I am Jamaica's husband, Foursquare's comm director, Personality's founder, and a catalyst for CFCC.
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Wisdom Archives
September 13, 2008
Advice for Job Seekers
Filed under: Wisdom
One of my younger brothers sent me his résumé earlier this week. He wanted me to look it over and help sharpen it up a bit. He's been working the same job for the past several years and has moved up in title and responsibility, but he's just not feeling his stride. He lives in New York City and is a lethal mix of creativity and dependability. Those two strengths are not often found in the same person, but for my brother, he's got it. His challenge is getting that message across to potential employers.
A one-page résumé has got to be one of the worst methods ever invented for being able to show who you are, what you're made of, and why someone should hire you.
For the most part, I'm convinced that employers want to see passion and then profession. I want to work with people that want to work with me. If someone is just looking for a job, I'm not interested. But if you're looking for a place to grow, a place to bring your A-game, a place to collaborate with others and move closer to world domination, I want to talk.
A résumé is not going to do all of this for job seekers. I suggest you spend less of your time cleaning up your past and instead focus on getting the attention of your next employer. Consider:
- Jumping out of a cake
- Posting a video appeal on YouTube
- Writing a song about you and the new company
- Have ten friends hand-write a letter suggesting you
- Send a link to a mock-up of how you'd design things
- Hold a sign outside as people enter the office in the morning
This is not about gimmicks or being obnoxious. This about connecting the passion you have to work there with the passion they have to find the right people.
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August 21, 2008
Edward Tufte, Presenting Data and Information
Filed under: Wisdom
I had the opportunity yesterday to attend a one-day course taught by former Yale and Princeton professor Edward Tufte. The New York Times calls him "The Leonardo da Vinci of data."
Although the seminar itself was a little underwhelming, the content was great. And because Tufte's main point is that content is all that matters, it kind of works for him. You gotta give him some credit for getting 300 people paying $380 for a one-day lecture that he'll do 16 times around the country in the next few months. And he's been doing this for years. Cha-ching.
The four books he wrote—included with registration—are really all you need. Tufte spent the majority of his time reading and referring to them anyway.
A few highlights for me:
- In good data presentations, nothing should be able to be erased. In other words, eliminate non-relevant information that doesn't support your point.
- At the same time, include as much information as possible to support your data. Every presentation of data should provide reasons to believe. Your audience isn't dumb.
- If you're tempted to remove stuff from your presentation because it's looking too cluttered, it's a design problem not a content problem. Overcome the clutter with better design.
- Those boxes on org charts (the black lines around people's names) mean nothing. Eliminate them.
- Presenting data--or any presentation--should not be authoritarian. Your points are not meant to give you power, they're meant to help educate the audience. Why do we do the slow "reveal" in our presentations? We should send everything we have ahead of time so people can start to get familiar with the content.
- Get people to use their own cognitive flow and style. Genuine exploration. It's how we learn.
- Anytime you're making presentations, continually come around to these three questions: 1) What is the problem? 2) Who cares? 3) What's my solution?
- Find or develop a "super graphic" that you use all the time and continually refer to.
- Don't pitch. Instead, explain and inform.
- Use whatever it takes to show the data. Three-dimensional objects are the best when you can.
- Put your name on your work. People make presentations, not committees or boards or teams. Individual names lend credit and provide accountability.
- Beware of featureitis, the disease that says more bells and whistles are better.
One of the most impressive examples of a good data presentation is the graphic from Napoleon's ill-fated Moscow campaign by Mindard. Wow.
For those unfamiliar with Tufte, he hates PowerPoint with a vengeance and is full of reasons why.
I look forward to spending some time with Tufte's books and digesting more of the information. They're a gold-mine of wisdom and examples.
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June 22, 2008
Precisely The Point
Filed under: Wisdom
I've been thinking a lot about simple succinct communication that gets the point across clearly and quickly. I don't know about you, but I am overwhelmed at the amount of stuff (books, magazines, blogs, brands, emails, phone calls, ads, etc.) that seeks my attention. It's no wonder that when communication is short and sweet, my capacity for comprehension and commitment is increased.
My team often pokes fun at my 2-3 word email replies. "Go. BA" is a regular response to many incoming emails. "Looks good. BA" and "Please handle. BA" are also repeated replies.
Keeping Twitter current has been a great lesson for me in capturing the big idea in as few words as possible (140 characters or less to be exact).
At the Webby Awards this year, all acceptance speeches were limited to five words or less. Brilliant.
Kevin Hendricks wrote a great post about Apple's genius ability to say things succinctly with the latest iPhone announcement.
What's your point already?
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March 8, 2007
Successful Limits
Filed under: Wisdom
Jeffrey Pfeffer wrote a column in the January/February 2007 issue of Business 2.0 entitled "The Agony of Victory." He makes the argument for why the greatest peril for a company is often its own success. Pfeffer suggests three strategies to help companies avoid "competency traps."
1. Avoid excessive specialization
Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Diversify service offerings. Make sure your assembly line isn't setup to make just one type of vehicle.
2. Develop peripheral vision
Pay attention to the facts. Get a little paranoid. Don't focus on what you want to happen, focus on what is happening.
3. Foster an environment of learning and vigilance
Your greatest strength can be your greatest weakness. Understanding that, get your mind set accordingly.
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