Appreciate different

“Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.” Henry David Thoreau
We all want to work with people we like. We normally like people who share the same interests, backgrounds, personality or drives as us. How many of us, when pounding away at some faceless, soulless company, hasn’t said “If I ever have my own business I’m going to staff it with people just like me”.

Great! Noble! Stupid! Yes, stupid. A startup needs, no demands, different. Different skill sets, different experiences, different cultures, different tastes. Thus, to put together the BEST small team it’s improbable you’ll only hire your buddies. In fact the best way to make sure they’re not buddies a year from now is to surround yourself with a bunch of them.

Now, that’s not to say you should stay away from people you already know, just make sure that you’re working with them because of their skills and not because you like hanging out with them.

Find the people who share a passion for success and possess the skills, mentality and attitude to handle the crazy, topsy-turvy, no-holds barred life of a startup. If you develop friendships out of it consider it a bonus.

Busy. Busy. Busy.

"In every death, a busy world comes to an end"  Mason Cooley

I've said before that I don't have many pet peeves, but I'm beginning to think that may not be true.  Some day I'll have to put a list together.

Yet another common one - and this is no surprise - is people.  As I wrote in a previous blog Drive By Shootings the self-absorbed, monomaniac individuals who you have trouble ignoring for various business or personal reasons are the worst.

What I'm experiencing at an increased rate right now is the "I'M SO BUSY" monomaniac.

"Well Greg, I know I was supposed to get back to you two weeks ago with that proposal but I'M SO BUSY."

"Yes Greg, I know you're waiting on that appraisal but I'M SO BUSY."

"Y'know Greg, I really meant to get you that estimate on fixing the air conditioner but I'M SO BUSY."

"Sorry Greg, I know you're waiting on my bid but I'M SO BUSY."

On and on and on.

But where they say "I'm so busy" what I hear each and every time is "You see Greg, me and my time we're really important and valuable and you and your time is not, so why don't you just piss off."

So here's what I'm doing.  Each time I hear I'M SO BUSY the very next thing I do before anything else is to call as many other people as I can to get another option.  And, if I can get an option that is within at least 10% of the current deal I take it.

And you know what?  Out of respect I don't even call the person to tell them I've taken another offer or chosen another option.  Because after all, they're busy.

So be careful.  If you (and thus your company) projects the image of being "too busy" you won't come off as being important or essential.  You'll just come off as being too hard to do business with.

Dancin' with Joe

“Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane.” H.P. Lovecraft

I was reminiscing with an old friend the other day about the time we both worked for a guy who took the fun out of dysfunctional. Often times working around people who chase every new shiny object can be highly entertaining and as a bonus if you’re not in a particularly motivated mood you can get out of doing anything tangible by doing the “LOOK, OVER THERE” routine which flitters them off in a new direction for days, weeks, hell sometimes forever.

This guy though was clinical. Goofing off has it’s moments but most of us actually do want to be contributors to success. But when you’re stuck with or (worse) under one of these people it becomes the Dance of the Macabre personified.

So, while reminiscing with my friend, who knows me too well, he asked me what my mental image was of that past situation. You see, I’m a highly visual person who relates almost everything to something else. So the first thing that popped in my mind was trying to dance with Joe Cocker. Youngsters are right now asking “Who’s Joe Cocker?”. think Michael Stipe of R.E.M.  Ok, now youngsters are asking "Who's Michael Stipe?", so think of most of the people on American Idol.  Got it?

The point is I love listening to Joe sing, I hated watching him sing. It’s like watching someone with a horrible golf swing just before you tee off, it’ll mess you up for weeks.

This ex-boss was like that in that he could throw you off your game. You could never get a rhythm or a stride due to the fact that he would change course before you could get the sails set.

So, how does one deal when trying to dance with Joe? Well, as difficult as it can be you have to stay on task while doing the shuffle. Think of it as guiding your dance partner across the crowded floor to end up by the punch bowl. It takes practice to do it smoothly but once accomplished you have a happy dance partner a cool drink and a sense of accomplishment.

To FB or not to FB

“I can believe anything provided that it is quite incredible.”  Oscar Wilde

So I’m been amusing myself with all the Facebook postings that start “Better safe than sorry. As of September blah, blah , 2015 at blah, blah a.m. or p.m. blah, blah standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future.  Blah, blah, blah…”

It took me about 30 seconds to ascertain that this is just one more in a series of internet hoaxes that are designed to….well…uh…I guess I don’t know what they’re designed to do.

I wrote in a previous post Yer Outta Here that I continue to debate as to what to do about Facebook as part of cleaning up a lot of useless junk in my life.

I originally got on Facebook because it was the easiest method of keeping up with my family and close friends.  And it remains my primary reason for using it.

Like many over time I’ve accumulated more and more “friends”.  All in all it’s been good because I’ve been able to reconnect with people.  Having lived in many parts of the country this has been a nice benefit. 

But more and more people are using Facebook as their personal pulpit.  Political rants, social rants, economic rants, pro-this, anti-that, it just wears me out.  And with yet another presidential campaign season upon us I’m not sure I can take what’s coming.

It’s why I have gravitated more and more to LinkedIn since most everyone treats it as a professional networking site not a “you can't believe what happens next” sponsored site that sucks the life out of your machine.

Then there the whole privacy issue with using Facebook.  To some degree I’m comfortable with the entire Big Brother thing.  These days everyone can pretty much know anything and everything about you anyway.  But, my life is so boring that I pity the fool who spends any time watching me.

Now, the logical reaction is to say “So Greg, just unfriend those that annoy you”.  That’s easy for some and I have in fact started doing that.  The problem is with those that for the most part post events and pictures that genuinely interest me but occasionally go off on a hate binge about something.  Do you banish someone for an occasional rant?

And finally there’s the whole business side of it.  I believe that social marketing is essential.  I also believe that the power of social media can really get the attention of businesses more than phone calls and letters/emails ever can.  I’ve had this work for me when I had a beef with a company (insert airline name here) and I’ve had it work against me.  Either way I think it can be very effective.  Here’s my tip, if your company uses Facebook for business you’d better be monitoring it every day and have a consistent plan for how to properly handle negative posts.

So, no decision yet but if FB really does implement policies that I object with I'll permanently log off knowing I didn't put anything out there that I didn't want to share in the first place.

Oh, and the last post just before I hit the kill switch is going to be a ranting, raving socio-political post of a madman.  And I will enjoy knowing that I will never see any of the responses…..