Random Thoughts

  It's been a while since I have posted and I have had lots of thoughts.  So in the tradition of Larry King's old USA Today column's Let's get started.  

I'm not sure why The IPad Mini is so popular.  I would not be happy with the smaller screen.  Why can't LinkedIn make their IPad app more like their website?  I tend to just go through safari than use the app.  I really want to see the new movie This is 40 when it comes out.  Does anyone recommend an online education platform?  I've taken a couple of online courses recently and I haven't been impressed.  Ultimately, it still will come down to the teaching and the content.  I've never been there, but I've always felt I should live in Denver.  I have been to Northern California and I think I should live there too.  By the way, I need a job in either Denver, or Northern California....Chicago would be fine too.  I'm really tired of hearing about the fiscal cliff.  Sometimes it feels like congress thinks it is just "playing" government and that their actions don't really effect the country.  I love the library.  If you don't visit regularly you are missing out.  I hope everyone is having a great holiday season.  Take some time of and spend it with loved ones, they will appreciate it.

We must change the meaning of education

As some of you know, I'm a big fan of Seth Godin.  He is an incredible thinker and has profound thoughts on many subjects.  Earlier this year he wrote a 30,000 word manifesto on the future of education.  Here is a Link to the book and a TedX talk he gave on the subject.  Please share with as many people as possible.  I think the topic of education reform is very important.

It's Hard to Find a Job

I know most of you read the title of the post and thought....Duh!  Of course it's hard to find a job.  Let me explain.  I spent 15 years working for the same organization consistently getting promotions, achieving success, and being a highly respected leader.  I assumed because of my previous success, and everything I feel I can bring to an organization, it wouldn't be that hard to find a new role.....Ok, stop laughing.  I've never really been involved in an in depth job search before.  I didn't know how hard it can be.  The frustrating part is when they pass on you it's difficult to find out why.  I totally get from an HR perspective why they don't want to discuss it, but as someone who's trying to learn how to find a new job it's not very helpful.  

Here is the takeaway for me.  I still think when a company passes on me they are making a mistake, but I also think it's my fault that I wasn't able to present myself in a way to make them understand why I should be hired by them.  I also will be much more empathetic when I do find a new job and have to hire people.  I will keep working on that and keep you updated.  Feel free to comment and share any stories you may have.

The new IPhone

This past Friday the iPhone 5 was released to record-breaking sales and favorable reviews, yet what I have been hearing from a lot of people is about all the things the iPhone can't do, or is a year late being able to do.  Yes, LTE, I'm talking to you.  Every year a new iPhone is released and people are surprised that the improvements are evolutionary and not revolutionary.  Just to be clear, you can only invent the iPhone once.  After that it's just how can we make it better. Samsung took some shots at Apple this week in regard to how much allegedly better the Galaxy S III is.  In full disclosure, I have never used an android phone.  I'm even willing to bet they have some good phones, but there are new android phones all of the time and only one iPhone a year.  Apple is going to make the best overall phone they can make where their competitors make phones in all shapes and sizes and hope one sticks with consumers.  The iPhone, and all Apple products for that matter, speak to people who like things that just work.  You either buy in to the utopian world Apple is trying to create, or you don't.

Terrestrial radio is dead

I read a column last week that Dan Mason, the President of CBS radio wrote, proclaiming that radio was far from dead.  Early in my career I worked in radio, and it's an industry I still follow closely.  Mr. Mason talks about the changing demographics of the listeners and how innovative the industry is with all of their streaming apps  and HD radio and how we may never have another Howard Stern, Tom Leykus, or Rush Limbaugh again.  I fell in love with radio for the personalities.  Johnathan Brandmeir, Steve Dahl, Howard Stern.  To me, this is radio.  Not voice tracks and a few cookie cutter formats.  I subscribe to SiriusXM and listen to people like Adam Carolla and Marc Maron's podcasts regularly.  This is the radio I know and love and this is the radio I choose to listen to.

Goldberg,Version 2.0

I haven't been blogging for a couple of weeks as I went through a very large professional life change.  For the first time in 15 years I'm in between jobs, a free agent, taking time to catch my breath.  Frankly, that's all just fancy talk for unemployed.  The last couple of weeks have been interesting for me as I've transitioned from Rich Goldberg from X company to just plain old Rich Goldberg.  It's not often in a career you get an opportunity to stop and not only smell the proverbial roses, but make different choices.  I've always told my employees as they managed their career to make sure they were going towards something and not just running away from situations that were challenging.  I'm looking forward to the process of going towards something.  I will keep you updated as well as continuing to give my thoughts on other business related topics.  Thanks for reading.

