Tag Archives: business thinking

January 14, 2013 · 11:02 am

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

Over the holidays a survey was released about how we interact with our doctors.

English: A female doctor examines a child.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’ll tell you what it said with a grain of salt since the folks underwriting the survey are from a medical information web service.  They’re a kind of online chat service except the person on the other end is a medical professional.  Why is something like that needed?  Well, according to the survey:

Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of respondents have avoided going to a doctor in favor of searching online for medical information on at least one occasion. Americans are bringing their medical questions online for a variety of reasons, with insurance-related concerns, embarrassment, and the fear of discovering a pre-existing condition high on the list.

Not surprisingly, many people don’t go because they lack health insurance or because even with insurance it’s an expensive visit. But a very large number don’t want to ask their questions of a medical professional because those questions are about uncomfortable topics – sex, drug use, etc.  They also admitted lying to the doctor about alcohol use, poor diet, or lack of exercise.  Obviously not asking about something or giving bad information because it makes you uncomfortable can have serious ramifications later on.  Which is exactly the business point.

How many managers ignore symptoms in their own organizations because what they see makes them uncomfortable?  How many of us feel that something is not quite right but don’t take the opportunity of a staff meeting to discuss the symptoms?  Some of the thinking is probably akin to that of people and their physicians:  we are afraid to find out the truth or the discussion itself just makes us uncomfortable.  Most of the time when we do summon the courage to ask the doc about what’s going on it’s nothing.  I suspect the same is true about business – we don’t have complete information about what we’re seeing and a bit more knowledge can ease our fears.  However, sometimes something really is wrong, and just as in a medical situation, catching it early is a lot better than waiting until it’s too late and not much can be done.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” isn’t a way to handle your health or your business.  An open, honest relationship with your doctor and your business team keeps everyone healthy.  You agree?

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January 7, 2013 · 11:15 am

Take My Money…PLEASE!

Another week, another horror tale from the world of stupid online corporate tricks.

att-003

(Photo credit: wuji9981)

Today we bring you the sad and somewhat horrifying story of the phone company that won’t take your money.  Trust me – I wish I could report that it was out of some philanthropic urge it had to give us all a break.  Not so.  Instead, it’s (yet another) example of how letting programmers, lawyers, and designers do things without input from the real world can spell disaster.

Here at Ritter Media World Headquarters we have a land line as our primary business phone.  It’s from AT&T (yep, them again) and on the bill is also my internet service.  Generally I send them an electronic check once a month but that takes a couple of days to get to them from the bank (a great topic for another post – why the hell should they hold the money for two business days?).  As sometimes happens, the bill got buried in a pile of paper and rather than be late I thought I’d go right to the ATT website and pay the bill directly via credit card.

That was what I thought I’d do.  Unfortunately, after spending 20 minutes on the website, I still couldn’t figure out how to link primary account (it’s the only landline account) to my email and I couldn’t pay the bill.  I tried linking it my ATT Wireless accounts – neither of those worked.  I tried the ATT email they assigned me (but never use) – that didn’t work.  I finally gave up and called them – no time on hold, one layer of menus, type in the credit card, done.

Obviously ATT is a lot more experienced with phones than they are with websites.  Paying via the telephone was a snap.  If someone like me – who is on the web almost 12 hours a day and breathes digital – can’t figure out how to use the web service portal, imagine how someone who can barely send a text will feel.  There are a couple of points here.  First, I wonder how many “civilians” ATT put on the site to test navigation and usability?  Did they give them 3 or 4 tasks – like pay your bill! – and observe them?  Second, stories such as this are why there is still a long way to go with a large segment of the population with respect to making them accept technology into their lives.

Have a horror story to share?  We’re listening!

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January 2, 2013 · 11:42 am

Lincoln

I hope all of you had a good holiday and managed to recharge a bit.

English: Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth Presid...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the things I did was to see the movie “Lincoln“. I’d encourage you to see it for a number of reasons. The acting is amazing but so too are the leadership lessons the film conveys. With apologies to my friend Geoff who wrote the very fine “Lead Like Ike” book, I think the leadership Lincoln shows beats Ike by half a century and is a great place to start this year’s business discussion.

I’ll state in advance that I recognize that the film grossly oversimplifies a very complicated time in our country’s history – the passage of the 13th Amendment which ends slavery although most of what you see is pretty accurate.  I’d also encourage you to read the Doris Kearns Goodwin book “Team of Rivals” on which the movie is based.  That said, what’s very clear is that Lincoln possessed some incredible leadership abilities.

First, he set clear goals – get the bill passed by a certain date.  Second, while he left it to his team to figure out the particulars of how the team would get the necessary votes , he was very clear about one thing – there were to be no cash bribes paid in return for votes.  Setting boundaries to go along with charging people with tasks is an often overlooked element of good leadership.  Third – he was supportive and understanding until several members of the team became discouraged enough to argue against the attempt.  At that point he became firm and inflexible, recognizing that while there are many roads to get to Rome the choice of destination was not a part of the discussion.  Lastly, he stayed out of his team’s way for the most part right up until his personal influence was needed to sway some votes.  He recognizes out loud that it is the power of the office that moves people, along with the strength of the cause and never confuses the power in those things with himself.

There’s a reason Honest Abe is so revered and this film help us to understand that.  Along with the obvious reasons, his brilliance as a leader is also on my list.  How about yours?

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