For better or worse I earn my living wordsmithing content, such as websites, blog posts, presentations, etc.

Today was definitely worse.

That’s because so many senior business people believe that stringing together trendy, multi-syllabic words spotlights their intelligence and impresses their target audience — whether investors, employees, or customers.

The presentation I’m working on is so loaded with jargon that I wonder if they didn’t use some equivalent of the The Corporate B.S. Generator I read about on CB Insights (the last item in the Blurb).

While I would never use a real excerpt, I used the BS Generator to create a bit of content similar to what they sent.

We at Opaque Inc. work hard to dramatically foster efficient technologies for our clients in an effort to globally customize specific integrated methodologies. Our goal is to overcome intervening challenges and quickly restore compelling value.

Are you impressed?

Do the ideas presented increase your confidence and enhance your desire to become a stakeholder?

Or are you more likely to walk away scratching your head and wondering what they actually do?

Image credit: Wikipedia

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.

It’s been 10 years since I wrote this. Nothing has change and, if anything, it’s gotten worse.

Rigidity has gotten more rigid, if possible, and it’s far more prevalent up, down, and round and round the generations. And it’s still a total waste of time and energy.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

There’s a lot of talk right now about the resistance of mangers and older employees to Web 2.0 initiatives and the information-sharing that goes with them.

Kind of amusing that this big generational argument is happening during the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, the start of the biggest generational fight most of us remember—we weren’t around for the Roaring Twenties, the rise of jazz, let alone rebelled with the suffragettes.

The Boomer theme of, “you can’t trust anyone over thirty” is being reprised today by the wired generation.

The Boomers accused their bosses of being unwilling to change and when they became the bosses, they were accused in turn. Some things never change.

Generational differences have always existed, with the younger generation blasting into the future and screaming that the older ones are holding them back, but it’s ridiculous to paint everybody over a certain age with the same brush.

In May I commented that I thought a lot of the problem was grounded in insecurity and I still believe that, but I’ve done a lot of thinking because the subject’s so prevalent and have some further thoughts.

It should be remembered that managers’ rigidity has as much to do as much with the corporate culture as with the individuals involved. Openness is based on trust and if the culture doesn’t foster that then you should expect people to be ultra turf conscious, not interested in sharing, and prone to spending large amounts of energy fighting every new thing that comes along. In 2007 it’s Web 2.0; twenty-five years ago it was telecommuting (and still is in many companies).

But if we’re going to talk about rigidity, then it has to be recognized that it’s on all sides—there are a lot of pretty rigid twenty- and thirty-somethings (and no one in their right mind ever called a teenager flexible). If you have any doubts about this, try getting to your twenty-something co-workers to approach a subject from any position other than the one they advocate.

It’s not so much doing it differently, as it is doing it my way and, unhappily, that attitude has substantially worsened.

It seems that everybody has a group and while their group is OK, other groups, i.e., any that don’t agree with theirs, are rigid, inflexible, and standing in the way of progress.

There’s value to be found in most approaches and when that value is tweaked and/or merged with other methods the result is usually worth far more than the original.

On Wednesday January 10^th, 2018 I attended the Health 2.0 WinterTech Conference.

WinterTech is a conference with perfect focus on the pulse of digital health investing.

This one day San Francisco symposium, held in parallel with JP Morgan Week, brings together top tech companies, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs to explore the present and future digital health landscape.

Here are my five major takeaways:

1. THREE OR LESS HEALTH TECH IPO’S IN 2018: the venture capitalist panel notes that 2018 will yield less than three health tech IPO’s and over $12 billion in digital health investments.  Digital Health companies historically have not produced outsized IPO returns on the order of LinkedIN, Facebook and Google.
2. TSA PRE-CHECK COMES TO THE FDA: The future of health is a TSA Pre-Check style program for FDA approvals for software as a medical device. Click for additional details,
3. MOST CHRONIC DISEASE IS REVERSIBLE: A panelist cited the National Institute of Health statistic that “86% of disease is lifestyle driven and reversible.” Meanwhile, 185 million Americans have one or more chronic diseases.
4. DIGITAL THERAPEUTICS ARE THE FUTURE, YET 70% OF DOCTORS HAVE NEVER USED THEM: Digital Therapeutics are the use of a dedicated digital device, software, or both for prevention, chronic condition management, etc. According to a presentation by Patricia Mechael, PhD, MHS, 70% of neurologists and 70% of endocrinologists have never used digital therapeutics. Technology has the potential to positively impact health via patient behavior and ownership, improvements in patient care and data driven treatment decisions at the individual patient level.
5. THREE COMPANIES I LOVED:
   1. Parsley Health focuses on the consumer not the insurer. 50 minute patient visits. Nutritional guidance. Advanced testing. The future of healthcare.
   2. Buoy Health is a platform leveraging AI to easily check symptoms and identify the best options for care – before you go to the doctor.
   3. Smart Contacts is the future of vision care. Renew contact lens prescriptions and take an eye exam via your phone. Yes!

