Open Loops

Fogging: One Communication Technique to Deflect Criticism

Those of us who communicate for a living, whether it be presenting in hotel conference rooms, at conferences, communicating to the stakeholders of our organizations or simply talking with those with whom we come into contact during our normal everyday activities have to deal with individuals who feel like they have to put us down.  No matter how eloquent we are, dealing with a heckler in front of an audience, an adversary in the boardroom or a bully on the street causes many of us to go mute.  When that happens, our credibility goes mute with it.  Although people loathe a bully, their victim loses a lot of power as well because people don't respect someone who is beaten down by a bully.  They pity them.  They feel sorry for them.  They are embarrassed for them.  But, they don't respect them.  What they do respect is someone who is able to stand up to a bully.  More exactly, they respect someone who is able to stand up to a verbal bully and do it with class.

Remember the Steve Martin movie, "Roxanne"? Martin plays a local fire chief who has to deal with the occasional comment about his extremely oversized nose.  The most memorable scene is set in a local bar when a bully makes a point to harass Martin's character, C.D. Bales, about his nose.  In a wonderful twist, Bales pokes fun at his own nose while at the same time putting the bully in his place.  In my theater, the crowd wound up applauding the skill with which it was done.

We may not have the innate humor of Steve Martin with which we can fend off verbal barbs, however, there is a simple skill that allows us to face the biggest put-down monster in the crowd and do it with class.  That simple technique is called fogging. 

Browser Review: Flock

For the last week, I've been reviewing a new browser, Flock.  I'm a big photography fan and store numerous photographs online in various sites, such as Flickr and Picasa  In my exploration of other photographic web sites, I stumbled upon Flock.  Advertising itself at "The Social Web Browser", I was intrigued, as it touts itself as being built to enhance the browsing experience of those who are involved in social web sites (e.g., Facebook, MySpace) and media sharing sites (e.g., Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket).  Being the eternal skeptic, I nevertheless thought I'd give it a try.  I was quite pleased with what I found.

Store Your Important Documents In Gmail

The same method of storing documents on Yahoo! can also be used on Gmail as well.  In fact, the set up is even easier.  For this purpose, I like Gmail a lot better because of their use of labels instead of folders.  One email containing a stored document could be slapped with multiple labels, making the document easier to find in a search.  Here are the adjustments needed to make Gmail a document storage site (at least until they bring the fabled Gdrive online). 

Turn your Yahoo Mail Into a Document Storage Lockbox!

Yahoo! Mail has long been my email provider of choice.  However, recently, I've been using it for more than its intended purpose of email.  With Yahoo! now offering unlimited storage space, it has opened up a wide range of possibilities when it comes to uses.  For example, I've begun to use it to archive all of my important documents, much like a filing cabinet.  Having a back up document online gives me a great comfort that I'll always have what I need no matter what happens to my original document.

To make this work, one needs several things:

• A Yahoo! email account -Their free, but since I use Yahoo! email at work and for my own business, I've upgraded to Mail Plus to eliminate the ads that appear as taglines at the bottom of individual emails on the free account.
• An email folder labeled "Docs" - I prefer tags, as folders are pretty one-dimensional, but, alas, folders are what we're given with which to work.  On the left sidebar, click on the "add" link beside "My Folders" and create the folder. Label it "Docs"
• A Yahoo! AddressGuard disposable address - One of the slickest things Yahoo has provided is the disposable address. Designed to thwart web sites that ask you for an email address and then flood it with Bacn, we exploit it to serve a different purpose.  It takes the form of a base name (it never changes) and a keyword (an extra word of your choosing) separated by a hyphen.  The result looks like this:  basename-keyword@yahoo.com (Don't try clicking on the link to the left, your email ain't going anywhere!).  The concept is simple: Create a disposable address to register for things online.  When the spam (or Bacn) begins to flood your email inbox, you simply kill the disposable address and the spam stops.  Your original Yahoo! email address is protected and still available to use for personal emailing.  You then create another disposable address and begin the process all over. Sweet, huh? 
  For our purpose, in the upper right-hand corner of the email screen, click on "Options" and choose "Mail Options" on the sub-menu that opens up.  In the left sidebar, click on "Spam".  Scroll down to "Disposable Addresses" and click on "Set up a Disposable Address".  Follow the instructions to create a disposable address by choosing a base name. Choose any name you'd like.  On the following screen, choose "Docs" as your keyword.  On the next screen, set the drop-down option to send the email to the "Docs" folder.  Finally, click on "Set up AddressGuard" button in the bottom left corner of the screen and you're done!
• A filter called "Docs" - Navigate back to the options page and choose "filter" in the sidebar.  Following the instructions, create a filter that looks for incoming email addressed to your newly created disposable address and directs it into your "Docs" folder.
• A scanner - You're on your own on that one!

