Coffee is for Closers
March 4, 2010 by Steve Borsch · Leave a Comment
Do you deserve coffee?
At least a dozen times at sales meetings over the past 15 years or so, many sales leaders have trotted out this video snippet from the movie Glengarry Glen Ross and then expounded on its virtues, clearly using it as a great kick in the seat of our pants as salespeople. I’m here to point out how that this clip (after the jump and NSFW, by the way) is relevant to anyone who has to produce…whether you’re a developer/coder, factory worker, farmer, call center or support person, or in any field where results matter.
Alec Baldwin is on screen for less than seven minutes and, in my and many other people’s views, his is the defining performance of that movie and incredibly powerful. The premise, according to the Wikipedia article about the film, “Early in the movie Blake (Alec Baldwin) is sent by Mitch and Murray (the faceless owners of the real estate office in which the main characters work), to motivate them by announcing, in a torrent of verbal abuse, that only the top two sellers will be allowed the more promising “Glengarry” leads, and everyone else will be fired.“ This confrontation sets up the rest of the film: the motivations that the characters feel that this rainy night is a make-or-break one; the reason the incident with the Glengarry leads that occurs later on; and the promise that — if only each salesman was better at closing like Blake — that they could achieve the same sorts of results as a guy that made $920k, drove an $80k BMW and sports a $25k gold Rolex.
Anyone whose been in sales for any length of time knows that there are many variables that enable one to achieve wildly successful sales numbers. An enterprise software salesperson in New York, L.A. or Chicago has more opportunity than one in Kansas City, for example, and top performers are usually in major markets. Same thing holds true for those who sell into vertical markets where they canvas accounts across many geographies.
But any salesperson who has been even modestly successful also knows one fundamental truth, and it’s a truth that cuts across all professions and labors.
London Photography Will Get You Arrested
February 22, 2010 by Steve Borsch · Leave a Comment
Having spent time in the U.K., I’ve grown to love the country and especially London. At the same time I’ve been quite aware that the London police have continually been cracking down on “suspicious” photographers and yet another confrontation happened to what seems like a nice, reasonable guy out to photograph a Christmas celebration (via Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing) and he used his DSLR’s video function to record his arrest.
While I feel like I have 50% of the facts (e.g., we don’t see what he was doing as he photographed so can’t ascertain anything about his behavior) I still applaud him standing up to the police and not automatically handing over “his details” (i.e., his name, ID, etc.) without them telling him why he was being detained and specifically what he’d done.
For a country that could’ve easily succumbed to the tyranny of the Nazi regime — a government that didn’t allow their own citizens to do anything without having “their papers” on them at all times — I must admit not appreciating the irony in London police trampling on their citizen’s civil liberties. I do appreciate the tensions in London, what with their experiences with the IRA and other horrific acts of terrorism.
But anyone with half-a-brain and any technical chops knows how incredibly simple it would be for real terrorists to surreptiously photograph any spot, building or crowd without anyone being the wiser so it’s highly likely that this continued confrontational attitude by London police is akin to the security theater in the United States.
It also makes me wonder about my own behavior on a family trip to London a few years ago where I was probably “suspicious” as I photographed like mad near Downing Street, all the governmental buildings along Whitehall, waiting for my wife and kids as they souvenir shopped as I lurked by a pillar in Trafalgar Square snapping photos with my Nikon DSLR, and essentially playing the role of obnoxious tourist.
What will I be able to do next time I’m in London? For instance, I enjoy snapping photos of many things: alleyways; police cars; doorways; street perspectives; people; and crowds. Is my behavior going to cause confrontations with the London police? Probably, so I’ll undoubtedly be seeing the inside of a London jail but one that isn’t exactly geared to tourists!
Food, Inc.: I will never look at dinner the same way again
February 17, 2010 by Steve Borsch · 2 Comments
One of the benefits of Netflix on-demand streaming is the number of documentaries I’ve had access to and am watching, one of which my daughter and I watched last night called Food, Inc., and the movie troubled both of us and I’m still thinking about it this morning.
I can’t find the reference for the article this morning, but there was a research study I read a few years ago that compared the “cost” of a calorie 200 years ago (what it took to grow, harvest, cook and eat a calorie) vs. the cost in effort and energy today. It was significantly greater in the past, of course, and the other statement that stuck in my mind was that the typical American household had more calories in their cupboards than the typical family ate in a month in 1850 (I’ll keep trying to find the data and do an update).
Watching this movie pointed out that the efficiencies of our industrial food system, combined with farm subsidies that keep costs for commodities at artificially low amounts, have kept costs low throughout the food creation and distribution system. While cheap calories have helped America become the envy of the world as we feed millions of us and others around the world, it has also caused us to opt for processed foods over raw veggies and meals that we have to cook and made half of we Americans fat (and I can attest to that!).
