Thursday, December 4, 2008

Happiness is contagious

This just in from medical study -- surround yourself with happy friends!

Happy people tended to be at the center of social networks and had many friends who were also happy. Having friends or siblings nearby increased people's chances of being upbeat. Happiness spread outward by three degrees, to the friends of friends of friends.

Happy spouses helped, too, but not as much as happy friends of the same gender. Experts think people, particularly woman, take emotional cues from people who look like them.

Christakis and Fowler estimate that each happy friend boosts your own chances of being happy by 9 percent. Having grumpy friends decreases it by about 7 percent.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Don't Micromanage Employees

I have had several excellent bosses and the best show "tough love" for business results but don't micromanage the details. A Wall Street Journal entitled Micromanagers Miss Bull's-Eye by Cari Tuna calls out the problem -- "dealing With every detail robs subordinates of the freedom to solve problems" and prevents their development.

The article suggests that managers:

1) Clearly articulate expectations
2) Offer constructive feedback
3) Give employees decision-making power
4) Focus on hiring and placement of subordinates

Find out about new career opportunities

The economic challenges have forced many people to think about new careers. A new book out, No Job? No Prob! has many recommendations, but two interesting websites include:

www.LiveCareer.com
www.CareerTest.com

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Atheists more likely to believe in Bigfoot?

A new book, "What Americans Really Believe", reviewed in the WSJ, says that traditional Christian religion decreases belief in such things as palm reading and astrology. The irreligious, on the other hand, tend to be more likely to believe in the paranormal and pseudoscience.

Beats me, but the "conspiracy" shows are running amok in Hollywood (Fringe, Lost, X-Files) suggesting that we all need to believe in something out of the ordinary!

Do private house rental sites work?

My family has been hit-and-miss with VRBO.com (vacation rentals by owner), a site which has bought us both gems and scams.

This is not uncommmon, says Michelle Higgins in a story in today's The New York Times. She says the professionally managed rentals, like zonder.com, forGetaway.com, and PickPackGO.com, offer a certain quality control since management companies run the facilities and the sites accept credit cards.

The owner-rented sites, such as Homeaway.com and VRBO offer you cost-savings, but beg for more interaction with owner for verification of quality. A new site, call FlipKey.com, will allow past renters to offer reviews.

CrossLoop gets techie help to friends

CrossLoop allows the tech-savvy (you, or an expert) to help out the non-savvy (you or friend and often older family member) via direct control of their computers. 

To use, both you and the person you are helping must go to www.crossloop.com and download the software. The sessions require both parties to be in attendance (to avoid renegade remote control of a computer).

This seems like an intriguing way to connect the 1-in-100 techie with the other 99.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Parents can fix education

This wsj article offered findings that, instead of bad teachers and budget cuts, that "parent expectations" is number one determinant of student success.

The 2007 Michigan Dept of Education findings:

"The most consistent predictor of children's academic achievement and social adjustment are parent expectations of the child's academic attainment and satisfaction with their child's education at school. Parents of high-achieving students set higher standards for their children's eduational activities."

The article says that

"All you have to do is start insisting that your children fully appply themselves to their studies -- and commit yourself to doing your part. That means making sure they do all of their work as their abilities allow. It also means making sure everything at home stands behind these principles and supports the idea of learning."

People believe in bigfoot!

And they will believe in most anything!

The "Bigfoot" publicity stunt worked its way through Palo Alto and world media recently , confirming again that, sometimes, people just want to believe.

New York Times writer adds in 3/30/08 article that:

- Americans are as likely to believe in flying saucers as in evolution (about 30-40%)

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

2 billion people to speak English?

Micheal Erard in Wired magazine states:

By 2020, native English speakers will make up only  15 percent of the estimated 2 billion people who will be using or learning the language.

and that

Already, most conversations in English are between non-native speakers who use it as  common bridge


Free online photo services

There are no less than seven premiere on-line photo services:

Adobe Photoshop Express (recent entry, in beta mode)
Flickr
Photobucket
Kodak Gallery
Picasa (just added face recognition and tagging)
Shutterfly
Snapfish

How to send large video

Walt Mossberg suggests people try YouSendIt, a company which offers a free plan for files up to 100 megabytes in size.

