IdeaPaint is the perfect gift for your team, your kids (teens to toddlers), yourself or anyone with a smooth surface that’s just sitting there. And you can pair it with magnetic paint for a truly useful fun result.
I found the ultimate gift for your favorite gadget nut or workaholic at Mashable, but you’ll have to wrap an IOU, because the EXOdesk isn’t actually available until next year. But I doubt they will mind waiting for a tabletop computer with 40 inches of high def space where you manipulate virtual objects by touching and dragging them around. It’s only $1,299, which may sound pricey, but is downright reasonable when compared to Microsoft Surface 2.0 at nine grand.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a show on TLC (a unit of Discovery Channel), but I plan to this spring; even more surprising to me is that it’s a reality show.
A reality show about great corporate culture in an industry known for the opposite.
“We were interested in working with Southwest,” said Dustin P. Smith, vice president of communications for TLC, “as it is one of the largest airlines in the country and is known for its exuberant corporate culture and for having refreshing and personal customer service that is regarded as unique in the industry.
I doubt that anyone who travels is surprised at the choice of Southwest; and certainly not Southwest.
Ashley Dillon, a spokesperson for Southwest Airlines, said the airline was chosen also because of its tradition of transparency, which relies heavily on the use of social media, blogs and other media.
In a 2009 post citing the airline’s success even during the height of the recession I linked Southwest’s and Zappos’ success to the same core cultural belief—happy employees (one Southwest flight attendant even rapped about its GAAP results).
They stowed drugs in secret panels inside planes; stole laptops, lobsters and fine clothing flown as freight; and rifled through passengers’ belongings for perfume, liquor and electronics.
Passenger losses in 2009 totaled 5.3 million dollars and for the last eight years American Airlines was the source of more reports than any other airline.
“What percent of American Airlines employees would you say engaged in this conduct?” a federal prosecutor, Patricia E. Notopoulos, asked Matthew James, a defendant in the case who pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecution. “About 80 percent,” Mr. James answered.
Of course, management claims it’s just a few bad apples.
Over the years I’ve read about and listened to hundreds of reasons why creating a culture that keeps employees happy just can’t be a priority— productivity and profit are the top priorities.
Obviously, they haven’t found the correlation, in spite of the high-profile examples that abound.
As most of my readers know, I’m not into social media; I am on LinkedIn and my company’s new product Option Sanity is on Facebook and Twitter, but other than the blog posts, I can’t say that any of them are particularly active.
I also freely admit that I don’t really understand how to use them for business (I have no interest in building my ‘personal brand’).
The negative side, especially the bullying, personal attacks, hate and amazing level of active stupidity, that I read about dismays and disgusts me. Beyond the negative much of what I heard was just totally inane; granted, I’m not a celebrity watcher and wouldn’t care what God had for breakfast, assuming h/she bothered posting the information.
Then came the so-called Arab Spring and suddenly social media showed a decidedly positive side.
And so his friends set up a website, amitguptaneedsyou.com, to encourage donor drives, during which the tissue type of potential donors is collected with a cheek swab. The site links to the National Marrow Donor Program website. It provides instructions on hosting a bone marrow dive and provides PDF fliers to promote the events. Yes, there is a Facebook page. Twitter blew up with news of the drives and Gupta’s health. And, of course, there’s a Twitter hashtag (#IswabbedforAmit).
When word of Gupta’s need for a match started circulating, unique visits to the marrow donor program website increased from about 16,000 on a typical day to 40,000. “That’s 21/2 times,” says Dr. Jeffrey Chell, the donor program’s CEO. “That’s impressive.”
I found many other stories of social media’s impact, and lives saved, as a result.
It’s good to know that social media, especially the 5000 pound gorillas Twitter and Facebook, can facilitate more real good than just keeping families in touch.
Jim is definitely off on new (married) adventures, so we’re finishing out the year by dipping into the archives. Today’s choice is a reflection of tomorrow’s post; I think you’ll enjoy it. See all mY generation posts here.
I love words; I love putting them together to express my thoughts and I love how others do the same; especially when they do it with the skill and flair of H. L. Mencken. I like Mencken because he is the best type of cynic and also has a wonderful flair for irreverence.
Let’s start with his definition of a cynic, “A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.” That’s Mencken, pithy and to the point.
He also offers a wonderful explanation of criticism, one that bosses and parents would do well to consider, “Criticism is prejudice made plausible.”
Mencken said “A society made up of individuals who were all capable of original thought would probably be unendurable.” It makes you wonder what he would think of Twitter and its ilk.
His commentary on business success is certainly proven daily, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.”
The next time you hear someone say they’ll “fix it, no problem” you would do well to remember this immutable Menckenism, “There is always an easy solution to every problem – neat, plausible, and wrong.”
Finally, in a salute to himself, Mencken declares, “All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.”
Join me next week for a tour of Mencken’s irreverent view of politics and democracy that will provide great zingers for holiday get-togethers and leave you chuckling.
The holiday season brings out a wide variety of emotions, from elation at the years accomplishments to excitement that a new year, a blank slate full of opportunity, is almost here, to the holiday blues and, for some, depression.
It’s also the time of year I like re-reading stories about real people that lift my spirits and I thought I would share a few with you.
First up is Filippo Callipo, who became the most successful businessman in southern Italy in spite of not playing ball with the mob.
Callipo’s refusal to play ball with the mob in an area where organised crime forces many businesses to pay extortion money and even dictates which suppliers companies must use has made him somewhat of a local legend.
