Infiniti Revisits the Holiday Road

Infiniti has recently released the following:

While I don't disagree it is cute, I don't understand why they went with the Lindsay Buckingham cover instead of the original.  

Good songs, like good movies, are timeless.  Swing and a miss, Infiniti.  

2015 Duck Hunting Forecast

The breeding population counts are in, and it reflects another banner year for duck numbers in North America:

We dodged yet another bullet.  The breeding areas are still holding good amounts of water, and there should be ample birds in the air this fall.  However, it is only a matter of time before we incur a drought, and that episode, combined with the massive continued reduction in overall habitat, will be a nightmare.

At least, for now, 2015 looks like another dream come true.

Saturday Song Share: Dirty Projectors - I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine

My favorite cover of one of my favorite Dylan songs of all time.

Not much for video here, but just enjoy the music:

How's the Boss? Look for the Tell

When evaluating a new opportunity, not only are the people of your potential new employer evaluating you, but you, at the same time, are evaluating them.  Beyond the specifics of the role, interviewees often seek to understand corporate culture, style, and softer elements of a potential future engagement.  One such thing to understand is what kind of person the boss is - are they the good person they appear to be, or are they secretly hiding skeletons in their closet?

In a lot of ways, interviewing is a lot like poker - both sides seek to present the strongest picture possible, and are extremely careful in the type and amount of information that they choose to share.  When information is shared, many times it is done with an objective in mind.  Thus, as a candidate, it can sometimes be difficult to discern a clear understanding of exactly what a potential new boss might be like.

So how does one better gain this understanding?  For me, I've personally found a "tell" which has provided me great insight to my bosses (both potential and actual).  But before we get to that, we need to better define the whole concept of the "tell."  In poker, a "tell" allows players to gain an advantage based upon an observation they have made on an opponent.  Wikipedia defines it perfectly:

A tell in poker is a change in a player's behavior or demeanor that is claimed by some to give clues to that player's assessment of their hand. A player gains an advantage if they observe and understand the meaning of another player's tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable.

For me, the greatest tell is to be able to go to a restaurant with a potential new boss and see how they interact with the wait staff.  Are the rude?  Overly demanding?  Have unjust expectations of performance, regardless of situation?  Talk ill of the wait staff after they have left the table?  Fail to acknowledge the staff, or talk over them?  Tip poorly?  All of these offer insight to how they treat people, and ultimately, how they are going to treat you.

This rule applies to other service and hospitality folks as well - how does this person treat hotel staff, flight attendants, retail clerks, and other service providers?  Ultimately, that treatment will be akin to how their teams are treated.

My greatest example of this involved one of my first bosses ever.  Immediately after being hired, we traveled together to a trade show.  While waiting on our departing flight, my new boss rang her flight attendant button three times before we left the gate.  Three times.  Guess who turned out to be overly demanding, micro-managing, and irrational?  

Note that the tell doesn't always mean a bad thing.  Did the potential new boss call the waiter by his name, and show genuine interest in him?  Was there solid, human interaction?  Was the reaction appropriate even when things were not exactly perfect?  If so, you likely have a decent person who will potentially be guiding your career for the next couple of years.  

This career insight, just like in poker, can be incredibly valuable information.

Al Jazeera's 4th of July Birthday Card to America

From a network backed by a country that often uses its bare hands to clean itself after defecating comes this little kiss to put us in our place:



I hope those actors were paid handsomely.   

Or maybe they were just threatened with beheading.

America the Beautiful - Still Applicable?

Last week, we closed our church services singing America the Beautiful.  In singing the song, I became very, very sad, as the lyrics no longer seemed applicable for our country.  Consider:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

Do we still resemble the country reflected in the song?  With all of the references of "God," would our country still want this song as a reflection of it?

In both instances, I think not.  And that, on this July 4th, makes me a very sad American indeed.

Calsberg Beer Movie Prank

This is pretty good.  



Not sure I'd have the guts that those folks did.  But, if I knew it involved free beer...

Swingline and the Empty Stapler

Recently I started my new job, and as part of those early first days, I was involved in the usual activities - orientation, HR forms, understanding where the coffee machines and bathrooms were located, obtaining all of my access information, and the like.  It is a whirlwind, and while it feels so non-productive, it is necessary.

Part of the process is arming oneself with the appropriate office supplies.  Toward this end, folks in my office did me the favor of providing me with a brand-spanking new Swingline model stapler.   Via its prominent feature in the movie Office Space, we all know the Swingline brand.  In fact, in terms of product placement, one would be hard pressed to find a brand that had been better served by such a vehicle:




Ultimately, as part of my work, the need to staple something arose, and I gleefully set about opening up my very own, brand new Swingline stapler.  What a great "Milton" moment!  This was going to be awesome.

Unfortunately, it wasn't awesome.  Not all all.  Swingline made the decision to sell the stapler without any staples.  I was left with a stapler as completely useless to me as if Lumbergh himself had absconded with it.

Why would Swingline do that?  Of course, the answer is that they want to sell more staples - I get it.  But why put their customer into a lousy situation (basically, the only reason one would open a new stapler is because one has the need to use it)?  Even just providing a token amount of staples to start would have been nice balance between taking care of the customer and selling staples.

Beyond that, what if they did actually provide the staples, and also provided a coupon for the order of a quirky Swingline t-shirt.  Would I have bought one?  Depending on the snark factor of the shirt, in all probability I would have.

While I get that this rant is about something as mundane as a stapler, it serves as a great metaphor to what we are delivering to our customers every day.  Are we providing them with everything they need, or do we hold things back because it's "good for us?"  Do we recognize that our touch points are finite, and do we take as much advantage of them as we can to cement our brand with our customers?  Likewise, do we look for opportunities outside of the traditional that allow our customers to actually celebrate doing business with us?

You blew it, Swingline.  Yeah, you won.  I'll ultimately buy the staples and will use your stapler, but I would have appreciated avoiding the hassle of doing so. In the meantime, your product will sit on my desk; useless to me as little more than a paperweight.

And I really, really would have loved the t-shirt.