Service can work within your browser, via a client on your computer, or via an outlook plug-in.

Rent a Blackberry for Overseas Travel

The WSJ offered a hint for overseas travellers to "rent a Blackberry" via www.cellhire.com. Cellhire rents Blackberries for $7 per day with unlimited access to emails and the web in more than 70 countries.

The device is delivered to your home in two days or less and total shipping rates are around $25.

(Another recent WSJ post warned of data theft of PDA's and laptops when travelling. With this rental option, leave the old data behind and communicate only "non-sensitive" communications.)

Avoid a one-party US government?

I have several friends who argue that we are best served by a multi-party logjam in D.C., chiefly a Republican president with a Democratic Congress or vice-versa (on the simply logic that, otherwise, the country swings way right or way left).

Two writers in the WSJ paint an even more doomsday scenario, claiming that the federal government is so large and powerful that

A unified president and Congress, can....take your money and give it to someone else, tell businesses what to produce and sell, who to hire and what wages to pay, set all commodity, wholesale, and retail prices...determine which students get slots in elite universities...Children could be required to spend the summer in government "youth" camps.





Monday, August 11, 2008

The future of airline travel? (KLM "bumps and grinds" family)

I’ve had my share of bad travel experiences. But a recent European experience with KLM may surprise and shock you.

My journey begins well as my two teenage sons and I fly from San Francisco to Amsterdam for a wonderful 3-week tour of Europe. We work our way back to Amsterdam for our return flight, staying in the airport Sheraton the night before our departure. The next morning, as we check into Amsterdam 2 hours before our 11 a.m. return flight, we are immediately told that the flight is overbooked (!) and that KLM may not be able to put us on the flight.

My mind reels in disbelief. We paid for the tickets 6 months prior and no communications (e.g. email, phone call) had alerted us to any issue. The eventual airline statement is “KLM overbooked, EU law provides for compensation in these matters (600 Euro per person), and we’ll get you to SFO shortly.”

“Shortly” does not describe what follows. We end up on a 13:30 flight to New York City with mid-day connection to SFO, but thunderstorms prevent landing in NYC, we circle briefly, and we proceed to Boston to wait on a tarmac. (Internet stories suggest airlines are carrying less fuel to save on weight.) We depart that plane, after 12 hours , only to spend an additional 2 hours to wait for our bags (which never appear) .

So now it is midnight in one of the world’s biggest, baddest cities. No bags, no KLM staff, and no cell communications (batteries have died). I keep thinking “what are they planning for us? And where is KLM staff?”

We take several cabs in search of local hotels (all nearby “airport hotels” are booked) . I end up in Queens Flats, negotiating witho an innkeeper positioned behind bullet-proof windows at a Howard Johnsons. We uneasily step over locals who are sleeping in the lobby towards our two rooms.

The next morning I call KLM (NW is domestic partner) and ask them “what is the plan?” They have no plan. As we talk it through, the NW representative expresses amazement that I didn’t make the NYC connection (Don’t they already know this?! I was on the Boston tarmac at the time, in one of their planes, on their warped path to get me to SFO.) The agent starts offering me further multi-stops to get to SFO, I insist on non-stops, and after a half-hour cell phone conversation, we eventually get a non-stop to SFO for 6:00 p.m final arrival -- almost 48 hours after our original scheduled departure.

So I publicly ask KLM:

1) Are you okay with stranding a family at midnight in New York City?
2) Where are our bags? (As a hint, the baggage tags are attached to the boarding passes for the original flight which you took and held in Amsterdam.)
3) Where is my recovery of $500 for cab and hotel expenses in NYC? (Note: these are YOUR expenses – NYC was your plan, not mine).

And I continue to ask myself “what is the long-term lesson?” I think less family airline travel may be the only answer. In a world of airline profit pressure, the airlines don’t seem capable of caring for my family and my valuables.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Blogging is good for you

Expressive writing produces many physiological benefits, including improved memory and sleep, boost of immune cell activity, and improved healing after surgery.

A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

One theory by Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University, is that "blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art."

Monday, June 9, 2008

Celebrate your "weak friends"

You would think your "strong friends" or connections would be your most important asset. But Stanford University researcher Mark Granovetter has called out "the strength of weak ties" in research on how people find jobs. Weak ties bring new information. They are far more numerous. And they introduce a certain chaos into the equation, which is key to producing new opportunities and ideas.

