Off Topic: Infographic - Just shut off your stinkin' car already

What a week.

SHRM Annual for the first half of the week, then a really gripping and emotionally wringing NBA Finals Game 7 last night. I am pretty much done I think.

But not so much that I can't spare 5 minutes to share the infographic below courtesy of iturnitoff.com about the costs, and really wastes, of excessive automobile idling.

I can remember back in the day being told something about how starting a car uses as much gas as a couple of minutes of idling the car - a calculation certainly invented to justify a few Dads of those times wanting to keep the heat or air conditioner on while sitting in the car listening to the end of the ballgame on the radio.

Check the below inforgraphic for the details of the costs of idling, then I have some comments after the jump:

From iturnitoff.comThe one element of the infographic that really stood out to me, and the only reason I decided to post it today, is the call-out of the Drive Thru lane as a leading cause of engine idling, and the corresponding pollution, cost, and wastes associated with the practice.

I hate the Drive Thru lane.

You have to talk into a clown's mouth, there is almost no chance the person on the headset is paying any attention to you, and chances are pretty good your order will be messed up - but you won't be able to do anything about it because by the time you realize the error you'll be 5 miles down the road.

I often stop at a local Bruegger's shop near where I live to get coffee and bagels in the morning. Invariably, there is a line of cars snaking around the shop, clogging up the Drive Thru lane. 

I always park and actually enter the shop, where there is never more than one or two folks in line ahead of me, and since I know all the workers in the shop so well, (from actually going in the store and talking with them so frequently), my order is often already being assembled before I even have to ask for it.

I am in and out of there in a couple of minutes and meanwhile the line of SUVs and Minivans has maybe, collectively, inched forward a car length or two. Look, I get why people like the Drive Thru. We sometimes have kids in the car, the weather is nasty, or parking is not convenient. But most of the time it is just an excuse to stay in our little cocoons by ourselves a little longer.

And that is cool, that is a valid reason. I don't always feel like talking to the guys in Bruegger's either. But that decision, that choice to remain tuned out, well that comes with a price measured in wasted gas, wasted time, and wasted opportunity to get to know the folks that live and work in your neighborhood.

Ok, that's it. Rant off. Time for more coffee.

Have a great weekend!

Off Topic: The Home Office of 2001

Even back in 1967, smart folks were thinking about work and life and how to balance the two. And as an aside, I get really annoyed when the work/life police go out of their way to constantly remind the rest of us that we shouldn't use the term 'balance', but rather something like 'fit' or 'blend' or essentially something they approve of. Quit it already. If the world wants to refer to the subject as 'Work/Life Balance' its you that need to adapt, not everyone else.

But to get back to the topic, or non-topic as the case may be, back in 1967 none other than the 'Most trusted man in America', news legend Walter Cronkite gave viewers a glimpse of what at least of the part of the future of work might look like, all the way in the distant future, the year 2001. 

Check the video embedded below for what Uncle Walter had to say about the home office at the turn of the century (Email and RSS subscribers will need to click through)

Some awesome points from the Kronk, (if you can ignore he is only referring to 'men' workers throughout the video). But think about it, back in '67 folks were already thinking about technology that would free the employee completely from the office. Throw in some connected computer terminals for news and weather reports, as well as one for catching up on your investments, (beats doing emails, right?). Mix in an odd-looking phone that connects to a video monitor to have video calls. Finally, yet another monitor for the business man of 2001 to see all the other rooms in the house, (and if you look closely, it seems like Walter is looking in on the Mrs. making the bed). 

The funny thing about the home office of the future as imagined in the video is it really doesn't speak much if at all to the business man doing any actual work. And it doesn't at all speculate that work itself might change dramatically, just that there would be fancier tools to assist in the effort. And lastly, it continues to assume, like probably lots of men did in 1967, that complex work that would benefit or even require all this cool technology would only be done by men.

Let's hope that those shortcomings or lack of vision from Kronk were just a product of a more old-fashioned way of thinking, and narrow point of view. 

