The holiday season starts earlier every year. Dinners and parties that require conversation—often about subjects other than work or the differences between Android and iPhone. With that in mind, for the next three weeks Oddball Facts will provide some intriguing bits of information that you can use to start or rescue a face-to-face conversation.

Most of the time conversations starters begin as a “did you know” question like this,  “Did you know that the first product to have a bar code was Wrigley chewing gum?

But they don’t have to.

Let’s say you’re a bit shy, but want to start a conversation with a clean-shaven guy who looks interesting. You might mention that the  King of Hearts is the only king without a moustache and ask if he plays cards.

If you’re a guy looking for an opening line that’s not cliché, mix this factoid with a bit of charm like this, “You know, Venus is considered feminine and it’s the only planet that rotates clockwise, which probably means that the rest of the planets are masculine and a bit backwards.”

Or try this one if you like a more direct approach, but be careful, if you don’t get the second part out quickly it’s likely to backfire. “Did you know that you burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television? In fact, there are lots of things you can do in a bed or chair that burn more calories.

Factoids are also great conversation stoppers when you encounter a bore or, worse, a jerk.

For instance, you’re at a party and some woman is droning on and on about her most recent doctor visit or hospital stay. When she takes a breath you say, “Dentists say that one thing that will help you stay healthy is moving your toothbrush at least six feet away from the toilet to avoid  airborne particles resulting from flushing.”

Here’s a ‘did you know’ to shut up those folks who spend winter in the sun and brag about their tan, while you’re shoveling snow or dripping rain water on the just washed floor. Did you know that most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin?

Finally, a couplet for those obnoxious folks who insist on smoking around those who don’t just because they can legally do so.

You say, “I read an interesting article that at one time the three most valuable brands in the world were Marlboro, Coca Cola and Budweiser, in  that  order.”

Now that you have their attention, you say, “Of course, the first Marlboro Company owner, as well as the first Marlboro Man, both died of lung cancer, Budweiser was taken over by InBev and Coke is under attack for contributing to obesity.”

Amazing what a few facts and a little creativity can accomplish.

Flickr image credit: 101st CAB, Wings of Destiny

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!

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho

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

I’ve always believed that the difference between success and failure is opportunity.

Entrepreneurs love to talk about opportunity; I think it’s one of their favorite words—except when it comes to people.

Many entrepreneurs have no interest in anyone who hasn’t done [whatever], not necessarily through formal education, but immediate experience.

Which I find amusing, because what is current today will be outmoded or re-imagined—possibly before they even get their product to market.

Last July I worked (mostly argued) with “Tom” to develop the req for his top marketing person; an obviously critical position.

At the time, I warned him that he was creating a wish list wreck, not a req, but he “knew what he wanted.”

And what Tom wanted in his VP was someone well-versed in Facebook, Twitter, SEO and all things Internet; he said any marketing experience that predated Internet marketing was irrelevant.

When I asked about experience building a team, hiring, developing strategy, competitive pricing, etc. he said none were that difficult and as long as candidates knew the rest they could pick up the details on the fly.

Additionally, candidates had to be currently working; anybody not working no matter the reason was bad news and he wasn’t going to hire someone else’s mistake.

Plus, anybody smart enough to satisfy him would quit her current job in a heartbeat in order to jump on this opportunity.

Last week Tom called to say that he still hadn’t hired a marketing vp and his investors were pressuring him; did I have any other suggestions or ideas on filling the req?

I said not really, I had given him all my ideas when the wreck was being written and nothing new came to mind.

Option Sanity™ attracts talent

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

I apologize if this insults any of you, but I find a good deal of humor in the idea that the best answers come from peers.

Peers who most often have similar backgrounds and experiences as the person asking the question—here’s a great example.

Without much effort I can think of dozens of places to ask about working in a startup that would offer better information than peers who not only haven’t worked in a startup, but are lacking much, if any, post-school work experience.

It’s a classic case of the blind leading the blind.

New entrepreneurs often indulge in this kind of behavior.

Although they reach out and listen to highly successful entrepreneurs and investors, their actions frequently follow the advice they get from peers.

