Amazon recently announced Prime Air. No, it’s not the latest Transformers movie, although it might as well be. It’s Amazon’s way of delivering packages, through the air, using robots. Yes. Robots. Welcome to the future.
Erasure of the Body
December 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I cannot sneeze, cough, yawn, or clear my throat on a call without Quality Assurance taking off points or me having to apologize to the caller. I haven’t even mentioned how much talking for eight hours a day can hurt my throat by the end of the week. All these measures are supposedly in place to serve the customer better, but I don’t do my job better when I’m hungry or have to pee and my next break isn’t for twenty minutes.
Playful Pricing & Being Nice
December 19, 2013 By 1 Comment
La Petite Syrah’s pricing is surprising, unorthodox, and downright playful! We’re all used to being very serious about trading our stuff and skills for money. What happens if we play with it instead?
How does your business impact… everything?
December 16, 2013 By 1 Comment
Are there natural repercussions for a business that wants to claim credit for wide-ranging positive impact… but prefers to disclaim, excuse, or blame away any seemingly-related negative impact?
Revolving Door
December 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment
What if we all saw work as a communal effort to get all our needs met most effectively? What if we didn’t take for granted the assistance of others as if we were entitled to it?
A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
November 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment
What if instead of training me to know a little about everything I was trained to know everything about something? What if instead of just telling the caller what they did was wrong, I could tell them what would be right? If I were trained to take just ONE kind of phone call instead of being prepared to face ANYTHING, I think the system would work better.
Fearless Questioning
November 21, 2013 By 1 Comment
Maybe living by the motto of just “one more question” is a lonely way to live. After all, how do we know when to stop? How do we know when we’ve learned enough? Can you learn enough? Is it possible to write an entire column by simply asking questions?
Turn Down the Volume
November 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Working in a call center, call volume is the be-all and end-all, despite the nods higher-ups make to quality and customer satisfaction. What matters most is how many calls I answer… not how many people I assist or educate or, God forbid, improve the days of during those calls.
When People Destroy What You’ve Built
November 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment
In everything that you do there are people whose sole purpose is to destroy. Even in the midst of suffering. Perhaps especially in the midst of suffering. So if you’re an entrepreneur launching an idea, prepare to see the kid who throws stones.
The High Value of Not Working
November 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
If we’re going to harp on the subject of increased freedom and creativity in the workplace, perhaps we ought to talk about increased *internal* freedom and creativity as well. Do you feel guilty when you stop working?
