Description: Latest installment in series that applies Buddhist philosophy to the actuary's daily activities. This installment discusses the challenges for actuaries in dealing with the ongoing ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses mindfulness tools to cope with the resulting stresses in a peaceful and effective way.

Description: Practical insights from Joe Nunes on planning in business.

Description: A real life situation is posed involving a boss who is over-managing, and readers are invited to submit their responses to "What Would You Do?"

Description: The author shares personal experiences, thereby providing guidelines for shaping ones' career.

Description: After research involving auto insurance is retracted due to fraud, I revisit my own book review and unskeptical quoting of that now-debunked research. A lesson in ASOP 23, on Data Quality, ensues, as it seems data in the research was falsified. There is also a lesson in ASOP 56, Modeling, which includes aspects of relying on outside experts for model input. At the end of it all, the value of our actuarial professional standards, in light of other professions seemingly having no standards (or no serious repercussions for breaching said standards), shines through. Also, be skeptical of 'one simple trick' approaches to transform the insurance industry.

Description: Motivational speaker Dr. Doreen Stern provides insights on how to set an achieve goals.

Description: Chairperson's corner discussing the recent name to the L&D (formerly MPD), the winners of the Leadership Inspiration contest, and how to commit and aspire to your 2016 resolutions.

Description: An argument for a lifelong study of the humanities for personal and intellectual development, as well as some advice to get started.

Description: The appeal of the actuarial profession to women.

Description: In the midst of the activity and glitter of Times Square, one group of actuaries devoted an entire SOA meeting one morning to developing their communication knowledge and skills. The workshop titled, “Actuaries can Communicate,” was designed to identify ways to communicate more effectively as an actuary, to develop individual communication competence and to practice communication skills central to the work of an actuary. From The Stepping Stone, April 2005, Issue No. 18.