In memory of the late, great George Carlin, here’s some stuff in business that’s been going right up me of late: Blast email holiday cards. As a friend – let’s call him John, cuz that’s his name – said recently, if you have something to say, do so in a personal note. Getting your mass blanketed e-Thanksgiving card is not…
Book Report – The Power of Moments by Chip & Dan Heath
John Deere knows how to make its new hires feel welcome. You accept a job offer from the global machine manufacturer and you can expect an email that helps mitigate opening day jitters, explaining how to dress, where to park, etc. Show up and you’re greeted by your John Deere Friend, an enormous welcome banner, various co-workers, and your first…
Book Report – Life in Code by Ellen Ullman
Software engineer Ellen Ullman seems pretty cool and self-aware. Reading her latest book Life in Code, one is left with the indelible image of a woman who’s been taking risks her entire adult life, from piloting a plane (“the indescribable pleasure of holding a powerful machine while it held me”) to tackling new computer languages (“One must… find a ferocious determination,…
Book Report – Mindwise by Nicholas Epley
Brian Regan – hands down the best comedian of my lifetime – does a fun routine that recalls being the kid in the way, way back of an old station wagon. Staring at passengers in other vehicles, you had a completely different vacation experience than the rest of the family. Nicholas Epley calls this “the neck problem” in his 2015…
Book Report – Kickass Confidence by Alyssa Dver
“What’s wrong with being confident?” goes the rhetoric of the recent Top 40 hit. The gut reply is “nothing,” which is of course true unless said confidence is actually baseless cockiness. Alyssa Dver plumbs the depths of this important – and culturally relevant – topic in her 2015 book, Kickass Confidence. Donald Trump wasn’t yet running for office when she…