XPLANE.COM > bBlog / Archive: April 2006

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Why face-to-face still matters!

April 20th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Customers

“We email. We wiki. We blog. We IM. We convince ourselves that as long as we can write well, these are all good forms of communication. Perhaps in some ways even better, since we’re not distracted (blinded, biased, seduced) by the person’s physical presence. And we are wrong. According to the neuroscientists, anyway. I’ve just come back from a couple of days at the Conference on World Affairs, and attended a couple of different presentations where Dr. Thomas Lewis spoke. He has a particular interest in neurobiology (including the neurobiology of love), and what the brain does and does not want and need. One of the key points he made was that we are fooling ourselves into thinking that text is even half as effective as face-to-face at communicating a message.”

10 Stupid Mistakes Made by the Newly Self-Employed

April 20th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Entrepreneurship

“Having been a non-employee for about 14 years now, I’ve made my share of stupid business mistakes. I’ve also coached a number of people to start their own businesses, and I’ve seen many of them make similar mistakes. This advice is geared towards small business owners, particularly people who are just starting (or about to start) their own business.”

CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character

April 19th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Life

“…CEOs live in a Lake Wobegon world where every dinner or lunch partner is above average in their deference. How others treat the CEO says nothing, they say. But how others treat the waiter is like a magical window into the soul.”

How to Shut up and Get to Work!

April 19th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Project management

“When you’re in ‘the zone’ you get your best work done. But how do you get in that ‘zone’ when colleagues, e-mails and IM are vying for your attention?”

Working at Microsoft

April 19th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Technology

“I’ve been working at Microsoft since October, 1999 as a full-time Software Design Engineer. In that time, I’ve worked for three teams in two divisions, and had six or seven different managers. Four products I’ve worked on have shipped, two more are in beta, and I’ve also ‘consulted’ for many other teams across the company, thereby influencing directly and indirectly a large number of Microsoft’s products. Between my experience and my wife’s, I think I’ve gotten a pretty solid feel for what it’s like to work in a product group at Microsoft.”

How to differentiate your company

April 17th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Marketing

“Let me use our company as a case-study here. I own a presentation firm, our clients are big corporate companies, in theory they just come to us for presentations i.e. we’re not a ‘creative’ company as such. However when they come, we have a rule, and every employee knows it: When someone visits our office we have to make such an impression that people talk about us at home later, not just at their office.”

Procrastination

April 17th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Life

“Procrastination is a complex psychological behavior that affects everyone to some degree or another. With some it can be a minor problem; with others it is a source of considerable stress and anxiety. Procrastination is only remotely related to time management, (procrastinators often know exactly what they should be doing, even if they cannot do it), which is why very detailed schedules usually are no help.” (Thanks The Enlightened Entrepreneur!)

Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation

April 17th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Leadership, Office culture

“Business literature is packed with advice about worker motivation — but sometimes managers are the problem, not the inspiration. Here are seven practices to fire up the troops. From Harvard Management Update.”

And now for something completely different!

April 14th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Environmental

Blatant self-promotion: Attention St. Louisans — your humble bBlog and xBlog editor (that would be me, Bill Keaggy) is having an exhibit at the Center of Contemporary Arts in St. Louis, Missouri. The opening is tonight, Friday, April 14 from 6-8 p.m., for Junk Science | Projects by Bill Keaggy: Found objects, trash photography, strange collections and accidental art. If you are able, please stop by and say hi. COCA is at 524 Trinity in the U City area. There will be free wine and you can even enter for a chance to win a free piece from the exhibit, or a cool poster. Hope to see some of you local bBlog readers and friends of XPLANE there!

The potent power of proposals

April 12th, 2006 | Comments Off | Posted in Presentations

“In the old days, I’d lug my book around and do a dog and pony show with my work meticulously mounted to 16″x20″ black boards. It’s how they taught me to do it in art school. What they didn’t teach me was how to whip up a proper proposal.”