Month: August 2009
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The Unsung Hero
Heroes are people that come to the rescue in the face of seemingly unavoidable disaster. The customer was going to kill the account, but the hero works all day and night to meed the deadline no one thought could be met. There is much celebration, the hero rides on the shoulders of his colleagues But…
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Bragging about your Hygiene
When was the last time you met someone, and they commented: Wow, you took a shower this morning. Lookin’ good! Never. Taking a shower doesn’t earn you any extra credit with anyone you meet. It’s what people expect, which means not smelling does not earn you any credit, but reeking when you meet someone will…
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Deactionary Dreamers
Over the last several years, I have met several people who suffer from what I call Deactionary Dreamers. These people suffer from an illusion that execution has no impact on the outcome, and instead is a given. In a normal scenario (when things go well), you have three basic steps: Good Idea / Opportunity Identified A good…
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Are you buying that advertising?
I was reading an interesting blog entry on what youth are willing to pay for. One of the lines that I found odd was this: “They seldom intentionally click on any kind of advertising, and they never buy anything because of the advertising.” Is this really insightful? How many of us would say that we…
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The Risks of Commoditization
We are simple beings, as such, we like simplicity. But our world is very complex, and therefore we simplify by creating commodities. Commodities allow us to seek out an object for it’s general properties while ignoring it’s specific ones. For example, most of us go to the store to buy milk. When we are…
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First Impressions & A Second Start
Ever meet a new friend, and find out that he is 21, and then 10 years later, continue to still unconsciously see him as 21. It’s hard to reorient ourselves after that first impression. The same can be true when you start a job. People see your capabilities at the beginning and that inertia continues for long…