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Archive for April, 2019

Ducks in a Row: Wisdom Then and Now

Tuesday, April 30th, 2019

The above image was yesterday’s Oldie from 2009.

What’s changed (or was off in the first place) since then?

Let’s take them one-by-one.

Data: data, since “facts” are often historical and the historical info is often biased.

Information: Think bias and fake news, neither is new, but the quantity has exploded.

Knowledge: Same as original.

Understanding: Too often why or any questioning is asked only if the facts and information run counter to our beliefs, opinion, and worldview.

Wisdom: Unlikely.

Wikipedia describes wisdom as follows:

Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight.[1] Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, self-transcendence and non-attachment,[2] and virtues such as ethics and benevolence.[3][4]

Much of the ability to think according to the above description has been either voluntarily turned over to, or co-opted by, social media.

Considered actions often must pass an “Instagram/Twitter filter;” those that don’t aren’t acted upon.

If there is anything social media can not be blamed for it’s a proliferation of wisdom.

Join me tomorrow for a look at ways and means to acquire wisdom.

Image credit: Nick J Webb

Golden Oldies: Wordless Wednesday: The Trip Of A Lifetime

Monday, April 29th, 2019

Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

Back in the late 2000s, when blogs were newish, there was a thing called Wordless Wednesday. The idea was to present your thoughts on a subject with a picture, instead of words. Anyway, I came across this one and it fit so well with a post I’m working on I decided to make it this weeks Oldie.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

Image credit: Nick J Webb

Writing Advantage

Wednesday, April 24th, 2019

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxtongue/84585996/

Considering the examples of bad writing in Monday’s and Tuesday’s posts it’s obvious that much of the problem comes down to a lack of clarity.

No surprise there, but other than confusing everyone, bad writing easily morphs into no writing, which can be a disastrous to product development, especially in tech.

As the image above shows, lack of writing skills impact every part of a sale, but lack of documentation is probably the worst.

Think about it. Things go wrong with equipment all the time and when it does you go to the manual to see how to fix it.

Software is even worse.

With minimal-to-no documentation, fixing bugs, iterating and keeping legacy software running is extremely difficult, especially if the primary developers leave the company.

No matter your education or experience, if you can write coherently you will have a serious edge over other candidates.

Image credit: Jhayne

Good Writing — What and Why

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2019

https://www.flickr.com/photos/writingreader/21894942419/

Does writing matter? Do capitals matter? Does punctuation matter? Does reviewing what you wrote matter?

Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes.

We’re not talking about becoming the next Tom Clancy or winning a Webby.

This is about sounding professional and respecting your reader, whomever they may be.

There are a lot of things that go into good writing, but the most important thing is that it makes sense, not how many multi-syllabic words are used. Obviously, this Fortune 500 company manager didn’t believe that when he described his job.

“It is my job to ensure proper process deployment activities take place to support process institutionalization and sustainment. Business process management is the core deliverable of my role, which requires that I identify process competency gaps and fill those gaps.”

Additionally, it requires using the correct words, as I said in another post.

“Are most people loosing their minds, while I am losing mine?

Years ago KG sent me a memorable reminder of the importance of capitalization. I used it then and here it is again.

“Capitalization is the difference between helping your Uncle Jack off a horse and helping your uncle jack off a horse.”

A missing comma cost Oakhurst Dairy a lawsuit for overtime — they lost.

Finally, it takes very little time to review what you wrote; the best way is to read it out loud.

CB Insights shared a hilarious example from a resume they received.

P.S. We’ve been asking folks about their job interviewing and resume reading tips. Here’s a pointer for candidates: think carefully about your wording when submitting a CV. We received this earlier this week:

Enough said.

Image credits: thewritingreader and CB Insights

Golden Oldies: Leadership’s Future: Good Writing

Monday, April 22nd, 2019

Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

Bad writing isn’t age related. Bad writing spans all ages and keeps getting worse. You deal with it daily in email, web content, hardcopy marketing material, resumes, and, the worst, information and instructions from the boss. Decoding bad writing is not only time-consuming, but can also be downright scary if a design change or product launch depends on it.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

Bosses, business coaches, academics, bloggers and many others bemoan the lack of communications skills in Gen Y, especially written communications, but they have plenty of company in preceding generations.

Not just bad writing, but opaque writing, the kind that leaves readers scratching their heads wondering what they are missing.

Of course, I shouldn’t complain, since one of my company’s most popular products is Clarity RE-writing, which involves using the fewest possible words to present even the most complex information in the most understandable way.

Who are the worst writers?

Granting that many of Gen Y don’t understand the difference between writing and texting, I find lousy writing much more offensive when it comes from those who (should) know better.

And while the more lofty their position the more offended I am, I save my greatest reaction for those old enough and senior enough to know better who work in the field—in other words, they are, or should be, professional communicators.

Charles H. Townsend, the chief executive of Condé Nast Publications, which includes Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, is such a one. He recently sent a 500 word memo to his staff, here is a sample from it.

“…a consumer-centric business model, a holistic brand management approach and the establishment of a multi-platform, integrated sales and marketing organization.”… “To optimize brand revenue growth, we will shift responsibility for single-site, digital sales and marketing to the brand level. Publishers can now fully leverage their offerings across all platforms.”

Don’t feel badly if you aren’t sure what he is trying to say, his staff wasn’t sure, either.

If you want to write clearly here is some quick and basic guidance.

      • Avoid jargon;
      • shun multi-syllabic words;
      • use short, simple sentences;
      • pass on large blocks of text, especially on the Net;
      • spell check everything; and, most importantly,
      • never forget that most people scan and don’t actually read.

Image credit: Karin Dalziel

If The Shoe Fits: Why Sleep?

