Starbucks: A Tradition in Surprising the Customer

30 Tuesday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Tom Peters

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Coffee, Starbucks, Value-added

Starbucks One in Reno

The survival of any organization depends on the ability to satisfy…no, surprise the customer. Satisfying the customer is a major challenge, but surprising the customer separates the Disney’s of the world from amusement parks. Surprising the customer takes many forms but it all comes down to offering a value-added service or product.

Paul Kiser - CEO of 2020 Enterprise Technologies, inc.

The economic definition of value-added is the difference between the actual cost of producing a product or service and the price the customer is willing to pay. However, author/speaker/ranter extraordinaire Tom Peters uses the term value-added to describe the satisfaction a customer experiences with the product or service that exceeds their expectations. This is a point that most organizations (for profit or not) fail to understand.

The Lesson of Starbucks
Starbucks is a good example of a company that has traditionally succeeded in giving ‘value-added’ products and service. Many people forget that in the 1970’s and 1980’s coffee was on it’s way out. Younger generations were choosing sweet soda drinks and mocking their parent’s addiction to coffee.

While it was Peet’s Coffee that pioneered specialty coffee in the 1960’s, it was two of Peet’s customers, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker, who started a little company called Starbucks that copied Peet’s idea of selling quality specialty coffee beans. But Balwin and Bowker couldn’t visualize how coffee could become a new staple in a world that was done with drinking coffee.

It was Starbucks Director of Retail Operations and Marketing, Howard Schultz, that saw how coffee could establish a new market that was almost non-existent at the time. Schultz couldn’t convince his company that a retail specialty coffee outlet (not just beans, but fresh, made-to-order coffee drinks) was realistic.

The lesson of Starbucks is that Howard Schultz could understand how a customer could love the uniqueness of providing fresh specialty coffee when no one else could. Somehow Schultz knew that he could provide a value-added experience to his customers even before there was a market of specialty drinking customers. Peet’s coffee didn’t get it…even the owners of Starbucks didn’t get it…but Howard got it.

So what happened? Like in every great success story the champion quit. Howard Schultz quit Starbucks. He started his own specialty coffee retail outlet in 1985 using coffee beans he purchased from his former employer, and then in 1987, Schultz bought Starbucks from his former employers and the rest is…well, a lot of brewed coffee.

Customers liked Starbucks because it was different, because it was a good product, because it was convenient, because it made them feel special, but mostly because the experience of Starbucks exceeded her or his expectations. It was a value-added product that surprised the customer…and everyone else.

Next time: What’s next for Starbucks?

A Better Parent..Not Perfect

29 Monday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Lessons of Life, Random

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

bead up the nose, boys, children, Growing pains, parenting

I’m a better parent…not perfect…just better.

Alexander and his plastic bead

Yesterday our son, Alexander, was supposed to be resting. Resting is a new thing because at 4 1/2 years old he is not always able to take a nap. When his Mom went in to check on him he was whimpering and then she saw his face covered in blood. She called me and by the time I got there he was crying. She asked me to get him down from his bunk bed (yes, at four he wanted to move to a big boy bed, and it had to be a bunk bed.) I did and after several, “What happened?!?” questions, we learned that he had stuck a plastic bead up his nose.

Now if I were a young parent my next statement would be something along the lines of:

“What the Hell were you thinking!”

But I didn’t. Instead I searched the bed to see if possibly, and mercifully, the bead was not up in his nostril, but rather was just on the bed somewhere. After a thorough search we learned it was nowhere to be found. The realization began to sink in that a plastic bead that he had found outside that day…after laying in the dirt for decades…was up in his sinus. As a young parent my instinct would be off to the ER, but rather we decided to wait. By this time he had calmed down, the bleeding had stopped, and his Mom and I decided that this was no longer an emergency.

The Bead of Shame

At this point we began to explain to him that when things like this happen he needs to call for us rather than try to fix the problem himself…a good parent thing to say, but to a 4 1/2 year-old it was like explaining the real definition of Socialism to a member of the Tea Party. Still, it was a better parent thing to say than sentences that began with, “Don’t you ever…”

This morning we were able to see it with the help of a..a..a nose-looker-in-thing and made a couple of attempts to suck it out with a…a…a nose-sucker-thing..I don’t know what they’re called…I’m male remember. After no success in extracting the plastic bead we called his Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor, who, coincidently will be removing his tonsils next week. They set up an appointment for tomorrow. We were resigned to have to sheepishly go into the doctor’s office and try to explain why a little boy would be allowed to have a plastic bead in his possession.

Happy boy, happier parents

However, this afternoon he was ‘sniffling’ and we told him to blow his nose, lamely hoping that bead would come out and this would become a good story to tell his girlfriend when he was sixteen, when behold, the bead came out!

We are trying not to think about all the bacteria on the bead when it went up his nose, but the fact that it came out was the best news that we’ve had in a long time. As for any four-year old girls out there who may be dating my son in twelve years, be forewarned, you’ll be hearing about the bead-up-the-nose story.

I said I was a better parent…not perfect.

Starbucks One

29 Monday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Human Resources, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Customer Loyalty, Friendly People, Starbucks, Taking Care of the Customer

Starbucks One - Reno, NV @ Keystone & I-80

My GPS has the locations of most Starbucks stores in my area programmed in with the name and location; however, I have one store programmed in as Starbucks One. That would be the Starbucks at Keystone and I-80 in Reno, NV. I refer to it as my home Starbucks. I typically spend 15 hours or more per week at that one store. Why?

Despite that there are two other Starbucks stores closer to my home, I come to this store for one reason…the staff. I used to split my time between several Starbucks stores and I have come to spend more time (and money) in this one location because of the people. It’s not to say that the staff at the other stores weren’t friendly, but this staff is friendly and genuine. They are always courteous and respectful, but they also know me as a person. I’m not the almighty customer…I’m just Paul. In return I try to respect that they are on the job, so I try to avoid engaging in too much conversation if they seem busy.

It is likely that part of my attachment to this location was created when one of the staff had come during her day off as a customer and we engaged in a conversation for a half an hour or more. After that I got to know several other members of the staff and now there are very few of the day staff that I don’t at least know by name.

I have also come to appreciate the challenges faced by everyone from the Store Manager to the newest team member. There is a special chaos caused by customer contact that occurs on a minute basis and from multiple directions. Walk-in, drive through, noise, people spilling drinks, the occasional homeless person, keeping the tables clean, too cold, too hot,..the list of distractions goes on and on. It is a pressure environment and I try to not contribute to the stress.

Drive Thru at Starbucks One

For me it is a no-brainer that it is the people interaction that builds customer loyalty, but I am constantly surprised by those that either don’t understand that, OR think that it can be imposed by corporate policy…”would you like fries for an addition 39 cents?”

Every time I hear a person try to up-sell me at a fast food place I can hear the voice of some Senior Vice President who sat in around a nice wooden table, saying, ..”you know, if we can just up-sell five percent of our customers we will make $2,000 per day per store!” It all sounds great to the guy who is more concerned about the weather for his Friday golf date than treating his employee’s with respect, but annoying the customer has a greater long-term impact on profits and everyone seems to know this except the people in the Crystal Palace known as corporate headquarters.

What brought me to Starbucks were Chai Tea, brownies, and free WiFi (I have AT&T at home so it’s free for me at Starbucks). What keeps me coming to Starbucks One are the people.

I wanted to write a blog about Re-Imagining! Starbucks in 2014, and I will in a Part II blog, but today I realized that the Starbucks won’t be around in 2014 without the people who manage the chaos and still seem to be happy that I came in today.

Thank you (in the order we met) Katie, Laura, Vicky, Stacia, Sarah, the other Katie, Kelsey, Jenna, Marissa, Khris, and the rest of the team!

Rotary@105: Our 1st Rotary Dropout

26 Friday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Lessons of Life, Passionate People, Public Relations, Rotary, Rotary@105

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Dissatisfiers, Hiram Shorey, History of Rotary, Membership, Membership Retention, Paul Harris, Rotary International

Few Rotarians know that we marked a 105th anniversary milestone last week. On March 23, one month after the historic first meeting, Rotary marked the 105th anniversary of its name. It was not until the third meeting in 1905 that the original club members decided that the name would be ‘Rotary’ because the meetings were going to be ‘rotated’ among the member’s offices. There were 15 people at that meeting including the original four.

The Original Four of Rotary

Those original four were Silvester Schiele (age 34), Paul Harris (age 36), Gustavus Loehr (age 40), and Hiram Shorey (age 42). Of the four, the oldest, Hiram Shorey would attend only two more meetings . He did come back for a few meetings in 1906, but after the fifth meeting Hiram became the first Rotary Dropout.

Hiram Shorey: Rotary's first dropout

Why did Hiram dropout? To me it is an interesting question. According to an account of the first meeting all of the men were enthusiastic about the new club and he continued to attend for the next four meetings, so what changed between the first meeting and the fifth?

I don’t buy the reasons given when a Rotarian drops out. According to Paul Harris, Hiram left Rotary, “due to circumstances beyond his control.” Almost always the reason given is a ‘politically correct’ reason that ignores the fact that people do not normally make changes in their life based on one or two factors, but rather have multiple experiences or dissatisfiers that lead up to the change of mind.

(See my blog on Dissatisfiers: Why John Quit)

There could have been many issues that dissatisfied Hiram. The first meeting was held at Gus Loehr’s office. The second at Paul Harris’s office, and the third at Silvester Schiele’s office. According to the idea of ‘rotating’ the meetings it would have seemed likely that the fourth meeting would have been held at Hiram’s shop. Rotary history seems to skip over the fourth meeting. What we do know is that the fifth meeting (Hiram’s last) was held at a hotel and dinner was served. Is it possible that the issue of the location of the meeting caused Hiram to rethink his enthusiasm about the club? Did something happen at the fourth meeting that caused him to become disillusioned with Rotary? By the third meeting the club had grown to 15 members. Did that cause Hiram to feel like Rotary wasn’t going to be small group of friends?

We will never know what dissatisfiers led to Hiram becoming Rotary’s first dropout, but there is a lesson we can take from 105 years ago. Even people who have a strong vested interest in the club and it’s success can become disillusioned in a matter of a few meetings. It takes extraordinary sensitivity and awareness to address dissatisfiers that may cause a member to leave the club, but it is the only way to help close the back door that members use to slip away from the club.

Ironically, Hiram’s short involvement with the club would follow him through the rest of his life. His hometown of Litchfield, Maine has a plaque that notes he was “a Founder of Rotary.” That is the way we all will remember him.