From book, Who's Your City, by Richard Florida (and a excellent treatise on the trend toward 20M population cities!); http://creativeclass.com/whos_your_city/

Great tips to motivate yourself

I was intrigued by this posting of 8 self-motivation trips:

Start small. One goal. Examine your motivation. Really, really want it. Commit publicly. Get excited. Build anticipation. Print it out, post it up.

But particularly by two surprising recommendations:

1) Don't start right away. Start in a few days. Build anticipation. Announce and celebrate the upcoming start.

2) If you miss a day, don't worry. But never, ever miss two days in a row.

http://zenhabits.net/2008/06/the-ultimate-guide-to-motivation-how-to-achieve-any-goal/

"Always on" culture will pass

I was struck by this keen observation by Professor Naomi Baron at American University:

While talking with students in Sweden and Italy, where mobile phones have been ubiquitous far longer than in the United States, I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of people who turned their phones off when they were studying, ignored incoming calls or text messages—even from good friends—while watching a movie on TV, or intentionally ‘forgot’ their phones from time to time just to have some peace,” Baron said. “My hope is that Americans are only going through a phase of feeling they must be ‘always on’ and that over time, we will regain a more balanced sense of communicative equilibrium.”

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080520161340.htm

IM is productive in business

Contrary to the perception that Instant Messaging (IM) is disruptive in business, recent research suggests that IM increases productivity because it is often used as a substitute for other, more disruptive forms of communication such as the telephone, e-mail, and face-to-face conversations. Using instant messaging led to more conversations on the computer, but the conversations were briefer.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080603120251.htm

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Other Commencement Messages

There were lots of excellent semi-finalists for my recent Pinewood 8th Grade Commencement Speech, including:

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. - Michael Pollan

Glance Backwards, Look Heavenward, Reach Outward, and Press Onward - Thomas Monson

Accentuate the Positive; Eliminate the Negative - Charlotte Schultz (plus next two)

Surround yourself with the best people.

Whatever you do, do it with passion

Help others. Then help yourself.

Don't fall behind.

Work hard. Not too much. Be Kind.

Work hard. Be kind to others. Sleep.

The heavens are filled with disorder. The situation is excellent. - Chairman Mao

Know Thyself - Oracle at Delphi

To thine ownself be true - Shakespeare

5 C's of Viral Marketing

There is growing opinion that there are 5 c's of viral marketing:

Community
Compelling
Comedy
Charity
Contests

The Great Turtle Race (www.GreatTurtleRace.com) is good example of this. This website talks about many other examples, including the incomparable "Will it Blend" series for BlendTec blenders.

http://overtonecomm.blogspot.com/2007/03/5-cs-of-viral-marketing.html

Does U.S. Jury Duty keep calling you?

Make sure your driver's license and voter registration are spelled exactly the same.

Otherwise, the jury duty system sees you as two different people and you get called up more often (not more than once a year, but more often).

Join the Great Turtle Race, Race Across the Pacific

The Great Turtle Race, which I co-founded with George Shillinger, is underway for year II and you are encouraged to visit at www.GreatTurtleRace.com and cheer on a turtle.

Leatherback Turtles are amazing animals (as big as your kitchen table), have been around 100 million years, but may have only 10 years left.

The race has been heralded for its combining the new 3 C's of cause marketing: Contest, Comedy, and Charity.

Jump In. With Friends. And Save Your Local Water Hole.


This is my commencement speech to the Pinewood 8th Grade Class:

1) Avoid Self-Doubt. From ages 15 - 30, you are actually a smarter, stronger, more capable person every day!




2) When faced with uncomfortable new challenges (like jumping off a rock into water 30' below):



  • Jump In. New experiences make life richer and make you more interesting (to yourself, to others, to employers).



  • With Friends. Your greatest wealth is your gathering collection of friends and the best way to make friends is to undertake a shared struggle (the more difficult, high-anxiety, low probability the better!)



  • Swim without Splashing. You have good habits which propel you forward. And bad habits which keep you in place.



  • Save Your Local Water Hole. The great things in your community need to be saved from human greed and carelessness.


