Only Twice? or The Un-Big Sur Marathon Well, it wasn’t pretty, but Brad and I finished the 36th running of the New York City Marathon yesterday. Here we are shortly after the end. This was my second marathon. When I finished Big Sur in 1996 with my friend Karl Florida, I had a nagging feeling that I’d do another one someday and figured it should be New York given how long I’ve lived here and what a great race it is. From where I sit today, it’s hard to imagine doing another one. Finishing is a truly great feeling, but boy is it a lot of work to get ready for it (not to mention a fair amount of pain…
Archives / November, 2005
A Good Laugh at Microsoft’s Expense
A Good Laugh at Microsoft’s Expense Anyone who has ever had a frustrating moment with any Microsoft product (um, that probably means everyone) must watch this 4 minute video. Thanks to my colleague Carly Brantz for turning me on to this gem. Update: new link for this video as of June 18, 2006 here.
Book Short: Allegory of Allegories
Book Short: Allegory of Allegories Squirrel, Inc., by Stephen Denning, is a good quick read for leaders who want a refreshing look at effective ways to motivate and communicate to their teams. The book focuses on storytelling as a method of communication, and Denning employs the storytelling method fairly successfully as a framework for the book. The specific kinds of messages he focuses on, where he says storytelling can have the biggest impact, are: communicating a complex idea and sparking action; communicating identity – who YOU as leader are; transmitting values; getting a group or team to work together more effectively; neutralizing gossip or taming the grapevine; knowledge-sharing; and painting a vision of the future that a team can hang…