Several studies caught my eye recently; some interesting and others cautionary.

On the interesting side…

The Price of Typos really blew me away. Somehow I thought I was one of a tiny minority of people who get annoyed at the misspellings and incorrect word usage that is rampant on the Net. Turns out the stuff that drives me nuts (‘loose’ instead of ‘lose’) has as much if not more impact on companies’ the bottom line.

“Spelling mistakes ‘cost millions’ in lost online sales,” said a BBC headline last week. The article cited an analysis of British Web figures that suggested that a single spelling mistake on an e-commerce site can hurt credibility so much that online revenues fall by half.

Do you feel ignored when the emails you send aren’t answered? More importantly, are you guilty of ignoring the emails you receive? And how do you rationalize when the response to both these questions is ‘yes‘?

Though it would comfort us to think that these long silences are the product of technical failure or mishap, the more likely culprits are lack of courtesy and passive aggression.

Depending on whom you are and how you see teen life, especially if you’re a parent, will decide whether the next article is more interesting or cautionary. It’s all about teen fame.

Online fame is becoming just another aspect of teenage life for a generation raised on reality television and the perpetual flurry of status updates that ping across their smartphones, tablets and computer screens.

The final two definitely fall in the cautionary category…

Have you ever been given a personality test as part of a job interview? In the future you may not have to if you have a Facebook page.

A recent study by researchers at the University of Maryland predicted a person’s score on a personality test to within 10 percentage points by using words posted on Facebook. …“Lots of organizations make their employees take personality tests,” said Jennifer Golbeck, an assistant professor of computer science and information studies at the University of Maryland. “If you can guess someone’s personality pretty well on the Web, you don’t need them to take the test.”

Last but not least is proof positive that companies really are taking your online information as seriously as your credit score and background checks.

A year-old start-up, Social Intelligence, scrapes the Internet for everything prospective employees may have said or done online in the past seven years.

Then it assembles a dossier with examples of professional honors and charitable work, along with negative information that meets specific criteria: online evidence of racist remarks; references to drugs; sexually explicit photos, text messages or videos; flagrant displays of weapons or bombs and clearly identifiable violent activity.

Enjoy!

Image credit:  MykReeve on flickr

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Do you lie?

When you hire you assume that what you see is what you get.

In other words, you expect the person who reports to work to be the same person, with the same attitude and interests, which you interviewed and hired—a reasonable expectation.

It holds true on the other side, too.

Candidates expect you, your team and your company to be the same people and culture they learned about during the interview.

• If you presented yourself as a motivator, innovator, team-builder, mentor-type during the interview, but in reality are a micromanager without an original thought who screams at your team you lied.
• If you presented a cohesive team that supports each other and shares knowledge, but in fact it is filled with backbiting and out-of-control egos you lied.
• If you presented a culture that’s about fairness and merit, but promote your friends and play favorites you lied.
• If you shaded anything to be more appealing to that candidate you lied.
• If you used words such as ‘trust’, ‘transparency’ and ‘authenticity’ to close the candidate you lied.

Those three words are cultural touchstones that are sacrosanct. Once broken they are nearly impossible to mend.

Lies don’t just break them, lies shatter them.

Do you lie?

Option Sanity™ protects cultural touchstones

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.

Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Image credit: kevinspencer

I frequently see comments on blogs and social sites along the lines of “I know I could be an entrepreneur if I just had a good idea” or “I want to be an entrepreneur and change the world.”

Sadly, it seems that most are looking for ideas to make them the next Groupon or Foursquare and while that might make them rich, it will hardly change the world.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it won’t change much or get you into the history books.

You change the world by tackling real-world problems, often with hard science

But you don’t need to be a scientist; self-taught Gary Cola invented the world’s lightest, strongest steel that takes less than ten seconds to make.

In fact, you don’t have to be an adult. Take a look at the winners of the first Google Science Fair and you will be blown away; none are 18 yet and none of their ideas involved the Internet.

Here’s an idea; if you want to change the world look for problems with global impact. Blake Mycoskie is changing the world with shoes and glasses, while Anthony Capone, CEO of Nimbus Water Systems, is changing it with inexpensive, solar-powered, portable water purification systems.

Then there are toilets.

Yes, toilets.

That handy gadget that we take for granted (unless it isn’t working) and that many parts of the world only dream about.

“No innovation in the past 200 years has done more to save lives and improve health than the sanitation revolution triggered by invention of the toilet.” –Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s global development program

And the Gates Foundation is putting its money where its mouth is.

Look around; think about changing the world by reinventing or innovating something that addresses a basic need.

You may not end up as rich as Mark Cuban, but I guarantee that it’s the sexiest, most exciting, rewarding, feel-good thing you’ll ever do.

Image credit: idf-fotos

Stock.xchng image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1245130

With News Corp’s culture making headlines around the world (and links to plentiful to choose) I was reminded of something I read recently about a new ethics compliance study (free registration required).

The new outlook has permeated the boardroom. In fact, only 22% of ethics and compliance leaders worry about senior management’s ability and desire to demonstrate and promote ethical conduct. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents stated that promoting an ethical culture creates long-term value for the business.

