Unidentifed nuts (possibly filberts)

She sat next to me on the short flight from Boston back to Rochester, an impeccably dressed, serious looking business person.

Power all the way. Dark suit, leather bag, expensive watch.  Perhaps a very senior executive chasing a deal, catching up with a customer, or otherwise making things happen.

From the moment she sat down she pounded away furiously on her BlackBerry. The BlackBerry is a serious business tool unlike the iPhone or Droid which to her must seem like fancy toys and not real instruments of commerce.  As she tapped away rapid fire I thought it may have been the most impressive display of double thumb dexterity I have ever witnessed. 

'Ladies and gentlemen, please turn off and stow all portable electronic devices at this time'.  It was, mercifully time to go.  Good weather and an efficient boarding process would have us on our way right on time. 

But just one last email to send out for my new friend.  It would only be about 55 minutes of flight time, but still this last message (or three) were still trying to make there way out, racing against the line of other planes waiting for takeoff.  'Ma'am, please turn off your phone now, we are ready for takeoff' admonished the solo flight attendant. 

A few minutes into the flight she removed the BlackBerry from her bag, glanced at it for a moment, then returned it to its holding place.  Perhaps some separation issues? It is understandable. The BlackBerry is a fantastic device. It allows its owner to quite effectively ignore everything around them in the real world, especially slightly odd seatmates on commuter planes.

I stop myself from my concern for her and return to my reading. I have copies of GQ and Men's Health. Odd choices for sure since I am not particularly fashionable or all that interested in healthy living. 

My new friend cracked out the SkyMall catalog. 

After a few minutes, she reached back into her leather power bag and out came a small metallic tin filled with an assortment of nuts; peanuts, cashews, and an unidentified third nut (possibly filberts).  The nuts are in such a perfect ratio that they could not have been bought already mixed.  For a minute I picture my seatmate at home with three separate containers of nuts, (peanuts, cashews, and unidentified (possibly filberts), carefully filling her fancy tin with just the perfect mix, keeping the proportion just so. I think there is likely some classical music playing and an exotic cat saunters on the counter giving her a look that says, 'So, going away again, are you?'

As she samples a few of the nuts, and peruses the SkyMall catalog (what is she thinking of getting - the inflatable floating chaise lounge for her pool, a set of Rosetta Stone CDs to learn French, maybe an ergonomically correct pet food dish?), I am oddly fascinated.  I kind of want to know more.  Am I right about the carefully constructed mixed nut preparation? Is there really a condescending cat?

I returned to my reading, a nice mix of informative content ranging from just exactly the type of belt my new summer khakis require and strategies to put more power in my breakfasts. Buying belts is depressing and unless Captain Crunch decides to change his recipe, I think my breakfasts will continue to be underpowered.

Final descent now, and I stow my magazines and glance at my seatmate.  SkyMall catalog and mixed nuts nowher in sight, and BlackBerry in hand, at the ready.  The instant the wheels hit the ground the device is powered on, a (sadly) familiar 'ding,ding,ding' ensues as all the messages from the last 55 minutes are released from their temporary in-flight purgatory.  In less than 30 seconds her bionic thumbs are in action, replying, forwarding, deleting.

In 45 seconds I forget about the carefully assembled tin of nuts, the exotic and dismissive cat, the music, all of it. She is so interested in the little device that she is no longer interesting to me, (not that she cared in the least).

I know we saw more before we became attached to our little devices. We miss a lot in our quest to make sure we never miss anything.

I bet she never realized my belt was all wrong for the khakis I had on.

Clear Hallucinations

My ill, (but now recovering) Dad said this to us from his hospital bed after we had described to him some of the odd, strange, and really bizarre things he had said in the last two weeks, his mental state clearly affected by a combination of infection, medication, etc.

I need some new glasses.  If I am going to have hallucinations, I want to be able to see them clearly.

It was a funny comment, but one that in a way does have a bit of truth to it.

I think it can be pretty easy to fail to recognize a real problem or shortcoming in ourselves or our products and services,  or that an assumption we had made is completely wrong and that the real issue is we (or variously our customers, partners, employees, the media, etc.) just can't 'see' it correctly.

It is not at all difficult to rationalize and to conclude that if we just were able to explain it all a little better, to have just one more conference call, demonstration, or meeting that everyone would finally come around and embrace our wonderfulness.

But sometimes we need to step back and realize that no matter how many ways, and through how many different prisms that we view something, it may just be that the idea itself is flawed, and not just a problem of how we are trying to get the message across. Zombies! - Flickr - bikini sleepshirt

Knowing the difference between a bad idea and bad messaging is not always easy.

As I told my Dad, no matter what glasses he put on, I was pretty confident that zombies were not actually roaming the halls of the hospital late at night and stealing clothes from the closet.

At least I don't think so.

Are you telling a story, or acting in one?