Rotary related blogs by Paul Kiser

Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win

Rotary: All Public Relations is Local

Best Practices: Become a Target!

Fear of Public Relations

Reno’s Secret Extreme Disc Golf Course

26 Friday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in About Reno, Passionate People, Public Relations, Recreation

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Disc Golf, Nevada, Recreation, Reno, Reno Adventure Park

by Paul Kiser

“The Pebble Beach of Disc Golf” (Player comment)

Thomas Hill Frost at Hole 10 on the Green Course

This week I spent a morning with a magnificent view of the Reno and in the background was the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountain range. It was a location that few know about and fewer know how to get to; however, my guide, landowner Thomas Hill Frost, knows this area well.

I didn’t visit the site for the view, but because Tom has built two 18-hole Disc Golf courses on 40 acres of land that are at best, challenging and for most, extreme. I haven’t played Disc Golf for years but after running into Tom at a Reno Starbucks he peaked my interest enough to see what he has been working on for ten years.

Tom points out the work on the hole structure

Located above the Virginia Foothills area, southwest of Reno, Reno Adventure Park overlooks the southern suburbs.

Green Course hole with next tee pad in background

Tom and I walked the Green Course which is 18 holes on ‘kinder and gentler’ terrain, but that shouldn’t be mistaken for the flat grass-covered courses in a city park or on a college campus. This is a hill course with an occasional juniper or pinion pine tree that obscures the hole from the tee pad. The course can be played in tennis shoes; however, boots that protect the shins are recommended. I walked the course in street shoes and in the end had to dump dirt and sand out of my shoes and socks.

View from the Tee Pad of the 1st Hole of the Red Course

The Red Course is for the adventurous player. There is 600 feet of elevation change between the top of the course and the bottom with many holes dropping or rising 10 stories or more between the tee pad and the hole. There may be a more challenging permanent disc golf course in the world, but I can’t imagine where or why. Anyone who logs time on the Red Course will have earned her or his beer once they return to civilization.

One of the most challenging holes on the Green course is the 13th (of course, it had to be ‘13′.) The course is downhill with a few trees blocking the view of a hole that is set a few feet from a granite cliff. Overshoot the hole and you’re going to go for a hike. When we were there a red fox was at the bottom of the cliff. To my knowledge she won’t retrieve a lost disc for players, so don’t plan for help if you screw up.

The Cliff behind Lucky 13

Lucky 13 on the Green Course

Green Course Hole 17 Tee Pad

It is important to note that this is a private course on private land. People must contact Tom (775.750.0776) to reserve a tee time, gain permission to access the course, and get directions. Tom will typically be willing to meet parties and guide them to the property, but please don’t cancel as Tom arranges his schedule to accommodate guests. Because of wildlife, no dogs are allowed.

Tom is a landscape artist and he is the great-great-grandson of the famous Yosemite landscape painter Thomas Hill (1829-1908). Tom is aware of the artistic value of his land and he wants to preserve the beauty for all. He has spent ten years working with Washoe County for easement access and use permits, and then he began installing the course piece by piece. His current project is to complete concrete tee pads on all 36 holes. Eventually he would like to have the property serve as a place for people to come and play, paint, relax, and enjoy.

Up to now the course has been a secret to Reno and the Disc Golf world; however, that is changing as more people become aware of this Reno treasure. Now that I’ve been there I could tell you how to find it…but then I have to…sorry, I’ve been watching ‘Chuck‘ too much. Call Tom at 775.750. 0776 or go to www.RenoAdventurePark.com for more information.

Rotary: All Public Relations is Local

25 Thursday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Public Relations, Rotary

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

PR, Public Image, Public Relations, Publicity, Rotary, Rotary District 5190, Rotary International

by Paul Kiser

Paul Kiser - District Public Relations Chair - Rotary District 5190

Rotary is challenged in the role of Public Relations. For almost a century we didn’t see a need for Public Relations. There are good reasons why this was the case, but now we recognize the need for a Public Relations function.

Unfortunately, despite the efforts of many smart and skilled people we are still in the infancy of fully incorporating Public Relations into the hearts and minds of the organization. In the recommended Club Leadership Plan published by Rotary International, every other club function has a list of its sub-functions, except Public Relations which is blank. That should not be surprising considering how little time Public Relations has had to evolve in the organization. The idea to establish PR as a separate club function was a bold step, and it has taken years for the basic concept of Public Relations to take hold.

However, it is time we take another bold act and fully incorporate the function of Public Relations into the soul of the club. The reason to act is simple: the survival of the organization depends on it.

Rotary International - 105 Years of Service Above Self

Rotary and Public Relations: History
When Rotary was first formed in 1905, it was a small club of four members. The membership grew rapidly but it remained one club started by young professionals who sought to exchange business based on ethical practices. There was no need to be concerned about Public Relations because it was just a group of people ‘doing their own thing’. The change came in 1906, when a prospective member suggested that he saw no reason to join unless the club was doing something worthwhile for the community. The club members agreed and in 1907 Rotary completed the first community project by building public toilets in downtown Chicago. It was at that moment that Rotary began interacting with the community, thus Rotary Public Relations was born, but not recognized.

As the decades passed, individual Rotary clubs continued to interact with the local, regional, national, and international communities around them and yet the understanding that Rotary was involved in Public Relations with each interaction did not fully sink in with the clubs, nor the larger organization of Rotary International. Some clubs equated Public Relations to be ‘publicity’ and shunned the idea of bragging or boasting about the community project and programs, not understanding the publicity is only a part of Public Relations.

The Rotary Theme Logo for 2009-10

What Changed?
As Rotary approached its Centennial a realization came about the need for Public Relations; however, this need was still thought of as publicity. Many clubs were experiencing a slow loss of membership and it became apparent that the organization needed to make people more aware of Rotary in order to continue to attract new members. The idea of ‘getting the word out’ was the driving force behind adopting a Public Relations strategy, which is why the efforts have been focused on publicity. This is probably why the Public Relations function is somewhat of an orphan in the Club’s organization because the priority has been on external communication.

Public Relations: A Holistic Approach
Rotary Public Relations should involve the development of a relationship between the Club and the community. It does involve getting the message out (publicity) but to do that a Club must understand how that message will be perceived. This can only be done if a Club is already aware of their TRUE public image in the community. Public Relations is a two-way relationship that requires listening to the community’s perceptions before sending out a message. If the Club does not know what the community perceives about Rotary, the message could be misunderstood leading to a negative Public Relations outcome.

In order to listen to the community a Club must be accessible to the public. This can be a major problem as a Rotary Club only exists for 1 1/2 hours per week. Most clubs have no office, nor any physical presence outside of the Club’s weekly meeting. The only way for the public to access a Club is by creating a presence that can be accessed 24/7/365. Fortunately a Club website can provide that presence, but many clubs do not have an updated website and many more don’t have a website at all.

The other problem is that public image is formed primarily by what a person experiences on a personal level. An airline can say it loves its passengers in a national ad campaign, but the passenger will determine her or his image of the airline based upon the experience with the people met when purchasing tickets, boarding, and flying. Thus, people perceive Rotary based on the interactions with the members and their Club.

Rotary Public Relations: The Next Level

The Rotary Theme Logo for 2010-11

To move to the next level Rotary Clubs should ask questions of non-Rotarians in the communities about their perceptions of Rotary and the Rotary Club. This should be done in a way that the person does not feel like they need to make the ‘nice comment’, but rather allow the person to be completely honest. The Club should be prepared to hear information that may be unexpected and equally prepared to take appropriate action to work to repair any misconceptions or misunderstandings. Correcting misconceptions is the role of publicity, but it must happen after the Club is aware of the existing public image.

The Club should work to be accessible to members and the public with an active and updated website. The website should offer information about upcoming programs and projects, contact information via email or phone, and information about the Club, the Area, the District, and Rotary International.

To establish a plan for the Club Public Relations the Bulletin/Newsletter Editor, Programs Chair, Webmaster, along with other key Club leadership should meet to discuss Club goals and how the Club’s Internal message tools can be used to assist in communicating those goals. Using the resources for Club planning available from Rotary International, the Club Public Relations Committee can establish short-term, annual, and long-term goals.

The key is understanding that all Public Relations is local and that public image is what non-Rotarians perceive about Rotary.

Rotary related blogs by Paul Kiser

Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win

Rotary@105: Our 1st Rotary Dropout

Best Practices: Become a Target!

Fear of Public Relations

It’s Baaack: Sunspot Maximum Here It Comes

25 Thursday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Information Technology, Science

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Coronal Mass Ejections, Solar Events, Solar Flares, Sunspots, The Sun

by Paul Kiser

Updated March 25, 2010

After one of the quietest periods of solar activity in known history, the Sun has roared into a new sunspot maximum cycle. With the increase in sunspot activity is the increased risk of solar flare activity that could impact human-created systems both in orbit and on the ground. This occurs almost exactly 150 years after the biggest known solar flares that disrupted telegraph communications and created unprecedented auroras around the world.

A Solar Minimum to Remember

A Quiet Sun - April 12, 2009

In April 2009, solar physicist Dean Pesnell stated, “We’re experiencing a very deep solar minimum,” based on the number of days without recordable sunspots in 2008 and 2009. That statement was before a late summer episode of 51 days in a row of no sunspot activity that ended on August 31, one day short of tying the record of 52 days. The April 1, 2009, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) news release also stated that the solar wind pressure was at a 50-year low and the Sun’s extreme ultraviolet radiation was 6% less than the last solar minimum in 1996.

On September 3^rd, NASA issued a news release titled, “Are Sunspots Disappearing?” Solar Researcher Matt Penn states in the release, “Sunspot magnetic fields are dropping by about 50 gauss per year. If we extrapolate this trend into the future, sunspots could completely vanish around the year 2015.” However, even Penn admits that they have little historic data to conclude that this is a permanent trend.

Solar Activity Returns

A new Solar Cycle begins - November 21, 2009

However, by late in September the Sun started showing signs of new sunspot activity. The upturn in activity this year is dramatic. In 2009, 29% of the days had a visible sunspot. So far this year 93% of the days have had sunspot activity. The expected peak of the current activity will be in 2012-14.

No one knows if the unusually quiet Sun of 2008-09 will mean be a quieter, gentler solar maximum, or whether the Sun will bounce back with a significantly more active period, but a scientific panel for National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is betting on a quieter solar maximum than the last one in 2000-01 (see Table A) and no one believes we will have a solar cycle that will match the activity of 1859.

