From the wikipedia: "In professional wrestling, the sell is the element of making the action (the wrestling move) appear to be at least somewhat realistic to the crowd."
Now when we try to sell products to our customers, we pretty much do the same. We make whatever we propose somewhat realistic and attractive to the customer.
There's also something called no-selling, and overselling. In our case, it would mean we either treat the customer like shit, or we offer something that is over-the-top, out-of-our-league, out-of-our-mind.
Now ideally we would be selling, but more often than not, we do the oversell. If the market allows, we would no-sell. Why do either? It's hard to find the right mark. And only the boys and girls who can effectively sell, are the ones who can keep the attention of the crowd (and thus sell tickets).
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Showing posts with label career. Show all posts
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Sunday, November 26, 2006
My Buddy Network
I take great pride in the expansive network of people I've built up in the past twenty-something years. As far as I am concerned I was (and luckily still am) able to connect with a lot of different, valuable, intelligent people with good stories, extraordinary characters and/or immaculate skills. Every single one of them filled a gap, a need at that point in time (no matter how small), and for that I am grateful.
However these people and the relationships I keep with them must be managed meticulously. This involves, but is not exclusive to:
Unfortunately the cost of not maintaining your relationships is... well... they stall and wither basically.
This is where internet fulfils a demand: without having to call, write, visit anyone anymore you can still stay in touch with the likes of Hyves, Hi5, Orkut, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, even this Blogger. Anyone is updated about current affairs, current job, and what you ate last night. If you move, you don't need to send a forwarding address by post (soooooo 1980s): just leave a message on your profile page and people are up to date very quickly...
At least, if they take the effort of actually looking at your profile!
I do think this stuff helps save time in keeping relationships up-to-date. It persists relationships you had at one point in time, and keeps them safe for all-time. It prevents you from losing contact altogether... Otherwise you get these awkward e-mails from people from the past who are hesitant to contact you because it's been so long since you last spoke.
Of course this also allows for situations where you just want someone's name in your list for the sake of it ("yes the PM of the Netherlands is in my Hyves friends list!!"), or you get someone's name in your network whom you don't want there ("oh no the President of the USA is in my Hyves friends list!!"). Wonder if the police do their relationships audit on-line as well... I might have to remove some of these people very fast...
Truthfully, some relationships are worth keeping, even after a long bloody time. There's even a television genre for this: emo-television (cf. "Vermist", "Het Spijt Me").
Relationships should take time as far as I am concerned. These sites cannot account for everything, they should not replace the very limited interactions we already have with one another. And that is something I fear we are doing. We are getting complacent about meeting each other ("I don't need to see this guy now, I read his blog and he's doing fine."). Also we are alienating a lot of people who still don't want anything to do with internet (grandma, great-uncle Pete, Greenpeace Jill and so on). Only Sandi Thom can say (sing) it better than I can.
I myself do have an on-line presence, simply because my phone bill is far too high as it is, I cannot fly off to everywhere on a moment's notice and finally I cannot clone myself to attend two events occuring at the same time. So look me up on Hyves or on LinkedIn. (And of course, you already found the blog...)
Privacy, schmivacy. I'm not getting into politics anyway.
However these people and the relationships I keep with them must be managed meticulously. This involves, but is not exclusive to:
- remembering birthdays (MY DEEPEST APOLOGIES)
- coming over for babyshowers
- helping people move
- keeping track of your friends' friends names
- going out together for dinner or clubbing
- having lunch/espresso together
Unfortunately the cost of not maintaining your relationships is... well... they stall and wither basically.
This is where internet fulfils a demand: without having to call, write, visit anyone anymore you can still stay in touch with the likes of Hyves, Hi5, Orkut, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, even this Blogger. Anyone is updated about current affairs, current job, and what you ate last night. If you move, you don't need to send a forwarding address by post (soooooo 1980s): just leave a message on your profile page and people are up to date very quickly...
At least, if they take the effort of actually looking at your profile!
