These 3 Lessons From Retail Apply to Your Business, Too

You’re probably not paying attention to the right things. Retailomania blog posted a presentation that predicts major upheaval in retail over the next decade. Just as many great old financial names disappeared in 2008, Magnus Ohlsson, founder of MORM, predicts many venerable retail names are about to go the way of Abercrombie and Fitch .… [Read more…]

Your iPhone Just Went Black and It Won’t Respond to Any Button. Here’s What You Do

Panic. Then think about all the time your iPhone was exposed to moisture: jogging, that day you got caught in the rain, the time you set it down in a ring of condensation.  Then you’ll think about the times you’ve dropped, sat on it, and kicked it. Then relax. Chances are, your iPhone simply decided… [Read more…]

Here’s Something You’re Probably Not Worried About, But You Should Be

If you quit smoking or never started, you’ve already done a lot to live a longer, healthier life. But the second most dangerous activity–and the next best way to live longer– is unlikely to be on your radar.  In fact, you’re probably doing it right now. I’ve written before, sitting kills.  Upper back pain and… [Read more…]

Is Complexity Killing the Economy

The United States Tax Code is between 16,845 pages and 76,000 pages. No one, not even the IRS, knows what’s in it. [continued below the image] The Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, cannot do his own taxes—and he’s the cabinet secretary who “owns” the tax code. Every year, well-meaning IRS employees give taxpayers incorrect… [Read more…]

Gamification Is Sweeping the Enterprise. Here’s Everything You Need to Know

If you don’t know what “gamification” is, you’re in big trouble. Salesforce.com, SAP, Cisco, and many other companies (big and small) are using gamification and game science to increase engagement among distributors, sales forces, customers, and employees. Gamification is simply designing systems, programs, and products with a game designer’s eye.  It’s about putting the user… [Read more…]

I might have found the only productivity technique that actually works

I hear a ticking sound. Not the keys, but an ordinary, wind-up kitchen timer. In this case, a virtual one. It’s counting down from 25 minutes. When the timer rings, I’ll stop working. I’ll take a five-minute break to compete one 30-minute work cycle. Then I’ll start the timer over at 25. If this post… [Read more…]

The humorous treatment of a customer service failure in which the hero (me), owing to a flaw, suffers a downfall, wherein there is a catharsis

My goal seemed simple.  Everything I read told me so. Plus, I’ve been IT for most of my adult life, as both a systems guy and programmer. How hard could it possibly be to move a WordPress blog from a private hoster to WordPress.com? Turns out, it’s not hard at all unless something goes wrong.… [Read more…]

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