Now to work the system, here's what you do:

1. Scan a document into your computer.
2. Using any email program or email website (You are using Yahoo!, aren't you?), address an email to your new Docs email address.
3. Attach your scanned document and send it on it's way.
4. Done!

The filter will scan the incoming email, note that it's addressed to your "Docs" disposable address and route it to your Docs folder.

Since beginning this, I've been archiving birth certificates, warranties, copies of insurance cards, tax documents, reference documents from work, financial documents and contracts, etc.  It's quite calming to know that should my filing cabinet be lost in a fire, my most prized documents are safely online on redundant servers until I need them.

Since this was successful, I now have dedicated disposable addresses, folders and filters set up for receipts of major purchases.  What else can you do with your Yahoo! Mail?

Tomorrow - Instructions for Gmail.

 

Three Las Vegas Slot Machine Motivational Strategies for Projects

On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I sat in front of a slot machine and fed that blasted thing more than it was giving back.  Even though I was losing at the time, I found myself unable to walk away and continued to bet one "pull" after another.  A tidy profit that I'd made at the roulette table soon dwindled down to nothing.  When I made my last bet, I looked around the casino floor at the hundreds of others who sat there doing the exact same thing.  I wondered, with the odds so stacked against winning at slots, how did Vegas keep us playing until our money was gone?  It had to be more than just blind greed throwing dollar after dollar into the slot machine in hopes that the big jackpot was just a pull away.  Then, suddenly, I watched the machine next to me coax another gambler into playing.  Only then did I see that the machine itself was motivating us to play.  It was using techniques that kept human beings seated for hours while it slowly took their money.  It motivated them.  It motivated them using strategies that many managers should be willing to pay to learn.

How to Manage Your Boss: Making Sure Your Boss Sees the Best in You!

In my quest to go completely online and avoid installed programs, I started with Outlook, the ubiquitous email/calendar/to do list/contact list program.  This has forced me to get to know my Gmail intimately.  During my migration to web mail at work, I created a small hack with Gmail that looks very promising for those of us who, along with managing others, still have a boss to whom we answer.  The goal of it is to help our supervisor see the best in us so that the information is fresh and available when evaluation time comes around.

Storming the Matrix: Can You Live Online?

In the movie, "The Matrix", the hero spends all his time trying to escape from living in a computer generated world.  It's funny to think that there are those of us who would prefer the opposite, and want to storm the matrix to get inside, living completely in a digital world.  We are coming very close to that with web apps that are improving each day to the point that it is very tempting.

Is it possible that one can do everything one needs to do to accomplish required tasks and achieve goals by using online tools only?  That question popped in my mind years ago when I read a quote from Bill Gates who said that the future would be oriented to an online world and that Microsoft would lead the way.  Since then, with the proliferation of WiFi hot spots, home wireless networks and wireless cards for laptops, as well as the new Google Gears that allow web applications to work offline, that future is close to being here.  However, Microsoft is not leading the way.  Instead, one of Microsoft's top officers stated that they are now years behind other companies in preparing viable web applications that Bill Gates promised.  Other companies, however, have blazed the way with webapps that promise everything that installed software promises -- but are available anywhere, anytime, on any computer.

Practice, Practice, Practice

John Lennon advised new musicians to spend 100 hours in rehearsal for every hour they planned to perform on stage.  When taking Tae Kwon Do, my teacher made the statement that it was a boring sport.  Punches and kicks were practiced over and over until they got very boring.  When I switched to another form of Karate, again, the teacher instructed the class to practice punches, kicks, and blocks until they became boring.  It seemed that every time I attempted to learn a new skill, I was told to practice it over and over.  For me, it was torture to do that.  As long as the skill that I was learning was new, fresh, and exciting, I enjoyed the practice.  However, when the repetitious exercise began to become boring I lost interest.  My mind and interest began to shift from this old boring routine that I was practicing to something that was new and exciting.  Inevitably, I stopped practicing and began to pursue the new interest.  I’ll bet you’re a lot like me.

One Way to Facilitate Change

In business, if one is not moving forward, you can be assured the competition is. In one's professional goal pursuit, if one is not progressing forward toward the prize, you can be certain that your colleagues are.  Without constant improvement, it is certain that other companies, departments, and people will inevitably pass us by as they move toward the same prize that we covet.  The problem is that organizations, such as small business, major corporations, non-profit organizations, and schools, are often resistant to the change that is required to propel us forward.  Employees, although I admit there are those early adopters that embrace change and seize opportunities to try and do things that are new, often run from change.

In attending my district's Leadership Institute last week, that was one of the points that was hammered home several times.  In our reading, one quote struck home with me.  It said that it was the effective leader's responsibility to "recognize the need for change...or create it."

Two Ways to Use Your New Found Early Morning Hours

Leaving the office at a reasonable time to push more priority out of the last hours of the day into the first hours of the day is a great strategy for getting more things done.  If that’s all we do, we may still find our productivity lacking.  Two additional co-strategies maximize the effect that we may get by becoming early risers.