In spite of Monday’s post I’m still ambivalent about social media and I’m not just thinking about Facebook, Twitter and their ilk, but also blogs and other commentary.

Part of my ambivalence is from the anonymity available. Mark Suster defends it and I understand the necessity in places where dissent is dangerous.

But what works and is necessary in dissent is destructive when embraced by local gossips.

One thing social media guarantees is that at one time or another politically correct attitudes will fall prey to actual attitudes and reality can be pretty ugly.

Bloggers have long argued that they deserve the same protections as journalists, but in most cases I disagree. While there are a few exceptions, most bloggers have neither the interest, ability nor resources to do in-depth research of a subject; what we produce is commentary and opinion pieces, so I am glad when a truly destructive blogger is sued and loses.

Of course, a primary reason for my dislike of social media is that it brings out so much human unthinking, me-focused stupidity. Seriously. If you thought distracted driving—email, texting, talking etc.—was bad try distracted doctoring!

And while Facebook and Google initiate efforts to become forces of good, not all twenty-somethings-and-up feel the need. (I have company:)

Crowdsourcing is a new wrinkle in the social world and one that I find positively uplifting. Join me next Saturday for a look at it.

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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.

Have an inspired day!

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The only thing these posts have in common is irony and incredulity.

Outsourcing is a sore topic, whether it’s your job or your vendor’s customer service. Ironically, outsourcing is also a sore point in India.

Less well known is the extent to which Indian companies outsource their own jobs within their own country. … Manish Sabharwal runs TeamLease, a Bangalore-based agency that has created (60) thousands of jobs by fielding temporary workers for companies in India that want to expand their work force while skirting India’s stringent labor laws…

People are gearing up to travel for the holidays and beyond, but, as everyone knows, all travel is not created equal.

Carriers on international flights are offering private suites for first-class passengers, three-star meals and personal service once found only on corporate jets. They provide massages before takeoff, whisk passengers through special customs lanes and drive them in a private limousine right to the plane. Some have bars. One airline has installed showers onboard.

Do you love your e-reader? Do you rave about it and evangelize it to your friends? What about your kids? Not so much?

This is the case even with parents who themselves are die-hard downloaders of books onto Kindles, iPads, laptops and phones. They freely acknowledge their digital double standard, saying they want their children to be surrounded by print books, to experience turning physical pages as they learn about shapes, colors and animals.

Last but not least, is the first seriously authentic insider’s commentary on the News Corp hacking scandal. You may be horrified, but ya gotta love a guy who tells it like it is—hacking phones, paying police for tips, lurking in unmarked vans, stealing confidential documents, rifling through celebrity garbage cans and even pretending to be “Brad the teenage rent boy” when propositioning a priest (who fell for it)—and then claims it’s all OK.

Paul McMullan, who left his job in 2001, eagerly confessed to so much and on such a scale — no one else has done it quite this way — and that he maintained that none of it was wrong.

Enjoy!

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People tend to take their role models whole; kind of an all or nothing approach, which isn’t a very smart approach. A few weeks ago I wrote that in some ways Steve Jobs isn’t the greatest role model. Take a look at some others better taken piecemeal or even not at all.

Graham B. Spanier did an amazing job growing Penn State into a powerhouse, but threw up defenses at the first hint of criticism. Says close-to-retiring anthropology professor E. Paul Durrenberger, “If you’re always focused on promoting the brand and there’s no scrutiny, that leads to covering up.”

On the surface Eric Lefkofsky, co-founder and chairman of Groupon, may look like a great role model, but due diligence is as important when assessing role models as investments.

Lefkofsky’s track record, reflecting failures and successes, bears certain hallmarks: rapid revenue growth accompanied by big losses, a penchant to sell stock early on, and lawsuits filed by investors, lenders or customers who feel they have been wronged. … Lefkofsky and his family have already cashed out $382 million from Groupon before the IPO filing.

Successful founders are considered excellent role models, but is there a down side when they stay?

Visionaries are fantastic, but their companies are often notoriously hard to run. Sometimes, these leaders cling to dated visions and stifle innovation. And sometimes, they simply won’t get out of the way. Promising executives with new ideas get fed up and leave.

Many entrepreneurs are known for the size of their egos and none more so than those from Russia, but not all of them buy a sports team, larger yacht or another home. Several years ago Vladimir Kekhman, who made millions in bananas and other fruit, left his company to focus on the local ballet company; he just pulled off another “first” by pirating two premier dancers from the Bolshoi.

And Mr. Kekhman, at age 43, recently gave up all of his day-to-day responsibilities as a major owner of Russia’s biggest fruit company to focus on the Mikhailovsky. “I have a new profession right now,” he said. “And this profession has brought a new life to me.”

Finally, good health role models lurking in a place you would never expect to find any—long-haul truckers.

“I’m being stupid if I don’t lose the weight,” she said, “because I’ll lose my job.” – Jill Garcia, 50, a driver from San Antonio

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Thanksgiving, better known as Stressgiving, marks the official start of the holiday season, so I thought it appropriate to offer up my version of inspirational reading in an effort to mitigate the negative effects.