Because we know that in 2013 and beyond, the technology of the future will not just make things easier and more convenient, it will help make the world a better, more open, more equitable, better place.

Right?

Have a great weekend!

The Secret Menu

If you are a fan of Chipolte, In-N-Out, or Starbucks, (that pretty much has to cover everyone I think) you might be aware of each of these chains so-called 'Secret Menus' - alternative items or more accurately variations of existing menu items while not typically on the menu, are sometimes ordered and served for some of the stores biggest fans.

These 'secret' menus are only secret to varying degrees - at In-N-Out the 'secret' menu is actually posted on their website and at Starbucks, well in most of the lines I have been in some knucklehead in front of me orders something to ridiculous and pretentious sounding (Triple-soy-venti-no whip-caramel-with ranch dressing on the side') that almost every order may as well be 'secret'.  Of these three chains, only Chipolte seems to be much more coy and sketchy about the existence of a secret menu - so much so that recently a writer from Fast Company went to pretty great lenghts to try and uncover the truth, which you can read about here in a piece titled 'The Secret Behind Chipolte's Secret, 1,500 Calorie Super-Burrito'.

Aside for the most avid Chiplote die-hard fans, whether or not there truly exists such off-menu concoctions like 'Quesaritos' really isn't that important, but what might be important is how the knowledge of these non-standard menu items are communicated and spread among and througout the restaurant employees.  Check this exceprt from the Fast Company piece:

While (a Chiplote spokesperson) maintains that the restaurant has no formalized secret menu, he admits that two off-menu items we see have become extremely popular, even in Chipotle’s own offices: nachos and quesadillas.  What’s particularly odd, however, is that the line’s machinery isn’t really customized to make either. Without a flat-top grill, quesadillas are typically made in the low-temperature tortilla press (and there are generally only one to three presses per Chipotle, which can lead to backups during busy hours). Without a broiler, nacho cheese can’t really be melted, but employees can get close by ordering the toppings so the cheese sits directly on top of hot beans.

Despite their popularity, neither nachos nor quesadillas are inside any Chipotle operations manual. Instead, employees teach one another the popular off-menu requests through a sort of “oral history.”

That last part, the bit about the Chipolte secret menu existing but not really existing, at least in the official training manuals or operations procedures for employees, and having that faux existence reliant on employees actually talking to each other, and interacting, and passing down that bit of institutional knowledge and culture is what makes this story interesting to HR and Talent folks I think.

Mostly organizations worry about this kind of undocumented institutional knowledge. They get panicky when they think about this kind of knowledge - usually gained from years of experience and often guarded carefully by long-term employees, walking out the door before it can be adequately documented and captured so it can be passed down.

The Chipolte approach to the 'Secret Menu' is the exact opposite of that typical reaction. It exists, but it doesn't exist. The newest worker on the burrito line can't find a reference to it in his or her training manuals. Maybe even some veterans don't know about it either. 

But instead of rushing to formalize the menu, to create procedures and processes around its preparation, and rules about how workers should discuss it with customers, the company seems to be leaving much of it to informal processes, and more importantly, to ones that seem to serve as a kind of bond between the company, its employees, and its biggest fans.

It truly is a tiny bit of mystery that just might have more value than if it was truly written down, captured, and categorized in some knowledge management system.

That's it for me - heading out for a burrito - have a fantastic weekend!

Off Topic: Infographics of the 1870s

If you are a data/design/visualization mark like I am, then I apologize in advance for the half hour or so you are about to waste on the amazingly cool A Handsome Atlas site.

The clever folks at Handsome Atlas have taken several old government and census documents from the late nineteenth-century, (primarily The Statistical Analysis of the United States, published from about 1870 - 1920), and breathed new life into them, by creating a user-friendly tool for viewing the old works close-up, and in high resolution.New York, 1870

Don't really get why this is cool?

