The thing is...

Hillary's speech: The winner on a missed serve

Do you play tennis?  The most important shot of any point is the serve.  The second most important shot of any point is the return of serve.  Returning is harder.  You're under pressure.  You have to guess where the serve will go, and at what pace, and with what spin...and if you are too tight, too fast, too slow, too ANYTHING in fact, you're probably going to blow it, putting you at a disadvantage.

But here's what happens a LOT when you return serve:  The first serve comes in and it's clearly out of the service box (long or wide).  Even though you see the serve going out, you still take a swing at it.

More often than not, on that swing, you absolutely crank it.   You hit the perfect return.  Top spin, cross court, and that sucker buzzes over the middle of the net by just an inch, descending rapidly to where the feet of the server would be, had the serve gone in, and had he come into net behind it.   And you think for a moment, "Shit, I can play this game!"

The thing is...the reason you can hit that return is because the serve was out.  Because the point doesn't count.  For that one split-second, you relax just a bit, stop over-thinking it, and just play.  It's a moment of zen.   Lots of people perform their best when the outcome has been decided. 

Hillary Clinton did that last night.  Unencumbered by the pressures to win the primary campaign, she just cranked it.  Not only was that just about the perfect speech for the moment, I think it's one of the best political speeches of my lifetime. Thoughts?

Another Jewish Presidential candidate bites the dust....

in the context of "historic  elections." 

A couple of years ago, it seemed as thought there were two Jewish politicians who were real and viable candidates--by "real" and "viable" I mean the fact that people were actually TALKING about them as possibilities-- for President of the United States.  One, Joe Lieberman, was actually elected Vice President (we know what happened there).  The other, Eliot Spitzer, was a crusading Attorney General for the State of New York.

The thing is...one sold his soul; the other lost control.    Oy vey. 

Win the information war with information

So  the U.S. Military has banned the use of military computers to access and use several sites.  The sites covered by the ban are the video-sharing sites YouTube, Metacafe, IFilm, StupidVideos and FileCabi; social networking sites MySpace, BlackPlanet and Hi5; music sites Pandora, MTV, 1.fm and live365, and the photo-sharing site Photobucket.  They cite bandwidth and security issues.

Lord knows those are both serious concerns but the ban, which in part is meant to stanch the flow of potentailly sensitive information to the enemy who could--let's face it--read it on  the public Internet-- could prevent the flow of potentially positive information that the American people and our allies need.  That's the law of unintended consequences.

The thing is...it has been written that the first casualty in war is truth.  That's because all wars--hot ones and cold ones--are also information wars. 

"You're sixteen, you're beautiful...now VOTE!"

Remember all the hype about Howard Dean and how he was tapping into a younger tech savvy audience? There are lots of reasons why John Kerry ain't president, but one of them is because these "young" voters that everyone thought he was going to get just did not show up to the polls.   

Maybe they were pissed because Kerry tried to co-opt Dean's anti-war message. Maybe Karl Rove's directmail machine was just too powerful a foe to overcome.  Who knows.  Who cares.  Come election day?  No techy, no winny. No shows.  Thanks a lot.

Now, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, here we go again.  The three major candidates in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination are all "using" technology.  This time around they are all using social media in one form or another.  By the way, Bryan Person gives an excellent run down of Obama's site on this week's New Comm Road podcast (audio comment, as promised!)

 

 

The thing is...unless the people who are engaging with these tools actually show up and VOTE in two years, all the attention being paid to these candidates and their use of social media will be just one of those interesting side stories that Forbes or Wired will do.  By that time, it'll be, "Hello, President McCain!"  Or worse.

So here's the challenge to all you SIXTEEN year olds out there. You have the future of this nation in the palm of your hands.  Seize the power that has been given you.  Do more than play around with these tools...put them to use. Organize.  Discuss.  Get involved. 

And on that first Tuesday in November, 2008:  Vote!

 

That means the poster on my wall is forty years old

Heard on the radio this morning that Farrah is 60 years old today.  I think this guy probably bought her something.

What’s the difference between “corporate” vs “company” culture and why should I care?

I’ve had this discussion with a lot of folks over the years and I’ve created the following distinction.  Whenever you get two or more people together in any organization, those people will create methods of communicating and interacting among each other that help organize time and effort.  These methods could include the way desks and workstations are positioned, where people go to lunch, after work activities, dress codes and annual parties.  These things make up “Company” culture.  When you hear people say “At our company, we work hard and play hard,” or “It’s a family atmosphere,” that’s a company culture they're talking about.

..all organizations have a “company” culture.  When people get together, they create one.  It just kind of happens.

Now “Corporate” culture is very different.  A “corporate” culture is a combination of systems and processes that are put in place specifically to drive competitive advantage in the marketplace.  Encompassing such things as work flow processes, infrastructure, training, communication and commitment to a well articulate mission statement (there are lots of others), a corporate culture is deliberate, difficult to build, hard to imitate and results in consistent returns to the organization in product quality, service delivery, cost controls or a combination of those. Corporate culture can’t easily be imitated.

 ...very few organizations have a corporate culture.  It’s hard to build, and even harder to maintain, despite the benefits. 

You can name the powerful corporate cultures out there including GE, Dell, Southwest,  Amazon, Wal-Mart,Digitas, IBM, and the New York Yankees…each of which has a track record of producing consistent results.  Even BB King’s touring band has a corporate culture—don’t show up late or it will cost you.  That’s why every time you go see BB and his band you know you are going to get a solid show.

Why should you care about the difference?  Take a look at your organization.  You know you have a "company" culture already.  But what is your "corporate" culture?   The second one matters more.