DASM: Diversify This
I get an email from a guy I’ve never heard of who wants to interview me on his podcast. I get these requests weekly, and politely turn down 99% of…
Idiosyncratic Structures
The recent New York Times piece on Amazon’s grinding culture is just another example of idiosyncratic leadership and structure. Jobs at Apple did the same, using his personal (and often damaging)…
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 8/24/15
This week’s focus point: One reader objected to my description of Nantucket last week, demanding that I provide more “practical help.” The fact that this is a free newsletter was…
Drop That Knife
One of the very worst places to meet with a prospect is in a restaurant. The prospect may feel that it’s time efficient (I have to eat and meet this…
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 9/7/15
The entire point of bureacracy is the triumph of means over ends. The results don’t matter, only that the rules are strictly followed. Filling out a form in the wrong…
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 9/14/15
It was 14 years ago that a client manager, Leon Rawitz, and I decided to drive back from LA when we realized planes might not fly again for weeks. We…
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 9/21/15
My mother used to say when upset with me, “You don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain!” It occurred to me that “sense” was not a…
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 9/28/15
The media are reporting that “Volkswagen installed software on 11 million of its diesels to cheat on emissions testing.” That is called a “metonymy,” because Volkswagen is a non-animate entity…
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 10/12/15
We hit some very bumpy air at over 30,000 feet returning from Florida, and the pilot, in that stereotypical yet preternatural command voice, said, “Ah, we seem to have hit…
Alan Weiss’s Monday Morning Memo® – 10/19/15
If we can land on the moon, we can provide for reasonably priced college tuition. If we can receive messages on a watch, we can arrive at an intelligent solution…