The Sun is Back - February 8, 2010

A 500+ Year Event
Almost 150 years ago the Sun’s activity appeared to set the sky on fire with auroras that could be seen as far south as Cuba and the Hawaiian Islands. The New Orleans Daily Picayune reported:

“Towards half past eight o’clock a singular phenomenon took place. The horizon from north to northeast became of a deep crimson hue, which expanding slowly, made the sky appear as if lighted by a Bengal fire…”

On August 28, 1859 and again on September 2, 1859, solar flares created so much electromagnetic energy on Earth that telegraph communications were temporarily disrupted. At one point operators in the northeast were only able to communicate by detaching the power source to the telegraph lines relying on the solar flare energy captured by the wires between stations. From 8:30 to 11:00 AM on September 2, 1859, telegraph operators between Boston, MA and Portland, ME discovered that by detaching the batteries that powered the telegraph lines they could send messages using the electromagnetic energy caused by a solar flare. In addition to rendering most lines nearly useless the solar event created sparks from telegraph lines and telegraph equipment causing fires in multiple locations.

However, it has been determined that the magnitude of the August/September 1859 solar events are rare in human experience. Through ice core samples going back 500 years scientists have determined that the 1859 solar flares were 6.5 times more powerful than any other flare event in known history.

Preparations for a Major Solar Flare Event

The Sun Today - March 24, 2010

In 1859 there were relatively few technological devices that would be affected by the electromagnetic energy from the Sun and had the event occurred 15 years earlier it is likely that the only note of it in history would be the unusually bright auroras. Today the threat is much greater as power grids, pipelines, and copper phone and data lines would all act as a conduit for the energy of a major solar flare event. Among the greatest concern is the loss of many, if not all, satellites in a major solar event. To respond to these concerns a new field of Space Weather has emerged to monitor and respond to any potential, although unlikely, massive solar flare.

There are three satellites watching the Sun 24/7/365. The first, called the Solar & Heliospheric Observatory or SOHO, maintains an orbit around the Sun that is directly between the Sun and Earth. Two other satellites, the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory or STEREO satellites, are in the same orbit as Earth is around the Sun, but STEREO Behind trails about 45 degrees behind Earth and STEREO Ahead is 45 degrees ahead of Earth (See Figure A).

Figure A - Locations of STEREO Ahead and STEREO Behind

These three satellites give scientist a view of almost the entire surface of the sun. Any flare threatening Earth would be identified and evaluated at least 15 hours prior to affecting the planet. Most flares take 60 or more hours to reach Earth, but the flare of September 1-2, 1859 took an unusually rapid 17 hours from ejection from the Sun to interaction with the Earth.

To prepare for these solar related incidents private industry and government agencies have spent years creating a response plan that will minimize the effect of a major solar event on the nation’s vital systems. Access to the Space Weather reports are also available to the general public at through both NASA and NOAA.

What’s Next?
No one disputes that the next few years should see an increase in solar activity. Nor does anyone dispute that humans are more vulnerable to a major solar event. However, as the Sun shakes off the quiet of the past few years it is likely we will experience a quieter solar maximum than 2000-01, and no one predicts a repeat of the solar storms of 1859 anytime soon.

Best Practices: Become a Target!

24 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Human Resources, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Tom Peters

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Breaking the Mold, Champions, In Search of Excellence, Robert Waterman, Tom Peters

by Paul Kiser

Paul Kiser - CEO 2020 Enterprise Technologies

I just read Dr. Bret Simmons blog post, Give Yourself Permission to Be Excellent. Excellence is a topic I fell in love with back in the 1980’s when Tom Peters and Robert Waterman wrote the iconic book, In Search of Excellence. In that book I finally found someone who confirmed that business as usual is not good enough.

In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman

Fortunately, the President of the hospital I worked at then had also read the same book and for two years I experienced what business could be when unleashed from the confines of the unimaginative and uncaring. All the ‘can’t-be-done’ stupidity had to face the light of day and it didn’t fare well when the control was removed from those who saw themselves as the ‘protectors’ of traditions. The hospital (run by a strict religious-based organization) grew and flourished under the new leadership. The facility kept it’s core values while eliminating most of the dysfunctional ideas that held it back.

But there was a price for those who pioneered the concept of excellence over authority. Those people came under scrutiny. Any mistake or failure was seized as proof positive that the people involved in effort of change were flawed….not that their ideas were flawed, but that the people were.

In Dr. Bret Simmons’s Blog he talks about the risk in striving for excellence and helps us understand why ‘risk’ happens.

(Click here to read Dr. Simmons Blog)

Dr. Bret Simmons http://www.bretlsimmons.com

Dr. Bret states that mediocrity abides by the current rules and to strive for excellence means defining new rules. Most people wait for someone in authority to define the new rules and in most cases those in authority fear risking his or her position by breaking new ground. Thus it takes a ‘champion’, as Tom Peters liked to call them, to step forward and make the new rules for everyone else.

However, once a person steps forward to lead the way they make themselves a target. Their peers ask, “Who are you to do this!!!” and they wait for the person to be struck down by someone in authority. The person in authority is embarrassed that they weren’t the one who took the bold action and so is predisposed to ‘put the person in their place.’ The result is that the person who leads the way is disliked…personally…by others in the organization.

The organization that lacks great leadership destroys champions, and make no mistake it takes GREAT leadership to love a champion. Good leadership toys with champions like a cat toying with a mouse. Good leaders are entertained by champions, but once they make an error the champion is lunch.

So why take the risk? Why not play it safe and color within the lines? George Carlin said, “Life is what we do while we are waiting to die.” It’s a matter of choice, but one can find purpose by being a champion and that can be a great feeling! So go ahead…put those red circles on your back and move out in front of everyone else. They can see the target easier when you’re in front…but then they have to live with the fact that they are always behind you.

Management by Coup 2: Eliminate Job Standards and Job Descriptions

24 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Human Resources, Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Random, Re-Imagine!, Rotary, Tom Peters

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Tags

employee morale, HR, job descriptions, job standards, performance standards

Being the Boss is more than wearing a suit and looking important

by Paul Kiser

It seems like a very rational idea. Create job (or performance) standards for every employee that dictate their responsibilities and define the expectations (or for performance standards, defines ‘does not meet’, ‘meets’, or ‘exceeds’) for all aspects of every job. That is the only way an employee knows what is expected of them and the only way a manager can “objectively” measure performance.

Very rational…very, very rational….

News Flash: We don’t live in a rational, sterile world where we can put down on a piece of paper an adequate description of intangible concepts like:

Taking care of the customer.
Thinking outside of the box.
Anticipating unforseen problems

Paul Kiser - CEO - 2020 Enterprise Technologies, inc.

I used to think that I could write objective performance standards that covered the intangibles of the business world, but it is really like the Schrödinger’s Cat paradox. The more objective a set of performance standards, the more impossible it is to accurately and appropriately measure. Likewise, the more subjective the performance standards, the less accurate the measurement tools and the more a manager’s personality, mood, bias, etc. will influence an employee’s score.

In my first Management by Coup blog I proposed that employee evaluations could and should be eliminated. Now I want to go further and propose that performance standards are also unnecessary….But wait there’s more.

I propose that companies can also eliminate job descriptions as well.

Someone is saying “You CAN’T do that!! Job Descriptions are required by LAW, you idiot!!!” To that I say, BS. There is no Federal mandate for an employer to have a job description.

There are some caveats to this statement:

In certain situations (government contracts, state government positions, etc.) job descriptions are required.
Job descriptions are also often subpoenaed as evidence in an employee relations case.
If you have job skills, educational requirements, licensing, etc., then that needs to be listed in some type of job description.

However, all the other things in a job description (job duties, reporting to, etc.) are all optional. So maybe you can’t realistically eliminate a job description, but you can slice it down to the bare bones, and I recommend doing so. Why?

First, anything a company puts in a job description can and will be held against them. Like employee evaluations, the job description is often more useful to the employee’s lawyer than it is to the employee or the employer.

Second, like performance standards, job descriptions can’t possibly describe everything an employee does 2080 hours a year. For this reason almost every job descriptions has the phrase, “Other duties as assigned,” in it. So why not have a one line job description: “Other duties as assigned” and skip the hours wasted on writing and re-writing job duties?

Third, management is about talking to your staff. When a piece of paper is more critical to your company than talking to the employee on a regular and frequent basis, then that is the moment to close up the business and let your competitors take over the market.

Here’s a test. Write a job description for the expectations you have of your child (if you don’t have a child, try a pet, or your significant other). Then at the end of a week measure how well the job description improved your relationship and if the job description had any value over just not writing it up in the first place.

I rest my case.

Other Blogs

Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win

22 Monday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Rotary

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Membership Recruitment, Membership Retention, Rotary, Rotary District 5190

by Paul Kiser
Public Relations Chair
Rotary District 5190

Any organization must continue to grow and evolve over time and Rotary is no different. Rotary is a vital organization that has an impact throughout the world with Polio vaccinations; Health, Hunger, and Humanity grants; Rotary Youth programs; and community service projects. It is an organization that has a legacy of Service Above Self and as Rotarians we must do our part to fulfill the work done by those before us. Here are eight suggestions to use Club Public Relations and Membership as a team effort to maintain and promote the local Rotary Club.

Over 32,000 Rotary Clubs Worldwide

STEP 1. SELF EXAMINATION
Examine your Club’s public image. What do non-Rotarians think/know about Rotary and your Club? Ask every member find three people who are business professionals (of every age, gender, and race) and ask them five or six questions about Rotary. Questions for a non-Rotarian like:

What qualifications DO YOU THINK are required to join Rotary?
What do you think is the purpose of Rotary?
Describe your image of the typical Rotarian?
Why would you be interested/not interested in joining Rotary?
Do you have to belong to a political party to be a Rotarian?

Note: THIS IS NOT A RECRUITMENT EFFORT, ONLY FACT FINDING. Document the answers and discuss them at a Club Assembly. Determine what kind of public image your Club has among non-Rotarians. What issues keep potential Rotarians from being interested? Does the public image of your Club vary based upon the age/gender/race of the person asked? If so, what are the members doing that might cause that?

Paul Kiser - Public Relations Chair - Rotary District 5190 (Northeast CA/Northern NV

STEP 2. BRANDING
Armed with a better understanding of the public image determine:

How you can respond to incorrect perceptions using various internal and external Public Relations tools.
What, if any, negative perceptions are being generated by the acts of club members and how they can be made aware of their negative influence on Club PR (e.g.; telling political or religious jokes in club meetings)
Discuss how members can raise awareness of themselves as Rotarians (e.g.; wearing Rotary pin, Rotary license plate holders, posting membership certificate on the wall at work, etc.)
Review the methods that a person can find out more about the club (e.g.; Can the club website be found by a Google search?)

