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A few days ago my 125lb 8-month-old Great Dane puppy decided that he wanted an iPhone too.
He waited until I was asleep and then nabbed it!
Considering the strength of his jaws, my iPhone did pretty well.
It still works.
But it isn’t nearly as shiny anymore.
(I got a new one.)
* Thanks to Kent Anderson for naming this new product!
A friend and I were talking today about the skills we’ve had to developed to work effectively in virtual teams.
Remember when a conference call was a free for all and no one knew when to talk and when to be quiet?
Remember when the only way you knew if someone on a call had an issue was if they told you so?
We’ve all had to become better listeners and more adept at reading subtle signs.
Those of us that haven’t pay the price in difficult relationships, poor communication, and misguided effort.
I wonder what we’ll have to learn next?
For those of you that don't know, there are two Harvard Squares in the Boston area. One is where you'd expect it to be (in Cambridge).
The other one is in Charlestown.
I looked up Harvard Square on Google Maps, printed my directions, and stored them in my travel folder. I was set - right?
Wrong.
The Harvard Square that comes up first on Google Maps isn't the one in Cambridge!
Google Maps never alerted me that I had two Harvard Squares from which to choose. In fact, Google defaulted to the more remote location (so I missed my lunch date).
I blame myself. I should have been more careful.
I am just amazed at how blindly I relied on Google to give me the right answer. I'll certainly be more careful next time!
Ever notice how technology gets adopted first by pornographers, then by more general entertainment companies, then financial services … and so on?
Ever notice how traditional publishers are usually coming on board last?
Is it funding (porn has more money)?
Is it the zealousness of the customer base?
Is it a willingness to take risks?
What do you think?
No matter where we work, the relationships we forge with others are our own.
Even if legal or ethical terms constrain how we interact with people initially, the personal impressions with which we’ve left them will never expire.
Did we show people respect? Were we sensitive to how we used their time? Were we genuine and sincere?
Did we accurately assess what we could and couldn’t do and communicate that honestly? Were we competent?
Managing our reputation is one reason to be very careful choosing where we work and how we partner.
Be careful to find employers and partners that share your relationship ideals or you may find yourself in sticky situations.
We ARE judged by the company we keep!
My three-day vacation was somehow no vacation at all, except for one thing: my approach to work.
I felt justified in being unavailable at times, didn’t answer every email immediately, shut off IM for blocks of time, and took time to reflect on longer term ideas that I’d been pushing aside for weeks.
This is how I should work all the time.
Ah…if it were only that easy, everyone would be doing it!
I was thinking back this morning to a meeting I had with a Senior Vice President in a (not-to-be-named) publishing company.
This company’s very well known CEO told a group of his organizational leaders that he knew the answer to all their product innovation problems: Hire young people.
Here are some things I know about this company:
In the CEO’s defense, he acknowledged that young people don’t want to work there.
What I don’t think they realize is that anyone that values and strives for product innovation probably doesn’t want to work there either.
Would you?
