Archive for June, 2008

The World is Big

It seems to be a common cultural trait among certain areas of the world to assume that the way we do things is the way “most people” do things.
I used to train staff for the world’s largest telephone service provider. You can’t afford not to think globally in an international business, I’d say to them. […]

Aging like a Silverback

One view of work believes in joining a company, sweeping floors at the bottom while climbing the ladder of responsibility, and becoming whatever you must become to remain within the organizational life and millieu. Then you retire with dignity and a plaque with your name on it. Other views of work don’t place a high […]

Working beyond the Void

Working into the Precipice

There’s an exhilaration from work that feels a bit like going fast on a 4-wheeler. Skiing, if that’s you. It surpasses exhaustion. It surpasses mere tedium - tedium just makes it go faster. There’s a kind of desire wrapped up in work, a euphoria in the work of one’s life, that takes […]

I wanna be a cowboy, baby…

Hallmarks of the Entrepreneur

Breaks rules
Continually steps (or stays) off the prescribed path
Challenges or questions authority
Sees a world outside the usual definitions
Has a minority of peers
Is accustomed to risk
Is open to failure (indeed, successful entrepreneurs are typified by significant past failures)
Invests and believes primarily in himself - his brand is himself
Blends experimental and analytical approaches to […]

Work vs. Hip Hop

I just came back from the gym where they were playing such rap classics as “Get up out of my face” and “I’m going to knock you out” over the PA system. You know, hip hop culture asserts that the fire in the belly lies in narcissism, not putting up with anything, and superior capacity […]

Mumford: film about work, sort of

I watched Mumford again the other night (that’s the film by Lawrence Kasdan, not the magician on Sesame Street). The key figure, Dr. Mumford, is what most people would call a fraud. He helps people by listening to their problems, and they pay him for the service; the problem is his diploma and license for […]

Mom and Pop: for your soul

Want to keep variety, character, and personality in your life? Buy from Mom and Pop - exclusively, when possible.

Shun the Shell, the Texaco, or the Seven-11, and go to convenience stores where no one speaks English. You’ll find a more idiosyncratic selection of everything from Mexican sodas to the organic beverage pouch I’m sipping from […]

Disastreneurs: Work for Survival

I was talking with a food bank worker recently, and told him that I think the cost of food will reach the price of fuel - that a can of green beans will cost $3.00. He refused to believe that could happen, and just kept saying “we’ll be all right”. I’m not so sure. If […]

What if you have to rest?

If you have to rest, do it right. Turn it into a day of rest. Make it a sabbatical. There’s a threshold past which it makes no sense to fight it. And don’t do it like a writer who is always buying pens and organizing his office, but never writes; don’t prepare to rest - […]

Two Kinds of Freedom

There are people drawn to rural, suburban, or the kind of urban living that depends almost entirely on personally owned automobiles. And where you find that, there’s something else you see a lot of: motorhomes and campers. Vehicles that let you take your living on the road. Nothing wrong with that; that’s one kind of […]

Client Taxonomy

I’m a big fan of types, lists, rules, that sort of thing. This list of Types of Clients is insightful. If you’re working for yourself, especially on an internet-based business, the advice at that blog is invaluable. Here’s another recent article on Client Relations, that I think is excellent.

Automated Marketing: a lay gospel

Those who sell you on the idea of purely automated marketing (or marketing without involvement and work) are drawing on the same neurotic belief that convinces you of the possibility of exercise without effort or income without activity. True, there are marketing tools that automate some of the processes involved, but even reasonably adept spammers […]