STEP 3. IMPROVE THE INTERNAL MESSAGE
Determine if club members are passionate about their Rotary club. If not, what internal communication tools can be used to boost excitement about the club (e.g.; speakers/programs, newsletter, website, Facebook, LinkedIn).

STEP 4. GET OUT OF THE BOX
Seriously review your Club’s ability to adapt and incorporate new and different ideas. The acid test: If a new member started suggesting new ideas would they be seriously considered, or would the current leadership tend to be offended by the brashness of the new member? Try anything and celebrate failure as the next step to success!

STEP 5. LET THE POTENTIAL MEMBER KNOW YOU CARE
Use three to five members to recruit one member. Make the recruit feel wanted by the club.

STEP 6. NEW MEMBERS AS A CLASS
Every month (or every quarter) inductee’s are a new class. All the members inducted in May of 2010 are the Class of May 2010 and they all work together to complete the New Member orientation and requirements to achieve their blue badge. Each class has a ‘Den Mother’: A Rotarian that is their advisor of all things Rotary.

STEP 7. FAMILY, FAMILY, FAMILY
Every member’s family to be involved in the club. The line between member and spouse to be almost invisible. Look for ways to communicate to spouse, children, and members. (Why shouldn’t a member’s children know as much or more about YES/RYE and RYLA than the member?)

STEP 8. ELEVATE THE CLUB PRESIDENT
Use a three-year succession plan to ensure the Club President plans for her/his year in advance. Create an atmosphere where the Club President is a respected leader, not the butt of member jokes during the meetings.

Rotary related blogs by Paul Kiser

Rotary@105: Our 1st Rotary Dropout

Rotary: All Public Relations is Local

Best Practices: Become a Target!

Fear of Public Relations

Woe or Whoa is me

22 Monday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Lessons of Life, Rotary

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PA, The American College, Travel

I’m almost back to normal…that is normal for me. Last week I went on a quick turnaround to Philadelphia and back. If my GPS was guiding me it would have sounded like the following:

The American College in Bryn Mawr, PA

(All times PDT) Proceed to highlighted route…(WED 10:00 AM) Arriving at Reno/Tahoe Airport…turn right and fly 800 miles to Denver International Airport…(WED 2:00 PM) Arriving at DIA…continue straight 1600 miles to Philadelphia International Airport…(WED 9:00 PM) Arriving at PIA…turn left and travel 15 miles to Radnor Hotel…(WED 10:00 PM) Arriving at Radnor Hotel….(THUR 4:00 AM) continue 2.4 miles to The American College…(THUR 2:00 PM) Return to Radnor Hotel…(FRI 1:00 AM) return to PIA…(FRI 3:20 AM) turn right and fly 2200 miles to Las Vegas, NV

Coming into Las Vegas early Friday over Lake Meade

…(FRI 9:00 AM) Arrive at LAS…(FRI 10:50 AM) turn right and fly 350 miles to Reno…(12:10 PM) Arriving at Reno…Turn left and drive 30 miles to Starbucks in North Carson City…(1:30 PM) Arriving at Starbucks…turn left and drive 3 miles to the Carson City Airport…(3:30 PM) Arriving at Carson City Airport…turn right and continue 30 miles to Reno…(5:45 PM) Arriving at home.

Over 5,000 miles in about 50 hours with only seven hours sleep (plus a couple on the plane) and I find that my IQ drops by 25%, my patience drops to zero and I still feel hung over two days later. I didn’t want to leave my room to eat or drink (there was a Starbucks across the street!) at the Radnor because I was so tired from the trip/time changes and when Friday morning’s flight left 30 minutes late, I was not a happy camper.

So why do I like traveling? I dislike the way airlines treat the customer. I often am critical of the lodging and I feel intimidated in eating by myself.

Still, I always like to travel. I think it is because I love what I get to do. I meet some very interesting people and gain new information about myself, other people, and other places. I’ll always stand ready to load up my suitcase and be off again….but for now, I’m going to get some more sleep.

Fear of Public Relations

21 Sunday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Crisis Management, Human Resources, Information Technology, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Tom Peters

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New Business World, Re-Imagine!, Social Media, Tom Peters

The fog of Social Interactive Media is burning off

There are two approaches to Public Relations. The first is to live in fear of it and tremble at the prospect of screwing up. Take only measured steps that are carefully calculated and planned.

The other approach is to dive in. Risk mistakes and live and breathe being real and human.

The old school of Public Relations is the former. It is controlled by the Chain of Command. No one is authorized to speak unless cleared by multiple levels of authority and even then, to say or do anything that is nothing less than perfect is to fail. It is that Public Relations of which the world has become accustomed. Anyone who mars the perfect image risks banishment from the corporate world. Nightmare situations such as the current Toyota recalls reinforce the fear that Public Relations is a beast that must be closely guarded and heavily controlled.

This is why the new world of social media terrifies the old school. The unprecedented access to expressing our individuality on Facebook, Twitter, or even our own blog is the worst possible situation for those who believe that control of the message is the alpha and omega of Public Relations. Many companies are establishing strict policies for their employees on using Facebook, blogging, and all other avenues of professional or personal expression. Most of this comes from the management attitude that employees are a necessary evil and potentially a major embarrassment to the company.

What the old school of Public Relations doesn’t understand is that social interactive media (SIM) is creating a new model of business that is being driven by a desire of the consumer to do business with real people, not corporations. In today’s interactive world the branding of the individual is now becoming a driving force to he branding of the corporation. This is 180 degrees from the mission of most Public Relation professionals in major companies and it gives indigestion to old school managers that live in fear of employee self-expression.

Re-Imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age

In 2003, Tom Peters came out with a book called Re-Imagine!: Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age. If you understand that the book was published before Twitter and Facebook were available to the public, you have to wonder if Tom Peters can travel into the future and back again. Today everyone throws around the term ‘Branding’ but few know that today’s usage of the term originated from Peter’s 2003 book. On page 232 of Re-Imagine! Peters explains a new world of people who develop her or his individual brand separate from the corporate world. Now, in 2010, social interactive media has provided the vehicle for individuals to show off who they are and what they know and Peters has become the Moses of the new business world.

Like all business, the winner will always be the one who can embrace change before others. Companies that can adapt and use social interactive media to promote and showcase the quality and expertise of the individual within their ranks will have the advantage over the competition. In those companies the new role for the Public Relations professional is to help employees brand themselves instead of trying to muzzle them.

Still, the old school will loudly point out every slight misstep or mistake made by an employee that may reflect poorly on a company’s reputation. What they don’t understand is that errors make us human and that can deepen the bond between the company and the customer. An error is the opportunity to make things right and that is the key to all long-term relationships.

What’s in a Blog?

17 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Lessons of Life, Social Interactive Media (SIM)

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Airlines, American, Blogging, Bret L. Simmons, Creativity, Delta, Erin Kotecki Vest, Queen of Spain Blog, Southwest, Spirit Magazine, United, writing

I wish I could Write! I know I am ‘writing’ and I have the ability to put words together in ‘written’ form, but there is more to writing than pounding out sentences on a keyboard. I would like to write well. Write with the capital ‘W’ and an exclamation mark. Write! It takes creativity….cleverness….style. I don’t think have any of those qualities. Maybe that’s my problem.

Paul Kiser - Not a Write!-er

Just take ‘creativity’. My blog title is Paul Kiser’s Blog. That’s not creative, that’s just my name. If anyone can be credited for creativity it is my parents. They gave me the name and I just used it for my blog. I can’t even credit myself for the idea to use my name. Some guy, I think his name is Simmons[1], suggested that people should use her or his real name on websites and blogs to build credibility to his or her brand. Once again, someone else has the ideas and I just follow along.

Some people are very creative in naming their blog. One person titled her blog, “Queen of Spain[2].” Now that’s impressive. She’s not only been creative, she’s made herself royalty. I don’t think she is even French. I’ve read her blog and she can Write! She talks about socks and her daughter…apparently this is stuff that women like to read because she writes for blogHer, which is another creative name. I could name my blog blogHim, but I don’t think even men want to read my writing. I’m not seeking pity, just noting that I don’t have the Write! stuff.

I recently read a piece in the Spirit magazine. That’s the Southwest Airline magazine. I think you really have to be able to Write! to be published in the magazine that can only be found in the pocket on the backside of the seat in front of you. Anyway this guy was writing about clowns moving in next door. It was funny and sad. He lost his wife to the clowns. I’m not sure why that is funny…or sad, but he made it so because he could Write! Maybe I just need more experience with odd life experiences and then I could be creative…but maybe not.

Speaking of airlines, is there some FAA rule that their names cannot be creative. I thought my blog name lacked style, but I’m a genius compared to the guys who named the airlines. United, which is not a very creative name to start with, named their low-cost service…uhmm…Ted. Wow, some guy took the last three letters of United and came up with ‘Ted’. I’m not sure who to feel sorry for, the guy who came up with the name, or the Board of Directors at United who approved the idea. I would give them style points even if they just used the first three letters of United. Uni Airlines sounds a lot better than Ted Airlines. I’m betting that the vacuum of ideas at United headquarters requires that all office chairs come with oxygen tanks attached.

But why am I picking on United. Southwest, Delta, American are not names that inspire the imagination. At least Virgin Airlines stepped out of the box and came up with a name that brings a smile to a man’s face…no offense to blogHer, but if you had called it blogVirgin I’m sure men would read it regardless of the subject matter.

I’ll continue to write and hope that someday I can learn how to Write!, but for now I’ll stick to calling my blog Paul Kiser’s Blog. It’s not creative, but it’s better than calling it TedBlog.

[1] Dr. Bret Simmons, Professor, College of Business, University of Nevada. www.bretlsimmons.com

[2] Erin Kotecki Vest. www.queenofspainblog.com She can Write!.

Passionate People Can Save a City

16 Tuesday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Passionate People, Public Relations, Re-Imagine!, Rotary, Tom Peters

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Peter Drucker, Re-Imagine!, Reno Aces, Tom Peters

Rick Parr: A Force of Nature

Last night I sat in a back room of a restaurant in downtown Reno (that shall remain nameless) at the Rotary Club of Reno New Generations meeting. The restaurant had decided to pack the back room with patrons who were not part of the meeting and who seemed to be oblivious that someone was trying to speak to the group. Despite all of this distraction the club members were focused on the man standing up. To everyone it was apparent that this man was passionate about his job and all the noise around him didn’t keep him from making it clear that he loves what he does.