Quick story, short version. I’d been acting as an occasional sounding board for “Jerrod.” He called last summer in a quandary; several experienced entrepreneurs and investors had suggested that he pivot his company in a different direction, not a total change, but different from what he originally envisioned.

Jerrod was loathe to change and when he discussed it with other entrepreneurs several encouraged him to stay with his original vision and said his passion would carry him though, while a few felt that the advisory types probably had good reason for what they said.

Jerrod asked what I thought and after hearing everything I agreed with the need for a pivot.

That wasn’t the answer he wanted and he informed me that none of us really understood his vision and he was sticking with the original plan.

I haven’t heard from Jerrod since, but I’ve heard from others that his company is struggling.

I’ve also seen that two companies occupying his “pivot space” were recently funded and knowing the investment community there may be others.

Why? Especially with all the solid information and help available do some entrepreneurs put themselves and their babies, I mean companies, in harms way by following the advice of entrepreneurs with a similar depth of experience and knowledge, while others listen, process, and act on the advice of people whose knowledge was hard-won and who carry the startup scars to prove it.

Flickr image credit: gerbisson

Image credit: WikiMedia Commons

Lynn Blodgett, president and C.E.O. of ACS, a Xerox company, believes that all 85,000 ACS employees should think entrepreneurs. He sees a direct correlation between accountability and great the performance—increase the former and the latter goes up. This includes pushing P&L deeply into the organization, which encourages people to spend as if it was their own money.

“So you give people control, hold them accountable, give them control of their resources, and then monitor what they do.”

He also believes the right kind of incentives fuel motivation and engagement.

“I believe that a really important management principle is that if you get the incentives aligned, people will motivate themselves far better than you’ll ever motivate them. But, again, you have to get the incentives right.

It’s not only financial.  It’s being able to feel like they have a level of control over their destiny, that they are valued in what they do, that they’re being successful, that they’re contributing.  Those things are actually probably more important than the money.  But you’ve got to get the money right, too.”

An additional benefit of this approach is that people will “self-select,” i.e., if they can’t/don’t achieve the incentives they will realize much faster that they’re in the wrong type of work.

I especially like this because it is a better career development tool. Being terminated for non-performance allows people to rationalize, whereas missing incentives tied to viable goals offers the insight that they may need to find more fulfilling work and not keep making the same mistake over and over and that’s not a bad thing

Notice I said “viable goals,” which mean feasible, possible, doable; not goals that only one in a hundred can achieve them.

Goals that set people up for failure have a boomerang effect; they’ll return to their place of origin and smash a large hole in that manager’s reputation.

This is also not a bad thing, since “holey” managers seem to align with “holey” companies making it easier to avoid them.

Flickr image credit: zedbee

Today includes an important (to me) question. As you know, the first Monday of each month I provide you with the entire menu from the Leadership Development Carnival as I’m doing today.

My question is this:

Do you enjoy having the entire list here or would you prefer an original post along with a link to the Carnival?

I really would appreciate your taking the time to answer in comments. Thanks!

We’ll kick off the Carnival with posts from last month’s host, Lynn Dessert, presenting Leading with your Strengths posted at Elephants at Work;

and next month’s host, Kevin Eikenberry, presenting Four Steps to Making a Complex Decision posted at Leadership and Learning with Kevin Eikenberry, saying, “As leaders, we need to be decisive and forward-moving. This post offers four steps you can try when making a complex decision.”

Anne Perschel presents Bold Because You Can Lead. Humble Because You Did Not Create the Leader posted at Germane Insights, saying, “Can a leader be bold and humble at the same time? I think so. In fact, I think it’s what’s called for. Here’s why and how.”

Gwyn Teatro presents How to Make Performance Appraisals Unnecessary posted at You’re Not the Boss of Me.

Tanveer Naseer presents Are Your Employees Mad As Hell and Not Going to Take It Anymore? |posted at TanveerNaseer.com.

Wally Bock presents The Joy of Helping posted at Three Star Leadership, saying “The best bosses revel in helping others succeed”.

Mark Stelzner presents Two Easy (And Legal) Ways to Gather Competitive Intel posted at Inflexion Point.

Michael Lee Stallard presents Develop the Heart of a Champion posted at Michael Lee Stallard.

