Monthly Archives: July 2011

Your (brand) essence is not an inert element

Posted on July 29, 2011 by

For many years, as is typical in more junior roles in most big companies, I spent most of my time inside the organization.  Working hard, doing client or customer work, but really on the inside.  From there I had a … Continue reading →

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We can’t argue about pinball any more

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

It was my first summer internship at my first real job.  One day at lunch I had a mock-heated discussion with a colleague about whether pinball was a game of skill or luck.  I argued for “skill” and as evidence … Continue reading →

Posted in Effort | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Wanted: open-hearted troublemakers

Posted on July 27, 2011 by

Katya posted here and here about a call for co-conspirators in creating Generosity Day 2012.  For newer readers, we launched Generosity Day 2011 as a reboot of Valentine’s Day, a chance to create a day about genuine love, openness and … Continue reading →

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Eradicating the two-handed forehand

Posted on July 22, 2011 by

Last weekend I was playing tennis with my son. To get a little more oomph on the ball, he has been hitting his forehand with two hands.  He’s definitely big enough now to hit it one-handed, so I decided to … Continue reading →

Posted in motivation | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Project leader or project doer

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

There’s a lot of confusion about this one, because you can “do” all the work and not lead, and you can effectively “lead” something without doing all the work. So sometimes someone is asked to “lead” a project and what … Continue reading →

Posted in Work | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Akil and Sciryl

Posted on July 19, 2011 by

A guy’s on the subway car with a guitar, ready to sing.  New guy for today, but really he’s just another guy with a guitar…the same old story. But then a passenger yells out, “YOU KNOW ‘MONEY MONEY MONEY BY … Continue reading →

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Blog maintenance – for email subscribers

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

For those of you who subscribe to this blog by email, I just changed the “from” email address for the FeedBurner feed you receive. There’s a small chance that new posts will get caught in your spam filter. If you … Continue reading →

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Generosity Day 2012 – the visual

Posted on July 15, 2011 by

Had a great planning meeting this week for Generosity Day 2012.  We had our original group that hatched the plan (Katya Andresen, Scott Case, Ellen McGirt) plus a few new friends who you’ll get to know soon enough. I won’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Generosity Day | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Spam tax

Posted on July 14, 2011 by

Somehow the spam I’m getting is getting better with subject lines that make me open the message (hmmm, maybe they’re reading some of my posts!). Things like “Can we meet this week?” and “Following up about next week’s lunch.” I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in email, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Innovation isn’t really like apple pie

Posted on July 13, 2011 by

No one dislikes “innovation” as a concept.  It’s like mom and apple pie (in the US at least) – no one will ever, ever stand up and say, “I’d like us to innovate less!!” No, that would be too obvious.  … Continue reading →

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