I do think this stuff helps save time in keeping relationships up-to-date. It persists relationships you had at one point in time, and keeps them safe for all-time. It prevents you from losing contact altogether... Otherwise you get these awkward e-mails from people from the past who are hesitant to contact you because it's been so long since you last spoke.
Of course this also allows for situations where you just want someone's name in your list for the sake of it ("yes the PM of the Netherlands is in my Hyves friends list!!"), or you get someone's name in your network whom you don't want there ("oh no the President of the USA is in my Hyves friends list!!"). Wonder if the police do their relationships audit on-line as well... I might have to remove some of these people very fast...
Truthfully, some relationships are worth keeping, even after a long bloody time. There's even a television genre for this: emo-television (cf. "Vermist", "Het Spijt Me").
Relationships should take time as far as I am concerned. These sites cannot account for everything, they should not replace the very limited interactions we already have with one another. And that is something I fear we are doing. We are getting complacent about meeting each other ("I don't need to see this guy now, I read his blog and he's doing fine."). Also we are alienating a lot of people who still don't want anything to do with internet (grandma, great-uncle Pete, Greenpeace Jill and so on). Only Sandi Thom can say (sing) it better than I can.
I myself do have an on-line presence, simply because my phone bill is far too high as it is, I cannot fly off to everywhere on a moment's notice and finally I cannot clone myself to attend two events occuring at the same time. So look me up on Hyves or on LinkedIn. (And of course, you already found the blog...)
Privacy, schmivacy. I'm not getting into politics anyway.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Survivor Series: Techies vs. Consultants
For years techies and consultants battle for total supremacy in the company. Consultants can act all high and mighty, Techies turn off their access to the internet. Techies treat the customer like shit, consultants get treated to dinner by the client.
There's a fundamental difference between the two groups. In the Dilbertian world techies are fuzzy people, practical, lazy, curious and highly logically oriented. According to them, the world has one solution (the right one), and they are insulted by anyone who doesn't see the same solution.
Consultants are political animals, theoretic, formal and by-the-book. As long as everything is put to paper there's no problem. If someone tries to prove them wrong, consultants can point to their precious documentation.
In the end both groups can rile up the other very easily. And that's where I should come in. I am the guy to alleviate the pressure between the groups and reconcile any differences. Through me each can elaborate their ideas better to the other. I can translate, draw examples that speak to each group. I can work in both groups effectively and lead by example.
And that's where the money is.
There's a fundamental difference between the two groups. In the Dilbertian world techies are fuzzy people, practical, lazy, curious and highly logically oriented. According to them, the world has one solution (the right one), and they are insulted by anyone who doesn't see the same solution.
Consultants are political animals, theoretic, formal and by-the-book. As long as everything is put to paper there's no problem. If someone tries to prove them wrong, consultants can point to their precious documentation.
In the end both groups can rile up the other very easily. And that's where I should come in. I am the guy to alleviate the pressure between the groups and reconcile any differences. Through me each can elaborate their ideas better to the other. I can translate, draw examples that speak to each group. I can work in both groups effectively and lead by example.
And that's where the money is.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Goodbye And Again
Lately it seems that job hopping is back in vogue. Several colleagues, people I see at work, move on. Sometimes it's for the better, sometimes it's forced, but it's always a moment of reflection.
Thing is, the departures of people I see and speak to on a somewhat regular basis obviously draw my attention, but I'm also forced to acknowledge the departures of people that I don't even know. Money is collected for the leaving parties, drinks are passed around, stories are told to anyone within a ten mile radius. Why, I can't even fathom. Even worse, I can't imagine why suddenly I should start caring.
Of course, if you're anything like a nice person, you go along. Also opportunities for drinking are always appreciated.
Now the opposite end of the spectrum is trying to deny the existence of people leaving completely. Co-workers don't leave, they disappear. At best you find out months later that people that you need advise from, or would like to know where they hang out, aren't where you expect them to be anymore.