William Matthies presents Instead, How About . . . posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By, saying, “Part of executive development is recognizing the development that has already occurred.”

Guy Farmer presents Soft Skills Training and Foundation Building posted at Unconventional Training.

Jennifer Miller presents Tag-Team Workplace Coaching posted at The People Equation saying “This is a story that shows that sometimes the best workplace coaching comes from someone other than a person’s boss”.

Janna Rust presents Procrastination and Productivity posted at Purposeful Leadership, saying, “What are you procrastinating with right now? Have you ever thought about how it affects you? Read on to learn how procrastination might be killing your productivity.”

John R. Turner presents Lewin and Historical Traces to Change Management posted at JohnRTurner_HPT_resource.

Linda Fisher Thornton presents Leaders & Social Media: 5 Reasons to Engage posted at Leading in Context LLC.

Bob Lieberman presents The Can-Do Attitude posted at Cultivating Creativity – Developing Leaders for the Creative Economy.

Jesse Lyn Stoner presents Be the Boss You?d Like to Have posted at Jesse lyn Stoner Blog.

Jim Taggart presents The Rise of Tiger Business Women posted at ChangingWinds, saying, “At present rates, it will take about 150 years before women and men are equally likely to reach middle management. And a century and a half is an eyeblink compared with the eternity it would take to achieve this benchmark in senior management”

S. Chris Edmonds presents Three Steps to a Bully-Free Workplace posted at Driving Results Through Culture

Mike Henry Sr. submitted Leaders: Your emotions are contagious – Lead Change Group posted at Lead Change Group Blog, saying, “Author Christina Haxton makes a great case for how a leader’s emotions affect the entire team. She also provides a practical 4-step process to make a change in your attitude.”

Bret L. Simmons presents Inner Work Life posted at Bret L. Simmons.

Mary Jo Asmus presents Letting Go of Your Need to be Right posted at Mary Jo Asmus.

David Burkus presents Freedom to Fail posted at LeaderLab, saying, “this post explores how good leaders give their team freedom to fail.”

Sharlyn Lauby presents Abdicating Your Leadership Role posted at hr bartender, saying, “There’s a big difference between delegating and abdicating.”

Jane Perdue presents Go ahead – try something new! posted at Get Your Leadership BIG On!

Ben Brabyn presents Leadership as storytelling – how narratives bond teams posted at Ben Brabyn, saying, “How leaders can use storytelling to bond high performing teams.”

Art Petty presents Art’s Weekly Leadership Message: Step Up to Cure Effective Dialogue Deficit Disorder posted at Management Excellence

Guy Harris presents Three Power Phrases to Disarm a Verbal Aggressor posted at Guy Harris: The Recovering Engineer, saying, “How do you respond to coworkers or colleagues when they are verbally aggressive? Here are three phrases that might help.”

Heather Stagl presents Six Roles of a Leader During Change posted at Enclaria LLC.

Michael Cardus presents Planning; Nothing Magical Just Your Work posted at Create-Learning Team Building & Leadership Blog, saying, “Within all parts of your work YOUR knowledge and thinking must be part of the plan. No technology or rote process can give you the “correct” plan – BUT a solid process for planning can guide you to the best plan for your team and you. A plan is a judgment about the best way to go about achieving an intended goal.”

John Hunter presents Rethinking or Moving Beyond Deming Often Just Means Applying More of What Dr. Deming Actually Said posted at Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog, saying, “This post takes a look at how Dr. Deming’s ideas apply to management issues today.”

Eric Pennington presents The Role of the Corporate Rebel posted at Epic Living – Leadership Development Career Management Training Executive Life Coaching Author, saying, “In this post, Eric Pennington, articulates the importance of the corporate rebel and how they should be imbraced. The post also points to the brilliant work of Lois Kelly.”

Miki Saxon presents Entrepreneurs: Responses to “What Do You Say?” posted at MAPping Company Success, saying, “Longer term focus or more expedient approach? Although participants were all startup founders the discussion and conclusions are applicable to any manager who hires.”

