Just got a bulk mailing from an acquaintance. First line:
First, my apologies for sending this "form letter," I’m trying to reach a lot of people at the same time, and this is the easiest way to do it.
a. is it an accident that "acquaintance" and "acquire" have similar roots? Hint, I don’t belong to you.
b. if it’s easier for you but a pain for me, why should you do it?
c. if you have to start a call or letter by apologizing for making the call or letter, accept the fact that the communication is going to cost you relationship points.
February 17, 2006
Paul Adams wonders why radio stations can’t ping you by sms or even phone (skype?) when they play a song you request. When was the last time a radio station cared about you? Or contacted you in a way you wanted to be contacted?
Perhaps it’s
perfect
now
cheap
that’s what they say, anyway.
I don’t think that’s what it is. I think we want:
interaction
expectations exceeded
respect
February 16, 2006
Ed Burtynsky is a world-acclaimed artist. Working with some folks from Ted and the Sapling Foundation, he’s put together an effort to spread his work on the environment: Worldchanging Campaign.
Will this be as popular as the Numa Numa song? Hard to imagine, but if impact matters, then it should.
How you know there’s too much clutter:
Hylas, the publisher down the road from my office, is about to publish a book of baby animal butts. Not to be outdone, Georgetown University Press, with just a few books released each season, is featuring a Dictionary of Turkish Verbs.
If it succeeds, I expect a book on Turkish nouns any minute.
One of the best ways to enrage a customer is to duck responsibility.
Airlines do it, accountants do it, lawyers do it. Doctors, too. Frontline service workers are always in the awkward position of having to deal with angry customers about something that’s not their fault.
Often, the very act of evasion is what the customer is angry about. All we want is someone to look us in the eye and take responsibility.
Here’s a note someone sent, enraged about a Valentine’s Day order gone wrong:
Here is an email that I received when I came home on Tuesday Feb 14th. It
is from a company named Shari’s Berries. I saw their product on Good
Morning America last week and decided to order some chocolate covered
strawberries for a gift. Their web-site guaranteed Valentine’s Day
delivery. I must tell you the price was not cheap. I ordered a gift
selection and with delivery it was over $65.00.
——————————————————–
Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXX,
We are writing to inform you that your order for delivery February 14th was
not shipped yesterday as requested.
We are prepared to ship your order on February 14th for arrival on the 15th
.. Alternatively, you do have the option of canceling your order, but we’d
rather you did not.
We regret that your order did not ship as requested and in consideration of
this delay, if you wish us to still ship the order, we will provide a
discount of 40% off the normal product price.
Please choose which course of action you wish that we take by replying to
this email or by sending an email to <mailto:service@berries.com>
service@berries.com .
Sincerely,
Shari’s Berries Customer Service Team
———————————————-
Obviously, he’s upset. The whole point of the stupidity of Valentine’s Day is that you have to have the goods, on time, or it doesn’t count.
But what’s enraging about this note is that it’s not from a real person. That they don’t explain why or how they screwed up. That they didn’t learn anything. And that they don’t accept responsibility.
What if Shari herself had written? What if she had explained what had happened, how it wouldn’t happen again, and what she had learned?
The problem with accepting responsibility, though, is that you can be too glib about it. A lot of responsibility taking in today’s newspaper for example,
"It was not Harry’s fault," Cheney said Wednesday on Fox News. "You
can’t blame anybody else. I’m the guy who pulled the trigger and shot
my friend."
"I am responsible for the Department of Homeland Security," said Michael Chertoff before Congress, explaining away the loss of life and property. "I’m accountable and accept responsibility for the
performance of the entire department."
David J. Edmondson, CEO of Radio Shack, after being caught faking his academic background, "I clearly
misstated my academic record and the responsibility for these
misstatements is mine alone."
Is "I accept responsibility" the new "Your call is very important to us"? Probably.
The reason they teach biology before they teach chemistry in high school is that biology was invented first. Even though you need chemistry to do biology, but not vice versa.
The reason that you have a water bubbler in your office is that it used to be difficult to filter water effectively.
The reason that Blockbuster exists is that VCR tapes used to cost more than $100.
The reason that SUVs have a truck chassis is that the government regulates vehicles with a truck chassis differently.
The reason you have a front lawn is to demonstrate to your friends and neighbors how much time and energy you’re prepared to waste.
The reason the typewriter keyboard is in a weird order is that original typewriters jammed, and they needed to rearrange the letters to keep common letters far apart.
The reason we don’t have school in the summer is so our kids can help with farmwork. Or because it’s too hot and there’s no air conditioning…
The reason there’s a toll on that bridge but not on that road is that there used to be a ferry on that river, and the ferryman needed to make a living.
The reason you go to a building to go to work every day is that steam or water power used to turn a giant winch-like structure that went right through the factory building. Every workman used that power to do his work. As factories got more sophisticated, it remained efficient to move the workers, not the stuff.
What’s your reason?
February 15, 2006
Maybe you’ve seen it, I hadn’t. This is a new feature inside of Google AdWords. Do a search, in this case for the Artisan Hotel, and a string of ads pop up. But one ad has a green phone.
Click on the green phone and an ajax window opens up. Type in your phone number (remembered after the first time) and the sponsor calls you!
Too bad it didn’t work. It probably will. When it does, it changes the game, again.
February 13, 2006
Joanna Ossinger, a Journal copyeditor, writes in the WSJ.com – The Problem With Parody.
It’s difficult to tell how such cases would fare in a courtroom. Copyright law doesn’t specifically address Internet parodies, so they would fall under "fair use" doctrine, which covers newly developed technologies and situations.
This, of course, is nonsense. That’s not what fair use is, and an Internet parody is no different from any other kind of parody.
So many decisions we make every day are about stuff we know almost nothing about. We believe our tech guys or the writers at the Wall Street Journal. We believe the car dealer or the talking head on Fox. We make decisions about website design, product quality, environmental impact and yes, copyright law, all without understanding the basic principles involved.
No, you can’t learn everything–they keep making more info every day, and you’ll never keep up. But being a polymath is underrated. Today, it’s almost essential that you dig deep enough, that when you’re making a high-leverage decision, it’s essential to know if it’s based on superstion or fact.
Well, maybe it’s because you don’t have the Ideabook yet.
Not easily available in the US. Worth the hassle: theideabook.org. (tip, press on the "English" button in the bottom right hand corner).
