resources Blogs. We started a conversation and he was kind enough to share his own freak factor story, which reminds me of a slogan from Outward Bound. "If you can't get out of it, get into it."

"I get very little sleep which sparks creativity during the weirdest times and places. I've become much better at capturing it than my peers because I've had so many nights where I've stayed up with an idea and I figured it out. I've had some that I've completely lost in the more insomniac phases of my life but, generally speaking, my smartphone, laptop and notebook keep me plugged in with my ideas.

 

For my blog, Rehaul.com, most of my best work comes from an idea driven to paper after midnight. As you can imagine, sleeping infrequently requires coffee which forces me (as a person who works primarily from home) to interact with people. I've got my coffee shop people and my sandwich shop people that I can socialize with on a daily basis.

At MeritBuilder, our organization was built around people flaunting their weaknesses. Manic episodes of coding, writing and creative work followed by downtime of administrivia suited everyone and gained more productivity. I believe that embracing weaknesses is at the crux of smart talent management. It is overlooked consistently in the face of strengths but can be just (if not more) powerful."

Next time you have trouble sleeping, don't take an Ambien. Remeber Lance's story and ask yourself how you could take advantage of the late night hours while everyone else is wasting their time on sleep.  

Comments

[Jay]

So I just read your "About" section - 6' 6" would make me feel short at 6' 2"! Awesome, now I totally have to subscribe to your blog :-)

Cheers, and thanks for swinging by earlier,
Jay