Tag Archives: life lessons

September 15, 2014 · 10:54 am

Stupid, Not Evil

Over the weekend I was catching up on my reading. It’s way too easy to fall behind given the pace at which content – useful content – presents itself into my various methods of listening.

English: Rheinkirmes 2006, Düsseldorf, Germany...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One theme that popped up several times was that of allegedly evil actions on some company’s part. Maybe it was the revised Facebook Messenger application which seems to be gathering anything and everything about anyone who installs it on their mobile device. Other were highly suspect of Apple’s intentions as it rolls out the Apple Watch which is capable of gathering quite a bit more data than we might care to share about ourselves. I mean do I really want my pulse rate out there?

There were several more but it got me to thinking. Having worked with many clients and companies over the years, could I recall an instance where some nefarious ulterior motive was discussed as products or services were rolled out?

Nope.

That said, I have seen many instances where those sorts of evil intentions could plausibly be ascribed without stretching the facts to suit that scenario.  After all, in my mind a complete lack of care for other people or who one’s actions harm them is what separates good from evil.  But honestly, it’s more likely to be something else: stupidity.

My guess is that in most of the cases where an app or service over reaches there isn’t evil intent.  It is probably just someone being stupid.  They think it’s ok to gather data just because they can or that they might want it at some point.  They may be programmers who think they’re being helpful but haven’t had any supervision from a businessperson.  One key in my mind to great decision-making is to consider the consequences of that decision.  I suspect that thinking never happened.  In other words, stupid.

I’m not naive.  There are evil people out there.  However, before we go crazy calling for the heads of whomever released an app that gathers a lot of seemingly unnecessary information about us and our habits, perhaps we should remember that there are way more stupid people than there are those who are truly evil.  That’s my take.  Yours?

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September 5, 2014 · 8:50 am

Scallion Pesto

Foodie Friday brings one of summer’s great dishes: pesto.

English: this is a picture of self made pesto ...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you hear the word you think of a mixture of basil, pine nuts, cheese, and olive oil, and there is no better time of the year than late summer for basil. Of course, what I’ve just described is the traditional pesto alla Genovese, named after Genoa where it originated. The word itself comes from the local dialect’s word for “pound” which is what one must have done to make the sauce before the advent of blenders and food processors.

The term refers to a method, not an ingredient.  The French adopted it, called it pistou, and omitted the nuts since there aren’t a lot of pine trees around.  Cheese is optional as well.  Yet most people think of pesto in just one, very traditional way.  I had my mind semi-blown the other day when I made a batch of scallion pesto.  No basil, just a bunch of scallions thrown in the food processor with the other traditional ingredients.  While I was expecting a sharp hit of flavor, this was a mild, wonderful sauce I smeared on chicken and baked.  Since good scallions are available year round and basil can be expensive outside of summer, it’s a great alternative. Which is, of course, our business point today.

We make too many assumptions and don’t focus on alternatives.  When you shift pesto’s paradigm from specific sauce to method it opens up a world of possibilities.  Different greens, different oils, maybe different cheese.  We tend to get too focused on a specific recipe or outcome and forget that we have options that may produce better results, even if they are unfamiliar.

As business people we need to entertain every ingredient and see what happens.  Not being afraid to fail is a key to success.  I thought scallion pesto was a really weird and potentially bad idea.  It’s now going to be a staple.  What kind of pesto will you make?

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September 4, 2014 · 8:40 am

The Team

The college football season started last week.  The college I attended doesn’t field a football team and so I didn’t really have a rooting interest until my older daughter went to the University of Michigan.  I figured since I sent the Wolverines quite a bit of my money I’m entitled to call myself a UM fan.  Michigan had a legendary coach at the school – Bo Schembechler – who gave what I think is some of the best business advice ever.  Take a minute and watch it:

This is a boss doing some incredible things.  First, he’s sharing his vision for what the team is about and some very specific goals.  If there is one thing many bosses fail to do it’s exactly that.  They may give out lists of tasks but they fail to paint a picture of the overall mission and where the team is headed.

Second, he’s demanding that every person plays as a member of that team.  Implicit in that is that the glamor positions are nothing without the grunts in the trenches and those grunts can’t win without someone running the ball.  As a manager you have to get every member of your team feeling as if what they do matters and every other member of the team appreciating the contributions their peers are making to everyone’s success.

Finally, he lets the group know that while they will have differences they ill put them aside for the overall good of the team and to achieve their goals.  How many offices are torn apart by gossip and backstabbing?  Bo lets the Wolverines know that he’s not having any of it.

I listen to this speech from time to time and UM’s official football shirt this year simply says “The Team, The Team, The Team” on it.  It’s easy to remember but hard to execute as a boss.  Go Blue!

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