Usually I try not to be an alarmist, but the opacity of the industrial food system has become quite troublesome and this movie pointed it out better than anything I’ve ever watched. This is not my attempt to vilify the food industrial complex, but rather ensure that more of us demand to know what’s happening up the food creation chain so we know what we’re eating. I’ve often said that if people could take one tour of a cow, pig or chicken slaughterhouse we’d have a helluva lot of vegetarians in America, but same goes for the amount of crap that’s in our foods.
Take a peek at this trailer and I’d encourage you to rent it and then you can head over to their Food, Inc. website and take action. If it doesn’t open your eyes and change your habits, I’ll wave when I see you in the supermarket as you buy your big bag of Doritos and Jimmy Dean sausage for supper.
Thinking about my Dad
February 15, 2010 by Steve Borsch · 4 Comments
Being self-employed has its advantages which, fortunately, usually outweigh the disadvantages. One huge advantage is that I’ve been able to help out my Dad as he’s needed to go to the doctor, have surgeries and so on over the last few years. Today any possible downsides were far outweighed by my being free to take my 84 year old Dad to a followup-from-surgery doctor appointment and it’s made me realize how lucky I am to have him and to be free to help.
This is a guy who has become increasingly frail over the last few years and I’m always struck by how he doesn’t seem that way when he’s in his own house at his kitchen table. There he is in command of his environment and it’s as though nothing has changed. Decades of being a smoker have taken its toll on his lungs coupled with all the other stuff that goes on with a body after seven decades plus on earth, but the way time beats down on people as they age is only in evidence when we’re out of his house. He usually can take himself anywhere but recent needs have made having help from my sisters and I a necessity. I’m glad I can be there for him when he needs us (my three sisters are there for him too) and that I was able to take him today and at other times in the past. Read more
Get Those Kids in to the Sunshine!
February 4, 2010 by Steve Borsch · 1 Comment
Studies have shown that 6 million of our kids are Vitamin D deficient, primarily due to the lack of being outdoors in the sunshine and soaking up this needed vitamin naturally. Fortified milk and foods — along with supplements if they’re given to kids — can help alleviate that problem, but unfortunately there are more compelling reasons to stay indoors and play videogames, use the computer, and be virtually connected to friends vs. being with them outside playing.
A couple of summers ago my wife and I came back from our nightly hour walk around the lake and I stopped dead in my tracks about a block from home. It was a perfect evening, not a cloud in the sky and 75 degrees, and there were no kids outside playing! This in a neighborhood which, at the time, had dozens of kids between the ages of 4 and 15 years of age.
When my bride and I were growing up TV was the main electronic distraction but Mom & Dad usually had it tuned to their favorite station until later on when we both became multi-TV households. Even then, it seemed like there were so many other things to do that TV took a back seat to playing with friends. After dinner, we couldn’t wait to get outside and play with friends and in my neighborhood kick the can was the game of choice which we played for hours every day in the spring, summer and fall.
This is not a Luddite-type post since I’m a huge fan of technology, social media and virtual connections. Still, the overweight population continues to grow and we need to find the balance. Reading this blog, you’re probably someone who “gets” the power and usefulness of the accelerating change going on with the internet and web, but it’s an imperative that our kids continue to get their butts outside, drink in the sunshine and fresh air (and store up that Vitamin D!), connect with the earth and play.
Sir, Yes Sir! Thank You for Thinking *For* Me Sir!
December 2, 2009 by Steve Borsch · 1 Comment
One of the dangers in being a “thought leader” or “influencer” in blogs or social media is this: others might actually believe you’re an expert and take what you say on faith, as gospel, or as their duty. On the flip side, those of us who follow so-called thought leaders make some assumptions that they’re experts or at least more plugged in than we are so they must know something we don’t (and too many people are influenced by them automatically). I’ve been seeing this happen too often in the group-think that occurs in the blogosphere and this sort of mass persuasion (or “mass meme’ing” as my friend Bill calls it) is now moving even faster with the real-time internet (e.g., Twitter).
In my several decades on this earth I’ve learned the power of propaganda, seen the unfortunate downsides to “spin” and group-think, and have been made well aware of the persuasion, motivation and psychological manipulation techniques most people with an agenda employ.
Having an agenda and trying to persuade or motivate is not inherently evil or good, it just is-what-it-is. Humans are driven by all sorts of intrinsic motivations that go well beyond Maslow’s baseline on his hierarchy of needs. In my view, Maslow was stating a pyramid of needs that was far too happy-assed and missed many human motivators like a hunger for celebrity, power or control by an individual or organization, the continual nation-based struggle for resources, or a need to be dominant.
Think about all of this the next time you read something (especially a blog post or tweet), listen to a political speech, are asked to do something by your boss, or watch a TV show or movie about a big topic. What are the writer/tweeter/producers motivations? Who is funding it and/or what is their agenda? What are the creators of it trying to get you to do, to think and what action do they want you to take?
