Category Archives: Helpful Hints

July 9, 2008 · 9:16 am

The Non-sporting Clemens

Haley’s Comet was visible in the sky on the night that Mark Twain was both born and died, which right out of the box makes him someone to whom attention must be paid!  Aside from being one of the most quotable authors who ever put pen to paper (OK, Shakespeare probably has him, but not by much and the Bible has multiple authors), he was a fascinating person, even without the books.  Ken Burns’ film on his life is well worth watching (it’s out on DVD) and if you’ve only read “Tom Sawyer” or “Huckleberry Finn” you’re really missing the steamboat.  I admit I’m awfully prejudiced on this subject since I wrote a lot of papers about Sam Clemens in college, including my senior thesis, and came to admire the man as much as the literature.

What’s making me opine about this today is the fine piece in the current Time Magainze about Twain and his relevance today:

News in the form of edgy drollery may seem a brave new thing, but it can all be traced back to one source, the man Ernest Hemingway said all of modern American literature could be traced back to: Mark Twain. Oh, that old cracker-barrel guy, you may say. White suit, cigar, reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated–but he died back in 1910, no? White, male, and didn’t he write in dialect? What does he have to do with the issues of our day?

Read the article, read a Twain book.  You’ll be smarter and happier for it!  Especially since, as Twain said, “Education is that which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of their knowledge.”

Now let’s just hope that Roger isn’t a relative…

Leave a comment

Filed under Helpful Hints

Tagged as , , , ,

June 30, 2008 · 12:24 pm

Knife skills

If you spend any time in the kitchen, at some point you realize that knife skills are indispensable.  In fact, learning those knife skills is, IMHO, more important that learning about mother sauces, braising vs. boiling, etc.  Why?  Because those basic skills make everything else you do in the kitchen faster and better.  The even surface area that a nicely diced cube has makes it cook evenly along with all the others like it so that one part of the dish isn’t overdone while another is still raw.  If you cook seriously, having great knife skills, along with very sharp knives, is a prerequisite.

Why bring this up?  Because business has knife skills as well.  OK, I can hear the cracks about stabbing people, etc. but stop being so literal.  What I mean is the basic, underlying skills that are prerequisites if you’re going to have success and make what’s coming out of your kitchen better than what’s coming out of many others’.

In no particular order:

  • The ability to read carefully and comprehend what it is you’re reading
  • The ability to write well and convey meaning clearly
  • The ability to listen
  • The ability to keep an open mind
  • The ability to keep calm and stay focused

Those are just the basics but without them you’re at a disadvantage.  Sure, you can prep a great meal using a serrated steak knife and little else, but without knowing how one uses that inferior tool, I’m thinking you’d better have gas in the car and directions to the ER so those pesky fingers can get reattached.

I was always surprised how many interviews I’ve done over the years where it was painfully obvious the candidate lacked most of the above skills even if they had been working for years and had a decent resume.  If you don’t have them, try and learn them or hire someone who does to be your personal chef.

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Helpful Hints, Thinking Aloud

Tagged as , , ,

June 24, 2008 · 3:33 pm

Check It Out

Over the course of my career, I’ve been involved in a lot of press releases.  I’ve also spoken with quite a few reporters.  Most of the time, I worked with the internal PR folks at my place of business.  Most of them were very focused on telling the best story while staying on the right side of the truth.  They and I never knowingly gave out false information.  Sure, we put the best face on whatever information we gave out and maybe we didn’t highlight (OK, or even mention) the not so good stuff.  But that’s it.  No lies.  Nothing made up.

Maybe I’m naive, but I’m surprised how often I read something that clearly has come from a press person, or from an executive who generally works with a press person, and something says to me “check it out.”  Like most folks these days, I have a pretty good grasp on what the “search” bar is for and it generally doesn’t take more than a bit of looking to figure out if there is a disconnect with the facts and the story.  Sometimes I even know someone who does know the real story and, frankly, I’m sad when I find out someone I know and/or respect is outright lying.

There are a number of sites that do this in the political world but not that many in business.  In fact, the New York Times was embarrassed not too long ago by their failures to check out information they’d been fed.  Is the amount of information we get every day making us lazy?  Are we expecting to be spoon-fed everything?  Or are we just overwhelmed and the demands on media to publish RIGHT NOW make careful analysis and commentary impossible?

Next time you hear some fantastic numbers or a great business story, do some checking.  Let’s see if someone didn’t let the facts get in the way of their story.

Leave a comment

Filed under Helpful Hints, Reality checks

Tagged as , , , ,