Listen Up
If you refuse to listen to or read opinions contradictory to your own, you’ll always believe you’re right. Of course, you’ll have no way of knowing if that’s actually true….
Podcast – The Uncomfortable Truth – Episode 15: Who Loves You?
“Why all of us require unconditional support at times and why it’s so difficult to obtain it.” Transcript: Welcome to The Uncomfortable Truth. This podcast is called, Who Loves You? That’s right, who loves you? There’s a great Four Seasons song, 1975. I used to see them at Rutgers. They cost us $2,500 in 1967. They’ve gone onto more than that. The Jersey Boys. But, who loves you? That is I’m asking you, on whom can you rely? Not as …
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 09/04/17
I’ve coached senior executives for a large part of my career. (When you’re consulting, you’re also coaching, so you might as well get good at it. This idea of coaching as some special discipline requiring “certification” from some arbitrary entity—Who certifies the certifiers?—is absurd.) One of the first questions I always asked was, “Are you having fun?” Usually, their reaction was to fire me until they realized that I had already been paid. They considered “fun” to be antithetical to …
To Be Continued?
We just binge-watched Westworld, which a lot of people had recommended, and we greatly enjoyed it. It’s the kind of raw stuff that could never be on network television. However, after the first, confusing episode we nearly abandoned it. I’m willing to work through uncertainty and strange plots, but I don’t respond well to an arrogance that I thought the producers were exhibiting toward their audience. Our friends said, “The first episode or two have to be tolerated, but after …
Trying Not to Lose Is Not the Same As Trying to Win
Here’s what happens when you try not to lose: • You readily make concessions. • You are not bold or provocative. • You become highly conservative. • You accept unfair treatment and conditions. • You become nervous and therefore that much more ineffective. Here’s what happens when you try to win: • You are assertive and take prudent risk. • You state your position and support it. • You will make reasonable but not unfair compromise. • You will stress …
My Insurance Exam
Everything I’m reporting below is true, with no embellishment. I was asked to take a physical exam to renew my major life insurance coverage. I showed up at a place in Warwick, RI. A very nice woman was assigned to work with me. She had very long nails (How would she do the blood test?) and quite a bit of makeup. She spoke English and Spanish fluently. She told me there were a lot of questions, and proceeded to read …
Houston
I hope you’re all considering sending whatever donation you can for relief services in Houston, primarily for people, but also for animals. Unfortunately, we’re about to see the tragedy worsen as people learn how totally inadequate flood insurance is in the US, in terms of acquisition, claims approval, and amounts paid. It’s an inadequate program, poorly run, and nowhere on Congress’s radar.
The Adventures of Koufax and Buddy Beagle
The Ultimate Stupid
A TV station in Virginia removed a veteran sportscaster from covering a basketball game, Robert Lee, because they were afraid his name would “offend” some viewers. There is a movement to ban the movie Gone with the Wind, because of the racist attitudes —historically accurate, heinous attitudes—portrayed in the Academy Award-winning film (for which Hattie McDaniel won the first Oscar ever for an African-American actor). Where does all this stupidity end? I’ll tell you: With no child understanding history and therefore …
Making Change
In the last couple of months, I’ve noticed clerks and cashiers in California, New Jersey, Nantucket, and Rhode Island struggling to make change. The register tells them that the bill was $26,85 and that $50.00 was submitted, therefore the change is $23.15. The clerks take the twenty from the till, but then have some trouble with the three singles and the fifteen cents. The put the money in their palms like marbles, and their mouths move as they count. Forget …