I know many people with schizophrenia or manic-depressive disorder who, with the help of therapy and medication live their lives with relative degrees of success. The one complaint I hear from them all regards the medical arrogance that dismisses any ideas or insights they offer as worthless. It doesn’t surprise me; medical thinking still believes that there is no way a lay person with no training could offer any kind of intelligent commentary. Milt Greek and a few others are publicly proving them wrong.
Yet people who have had such experiences often disagree, arguing that delusions have their origin not solely in the illness, but also in fears, longings and psychological wounds that, once understood, can help people sustain recovery after they receive treatment.
Have you ever thought about who you were during a great life experience and wanted to repeat it now, as the person you’ve become? Bruce Weber, a reporter for the NT Times, did exactly that—18 years ago at age 39 he rode his bicycle across the country and he just did it again. His reflections on both himself and the country he rode through are well worth reading.
If there’s one thing the ride this time has impressed on me, it’s that the present is where I want to live. Never wish away distance. Never wish away time.
85 year old Boyd Lee Dunlop isn’t wishing away time. A nursing home, an old, broken-down piano and a chance meeting proves that the world can change at any time.
Instead, Boyd Lee Dunlop, 85, is the featured performer at a concert on Saturday night at the Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center in downtown Buffalo. Admission is $10. And if you want to buy his debut CD, that will cost you another $15.
believe no one will notice, AKA, they won’t be caught;
provide abundant excuses when they are; or
offer rationalizations to prove why “this time it’s different.”
I’m referring to the inadvertent ones who are totally clueless.
I see this a lot in founders who are so totally focused on short term product development that they ignore or delegate the stuff that will make or break their company down the road.
Culture and business planning, especially staffing plans, are two items that founders often kick to the side or delegate; and while I’m all for delegation some stuff just shouldn’t be.
Culture is the values of the company made visible for all to see. Can you really delegate that with a few notes on a napkin and instructions to a harried colleague?
Founders know that strong financials are necessary if they want funding, but other planning functions, such as staffing plans, often don’t seem as critical, so they are delegated or, worse, procrastinated.
The toll these inadvertent actions take can be huge and often far enough in the future that their actual origins are lost.
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.
Five years later we’re still abusing the L word and the E word is getting the same treatment.
The E word is entrepreneur, but you knew that.
When I was young kids sold lemonade or mowed lawns wanted to earn spending money; it didn’t mean we were destined to start companies.
The E word, like the L word, used to be a label applied by other people after the fact to describe someone who founded a business that grew large—think HP and Intel.
Also, the label is more modern, even when applied retrospectively; Ben Franklin and Henry Ford weren’t lauded as entrepreneurs in contemporaneous writings, but always are now.
Nor do I class self-use of the E word as obnoxious in the same way that self-use of the L word is—I once saw a resume where ‘leader’ was used in both the ‘Position Desired’ and experience descriptions, “supervisor and leader,” “director and leader” (seriously, that’s what was written)—but it is a bit pretentious to introduce yourself that way, especially at a startup networking event (heard that, too.)
We all know that overused words lose their meaning, so lets lighten up on the E word; it gets a heavy enough workout from the media.
Here are wonderful suggestions for unusual gifts for your mensch friends that also give to others, such as a flock of chickens for a needy family, just $30; $29 buys a girl her school uniform; $69 can start a female entrepreneur in the sewing business; and, if you’re feeling very generous, you can stock a fish pond and teach a man to fish for just $300.
For the ‘it’s all about me’ crowd you’ll find gifts at all levels in this year’s Neiman Marcus Fantasy Catalog, but hurry, the best stuff is going fast. Ten pewter-color Ferraris (luggage set matching the interior included) at $395,000 each sold out within 50 minutes.
An interesting interview with Ed Schein, a senior professor at MIT and a “pioneer” on the subject of corporate culture, who now believes corporate culture is irrelevant.
The real answer to that is that Corporate Culture is no longer the relevant topic. I think the relevant topic is macro culture, nations, corporations, corporate culture (where all these nationalities and occupations play out), and micro cultures where you have problems in the operating room and in teamwork because you have multi-nationals, people from different occupations that cultures, all interplaying.
OK, I don’t have a PhD and I’m not a brilliant, recognized expert with an international reputation, but my initial reaction to reading the transcript of the interview was ’duh’.
Of course corporate culture is impacted by having multiple nationalities working together, but it was impacted when the workforce were all native-born, but from different regions or even neighborhoods.
As to the micro cultures created by each boss (leader in the accepted jargon), again my reaction is ‘duh.’
Every person is shaped by their MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™), AKA, values. Every manager (from team leader to department vp) creates a culture in their organization that is based on those values and it can be similar, synergistic or diametrically opposed to the cultures above.
All that said, I think it’s great when recognized experts put shape and definition to the things that most workers know by instinct and they do it with a level of credibility far beyond the reach of someone like me.
Here is the interview or you can read the transcript at the link above.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a show on TLC (a unit of Discovery Channel), but I plan to this spring; even more surprising to me is that 
As most of my readers know, I’m not into social media; I am on LinkedIn and my company’s new product Option Sanity is on Facebook and Twitter, but other than the blog posts, I can’t say that any of them are particularly active.
I love words; I love putting them together to express my thoughts and I love how others do the same; especially when they do it with the skill and flair of H. L. Mencken. I like Mencken because he is the best type of cynic and also has a wonderful flair for irreverence.
The holiday season brings out a wide variety of emotions, from elation at the years accomplishments to excitement that a new year, a blank slate full of opportunity, is almost here, to the holiday blues and, for some, depression.
The dichotomy between what founders think/say and what they actually do never ceases to amaze me.