The man is Rick Parr and he is Passionate about his ball club. Rick is the General Manager of the Reno Aces and last year the new Triple A team came to Reno and erased all doubt of whether this town could support the Arizona Diamondbacks ‘farm’ team.

Rick Parr - General Manager of the Reno Aces

The Reno Aces exceeded all expectations for a first year club with a season attendance approaching 500,000 fans. But that achievement was nothing compared to what happened during the first four months of 2009.

On February 1st of last year the ballpark looked more like the first phase of a major construction project rather than a state-of-the-art baseball stadium only 10 weeks away from the first pitch of the first home game. But on April 17th all, and I mean all, were amazed. For anyone who was paying attention it was a miracle.

http://www.renoaces.com

Rick doesn’t look like he has 30 years in baseball management. When you talk to him about the Reno Aces he sounds like the person who was just hired to take a job that he has dreamed of all his life. He loves baseball and he loves his team. You get the sense that the miracle of last year’s opening day was due in large part to the force a nature known as Rick Parr.

But Rick’s passion doesn’t stop with baseball. He is passionate about redeveloping downtown. Like Denver’s Coors Field, the new Reno Aces Stadium is located in an area that has had little economic benefit to the city in recent history and like the Colorado Rockies, the Reno Aces are bringing in people and new development to revitalize the downtown area.

Rick has only been in Reno for 18 months, but as the designated hitter for the Front Office he taking the vision of the team owners, Jerry and Stuart Katzoff, and bringing home a Re-Imagined* downtown that offers more attractions than just a baseball team. This year the Aces will open up the next phase of new dining and shopping with the Freight House District’s first retail offerings. There is no doubt that this area will become a ‘Mecca’ for tourists and local citizens, bringing new jobs and revenue for local businesses and to the City of Reno.

Even before the completion of the full Freight House District retail project it is obvious that the Reno Aces have changed Reno for good. Rick would probably be the first to credit the work of many others for the success, but there is one common factor in all that is happening in the downtown area and that is the passion of Rick Parr.

Rick is a great example of how one person can change a city by having passion and vision. Peter Drucker wrote, “Wherever you find something getting done, you find a monomaniac with a mission.” Rick Parr is Reno’s newest monomaniac. Just in time!

(*Re-Imagine! is a 2003 book by Tom Peters about rethinking business in a new world.)

Reno Aces website is at http://www.renoaces.com.

Training for the Worst Case Scenario

16 Tuesday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Crisis Management, Human Resources, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Violence in the Workplace

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Crisis Management, Dr. Larry Barton, Education, Seminar, Violence in the Workplace

Tomorrow I fly to Philadelphia to put 26 Master’s degree students in a worst case scenario. I’ve been doing this for over 10 years with Dr. Larry Barton, who is an expert in Crisis Management and Violence in the Workplace issues. Dr. Barton and I have worked together for Disney, ABC, ESPN, Target, Nike, Merck, and several other companies.

Larry Barton - Crisis Management Expert (www.larrybarton.com)

Dr. Barton has written several books and has an endless number of case studies of workplace violence. As the expert, he organizes the seminars and is the instructor. I try to make it real.

In each case my job is to give the person or team the worst case scenario. Sometimes I am the troubled employee that is ready to commit a violent act and take them with me. Sometimes I am one of two ’employees’ that are in conflict the Threat Assessment Team has to figure out who is stalking whom.

In Philadelphia I get to do the fun role. I am the CEO who has just taken over a company and the students, (all of them have jobs in the real world), have to interview with me to keep their job. At the end of the day we debrief and I let them know who goes, who stays, and why. I try to make the scenario as real as possible. To do that I have to create a back story in my mind of what type of person my character is, his management style, what he values, and what he dislikes.

Like all worst case scenarios, the students are never told in advance what they will be undergoing. It is safe to say if you’re in a seminar with Dr. Barton and I walk in, the day is going to be stressful. It used to be stressful for me also, but I have gotten to a comfort level with challenging people in an educational setting.

Paul Kiser

As a potential violent employee I control the situation, which is similar to real life, but I always hope that I truly am the worst case they will ever experience in simulation or in real life. The goal of the seminar is to help the participants recognize a problem and deal with it before it becomes a crisis.

As the take-over CEO I ask the probing questions, but the student must present themselves in a manner that they feel will help preserve his or her job….or not. I always try to keep the scenario positive and give the students reasons to want to stay with the new company, but in order to keep it real I let them know that my expectations will not be the same that they had with their old company. I have had situations where the student didn’t even care if they kept their real-life job, so pretending to keep a job in a simulated environment was impossible for them.

The interesting thing about the exercise is that I get to know the students as real people and often I find myself wishing that I would have the opportunity to work with them in a non-simulated environment. Going through a stressful situation brings people closer, just like real life.

Breakthrough Training Radio Appearance

16 Tuesday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Information Technology, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, Public Relations, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM)

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99.1 FM Reno, Breakthrough Training, Jeffrey Benjamin, Motivational Speaker

Jeffrey Benjamin Motivates

This is an interview segment (about 6 mins.) on Jeffrey Benjamin’s (Breakthrough Training) radio show on Reno 99.1 FM on Sunday, March 14, 2010. Jeffrey is a motivational (kick you in the butt) consultant/speaker. I talked about my company and Rotary.

Breakthrough Radio Interview

Playing the Whole Game

15 Monday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Human Resources, Information Technology, Management Practices, Public Relations, Social Interactive Media (SIM)

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Employee evaluations, HR, Ohio State, performance reviews, Tom Peters

I’m not a big sports fan. I tend to skim through games and watch for a few minutes, but I don’t live for sports. Still, I watch enough to qualify for my chromosomes and I do understand the strategies used in most sports.

On Saturday I caught bits of the Ohio State vs. Illinois basketball game. It was a close game toward the end and Ohio St. did something that I really like…they played the whole game. Twice Ohio State was behind by two points and they had several seconds left. If they scored too soon it would give Illinois the opportunity bring the ball back down court and win the game.

The strategy many teams have in this situation is to stall and go for the last shot. But Ohio State didn’t follow the traditional strategy. They shot quickly and gave Illinois the opportunity to win. The irony is that Illinois did play for the last shot and in both situations they failed. In the end Ohio State won.

I was happy for two reasons. First, I was happy to see Illinois lose because the Illini (players and fans) are known for their trash talk. They think it is part of the game. The second reason is Ohio State won by playing the entire game. They didn’t stall and try to win in a last second shot for victory. They tied the game and then played defense.

Go Ohio State!

I’ve never understood the logic of the stall tactic. I know the only thing that counts is the score when the clock reads 00:00, but the measure of a team is what they can do for the whole game, not just up to the final 40 seconds and then stop playing until the last three seconds. What type of message does that send?

The Whole Game in Business
I see this attitude creep over into the business world. I was once told about a manager for a major package delivery company. He had a budget for labor and equipment. The manager would get a significant bonus if he was under budget on his labor and equipment, so he deliberately over worked his salaried supervisors, worked understaffed with his hourly employees, and didn’t purchase the needed equipment for the staff to do their jobs. He ‘won the game’ and got his bonus, but everyone hated working for him.

Some might think that this misuse of people and resources will eventually be discovered. It is not. Employees don’t like ratting on their boss because management often fails to act in situations where the manager is a success on paper and sometimes it is the employee that suffers for speaking out. To my knowledge this manager is still in his position and nothing has changed in five years or more. He might have even been promoted by now.

This is one of the reasons why I don’t like most performance evaluation tools. They may be based on ‘quantifiable’ measurements, but quantifying doesn’t equate to fairness. I don’t oppose goal setting, but business is and should be a dynamic process. Goals and performance measures make bean counters happy, but the can often be manipulated to work contrary to the needs of the employees and/or customers.

The focus of any business should be to play the whole game and not work for the score at the end of the ‘quarter’. This involves Management By Walking Around (MBWA) and letting small groups in the company experiment with new ideas (Skunk Works). If this sounds like old Tom Peters stuff, it is, but it’s GOOD old Tom Peters stuff.

Tom Peters

I read Tom Peters first book, In Search of Excellence, soon after it was published in 1982, and I have been a disciple of his rants for over 25 years. Of course, you don’t win many corporate popularity contests when you’re guiding principles are reflected by a rejection of the status quo, but I’ve yet to be proven wrong….just fired or let go. I’ve been dusting off some of his books and scanning them again. I believe that almost everything a business person needs to be successful can be found in Tom Peters writings.

We’re facing a new business environment and it’s time we rejected the habits we fell into during the last 10 years. We can start by going back to the basic question: What does the customer need and how can we provide what they want, before they want it, and better than they expect? Get that question right and everything else is easy.

Go Ohio State!

Fortnight: Chapter 3

14 Sunday Mar 2010

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Book, Fiction, Fortnight, Murder Mystery

CHAPTER 3
Beware the Ides of March

Sunday, March 15, 2020 1:08 PM MDT
It was a cold day in March in the Denver Women’s Rehabilitation Center. Most of the visitor tables were occupied with a prisoner and friend or relative, but one table had an elderly man sitting alone…waiting.

A large Hispanic prison guard escorted a woman in the adjacent hallway outside the visitor room along a Plexiglas window that ran almost the length of the room. The guard stopped the woman and pointed to the waiting man. She shrugged her shoulders and they continued to the door. The woman turned her shoulders to walk past the guard holding open the door for her and crossed towards the table.

Liza McKay was a 23 year-old woman. If you looked closely you might be able to see that at one time she was much more attractive than she appeared today. Her face looked tired and worn as if she was beaten down, unworthy of even oxygen she breathed. Her dirty blonde hair was carelessly brushed as if she made a half-hearted effort to groom herself. Even the most casual observer could see that the light had gone out of her life.

As she approached the lone man at the table she wondered why she had agreed to meet with him. He had contacted by email and told her that he wanted to meet with her before she was released from prison. He only said that they had something in common and they could help each other. He made it clear that his intentions were not romantic. In the end she decided that she was not in a position to ignore someone who expressed an interest in her and who didn’t want to kill her. Still, she was wondering why she was going through with this.

Liza was convicted of manslaughter on the death of her two children when she drove her car into Chatfield Reservoir. The prosecution had built their case that she had intended a murder/suicide and that once the car hit the water her survival instinct took over and she swam to safety leaving her children to drown. Unfortunately, there was no evidence to confirm the prosecution’s theory. They had no suicide note and no witnesses. They managed to bluff her into thinking that their offer of manslaughter was a gift and her court assigned lawyer neglected to tell her that if it went to court it was likely all charges would be dismissed.