A day well-spent. It was absolutely fascinating.

Do you recall your first kiss? I remember mine vividly. It was scary, exciting and full of passion after we figured out where the lips go.

Why do I bring this up? I bring it up because this is a memory most of us have in common and it can serve as a guidepost for our discussion.

It is week two of the new year and I’ll be honest, the passion is not there.  New beginnings and all that are old hat and it’s back to the daily grind. That sounds depressing as I read that last sentence, so what should I do?

Have you found yourself doing the required tasks but waiting as if something else should be happening, not truly living your life?

I have and I probably will again at some point in the future. I find that it can be easy to slip into complacency and forget what got me here in the first place.

However, I do have thoughts on how to dig yourself out of the doldrums and get back to living!

I’m in sales and as such it’s a roller coaster of emotions on an easy day. To cap that off I am in enterprise sales, so I do not see the fruits of my labor for some time. It can be tough and daunting and I must remind myself daily of my goals.

One way I maintain an even keel is by practicing being grateful for what I have. Remembering that work is not all there is. Keeping in contact with those that love me.

These all sound basic and maybe they are, but we let them slip away too easily.

We don’t remember to be grateful for the blessings and challenges put in our path.

We give up too easily.

We blame others for our misfortune.

These all lead to a life less lived.

As you wake up tomorrow take a moment to remind yourself of how you got to where you are and where you want to be. Push yourself; be uncomfortable.

These all lead to a better self.

Image credit: Per

I’ve written a lot on the both the why and how of face-to-face communications, so today will be a short post, with links to previous content.

Do you wonder why 69% of managers aren’t comfortable talking with their team?

Perhaps it’s because they aren’t comfortable talking period.

What’s going on? What happened to verbal communications a la conversation?

It’s not just tech, although tech has made it much worse.

Modern managers have avoided discussions with employees, especially about performance issues.

Before computers they tried to manage by memo; post computer by email and most recently by texting. None of them work.

Problem 1: screens kill empathy and empathy underlies all positive human interactions.

Solution: Turn off your screens. And if you believe everything will fall apart if you are unavailable for 20 minutes here and 40 minutes there each day then your organization is in far worse shape than you realize.

Problem 2: AMS; it stands for assumption, manipulation, self-fulfilling prophesy.

Solution: Build internal awareness of your AMS (we all do it), then work to control it. Don’t try to completely eradicate it; it’s a waste of effort.

Problem 3: Two-way street.

Solution: Learn to listen, not just hear. Active listening is at least 50%, often more; if you talk, but don’t listen it isn’t a conversation.

Good communicating is like writing good code.

You can study it forever, but eventually you need to get out there and just do it.

And the more proficient you become the more you will enjoy it.

Scary? Sure.

But not nearly as scary as stunting your future, both at work and in your wider world.

Image credit: Flickinpicks

This is one of the worst stats about managers I’ve come across recently.

… 69% of respondents [US managers] said that they found “communicating in general” to be the hardest part about communicating with employees.

If you are one of that 69% then you should consider the flip side of the equation — employees.

The percentage of US managers who say they don’t like talking with employees mirrors the 67% of US workers who say they’re not engaged at work. That figure comes from the most recent Gallup survey of the US workplace, the company’s annual in-depth report on more than 31 million workers across US industries.

Why?

…one of the primary things employees say they need to feel engaged and productive at work is regular, meaningful communication with their managers.

It’s black and white; cause and effect.

It’s a simple bottom line.

If you don’t make the effort and learn to be comfortable having face-to-face conversations with your people, then you lose the right to complain about their engagement, motivation, productivity, creativity, and turnover — not to mention damaging your own career path.

As usual, it’s your choice.

Image credit: Get Everwise

It still surprises me, but 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.

“Joe” called to wish me a happy 2018 and update me on what he’s doing. It’s been six years since decided to ignore the pressure pushing him to become an entrepreneur.

Since then he’s changed companies twice and was just promoted to director of advanced engineering. He’s having a great time building a team to work on a totally new product. Joe says he’s having a ball.

Joe is proof of two things

1. Peer pressure never ends.
2. Winners do what they want, not what other people think they should want.

Read other Golden Oldies here.

“Joe” called me today. He said he was thinking of leaving his company not because he wanted to, but because everyone thought he should.

He explained that everyone who knew him kept showing him articles and telling him that he was a born entrepreneur and should start his own company.

Joe said he had worked for everything from large companies to startups and as long as he had a good manager and liked the culture he was happy. He worked hard and felt he was fairly compensated.