Then spend a few minutes looking at this beautiful chart/infographic titled 'Gainful Occupations and also as Attending School' , a look at employment and education across the states taken from the 1870 census data, (a small snippet of this graphic appears on the right of this post).

The Handsome Atlas site is full of amazingly interesting and detailed data tables, charts, graphics, and visual analyses of demographic, statistical, and economic data that was compiled in the census and published in The Statistical Analysis of the United States. With a big assist to the technology and presentation developed at Handsome Atlas, this data serves to remind us that the current fad and fascination with infographics and data visualization have their roots in the past.

Infographics and other visualizations help us, mostly, to make more sense of the world - breathing life and creating dimension, contrast, comparison, and most importantly, interest in data sets. 

We want to better understand the world around us certainly, and that longing and need for understanding is definitely not only a modern phenomenon.

If you take a few minutes to play around on the Handsome Atlas site, please let me know what you think.

Have a great weekend!

Off Topic: Cruise v. Hanks

I am on record as stating Tom Cruise is the finest Amercian actor of the last 30 years.

I am also frequently mocked for holding this position. 

Recently, in a fascinating Twitter group discussion, (well chronicled here by Lance Haun), a Mr. Tom Hanks was proposed as at least a rival to Mr. Cruise in this regard. I stipulated that Hanks deserved consideration.Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full

So for today's Off Topic post, I am breaking down the filmography (selected) of both of these venerable actors, to determine once and for all who deserves the title of 'Greatest American actor of the last 30 years', (admittedly a meaningless title that I made up). And since this is my meaningless title to bestow, I have created an equally meaningless basketball-themed model to frame the assessment.

So here we go:

Hall of Fame Caliber - the three greatest films for each actor

Cruise - Top Gun, A Few Good Men, Jerry Maguire

Hanks - Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away

Advantage - Push. Gump is a legendary film, but over time Cruise's work is holding up well. And all three Cruise films still resonate with quotes, catch phrases, etc. Only Gump registered in the American psyche in that way.

All Star - the next three best films

Cruise - Minority Report, Born on the Fourth of July, Risky Business

Hanks - Philadelphia, BIG, Sleepless in Seattle

Advantage - Cruise, but it is close. Risky Business clearly head and shoulders above anything Hanks did in the first few years of his career as well.

Solid Starter - films that are not necessarily great, but are eminently watchable AND re-watchable

Cruise - The Last Samurai, Mission Impossible, Collateral

Hanks - The Green Mile, A League of Their Own, Apollo 13

Advantage - Hanks, but close. I wanted to go with Cruise mainly on the strength of Collateral, but from top to bottom Hanks' depth and quality rates the edge.

Rotation player - films that will do in a pinch, like if your cable goes out but you find an old DVD lying around

Cruise - Rain Man, The Color of Money, Cocktail

Hanks - Splash, The Money Pit, You've Got Mail

Advantage - Cruise, easily. All three Hanks films are forgettable, while both Rain Man and The Color of Money are very solid, could even be higher on the chart type works.

Rookie - their early films, a sign of future potential

Cruise - Taps, The Outsiders, All The Right Moves

Hanks - Bachelor Party, The Man With One Red Shoe, Volunteers

Advantage - Cruise, and it isn't close. Bachelor Party is a classic, but it is the only memorable film of the bunch. All the Right Moves is very underrated.

Draft busts - the worst or most disappointing films in their catalogue

Cruise - Vanilla Sky, Eyes Wide Shut, Rock of Ages

Hanks - Joe Versus the Volcano, The Bonfire of the Vanities, The Terminal

Advantage - Push. These are all horrible, horrible films. 

The Overall Winner?

CRUISE, in a fairly close contest. 

And sure, I was a little biased coming in. And yes, I did not include 'voice' parts where Toy Story might have factored in Hanks favor. But I think the depth of Cruise's work gives him the decision. Feel free to disagree in the comments.

So that is it. As far as I am concerned this case is closed.  And probably should never have been opened.

Have a great weekend!