MONEY: The CEO needs a secretary with a calender

Monday, June 7, 2010

http://jxpaton.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/if-the-company-wins-the-employees-win-we-all-win/

If The Company Wins, The Employees Win. We All Win.
By jxpaton

*** begin quote ***

I promised it on my first day on the job – Feb. 1st.

A couple of weeks later, I wrote to you and blogged that we would have it done in a couple of weeks.

A couple of weeks after that, I said it would be ready – you guessed it – in a couple of weeks.

Well, it took four months but we finally have it done. Today, I am proud to unveil Journal Register Company’s first-ever profit-sharing plan. All employees should check your email, you will find a letter from me to participants along with an official description of the plan.

*** end quote ***

This doesn’t inspire confidence on several levels.

First, doesn’t the CEO have a secretary with a calendar to help him meet his commitments? Either way, any way, that doesn’t bode well for him as a leader. Can you imagine Eisenhower, Bradley, or better yet, Patton, failing to meet a promise made to his men in his command. If you can’t meet a relatively easy self-imposed deadline, then why should the troops believe what you say about the hard things?

Second, are you such a bad leader that you can’t estimate time: two delays and a three month silence (by your own measure). Disgraceful for a leader. And a leader who want to go digital? What email wasn’t working? Was there weekends off mixed in that four months? (My best / worst boss used to have Saturday staff meetings for ALL his executives when there was a Customer facing screw up or our availability fell below standard. Needless to say, that didn’t happen often. But, boy, it communicated his expectation to the organization!)

Third, a rank and file person doesn’t have the same level of commitment as the (well compensated) executives. The old joke about “in making ham and eggs, the chicken is involved but the pig is committed” plays here. The honchos are much more able to survive the failure than the workers. The target is an extra week. And the CEO’s bonus is how many weeks?

Sorry, but If I’m down at the bottom of the organization looking up, I’m not seeing anything that inspires confidence.

Same old “barbara streisand”!

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Posted by reinkefj

FUN: Happily ever after? Not so much

Sunday, June 6, 2010

http://www.impactlab.com/2010/06/06/top-10-photos-of-the-week-131/

201006062143.jpg

“Happily ever after? Not so much”

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I found this would be better titled: “Be careful what you wish for; you may get it!”

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Posted by reinkefj

JOBSEARCH: Revising SFYG again for 2010 (June 2010)

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Success for your generation is:

  1. Recognize that you may not work professionally from Age 50 on;
  2. You mush have ruthless financial discipline — no bad debt;
  3. Cultivate an interest in life long interest in learning — education — get a degree cheap — they can’t take it away from you;
  4. Seek a NON-OFFSHORABLE white collar job in order to save big bux;
  5. Develop a blue collar skill for hard times — never saw a poor plumber;
  6. Start one or more internet based businesses — your store is always open;
  7. Create a second business or avocation – under the radar – start small part-time;
  8. Grow a large will-maintained network of people who can “help” you;
  9. Buy assets that hold their value over time; and
  10. Emulate the Amish and Mormons for their sense of community, simple thrifty living, and true to core values.

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Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Doesn’t anyone remember 06 June?

Sunday, June 6, 2010

A lot of good men died today in 1944. Sadly, the day will pass unnoticed by most.

A special place in hell for all politicians.

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Some did:

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=37351

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Posted by reinkefj

TECHNOLOGY: Forgery or just a riddle?

Sunday, June 6, 2010

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3892674,00.html

Israeli art detectives crack forgery riddle
Sotheby’s discovers Israel Museum owns exact same painting about to go on auction in Amsterdam
Associated Press
Published: 05.26.10, 14:26 / Israel Culture

*** begin quote ***

Then Elon checked the fabric. The recently discovered painting was painted on cotton. The museum’s was done on linen, a more expensive material far more likely to have been used by a wealthy painter in Europe than by someone working in a poor city like Jerusalem.

