March, 2011 | It's Worth Noting

Productivity

What’s the point of being more productive?

March 2, 2011

I’m a productivity junkie. I enjoy finding ways to be more efficient whatever the task. But why? To what end? Think about that question for a moment. Why do you want to be more productive? If you succeed, you’ll gain time, but where will the time go? This is a critical question, whether you lack motivation to be more productive or you’re a slave to productivity. If you just invest the time gained into doing more, you’re stuck in a vicious cycle because there will always be more to do. No wonder so many people could care less about being more productive. The reason I strive to be more productive is to capture time to invest in what’s most important to me, my relationship with Jesus and my family. If you had a similar goal in mind, focused on investing time gained into what’s most important to you, would you…

No cameras please. Remove all cameras.

March 24, 2011

Last week my wife and I attended a Cirque du Soleil show. The show was wonderful, but the scene at the security checkpoint left something to be desired. As we went through the line to present our tickets and gain admittance, an obligatory staffer yelled out, “No cameras please. Remove all cameras.” Meanwhile, thousands of people like us went through the line texting and playing with their smart phones to pass the time. Every single one of them is a camera. Probably 3/4 of them are also video cameras. Security personnel was oblivious. The scene is the same at almost every performance I go to where they check for cameras. How could these security companies and their personnel be so naive? I’d venture to say it is because they focus less on adapting to a changing environment and more on getting a changing environment to adapt to them. The tragedy is that…

Are you ready for the thank you economy?

March 15, 2011

I heard a talk yesterday by Gary Vaynerchuk about his new book: The Thank You Economy. His basic premise is that for companies to succeed in the coming decade they will have to genuinely care for their customers. By caring, he’s not talking about sending thank you notes or coupons to buy more. He advocates the need to care passionately and personally, to create a sticky experience focused on what’s best for the customer, not for you. While at the end of the day it’s business, you must humanize the interaction with customers to continue to win their business and maintain loyalty. He argues that if your caring baramoter is a Zappos, you’re aiming too low. You need to blow their customer care out of the water. What do you think? Are you planning on reading his new book? Are you evaluating how to revolutionize how you care for customers?

March 2011