Moments…don’t miss ‘em
September 1, 2009 by Steve Borsch · Leave a Comment
I usually don’t watch stuff like this during the day, but I’m at my computer with a cup of coffee and something compelled me to watch this as I skimmed through all the posts that have collected within my Google Reader this morning.
I’m passing it along since it touched me. So often we’re all scrambling to get through our day, to get to something and we fly right past these sorts of moments. If it wasn’t for my bride of 23 years, someone who has helped me slow down and savor life, even these sorts of moments might’ve escaped me.
(via Anecdote which was via The Obvious)
Learning from “Little Brother”
July 13, 2009 by Steve Borsch · Leave a Comment
Every year my son and I go on a “Dad & Son Adventure” and this year was no exception. Though past ones have been in such places as the north shore of Lake Superior; Rapid City, SD; and New York City; for our 9th Annual Dad & Son Adventure this year we headed to Chicago to goof off and see a play.
See a play? What kind of adventure is THAT!?! As it turned out, a fun one.
Science fiction author, BoingBoing contributor and thought leader, Cory Doctorow (http://craphound.com) wrote a book called “Little Brother” which explored what happened to a boy named Marcus and a group of his friends seen as terrorists after an attack in San Francisco. The School Library Journal writes, “…he and his friends are swept up in the extralegal world of the Department of Homeland Security. After questioning that includes physical torture and psychological stress, Marcus is released, a marked man in a much darker San Francisco: a city of constant surveillance and civil-liberty forfeiture. Encouraging hackers from around the city, Marcus fights against the system while falling for one hacker in particular.”
During a discussion with my son, Alex, where we talked about internet surveillance and within which I happened to mention public key cryptography — knowing I was about to embark upon a very lengthy explanation of what that was — Alex casually said, “Oh, I know what that is…” and he went on to explain it to me! “How the heck did you learn about that?” I asked. “In Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother,” was his answer (a book which, by the way, he’s now read seven times!).
I found this so fascinating and amusing that I emailed Cory (whom I met casually at O’Reilly’s ETech a couple of years ago) to tell me the story and he emailed back, letting me know what a hoot he and his wife had as he shared the story with her. After Alex found out about our email exchange, he stated he’d email Cory too and did…and Cory emailed him back. More on that in a moment. Read more
Uncle Sam is listening…but this time without a wiretap
June 10, 2009 by Steve Borsch · Leave a Comment
When I wrote, “Lessons from Our First Social Media President” last November, it was clear then that this incoming Administration would probably fulfill their campaign pledges of transparency, continuing to engage the American people, and bring change to government.
On January 21, 2009, his first full day in office, the President issued a Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, in which he called for recommendations that make the Federal government more transparent, participatory, and collaborative.
As part of that mandate, the White House recently completed the first phase of their “Open Government Brainstorm” initiative, which opened the door to ideas from citizens, government employees, and interested others.
Guess what they discovered? We want to participate and do so online with things like social media. One document, Social Media and the Federal Government: Perceived and Real Barriers and Potential Solutions (PDF) produced by the Federal Web Managers Council (the 30 most senior web managers) which clearly shows that there is pent-up demand by both citizens and employees to leverage social media…but there are a bunch of barriers and obstacles in the way. With what I’ve seen thus far, the Obama administration is all about removing obstacles and this will be no different.
If you’re interested in reading more, check out this White House blog post on the brainstorm wrap-up.
Why isn’t Dean Kamen on a Wheaties box?
April 13, 2009 by Steve Borsch · 3 Comments
Over four years ago I wrote a similar post to this one about scientist and inventor Ray Kurzweil. My son was 10 years old and had to choose a "hero" and write about what made them one. When I saw the list I was appalled and emailed his teacher to ask why current and contemporary inventors, scientists and visionaries were excluded?
60 Minutes had a piece last night about the US military working on something akin to a "Manhattan Project" for prosthetics. This is certainly a response to the huge numbers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan maimed from war in unprecedented numbers.
The firm they worked with was none other than Segway inventor, Dean Kamen and his DEKA group. Many of us have already seen the video about the prosthetic arm developed under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Amazing doesn't do it justice.
From a wheelchair that can climb stairs and allow the user to 'stand up' to talk at eye level with others to the Segway and a Stirling engine water purification system for small villages, Kamen and crew are taking big ideas and manifesting them in to a reality that is changing the world.
Yes, I realize that not every kid can be an Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison or Ada Lovelace, but reaching for a dream allows a kid to accomplish much more than if they don't, and though sports achievement can impact many other areas of someone's life, an inventor mindset means that a kid learns to look at every process, method, possibility or vision they have, and to figure out how to make it more efficient or to leap forward in a revolutionary way.
Compare that to the ability to slam dunk a basketball and answer this question, "Do you want your child to aspire and emulate some NBA star, or instead become an inventor like Kamen and make a difference in the world?"
