• Lessons

    Please Stay Home

    TL;DR: Stay home. I responded to a FB post from March 9th that said that Jeffrey Dahmer had killed more people than COVID-19. That attitude is what is going to get over a million Americans killed. At that time I predicted 300 dead and 10,000 infected by Monday March 23 and 2 major US cities in lockdown. I was low. We are at 340 deaths and 24,378 confirmed. Entire states are on lockdown instead of just cities…but not nearly enough of them. My prediction for 2 weeks from today – Monday April 6: 50,000 infected and 5,000 deaths. All hospital beds in major cities are full. Doctors are choosing who…

  • Friendly Accommodation
    Lessons

    Just Be Friendly and Helpful

    So many people think you have to be ‘annoying’ to be in sales or to network.  It doesn’t have to be that way.  This Vice.com article: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kzvwn3/how-to-network-without-feeling-like-a-slime-ball?utm_source=vicetwitterus gives some great example of how to reach out to your sales leads or your network without alienating or annoying them.   Sources: Original article from Vice.com: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kzvwn3/how-to-network-without-feeling-like-a-slime-ball?utm_source=vicetwitterus Image Source: The Met Collection.  Friendly AccommodationFebruary 25, 1802Thomas Rowlandson Cartoon

  • Amazon AWS,  Technology

    Speech to Text Accuracy

    I wanted to test the relative accuracy of various speech to text engines. I tested Line 1, Amazon, Deepgram and Google. All vastly exceeded my expectations. Here is my original text. I tried doing a normal speaking voice. I left myself a voicemail and used the resulting recording as the basis for the other tests, so all tests were from the same file: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy…

  • Lessons,  Management,  Management Gore

    Admitting Mistakes

    https://hbr.org/2015/10/a-simple-formula-for-changing-our-behavior?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=twitter Everyone makes mistakes from time to time. The linked Harvard Business Review article is, in my mind, more about making mistakes than changing behavior. According to the article, the main focus of confronting someone who made a mistake is: Identify the problem State what needs to happen Offer to help This does make sense and the article goes into detail about what to do and what not to do. For me, the more important management issue is to admit when you are wrong early and often. It sets an example. The worst thing you can do is attempt to pass the blame or even worse cover it up. By…

  • Lessons,  Management

    First, fire all the bosses…

    In response to: https://aeon.co/essays/no-boss-no-thanks-why-managers-are-more-important-than-ever?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=atom-feed One thing the Un-CEO is about is quashing fads. Too many business practices are here today and gone tomorrow leaving uncertainty and limited productivity in their wake. The “No Bosses/Flat Organization” fad is one of the latest. I’ve already argued against using sales quotas as a way to “manage” a sales team and I’ll say data in general is a bad manager. For real happiness and productivity employees (teammates, humans in general) need autonomy, mastery and purpose (as spelled out by Daniel Pink). Good bosses can help instill that. Self-organizing groups can only get so far. Natural leaders will emerge even in boss-less groups, but then…

  • Lessons,  Management

    Add 50% to your Value

    https://hbr.org/2019/07/the-art-of-persuasion-hasnt-changed-in-2000-years?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social Yes, it’s a very click-bait title, but also very true. In this HBR article they discuss the keys to conversation and persuasion as relayed by Aristotle and Warren Buffett. According to the article, Warren Buffet ” once told business students that improving their communication skills would boost their professional value by 50% — instantly.” At once that seems hard to believe, but upon reflection makes total sense. How you communicate is how the world perceives you and either limits or enhances the opportunities you have. Take the words to heart especially where the article discusses creating a story. Use this every time. Every powerpoint where you’re trying to persuade should include…

  • Uncategorized

    Stand

    I woke up this morning with this “poem” in my head: I think because I like the food or the music, I understand. I don’t. I think because I have that black friend or black college roommate, I understand. I don’t. I can never fully understand. But I will stand. I will stand with you. And march with you and kneel with you. And I will learn. Feel comfortable talking about it and raising issues and solutions.

  • Lessons,  Management

    Leadership with Integrity

    https://hbr.org/2019/07/leading-with-trust Leading with trust and integrity was never more important than it is now. With many people working from home, motivation can be difficult for all of us. Personally I would much rather get back to day-to-day operations than worrying about the health and welfare of our employees and their families. Sometimes I get bogged down by the weight of it all. The thing I’ve done that been most helpful to me has been one-on-one video calls with my fellow teammates. They are quick 2-10 minute calls to just catch up. I don’t know if it’s helped them at all, but it’s helped me tremendously. We made the call early…

  • Technology

    Electric Car Comparison

    I watched this interesting YouTube video where they drove various electric cars to exhaustion and compared their real-world ranges vs. their stated ranges. They mentioned a lot of data, but never gave a summary. I decided the world needed a summary. Here it is: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RAgzfUFiGO1j3UQZCXljc5kC00Qsg1lKhlTIi6oyByU/edit#gid=0