What are your core Competencies?

What are my core competencies is a question you should ask yourself every year.  Companies do it and so should employees.  We spend far too much of our time trying to improve what's "wrong" with us as opposed to taking greater advantage of our strengths.  I always try to make my weaknesses "less weak" and work hard to capitalize on what I'm good at.  The book is more than a decade old now, but I really recommend First, Break All the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.  There have been a few follow ups to the original, but this book changed my professional life and think it can help you as well.  The entire book discusses why we should focus on strengths and uses data from Gallup to back up their assertions.  Let me know if and when you read the book.  It would be fun to discuss.

The future of education

I just started taking CS 50 at Harvard College.  I have all of the lecture notes, video of the class sessions, the problem sets and the quizzes.  The amazing thing is the course cost me nothing.  Welcome to open courseware.  This is where colleges and universities create course content and share it freely across the internet.  The classes won't give you course credit, but will provide you with the same knowledge as the student who pays $20,000 a year in tuition.  What does this mean for the future of education?  I don't know, but I have a class to watch.  I'm trying to learn to program.  If you want more information on open courseware please go to OCW Consortium

Sunk Costs

I was looking for the best definition I could to properly explain a sunk cost and then I came across a Seth Godin blog post from 3 years ago which explains it perfectly.  Click on this and then come back to me.  Good reading, right?!  Especially in a down economy, we have to beware of the sunk cost.  Not all decisions are going to pan out, but we have to be willing to keep trying to make the right one.  My Dad said to me that "if you aren't making any mistakes, it means you aren't making enough decisions."  Too many organizations  aren't willing to make the right decision after a wrong one because it costs more.  I assert the costs will be much higher if you don't make the best decision in the moment.

Ipad dominates tablet market

Very interesting article from All Things D commenting on the utter dominance of the Ipad.  The Kindle Fire sales numbers have decreased.  Are people buying the discounted Ipad2?

Squeezing the Lemon

How many of you have ever disagreed with decisions made above you, but you had to execute?  You can  all put your hands down now.  Let's take this a step farther.  Have any of you either made, or executed a decision that was entirely about making your numbers this quarter, or even this year, but you knew the decision could potentially mortgage the companies future?  These are decisions managers and leaders have to wrestle with every day.  Where is the line between being efficient and lean vs. choking sales and service and causing longer term repercussions in the out years?  How many instances can you come up with where mass cutting of expenses have ended being a good long term decision for your company?  I pose these situations as questions because I'm not sure there is just one right answer, but I do think companies owe it to their employees, customers, and stockholders to operate as efficiently as possible every day so you can scale your costs up, or down based on the size of the business and not just slash, or "squeeze the lemon" to hit a number without really understanding how it will effect the day to day operation.

A spring buying/reading list

Seth Godin is one of my favorite business/idea/marketing writers.  If you don't already you should subscribe to Seth's blog.  I thought I would share with you a list of books and other items he is recommending this spring.  Let me know your thoughts.

The Online Myth

Saying you are an online company, or a digital company is the hip thing to do today and certainly the internet  does play an important part in our economy.  The problem I have with the internet as a business model is that some companies forget that "going online" is just a distribution and sales channel, it's not a panacea for a poor product, service, or business.  Business is still about sales and service.  Whether you are a brick and mortar, online, or mixed business, the fundamentals haven't changed.  Provide a great product at a fair price, provide superior service and you will win.  That was true yesterday, today and I promise it will be true tomorrow as well.

Communication

Whether in business, or in life nothing is more important than communication.  I also strongly believe that it is on the person communicating to make sure his/her message is heard accurately and in the way it was intended.  I recently spoke to a large group of people on a conference call with the objective of motivating the group toward a common goal.  I left the call feeling like I hit a home run, but 10 minutes later I got a phone call where I was told that I was not positive enough toward a specific company department.  I can sit here and tell you that I didn't think I was less positive in my praise toward this group, and it certainly wasn't my intent, but at the end of the day if that's what that group thought I said or meant that's what happened.  It's my job to communicate more effectively.  if anyone doesn't get a message the way I intended it means I screwed up and need to do better.