Is Anyone Listening?

May be THE Most Important Skill You Can Apply in Life

While out to dinner with a friend last week, he carefully and specifically ordered his drink, a bloody Mary. “I’d like it made with plain tomato juice, vodka, and a lime, I don’t want any spices at all, please.” The server took the order and shortly returned with a drink that included the spices. After tasting…

Istock

Karma Footprint

Journalist, Emily Yellin, author of “Your Call is (not that) Important to Us” in 2009  traveled all over the world to talk to people in call centers and their customers told wonderful stories of companies that are finally paying attention to the details of business that matter to customers. From recording an initial greeting for a…

Golden Pineapple Fruit

Get On Your Case

“I’ve been on my case” said Judith when we spoke today.

Judith called to involve me in a joint venture, and in the course of the conversation she used the phrase “no problem” seven or eight times. It was a pleasant, interesting conversation. She was an engaging and intelligent woman who knew her stuff, and as the conversation went on I kept getting distracted as I noticed the little hairs on the back of my neck wiggle every time she used the phrase that began with “No.”

geodesic

Relationships Are Everything

Buckminster Fuller, the creator of the Geodesic Dome once said, “Relationships are everything and everything is relationship.” He saw the world as a whole – where everything is connected to everything else and where the relationships between things are as important as the things themselves.  His work synthesized intelligence from the fields of architecture, design,…

Empty Shelves

Corporate Made Me Do It

I walked into the mailbox store last week to pick up my mail. The counter inside the door, usually filled with business cards and flyers from the mailbox holders and the local merchants was empty. Naked. Unadorned. It struck me immediately as strange and left me feeling sad, disconnected, and odd. For so long those…