3) Engage Others.

You will often be asked "How are you doing?" Respond, and then ask the other person, "How are YOU doing?" And then inquire about a passion they have, or about how they look, or about past activity (what did you do last weekend) or future plans (what vacation plans do you have).

Humans thrive in connecting on each other's passions.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Personalities of US regions

This article offers interesting theory that humans can be sorted by 5 attributes: agreeableness, conscientiousness, extroversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience. And that these attributes naturally cluster by different US regions.

"Greater Chicago is a center for extroverts and also a leading center for sales professionals. The Midwest, long a center for the manufacturing industry, has a prevalence of conscientious types who work well in a structured, rule-driven environment. The South, and particularly the I-75 corridor, where so much Japanese and German car manufacturing is located, is dominated by agreeable and conscientious types who are both dutiful and work well in teams.
The Northeast corridor, including Greater Boston, as well as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Austin, are home to concentrations of open-to-experience types who are drawn to creative endeavor, innovation, and entrepreneurial start-up companies."

See more at: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/04/where_do_all_the_neurotics_live/

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

It takes 10,000 hours to be a master

I read recently that it takes 10,000 hours to master anything. Piano, acting, sports, whatever, you have to train you mind and muscle memory to perfection.

This sounds daunting, but it equates to about 10 years of dedication at about 3 hours per day and it matches well with the "mentorship" model throughout history of taking 12 years olds and dedicating them to the skilled profession of the times for about a decade.

It also sparks an interesting question -- what are you a master at (e.g. have spent 10,000 hours on)?!

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Meetings and hyper-connected audiences

A modern problem in meetings is lack of attention among attendees due to blackberries and portable computers (attendees checking email, the internet, and who-know-what-else!).


Much of this is due to bad meeting culture (i.e. meetings are too long, have too many people, should not be happening, or are poorly run). But if the meeting is important and the attendee list is correct, then full attention is needed.


I know of several ways to deal with this:


1) At Microsoft, I have heard there is a culture to sit-at-the-table if you're paying attention and sit-back-from-the-table if you are handling other urgent matters through email.


2) Some meeting managers can simply say "I'd like your full attention. If you want to use the internet to find out more about some of these topics great. But I ask that you to use it only for that purpose." (Some cultures would set up some kind of bounty - free drink if you catch someone on off-strategy.)


3) I have collected phones from participants and handed them to an assistant to check. The message is "I would like your full attention on this important topic. If you get an urgent call, my assistant will answer for you and pull you out of the meeting."

A culture of few, short meetings is the best of all solutions.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

4 Attributes of Successful Leaders

I attended an interesting talk last night by Egon Zehnder executive Claudio Fernandez Araoz, author of "Great People Decisions." He suggests there are 4 attributes of a successful leader:

1) Genetics - health and IQ, to name but a few
2) Place/Era - if you are in China, things are good right now (if in sub-prime mortgage industry, not so much)
3) Career Choice - the quality of the companies that you keep
4) Ability to hire good people

His talk make good points that companies spend lots of time on certain activities (e.g. accounting, budgetting) but not nearly enough on the process of hiring people.

Work is important to life

Work offers people 3 important things: 1) a way to structure your time; 2) a sense of community; and 3) a sense of shared purpose.

Author John Trauch says that you need to recreate these conditions in retirement (also when between jobs, it would seem).

Another author, Alan Bernstein, says that even after a honeymoon period of travel/golf/etc, you need to take steps to build purpose into your life. Activity ideas from a 3rd author, Tamara Erickson, include philanthropy, volunteer work, going back to school, changing your career, teaching, or starting a business.

--- From New York Times "Career Couch"

Sunday, February 24, 2008

We aren't built to be happy

Jonathan Clements, who writes a column for the Wall Street Journal, says "rather, we are built to survive and reproduce. We wouldn't be here today if our ancestors didn't struggle mightily to protect and feed their families. The promise of happiness, meanwhile, is just a trick to jolly us along."

A Harvard professor offers further advice. Author of "Stumbling on Happiness," he says:

Suppose you think you will be happier if you move to a small rural town,
adopt a child, or quit your job and become a high school math teacher.

