Manage To Change

Corporate Culture?

Show me a fire fighter and I’ll show you an arsonist.

Thoughts?

There’s No Email Eraser

Liz Strauss often reminds me that “the internet doesn’t have an eraser.”

And while that’s true, publishing on the internet is only part of the story.

When we write emails to anyone about anything they can be shared.

Even if our company plasters warnings all over corporate emails, they won’t do the job. People talk and people share, whether we want them to or not.

It may not be industrial espionage (although I’m sure that happens as well).

It’s often unhappy people sending our messages to their friends.

They may want advice, encouragement, or to illustrate how horrible they feel their organization (our organization) treats people.

Once we write something down, it lives forever.

Uncommon Common Sense: Communication

Most people consider formal communication channels when driving change.

We know that providing a consistent message repeatedly, in many styles and formats, with avenues for feedback and adjustment, is a necessity.

Often, however, two elements are severely lacking in communication planning: leveraging informal channels and building in the time to do so.

Informal communication is based on relationships. It’s the drop by, the “water cooler” chat, or a conversation over coffee. 

It's where all the action is!

That’s where we hear objections, ideas, and constraints. It’s where we solve problems and build support.

It’s also where we have an opportunity to adjust our direction so that our formal messages are more accurate and consistent.

When we make use of all communication channels, formal communication becomes more efficient. It provides a venue for decision-making, a validation step, or an opportunity to maintain focus and momentum.

Although informal communication is work, there is rarely time built in to our schedules to address it, even though it pays for itself by clarifying objectives and extending collaboration.

Thank You, Volvo!

This is my car.

This is my daughter.

She flipped my car over yesterday. 

She and her friend had to get some stitches.

Safety isn’t just a marketing pitch.

Brilliant or Clueless?

General questions are a great way to gather information about a client and their needs.

However, they can be interpreted as a lack of understanding or a “fishing” tactic.

“What did you mean by “x”?”

That question forces the client to do all the work.

It’s far more helpful to communicate some understanding before broadening our scope.

“The term “x” can mean several different things (give examples). Based on our experiences, we interpret “x” to mean … How does your organization use this term?”

Specific questions highlight our area of expertise.

They show that we’ve made an effort.

They force us to make a commitment.

Our question illustrates what we know and implies what we haven’t considered.

When we’re just beginning to explore a relationship or when our interactions are not face-to-face, everything is hanging on our words.

We need to choose them carefully!

THINK

I was on my way to the airport this morning when I saw this neat sign on a dump truck.

I had to get a picture.

So, as I was merging into traffic in the rain, I reached behind my seat to get my phone out of my bag. 

I turned off my windshield wipers, held the steering wheel with one hand, and took this picture with my other hand before I had to shift gears again.

Isn't it funny how seeing a sign that said THINK made me stop thinking!

Who Should Buy Yahoo!?

Microsoft may be talking to Yahoo!, but some think there are others that would benefit more from a Yahoo! acquisition.

Scott Karp, Publishing 2.0, encourages Google to buy Yahoo! to complement their weak spots.

“Yahoo! Mail, which accounts for almost 50% of the free email market, has more than 10 times the market share of Gmail; Yahoo! Answers is a major hit… Google Answers failed; Yahoo’s Flickr is a runaway hit… far outpacing Google’s Picasa photo site…”

John Blossom, from Shore Media and ContentBlogger, thinks News Corp is a likely candidate to buy Yahoo! after they’ve purchased Dow Jones.

“Yahoo's strong online finance portal would complement potential content fed in from Dow Jones holdings should that deal close… Yahoo entertainment offerings would complement MySpace nicely and its enormous base of user accounts would offer MySpace a shot in the arm as Facebook builds a stronger market share.”

I don’t see anyone saying that Yahoo! should tough it out on their own.

What happened to Yahoo!?

Is this Netscape all over again?

Once again, the only constant…

Don't Physicians Network?

Do Doctors Twitter?

Do they Pownce?

Are they LinkedIn?

Are they on Facebook?

Publishers want to positively impact the practice of medicine by providing physicians with accurate information when, where, and how it’s most useful to them.

When you listen to doctors, and when you observe them, one point is very clear.

The first place a physician goes to ask a question is to a colleague.

So… does that colleague need to be right next to them?

Couldn’t they be using a social networking tool?

Why couldn’t communities of physicians be formed to address the medical inquiries of other physicians (via web, cell phone, or any wireless device)?

Security could be built in (identity and credential verification). Communities could be moderated by an expert.

Let’s go one step further.

Journals have editorial boards.

Why not allow physicians to subscribe to those boards (or new groups created for this purpose) and have the output of the board’s effort be a journal and moderated live interaction with physicians?

Those interactions could be stored and queried, yielding a knowledge base and a source of future publications.

More important, physicians would get the personal attention they seek from a colleague and be able to forge new relationships with others in their network.

Couldn’t that positively impact the practice of medicine?

Selling Time

If you work on your own, once you’ve decided who you are, what you do, and who it benefits, you still have to figure out how you want to conduct your business.

Would you rather have one client fill 100% of your availability for an extended period of time or do you prefer to have more than one client at a time for shorter periods?

Neither answer is right or wrong. It depends on your goals.

If you’re a freelancer a lot of work over a long period of time might be just what you want.  It represents security, time savings (less time looking for work), and consistency (working with the same people).

If you’re building a business having a full time client may leave you no time to find future clients, develop diverse streams of revenue, or experience diverse settings and challenges. Ironically, you may feel less secure with “all your eggs in one basket”.

Do you sell your time?

Have you thought about which model you prefer?

Retire? I Don’t Think So

Steve Roesler isn’t going to retire.

I don’t plan to either.

My dad is 82. He retired at 59. He worked for decades commuting from Long Island to New York City. It was grueling. It made him a different person.

When the weight of his long hours and long commute were lifted from his shoulders, I met my father for the first time.

But times have changed.

Every passing day results in more people doing what they love to do. Our work is part of our personality, part of who we are, and to give it up is not an option.

It isn’t about the money.

We’re finally getting to be ourselves, working how we want to work, and loving what we do.

Why would anyone want to stop!?