David Zinger presents The 10 Things Managers Must Do to Increase Employee Engagement posted at Employee Engagement Zingers, saying, “Very popular post on 10 actions based on evidence that managers can take to increase employee engagement”

Nick McCormick presents Managers, Brainsteer Your Way to Breakthrough Ideas posted at Joe and Wanda – on Management, saying, “Managers are always on the look out for new ideas. Shawn Cyne, Author of Brainsteering, tells us to forget the brainstorming. It’s much more effective to direct our creative energy by Brainsteering. Listen in to the Management Tips podcast find out more.”

Adi Gaskell presents Keeping in touch with ex companies posted at Adi Gaskell says…, saying, “An article on the importance for both ex-employees and their previous employer of keeping in touch through corporate alumni networks.”

Erin Pavlina presents How To Handle Public Criticism posted at Erin Pavlina – Spiritual Wisdom for Conscious People.

Utpal Vaishnav presents Know how to walk first, running comes later. posted at Utpal Vaishnav, saying, “If the piece of music isn’t right, it doesn’t matter what else you do, you cannot perform in the live show. Practice matters. More important is: right kind of practice.”

Dana Theus presents Business Leaders – What Don?t Your Employees Tell You? posted at Reclaiming Leadership, saying, “If you’re not hearing the truth from your employees, who are you hearing it from? To get them to speak the truth, be willing to hear it.”

Lahesha Williams presents 8 Tips on Improving Your Chances for a Promotion posted at Career Help For Christians, saying, “It’s never too early to think about promotion. In today’s job market you need to be ambitious and driven if you don’t want to get pushed out by others who spot gaps that could have been filled by you.”

Lakshman Rajagopalan presents What can you do about a culture of Mistrust… posted at Learning Curves.

Lyn Boyer presents Healing the Wounds of Change posted at LynBoyer.net, saying, “this blog deals with what leaders can do to recognize and deal with fear of and resistance to change.”

Henry Mukuti presents 5 Qualities of leaders and motivators part 1 posted at standout tall and be counted.

Sean Glaze presents What Emergency Brake Does Your Team Need To Let Go Of? posted at Lead Your Team, saying, “Team leadership Involves helping your team to identify the baggage that they need to let go of in order to become more productive together…”

Lisa Kohn presents There is no try, only do. There is no do, only be. posted at The Thoughtful Leaders Blog, saying, “How many of us have heard, “There is no try, only do”? Lisa Kohn of Chatsworth Consulting Group adds one more element to that famous phrase and talks about the importance of “BE” instead of “DO”.”

Rebecca Kearley presents This assault on workers rights will kill innovation | Professional Manager posted at Professional Manager.

Anadi Upadhyaya presents Is there a magic pill to fix behavioral issues at work? posted at TalentedApps, saying, “Just having a right prescription is not enough until you put it into action.”

Nick Thacker presents Productivity 101: Every Time You Sit Down, Make Something Happen posted at Nick Thacker, saying, “A simple concept for getting more done in the day-to-day life of a business professional.”

Don’t forget to tell me which you  prefer, the whole Carnival list or an original post.

Image Credit: Great Leadership

Jim’s still on his honeymoon, so I’m still raiding the archives. See all mY generation posts here.

Why in the world would I choose a poet who’s life barely reached into the Twentieth Century (1850-1919 to provide insight to both workers and mangers? Because real wisdom is ageless, what changes are the words and style used to communicate it.

You’re already familiar with Wilcox through paraphrasing of some of her work; for example, “Laugh and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone; For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, But has trouble enough of its own”

Life is full of choices and the way we choose is dictated by our MAP, or as Wilcox said, “’Tis the set of the sail that decides the goal, and not the storm of life”

I’m a big proponent of deep thinking, something that can’t happen when you are wired and connected. Wilcox made this point beautifully in this short rhyme.

“When the great universe was wrought
To might and majesty from naught,
The all creative force was –
THOUGHT.”

Thinking goes hand in hand with learning and then sharing what is learned with others. The problem is that some people want to share first and these words seem written especially for them,

“Live to learn, and learn to live
If you want to give men knowledge
You must get, ere you give.”

Here’s some great advice for managers, “A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.”

Finally, here are six words that can serve as a foundation for both entrepreneurs and companies working to create a culture of innovation, “Change is the watchword of progression”

Flickr image credit: WikiMedia Commons

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.

Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho