Status reports come in different shapes and sizes.
They all do the same thing. They communicate status.
And no matter who it’s to, communicating status is as good as a hug.
So?
Give more hugs. Give more status reports.
Just don’t do it too often or for too long. Nobody likes those kind of either.
More than a tweet. Most than a status update. More powerful than a buzzfeed list.
Less demanding than a long editorial. Less verbose than a feature story. Less heavy than other stuff out there.
And finally, emphasis on words. I’m constantly resisting temptation to let images outshine my words — alliteration, metaphors, typos and all.
That’s what I go for on this blog.
And now there’s a place to find more of that. Short, meaningful, unique pieces that make you think.
It’s called Medium. Here’s my old friend Ben Cohen’s piece on Trout.
Marginalizing restaurant staff.
Lying to your employees.
Breaking promises to your clients.
Yes, newspapers are becoming obsolete. And, there will always be trolls incentivized to write disparagingly about you. But reputable institutions that employ writers to report the truth are growing by the day.
Your actions speak louder than words. So? Be sure you’d be comfortable if someone wrote about them.
Remember what you did last night? Last week? Last month?
How about your last few trips? Not work trips, but trips for fun. Vacations.
Willing to bet you have more memories of the latter.
So why not break up the former more often?
Pound some nails. Saw some wood. Pour some concrete.
You wouldn’t do that stuff before having a plan of what you’re going to build, right?
So why putz around on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest before having a plan of what you’re going to build?
Casually doing work on the 10th floor balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean hearing waves crashing and birds singing. Nobody wants to hear that story.
That’s a “Where you landed.”
Telling people you learned how to build a free blog on WordPress.com while sitting in soul-crushing, 10-person, budget-system design meetings. Who doesn’t want to hear that story?
That’s a “How you got there.”
Enjoy the former. But, tell more of the latter.
An app for travelers.
Fixes the problem of getting credit cards blocked while you’re traveling. And, it fixes the the problem of having to make more than one (usually several) calls to notify the right people you’ll be away from home.
Two-step authentication would take care of any identity concerns. No different than logging into a client’s system with username, password and a randomly-generating pin from a security token like Google Authenticator.
If this exists, please disregard. If it does not, please take this idea and make millions.
Thank you.
And you’re welcome.
Everyone wants to connect. Most want to connect mostly privately.
Landlines. AOL. Facebook.
Feed the need, reduce privacy, stop the bleed.
Snapchat is successful now why? And they expect to be any different their predecessors how? The founders must have turned down the $3B buyout offer from Facebook to maintain the privacy.
For some, it’s about religion. For some, it’s about family. For some, it’s another day of work.
For me, it’s the day to say Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, my friend. I appreciate you.
Much love,
Your Jewish Uncle Leo
At Starbucks, you can get a reusable, grande cup for just a buck. Yes, $1. It looks just like a grande cup with the signature lid and green writing, except it’s plastic. I dig these hand-held promo tools for a few reasons.
Since these reusable cups are hard plastic, they’re dishwasher safe. Keep it at home and you can enjoy sipping out of the signature lid in your underwear. Or, you can stay warm and hydrated during your afternoon walks by comfortably sipping hot herbal tea.
These green-lettered cups are figuratively green, too. Assuming you are drinking the same amount of coffee / tea, but using less paper and creating less waste, they’re green. One could correct me if I’m wrong about plastic’s greenness and energy used while running a dishwasher. But these cups make me feel green. And isn’t that what’s important?
Finally, there’s the cost savings. The first is obvious (and advertised). You get 10 cents off your cup when you bring your own. Yes, grandes are more expensive than a tall, but you could always ask for a tall in your plastic grande cup. The second (and my favorite) cost-savings is not advertised. Anyone who spends time at a Starbucks to get work done is either a student, entrepreneur, or interviewee. Read: penny pinching. A BYO grande cup filled with your own five cent bag of tea and some self-boiled hot water gets you a seat at the proverbial (and germy) Starbucks table.
Is Starbucks the big winner in it all? I am a walking advertisement every winter afternoon as I take Lucy for a walk and sip hot herbal tea. And I probably pay more for Starbucks now than I did in the past, despite enjoying BYO tea over half the time I’m there. Maybe. Probably. Yes, Starbucks wins.
But I like these cups a lot. And I really like the story I tell myself about being green, hydrated, fiscally prudent.
So the takeaway here? Get one of these reusable Starbucks cups. At the very least, take a less on fantastic marketing.