Our man Tiger needless to say, has been in all kinds of trouble, and as the tales of his escapades kept multiplying, his endorsement contracts from some of America's top brands (Gillette, Accenture, Gatorade) starting dropping like the 12-foot birdie putts we are used to seeing him sink. Now that he is coming back to golf, I am sure we will see more and more of him in the coming weeks.Flickr - ATIS547

Tiger may or may not shave with a Gillette razor, never did any strategic or technology consulting, and while he might drink Gatorade, only the most naive among us would conclude that if we too drink Gatorade like Tiger we could become golf champions.

In this new world where everyone's story is easy to share, and our interaction with products, services, and organizations is often laid bare in many cases for the free discovery of anyone that may be interested, (and many who aren't), would many people or organizations care what sports drink Tiger claimed to rely on, or what style of razor he prefers?

For mega-celebrity endorsers, who really believes that the pitch, or the story they are sharing is truly their story that they are telling? Isn't it really just the corporations' story (in the form of an endorsement) that Tiger, or the supermodel or actress pitching do it yourself hair color are simply acting?

But using celebrity endorsers is such a time-honored tradition in advertising and brand building it is still seen as safe, and somehow, despite what common sense would suggest (seriously have you ever chosen a product or service based on a celebrity endorsement?), the expensive practice continues seemingly unabated.

Highly paid and disconnected people, acting in a story crafted by corporations, ad agencies, PR firms, whoever, instead of real, genuine, relatable people telling a story.

I think this same distinction can be made in the communications and messaging that organizations use in their internal settings, or recruiters use when selling the organization to candidates, or even much of the blogging, tweeting, Facebooking many of us engage in every day.

Telling a story is real, authentic, has a kind of history and context, and lets the message take precedence.  Acting a story is kind of shallow, flat, and is mostly more about the actor than the story.

I don't know that there is much of a point to this post, having just re-read it.

Perhaps just this, that I should spend more time telling stories, and less time acting.

You're Great. Now What?

Yesterday at the Fistful of Talent, the FOT crew announced their latest Talent Management blog power rankings.

And in a shock that has to rival Villanova beating Georgetown for the NCAA title in 1985, or the Jets surprising the Colts in Super Bowl III, my blog, this little HR Technology blog, came out at number one on the rankings.

I don't believe it either.  From unranked to number one. Calls for a recount are clearly warranted.

I am still waiting for Tim Sackett or Kris Dunn to announce the mistake and tell me that I have just been punked.

Seriously, many thanks to Kris, Jessica Lee and everyone at the Fistful of Talent for the recognition, I am truly appreciative and humbled.

It is great to get positive feedback, whether it is for the blog, the HR Happy Hour show, or for a sweet smoked brisket.  But to me the real key is how you respond, what you do next.

After the USA hockey team shocked the world in the 1980 Olympic games by defeating the mighty and seemingly invincible Russian team the truth is they had not really accomplished much of anything. They had to come back in the next game and defeat Finland in order to win the gold medal and secure their place in sports history.

Had they lost the final game to Finland, we would still remember them, but not quite the same way, not with reverence and not as the legendary team they became.

So here is the lesson:  if someone says you're great, whether it's your boss, your colleagues, or friends, accept their compliments (even if, as is the case with my FOT ranking, secretly thinking they are crazy), be humble, and then figure out how you are going to be better tomorrow.

Rankings, accolades, etc. are all temporary.  But consistent, deliberate good work endures.

For me, I will try to live up to the high praise from the FOT team, and keep doing good work here and on the show.

Thanks to FOT and to everyone that stops by the blog.

Getting Around

It has been a really busy week for me so far, not just due to starting a new job, but with several projects and collaborative initiatives that I have been working on all hitting at almost the same time:

Today, a conversation about technology and its importance and impact on employee benefits and wellness programs that Fran Melmed and I had is broken down at Fran's Free Range Communication blog. Fran does fantastic work, is a fabulous writer, and a super person, please pop over to Free Range Communication and check it out.

Earlier this week, I was lucky and proud to be one of the contributors to Chris Ferdinandi's 'Do Amazing Things' E-book project.  The E-book can be downloaded, free, from Chris' site - RenegadeHR. Flickr - vmpyr_david. Why does it say 'McQueen' and not 'Boese'?

Next an interview I did with Mary Ellen Slayter, Senior Editor of the SmartBrief on Workforce on a variety of HR and HR Technology topics was published on the SmartBlog on Workforce yesterday. 

Finally tomorrow night, Thursday January 14, the HR Happy Hour show is back live, with 'The Best HR City' show.  So if you think your city is all that in the HR/Recruiting world I am calling you out to call in and represent.  The winning city gets a visit in 2010 from Shauna and I, and a live Episode from your town.

I apologize if you are getting sick of me, but it can't be helped.  After all 2010 is the 'Year of Steve'.

I am kidding, I don't really believe it is the Year of Steve. I am doing way too snow shoveling for that to be true.

Have a great day everyone!