Lessons Learned – #7

Merry Christmas. Here is the seventh best thing I learned in 2012:

Writer’s Lock – Angel investor Scott Belsky wrote: “The project plateau is littered with the carcasses of dead ideas that never happened… and that is why there are more half-written novels in the world than there are novels.” Three bestsellers allowed Random House to spread holiday cheer this year by awarding $5,000 bonuses to all 5,343 employees. I didn’t read the books, but a lot of people did. The publisher made $163 million on the efforts of E.L. James, who has 59-million reasons to be glad she had the discipline to complete the “Fifty Shades” trilogy.

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Lessons Learned – #8

The 8th best thing I learned during the year:

Terrific Reaction – Go Daddy – which we utilize for Web hosting – suffered a service disruption in September ‘due to a series of internal network events that corrupted router data tables.’ Translation: someone hacked them and knocked out service for four hours. A day later an email arrived apologizing (‘We have let our customers down and we know it’) and gifting us with one free month. Four hours of disruption in exchange for a month of service. That’s a gesture of humility and loyalty that made a great impression.

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Lessons Learned – #9

Continuing to count down the top 10 things I learned in 2012:

Weak Response – This was the year newspapers began charging for online access. I subscribed to the electronic version of one and felt the $11 monthly price fair. Then one day a charge appeared on our credit card for $21. I called and discovered the trial period ended. I asked to speak with a manager, who said if we take the Sunday home edition, the cost for online access and delivery would be $18. Think about that: to read on my computer, it’s $21. If someone throws a paper on our doorstep, I could access the Internet edition for $3 less. So I cancelled. Two weeks later an offer arrived by mail: both for $16 per month. Arrgh!

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Lessons Learned – #10

During the holiday season I take a break in my monthly e-newsletter from my typical approach to reflect on lessons learned the prior 12 months. Here’s hoping this idea and the ones that follow the next nine days provide insight and inspiration for the year ahead at work and at home.

Compassionate Perspective – In 2012, I weaved in stories about each of our kids in Fast:Forward and provided a recap of our Walt Disney World vacation. You’ve seen firsthand I believe family is the centerpiece of life. Which is why the tragedy of a week ago in Connecticut is so painful. Take a moment to remember the families, teachers and children who are hurting. If you believe in prayers, say some for those folks – and the next time your kids frustrate you, smile, give them a hug and say, “I love you.”

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Auf Wiedersehen

In the last couple of years the conspiracy theorists convinced quite a few people that centuries ago the Mayan calendar predicted the world is ending tomorrow – just when we are starting to gain a bunch of momentum with our business. So, this may be the last blog entry I write.

Of course, an Art History professor at the University of Texas at Austin – a renowned expert on Maya culture and winner of the UNESCO medal for lifetime contributions on Maya archeological sites – thinks there is a different explanation: providing comfort during a time of crisis.

“The hieroglyphs emphasized seventh century history and politics,” said David Stuart in an article on the school’s website. The world’s leading epigrapher of Maya script recently deciphered 56 glyphs in the Guatemalan jungle and discovered 200 years of history. “The monument commemorated a royal visit… by the most powerful Maya ruler… a few months after his defeat by a longstanding rival in 695 AD.”

Instead of predicting the world’s demise, Stuart believes the calendar alluded to a larger cycle of time that “happens to end in 2012.” When troubled, the ancient Maya “used their calendar to promote continuity and stability.” The importance of December 21, 2012, is to introduce a new cycle of hope. It’s “the end of 13 bak’tuns” and “the point was to associate the diving king’s time on the throne to time on a cosmic scale.”

Rest easy tonight. You’re likely going to wake up tomorrow just in time to do all that last-minute Christmas shopping. After all, as Stuart notes, “There are many more bak’tuns to come.”

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