In fact, 45% of respondents are concerned that middle managers are not as invested in ethics initiatives as their superiors.
Think about this; senior management is ethical, but the guys in the middle area are the problem.

Funny, in almost all the ethics cases over the last few decades it’s been senior management that was the driving force and found to be at fault.

Most people respond to the tone and example set by their leaders.

But too often the goals and the pressure to achieve them reflect an unwritten message from senior executives—use whatever means necessary, just get it done.

I’ve never seen any statistics, but I’ll bet that if middle managers are guilty of anything it’s going too far to produce the results demanded of them by their bosses who are, in turn, responding to Wall Street.

Flickr image credit: ZedBee | Zoë Power

I never did understand the frenzy around startups and small biz as an engine for job creation, but I kept still—no one makes a fool of themselves intentionally.

Then last July I read an article by Andy Grove about what it takes to create jobs and my thoughts didn’t seem quite so ignorant. In September I read that after the first rush of hiring small and large companies are fairly even regarding job creation.

I also couldn’t understand the economic value of companies such as Groupon, Twitter, Zynga or even Facebook. I really couldn’t see how new ways to sell stuff was going to rebuild the middle class; it just didn’t seem that anything new and real was actually being created, but I didn’t broadcast those heretical views, either.

Now I’m seeing my heretical ideas voiced by people with cred.

So if this tech bubble is about getting shoppers to buy, what’s left if and when it pops? [Steve] Perlman [founder or WebTV] grows agitated when asked that question. Hands waving and voice rising, he says that venture capitalists have become consumed with finding overnight sensations. They’ve pulled away from funding risky projects that create more of those general-purpose technologies—inventions that lay the foundation for more invention. “…But they are building on top of old technology, and at some point you exhaust the fuel of the underpinnings.”

Beyond all this is the fact that selling stuff requires a strong middle class to buy it and even startups with real products aren’t contributing to the manufacturing jobs that underpin that same middle class.

“The scaling process is no longer happening in the U.S. And as long as that’s the case, plowing capital into young companies that build their factories elsewhere will continue to yield a bad return in terms of American jobs.” –Andy Grove

China and India are consumer powerhouses not because of their newly minted uber-rich, but because of their growing middle class.

Most of this has been said in one way or another, but it doesn’t seem to have sunk in. I certainly don’t have the answers, but I am sure that the conversation needs to become a lot louder before anyone notices, let alone takes action.

Image credit: Flickr

Article first published as No Help Wanted on Technorati.

See all mY generation posts here.

Don’t you just love it when a national holiday is proclaimed for one of your favorite things? The day takes on a special significance and indulging seems the best way to celebrate.

Today is one of those personally favorite holidays—National Ice Cream Day.

I don’t care about baked goods or candy, but ice cream is my weakness—as long as it’s not boring vanilla or insipid strawberry. I also prefer stuff in my ice cream, especially nuts or some form of dark chocolate.

Remember the saying we all used to chant, “You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream?” It’s considered and American proverb, which I find hugely amusing.

Heywood C. Broun considered ice cream “soul stirring, “I doubt whether the world holds for any one a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream”

I got a laugh from Howard Luck Gossage’s comparison, “To explain responsibility to advertising men is like trying to convince an eight-year-old that sexual intercourse is more fun than a chocolate ice cream cone.” That’s still pretty accurate considering he said it more than 30 years ago.

Charles M. Schulz had a different idea in his comparison, but just as true, “Life is like an ice-cream cone, you have to lick it one day at a time.”

I’m not quite sure what Voltaire meant when he said, “Ice-cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn’t illegal.” But it’s a good think it’s not; I’d be in big trouble.

Last, but not least, is an anonymous saying, or consider it the wisdom of crowds; it certainly sums up my thoughts on the subject, “Without ice cream life and fame are meaningless”

Flickr image credit: outofmytree

I hope you have a spare 20 or so minutes today to have some fun.

A while back I saw a set of ads at Business Insider and today I want to share them with you.

They aren’t just politically incorrect, they are downright offensive.

Most date to the Sixties, a few are older; some of you may even remember one or two from your childhood, I know I do.

What I found so interesting was that many of the attitudes underlying the ads haven’t really changed, although they are covert these days, instead of overt.

Here are three from the series; I hope you will take time to look at the other 23.

In addition, there are other series. While most advertising sucks, ads can be entertaining and very funny; truly great ads will stop traffic and others hook people on their concept. And then there are the people who got filthy rich off of truly ridiculous ideas.

Enjoy!

Image credit:  MykReeve on flickr

A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Research has shown that culture trumps strategy and the most important component of culture is people.

Without people there is no company.

With the wrong people there is no team.

It is the team that makes your vision a reality.

It is the team that draws investment.

It is the team that lets you pivot when necessary.

It is the team that saves your ass when you screw up.

Your team is made up of the people who focus on the success of the company, knowing that its success ensures their own, not the people who work primarily for their own success.

A strong team always trumps a group of individual players—no matter how good.

To ensure you have a team and not a group you need a rock-solid hiring and compensation (salary and stock) philosophy, method and process, because the needs of the team trumps any individual’s credentials, experience, previous title and company.

Option Sanity™ strengthens teams

Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.

Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

Image credit: Bun in a Can Productions