The museum’s painting was the real thing, Elon concluded. The new arrival was the fake.

*** end quote ***

Hot stuff! Literally.

You have to admire “technology’s” ability to gather “evidence”.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: A “bad BB call” versus a “bad PR strategy”

Saturday, June 5, 2010

http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/2010/06/04/irrevocable-mistakes-at-work

Irrevocable Mistakes at Work
Posted in June 4th, 2010

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Heard about Jim Joyce, right? He is the umpire who cost Armando Galarraga a perfect game…only twenty EVER in major league baseball…with a horrendous call at first base with two out in the ninth inning.

He’s gone from goat to hero. Sportsmanship and all that. I heard Matt Lauer thank him this morning for the “teaching moment” he gave us all. To be fair, Umpire Joyce did admit his mistake right away, took the abuse like the man he undoubtedly is, apologized personally to Armando and did not hide from fans nor media. A class act, even with his outdated Leon Redbone mustache; luckily, there are no pictures of him in his wife beater or we all might not think so nicely about him.

*** end quote ***

http://www.northjersey.com/news/95486624_BP_oil_spill_is_a_public_relations_disaster__too.html

BP oil spill is a public relations disaster, too
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Last updated: Thursday June 3, 2010, 6:13 AM
BY ERIKA BOLSTAD The Record MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

*** begin quote ***

A litany of half-truths, withholding crucial video, blocking media access to the site and a failure to share timely and complete information about efforts to contain the largest oil spill in U.S. history have created the widespread impression that BP is suppressing the facts about the April 20 oil rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, if not misleading the public and the government.

*** end quote ***

Imagine the difference.

The head of BP gets up at a twice daily briefing and explains what is being done. Bring in real people to talk. Demonstrate how they are pulling out all the stops. Bring the people into the loop.

May not be a smart legal strategy, but it’s smart PR.

Explain why they had to drill in deep water. Explain about all the regs and safety they have to meet. Explain what the Plan A, Plan B, … Plan Z are.

Imagine the difference.

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Posted by reinkefj

FUN: Watching the Ford commercial with Jeter

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Does anyone really believe that Derek Jeter drives a Ford Edge — with or without the retractable roof, or Sirius?

Argh!

Come on, guys, advertising has to be at least believable!

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Posted by reinkefj

GAMBLING: “Wheels” are not equally probably

Saturday, June 5, 2010

THOUGHTS ABOUT CASINOS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS

Wheels are an inherently an “unfair gambling practice”.

You see the Big Wheel and you know that all the values are equally probable. The promise meets reality.

However on the Wheel of Fortune, and all the other slots where that’s a bonus, it’s not true.

The implication is that the results are all equally possible outcomes and they are not.

That’s deceptive.

And, should not be allowed or patronized.

Argh!

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Posted by reinkefj

POLITICAL: Fudging the unemployment numbers

Friday, June 4, 2010

http://www.cnbc.com/id/37507250

Weak Jobs Report Latest Sign ‘Recovery Is Still Pretty Tepid’
Published: Friday, 4 Jun 2010 | 10:23 AM ET
By: AP and Reuters

*** begin quote ***

Virtually all the job creation in May came from the hiring of 411,000 census workers. Such hiring peaked in May and will begin tailing off in June. By contrast, hiring by private employers, the backbone of the economy, slowed sharply.

*** end quote ***

Wow, what would that make the unemployment rate — 20%?

Argh!

Sorry, but we need a number that can’t be fudged, and can be audited. Weekly payroll tax receipts? That would show us “employed”.

Argh!

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Posted by reinkefj

ADMINISTRIVIA: Lumectomy complete

Friday, June 4, 2010

No complications. Not what they thought it was. (They thought cyst; it was “gunk”. Technical medical term?) Some what longer incision than I thought. Several days of care required. Two weeks later I get the stitches out. Then I’ll have a scar. Make me look like pirate?

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Posted by reinkefj

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