I’ll Stop Being A Victim Once Everyone Corrects All My Errors
I get some nutty requests and some innocent misunderstandings in my mail, but sometimes I simply receive unbridled self-absorption. I guy writes me this morning and says that he purchased on of my books on Amazon.com as an electronic download for
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up…
Recent email and phone messages: • You haven't sent me the download of the teleconference yet, and I paid yesterday. (The teleconference wasn't for another month.) • You need to call me. There's a charge on my credit card statement from your
You Never Know
In my weekly Alan's Monday Morning Memo®® yesterday, Memorial Day in the U.S., I simply posted a photo of the graves at the American Cemetery in Normandy, with the request that we pause and remember those who have served and
Quo Vadis, HR?
(as published on Human Resource Executive Online ) The ship of HR as a profession may be sailing into the sunset unless senior-level executives face up to the failures of the function, writes an HR consultant. No one
Dressing Down on Campus
One night at a restaurant, my son received a message on his cell phone. He’s finishing a three-year fellowship in theater at the University of Florida, and he’s required to teach quite a few classes. I assumed it was about
You Get What You Pay For
I think that people believe, for better or worse, they get what they pay for. They'll excuse something cheap that breaks ("It only cost a few bucks") even though it was clearly meant to last far longer. And they'll cheer
Confessional Cell
One of the great, contemporary discordancies in life is the fact that you can ask someone with an arm in a sling, a pit bull attached to a leg, and a police officer approaching with gun drawn, "How are you?"
I Didn’t Read It, But I Didn’t Like It
When you author books, you develop a thick skin for the occasional nasty commentary, especially in a day when everyone's a critic with access to social media platforms, reviews on Amazon that provide anonymity, and so forth. I often get
The Etiquette of Profanity
Do I have your attention? I grew up playing ball in inner-city schoolyards, and played varsity high school sports using antiquated locker rooms and facilities in run-down neighborhoods. Obscenities were a mindless aspect of our existence, and most of us didn't
A Man of WHICH people?
President Obama was in Rhode Island yesterday for all of four hours, but it was one of the most intensely dysfunctional four hours any politician could create. He spoke briefly at a 40-person factory (from notes!) which had rehired people after