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June 16, 2012
It's Bloomsday. The day you meet your wife can be its own world.
The day you meet your wife can be its own world.
Above: James Joyce and Sylvia Beach.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:40 PM | Comments (0)
June 15, 2012
If you come on like a dream.
The 1993 song "Remedy" by The Black Crowes is one of the ten best chancery songs ever cut.
If I come on like a dream?
Would you let me show you what I mean?
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
Cross-Culture: A Dutchman born in Columbia marvels about--and explains--the post-colonial ethnic salad bowl that is Panama.
I've worked in Panama only twice--and I'd love to go back. Once spending a week there I was, like others, amazed by its legions of banks, the range of going businesses, the contrasts, the over-importance of the Canal to its economic health, the frustrations of working there, the problems with finding decent local business lawyers to work with and the daunting and king-hell blend of tribes from all over the world throughout its strange and meandering history. It is still a post-colonial ethnic salad bowl. At R.D. Lewis's fascinating Cross-Culture Maarten Stal writes this week on "Panama: A Country in Transition". In particular, note what consultant Stal has to say about Panama's history, the primacy of Canal Zone and the joys and challenges for the many ex-pats now working in a country with its human origins in "native Indians, conquistadores, blacks, Chinese, French, Americans, Arabs, Jews and a variety of other (mostly European) nationalities".
Panama City, Panama
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
June 12, 2012
The Wonderful Twos: One employee per client project is rarely a good idea.
"Identical Twins, Roselle, New Jersey, 1967", Diane Arbus.
Customers need to know you are authentically and earnestly "there". One employee per project is rarely a good idea. Think in terms of twos. Have a second person (at least) for everything.
Two (2) Things about Thinking in Terms of Twos:
1. Staffing. If you are a services professional, any project you do for a customer, buyer or client should have at least two (2) professionals assigned to it. It doesn't matter how small or big the project is. As your co-workers are often traveling, in meetings or are otherwise unavailable, customers who call or e-mail deserve to have more than one member of your office 100% knowledgeable and current on any project. If it's a small matter, just don't charge for it. Trust us on this.*
2. Written Communications. Start this regime on both ends of your communications. Get both your staff and customers to buy into it. Invoices, letters, e-mails or Anything Written--to or from your office--should always be addressed to (customer end) and received by (your firm's end) two (2) human beings. In addition to the reasons given above in Item 1--i.e., for communications received by your office--writings by your firm TO your clients or to any of their agents should copy two (2) humans. Or you will be an Administrative Screw-Up. Reason: Main contact points for customers, buyers and clients also get busy and unavailable. So copy one other human who assists the contact, client rep, GC, in-house person or accounts payable folks whenever you can do it.
It's common sense. But if you are a professional services person--e.g., accountant, lawyer, actuary, mortgage broker, stock broker--you likely don't have any common sense. And you know that. Sorry, Jack, but (gulp) it's just true.
Again, trust us.
*If customers actually need to frequently call you to check on things, you are likely a Customer Service Screw-Up. The work is never about you. Buyers of professional services should rarely have questions. (Any question they have you can and should anticipate 99.5% of the time.) But if they DO have questions--about either an ongoing project or in particular a new matter they inquire about--have two (2) people ready to respond. Customers need to know you are authentically and earnestly "there".
Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
HBR: In Praise of The Generalist. Just in time, too. "Domain expertise" was getting on everyone's nerves.
This appeared on June 4 in the Harvard Business Review and what we've been trying to tell you lately in any event: All Hail the Generalist, by Vikram Mansharamani. It begins:
We have become a society of specialists. Business thinkers point to "domain expertise" as an enduring source of advantage in today's competitive environment. The logic is straightforward: learn more about your function, acquire "expert" status, and you'll go further in your career.
But what if this approach is no longer valid? Corporations around the world have come to value expertise, and in so doing, have created a collection of individuals studying bark. There are many who have deeply studied its nooks, grooves, coloration, and texture. Few have developed the understanding that the bark is merely the outermost layer of a tree. Fewer still understand the tree is embedded in a forest.
Approximately 2,700 years ago, the Greek poet Archilochus wrote that "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." Isaiah Berlin's 1953 essay "The Fox and the Hedgehog" contrasts hedgehogs that "relate everything to a single, central vision" with foxes who "pursue many ends connected...if at all, only in some de facto way." It's really a story of specialists vs. generalists.
Mansharamani, at Blair Academy, Blairstown, NJ, in 2011.
Posted by JD Hull at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2012
Mike O'Neil: Tomorrow's Arizona race for Rep. Gaby Giffords's seat. "The Only Other 2012 Bellwether Election."
See by Mike O'Neil in today's Huffington Post "The Only Other 2012 Bellwether Election." Excerpts:
Prior to the November presidential election, there are only two instances this year where actual voters will cast ballots in elections that could provide a clue about the mood of the electorate. The first of these was the Wisconsin recall election, in which Republican Governor Scott Walker successfully withstood an attempt to oust him from office. The second is the race for the remainder of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords term which will be held on June 12.
In any individual race there are always factors other than the national mood that are relevant. Walker, for example, may have benefited by a reluctance of voters to oust an elected official for anything short of criminal offenses. Much about the Arizona Congressional race, however, suggests that it could be an excellent barometer of public sentiment on national issues. The district itself is regarded highly competitive.
It was represented for over two decades by Jim Kolbe, a moderate Republican. When Kolbe retired, the seat was won by centrist Democrat Gabrielle Giffords. If this district were a state, it would be classified as a presidential tossup.
This race pits her former aide, Ron Barber against the Tea Party candidate, Jesse Kelly, who narrowly missed beating Giffords in 2010.
Posted by JD Hull at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)
June 10, 2012
Eurozone "buys time" with loan to Spain: 100 billion euros.
Greece, Ireland, Portugal--and now Spain. The European Union and IMF at this point have earmarked 500 billion euros to finance European bailouts. What's remarkable to me is that European policymakers and world markets largely consider this fourth loan of 100 billion euros to be good news. Short term, it certainly is. But long term? How deep and desperate worldwide must the crisis become? See, e.g., at Reuters "Eurozone Agrees To Lend Spain Up To 100 Billion Euros".
Spain's finance minister, Luis de Guindos.
Posted by JD Hull at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)
Pantheon: Chrissie Hynde, Pluperfect Anti-Peasant.
They say that Midwest-bred rocker Chrissie Hynde--and it started way before before the acclaim, fame and money--has no fear of Anything or Anyone. Can you say that? Ms. Hynde resides in our Roman Pantheon.
Way to go Ohio.
Posted by Holden Oliver (Kitzbühel Desk) at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)