A lot of actions this time of year seem focused on tasks instead of people. As folks gear up to get everything on their holiday list done on schedule and in budget, they tend to mow down anybody they perceive to be in their way. It turns out that there is a biologically-based reason that this happens and it isn’t limited to people in leadership positions. I find knowledge like this useful; it makes me more tolerant of others when they are acting like twits and lessons the likelihood that I’ll do the same.

The other challenge is that the circuitry for thinking analytically, such as thinking about the future or about concepts, switches off the circuitry for thinking about others. People spending a lot of time being analytical, conceptual or goal focused may have diminished circuitry for thinking about the minds of others, simply through lack of use.

With the holidays upon us anything that keeps saving, as opposed to spending, front and center is worthy of your attention. Startup SaveUp does just that and makes it cool enough to interest kids and teens.

The dollars-to-points ratio translates to one dollar per point.  Thus, for every dollar you put in your savings account or use to pay down your debt, you earn one point, and once you’ve accumulated 10 points, you can enter any prize play of your choice.  All prize plays cost 10 credits—which means you can use those 10 credits to enter a drawing for an iPad 2 or you can use them to enter a drawing to get $10,000 of your debt paid off.

Finally, if you’re looking to store some of your stuff and happen to live in New York City then you can do it in style for a modest $300 a month.

Behind the mute facade of a largely windowless neo-Gothic tower lies an ingenious system of steel vaults traveling on rails. Within those armored containers, which have been in continuous use since the Jazz Age… Day & Meyer, Murray & Young warehouse, and since it opened in 1928 it has been the storage building of choice for many of New York’s wealthiest families, most prestigious art dealers and grandest museums.

Have a wonderful weekend.

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Finding work, let alone meaningful work, these days is a challenge, to say the least. Here are stories of five entrepreneurial women and their unconventional solutions.

What would you do if you learned you had cancer? Thousands are diagnosed every day; many respond by raising money for research and some start non-profits, but very few respond the way Kris Carr, star of the documentary “Crazy Sexy Cancer,” or Lee Rhodes, founder of Glassybaby did.

Do teens fascinate you? They fascinate Madeleine P. Brennan, principal of 1,500-student Dyker Heights Intermediate School 201 in Brooklyn and they have for every one of the 48 years-and-counting that she has held the position.

Looking to make some extra money or find a new career path? Terry Marotta-Lopriore spent a lot of time visiting her father, who died six and a half years ago, and says it was his idea that she become a cemetery visitor for hire. Before you knock it try it, who knows, you might like it.

Now for a sweet finish.

There are dozens of cupcake entrepreneurs across the country, but how many cup of cake entrepreneurs have you heard of? Meet Sharon Tracy, who created the perfect solution for those who want to serve fresh, warm, sinful desserts to their guests, without missing the party to do it. She invented a way to put a Belgium chocolate soufflé cake in a cup that cooks in three minutes and founded “My Cup of Cake” to share it with the world. No more holiday stress.

Enjoy!

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Today is a collection of provocative, personal opinions on a variety of subjects. I hope you’ll take time to comment if one hits hard.

Since Steve Jobs died there have been dozens of tributes and a more recent outpouring of reality checks, because Jobs was not a saint—but then who is? I found the mortal Steve touchingly described in his sister’s eulogy and the business side balanced by Jesse Larner on products and Geoffrey James on management.

The articles on Groupon’s IPO have been inundating the media since it was announced. Keith Ecker provides a look at the repercussions from a changing culture beyond the analysts’ discussions of share price and value.

I’m sure many of you are following the heated debate sparked by a screening of the November 18 episode, “The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley,” from the CNN documentary series, “Black in America.” One result was a Twitter fight over comments by Michael Arrington, claiming in one breath that he doesn’t know of an African-American CEO and in the next that Silicon Valley is a pure meritocracy (which you would only believe if you are an under-30 white male with access to a great Rolodex). Read this commentary by Hank Williams, a successful, black entrepreneur.
Speaking of entrepreneurs, check out Josh Petersel’s, Harvard Business School Class of 2013, take on entrepreneurism.

Cindy Ronzoni, a communications and social media consultant, had heard a lot about the Zappos culture. See what she thinks about it and her experience when she took the Zappos tour at its headquarters in Las Vegas.

Finally, Gene Marks, offers up his thoughts on Why Most Women Will Never Become CEO. At first reading it comes over as pretty sexist, but read it again and the reality of what he says is plain, although I don’t completely agree with his final statement.

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Halloween has always been a favorite happening of mine, long before it became one of the top five retailing holidays (actually, I think I read that it is number two). I’ve always looked forward to trick or treating—when I was a kid it meant candy, but these days it has a

First for the tricks.

Trick 1 – I’m sure it will come as no surprise that the rich are getting richer, unlike the rest of us and now it’s been well-quantified.

