Contributor: Loren Paulsson

Loren Paulsson relishes the challenge of understanding individuals and their stories. As editor of Character First the Magazine, he focuses on encouraging an interactive community, collaborating with contributors, and managing magazine operations. You can reach him via e-mail and follow him on Twitter.

Building Orderliness

Quadrant Homes delivers a finished home 54 days after starting construction, but Quadrant’s distinguishing characteristic is the management system that makes it all work.
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Success...Even When Projects Don’t Meet Expectations

Adam and Christine Jeske have two children—Phoebe and Zeke—and two master’s degrees in international economic development.
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Thank You Very Much

He was sitting quietly on the bench next to the change machine when I walked into the laundromat and dry cleaners on the corner of Sale Place and Star Street, Westminster—on London’s west side. It was easy enough to see the price on the soap dispenser, the washing machines, and the dryers. What was less obvious was how the change machine worked or that the coins I had weren’t the right size.
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Be Honest

In the spring of 2004, Brian Adkins and his 13-year-old son, Zach, were looking for morel mushrooms in Washington’s Cascade Mountains.
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What Drives You?

Daniel H. Pink’s narrative style and his conversations with his sources make Drive an absorbing read—and a persuasive call to rethink common assumptions.
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Watch What They Say

Anne E. Beall's book, Reading the Hidden Communications Around You, sets out to help us tune in and better understand nonverbal communication.
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What's the Internet doing to your brain?

Carr's primary concern is that in composing bite-sized text messages our minds will lose the ability to develop complete paragraphs…or worse, we'll pay so much attention to our smart phones, multimedia newscasts, and social media pages that we miss the aspects of life we can't reduce to a podcast, video clip, or message thread.
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Making the Most of Your Strengths

In his Harvard Business Review article, “Managing Oneself,” Peter Drucker suggests a feedback analysis approach to finding one’s strengths. Make a key decision; write down the expected outcome; and then compare expectations with results nine to twelve months later. As a person gains experience, he or she will begin to see patterns.
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Thoroughness Isn't a Habit, It's a Lifestyle

“How many times have you rolled the four-wheeler?” My mind raced and then froze. I stammered something about the details of the first couple of times. “Have you learned anything from it?”
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Staying on Track

As the 2006 Colorado track and field championships opened, the Rocky Mountain High School girls track team expected to win it all after finishing second the previous two years.
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