She was serving a twelve-year sentence; however, after three years the Colorado Corrections Service had been ordered by the court to release ten percent of the female inmates because of overcrowding. Elizabeth was selected for release because she was judged to be a low risk threat to society. Her last evaluation suggested that if released she would likely not reintegrate back into society and would kill herself within six months. As part of the conditions of her release she was ordered that she couldn’t have children for at least ten years, nor work in a job that cared for children. Now she would be released sometime in the next two weeks and this man was her only contact she had with the outside in the last two years.

“Miss McKay,” the man said as he stood and held out his hand. “Yes…Robert Pritchard?” she asked. “Would you mind explaining what this is about,” she continued. The man hesitated for a moment. He knew that she was at a flash point and he needed an opportunity to be heard. “As I said in note, we have something in common, Miss McKay.” “And what would that be,” she said cynically. Robert ignored the tone and continued, “I am an outcast that never was.” Liza looked confused. He continued, “It would be easier if they would cast you out…send you away…but they don’t. They make you live, surrounded by your shame, never allowed to forget.”

Robert had gotten her attention. Liza’s worst fears of life after prison had been validated. She suspected that she would never have a normal life again and this man was confirming it. He saw that she was really listening now. He kept going, “I have done some bad things in my life and most people probably wish I was dead. For a while I wished I was dead…but I don’t anymore. I want to live and I want to help others like me….that’s why I’m here.”

Liza was still wary but some part of her wanted to believe there might be hope that her life might recover after prison. “I don’t want to join a cult,” she warned him. He smiled and said, “It’s not a cult. We get together, …sometimes at a coffee shop, sometimes for a beer,…we talk, get our frustrations out, support each other, make suggestions, and we protect each other.” She had almost stopped listening. He noticed that her eyes lost focus and he waited for her to come back. Still in almost a trance she said, “God, I miss Chai tea.” He smiled and said, “We can put that at the top of the list.” She smiled and then Liza’s mood changed, “I’m supposed to be making my release plans…I don’t know…,” her words stopped. Robert knew what she needed. “We can help with that. I’ll check with the group and we’ll give you a couple of options of where to go after you’re released…you choose….and we’ll set it all up and make the arrangements for your transportation.” This was the first person who had been nice to her in years and she didn’t know how to respond. “Mr…I forgot your name, I’m so sorry!” He again smiled and said, “Robert, Robert Pritchard, but please call me Robert.” Before she could continue he said, “We also have a small fund for your living expenses when you get out. It will help until you get a job. Our group will also start looking for job possibilities for you.”

He had done what he came to do and now it was time to listen. He waited.

Liza began to softly cry. It was a foreign emotion to her. She had protected herself from the endless punches of hate and anger around her and now someone was being compassionate and she didn’t understand why. She had been afraid to go back to the real world for fear of the unexpected and now someone was helping her establish her life again. She didn’t know what to say, but finally she said, “What do you get out of this?” He responded, “Your support. That’s what we do. We support each other. Eventually, maybe you won’t need our group, but until then we’ll take care of each other.”

“Please understand, before today I didn’t know what I was going to do and now you show up and give me the best future I could hope for..and I’ve learned to be suspicious.” He looked her in the eye and said, “Keep that suspicious nature. It may save your life. Our group will work with you and your probation officer. If at any point you or your probation officer feel we are not acting in your best interest we will walk away.” She thought for a moment and said, “What do I do next? He replied, “The group will meet this afternoon and will start working out the details. Let the Warden’s office know that we’ll be contacting them on your behalf. Then we go step by step.”

“Thank you…,” she wanted to say more, but didn’t know what to say. They both stood and they shook hands. Then it suddenly hit her, “Wait, what is the group’s name?” He got a funny look on his face and then said, “Well, most of us call it F Squared, but our founder calls it Final Forgiveness.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, OH MY!

12 Friday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Human Resources, Information Technology, Management Practices, Public Relations, Rotary, Social Interactive Media (SIM)

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Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter

My boy, Alexander, is almost four years and five months old. In one month (Jan. 2010) Facebook had almost one unique visitor (134 million) for each second Alexander has been alive. That is a 95% growth over Jan. 2009.

Alexander - The same age as Twitter

Twitter is also four years old and it has over 23 million unique visitors the same month. Their growth during this last year was ‘slightly’ bigger than Facebook. Twitter grew by 294% in one year. By the time my son is eight, Twitter plans to have over 1 billion users.

It is staggering to see how many people are connected in the Social Media world, and even more staggering to see how much it is changing every month. A person who graduates from college this May from a four-year Business or Marketing program started college before Twitter existed. Business colleges are trying to teach students about a world that is undergoing an extreme makeover every six months and they recognize the importance of social media in business. Fortunately for students at U of NV, Dr. Simmons (www.bretlsimmons.com) is staying on the top of the tsunami of social media and how it impacts Branding. Dr. Bret Simmons of the University of Nevada Business School calls Twitter “the center of the Social Media universe.”

But what about the rest of us. Why should we care about Social Interactive Media (SIM)?

SIM: End of Innocence
Imagine two people. Each want to start a bicycle shop in Davis, California. One rents space, puts up his business sign, advertises in the local paper and puts out flyers.

The other person does all that and also has a Facebook page, Tweets regularly on various items of note for bicycle enthusiasts, has a website with a shopping cart feature that allows people to order parts and purchase bicycles, and the owner has a blog about cycling in and around Davis. Who do you think will have more success? All other things being equal, the one who has better SIM smarts will have the advantage.

But it doesn’t just stop with business marketing. SIM is influencing opinion, shaping discussions, and in general changing everyone’s life whether they participate in the new media or not. Life is being changed because so many people are now involved in Facebook, Twitter, and other SIMs. A person can choose not to be involved and disconnect themselves from all forms of new technology. There will be a segment of our population that does exactly that; however, they will find themselves more and more out of touch with a world that isn’t waiting for them. No one knows what our society will look like in five years, but for those who unplug themselves from society, I think they will find the world is a lonely, foreign place.

Management by Coup 1: Eliminate Employee Evaluations

11 Thursday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Human Resources, Management Practices, Re-Imagine!, Rotary, Tom Peters

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Employee evaluations, HR, job standards, performance reviews, Tom Peters

by Paul Kiser

Paul Kiser - CEO of Enterprise Technologies, inc.

I have worked many years in Human Resources and at one time my job was to help managers write employee job standards and performance evaluation tools. I would like to now publicly apologize for playing a role in the dark side of management.

HR people can give you dozens of reasons why employee evaluations are absolutely necessary. You need to give the employee feedback, you need to let the employee know your expectations, evaluations are documentation of the employee performance, documentation is needed for disciplinary actions, blah, blah, blah, blah…it’s all BS. Here are four myths about employee evaluations:

Myth #1: Employees need periodic feedback
WRONG! Employees need constant feedback. Respectable HR people will tell you that there should be nothing discussed during the employee evaluation that they were not already aware of; however, in actual practice the employee evaluation is the moment many managers use the GOTCHA Management Technique by dredging up hearsay and listing new expectations that the employee has never heard before the evaluation.

Tom Peters discussed a technique known as MBWA or Management by Walking Around. The basic idea is the manager stops wasting time sitting in an office and spends it by interacting with his or her employees and customers. This brilliant 21st Century management technique was first discussed in the book, In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman in 1982! For over 25 years managers have been told to get out of her or his office to manage and yet some people still don’t get it.

Myth #2: Evaluations are needed to support disciplinary action
While some managers use the evaluation as a GOTCHA moment, others will minimize a negative performance issue in order to maintain a positive working relationship; therefore, an employee’s evaluation often fails to support disciplinary action taken against them. Time after time an employee’s lawyer seizes on a lack of evidence in the employee’s evaluation to justify disciplinary action by the employer. A manager is better off having written documentation of a problem at the time of the incident rather than trying to use the evaluation to document an issue regarding the employee’s performance.

Myth #3: Evaluations are needed to determine pay increases.
Pay increases need to be fair and equitable, but many organizations find that withholding a pay increase based on performance causes more potential legal problems than is solves, and punishment destroys employee morale rather than improves an individual’s performance. Pay for performance was a novel idea that never delivered on the promises of improved productivity by the HR department.

Myth #4: If a manager is not required to do periodic employee evaluations they will never give the employee the information they need to excel at their job.
An evaluation does not a good manager make! If a manager is not giving constant feedback to their team, then what good are they?

Life Without Evaluations
I know it seems unthinkable for some, but evaluations are an HR imposed control system that is completely unnecessary. In fact, evaluations do more harm to teamwork because they create a formal “Us vs Them” situation between the manager and the worker. Evaluations can make a manager feel superior and that is not a good foundations for positive employee relations.

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Weather (or Whether) Report

11 Thursday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Lessons of Life, Management Practices

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Today was sunny with blue skies. Average temperature for today is 56F (13C) degrees. Unfortunately, despite a brilliant sun all day, the high temperature was 13F degrees below that average and we had fresh snow on the ground this morning. For some the unseasonable cold might make one believe that Winter was never going to end.

Any other day the Sun would have bumped us up over 60F (15C) degrees, but today arctic air won. I am convinced within a few days or so the Sun will bring us back to normal, maybe even higher than normal.

Whether it is the weather or life in general, it is easy for people to become discouraged. I am no stranger to falling into the trap of negative thinking, especially when it comes to the weather. I grumble about the cold, the short days, the snow, the lack of snow, almost anything. I should live at a lower latitude, but I’m not sure it would help my attitude.

Burning off the Fog

The problem is that unhappiness spreads like an infection and unhappy people do stupid things. Last week I heard a speaker talk about wacky laws and how the wackiest laws are a reaction to some event.

Humans don’t do their best work when they are unhappy, and now there are a lot of unhappy people. People are out of work, money is tight, and it’s still Winter. Unfortunately, right now a lot of people are making decisions and this is not the best ‘season’ to make those decisions. The truth is we have a lot to be happy about. A year ago it looked like there was no bottom to the economy, jobs were being slashed at historic rates, and the financial earthquake was rocking the entire world. Things are a thousand times better now, but we still have a lot of discouraged people and I don’t really understand why. Spring is already here and Summer will follow, but we are still reacting to last year’s disaster.

My four year-old boy likes Curious George on PBS. I find it amusing that some of the greatest disasters in the life of the “Man in the Yellow Hat” are preceded by him saying, “Be a good little monkey.” One can question the wisdom of the man in yellow when he leaves Curious George alone for long periods, but you have to admire his ability to keep a positive attitude even in the face of constant monkey-caused disasters.

A lesson for us all.

