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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

It seems these days that people decorate their homes, choose their friends, food and clothes, determine their career path and employer, and organize their lives all in terms of what looks good on Instagram.

Doesn’t matter if the meal tastes good, as long as it photographs well. The same for everything else.

As long as a story can be spun and curated to impress people who aren’t known, and probably never will be, people will do/buy it.

And if an experience isn’t documented with pictures and posted online it might as well not have happened.

No kidding.

I actually overheard a guy say as much. Apparently his phone’s camera stopped working and he was grousing that the money spent on the trip was wasted.

What a strange world these people live in.

Is it your world?

I’m so glad it’s not mine.

Image credit: Aleks Grynis

Yesterday focused on the constant opportunities that surround us as we move through our lives.

But in order to take advantage of them you need to be willing to move outside your comfort zone.

It’s always easier to coast than it is to climb.

In the same way, it’s easier to play it safe with what you already know than to put yourself in the position of being uncomfortable and having to learn new stuff — and possibly look foolish or fail

So what if you do?

The world won’t stop turning, nor will a lightening bolt materialize and strike you. Oh. And the sky won’t fall.

I promise.

What will happen is you’ll learn, grow, get braver, and your interests will expand.

And practically a guarantee that you’ll go further in life than you would have otherwise.

Opportunities.

Grab ‘em while they’re hot.

Image credit: Jennifer C.

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.

Long after I wrote this I read something that says much the same thing, only far more memorably.

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” — Hunter Thompson

Read other Golden Oldies here.

I’ve always thought of life as a corridor with dozens of doors opening, each one representing an opportunity.

You may open one or pass them by—it’s your choice.

Each time you do open one and enter that door closes forever and you move down a new corridor full of doors.

The door you entered is sealed because whatever lay behind it changed you, so you can’t go backwards, only forward.

Some people to through life opening as few doors as possible, changing as little as possible and staying as safe as possible.

Others launch themselves through the most interesting doors with gusto, taking advantage of whatever opportunities are concealed and then on to the next door.

In honor of all those who are, or lean to, the latter description I dedicate these two Rules. They are especially apropos today.

Watch for big problems—they disguise big opportunities.

Welcome the unexpected! Opportunities rarely come in neat, predictable packages.

You can’t open every door and you don’t have to stay long if you don’t like what you find, but if you pass straight through never opening any doors you’ll stay in pristine condition and you don’t really want to arrive at the end as untouched as you were when you started — do you?

Image credit: (no longer working)

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

Last Friday we looked at how culture is based on values and how often the values claimed aren’t, in fact, authentic.

Values are one thing, but the whole authentic idea is overblown.

How many times have you heard “bring your authentic self to work (or wherever).

If you’re like most people you have multiple authentic selves.

Think about it, the self you show your spouse is different than the self you show your boss and both are different from the self your friends know.

Yet they are all authentic.

Meaning each self adheres to the same values.

For example, if one self is married and another self has a lover both selves are authentic, since their basic value system accepts cheating.

Look around, not just at the people you’re close to or see frequently, but at the names you see in the news.

Compare what they say/do in various situations and you’ll find you can figure out very quickly what their real authentic values are.

Image credit: HikingArtist