The shitty thing is that you know people are gone, or going away. Not acknowledging that doesn't make those facts more untrue. And if you're anyway inclined to think in terms of conspiracies (like me) you lose trust in your working environment.
I hope things eventually even out, regardless of corporate culture. Forcing people to acknowledge someone's departure, or hiding it from plain sight; either way it's insulting.
Thing is, the departures of people I see and speak to on a somewhat regular basis obviously draw my attention, but I'm also forced to acknowledge the departures of people that I don't even know. Money is collected for the leaving parties, drinks are passed around, stories are told to anyone within a ten mile radius. Why, I can't even fathom. Even worse, I can't imagine why suddenly I should start caring.
Of course, if you're anything like a nice person, you go along. Also opportunities for drinking are always appreciated.
Now the opposite end of the spectrum is trying to deny the existence of people leaving completely. Co-workers don't leave, they disappear. At best you find out months later that people that you need advise from, or would like to know where they hang out, aren't where you expect them to be anymore.
The shitty thing is that you know people are gone, or going away. Not acknowledging that doesn't make those facts more untrue. And if you're anyway inclined to think in terms of conspiracies (like me) you lose trust in your working environment.
I hope things eventually even out, regardless of corporate culture. Forcing people to acknowledge someone's departure, or hiding it from plain sight; either way it's insulting.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Fundamental differences
Techies and business consultants don't get along.
There. I've said it.
When it comes down to it, consultants are supposed to know a lot about a lot of different aspects in the workplace. In IT projects it means consultants should know about the client expectations, profit margins, work estimations, deadlines, requirements, business processes... and the IT systems. That's a whole lot to do. They've got a lot of responsibility, because a lot of people attribute it to them.
In IT projects techies are usually subject matter experts, the workhorses who operate the buttons, make the code. Occasionally they're even the artists, working magic, where magic has no business of being there. But their scope is limited. Whether they want to or not, they are hardly responsible for anything other than the system.
Usually consultants have too much on their plates to be experts at anything, so models, tools and methodologies have been created to streamline their activities across all areas. And rightly so. However IT is a business where there is no standardized way of working. In fact there may never be, because IT moves so fast. Techies have a hard time dealing with it themselves, so they need to train, read up, go to conferences and workshops.
What chance do consultants have then? They're responsible for something that they essentially have little to no control over. The only way to gain a modicum of control is to utilize outdated methodologies, or models which have no real practical application in IT. And that insults the tech experts.
The tragic thing is that consultants and techies know that a better way to work exists, but everybody is too driven by other factors to actually do something about it, be it deadlines, peer pressure, contract disputes and so on.
And so the conflict continues.
There. I've said it.
When it comes down to it, consultants are supposed to know a lot about a lot of different aspects in the workplace. In IT projects it means consultants should know about the client expectations, profit margins, work estimations, deadlines, requirements, business processes... and the IT systems. That's a whole lot to do. They've got a lot of responsibility, because a lot of people attribute it to them.
In IT projects techies are usually subject matter experts, the workhorses who operate the buttons, make the code. Occasionally they're even the artists, working magic, where magic has no business of being there. But their scope is limited. Whether they want to or not, they are hardly responsible for anything other than the system.
Usually consultants have too much on their plates to be experts at anything, so models, tools and methodologies have been created to streamline their activities across all areas. And rightly so. However IT is a business where there is no standardized way of working. In fact there may never be, because IT moves so fast. Techies have a hard time dealing with it themselves, so they need to train, read up, go to conferences and workshops.
What chance do consultants have then? They're responsible for something that they essentially have little to no control over. The only way to gain a modicum of control is to utilize outdated methodologies, or models which have no real practical application in IT. And that insults the tech experts.
The tragic thing is that consultants and techies know that a better way to work exists, but everybody is too driven by other factors to actually do something about it, be it deadlines, peer pressure, contract disputes and so on.
And so the conflict continues.
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