Not so Greats are Killing American Business

10 Wednesday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Human Resources, Management Practices, Public Relations, Rotary

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Business, Good to Great, Jim Collins, Management Practices, Re-Imagine!, Tom Peters

by Paul Kiser

Tom Peters is one of the most annoying people in the world. I say this because people are usually annoyed by a person who is always right and Tom Peters is almost always right. For decades he has been scolding business, mocking those who excel at mediocrity, pointing out companies that are doing it better, and generally being relentless at not accepting the status quo in the corporate world. Sure he gets paid big bucks to chastise organizations and industries to their face, but that doesn’t mean they like him.

Tom Peters book, Re-Imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age

After almost 30 years of spelling it out for executives and business leaders that they are doing it wrong, he still makes a great living from ranting at the corporate world. The reason is simple. It’s not because it is difficult to take his advice. It’s not because Peters asks the impossible. It’s not because the corporate world consists of stupid people (well, maybe a few). The reason Tom Peters is able to continue his assault on business is because he offers the perfect commodity: Common sense in a nonsensical world.

The problem is a fear of Greatness. Most people seem to be comfortable doing good work and live in terror of risking failure by going for greatness. Case in point: Government. Right now most State, County and Municipal governments are operating under the assumption that they have failed and the only thing they can do is plan for more failure. You can’t do great things when you have decided you’ve already failed.

Jim Collins book, Good to Great, talks about how great companies have a realistic view of the challenges they face AND at the same time those companies are absolutely certain that they will succeed. Taking the lessons learned from Collins research, greatness involves; 1) great AND humble leadership, 2) getting the right people in the right positions AND getting the wrong people out, and 3) confronting the facts, no matter how stark, AND believing that success is possible.

Tom Peters has shown repeatedly that we fall into traps of mediocrity and that’s the alpha and omega to squandering a great opportunity. I am constantly amazed at how many people have never read Peters and can’t figure out why business seems so hard to understand. I am more amazed at those that have read Peters and still don’t get that ‘good’ is never going to be ‘good enough’.

Fortnight: Chapters 1 & 2

08 Monday Mar 2010

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Book, Fiction, Murder Mystery

FORTNIGHT
by Paul Kiser

CHAPTER 1
Number One

Thursday, 14 May 2020 11:48 PM MDT
She was on her knees on the cold concrete clutching her arms to her chest. Frozen by fear and guilt, her mind could not focus on anything long enough to decide what to do next. She could not control her sobbing, which was the only sound that could be heard in the darkness. From behind her she heard him say, “I absolve you of your sins.” Suddenly she felt a sense of calm come over her. It all became crystal clear. This was his plan all the time. Her mind stopped racing.

She didn’t hear the gunshot as the bullet entered the back of her head before the sound reached her ears. She felt a shock, but she was dead before her face hit the warehouse floor. Her arms went limp as her body had launched forward from the impact. The echo of the shot filled the large, empty building and then silence. The blood oozed from around the back of her head and found the easiest route to the concrete. The smell of gunpowder now filled the air.

“That’s one” he said.

CHAPTER 2
P1

Friday, May 15, 2020 10:11 AM MDT
“So this is what it feels like to be rich,” she thought to herself. Gwen Ortiz hadn’t owned a new car since high school and now she was driving a brand new chrome with blue accents, class three, triple hybrid heading north on the I-25 just past the Boulder Turnpike. Fifty years ago this part of the north Denver suburbs was just being developed, but 2020 she was barely out of the downtown area. The week had started out cold and stormy, but today it was nice enough to open up her sunroof. She hoped it would be a quiet day because she just wanted to enjoy some bonding time with her new wheels.

Gwen was not a startling attractive young woman, but she certainly not unattractive. She was the type of woman that would cause an admiring look from a male observer, but in a business environment her demeanor was all business. Her shoulder-length brunette hair was not in fashion, but it gave her a look of ageless sensibility. Today’s style of short cropped hair was not something that appealed to Gwen, nor were the tailored shirts with ties. She didn’t like pandering to a male look in order to gain respect and she found times when her female charm could be useful in a career dominated by older ex-cops. Despite Gwen’s opinion, the majority of professional women had adopted a look of their male counterparts. With the exception of prostitution, dresses were unheard of in the professional world. Even Gwen wore slacks as it would have sent the wrong message to wear a dress on the job, but she liked dresses and skirts and hoped they would come back into favor someday soon.

She was thinking that maybe she should swing by home, change into a skirt and top and take a drive up into the mountains. It would help her disengage from work and she deserved a break. She decided to head back home to change. Gwen guided the new car down the next off ramp and turned left under the freeway and turned left again onto the on ramp heading south. Then her car and cell phone began to sing. She glanced at the number in display on the dash, hesitated, then finally touched the screen. Then sunroof began closing. Gwen thought maybe she had done something wrong, but then realized that it must be a built-in function of the car programming.

“What’s up?” she said, barely disguising her impatience. She knew the voice on the phone. Of all the policemen on the force, this was the one she trusted. “Where are you?” the familiar male voice asked. “I was thinking about leaving town,” she answered half jokingly, “I’m on the I-25, what’s up?” “We’ve got a new one, and you’re gonna want this one.” the caller told her. Gwen had thought about turning down a new contract and continuing with her plan, but when Tommy said that she was going to want it, she knew that it was either a high profile case, or a lucrative case. Tommy was doing Gwen a favor and both of them knew it. “Anyone I know?” Gwen asked tentatively. “Not personally, but you remember a mom that drove her car into Chatfield with her two kids, then left them to die?” Tommy didn’t wait for her response and continued, “Her name was Elizabeth McKay”. “Wasn’t there something about her on the web recently,” Gwen asked. “Yeah, the LCI couldn’t prove it was murder, but they got her on manslaughter and she served three years and just got out early. A lot of people were unhappy about the short sentence,” Tommy said. Gwen could see why Tommy called her. The police force and the public would like to see this woman back in prison and she is suspected of doing something illegal. Her job would be to prove she should be back behind bars. “What did she do now?” Gwen asked. “She got herself killed….somebody executed her last night.” said Tommy.

Gwen’s mind quickly changed gears. She didn’t need Tommy to describe the wounds. She knew that she must have been shot in the back of the head, or possibly in the middle of the forehead with two shots to the heart. “The DA is nervous about this one,” Tommy added. “M1 or 2?” Gwen asked. “Neither, it’s a P1 contract,” said Tommy. Gwen needed a moment to let ‘P1’ set in. Tommy let her think for a moment before he continued,

“You can hire up to three other LCI’s, and assistant and an Admin, but any travel out of the area or expenses over $100,000 will need to be approved by the District Attorney. You will have an Assistant DA at your disposal. The DA wants daily reports and a written report at the end of each week. In the end you’ll need to file your normal summary report and expenses, but the Admin should do that. I have a suggestion for the Admin. He worked on the Bennett case. I’ll send you his name and everything else you need to know in an email. The scene is at 4780 Geneva in a warehouse. Enter from the east side. Don’t screw it up.”

Gwen hit END on the steering wheel. She had never worked on a P1 case before and Tommy couldn’t have given her the case if the DA hadn’t personally approved her as the lead LCI. An M1 case would have meant $15,000 to $40,000 net for her, but a P1 case has an unlimited budget plus staff. This was not just murder and it was more than an execution. There was something more that the DA and Tommy weren’t telling her, but Gwen wasn’t going to question their motives. She had a new car to pay for and this one would do that and more. This case could set her up for life.

Ten years ago Gwen’s business didn’t exist. Back then a police force had detectives to investigate everything from theft, to rape, to murder. Now a city police force consisted of patrol officers and administration. Everything else was contracted out. The police did keep pornography and vice in their investigative services, but that was mainly because those crimes are easy picking for cops. Even if a person were innocent they would plea bargain to keep their name out of the papers, so the conviction statistics were near 99% What muni-government would cut funding to keep ‘perverts’ off the streets?

But theft, rape, and murder were too messy. Too many hours of investigation with little or no results. Muni-governments quickly learned that by contracting out investigations to Licensed Contract Investigators, or LCI’s, they could make a budget for investigations and control the costs. An LCI would have to do their work for a set price and if they didn’t get results, they didn’t get more work. Everyone wins…at least that was the line of the politicians. But privatization of social functions has a way of overlooking the negatives. Negatives like the cases left uninvestigated because the expense and time would likely exceed that payout. Negatives like the LCI who cuts corners on an investigation to reduce expenses on case where the defendant is too poor to challenge the shoddy investigation. Still, taxes hadn’t been increased in ten years and nobody wanted to touch that issue.

Gwen had been licensed for three and a half years now. Mostly small cases, but she was given two murders in the past eight months and had done well on both. Tommy was a Senior Investigative Services Procurement Officer (ISPO) and he like Gwen’s attitude and ethic. Gwen didn’t give excuses, she just worked harder and for that she towered over her fellow LCI’s. Tommy wouldn’t take a risk on a P1 case. He knew Gwen would be the person to get the job done, and get it done quickly. The last P1 case involved the killing of three Democratic candidates, including one running for Governor. It took eight months, cost over six million dollars and in the end the person the LCI had accused turned out to be in Los Angles on the day of the murder. The case was so badly handled that the DA asked the judge to dismiss the case. A lot of people had to find new careers after that one.

The type of case determines the budget for the LCI. Theft cases are almost always under $1,000 and the theft loss has to be at least 200% of the investigative budget…unless the victim wants to pay for the LCI’s time. Rape and sexual assault cases have budgets from $2,000 to $5,000, again, unless the victim and/or family want to pay more. Murder cases begin at $5,000, but the ISPO, like Tommy can authorize budgets up to $100,000. The DA can authorize anything higher, including dipping into a federally mandated emergency fund. A P1 case, or Priority One case has no limit on the budget, but it does require oversight by a Senior ISPO and the DA. P1 cases assume that the general public is in danger and that there is a risk of additional murders.

Gwen was mulling over why this case would justify P1 status as she took the Havana Street exit. A P1 case typically involved terrorism or a serial killer, but someone killing a killer hardly seemed worthy of an unlimited budget. Maybe this was not the first vigilante type killing and they saw a pattern, but even still, calling a P1 case would mean committing money that would bring the attention of state and federal authorities. There was a real danger that the feds would step in and take the case away from her. Gwen suddenly felt a heavy feeling in her stomach. This case could set her up for life, or end her short career.