The top 1 percent of earners more than doubled their share of the nation’s income over the last three decades…

Trick 2 – I take this trick very personally, in spite of the fact that I’ve been guilty of doing it on occasion. The problem is that, like many tricks, it can backfire in ways you’d never think.

“From his perspective [iPhone user] they look like a view of, er, splayed lady parts: ({}). He then ran around his lab showing colleagues excitedly what I had just sent him. Half (mostly men) concurred with his interpretation, and the others (mostly women) didn’t and probably thought he was kind of a desperate perv.” –Lisa M. Bates, assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia (Blackberry user)

Now come the treats.

Treat 1 – Just in time for Halloween, comes scientific information that may help alleviate any guilt you feel for indulging in some of those bit-size candy bars your kids will collect.

Most people, he said, will be more satisfied by eating a 50-calorie cupcake than a dozen carrot sticks with just as many calories, because the sense of deprivation is less and the craving for “bad” food is calmed, if not entirely extinguished. “Smaller treats give people license to eat it all, which is a very powerful thing,” he said. “Psychologically, it’s exciting and comforting.” –Brian Wansink, Cornell professor and the author of “Mindless Eating”

Treat 2 – In my humble opinion I saved the best for last. May I present you with a link to (sound of trumpets, roll of drums) the 2011 Ig Nobel Prize winners and they are truly superb this year—as they are every year. It makes you wonder how they can keep improving. For those of you unfamiliar with the Ig Nobels, here is a sampling to whet your appetite.

CHEMISTRY PRIZE: Makoto Imai, Naoki Urushihata, Hideki Tanemura, Yukinobu Tajima, Hideaki Goto, Koichiro Mizoguchi and Junichi Murakami of JAPAN, for determining the ideal density of airborne wasabi (pungent horseradish) to awaken sleeping people in case of a fire or other emergency, and for applying this knowledge to invent the wasabi alarm.

REFERENCE: US patent application 2010/0308995 A1. Filing date: Feb 5, 2009.

LITERATURE PRIZE: John Perry of Stanford University, USA, for his Theory of Structured Procrastination, which says: To be a high achiever, always work on something important, using it as a way to avoid doing something that’s even more important.

REFERENCE: “How to Procrastinate and Still Get Things Done,” John Perry, Chronicle of Higher Education, February 23, 1996. Later republished elsewhere under the title “Structured Procrastination.”

Enjoy!

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There are many recommended behaviors that most of us follow, but to which we give little thought. They are accepted as common wisdom, but are they? Today’s links are to articles that question that “common wisdom,” but before you dump them give thought to whether you should and how you would implement the changes.

Politeness is something we are raised with; even in these days of total candor people often tend to wrap criticism and other critical communication in a blanket of politeness—but is that good?

Politeness can become problematic, however, when it causes us to sacrifice clarity. … Even worse, say the authors, it takes more of our cognitive resources to process these kinds of polite statements.

Along the same lines, but far blunter, is this advice that says you should criticize in public, across the whole company, to avoid repetition by others and to ‘toughen’ your employees. My own reaction is that very few companies have the culture or managers the skill to do this effectively.

“When somebody does something wrong, you correct him or her individually and then one person learns that lesson. Or you can send an email to the whole company and the whole company learns that lesson. …to survive in that environment, you have to develop a soft shell but a very hard core. You have to be able to take those hits…If you make it through, you’re unbelievably strong.”

More contrary advice comes from research into envy, showing that it actually has positive effects, with one negative that is very new. (I wrote about ego depletion here.)

They were apparently victims of what psychologists call “ego depletion,” a state of mental fatigue originally documented in people whose energy was depleted by performing acts of self-control. Now it looks as if envy depletes that same resource.

Finally, a note about the importance of showers in creative thinking and why you need to create spaces in your day for the “creative pause” that a shower represents.

There’s something about showering that tends to spawn new ideas which may not occur otherwise. …a model for the “creative pause” — the shift from being fully engaged in a creative activity to being passively engaged, or the shift to being disengaged altogether.

Enjoy!

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Company cultures are much like the people who create them, unique on the outside, but similar basics on the inside—good like good or bad like bad. It’s how those basics manifest themselves that the world calls culture.

First up from Forbes is a quick overview of the basics; it’s a long way from comprehensive, but it’s a place to start.

There’s a lot of talk these days about how Millennials are demanding/driving change in corporate culture, but when you look at what they want it’s similar to what most people want. The difference is found more in their attitude—as it is in all generations.

Creating culture is an inside out function—what is inside the boss will form the foundation of what is inside the culture—for better or worse—so know the culture and you know the boss and vice versa.

• Pamela Fields, CEO, Stetson
• Lars Björk, CEO, QlikTech and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year national winner in the technology category.
• Amanda Lannert, CEO, Jellyvision Lab; Kevin Willer, co-founder, Google’s Chicago office; and Ed Scanlan, founder/CEO, Total Attorneys.

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