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Coughing is heckling
March 18th, 2011
The other night I heard Keith Jarrett stop a concert mid-note. While the hall had been surprisingly silent during the performance, the song he was playing was quiet and downbeat and we (and especially he) could hear an increasing chorus of coughs.
“Coughs?,” you might wonder… “No one coughs on purpose. Anyway, there are thousands of people in the hall, of course there are going to be coughs.”
But how come no one was coughing during the introductions or the upbeat songs or during the awkward moments when Keith stopped playing?
No, a cough is not as overt or aggressive as shouting down [...]
Protecting the soft spot
March 17th, 2011
We all have one. Or more than one. It’s that place where we can get hurt, the one we seek to defend.
For some people, it’s a boss calling us out in front of our peers. For someone else, it’s an angry customer. For someone else, it’s being confronted with a problem you can solve–but that the effort just seems too great.
The key question is this: how much does the act of protecting the soft spot actually make it more likely you will be hurt?
It turns out that the more you angle yourself, the harder you work to protect the soft [...]
Kraft singles
March 16th, 2011
Here’s a ubiquitous food that succeeds because it’s precisely in the center, perfectly normal, exactly the regular kind. No kid whines about how weird they are.
If you’re Kraft, this is a good place to be. Singles mint money. My friend Nancy worked on this brand. It’s a miracle.
If you’re anyone else, forget about becoming more normal than they are, more regular than the regular kind. That slot is taken.
Most mature markets have their own version of Kraft Singles. The challenge for an insurgent is not to try to battle the incumbent for the slot of normal. The challenge is to [...]
Live in New York City
March 15th, 2011
One of my favorite events is coming up April 11th.
I’ll be spending the day at the Fabulous Helen Mills Theatre in New York. Tickets go on sale today.
This is a live, ad-lib event, driven completely by your questions and issues and opportunities. It’s limited to just a hundred tickets, and it always sells out.
If you type in the discount code: sethsentme you’ll save another 10%.
PS if you haven’t seen the new book yet, it’s been on the Amazon top 100 for the last two weeks–the most successful book launch we’ve ever done. There’s even a 52 pack. Thanks for spreading [...]
Bring me stuff that’s dead, please
March 14th, 2011
RSS is dead. Blogs are dead. The web is dead.
Good.
Dead means that they are no longer interesting to the drive-by technorati. Dead means that the curiousity factor has been satisfied, that people have gotten the joke.
These people rarely do anything of much value, though.
Great music wasn’t created by the first people to grab an electric guitar or a synthesizer. Great snowboarding moves didn’t come from the guy who invented the snowboard… No one thinks Gutenberg was a great author, and some of the best books will be written long after books are truly dead.
Only when an innovation is dead can [...]
Seven questions for leaders
March 13th, 2011
Do you let the facts get in the way of a good story?
What do you do with people who disagree with you… do you call them names in order to shut them down?
Are you open to multiple points of view or you demand compliance and uniformity? [Bonus: Are you willing to walk away from a project or customer or employee who has values that don't match yours?]
Is it okay if someone else gets the credit?
How often are you able to change your position?
Do you have a goal that can be reached in multiple ways?
If someone else can get us there [...]
Your SXSW agenda (or any conference, for that matter)
March 12th, 2011
It costs a ton of time and money to go to something like SXSW. Other than having a blast, why go?
Here’s an interesting way to think about it, something I’ve used to change the way I attend events (I don’t do many, and won’t be there, so have fun without me):
Think back a year ago to the last time you went. What do you remember?
Do you remember the presentations that were later on videotape? Do you remember the special screenings of movies? Do you remember the crowded cocktail parties? Bumping into a net celebrity? I don’t.
So I don’t do them. [...]
Unskilled labor
March 11th, 2011
Perhaps it’s time for a new definition.
Unskilled labor is what you call someone who merely has skills that most everyone else has.
If it’s not scarce, why pay extra?
Skills matter. The unemployment rate for US workers without a college education is almost triple that for those with one. Even the college rate is still too high, though. On the other hand, the unemployment rate for skilled neurosurgeons, talented database designers and motivated recombinant DNA biologists is essentially zero, despite the high pay in all three fields.
Unskilled now means not-specially skilled.
Seth’s Blog
Assuming goodwill
March 10th, 2011
Productivity comes from interactivity and the exchange of ideas and talents.
People are happiest when they’re encouraged and trusted.
An airport functions far better when we don’t strip search passengers. Tiffany’s may post guards at the door, but the salespeople are happy to let you hold priceless jewels. Art museums let you stand close enough to paintings to see them. Restaurants don’t charge you until after you eat.
Compare this environment of trust with the world that Paypal has to live in. Every day, thousands of mobsters in various parts of the world sit down intent on scamming the company out of millions [...]
Herbs
March 9th, 2011
Thyme is cheap. Twenty five cents worth is plenty for a family of four.
Hang out at the market and watch people buy expensive fish, chicken or beef to cook for a family gathering. Amost no one is buying fresh herbs. What’s that about?
I guess that the main course is so expensive and so much work and so apparently foreboding and complex that most people believe they can’t be bothered with the effort of adding herbs. Herbs would change everything. A twenty-five cent investment would transform a simple but expensive dinner into something really great.
“What! I don’t know how. It’s not [...]