I’ve recently had to ask some people I like to get their asses in gear. It’s an interesting question how to be firm with people who are disappointing you, even though you want to maintain a good relationship with them. Here are two tales about this. Consider what you would write to these folks, and…
AI robots are now assembling cars, writing news articles, detecting fraud, checking you out as you leave retail stores, and replying to customer service inquiries. In the future they may be driving trucks or writing code. Will your job be replaced by a robot? Almost certainly it will. I don’t care what you are doing…
Once again, let’s take a look at an Elon Musk missive. This time he’s laying off 10% of Tesla’s salaried workers. Here’s the internal email, according to CNBC: To: EverybodySubject: Headcount ReductionDate: Friday, June 3, 2022 Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10% as we have become overstaffed in many areas. Note this does…
There’s an old riddle that goes like this: In a bacon-and-egg breakfast, what’s the difference in the roles of the chicken and the pig? Answer: The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. Poor pig. It’s a freakin’ job It used to be that managers — especially startup managers — wanted to be sure…
Elon Musk sent his staff two blunt emails requiring them to work in the office, not remotely. His tone was bold. His meaning was clear. But his policies aren’t going to get him what he wants — especially if he ends up applying them to his next acquisition, Twitter. What Musk Wrote Musk sent his…
I’m halfway through listening to the audiobook of John Carreyrou’s Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. It’s an interesting time to be learning about this company, as Theranos’s CEO Elizabeth Holmes was just convicted of lying to investors. I’ve helped launch or participated in my share of startups and been briefed…
Organizations email individuals all the time. The sender is often something like “do-not-reply@organization.com.” That’s a massive “screw you” to the customer, and it doesn’t have to be. Why do those “Do Not Reply” emails exist? There are lots of reasons that companies send emails from a “do not reply” address. The main one is some…
Forrester Research CEO George Colony is a stubborn, stubborn man. But he believes in the company’s research and he values culture above all. That’s why, after decades in an office, he has just embraced a post-viral “work anywhere” policy. George Colony is dedicated to two things: culture and research When I started working for Forrester…
I’m on hold right now waiting for a customer service rep — to investigate a serious problem that I neither caused nor asked for. I’d give up, except that resolving this is crucial to my future. And it’s hell. If the experience of calling your call center is a hellscape, your customer experience is terrible….