The Sunday Papers – Father’s Day Edition

This post is dedicated to my father, who among many other wonderful things taught me the value of work and fully supported my ambitions. Thanks Dad, and thanks especially for telling me to stay in Texas back in 1978!

On to the Sunday Papers:

1. Here’s a statistic from a recent survey in this piece from the NY Times: “Of workers who attend meetings each week, fully 75 percent say that those gatherings could be more effective….That means a lot of unproductive time, because 91 million workers spend time in meetings each week.” That’s a lot of unproductive meetings! I find the best way to keep meetings from being a snoozefest is to follow the modified “KISS” theory – “keep it short & sweet”. Now as for how many times that actually works……….
2. Here’s a good one – use your customers as your “creative team”. Sound way out of the box? Don’t tell that to several companies profiled in this NY Times article, including Jones Soda, a soft drink company based in Seattle, who uses customer photographs on the labels of their exotic-flavored sodas (like Blue Bubblegum and Fufu Berry). Customers also vote on music on the company’s web site. Here’s the best quote: “So what is Jones?” Mr. van Stolk (the CEO of Jones) asked rhetorically. “Are we a soda company? Are we an Internet company? Are we a social networking company? We’re all of that. Our goal is to keep creating more ways for customers to exercise ownership of the brand.” And, no doubt, creating lifetime loyalty from their “customer evangelists” (check out Church of the Customer for more on this concept).
3. Check out this profile of Martha B. Wyrsch, CEO of Duke Energy in Houston. She’s from Laramie, Wyoming, and learned a lot from her Rocky Mountain upbringing (I was sure envious of her summer job in the Grand Tetons), especially the value of hard work. I loved this observation she made: “I was a waitress in college and gained an appreciation for how hard the job is. You can tell a lot about people by observing how they treat waiters and waitresses. If I have lunch with a prospective employee who is dismissive or rude to a waitress, I don’t want that person in our organization.”. That’s one excellent screening technique!

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