Contentiousness
Contentiousness
Meet Your Host, Alan Weiss
Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it.
His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on several boards of directors in various capacities.
His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 60 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill) now in its 30th year and sixth edition. His newest is Your Legacy is Now: Life is not about a search for meaning but the creation of meaning (Routledge, 2021). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into 15 languages.
Get to know AlanShow Notes
At a restaurant, I’m asked if I have food allergies when I make the reservation, then by the hostess when I arrive, then by the server who has my table. While I appreciate all the precautions, I think they’re afraid of being sued. Isn’t it the responsibility of someone with a serious food allergy who’s make the decision to dine in a restaurant to inform people themselves?
The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, a wonderful place, actually has a sign informing its guests that the china, which has artful designs and craftsman ship, has potential cancer-causing agents in the art work. Since these are decorative “chargers” and not used for food, a guest would have to chew on the gold leaf to ingest anything remotely dangerous.
People complain that prospects are constantly “ghosting” them and it’s an epidemic of rude behavior. Well, the commonality is the person ghosted, so perhaps they aren’t offering sufficient interest of value to justify a return call and that prospect doesn’t want to waste still more time by having to tell them that. When you think others are uniformly acting improperly, it’s usually you.
Do you really need to tell us “do not try this at home” when a commercial shows a driver spinning in circles at high speed or a daredevil leaping from a low-flying plane into a convertible? What about when we see an elephant stand on a pool cover to show its strength? Should I cancel the elephant rental?
When you’re a medical or dental assistant and inform people they may not wear fragrances in the office because you have a fragrance allergy, perhaps you should consider not working in crowded spaces. How to do you survive in a plane, train, taxi, or elevator?
If you feel your rights have been violated because you hear employees talking politics with which you do not agree while you’re waiting in an office, you’re correct. You have the right to leave, which you’re not exercising.
Alan Weiss's The Uncomfortable Truth® is a weekly broadcast from “The Rock Star of Consulting,” Alan Weiss, who holds forth with his best (and often most contrarian) ideas about society, culture, business, and personal growth. His 60+ books in 12 languages, and his travels to, and work in, 50 countries contribute to a fascinating and often belief-challenging 20 minutes that might just change your next 20 years.
Introduction to the show recorded by Connie Dieken