The warehouse was your typical industrial type building. A large building that covered almost a block running north/south, and a half a block running east/west. It was probably two stories high, but with no windows, you couldn’t really tell. It was probably built more than twenty years ago, but the outside had been painted sometime in the last five years. Three police cars were in the parking lot, plus an ambulance, and a few other official looking unmarked cars. He saw an officer standing by a door and figured that was the entrance point. The officer was a typical patrol type. He looked to be about 250 lbs. with a shirt that was stretched over his bulging muscles. Steroids may have no place in sports, but in law enforcement they are an unwritten requirement.

She nodded at the officer, flashed her LCI license and badge, and the man opened the door for her. She had been an LCI for less than a year before she learned that there is no purpose served in making conversation with a patrol officer. They can’t do anything for you but open the door, tape off a crime scene, and bust heads. Beyond that they stick to themselves in their own cult. Asking them a question will generally result in a condescending look and a shrug of the shoulders. Gwen noted that this one must be new to the force. Experienced officers make the rookies guard the door, and this officer almost smiled. Real patrol officers have a stone face that never changes. Police officers usually don’t like LCI types. Probably because they think LCI’s are overpaid private detectives that get to do the easy work.

As she walked in from the bright light of the morning sun her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the warehouse. The lights were on, but it wasn’t very well lit. She walked a few steps straight in and then saw a group gathered to her left. One man broke away from the group and came to meet her. “That didn’t take you long,” said Tommy. “I was just north of the Turnpike,” replied Gwen. “Has CSI been called?” she asked. “Not yet,” Tommy nodded. “I prefer Reese’s group,” Gwen said. “You make the call…you’re the P1 Lead Investigator,” Tommy reminded her. Gwen dialed her cell phone as they walked toward the group. She hesitated as the Rocky Mountain CSI dispatch answered. She gave them the needed information, ended the call, and then continued to head toward the group of men.

As they met the group Tommy made the introductions. There were four patrol officers, three other police administrators, two paramedics, and one other person who was described as an aide of the DA. Gwen knew two of the police administrators and had interviewed one of the patrol officers as the first on the scene her first murder case. She didn’t know the others. After a few pleasantries she quickly turned her attention to the crime scene.

The body was of a young woman, maybe 30, lying on her stomach. Gwen could only see the right side of her face and the arms were along her sides. The pool of blood was mostly near her head and upper body but the floor must have been sloped because it had slowly flowed away from her head and to the left. It was a single shot to the back of the head. Likely she was on her knees, but the autopsy would determine the bullet angle.

“Who found her?” Gwen asked. “Officer Rodriguez was first on scene, but we had received an email,” said Tommy. He handed her a folded page from his pocket. She opened it up and read it. It was addressed to the Denver District Attorney:

My first kill was to atone for the sins of the mother. She killed, and kills, but maybe her greatest sin was in not killing. You will find her body at 4780 Geneva St. There will be 13 more.
14

Now Gwen understood the P1 status. A serial killer had made his first kill.

Does Anybody Understand PR?

07 Sunday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Management Practices, Public Relations, Rotary

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Facebook, Public Image, Publicity, Social Media, Twitter

by Paul Kiser

Question: What is PR.
Answer: The 16^th and 18^th letters in the Alphabet.

Paul Kiser - CEO of 2020 Enterprise Technologies, inc.

That’s probably the best answer most people can get today about the beast that has become Public Relations. Public Relations used to be so simple. It was about promoting your organization. You did it through newspapers, radio, and television. If you were good at it you could disguise it so it looked like news. It involved writing skills, and people skills, and often it involved that attractive young, female, PR representative in the tight business skirt. It was all so easy…if you knew what you are doing and had the right connections to the right people.

And then came the Internet, and bloggers, and MySpace, then Facebook and Twitter. Perky people fell in love with the new ‘social media’ and the cynical people loathed it. Young people became texting experts and old people smirked and scoffed at the young people…well, maybe old people have always done that…but they did it more.

Slick PR types smiled, and then didn’t smile as much, and then didn’t smile at all. A tight skirt didn’t translate on the Internet. A slap on the back didn’t register on the virtual shoulder. All the ‘critical people to know’ at the newspapers, radio stations, and television stations were not as important in a world that was tuning out of traditional media. Newspapers started measuring the drop in circulation not by how much it dropped from last month, but how much the percentage of drop increased from last month. Publishing became something anybody could do, not just magazines and newspapers…and the soft thud we heard was the editor’s cigar hitting the floor as they sat in their 1960’s office chair with mouth agape while kids with cell phones were ‘scooping’ reporters with laptops.

O Brave New World
New technology did not kill PR, just everything we knew about it. The PR Stoics still say that PR really hasn’t changed, but who are they trying to kid. The field of Public Relations is changing daily, sometimes hourly. A 15-year old kid can make a bigger splash than a 30-year PR veteran, and the teen can do it in one Tweet.

Public Relations has been evolving for over a decade; however, in the past five years the media world experienced a 10.0 magnitude earthquake in best practices of PR that has shattered everyone’s understanding of the field. Whether it is a corporate entity, a non-profit organization, or a political campaign; what worked in 2005 is only going to work for a smaller and older segment of a society. The Public Relations experts are mixed in with everyone else trying to stay on top of the tsunami of change.

Reality Check in a Virtual World

Publicity is not Public Relations –Get the message out, yes, but then listen for the response
All Public Relations is local – “How does this impact me?” is the only question people want answered
Public image is about what OTHER people think about your organization – Forget what you know, it’s what they think that is important
Genuine trumps ‘Slick’ every time – Manipulation and selling is red flagged by the social media audience
Passion trumps formality for the social media audience – Passion scares the traditional audience
New PR: Shape the message to the audience – Old PR: Control the message!
Communication is organic and messy – PR is about doing 1000 LITTLE things right, not just one BIG thing right
The true value of advertising is declining – Super Bowl ad may be seen, but does it translate to commerce?
Advertising = Spam – The audience has found the OFF button and they are not afraid to use it!
Public Relations is a two-way process, not just broadcasting –Can people find out more? Can they even find you?

more Connected, more Segmented, and more Complicated
The new world of social media allows us to be more connected, but it also make us more aware of things we may not like or agree with on flashpoint issues. This can cause some people to ‘unfriend’ or ‘unfollow’ with those that they disagree, which divide people into segments of like-minded audiences. Organizations need to be aware of their audience and how that audience perceives everything they do. Even one worker can have a negative or positive impact the on public relations of an entire company.

Public Relations is a now a 24/7/365 field where an organization has to understand all age groups, all media resources, and look in the mirror constantly to see what the public sees from their point of view. What works today may not work tomorrow. What worked yesterday might be novel enough to work again. Branding is important, but like a woman’s make up, too much and you look like a whore. An organization’s public image is the sum of its individuals as much as it is advertising. Everyday Public Relations gets more chaotic and less forgiving.

“Does anybody really understand Public Relations?” is the wrong question. The question is who can afford not to?

Should Managers Be Certified?

06 Saturday Mar 2010

Posted by Paul Kiser in Human Resources, Management Practices

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Certifying Management, Certifying Managers and Supervisors, Human Resources, Management Training, Professional Managers

Any Damn Fool
To be a lifeguard you must be trained and certified. To be a teacher in most school systems you must be trained and certified. To do important financial record keeping you must be a Certified Public Accountant. To be a carpenter you must be apprenticed and licensed. The same is true of plumbers, electricians, and almost all building trade workers. Doctors, lawyers, nurses, the list of licensed or certified vocations is endless.

But, any damn fool can be a manager.

There is no training requirement, no minimum standards, no testing, nor any regulation of the people who control the lives of those that depend on them for the guidance and instruction in the workplace.

But We Have Employment Laws
Some might say that we have employment laws to protect workers and in some situations we have unions. Employees can and do sue companies when a manager acts inappropriately. Federal, State, County, and Municipal agencies can also address issues of inappropriate acts of management. Problem solved! So what is the big deal?

In every case of poor management there is one common denominator. The individual manager that should know better, but doesn’t. If an individual manager acts in a way that is wrong, possibly even illegal, they can be sued or even fired, but that person can move on and still be a manager somewhere else. What is worse, if the company condoned the behavior, there may be little the worker can do because there is no individual accountability of a manager. In any other trained vocation there is individual accountability. If an electrician is asked by his employer to not follow code the person knows that it is her or his license at risk; therefore, there is a check and balance in the workplace. This same check and balance does not exist for a person in management.

Bringing Down the Economy Through Bad Management
In dissecting the causes of our current economic crisis we have learned that many managers coerced their workers to act in a manner that jeopardized not only the company, but the global economy. What if a manager was risking his or her management certification to follow the directives of the company? Certainly a certification is not going to stop bad management behavior, but it might cause a manager think about the consequences before they risk losing their career.

This problem extends beyond simple coercion. While many larger companies may have training programs for their managers to educate them on employment law and company policies on the treatment of workers, smaller companies do not have the resources to train their managers and often have the worst of the worst managers. The problem is that even the basic employment laws may not be understood by managers of small companies and if sued, the business may go bankrupt, leaving all the workers to suffer and the culpable manager free to look for his or her next job.

A Better Work Environment; Better, Wiser Managers; and Save Money
Certified managers might seem an absurd idea because it would impact so many employers and how they hire and promote management staff, however, consider the following:

State certified managers would be trained in Federal, State, and local laws and regulations thereby saving the companies from need to perform this function and save the expense of the labor and education costs.
Certified managers would be aware of laws; therefore, fewer issues of managers acting out of ignorance. Saving time, conflict-resolution, and litigation.
Certified managers would mean even small companies would have access to managers who meet the standards of all managers regardless of company size.
Company condoned acts that violate the law, codes, or common sense would have to coerce the managers to risk his or her certification.
The Human Resources department could be significantly reduced and many internal policies on management behavior and standards eliminated.

Maybe it’s time we raise the bar on what it means to be in management and create minimum requirements and standards for managers.

3rd From Sol

~ Learn from before. Live now. Look ahead.

Monthly Archives: March 2010

Starbucks: A Tradition in Surprising the Customer

A Better Parent..Not Perfect

Starbucks One

Rotary@105: Our 1st Rotary Dropout

Reno’s Secret Extreme Disc Golf Course

Rotary: All Public Relations is Local

It’s Baaack: Sunspot Maximum Here It Comes

Management by Coup 2: Eliminate Job Standards and Job Descriptions

Rotary Public Relations and Membership: Eight Steps to a Team Win

Woe or Whoa is me

Passionate People Can Save a City

Training for the Worst Case Scenario

Fortnight: Chapter 3

Management by Coup 1: Eliminate Employee Evaluations

Weather (or Whether) Report

Not so Greats are Killing American Business

Fortnight: Chapters 1 & 2

Should Managers Be Certified?