Joe said he had discussed it with his family and they said he should do what made him happy and they would support that decision.

However, he didn’t want to end up looking like a loser because he didn’t do it.

Boiled down, here is my response.

• Contrary to current media coverage people who work for companies are not losers and entrepreneurs are not the be all and end all of success.
• Few, if any, knowledge workers at any level work 8-hour days, disconnect and go home.
• In the current recession, entrepreneurs are to the 21^st Century what consultants were to the recessions of the 20^th Century.
• Having entrepreneurial MAP does not mean you want, or have to be, an entrepreneur.

The last point is especially important.

I saw yet another list of 10 traits of entrepreneurs and I had to chuckle. Here it is

1. They Are Not Stopped by Fear
2. They Know When to Ask for Help
3. They Are Persistent
4. They Are Passionate About Their Businesses
5. They Are Willing to Market and Sell
6. They Know Their Numbers
7. They’re Disciplined
8. They Have Integrity
9. They’re Great Communicators
10. They Think Long-Term

I chuckled because these are the same traits that all good people have when adjusted for their position and experience.

They are also the traits that the best managers look for when they are hiring. There are, however, many mangers too insecure to appreciate them.

Many years ago I read an article about the guy who invented the tiles used on the Challenger spacecraft to protect it when it reentered the atmosphere.

He wasn’t an entrepreneur, he was a Lockheed engineer. He didn’t get a bonus for his work, it was his job. He didn’t care; he was happy at his company, proud of what he did and liked being part of something larger.

He was a winner.

The lesson here is that great people work for existing companies and great people start companies and both win.

Joe is a winner.

The losers are those who disparage other people’s choice.

Image credit: chokingsun

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

My mother was born a century ago in San Francisco; growing up I spent at least part of every summer vacation there; as an adult I lived there for 25 years starting in 1977.

One constant in all that time was the truth of the saying, “San Francisco is 49 sq miles surrounded by reality” (not original to 60 Minutes).

That was true when my mother was growing up and probably before that.

It is still true, only now it applies to the South Bay, as well as parts of the East Bay.

The Bay Area has always marched to its own, different drummer, but that drummer has lost its mind.

Or maybe it’s not the different drummer, but that the inmates really are running the asylum (pardon the mixed metaphors).

These days, tech is the drummer and the inmates are the billionaires enamored with their own visions of a world created for the 1%.

Elon Musk is a prime example as is Peter Thiel.

Talk about guys with a god complex.

Perhaps we should revive an old roman custom — no, not feeding the 99% to the lions; that’s already happening.

Rather the one that reminded the 1% that they were not gods.

Image credit: HikingArtist

The heart of a champion is measured not by their victories but by how they come back from defeat.

I may not have mentioned it before, but I am a University of Georgia grad and proud to be a Bulldawg!

My beloved college football team went into double overtime and defeated Oklahoma in this year’s Rose Bowl. That win propelled them to compete in the National Championship next week against Alabama. This is the first time in 38 years since UGA has competed for the title and I’m excited to see how they do.

Why do I bring this up you may ask? Well, for one thing, I am taking every chance I get to celebrate the great season my team is having. The second reason is that the current news is absolutely depressing and tends to drag me down.

One goal for the new year is to surround myself with positive people and mindsets. The news doesn’t fit into that.

I previously brought up failure and how it can transform or destroy someone. As mentioned, I attended UGA  and graduated with a degree in Economics. One of the required courses was Finance 300, all business majors had to have it and it wasn’t the easiest of courses. I enrolled and about midway through I realized I was going to fail the class. Not even close to a C, a solid F.

I had a choice to make then and there. Stop attending and sleep in ( it was and 8am class) or continue on with zero stress, absorb and study and then retake it in the summer. I chose the latter and was very happy about it.

My professor saw that I continued attending and partaking in the class and I built a relationship with him. As a student it was great, I felt like I was auditing the class and was not worried about grades. When the summer rolled around I was able to master the course and finished with a B+.

I actually still look back at that time with fondness, even years later.

So much of our life can be full of regret, why not embrace the failure and learn from it?

I did and am sure you can as well.

Image credit: Josh Hallett

Why do people spend so much hard-earned money and so much precious time to become “leaders?”

Is it because leaders have influence?

Or because they crave power?

In actuality there is only one true source of power and that’s control.

There are only two things worth controlling: money and information.

It’s obvious that anyone who controls money has power.

The power that comes from controlling information is covert and insidious.

Until you see it in action.

Then it is obvious that people who control the flow of information within their organization wield great power.

And it doesn’t matter if they are positional leaders or working staff — they have power.

The power that comes from wealth can do great good or equally great evil.

But the power acquired from information control is always evil.

Image credit: Bronson ABbott