Jack is going through the sacrament of First Penance and Reconciliation next week. This is the Catholic ceremony of the first confession in which a child examines their conscience, asks for forgiveness […]
Forgiveness
Sad News, New Territory, 2 Great Books: 3 short posts in 1
What follows is a somewhat disjointed collection of updates from the past month. I probably should have made this three separate posts, but I’m short on time and I wanted to memorialize […]
Demma Family Update
Hello Everyone, I have some personal updates for all of our friends and colleagues out there. First, Kelly and I are excited to announce that we have welcomed our fourth baby into […]
Management Skills: First, Do No Harm
Has it ever occurred to you that not only are you not doing a good job at work, but maybe you are actually making things worse? I think it’s a really good question to ask yourself, especially if you’re a manager. The answer might not be so obvious.
New Job, Mistakes, Travel, Family, and Discovering My “Why”
I have made some mistakes during my on-boarding, mostly centered around my ambition to start contributing quickly and my obsession with getting things done.
Maybe You’re Wrong About Participation Trophies Too
Participation trophies aren’t just a way to make everyone feel good about themselves. Maybe they’re that too, but they’re so much more to my son.
My Leadership Style Update: Be Like Water
Bruce Lee. Legendary Kung Fu master, martial artist, actor, philosopher, author, and one of my idols. He is perhaps best known for pioneering the martial arts style called Jeet Kune Do. An update to my post about describing My leadership style.
Fortune Favors the Offensive: 5 Principles of speed and aggression from history’s greatest generals
One of the great regrets of my life is not having served in the military. I’ve become painfully aware of my lack of service since moving to the D.C. area, where it […]
Management Skills: 5 Ways to Develop Mental Toughness
How do middle class people of the developed world keep the edge, work ethic, and values their immigrant ancestors had? How do we develop mental toughness?
How to be a Little Less Afraid of the World (advice from Jack London)
Jack London is one of my go-to mentors for manliness. What follows below is a snippet from his memoir about sailing around the world, The Cruise of the Snark.
Get to Know Me, From My Company’s Portal Blog
This month my company featured me on our portal in a blog-style interview. I thought I’d share since I haven’t posted much about work lately. Here you go: Get to Know John Demma We […]
3 Quick DIY Life Hacks to Save You Money
People seemed to like my personal finance posts from the past few months about things like getting rid of cable and saving money on food, so I figured I’d share some other […]
Expense Savings Go Right to the Bottom Line
You may have heard someone say that expense savings go right to the “bottom line”. What does that mean? What is the bottom line anyway? For a business, the last line on […]
How We Saved $1,000 Per Month in Food Cost
Studies like this one from Gallop show that the average Joe is spending $151 per week on food. For two adults and two kids (let’s say the kids cost 1/2 that […]
Gut Check – Getting Back Up
This barber, he had to be seventy, was telling me once while trimming me up how he just had a whole bunch of cancer surgically removed about a week earlier. Tough old dog, I […]