3 Principles for Reclaiming Work – A Labor Day Manifesto
WORDS YOUR WAY BLOG
3 Principles for Reclaiming Work – A Labor Day Manifesto
Stephen King’s On Writing — Oh, the Horror!
WORDS YOUR WAY BLOG
Stephen King’s On Writing — Oh, the Horror!
Read the Fine Print
WORDS YOUR WAY BLOG
Read the Fine Print
Sometimes being my own IT person kinda sucks.
A big-box office retailer that shall remain nameless has a big sign: $50 dollars off on select [weasel word!] printers costing $199 or more when you recycle your old printer. On the bottom of the sign are logos for Brother, HP, Canon, Epson, and Lexmark.
I ask the tech guy for a recommendation, and he suggests I go with a $199 HP LaserJet. It prints only in black & white, but he says part of the reason color printers break so often is that when you don’t use the color much, the ink dries out and damages the print head.
We go to ring it up, and the discount SKU doesn’t work. He calls the manager over, and he tries several different codes. He walks out and looks at the sign, confirms that I should get $50 off, and tries again.
You know what’s coming.
In fine print, the discount flyer the sales clerks use at the register say that Brother, Canon, Epson, and Lexmark printers are $50 off for a $199 printer. HP printers: $299! Not even $249, which would at least let you get the presumably better HP printer for the price of the lesser, cheaper brands.
The original clerk, who is also the install guy, takes me back to look at the $199 printers but says people have much more trouble with the software, use, install, etc. on the other brands because HP’s software is much better. (He seemed honest, and they’d have to have serious con man training to have developed a fake discount-upsell routine so elaborate.)
So, I spent more than I intended to. I hope this damned printer will last!
3 Holiday Web Tips for Brick-and-Mortar Businesses
WORDS YOUR WAY BLOG
3 Holiday Web Tips for Brick-and-Mortar Businesses
How To Kill Creativity
WORDS YOUR WAY BLOG
How To Kill Creativity
So, why do companies have trouble getting employees to be “creative,” and why do so many people feel stifled at work?
One model of the creative process suggests that there are 4 stages:
1. Preparation
2. Incubation
3. Illumination
4. Implementation
To my observation, most companies (and many creativity consultants) attempt to push people from stage #1 right to stage #3. The popular technique of brainstorming is a prime example. When a group brainstorms, people throw out ideas without censoring them, and capture them in the hopes that the process will produce rough gems that can be mined for value forthwith.
Contrast that to the idiosyncratic processes employed by productive creative people from artists to entrepreneurs to programmers. After deciding to tackle the project or possibility and before spitting out ideas and proposals, they let things percolate. They get up from the desk and go for a run. They bake. They take naps. They temporarily detach themselves from the problem at hand. Typically they spend some time in solitude. They relax their time frame for coming up with that Great Idea.
Want to help your people be more creative? Shred those copies of Never Eat Alone.