Backpocketcio

Do you need an Executive Fight Club? John F. Kennedy said a camel is “a horse designed by a committee.” Paraphrasing Charles Kettering, “Want to kill a great idea, get a committee working on it.” Why is this sentiment on committees so prevalent that even Presidents feel compelled to sound off about them? More often than not, it...

The Pope, Adam Sandler, and Five ways to ruin great associates. 5. You are seen as a pessimist. Great associates want to come to work. They enjoy; challenging goals, seeing projects completed, and results occurring inside their organization. Everyone has off-days, but a continual need to be propped up by your employees will result in draining their energy. Remem...

A Deal with the Project Devil. (Negotiating around quality) How often do we hear: How fast can we get this in? I don't expect any issues. This project should be easy. Instead of: How long do we need to get this project done correctly? I know we always have issues; what are they? Projects are always more complex than we think. Som...

Five traits that might get you fired. #5 - Unreliable—Constantly miss deadlines and routinely fail to deliver. The key here is the word "Constantly." Everyone has impaired deadlines. Miss them too frequently, and you may appear to be the problem. *What to work on? – Be more vocal about your lessons learned. Making mistakes is one th...

Nine rounds with Dave in Accounting. (5 ways to manage conflict) We’ve all been there—corporate conflict. Did you know 10/10 leading scientists feel it isn’t going away anytime soon? We instantly become more valuable to any organization the better we manage it. Typically, conflict management stems from 3 main areas: *Understanding the dynamics involved. *Un...

Don't shoot the messenger! The product is perfect. Issues are minor. Turnover rates are acceptable. Everything is fine. When we know, that isn't true. A positive outlook is crucial to your business. So, how do more direct, straightforward personalities facilitate the desired perception when problems require solving? A fine li...

Do your meetings smell? A candle poking fun. YouTube music videos with lyrics built around the premise. Memes and cartoons. A divided world that is unable to agree upon much these days other than... "THIS MEETING COULD HAVE BEEN AN EMAIL." Let's be honest here. If meeting attendees leave with this opinion, it is squarely o...

Does Facebook Listen to Your Conversations? Here’s how it works. Facebook, along with most developers, add a tiny pixel piece of code in your website and mobile apps. This code collects anonymized data for FB to aggregate websites you’ve visited, how much time was spent, products purchased, all your habits! Your Facebook newsfeed uses thi...

How Loving God, P**n, and Yourself is Bad for Cyber Security Although multi-factor authentication and the like, vastly reduces the overall risk, the reusing of passwords is a dagger straight through the heart of security. A great cyber security firm () re-posted a finding on the most frequently used passwords. It was not a nice picture. The standar...

NFL YAC Monster = Star Project Manager Ja’Marr Chase is the hottest rookie receiver right now in the NFL. He appears to be an early YAC monster. That is not a lead role in a budget horror flick. YAC = Yards After Catch. Essentially, after the quarterback throws a pass, there is an exact point where the receiver catches it on the field....

Don't Be a S***m Whale The average s***m whale can hold its breath for 90 minutes. Luckily for executives sitting through an after lunch meeting, the average hopped-up-on-slide-deck-adrenaline presenter can only make it without the necessary oxygen for about one and a half minutes. Yesterday, listening to an online meetin...

NFL, Sherlock Holmes, and Core Reports Watching the NFL, I heard the announcer tell the audience “The Colts are 9-0 this season when their star running back rushes for 100 yards and 0-6 when he doesn’t.” What they failed to mention is that same Colts team is 9-6 when he rushed for 1 yard. In a famous novel, Sherlock Holmes states ....