Friday, April 19th, 2019

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

Jack Ma is the founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. He recently extolled the virtues on social media of working long hours, calling it a blessing..

Ma took to social media recently to voice his support of an intense work culture known as “996,” which refers to working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. That all-consuming, life-force-sucking schedule is reportedly common among the country’s big technology companies and startups and Ma is okay with that.

And you thought the US was bad.

US startups have always been famous (infamous?) for working 80+ hour weeks and pulling multiple all-nighters conferred even more bragging rights.

More bragging rights, no matter the size of your company.

Sometime in the last 20 years, with the rise of giant tech companies, unicorns, unicorn wannabes, and other new(ish) companies, long hours got baked into startup culture and continued long after the company qualifies as a “startup.”

But even the Chinese government disagrees with Ma’s 996.

“The mandatory enforcement of 996 overtime culture not only reflects the arrogance of business managers, but also is unfair and impractical.”

Working excessive hours damages/destroys family, friendships, productivity, creativity, and a host of other things, but the first thing to suffer is sleep.

Besides the damage that lack of sleep does in the present, the long-term damage, while different, is as dangerous as football.

Considering how the tech world worships health, longevity and the possibility of extending their lives well past 100 they may want to rethink those long hours.

Not because I say so, but they might want to listen to Matthew Walker, professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of the book “Why We Sleep.”

Image credit: HikingArtist and Tech Insider

21st Century Robber Barons

Wednesday, April 17th, 2019

Are you familiar with the term ‘robber baron’?

Robber baron” is a derogatory metaphor of social criticism originally applied to certain late 19th-century American businessmen who were accused of using unscrupulous methods to get rich, or expand their wealth.

It’s a great description of many, not all, of the tech titans you hear/read about daily.

The most familiar names are Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Sergy Brin, and Jeff Bezos, but there are many others, as well as all the aspirational robber baron founders looking for their own brass ring.

Today’s barons build their empires on your metaphorical back, i.e., your personal data, but the result is the same.

What drives them? Money? Power?

Why can’t they see what they are doing? How can they not?

What are their values? Where are their ethics?

I found the answer in a working paper published by Harvard’s Working Knowledge in 2007 and authored by four professors from various universities.

“The current effort to curb unethical behavior “ignores the innate tendency for the individual to engage in self-deception” (p. 224), an error which substantially negates any systematic efforts at the organization level.

This paper was intended to bring the psychological processes of the individual decision-maker to the forefront by examining the self-deception that is inherent in the beliefs about one’s own (un)ethical behavior. Individuals deceive themselves that they are ethical people and the continuation of this belief allows for the perpetuity of unethical behavior. We hope that by examining the interplay of the want/should selves through a temporal lens, we shed light on these false beliefs and break their defeating cycle.”

Self-deception.

That helps explain all the men who, after being called out for their words and actions, claim they didn’t do anything wrong.

While the research provides a reason, it certainly doesn’t alter the negative results of the behavior.

Reasons don’t excuse the behavior.

Nor does it offer a way to change it.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Ducks in a Row: a Secret of Life Success

Tuesday, April 16th, 2019

There’s a lot of advice these days on the best way to live your life.

And it’s well known that one picture is worth a thousand words.

I came across this by accident and thought it was some of the best advice I’d every seen.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoquotes/45255001842/

It really would be hard to do better.

I also suggest starting young, instead of waiting.

Your life will be much happier.

Image credit: BK

Golden Oldies: 7 on Ethics

Monday, April 15th, 2019

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictoquotes/45246658861

Poking through 11+ years of posts I find information that’s as useful now as when it was written.

Golden Oldies is a collection of the most relevant and timeless posts during that time.

Before the bubble burst in 2008 I was writing a blog called Leadership Turn for b5 Media. The comments left led to a four post series. The Siemens bribery scandal brought me back to the subject in 2008 and I returned to the subject in 2009. It’s fluidity and changing definitions have always fascinated me (you can find more recent posts by using “ethics” as your search term).

Unlike those who see ethics as black and white, I’ve always seen them as shifting and changing with society. My favorite example of that change is murder. Every society condemns murder, but labeling a killing as such depends who died — no slave was ever murdered by their owner.

Finally, it’s good to keep in mind that legal doesn’t mean ethical and ethical isn’t synonymous with moral.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

Ethics and Corporate Leadership  August 27th, 2007

Are Ethical Values Set or Fluid?  August 29th, 2007

So You Think You’re Ethical…  September 11th, 2007

The Quandary of Ethics  September 14th, 2007

Legal Isn’t Always Ethical  May 29th, 2008

The Changing Face Of Right And Wrong  April 3rd, 2009

More Ethical? Not That Simple  April 10th, 2009

Image credit: BK

If The Shoe Fits: Stop and Think

Friday, April 12th, 2019

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

Obviously, opportunity and entrepreneurs go together.

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of opportunities that could serve as the basis for a company.

It is a wise entrepreneur who at least tries to consider the long-tern implications of the opportunity they choose.

Not just the financial potential, but the possible effects on society and the world.

While no one can see the future, there is one thing you can count on happening.

Humans will act the same way online as they do in the real world — only more so.

More so, because they can indulge their worst thoughts/desires with little-to-no chance of repercussions and a much broader reach.

Anything that has ever been done offline will be done — more so.

Political dirty tricks will get dirtier,  bullying will be more vicious, the haters will be more active, and on and on.

Could Mark Zukerberg have foreseen this when he started Facebook?

Maybe not.

Did he try?

Probably not.

Did he even stop to think?

Unlikely.

Does he think about it now?

Only to deny it.

Image credit: HikingArtist

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