Don't rely on the opinions of people who live in small towns, have adopted
kids or become teachers. Instead, spend some time observing these folks --
and see whether they're happy.

Gossip is a message to leaders

Gossip has a negative connotation, but it could also be called "strategic information sharing", says Michael Morris, professor at Columbia Business School.

"Gossips fills an information void, and it can be considered a warning to management to do a better job of communicating to employees", Says Mitch Kusy, professor at Antioch University.

Gossip is a natural part of human evolutions, says David Sloan Wilson, an evolutionary biologist at Binghamton University. "Human beings are voracious consumers of information...That's why we call gossip 'juicy.' It's like tasty food and we hunger for it. And because humans are cooperative animals, when I get a piece of information you need, I just have to give it to you"

- from Career Couch, Eileen Zimmerman, New York Times

-

Women are more honest leaders?

I was intrigued by this recent passage :

An MIT economist, Esther Duflo, looked at India, which has
required female leaders in one-third of village councils since the mid-1990's.
Professor Duflo and her colleagues found that by objective standards, the women
ran the villages better than men. For example, women constructed and maintained
wells better, and took fewer bribes.

- 2/10/08 article in the New York Times by Nicholas D. Kristoff

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Stop unwanted communications

One big time-killer is unwanted communications, such as phone calls, mail, and email. A good overview is "Top 10 Opt-Outs" posted on a web site called:

http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/

Two other websites that I have found to be effective:

Direct Marketing Association (DMA) website: http://www.dmachoice.com/

And my wife's favorite site to stop unwanted physical mail (and plant trees!): http://www.greendimes.com/

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

History of Religion

I think the best single map to understand today's world issues (as well as simply a good example of how to display complex data) is at:

http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

But Need to be Tough Executive In Touch Positions

As a contrary to "soft powers" of teamwork and flexibility, it looks like more hard-nosed skills are needed for business success at buyout companies.

The study by University of Chicago professors looked at 225 CEO's, primarily in among buy-out companies and was reportedin 11/19/07 WSJ report by George Anders.

Traits That Mattered included: Persistence, Attention to Detail, Efficiency, Analytical Skills, and Setting High Standards.

Lower Ranking Traits included: Strong Oral Communication, Teamwork, Flexibility, Enthusiasm, and Listening Skills.

Hint: Seems like better employee life at at a PRE buy-out company!

Top Management, Today, Needs "Soft" Powers

Joseph Nye, dean of Harvard's School of Government, came up with the term "soft power" to describe the nonmilitary ways that a nation can influence others.

But the term is applicable for executives as well, says Fortune writer Goeff Colvin in a 12/10/07 article. CEO's once ruled by fear, but that is not effective in a world marked by powerful shareholders, new competitors, and skeptical employees.

The new executive attribute is "soft power" to inspire and activate employees rather than "hard power" to command them.

Hobbies raise self-esteem and confidence

A nice article in the NY times by Eilene Zimmerman emphasizes the surprising vital role of hobbies in lives of professionals.

She cites medical studies that activities you enjoy stimulate the "feel good" part of your brain. And this enjoyment then can help you think more creatively and give you confidence.

The hobby also allows you to hedge your bets in the cycles of ups and downs in your emotional life (i.e. you're not totally dependent on your job) and allows you to have perception of yourself outside of work and family.

Manage Family Calendars

Good article in 10/30/07 WSJ on managing multiple family calendars.

Options included Google (calendar.google.com), Yahoo (calendar.yahoo.com), and Famundo.com (which even offers a family message board!).

Then there is the old written calendar on the family fridge or pantry door. That is how summer is planned out in our house!

Get Your Employees Fired Up!

Some great stories in a new book by Yum Brands CEO David Novak called "The Education of an Accidental CEO":

He reminds us to do "whatever it takes to get people fired up." Praise is a key feature. "You can never underestimate the power of telling someone he's doing a good job. ..The higher up the ladder you are, the more important it is to give credit rather than receive it...Be on the lookout for reasons to celebrate the achievements of others."

He sends out congralutory handwritten notes to subordinates, with smiley faces.

I have found this to be excellent advice. When I worked at Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, managers were even ranked on their success in celebrating achievements. It worked, even when a bit canned, because it's the "reality show" of human emotions (drama of giving and receiving praise).